Aircraft

A scene of apocalypse lay before her.

A vast cloud of thick smoke swallowed the entire sky, pressing heavily toward the ground. Deep within the billowing smoke and dust, a volcano was faintly visible, scarlet magma spraying wildly from its peak.

Magma erupted into the air, staining the sky a dark red. Scorching fireballs crashed to the ground and spread like rivers, devouring everything in their path. Heat rose in waves, twisting the distant scenery into shimmering ripples.

Luo Ruzhuo felt as though she had returned to the beginning of the apocalypse in her previous life.

The ground beneath her feet shook violently. She had just steadied herself.

A huge mass of red flame hurtled straight at her at tremendous speed. Before Luo Ruzhuo could make it out, searing pain struck her head and face, instantly ejecting her consciousness from Xianzhu's mental domain.

Luo Ruzhuo's eyes flew open.

The area around her eyes burned slightly, and the pain nearly brought her to tears. Her body instinctively recoiled, and she clutched her head, gasping for breath.

The dragon in front of her was like a child who had done something wrong. Its rough skin rubbed gently against her hand, as if asking whether she was all right.

Luo Ruzhuo shook her head slightly.

She pulled her consciousness away from the lingering pain and gradually calmed herself.

She had been too rash after all.

Since coming to this world, her mental power ability had worked so smoothly that she hadn't expected to stumble with Xianzhu.

But on second thought, it seemed only natural. If one of this world's top Dark Sentinels could really be purified so easily, someone would have succeeded by now. With that thought, she soon came to terms with it.

The real problem now was that her mental entity had yet to mature.

The Insect Jade was very effective, but nowhere near enough—she needed more things that could promote her mental entity's growth and development.

Luo Ruzhuo silently made plans.

After today's purification ended, Luo Ruzhuo emerged from the purification room visibly exhausted.

Lin Sheng and Liu Sui both turned worried gazes on her.

Lin Sheng handed her a bottle of mental power growth potion, while Liu Sui offered her the cookies he had made in advance. "Thanks for your hard work," they said in unison.

Luo Ruzhuo had already wanted something to eat while she was inside, so she didn't stand on ceremony. She drank the mental power potion like water and ate all the cookies with it.

"These are pretty good. You can send some into the purification room tomorrow."

She was working so hard; surely having a few snacks wasn't too much to ask.

The concern on their faces gave way to expressions caught between laughter and tears.

If she was still in the mood to eat, she should be fine.

Lin Sheng hadn't forgotten the scene that morning when he found that S-rank male guide from North Star lying on the purification room floor.

Purifying a Dark Sentinel was like walking a tightrope over a cliff. One could only feel one's way forward, step by step.

The two escorted her to the ground floor of her temporary quarters. Lin Sheng left, but Liu Sui remained where he was.

When Luo Ruzhuo gave him a puzzled look, he spoke. "The aircraft... I've arranged it. It should arrive at the base tonight."

He had actually planned to tell Luo Ruzhuo after the aircraft arrived. Although Liu Sui didn't think Liu Qing could possibly be faster than him, he decided to tell Luo Ruzhuo in advance, just in case.

Luo Ruzhuo was a little surprised. She smiled and said, "Looks like you're determined to get on my temporary sentinel list."

Liu Sui's long silver hair hung down in front of him, and the tips of his ears were slightly red.

Suddenly, her optical computer chimed. After the guide in front of him read the message, her smile grew even wider.

Luo Ruzhuo pointed at the contact screen on her optical computer, where the name was listed as Liu Qing. Beaming, she said in surprise, "Twins really are in sync. Don't you and your brother have telepathy? The message he sent was exactly the same as what you said, word for word."

Aside from online, Luo Ruzhuo had never seen twins in real life, so she was astonished by how in sync they were.

Perhaps it wasn't a coincidence—she suddenly thought of the two layers of mental barriers in Liu Qing's mind when he was fighting the impact of the contaminated mental power. Was it possible that Liu Sui and Liu Qing could share a mental domain?

Liu Sui watched her silently, as though accepting her guess. His expression was peculiar, showing an awkward understanding, as if things had turned out just as he had expected.

He said helplessly, "My aircraft will only arrive faster than his."

Even Liu Sui didn't quite believe it when he said it. But he didn't want to admit in front of the guide that he and Liu Qing had tied in their contest; that would leave him feeling a little frustrated.

"All right, all right." Luo Ruzhuo's eyes curved with her smile. "I believe you."

Whoever it was, she was about to own a brand-new aircraft.

Her good mood lasted until Luo Ruzhuo had finished showering. Water streamed from the top of her head down her back, and its cool warmth washed away the lingering burn in her mental domain.

She dried her hair and sat on the edge of the bed, opening her optical computer. Humming a tune, she searched for the rare materials needed for a mental entity to grow.

The search results soon appeared. Mental entity growth potion, A-rank: three million star coins per vial. Crystal Essence Energy Stone: ten million apiece, but unavailable even at that price. Insect Jade shot straight into the hundreds of millions, with a note underneath: "Available only at auction." Luo Ruzhuo scrolled down and checked the records of past auction sales. The prices were just as high, if not higher.

Still hoping to obtain a second piece of Insect Jade, Luo Ruzhuo checked her account balance: ...

Sorry, she had been aiming too high.

Even though Liu Qing hadn't said anything, Luo Ruzhuo had taken the initiative to send his transfer back, then blocked him from making any more transfers to her. Including the payments the Firmament Squad made at each milestone, Luo Ruzhuo's account held, at most, a seven-figure sum. If the Firmament Squad hadn't provided it, she couldn't even have afforded the lowest-grade mental power growth potion.

Luo Ruzhuo closed the shopping page and searched the auction house for the Feier Family's "list of items consigned for auction" instead. Sure enough, it didn't show much information. Undiscouraged, she turned to the controlling shareholder section for Ankang Pharmaceuticals and searched the Feier Family's corporate reports and the public disclosures of family assets in its tender documents.

She clicked in, found the collectibles section, and scrolled through fewer than three pages before finding the information she wanted.

The public listing naturally didn't state the exact storage location. Luo Ruzhuo had none of the original owner's memories concerning the Feier Family; she needed more information.

Her optical computer chimed again. Messages had come from Liu Sui and Liu Qing at the same time: "Confirmed, eight tonight. Come to the base's auxiliary landing pad."

That night, two small stealth aircraft landed on Planet b-475's auxiliary landing pad at the same time.

When Luo Ruzhuo arrived, Liu Qing and Liu Sui were staring at each other, invisible sparks flying through the air between them.

Luo Ruzhuo ignored the twins. She crouched beside an aircraft, touching it here and tapping it there, her eyes full of excitement and curiosity.

Hearing her, Liu Qing was the first to look away and come over to her. Today he wasn't wearing his black combat uniform, but a set of dark gray casual clothes. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his lean forearms.

"The latest civilian stealth aircraft. Its surface has a transparent protective coating. Its radar cross section is equivalent to a seabird's. The navigation system can connect to any nonmilitary interstellar route." As he spoke, he opened the aircraft's hatch and stepped aside to let Luo Ruzhuo look in. "I had a friend modify the interior and add an emergency automated first-aid module. If you're being tracked, there's a countermeasure launcher on the underside."

Luo Ruzhuo took the aircraft key and spun it around her fingertip. "Not bad."

Liu Sui walked over and placed another key in Luo Ruzhuo's hand. He led her to the other aircraft, opened its hatch, and likewise explained its features to her. At the end, he didn't forget to emphasize, "Mine is better."

Honestly, Luo Ruzhuo couldn't tell what the difference between the two aircraft was.

Their performance and models were identical, and even the ideas behind their interior modifications were similar.

If she had to name a difference, it was the color-one had a silver interior, and the other had a black one.

Only children made choices.

Looking at their equally expectant gazes, Luo Ruzhuo swept an arm out. "Great, I'll take them both."