Chapter 258

"The search here is almost complete. I'll leave the rest to Sumire and go check out the south side by myself."

Majian looked at Sumire, who was still somewhat nervous, and smiled inquiringly, "Is it alright? Although this is your first time carrying out an expedition Beyond the Boundary, there are neither Erosion Entity nor Dregs here. You can try using this place as a training ground."

"N-no, it's alright... Please leave it to me!"

Despite appearing fearful of the unfamiliar Beyond the Boundary region, Sumire accepted the mission assigned to her by the captain without hesitation.

The ability to steadfastly execute orders is also an essential quality of an excellent agent.

Soon the group left in different directions. Before leaving, Efnir turned back to look at Majian, and Majian eyes met.

Majian smiled slightly, while Efnir nodded expressionlessly.

The West Zone of the town had not been cleared by Efnir; standing at the end of the street, you could clearly see the shadows of a few Dregs wandering in the middle of the street.

Although people only pass through this town once every month or two, the Dregs seem to still have a special fondness for this old street full of architectural ruins.

Efnir took out a silenced pistol and fired at any Dregs she encountered, avoiding the Dregs's hard skull and non-lethal organs. Each time, she precisely placed the bullet into the Dregs's eye socket or ear, ensuring that every bullet would kill the Dregs completely.

In terms of close-range speed alone, Efnir has consistently ranked among the top agents in Xijing City, on par with "Fifina". The Beacon "Ephnel" did not grant Efnir any particular outstanding skill. Because of this, Efnir devoted all her time and energy to honing her physical skills, which resulted in a significant improvement in Efnir strength that was not simply a matter of gradual increase.

He jogged along, not panting or out of breath, and the search and investigation were much faster than before.

But the West Zone is only so big, and Efnir didn't find anything.

Efnir frowned slightly.

The coordinates pointed here, and the white mist indeed showed its unusual behavior, clearly indicating that something was amiss in this town, but she found nothing...

Was the investigation heading in the wrong direction?

Efnir had considered that perhaps Codename J's target wasn't Codename H, but rather the "Thing in the Box" that Codename H had taken. But what exactly was in that Thing in the Box? Efnir had no clue.

But if there's any clue that's been missed, it's only those three people.

There might be something on Majian, otherwise she would never have the Corruption Energy. As for Jin and Flying Swallow, Efnir cannot draw any conclusions yet. At least on the surface, they do not seem to have any connection with the Apostle, but who can say for sure about such things?

Efnir only knew a few members of Raven's Forest Warden Squad, but coincidentally, they had all been assigned other missions this time. Was this a coincidence?

Without lingering, Efnir left the Dregs corpse behind and headed south of the town.

That was the direction where the Majian was located.

After watching Efnir's figure disappear around the corner for more than ten minutes without her returning, Majian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The pressure from her first face-to-face encounter with Efnir was unusually intense. Efnir's gaze was always indifferent, calm, and devoid of any emotion, making Majian feel as if she were being seen through.

"Is this the chief executive of a mid-sized city...?"

Although they were all chiefs, none of the others gave Majian this kind of invisible pressure.

Hamikawa City is classified as a small city in the Human Federation's classification, while Xijing City is a medium-sized city. The difference between them can be small or very large. The most obvious difference is in the number of agents. Xijing City urban area and one more in each satellite city, while Hamikawa City, including its satellite cities, has only nine agents.

There are naturally differences in strength among the top performers.

She calmed the turmoil in her heart, her expression complex.

Just as she was about to continue her search, Efnir's voice suddenly appeared behind her.

"Did you discover anything?"

10. Appearing and disappearing unpredictably

Majian was startled by the voice that suddenly appeared behind her, but she quickly realized that it was Efnir's voice, which sounded to be not far behind her.

Efnir?

How could it appear so close to me without my noticing? Did it deliberately use some means to silence me?

As the leader of the Agent Squad, Majian's mental fortitude far surpassed that of ordinary people. Upon sensing Efnir's approach, she quickly wiped away the wariness on her face and simultaneously switched her thought process—why would Efnir suddenly come here?

There's no one else here.

It was obvious that Efnir was after him.

Was it because the investigation uncovered something? Or did it reveal something?

"--There haven't been any valuable discoveries yet. I've been here several times, but it seems I'm still not very familiar with this place..."

There was no time for her to think. She replied to Efnir and then turned away.

She had composed herself, carefully concealing her emotions, and flashed her signature carefree smile. "Efnir is really something, I didn't even notice you were here."

However, when she looked in the direction from which the sound came, there was no one there.

A cool breeze swept by, stirring up the dry, fallen leaves. The shade of the trees peeking out from behind the collapsed wall swayed gently, casting dappled light. The open view was unobstructed, yet Efnir was nowhere to be seen.

What happened?

Her expression froze slightly, and her flawless smile faltered.

"Efnir... are you there?"

She composed herself and spoke, but received no response, only the rustling of leaves.

The sound just now clearly came from this direction, so why...?

Was I hallucinating?

Can agents also hallucinate?

Majian blinked suspiciously, taking a step to investigate the sound. Just then, a set of footsteps, neither too loud nor too soft, and made no attempt to conceal them, sounded behind her, accompanied by a light but playful tone, "Are you looking for me?"

The gentle voice was neither hurried nor slow, yet it was so close to her ear that Majian could almost smell the warm breath brushing against her earlobe.

"Babble--!?"

Majian jumped up like a startled kitten, and as she turned around, two throwing knives were already hidden at her fingertips. A flash of silver light passed over her gorgeous battle dress, which enveloped her body. She had already entered into Synchronization and looked back in the direction where she had just stood with surprise and extreme vigilance.

But when she saw who it was, she was stunned— Efnir was standing in front of her with her arms crossed, twirling a dagger in her hand, only a few steps away. Her iris-purple eyes looked down at her, devoid of any emotion, her scrutinizing gaze like a sharp knife, pinning Majian firmly to the spot.

A tingling sensation came from her earlobe, and Majian felt cold sweat covering her back. An indescribable sense of horror spread through Majian's heart like ink dripping into water.

The agent's senses were incredibly sharp, and her perception of her environment far surpassed that of a normal human. Yet, even so, Efnir managed to get within arm's reach of her without her noticing. This meant that if Efnir wanted, she could easily take her life with a single dagger.

When exactly did this person touch her from behind? The first sound came from behind her, but this person appeared from the other side and got close to her without her noticing.

There was no sound, no breath, just like a ghost.

Her throat was dry and parched. Majian turned her gaze to the dagger in Efnir's hand. She had no doubt that Efnir could kill her cleanly and efficiently with just a dagger, without even giving her time to Synchronization.

"A... Efnir?"

Majian was indeed a little startled, and her voice went off-key, but she quickly calmed down and broke the Synchronization, her tone carrying a hint of reproach, "You really startled me! How come you walk so quietly... When did you get here?"

She suppressed the pounding of her heart and the rise and fall of her breath, and gave a faint smile.

If Efnir were to actually attack her, she would have no chance of resisting. Rather than passively remaining vigilant and revealing her weaknesses, she might as well completely let down her guard and get along with Efnir.

"I've been here for quite a while."

Efnir's tone was enigmatic, her gaze never leaving Majian's face.

She deliberately "stimulated" the Majian in this way, successfully getting Majian into Synchronization in an instant.

In that brief instant, Efnir "saw" the dust erupting from Majian's body and the energy vibrations in the surrounding space. Majian was undoubtedly an agent; her mastery of the Order Force surpassed that of Canary and Saori. However, just before entering into Synchronization, she activated the surrounding Corruption Energy —in that instant, both the Corruption Energy and the Order Force became active, responding to the energy contained within Majian's body. Majian, however, chose the Order Force over the other.

The exchange of energy is an instinctive behavior that is difficult to control. If we consider the agent's body as a reservoir, the water in the reservoir is energy. As long as the water contains both the Order Force and the Corruption Energy, then the opening and closing of the sluice gate— the Order Force —will inevitably leak out two unique energy signals.

Even if Majian is not Apostle, he must have some connection with the Apostle.

Efnir narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, I see... You're amazing, I didn't even notice you..."

Majian still wore a smile, but a chill ran through her heart.

Was Efnir always by his side? Ever since they split up? Yes, splitting up was Efnir's suggestion. Perhaps he had been using this as a cover from the beginning to hide in the shadows, so he could follow her without anyone noticing.

Unaware that Efnir's suspicions about her were growing stronger, she simply looked away, her mind racing with countless thoughts.

"I didn't find any clues on my end, so I came over here to take a look."

Efnir had already sheathed her dagger. She walked towards Majian, casually glancing around as she did so. "You should have finished searching this area by now, right?"

"Actually, there's still an area ahead that hasn't been surveyed..."

"Oh, right, I found this over there just now. It felt a bit strange, so I brought it over," Efnir said, taking out a silver ring, her Apostle Beacon, which she always used. She turned her gaze from the desolate landscape to Majian.

She said, "Do you know him?"

Majian's heart skipped a beat, but she deliberately feigned confusion.

"This is... a ring? It looks very well preserved. Did someone leave it behind recently? May I take a look?"

"You want to see?" Efnir twirled the ring on her finger expressionlessly, took a step, and approached Ma Jian step by step under Majian's increasingly tense gaze. Then she slowly raised her hand towards Majian and held it in front of Majian's eyes.

Gazing into Efnir's iris-purple eyes, Majian felt as if his back was about to be soaked with sweat.

A brief silence fell between them.

"Give."

Efnir pressed down and gently placed the ring in Majian's palm. Majian could almost feel the tingling sensation of Efnir's long, cool fingers gliding across her hand.

"Your palms seem sweaty." Efnir chuckled unexpectedly. "What's wrong? Is the Beyond the Boundary really that nerve-wracking?"

11. Prey Prison

Majian stared intently at the ring in her palm, her gaze so intense it seemed to burn a hole in her hand.

This is Apostle Beacon... a weapon from Ruins Technology that Eligible can use. Ordinary people wouldn't hand a gun to a stranger, yet this guy didn't even bother to look at it? Was he not afraid at all? Or was he so calm that he had nothing to worry about?

A strange feeling spread through her mind. Majian felt that her mind was unusually easily dominated by negative emotions today. She had received a lot of training, and controlling her mindset was one of them, but the time she had put into it in front of Efnir had betrayed her.

Her palms were sweaty, and she had to carefully wipe them away every now and then. She had been in this position for two whole minutes, examining every corner of the ring from every angle, but she didn't dare to say a word. The air was eerily silent.

Majian was almost certain that Efnir had sensed something, but how much did Efnir know, to what extent did she understand, and what was involved? Or was it merely speculation?

Because Efnir remained silent, Majian had no way of knowing where she was.

One wrong move and you'll expose yourself.

So she simply didn't initiate conversation.

But Efnir remained silent, simply watching her.

The two remained in the same position like statues, one minute, two minutes... By this time, Majian's mind was in complete turmoil—because she was the one in a weaker position, she and Efnir were not standing on equal footing, she had no idea what Efnir knew, how much she knew, what weapons she possessed, or whether she had spoken to Hamikawa City beforehand.

Silence itself represents an attitude; Efnir could maintain a calm and composed demeanor, but she simply couldn't.

Time slowly pushed her along, one second, two seconds, one minute, two minutes...

Two two-minute intervals, three two-minute intervals.

She finally couldn't resist and casually looked up at Efnir, but Efnir continued to gaze at her, her eyes calm and unwavering, pacing back and forth without moving away or getting closer.

It's still the same! It's always like this!

What does this person mean?! What is she trying to do?!

He threw the Apostle Beacon over, but then just stood there saying nothing. Is he crazy?

Is it just suspicion, or is it something you're already certain of?

Testing? Feigning ignorance?

Majian felt like she was about to collapse. She wanted to say something countless times, but when she saw Efnir's eerily calm gaze, she inexplicably had the feeling that even if she spoke, she would only be asking for trouble.

Efnir might be a ferocious beast, and Majian felt as if she had been dragged by this beast into a nest with no way out.