Inside the Rhombus Base.
Yun Ruoxi quietly followed behind Instructor Xiaguang, her footsteps unconsciously lightening.
They passed through the corridors, past the dormitory area and the mess hall, step by step approaching the inner part of the base that had never been open to the trainees before.
The trainees they passed all showed expressions of surprise.
Most likely because this was the first time a trainee had been taken away directly by an instructor in broad daylight!
“Alin, look over there! Just coming out of the mess hall!” Zi Jiu’s sharp eyes spotted the distant figure and hurriedly nudged Lin Zhen with his elbow.
“That’s…” Lin Zhen stepped out of the mess hall a moment too late, only catching Yun Ruoxi’s back.
Recalling yesterday’s conversation, he instinctively thought she had finally gathered the courage to seek help, and a trace of relief curved his lips.
But at this moment, the camera cut to a close-up of Yun Ruoxi.
The girl’s face was icy and stern, starkly different from her usual kind and cute expression.
“It’s rare to see Xiao Xi show this kind of expression, so uneasy desu.”
“Hey, you just said desu, didn’t you?”
“But this kind of Xiao Xi is really cool and cute too.”
Yun Ruoxi and Xiaguang’s figures gradually vanished into the depths of the corridor.
Lin Zhen stretched lazily and turned his head with a smile:
“Let’s go, keep going to the extra training session, the annual assessment isn’t far off.”
“Let’s go!”
“Tonight, I’m going for a winning streak!”
Amid laughter, the protagonist group headed toward the other end of the corridor.
The anime-style camera cleverly shifted at this moment, panning through the entire wall, capturing both parties heading in opposite directions within the same frame.
One side moved toward the brightly lit training room on the edge of the base.
The other followed the instructor, deeper into the base, swallowed by unfathomable darkness.
“This framing is amazing, it gives me goosebumps.”
“No way, this composition is a clear foreshadowing, right?”
“This is even more intense than the male lead, the wife is in trouble and he’s still smiling like an idiot—what kind of super intuition is that?”
“Don’t tell me the annual assessment is going to target Xiao Xi again?”
“Information gap, the male lead and others didn’t see Xiao Xi’s expression, otherwise, they wouldn’t be so calm.”
Their eyes swept through the scrolling comments, lingering on the screen for several seconds.
Yun Ruoxi pursed her lips slightly, then looked up at the five-meter-high arched alloy door ahead.
Instructor Xiaguang stood by the door, speaking coldly: “Go in.”
“Mm.”
Yun Ruoxi stepped to the door.
She called out.
The tall and solid alloy door silently slid open, revealing not the scene she had imagined.
But… a banquet?
The room’s décor was classically luxurious, completely unlike the cold, high-tech style of the Rhombus Base.
A ten-meter-long oval wooden table sat in the center, piled high with dazzling delicacies.
The Overlord sat at the head of the table, clad in battle armor, flanked by the instructors she had seen in the war camp.
Compared to the Overlord’s massive frame, the instructors at the lower end of the table appeared small.
Yun Ruoxi was slightly stunned, gently pushed inside by Xiaguang.
Behind her, the door closed silently, isolating all faint sounds from the corridor’s end.
Clatter…
The banquet hall fell silent except for the sound of the Overlord’s knife and fork striking the plate.
He watched Xiaguang take a seat at the vacant spot, then put down his utensils and showed a smile that could be called friendly:
“You’ve worked hard.”
Xiaguang gave a cold, indifferent “hm.”
Then the Overlord turned to Yun Ruoxi, or rather, finally looked at her, the corner of his lips curling with a meaningful smile:
“Miss Nightlan… it’s been a while.”
Creak, creak…
Yun Ruoxi’s hands dropped tightly at her sides, her cold gaze locked onto the Overlord.
She fought the urge to curse him silently.
In the original story, there was no scene where the Overlord came to the war camp to look for her on the eve of the annual assessment.
Or perhaps it did happen, but the rough outline never mentioned it.
The system’s outline was mainly from Lin Zhen’s perspective, so it didn’t bother with minor events unrelated to major plotlines.
Yun Ruoxi couldn’t predict how this would unfold, nor gauge how tolerant the Overlord would be toward her.
She couldn’t die before her revenge was complete.
So she controlled her anger, remaining silent to see what the Overlord wanted from her.
“The Miss really doesn’t give any face, huh?”
The Overlord shook his head with a sigh, speared a piece of steak from his plate, stuffed it into his mouth, then lazily pointed the fork toward the empty seat at the end of the long table, mumbling indistinctly:
“Sit down. Miss, don’t be so hostile to me. It’s been a year since we last met, I’m just here to see how you’re doing.”
Yun Ruoxi’s breathing quickened slightly but she turned and sat down.
“Hahaha.” The Overlord laughed heartily, “It really takes the war camp to tame you, Miss. You’ve become so obedient. Looks like sparing your life back then was a wise decision!”
Yun Ruoxi sat silently, her gaze involuntarily falling on the plate before her.
The medium-rare roast meat was oily and juicy, releasing a mouthwatering aroma.
Gurgle…
Having eaten raw meat for a year, even someone with Yun Ruoxi’s strong will couldn’t help but salivate and have her stomach growl at the sight of cooked food.
“Eat up. I heard you haven’t had any good food in the war camp. This was specially prepared for you.” The Overlord wore a smug smile.
Is this just to mock me… Yun Ruoxi couldn’t figure out the Overlord’s intentions.
But she could choose not to eat and avoid humiliation.
“Cough, cough…” Instructor Behemoth suddenly coughed twice. “Overlord, the war camp’s rules can’t be broken.”
“She’s still not allowed to eat cooked food.”
“Is that so…” The Overlord, publicly contradicted, didn’t look angry but laughed heartily instead. “Haha, I’ve been away from the war camp too long, I actually forgot that. My bad.”
“In that case, remove it and give her raw meat instead.”
With those words, a servant emerged from the dark corner, expertly removing Yun Ruoxi’s plate and replacing it with an iron basin full of raw meat.
Already prepared?
Witnessing this, Yun Ruoxi vaguely felt the Overlord and the war camp weren’t truly allies… there was some tension between them.
“Now you can eat, right?”
The Overlord propped his cheek with one hand, smiling warmly at Yun Ruoxi, as if this visit was just to watch her eat.
Yun Ruoxi glanced at Instructors Behemoth and Xiaguang.
After receiving their tacit nods, she silently picked up the knife and fork, cutting off a piece of raw meat.
Just as she was about to put it into her mouth, the Overlord suddenly raised his hand to stop her.
Yun Ruoxi now knew the show was about to begin.
“Wait, I brought some precious spices this time, why not add them for Miss?”
Saying this, the Overlord casually tossed a small golden bottle, which landed precisely beside Yun Ruoxi’s iron basin.
Precious spices?
Yun Ruoxi stiffened, her fingers trembling as she picked up the Golden Spice Bottle.
She unscrewed the cap.
The moment she saw what was inside, her breath stopped.
Inside the small bottle, no bigger than a pepper shaker, lay a layer of fine blue-purple powder no thicker than a fingernail.
At first glance, the blue-purple powder looked ordinary.
But looking closer, faint stars flowed across its surface—it was Nightlan Petal Powder!