The Investigator

Su Ming and Zijin, who had just tidied her hair, walked over together and greeted Chloe and Stacy.

"Chloe." Zijin handed over an exquisite jewelry box. "The Spirit Wall Crystal Barrier, returned to its rightful owner."

"Keep it. It's useless to me." Chloe didn't look up, focusing on the stone tablet in her hands. "It was originally prepared especially for you."

Zijin didn't stand on ceremony and readily accepted the gift. "Thank you very much then. But next time you give me something, please don't choose anything in the cyan color family," she added casually. "The color of the earrings doesn't match my hair."

"You paint some red paint on it yourself!" Chloe said irritably.

Afterwards, Zijin left first, returning to the Pansy that was moored outside. Her Magic Power hadn't fully recovered, so staying there wouldn't offer much practical help.

"Is everything going smoothly here?" Su Ming asked.

"It's going fairly smoothly." Chloe, examining the next stone, straightened up and dusted off her hands. "The Rift Tribe left behind a lot of clues during the repeated engraving and repair process, providing us with a wealth of information for this 'stone puzzle game.'"

In the center of the field, more Feather Race had arrived. They were carefully cleaning the soil between the cracks in the stone slabs, meticulously marking every engraving on the slabs—especially those with blurred or broken edges—and numbering the slabs. Then they were sketching the general outlines in a specially made book.

Everything is proceeding smoothly and in an orderly manner.

"Will it be much longer than originally planned?" Su Ming asked.

"It won't take too long," Chloe said firmly. "I'll keep sending more people until this cave is full!" She paused, her tone filled with genuine relief, "And thanks to you for uncovering such crucial information, otherwise all our subsequent work would have gone astray. A few years' delay would be the least of our worries!"

Su Ming nodded and said, "We plan to leave Apocalypse." He turned to Stacy, "What about you? Will you stay here to continue assisting, or will you come with us?"

"Let's go together," Stacy replied immediately. "I can't be of much help with the archaeological work here. But there's a ton of analysis work waiting for me at the genetic database."

"Hey, don't go!" Chloe winked mischievously and joked, "You're an expert at sorting bone fossils!"

"There are plenty of people who can help you pick up the bones!"

Su Ming had already turned to leave, but suddenly remembered something and turned back, looking at the two of them with a hint of accusation. "I say, is this how you two act as best friends? Zijin was planning to leave without saying goodbye, and you didn't even give me a heads-up?"

"It's my fault," Stacy explained apologetically. "Judging from the way you looked, I figured you wouldn't be fully awake until the next evening—so I planned to talk to you then."

"You should thank me," Chloe chuckled. "That idea of 'going to find you, have a big fight to create conflict, and then take the opportunity to leave' was my suggestion to Zijin." She shrugged, a hint of admiration in her tone. "And you actually saw through it! Well done!"

"..."

****

A slightly noisy sound came from outside the cave, growing louder as it approached. The sound was somewhat like the heavy footsteps of a dragon, but Su Ming quickly scanned the cave and found that Lanmo was still safely in the nest, intently gesturing with his claws as if he were playing a game.

On one side of the nest, a large area of the vertical rock wall has been cleared out and its surface has been carefully painted a smooth white, becoming a "giant screen" exclusively for the dragon. At this moment, light and shadow flow under the effect of the projector.

Su Ming turned his head and saw another Blue Dragon step into the space.

This newcomer was much older than Lanmo. Time had etched deep wrinkles on his dark blue dragon scales, with frost from the outside world accumulating within them. But this did not diminish his imposing presence; on the contrary, it added to his weathered and vigorous appearance.

The aged Blue Dragon's sharp gaze first fell on Stacy, and its deep voice rolled like muffled thunder. "Hello, Indigo Kite!"

"Hello!" Stacy nodded in response.

"Do you know this person?" Chloe asked Stacy in a low voice.

"We've never met," Stacy replied softly. "However, I've healed Dragon Race a few times, so it's not surprising that they know me and I don't know them."

The Blue Dragon strode forward with steady steps. Su Ming stepped forward and introduced himself, "Hello, I am Su Ming."

Chloe bowed slightly in greeting. "Hello, I'm Chloe."

"My name is... Lanlie!" Blue Dragon Lanlie nodded slightly, stating his name with a heavy, oppressive tone in his voice.

His gaze lingered briefly on Su Ming before turning to Lanmo's direction. He saw Lanmo facing a huge projection, waving his claws excitedly in the air and flapping his wings occasionally, completely focused.

Lanlie turned his dragon head towards Stacy, his tone clearly confused, "Lanmo, did Yinfei damage his brain?"

"No, his mind is as sharp as ever..." Stacy replied quickly, wisely swallowing the word "lie."

Lanlie said no more, his massive body strode to Lanmo's side in a few steps, and his frost-covered giant claws lashed out without hesitation—

"Bang!" Caught off guard, Lanmo was slapped so hard he fell to the ground.

Lanmo was stunned for a moment, then shook his head, only to realize with surprise that a giant dragon exuding a familiar aura had appeared in the cave. He looked closely and immediately recognized it, just about to open his mouth to greet it...

"Buzz!" An invisible ripple spread out, precisely sealing his throat.

"You greet your elders like this when they visit?!" Lanlie's authoritative voice carried a reprimand.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I... I got too engrossed in the game!" Lanmo quickly got up.

Then, Lanlie began to inquire in detail about Yinfei. As Lanmo recounted the story, Lanlie's frost-covered brows furrowed even more tightly, and the anger in his dragon eyes was like thunderclouds about to erupt.

"Yinfei! How could you be so vicious!" Finally, Lanlie let out a furious roar that shook the cave walls, and a torrent of icy dragon breath erupted from him.

****

Su Ming had already heard the whole story from Zijin, so he didn't intend to hear it again. He left the cave and came to the open area outside.

The sorting of Lanmo's treasure is more than half complete. Among the mountain of collectibles, nearly a quarter are various minerals that shimmer with different lusters, which are quite useful.