Welcome Aboard, Su Yue!

"Surprised? Pleasantly surprised?"

Bai Xuan spread his hands and looked at Su Yue.

"I... really didn't expect this..."

Su Yue glanced at him, surprise in her voice. "So these past few days, you were playing along with me the whole time?"

Her feelings were too tangled for her to settle down.

Who would have thought that the leader of the organization she had been so eager to join had been right beside her all along?

For some reason, she felt as though he'd had her in the palm of his hand...

"I wouldn't call it playing. I was just checking a few things."

Bai Xuan shrugged, then grew serious. "Well, Su Yue, you've earned the right to join us. Are you willing to?"

As he finished speaking, the Slime Mask Su Yue knew so well appeared on his face again.

"I..."

Su Yue watched him and lowered her eyes slightly, their light wavering.

She hadn't even begun to take it all in. It was like stumbling across a food truck full of ice-cold cola in the middle of a desert—absurd, yet undeniably real!

Bai Xuan understood her confusion and waited quietly without pressing her.

Just then, Marée Alaira wandered over, swishing her tail. She tilted her head. "Human, are you talking to yourself? Why are you talking to thin air?"

"?"

Bai Xuan hurriedly explained, "Little Marie, I have something important to deal with. Give us a moment."

"Something important?"

Marée Alaira paused and looked across from Bai Xuan. There was only an empty fish tank.

She scratched her head, then leaned over the tank to peer inside.

Bai Xuan left her to it and turned back to Su Yue, only to find her watching him intently.

It seemed she had made up her mind.

"Figured it out?"

"I suppose."