“Sure, I’m actually hungry,” Anvil said, rubbing his stomach.
“Then I’ll go…”
Zi Jiu smiled and stood up, intending to prepare dinner. She was always responsible for the team’s meals.
But she had only taken a few steps after turning around when a clear, strange *creak* echoed from Lin Zhen’s room.
Everyone turned their heads again, and this time… it was for real!
Liquid iron flowed out from the door crack like ink, covering everyone’s neck collars and wristwatches, completely shielding their signals.
Immediately after, the door opened with a *creak*.
An exhausted-looking Lin Zhen walked straight out, followed by Genbeier and Guan Kelai.
He looked at the group, his gaze lingering on Yun Ruoxi for a moment longer than the others. Then, as if nothing had happened, he flashed a smile.
“Everything is ready. It’s time to go home, everyone!”
“I’ve finally been waiting for this.”
Kaos stood up and was the first to walk toward Lin Zhen. As he passed him to enter the room, he asked with a laugh, “I completed the mission perfectly. My room on the spaceship should be pretty big, right?”
“Uh, it’s pretty big.”
Lin Zhen rubbed his nose, feeling too embarrassed to say that the spaceship was very simple and had no private rooms at all.
But since there were no private rooms, the only large room belonged to everyone, so it could technically count as Kaos having a large room.
[What kind of Lao Lin relativity is this? I’m dying of laughter.]
[My house is quite big, you’re all welcome to come play!]
[Ah, Brother Zhen, don’t!]
“You’ve worked hard, Brother Zhen!” Zi Jiu said as she passed him.
Seeing his bloodshot eyes, she said with concern, “Why don’t you rest for a bit before we set off? The disguise plan was a success, and the battle camp hasn’t discovered us yet.”
“We can’t gamble on that,” Lin Zhen said, shaking his head. “Once they find out, they’ll move with the force of thunder to stop us. As long as the spaceship takes off, I can rest on board. It’ll be the same.”
“The window of opportunity is very important. We must seize it.”
After Zi Jiu entered the room, Yun Ruoxi pulled Aili along at a jog and hugged Lin Zhen directly.
“Brother Zhen!”
She buried her head in Lin Zhen’s chest, took a deep breath, and then looked up with a brilliant smile. “You actually fulfilled your previous promise!”
A promise?
Lin Zhen was slightly stunned, but he quickly realized that Yun Ruoxi was referring to the lie he had told when they first met.
‘In order to be together in the next life, we have to go home. Even if we die, we should die by our family’s side.’
‘I really have no way to tell…’
He smiled and patted Yun Ruoxi’s head, but deep in his pupils, there was only a sense of calm and sorrow.
After learning everything from Guan Kelai, he could no longer interact with Yun Ruoxi with his previous mindset.
He didn’t know if she was good or bad, or if she had truly been released from the mind control.
Looking at Yun Ruoxi, he couldn’t help but wonder: ‘Is this her true face? Are these her sincere words? Or is that violent side her true self?’
Regardless, Lin Zhen’s feelings for Yun Ruoxi remained. Even if Yun Ruoxi was truly brainwashed and everything over the past few months had been a disguise, he would find a way to fix her.
As long as they left the battle camp, there would be a chance!
“Go on in,” Lin Zhen said with a smile.
[Lao Lin is starting to act, too.]
[These old veterans of acting can handle anything. Lao Lin and Lao Xi are competing with their acting skills to conquer the director.]
[I’m dying. They truly belong together; this couple’s acting skills are top-tier.]
“Okay!” Yun Ruoxi pulled Aili toward the room.
As she passed Genbeier and Guan Kelai, her steps suddenly paused, and she glanced up at them. It wasn’t until Guan Kelai gave a slight nod that she continued inside.
“Thank you!” Aili turned back to thank Lin Zhen.
Yun Che watched Yun Ruoxi and Aili jump down into the pit before standing up and walking to Lin Zhen’s side. He spoke softly.
“Watch out for Xiao Xi! She’s not right.”
[If you ask me, isn’t Lao Che reliable?]
[He’s definitely reliable. He’s the only sober person left, very rational.]
Lin Zhen’s gaze narrowed slightly, and he gave a soft hum of acknowledgment.
“Brother Zhen, after we leave here, I want you to come play at my place!” Anvil stood up and walked over.
“No problem.”
Lin Zhen patted Anvil’s shoulder and agreed immediately. Then he turned to close the door and jumped into the pit with Anvil, heading toward the spaceship located inside the meteorite.
***
After everyone left, the entire residence suddenly became desolate.
Six chairs were scattered near the round table, and several cups of tea were still releasing steam.
But soon, a figure appeared outside the window, blocking the orange-red light of the sunset from entering the room.
[Wait, there’s someone else?]
[Flame star?]
She climbed through the window, picked up a cup of tea to inspect it, and then her gaze fell on the locked door. She walked over and gave it a forceful push.
*Snap!*
After a crisp sound, the door was torn right off its hinges. She leaned the door panel gently against the wall and walked inside. The dim sunset light from the window illuminated her face.
She had fiery red hair, a delicate face, and eyes that carried a hint of heroism and a stubborn refusal to lose. It was Scarlet, the girl who had met Lin Zhen and Yun Ruoxi during the first Yearly Assessment.
[Who are you?]
[Isn’t this the red-haired loli Scarlet? The one who kept watching Lao Xi in the Second Episode and met them in the Mistveil Forest in Episode 5? She’s grown so tall.]
[To the person above, how do you remember everyone?]
Scarlet walked to the pit in the room. Recalling the words someone had said to her that day, she jumped straight in.
She walked along the passage for a while until the area ahead suddenly opened up.
But before she could clearly see everything in the space, a figure suddenly lunged from the shadow behind her. A dagger was pressed against her neck, and she was roughly pulled back.
“Don’t move!” Yun Che said coldly. “Scarlet from Class 10? How long have you been stalking us?”
Scarlet raised her hands and said calmly, “I want to meet A Zhen and Xinglan.”
“This isn’t a place you should be, and it’s not a matter of meeting whoever you want! Come with me!” Yun Che barked.
If he hadn’t reacted quickly and let Scarlet go any further, everything they had planned would have been exposed to the battle camp’s surveillance.
One had to know that the positive-negative warp engine had not yet been fully installed, and Lin Zhen still needed a final bit of time for calibration. If the battle camp discovered all of this prematurely, it would be a disaster!
Given the circumstances, there was no way he could agree to Scarlet’s request.
“Don’t be so nervous. I’ve already shielded my neck collar and wristwatch signals. The battle camp won’t know anything that happens here,” Scarlet explained.
“Besides, if I really had any ill will toward you, the people appearing here wouldn’t be me, but the battle camp commandants!”
The corners of her mouth curled up slightly as she pushed down on Yun Che’s dagger.
“Am I right, everyone who is planning to build a spaceship and escape?”
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