The level of aggression is a bit… low.
Shen Ning thought she must have misheard at first and turned to look at the window.
She saw that the Sexually Repressed Shadow seemed to have the same thought.
“Strange situation, did Chuyao change her personality?”
“Want to hold hands? If not, forget it.”
Xu Chuyao reached out her little hand, but then instantly pulled it back like lightning, sitting on the other side with a bright laugh, and even winked to see if Shen Ning was angry.
Seeing this display, Shen Ning and the shadows finally understood—Chuyao had been scared out of her wits.
“Sigh, seeing ghosts in every shadow.” The Broken Shadow sighed deeply, “Shouldn’t have, shouldn’t have.”
It’s all your fault for being too rough, now you’ve scared Chuyao, and you’ll never see that lively, adorable Chuyao again.
“Go on, cry all you want, but do you really think Chuyao is the type to stay scared forever?” The Sexually Repressed Shadow sneered, “Just wait, it won’t be long before she thinks she’s fine again.”
Other people remember the sweet but forget the pain, Chuyao forgets the pain but only remembers the sweet.
Xu Chuyao tentatively tried again, seeing that Shen Ning didn’t react and that her Villain Value didn’t increase, she was disappointed but also a little relieved, then picked up her phone to get down to business.
[Chuyao Doesn’t Want to Eat Her Fingers: Notice, the introduction to this trip’s destination has been uploaded to the group files. Anyone interested can download and check it out.]
Destination introduction?
Shen Ning was the first to download and check it out.
This time, the main city they were headed to was called Yaha City—the Yaha from the Yaha Bi Consortium.
Back when the main city was established, the Yaha Bi Consortium made many contributions, including but not limited to a massive investment and factory construction, making a significant contribution to the city’s founding and prosperity. That’s why the city was named after them.
As one of the three mining giants, compared to the Rockmorgan Family and the Chen Family, the Yaha Bi Consortium possessed even richer natural resources, which made their style starkly different from the other two.
The Rockmorgan Family focused on scientific research, increasing profits by advancing technology.
The Chen Family specialized in civilian and retail sectors, striving to expand their market in household and personal domains.
In contrast, the Yaha Bi Consortium took a much more rugged approach, putting effort into extraction. After minimal processing, raw materials could be sold in various forms, which fostered many small and medium enterprises for further processing. Their secondary production chain was well developed, and Yaha City even had a stone-gambling market reminiscent of the pre-Awakened Era.
“We’ve arrived, everyone.”
The Academy’s bus slowly pulled into Center City Airport. A not-so-large plane was parked before everyone. For many members of the Crisis Response Team, this was their first time flying, and they approached with excitement.
“It’s so big—way bigger than the bus we took.”
“We’ll be flying in this soon!”
“I heard people in the pre-Awakened Era also flew planes. They were all ordinary people—if something happened to the plane, could they survive if they bailed out?”
“No idea, but we could survive without jumping anyway.”
Listening to their chatter, Xu Chuyao suddenly couldn’t help but laugh.
That’s right. In this world, the damage from a plane crash or explosion was considered a hot weapon to Awakened, so most of the damage would be neutralized by spiritual power—a built-in injury immunity.
Everyone walked toward the plane, where a neatly dressed young man stood by the cabin door.
“Hello, Crisis Response Specialists. I am your captain for this flight, Yin Cheng. I’ll be in charge of your round trip. Wishing everyone a pleasant journey.”
After greeting everyone, he turned to Xu Chuyao and said, “Chief of Staff Xu, please come this way. Minister Long has a letter for you.”
There was no small talk in the letter—just straight to the point.
[Yaha City’s invitation was not voluntary, but made under pressure. Take note: after the ‘Academy Autonomous Combat Order’ was enforced, Yaha City was the only main city with a casualty ratio over one to one.]
The Academy Autonomous Combat Order meant that the school had to assemble student teams to fight the Clown Gang. Even after elite students joined and formed organized groups, to still be traded one-for-one with the Clown Gang’s rabble was really inexcusable.
[There are many suspicious points in their report. When asked for reasons, they dodged the questions in every way. There is no suspicion of an internal traitor, but it’s clear there must be some unspeakable reason.]
Minister Long’s speculation made sense. After all, if such a big incident was caused by a mole, unless the entire Academy and even all the city’s departments were compromised.
And if it’s not a mole, why are they hiding things?
[Therefore, your official mission is to inspect and guide work, but the real focus is not the Clown Gang, but investigating the cause of the Yaha City Academy’s failure last time.]
Xu Chuyao quietly put down the letter.
So that’s how it is. I was wondering why there was suddenly a public-funded trip.
Time off during vacation? Where would you find such a nice deal?
Captain Yin Cheng took the letter from her, walked to the side, and quietly burned it—thoroughly carrying out the “burn after reading” procedure.
“Chief of Staff Xu, we’re ready to depart.”
“Coming.”
Whatever, even if there’s no script this time, with Yaoxi knowing the world’s background and all the key characters’ strengths and weaknesses, it shouldn’t be hard to find clues.
Let’s go!
The plane took off.
It was indeed Shen Ning’s first time flying, but she really liked the feeling of her body being lifted into the sky, drifting in the air. It made her recall memories from childhood.
Simply put, not only was she not afraid, she even wanted to open the window.
“You can think about it, just don’t say it out loud,” the Sexually Repressed Shadow warned her. “Otherwise, Chuyao will laugh at you for at least half a month.”
Don’t think that just because Miss Big-Chested got scared last time, she’ll suddenly become a model citizen. A leopard can’t change its spots. Stay vigilant.
“Speaking of which, where’s Chuyao?”
Just as she finished speaking, a well-behaved, thunderous girl sat trembling beside her.
“Shen Jia, I-I-I told you, if you’re scared, you can h-h-hold my hand. I-I’ll be merciful and let you.”
Shen Ning glanced at her silently. Her pretty little face was a bit pale, and her horns trembled slightly. She said to hold hands, but her own hands were stuffed in her pockets, not coming out at all.
“Are you… afraid of flying?”
“Huh? H-h-how could I be? Why would I be afraid?” Xu Chuyao flatly denied it. “What would I be afraid of?”
Chuyao isn’t afraid of ghosts, not afraid of pain, and not afraid of flying either.
“Besides, didn’t I tell you to hold my hand? Why aren’t you holding it? What are you waiting for?”
Well, why don’t you take your hands out of your pockets first?
Shen Ning’s lips twitched, but seeing her girlfriend wouldn’t realize this anytime soon, she just reached out and pulled her girlfriend into her arms.
“Wh-what are you doing? I told you to hold my hand, why are you hugging me, you pervert…”
Xu Chuyao grumbled, but Shen Ning said, “If you don’t like it, get up yourself.”
“Fine…”
Then I’ll just lie here. It’s not safe to sit alone on a plane anyway.
The plane flew into the clouds. The distance between the two main cities wasn’t too far, so it wouldn’t take long to arrive.
Shen Ning looked out the window. The clouds were soft under her feet.
Her girlfriend was soft too, nestled in her arms.
A soft voice came from her embrace—
“Shen Jia…”
“Hmm?”
“Why aren’t you afraid of flying? You’ve never flown before.”
“I haven’t, but I had a similar experience when I was a kid.”
Xu Chuyao blinked curiously. “When you were a kid, someone tossed you in the air like a ball?”
The Sexually Repressed Shadow was right—a leopard can’t change its spots. Chuyao just can’t stop being a troublemaker.
“Hey, I was just kidding, why so serious?”
Xu Chuyao noticed that the girl’s arms around her were clenched into little fists. The memories from a few days ago surged up, and she quickly changed her attitude.
“So, so, what kind of similar experience did you have as a kid?”
“It’s nothing much. I just rode a minecart down a really steep track from a high place.”
When Shen Ning was little, the No. 13 Mining District was thriving, with new mines opening every day. There was one place where, for convenience, the minecart tracks had a huge slope. Any adult riding would be thrown right out.
Young Shen Ning, thanks to her tiny body, got her first job there. She still remembered curling up in the minecart, feeling it bumping down the steep tracks, and the wind whistling past her ears.
Was it wonderful? Not exactly. Anyway, it wasn’t as nice as flying on a plane with a fragrant, soft girlfriend in her arms.
“Your girlfriend wasn’t even really listening,” the Sexually Repressed Shadow reminded her. “She zoned out halfway and started playing on her phone. Shouldn’t you teach her a lesson, so she’ll listen properly next time?”
“That’s not true,” the Broken Shadow quickly explained. “She listened to about ninety percent, only checked her phone for the last few words.”
“Yeah, right.”
The Sexually Repressed Shadow’s excessive criticism failed, and the Broken Shadow’s whitewashing wasn’t entirely successful either.
Shen Ning peeked over. Her girlfriend’s phone was open to a document image.
Well, at least she’s reading official documents—probably related to business. Most importantly, she’s not chatting with anyone else.
“Exactly,” the Broken Shadow chimed in, “Chuyao must have something important to do. She didn’t ignore you on purpose.”
The Sexually Repressed Shadow, furious, punched the glass—like a gust of wind blowing outside the plane, it had absolutely no effect on the plane or anyone inside.
“Just you wait. One day, when Chuyao’s lying in bed, making you do all the work while she plays on her phone, you’ll realize you were wrong.”
In fact, Xu Chuyao really was handling business, reading an important document.
[To counter the Clown Gang’s frenzied attacks, the Zhenling Academy in Yaha City assembled a twenty-member elite student team. With advance intel, they besieged more than a dozen Clown Gang members at Yaha Tower. But the result was less than ideal: although all the enemies were wiped out, all twenty students from Zhenling Academy were also lost.]
This was the report previously submitted by Yaha City. Judging by the timing, it was around the same date as the Commerce Plaza battle in Center City.
Xu Chuyao tilted her head and glanced out the window. They were already close to Yaha City, and she could faintly see the outline of Yaha Tower.
That landmark was truly tall.
“Shen Jia.”
The girl was chatting with her shadow, when suddenly Xu Chuyao leaned in to whisper, her soft voice tickling Shen Ning’s ear—
“When we arrive, there will definitely be people waiting for us. Come with me; we’ll leave through another exit and head somewhere else first.”