Chapter 40: Efficient reinforcements
Su Su had certainly left a deep impression on Qin Xiaoxia.
Aside from her pretty looks, her divination ability made her the only person Qin Xiaoxia had met so far who could be said to possess a special power.
It was not that he had deliberately avoided contacting Su Su over the past two days.
For one thing, Qin Xiaoxia had yet to put together a basic framework for rebuilding Dawn. For another, there was no pressing need to sweet-talk a girl he barely knew into joining.
Huang Jiutian was a different matter. They knew each other well, and his profession offered considerable advantages in gathering information, giving him a higher priority.
But Qin Xiaoxia had already earmarked Su Su as a member of the association. If something happened to her, he would not stand idly by.
So he immediately replied, "What's wrong, Su Su?"
In her apartment, Su Su had felt rather nervous when she sent the message, unsure whether Qin Xiaoxia would respond.
Fortunately, his reply came just a few seconds later.
Mr. Qin still remembers me!
That thought brought a little secret delight, but it vanished in an instant as Su Su remembered the matter at hand.
No longer worrying whether it might annoy Qin Xiaoxia, she tapped the video call button.
When the video call request popped up, Qin Xiaoxia hesitated briefly before accepting.
"Mr. Qin, something terrible has happened! My friends Jack and Joseph have gone missing. A crystal mine did it... in Los Angeles... fifteen security guards disappeared with them... it's been several days already! Please hurry and save them, or it'll be too late!"
The moment the call connected, Su Su rattled off her explanation at breakneck speed, barely pausing for breath.
Although she spoke quickly and her account was somewhat muddled, Qin Xiaoxia's current abilities allowed him to understand what had happened immediately.
Before he could speak,
Doudou came running over on his short little legs, a cleaning rag in hand, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"A Corrupted Crystal Mine! It's a Corrupted Crystal Mine!"
His hearing was keen enough to pick up Su Su's voice from the video call more than ten meters away.
Qin Xiaoxia could hear two conflicting emotions in Doudou's voice: fear and excitement.
Both Huang Jiutian in the distance and Su Su on the other end of the call were drawn to the shout.
Qin Xiaoxia, however, remained the calmest of them all-at least on the surface.
"Su Su, I understand what happened and how urgent it is. But you can't expect me to jump straight to Los Angeles. National borders are strictly enforced now. This isn't several hundred years ago."
"He's right. Even setting everything else aside, getting a passport and visa would take at least two weeks, and that's assuming everything goes as smoothly as possible."
Huang Jiutian, who had traveled abroad before, walked over and outlined an ideal scenario that was almost impossible in practice.
Su Su looked anxiously at Qin Xiaoxia and said hesitantly,
"Mr. Qin, couldn't you send your people in Los Angeles to rescue them? You... you're Dawn, aren't you?"
At those words, both Qin Xiaoxia and Huang Jiutian froze for a moment, then turned scrutinizing gazes on Su Su.
Under their stares, Su Su's heart began to pound.
Her guess, pieced together from her research and deductions, had been right!
But being stared at like that by two powerful "wizards" also placed an invisible psychological pressure on her.
(Su Su believed Huang Jiutian was also someone who wielded great power.)
Qin Xiaoxia was genuinely surprised. They had met only once, so the girl must have memorized the brand on his palm and used it to research him. His opinion of Su Su rose another notch.
Unfortunately, even counting Huang Jiutian, Dawn had only three members. There was no one in Los Angeles.
A rueful smile appeared on his face.
"I'm sorry, Su Su. It isn't that I don't want to help. Although you correctly identified Dawn, you don't understand our current situation."
"Dawn fell into decline long ago. Centuries of losses in battle and suppression by ordinary people, compounded by the upheavals of modern times, have left us struggling to keep ourselves afloat. We no longer have any other branches!"
Although there were some lies in that statement, Qin Xiaoxia was actually quite sincere.
"But I promise you, I'll apply for a passport and visa right away. It's just the time it'll take..."
His words left everyone on both ends of the call silent.
Su Su grieved at the thought that her friends might be doomed, while also hearing the hardship of Dawn's history in Qin Xiaoxia's words.
Beside him, Doudou tugged at Qin Xiaoxia's trouser leg and muttered, pouting.
"But it's a Corrupted Crystal Mine... if we could get hold of the raw mother crystal and move it away... it might produce magic crystals..."
The words "magic crystals" sent a jolt through Qin Xiaoxia's heart. It felt as though someone had handed him a pillow just as he was getting sleepy. He desperately wanted to ask Doudou for details, but forced himself to hold back.
Aside from food, drink, mischief, and fun, Doudou rarely took a genuine interest in supposed treasures. Even Su Su's crystal ball had only caught his interest as a novelty to sneak off with and play with.
The magic crystals Doudou could not stop thinking about were one of the wondrous substances he and Qin Xiaoxia had spent the past two days painstakingly discussing-things that could give ordinary living beings a chance to awaken magic power.
Qin Xiaoxia was almost desperate to get his visa immediately. Who knew whether some man-made or natural mishap might befall the mine before his paperwork was ready and he could fly to Los Angeles?
Suddenly, Qin Xiaoxia's eyes lit up.
He smiled at the phone's camera.
"Perhaps I can greatly shorten the time needed to process the passport and visa."
At some point, a gleaming gold coin had appeared, rolling across his palm.
For some reason, that smile gave Su Su tremendous encouragement on the other end of the call. In an instant, she felt certain that Jack and Joseph would be rescued.
In reality, though, once those two unfortunate friends had entered the mine, the kindest assessment was that their fate was unknown. More bluntly, their chances of survival were slim.
One gold coin, one wish!
Doudou's Wish ability was indeed weak, but it also depended on how it was used. This time, the wish was just one simple word-efficiency.
Anxious, Su Su had intended to accompany him throughout the passport and visa application process. Instead, she witnessed a speed so unbelievable that it left her dumbfounded.
They filled out the passport application that morning, yet before noon, the completed passport arrived by express delivery, as though none of the intermediate steps were necessary.
Even more absurdly, the passport that arrived already had all the visa formalities completed.
Su Su could swear that Mr. Qin had not possessed a passport that morning. Yet now he had both a passport and a visa, without even needing to schedule an interview in between.
Booking the flights went just as smoothly. They bought two adjacent seats for Qin Xiaoxia and Su Su on a direct flight from Qiantang to Los Angeles that very afternoon. (Doudou traveled without a ticket.)
This is Mr. Qin's magic power!
Yes, it's only unbelievable to ordinary people. For Dawn, even a Dawn that has fallen into decline, it's merely an application of magic power.
This gave Su Su yet another profound impression of the Dawn Association and made her even more eager to join Dawn.
More than ten hours later, it was eight thirty in the morning, Los Angeles time.
Jenny, Mark, and Joey held up a sign at the arrivals exit, waiting for Su Su, who had suddenly called the day before to say she was bringing "reinforcements."
Their efficiency was astonishing.
Mark and Joey looked particularly anxious. Both had dark circles under their eyes and clearly had not rested properly in a long time.
They had no idea what sort of reinforcements Fia, who had sounded so mysterious over the phone, would bring, but at least it offered some hope.
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