"Huff... why are there still people wandering around Cloudford at this hour?"
Seemingly concerned for the duo's safety, the brown-haired Cloud Knight girl quickly hurried over, pulling the golden-haired man beside her along.
"Um... Miss Cloud Knight?"
Lynelle pointed behind Sushang: "When you said 'people wandering around'... did you mean these big guys with branches growing on them?"
"What branches... Whoa!"
The somewhat scatterbrained girl turned her head blankly, only then noticing the large group of Cloud Knights who had gathered due to their shouting—all of them Mara-struck.
"Ay..."
Before Sushang could react, a sharp spear had already been hurled fiercely by Dan Heng.
Then, the young man transformed into a blue shadow following the spear, adeptly blocking two approaching monsters for Sushang.
As for why he was so practiced... let's just say, cleaning up after little March 7th had built some serious muscle memory.
"Whew, gave me quite a fright. I actually didn't notice these guys creeping up... If mom found out, I'd probably be stuck with punishment drills all afternoon."
After swiftly dealing with the nearby monsters, Sushang wiped her sweat with a hint of lingering fear.
"Ahem... Miss Sushang."
Luocha nearby spoke with some helplessness: "Actually, I reminded you just now, but... you didn't seem to hear."
"Cough, cough, must've been too focused... And you."
Seemingly trying to change the subject, Sushang looked toward Dan Heng: "Your Cloud Knight spear technique is pretty skilled. Which unit are you from?"
"...I'm not a Cloud Knight. I taught myself."
After a moment's silence, Dan Heng thought of Lynelle's earlier assessment and decisively gave a reason that sounded rather unreliable.
"Self-taught?"
Sushang blinked: "Then you've got quite the talent! Want to give enlistment a try? I can recommend you!"
"That won't be necessary... I've heard joining the Cloud Knights requires some strict checks, especially regarding background. My friend here... he probably wouldn't pass the political screening."
Seeing Dan Heng's apparent difficulty dealing with this overly familiar girl, Lynelle stepped forward with a smile to interject.
But she wasn't exactly lying—after all, Dan Heng truly wouldn't pass the screening. And... if asked which unit he belonged to, well, the 'Cloud Quintet' probably counts as a 'unit,' right?
"Is that so... then there's nothing to be done."
Sushang spread her hands: "My name's Sushang, recently transferred here from Yaoqing. He's Luocha, a merchant who unfortunately got stuck here too."
"And you two? How should I address you?"
"I'm Dan Heng, just an ordinary person. I was supposed to meet up with friends, but didn't expect to run into the lockdown here."
Saying this, Dan Heng glanced at Lynelle: "She's..."
Ahem! "My name is Otto Apocalypse."
Lynelle rather proudly put her hands on her hips. The fake name she'd thought up earlier was finally coming in handy:
"Consider me Dan Heng's friend. We're traveling together."
"...?"
Luocha's gaze immediately shifted to Lynelle with shock and suspicion.
However, this glance proved consequential—as his eyes swept over Lynelle's form, his expression turned as if he'd seen a ghost, his face twisting oddly as he stared at her several times.
This reaction was hardly surprising. After all, hearing such a familiar name suddenly in a foreign land where no one knew his identity would make anyone suspect it was some kind of test aimed at him.
The subsequent shock was even easier to explain—as a follower of the Path of Abundance, Luocha's familiarity with the human body far surpassed that of ordinary people.
But what was Lynelle's current situation? She—had no body.
Yes, just like a video game character model, Lynelle's data avatar consisted only of an outer "shell"—the inside was completely empty.
If one had to specify, there was also Dan Heng's phone inside her. This was why Lynelle had previously told Dan Heng she was quite fragile.
But to someone unaware of the truth, this looked exactly like a skin moving around on its own... which was utterly terrifying, especially with evening approaching—a scene so eerie it would fit right into a horror movie.
"Oh... Dan Heng and... uh, Ot-what was it?"
Sushang's lip twitched. That convoluted name of Lynelle's was pure torture for someone of her limited education.
"Never mind, I'll just call you Silent but Deadly and Pink Puffball. Hope you don't mind!"
After thinking hard for a moment and confirming she really couldn't wrap her head around Lynelle's name, Sushang decisively gave up:
"Come on, follow me. We'll go this way. If we're lucky, we might find a Starskiff once we get through this container area."
"Don't mind at all..."
Lynelle quickly caught up: "By the way, Sushang, why has Cloudford been completely locked down now?"
"It's not just Cloudford. All the peripheral realms of the Luofu, plus some major ports, have been completely sealed off."
Sushang shook her head: "Right now, I reckon only delves like Fyxestroll Garden and the Aurum Alley haven't been locked down yet."
"As for the reason... the higher-ups say someone brought a big bomb aboard the Xianzhou. Until they locate both the person and the bomb, the lockdown is the best option."
"Though I don't really get why they're making such a huge production out of it."
Once she started on this topic, Sushang grew animated again:
"If this were still Yaoqing, just a few realms—General Feixiao could probably comb through them all during her morning exercises... Not that I'm saying General Jing Yuan of the Luofu is bad! Their approaches are just different, I guess?"
"A bomb..."
Lynelle felt this was a bit hard to swallow, simultaneously shooting a discreet glance at Luocha.
After all, the thing in his coffin could only be described as having a 'slight advantage' in destructive power compared to a bomb:
"Could this be the Luofu's version of a 'gas explosion'?"
"Gas explosion?"
"Yeah, the standard excuse officials use where I'm from to brush off the public. Whether it's a single room or a whole city—when something goes wrong, it's always a gas explosion. So lazy."
"Perhaps it's not laziness."
Luocha interjected then: "After all, such a flimsy excuse could also serve as a warning to the observant."
"You mean... Oh! That actually makes sense."
After Lynelle's reminder, Sushang looked suddenly enlightened, but then quickly schooled her expression: "Ahem, I'm sure the higher-ups have their reasons... We shouldn't speculate recklessly."
"But, Luocha and Miss Pinky, where did you two pick up all this strange knowledge anyway?"
"I am but a humble traveling merchant. One learns less common things when journeying far and wide."
"As for this Lady Otto... uh..."
Luocha's expression turned somewhat strange.
After all, traveling alongside such a 'bizarre' existence and having to call her 'Lady Otto'... was really rather difficult for him to adjust to.
Ahem! "If you have trouble with that, you can call me Lynelle."
Lynelle said cheerfully: "That's the localized name I usually use."
"Though, Mr. Luocha, you seemed to have quite a strange reaction to that cumbersome name. Something on your mind?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.