Journey to Qiongzhou (3): Brant: That's Criminal, Bro!

"Poke, poke."

Hajiling had suddenly fallen asleep on the beach, suddenly felt someone poking his cheek.

"Yaya... stop fooling around..."

Somewhat confused, he naturally assumed that Dania was playing a trick on him, so he prepared to arrest the troublemaker without even opening his eyes.

To be honest, even with the debuffs of not being fully awake and not opening her eyes, Hajiling still accurately caught this mischievous little guy who kept poking her cheek.

But the grip seems a bit off? It's soft and bouncy, but a little small...

Not redeemable?!

Xiao Ling knew very well what he had touched, but that wasn't what frightened him.

The problem is that Dania's frontal armor is not this size at all; it's much larger than the one I have.

And now, beside me is...

Xiao Ling opened his eyes in astonishment, immediately meeting a pair of familiar heterochromatic eyes. Then, his gaze stiffly shifted downwards, and he saw his own hand covering the Roccia front armor.

"Roccia..." He couldn't help but swallow.

"Hmm... hmm..." Roccia's little face was flushed, her mind wondering whether the barbecue Rover older brother did it intentionally or unintentionally.

Seeing Xiao Ling's rudeness, Pero was already preparing to hiss at him, while the monstrous creature in the box, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, couldn't wait to give Hajiling a good beating.

"Sorry! I was so distracted just now that I didn't notice anything!" Xiao Ling immediately bowed deeply to Roccia.

Roccia responded to Xiao Ling's apology with silence, and even subconsciously took two steps back.

Xiao Ling: It's over, Barbie Q is over.

That wasn't the end of it. A certain fox, always eager for drama, meticulously recorded the entire farce and then, quite accidentally, posted it to the group chat.

"Oh dear, this is terrible. I was planning to keep it as leverage." Heartfox's words were tinged with regret, but her smile only deepened. "I hope the rider won't blame me later~"

So, when the Solaris F4 arrived at Xiao Ling's location, this was the scene they saw.

More than twenty beautiful girls stood in a circle, seemingly blocking something firmly in the middle. An outsider might have wondered who could be treated with such respect, but Brant understood the situation at a glance.

The girls all had Tacet Mark on their bodies, so their identities were self-evident; they were fellow countrymen from Solaris, just like the boys.

In that case, the only one who could be surrounded by so many beautiful Solaris girls is probably my lucky buddy.

But what trouble has Hajiling gotten herself into this time?

"... I said we came at the wrong time, what do you think?" Jing Ran's eye twitched.

"It certainly came at an inopportune time," Jiyan agreed.

"I smelled a murderous aura in the sea breeze." Qiuyuan frowned. "Someone's in trouble."

"Let me see if I can get any information out of them."

Brant scanned his surroundings and finally found Roccia building sandcastles with Encore on the other side.

"Roccia, we've finally found you." Brant smiled as he walked up to the two of them. "Is this what you accomplished? Pretty impressive."

"Yes, I built it with a new friend," Roccia nodded with a smile.

"Big brother, do you want to join too? It looks like so much fun!" Encore enthusiastically invited Brant from the other side.

"While I am honored to be invited, I have very important matters to attend to, so please excuse me," Brant politely declined Encore's invitation.

"Roccia, what's going on over there? Why are so many people gathered in a circle?"

When Roccia heard Brant ask her what had just happened, her face flushed red again, but she didn't say a word.

Seeing her master's lack of ambition, Pero hurriedly tried to tell Brant what had just happened, but Roccia slapped her back into the box.

When Brant saw her reaction, even the most oblivious person would realize something was wrong. But he didn't force Roccia to tell him what was going on. He simply said goodbye to the two girls in a hurry and then found a safe place to eavesdrop on the conversation.

Then he heard the following conversation.

"A-Yu! How could you do this! Roccia isn't even grown up yet!"

"I already told you it was an accident..."

"What kind of good person would accidentally pinch that spot? It just doesn't make sense! Blank, do you even believe that yourself?"

"Well, that means they've all developed muscle memory from slapping it..."

"So, you're blaming us? Ling, you're making me really sad."

"According to Huanglong's laws, engaging in vulgar behavior towards a girl who is not yet of marriageable age is punishable by imprisonment. Young Master Xiao, please be careful with your words and actions."

"I was being very careful with my words and actions! It was an accident! You can all judge for yourselves; I didn't even open my eyes at the time!"

"That's hard to say, Your Excellency. After all, only you and that young girl know the details of what happened back then. How can we believe that what you're saying is true?"

After listening for a while, Brant felt somewhat confused, but he had no reason to believe that Hajiling must have done something terrible.

Well... it's come to this, so it's best to avoid this for now.

He was about to slip away quietly when he was suddenly stopped by Roccia's alluring voice.

"I said, sir, you've been eavesdropping over there, why don't you come out and talk to me?"

Well, now we can't even run away.

Brant wasn't too flustered after being caught red-handed, since at most he would just have to explain himself. But what Roccia next was what really made him explode.

"Curious what we're talking about?" Roccia said calmly. "Then you might want to take a look at this."

To be honest, they know Xiao Ling very well and are naturally aware that he doesn't have that kind of fetish. But the problem now is that Roccia hasn't stepped forward to forgive Hajiling, so this matter can't just be left like that.

After watching the video that Roccia played for him, Brant's temples instantly bulged with veins.

Brant: Bro, you're really into this?!

Then the other girls saw the captain stride aggressively toward them.

"Gentlemen, I have a favor to ask. May I speak with the Rover alone?" Although he was angry, Brant did not forget his proper manners.

The girls could tell, of course, that the captain, who was practically Roccia's guardian, had come to confront them, so they readily threw Hajiling out of the encirclement.

"I'm so awesome!" Xiao Ling stumbled. "Can't I just walk by myself...?"

He was just thinking how relieved he had escaped the interrogation when he was met with Brant's forced, insincere smile.

"Uh..." Xiao Ling felt it would be better to be interrogated, since the girls wouldn't really punish him; at most, they'd make him pay more taxes.

"Brant, is it possible to reconcile...?"

"At this very moment?" Brant rubbed his hands together. "Rover, are you joking?"

"Accept the punishment! wryyyyyyyyyy!!!!"

"Quack! No!"