Xing Lan walked down the street, patted her stomach, and let out a satisfied burp.
Walking ahead of her, Nanming glanced at his nearly empty wallet, then back at the incredibly slender Xing Lan behind him, and fell into thought.
How on earth had someone as small as Xing Lan eaten so much? That one meal of hers had nearly matched the entire squad's food for a day.
Nanming let out a long sigh. It looked like food would be a huge expense from now on.
"Oh, right, where's our Special Investigation Squad's secret base?" Xing Lan looked around.
Then, as though she had suddenly remembered something, her eyes began to sparkle.
"I get it!
"Our secret base must be hidden somewhere, right? Like disguised as an agency or something!"
Xing Lan was as excited as if she had uncovered some great secret!
"Uh, I guess you could say that. We did disguise our base a little." Watching Xing Lan get excited like a child, Nanming answered awkwardly.
The confirmation made Xing Lan even more excited. She chattered loudly all the way, talking nonstop like someone reciting the Tightening Headband spell.
She talked until Si Xiaobei's head spun, and even Nanming had a headache.
After walking for nearly twenty minutes with Xing Lan chattering all the while, they finally reached their destination.
Nanming stopped and pointed to the building across from him. "We're here."
Xing Lan followed his finger. A sign stood on the building, with the words "Star Barbershop" written prominently across it. Beside them, in smaller letters, were the words "You can trust us!"
Si Xiaobei silently lowered his head, his face a little red.
Xing Lan, on the other hand, rushed straight inside.
Nanming: ?!
Si Xiaobei: Σ(*ﾟдﾟﾉ)ﾉ
That's not right, is it? Shouldn't she have made a snarky remark? Or at least stopped in surprise for a moment? Why did she just rush straight in?
Xing Lan flung both doors open, stood in the entrance, and struck what she considered a magnificent pose.
"Night Star, Xing Lan! Reporting for duty!"
Xing Lan closed her eyes and spread her arms, waiting for the people inside to cheer.
But even after a long while, there was only a deathly silence.
So she slowly opened her eyes.
What she saw was a tidy barbershop and a young man holding a pair of clippers. He was blowing a bubble with his gum and staring at Xing Lan in a daze, while the clippers in his hand continued moving forward of their own accord.
Slowly, he shaved the equally stunned man in the chair into a Mediterranean hairstyle.
Feeling a chill on his head, the man in the chair turned to look in the mirror.
A moment later, a roar as loud as a nuclear explosion erupted from the barbershop.
"My hair-!!"
Ten minutes later.
The man stormed away wearing a hat, cursing as he went.
"I'm never getting my hair cut here again!"
Feng Xuan could only keep bowing and apologizing to him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It was my mistake, my mistake!"
Only when the customer had disappeared from view did Feng Xuan raise his head.
He glared at Nanming and the others as if he wanted to eat them alive, looking ready to kick them into Mediterranean hairstyles too.
"Who was screeching over there just now?! You made me pay him two hundred yuan!
"Two hundred yuan! That's almost enough to buy me a new headset!"
"It... it was me." Xing Lan slowly stepped forward, her head lowered like a child who had done something wrong.
"Why were you yelling when nothing was wrong?! Do you know how much you cost me?!"
"Uh, s... sorry."
"Sorry?! What good is that? You have to pay me back... huh?" Feng Xuan stopped midsentence when he saw Xing Lan's face.
"What's your name?"
"Xing... Xing Lan," she answered nervously.
"Xing Lan?! The new recruit?" Feng Xuan looked at Nanming and Si Xiaobei, and the two nodded repeatedly.
"Then why didn't you two tell me earlier?"
"You were yelling so fiercely that we didn't quite dare speak up." Nanming scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
"..."
Hearing their conversation, Xing Lan seemed to come back to life.
"So you're in the Special Investigation Squad too?!" Xing Lan leaned close to Feng Xuan, asking him almost face-to-face.
"Ah... um... yes, I am." Feng Xuan's cheeks reddened slightly. Now it was his turn to be at a loss.
"I see! I thought I'd gone into the wrong shop." Looking relieved, Xing Lan turned to Feng Xuan, straightened her back, and confidently introduced herself.
"My name is Xing Lan! I'm nineteen years old! My ability is..."
"Stop!" Feng Xuan cut her off before she could finish.
"Don't tell me that yet. Wait until you meet the captain, then you can tell him all about it." With that, he hurried toward the stairs.
Xing Lan glanced at Nanming and Si Xiaobei. They nodded and headed for the stairs too, and Xing Lan naturally followed.
"By the way, who's your captain? Aren't you the captain? I thought you were the captain. Where are we going today? Are we going to a hidden area?!" Xing Lan followed the three of them, talking without pause.
"All right, Miss Xing Lan, I know you're anxious, but hold on a moment! You'll find out when we get there, okay?!" Feng Xuan finally spoke up, unable to take her chatter anymore.
"Oh~" Xing Lan replied casually.
They went down the stairs, the light growing dimmer and dimmer as Xing Lan grew more and more excited.
When they finally reached their destination, Xing Lan was so excited she could almost fly!
It was a huge basement, about the size of two soccer fields. There was all sorts of equipment and many other rooms, yet a large area remained open.
"Wow! Just what every secret base needs! Is this where you usually train?!" Xing Lan looked around excitedly.
She wanted nothing more than to turn the place upside down.
Feng Xuan watched Xing Lan darting around like a child, then gave Nanming a strange look.
"He clearly has the face and figure of a mature beauty, so why does he act like a child?!" Feng Xuan wanted to cry but had no tears, and Nanming didn't know how to answer.
Suddenly, Si Xiaobei, who was standing nearby, seemed to sense something. He called out toward the darkness ahead, "Captain! You're here!"
Hearing him, everyone else, including Xing Lan, looked in that direction.
A figure in a black coat slowly emerged from the darkness, his expression as cold as an assassin's.
"Captain!" Si Xiaobei waved excitedly at Sun Hai.
Sun Hai nodded, then looked at Xing Lan.
Xing Lan immediately stood at attention, her expression turning serious in an instant, though it looked a little forced.
Sun Hai paid it no mind and spoke slowly. "You're the new recruit, right?"
"Yes! Are you the captain here?" Xing Lan asked in return.
Sun Hai didn't answer her and continued slowly, "I know your name. First, tell me: are you an awakened one or a symbiote?"