“I’ll… reluctantly call you Godfather then.”
Su Aoxue felt a wave of shame after saying the word “Godfather” and awkwardly turned her head away, unable to look at Shen Yan.
Damn it. In the past, she was the one who beat Shen Yan up and forced him to call her Godfather.
This was the first time she had ever called him that!
Even back when her father went missing, her mother was gravely ill, and they were so poor they couldn’t even keep food on the table—back when Shen Yan’s family was helping them out—she had only joked that she would marry him if she were a girl.
Even then, it had been incredibly embarrassing…
As she recalled the moment Shen Yan stuffed all his secret savings into her hands after finding out her family was starving, a trace of emotion couldn’t help but well up in her heart.
She remembered that kindness deeply.
‘Wait, it seems like I actually could marry Old Shen now?’
‘Damn it, that’s not right! What am I thinking? How can I be moving myself to tears and falling for him on my own!’
Realizing her thoughts were heading in the wrong direction, Su Aoxue suddenly pinched the soft flesh at her waist.
“Hiss…”
Watching Su Aoxue inexplicably pinch herself, Shen Yan was momentarily speechless. “What’s wrong with you? Is it really that hard to call me Godfather?”
However, he had indeed accomplished something he wouldn’t have dared to dream of before—getting Su Aoxue to call him Godfather.
He supposed it fulfilled an old wish of his.
Su Aoxue didn’t respond. She certainly couldn’t argue that she was currently falling for him in her own head!
Joke’s on him; she was a real man, the pillar of her family, someone who had to support an entire household. How could she have such thoughts?
Shen Yan spoke again. “The effect of this medicinal bath is to increase the degree of fusion between your awakened Talent and your physical body. The higher the compatibility between the Talent and the body, the stronger the power you can exert.”
“Besides making the body a more perfect fit for the Talent, it also has the effect of strengthening the Talent itself. It’s the most comprehensive medicinal bath I can currently concoct. If I hadn’t run out of money, I might have been able to make something even better.”
Shen Yan’s family background wasn’t particularly good. In his past life, after entering the top-ranked Martial Arts Academy in the entire Base City, he had become even more aware of the unimaginable resources those from wealthy backgrounds possessed.
Coming from a humble background, he couldn’t afford a powerful Pharmacist to prepare customized medicine to aid his training.
The Academy only provided three opportunities to consult a top-tier Pharmacist. Out of necessity, he had chosen to teach himself.
Ultimately, during that period, the disaster’s outbreak wasn’t yet obvious, and there was no sense of crisis.
Major factions occupied various territories, constantly fighting among themselves.
Someone from a humble background like him, no matter how talented, was like an ephemeral mayfly before they could fully grow…
Fortunately, he seemed to have a knack for it, eventually becoming one of the most powerful Pharmacists.
Sadly, that only happened after Su Aoxue had passed away…
Hearing Shen Yan’s explanation, Su Aoxue froze. She gritted her teeth inwardly. ‘So that’s how it is. No wonder I’m turning into a girl faster!’
‘You really deserve to die!’
However, she had no reason to blame Shen Yan. After all, the medicinal bath’s effects were truly excellent…
Therefore… she could only seethe in silent rage!
After a moment of silence, Shen Yan’s expression turned serious. “I have something very important to tell you.”
“But before that, do you trust me? Because what I’m about to say is very serious. You might even think I’m joking or that it’s impossible, but I’m certain it’s absolutely true.”
Listening to Shen Yan’s grave tone, Su Aoxue was stunned. “What could be so serious?”
“In a few days — about six or seven… no, exactly six days from now — take your mother and sister and go to this place. Stay there for a few days. You must be at this location, do you understand?”
As Shen Yan spoke, he pulled out his phone and brought up a map of the Base City.
He pointed toward the North City Gate, his tone leaving no room for argument.
Su Aoxue looked at the North City Gate on the map, feeling dazed. “What are we going for?”
The North City Gate was extremely far from the location of the next Base City.
At the same time, there were many Grey Fog Creatures there. Usually, only members of the Hunt Team and the Guild lived in that area.
Why would she take her mother and sister to the North City Gate?
Shen Yan spoke with absolute certainty. “Because a City-Destroying Gray Mist Tide is about to break out. The Base City won’t be able to hold.”
“A… a City-Destroying Gray Mist Tide?!”
Su Aoxue was instantly dumbfounded. A City-Destroying Gray Mist Tide hadn’t occurred in nearly fifteen years!
In fact, this Base City hadn’t experienced a City-Destroying Gray Mist Tide since it was first established!
Currently, most city-destroying disasters were caused by Abyssal Creatures attacking and destroying a Base City’s primary energy supply core.
This would paralyze the entire city, making the Sky Barrier impossible to maintain.
The Base City would become uninhabitable, and people would be forced to leave for other Base Cities.
Actual casualties were usually minimal in those cases.
Furthermore, because most Base Cities in remote areas suffered from underpopulation, destroyed Base Cities wouldn’t receive resources for post-disaster reconstruction.
Instead, survivors would be relocated to nearby Base Cities.
But Grey Fog Creatures were different. They loved to slaughter…
“Whether you believe it or not, it’s the truth.”
“When the time comes, I’ll use the excuse of our families going on a trip to convince everyone…”
Seeing that Su Aoxue still seemed skeptical, Shen Yan stared into her blue eyes and asked, “You’re my brother. I wouldn’t lie to you. Besides, I’ve never lied to you before, have I?”
Su Aoxue was stunned.
Having returned from the future, Shen Yan naturally knew that the destruction of this Base City was already a fixed reality.
But at this stage, his strength was low and his words carried little weight.
He knew the credibility of such a statement was extremely low.
If he ran to the high-ranking officials and told them a City-Destroying Gray Mist Tide would appear in a few days, they probably wouldn’t believe him at all.
Instead, they would treat him like a madman.
Therefore, he could only try to persuade those close to him. That was all he could do.
As for whether they believed him, he had no other way.
But his best friend, Su Aoxue, had to believe him!
“Wait a second, let me process this.”
Su Aoxue fell into deep thought.
Thinking about the obvious changes in Shen Yan recently, Su Aoxue felt that his words were strangely credible.
“Alright, I’ll take your word for it for now. I’ll take my mother and sister there when the time comes.”
“If a City-Destroying Gray Mist Tide doesn’t happen, it’ll only be a waste of two days anyway.”
Su Aoxue counted on her fingers.
“Remember, you must go!”
Having no choice, Su Aoxue adopted a serious expression. “Fine, I will!”
“Good. All right, let’s go. You head to the training ground first. I’ll be there after I grab something.”
…
A short while later, Su Aoxue arrived at the training ground.
She didn’t choose to practice her Talent like the others, who were unleashing violent attacks on dummies.
Instead, she quietly walked to a small pavilion in a corner and sat cross-legged on a cushion.
“My chest feels so tight. I really want to let loose…” Su Aoxue pulled at her collar, whispering in discomfort.
She was still using bandages to bind her chest to make it look flat. Combined with the cover of her jacket, it made her “pecs” look less obvious.
The side effect, however, was that Su Aoxue felt like she would have trouble breathing whenever she did any strenuous exercise.
The binding was also exceptionally uncomfortable.
Experiencing this for the first time, Su Aoxue found it incredibly difficult to adjust.
But she was Su Aoxue; her adaptability was top-notch!
“Give me a few more days. Once I’m used to it, running and jumping will definitely be no problem…”
Thinking this, Su Aoxue prepared to close her eyes and practice her Visualization Concept.
Just then, she saw Shen Yan walking onto the training ground side by side with a man, seemingly in the middle of a conversation.
Su Aoxue didn’t recognize the man.
Inexplicably, she felt a bit annoyed.
Of course, she didn’t seem to realize she had this particular quirk.
In short, whenever Su Aoxue saw someone close to her walking with a stranger of the same age and appearing to have a pleasant conversation, she would feel a strange sense of discomfort.
It was particularly noticeable when it involved Shen Yan.
Knowing that everyone had their own social life, Su Aoxue suppressed her unease.
She watched for a moment and then intended to look away, as the discomfort in her heart was growing stronger.
Right then, she saw the man who had been walking beside Shen Yan suddenly leap back several steps and take an offensive stance.
No homo