Miss Nine-Colored Deer had been in Columbia for some time now.
Over time, the Nine-Colored Deer had vaguely become a part of this big family. To everyone, the Nine-Colored Deer was like an elder, very reliable, and... the food she made was genuinely delicious.
Not only was it delicious, but it also had many different effects, such as nourishing health, whitening skin, and the like.
Even.
Everyone had vaguely become somewhat inseparable from the Nine-Colored Deer. Compared to the Nine-Colored Deer's culinary skills, the skills of the master chefs outside seemed mediocre, barely edible.
However.
Lucas Reeve knew.
The Nine-Colored Deer couldn't possibly stay in Columbia for too long.
Just as they had agreed at the beginning.
The Nine-Colored Deer came to Raythean Medica to learn cutting-edge modern medicine. As a God, she believed in causality and reincarnation. As repayment, she took on the work of cooking and taking care of the child. In the future, when she had learned enough about modern medicine, it would be time for the Nine-Colored Deer to leave.
Gods have long lifespans and will basically stick to a fixed ideal. You can't expect a God to stay in one place for too long. Of course, Dusk was an exception. After all, staying home and not moving was Dusk's philosophy.
Since they had decided to find their sister Ling, they couldn't delay.
After explaining the situation to Jessica, Jessica didn't overthink it. She was just a tiny bit worried. After all, Yan was different from Columbia. Yan was truly full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Jessica was more or less worried about Lucas Reeve's safety.
Moreover.
Compared to other countries, Yan was still somewhat difficult to enter and exit. Generally, special credentials were required. Even for tourism, a special tourist permit was needed.
Yan was different from Columbia.
In Columbia, as long as you were a person with a passport, you could come in for tourism. But Yan required applying for relevant credentials in advance, and Yan's border defense and internal patrols were quite strict.
Although the name Raythean Industries wasn't that influential in Yan, it was still possible to get a legitimate trade credential.
As for the departing party.
At first, it was only Lucas Reeve, Dusk, Nian, and Surtr. But when Laurentina learned that Lucas Reeve and the others were going to Yan, she clamored to come along too.
These days.
Laurentina had been accompanying Nian, watching old movies and new movies with her.
Nian was learning, referencing, and imitating, while Laurentina was providing artistic critique. Over time, Laurentina gradually became interested in Yan, one of the most historical countries on the entire continent of Terra.
According to Laurentina.
For the world, civilization is also a form of art. These are giant artworks created by humanity over time. And the more historical a country is, the more that country is like a century-old fine wine in a cellar; the more mellow and artistic it is to drink.
As for Columbia...
Laurentina had no interest at all.
A country whose history couldn't even fill three pages in a book was like wine bought directly from a supermarket. It's drinkable, but uninteresting, and not worth savoring. Besides, Columbia's main thing was technology, but in terms of technology, Aegir was dozens of streets ahead of Columbia.
Since Laurentina wanted to go, Skadi, as Laurentina's temporary guardian, would naturally go as well.
The group was thus decided.
Lucas Reeve, Nian, Dusk, Surtr, Laurentina, and Skadi—six people in total. Three Divine Fragments, half a Divine Fragment, and two Abyssal Hunters whose strength was no less than that of Patriot during his Oripathy period. With such a lineup, Lucas Reeve felt this lineup could directly steamroll any city in a small country.
A day later.
Raythean Medica's trade credentials came through.
Lucas Reeve's group of six piloted an aircraft and left Columbia directly.
However, before heading to Yan, they swung by Rhodes Island to pick up Lucas Reeve's Doctor body. Having a body was always more convenient for doing things.
And the reason Lucas Reeve gave Kal'tsit for his leave was that he was returning to Raythean Medica for a bit; he hadn't seen Jessica for many days and missed her dearly.
Kal'tsit had no way to refuse this reason. After all, 'Doctor' had been at Rhodes Island for several months and hadn't been back once.
"Hey hey hey~ We're off~"
In the aircraft, Nian pointed her finger into the distance and said excitedly.
"I have a concern right now."
Lucas Reeve propped up his chin, frowning as he slowly said: "Tell me, with our group heading to Yan so ostentatiously, will we be identified as a dangerous force by Yan's officials?"
At first, Lucas Reeve didn't think it was a big deal. He was just accompanying Nian to visit her relatives. What was the problem?
But now that he was on the plane, thinking about it carefully, and put himself in Yan's perspective, it really seemed... not right.
From Lucas Reeve's perspective.
We're just going back to our hometown to visit relatives. What bad intentions could the six of us have?
But if you switched to Yan's perspective.
It might be.
Six nukes are strolling into the country, saying they're just going to visit another, even larger-yield nuke, and they absolutely won't cause any destruction. Such nonsense... If Yan believed that, they'd really be fools. Even if they knew Lucas Reeve was telling the truth, would Yan dare to gamble? With the weight of a nation, they would one hundred percent not dare to gamble.
"Ai~"
Nian patted Lucas Reeve's shoulder.
"You're overthinking it, Mr. Lucas Reeve."
"Or rather, you underestimate Yan too much. Yan's strength is something even we can't do anything about. Besides, you don't really think we're the only twelve Divine Fragments in Yan, do you?"
Lucas Reeve said nothing.
Nian continued on her own.
"How could there only be us few Divine Fragments? We are just fragments of Sui. And Sui was just one of the most ancient beings in the past 'True Dragon's God-Slaying Campaign'. Besides Sui, there are quite a few other Gods in Yan. The vast majority of them were driven out, some were shattered and split into Divine Fragments like us, scattered across the land of Yan, and some have stayed out of everything from the beginning, just wandering idly in Yan."
"There are far more Divine Fragments and complete Gods inside Yan than you imagine. Miss Nine-Colored Deer is one such example."
"So, don't overthink it. We're just a bunch of weak and helpless Divine Fragments plus two Abyssal Hunters. Very ordinary, very ordinary. I estimate the Yan officials won't even notice us after we enter."
"....."
Lucas Reeve said nothing.
He was now silently complaining in his heart.
What a perfect FLAG. That flag was planted beautifully.
Originally, Lucas Reeve didn't think it was a big deal, but now, after hearing Nian's self-assured analysis and habitual flag-planting, he started to get a bad feeling.
After speaking, Nian picked up a piece of tripe and dropped it into the spicy red hotpot.
Gurgle gurgle~
The red broth in the hotpot boiled, like a volcano, constantly bubbling. Countless chili peppers floated on top. After just a moment, an extremely, extremely spicy aroma filled the entire aircraft, pungent enough to sting the nose.
Hotpot?
Lucas Reeve was stunned. Not just Lucas Reeve; everyone else was stunned too.
Huh?
"When did you bring a hotpot over?"
"Hm?"
Nian dipped the tripe into the boiling broth a few times, then rolled it in the oily, spicy dipping sauce next to her, coating it in a large amount of red oil, and popped it into her mouth with great enjoyment.
"Don't I always carry one with me?"
Nian waved her hand, and another hotpot materialized and landed in the cabin. Inside the pot was the broth base, various chili peppers, and ingredients for the hotpot.
"Eat! Why aren't you guys eating? It's still several hours until we reach Yan. Eating hotpot while we chat, what a wonderful thing."
Nian gestured, scooping up a spoonful of the red broth—so spicy that just looking at it would make your butt hurt—and drank it with great relish.
"Forget it, you eat. This body of mine is quite weak; it probably can't handle this level of spiciness. I'm afraid I'll be breathing lava on the toilet tomorrow."
Lucas Reeve consciously moved away.
The Doctor's body was truly pathetic. Forget eating; this level of spiciness, many times more demonic than the devil, Lucas Reeve could clearly feel his nasal cavity burning just from smelling it.
Surtr and Dusk were even less likely to eat it. Both of them liked sweets and ice cream and were extremely opposed to Nian's demonic hotpot. Skadi didn't like it much either. Only Laurentina sat down, picked up the chopsticks and bowl Nian had prepared on the other side, and started eating.
Laurentina and Nian got along splendidly.
Their personalities were also a great match.
"By the way, I have a question."
Skadi suddenly asked. She looked a little adorably clueless.
"I remember Miss Nine-Colored Deer said that her combat power is very weak and she isn't good at fighting. Is that true?"
"Er..."
Nian and Dusk simultaneously fell silent.
Then, Nian was the first to laugh: "Tidbit, you didn't actually believe that, did you?"
"Er...."
"A complete God, no matter how weak, can't be *that* ridiculously weak. Saying something like that modestly is like... when I often say the movies I film are trash. Are they really trash? No way, I'm also just being modest."
"No... it's really trash..."
Dusk cut in directly, giving Nian no face at all.
Laurentina nodded: "It is indeed a bit trashy. But it's trashy in an artistic way. My evaluation is that it has a kind of abstract beauty."
Surtr, at the side, nodded.
As a taciturn person who didn't talk much.
When Nian had invited her to watch her old movies.
Even Surtr's eyebrows shot up while watching them, and she vaguely felt her blood pressure rising. She didn't even want to talk to Nian for a whole day.
The group chatted and laughed on the plane.
Moreover, the aircraft was very fast. After a few hours, it bypassed Lungmen, crossed the wilderness of Yan, and reached the border of Yan.
The aircraft slowly descended in a remote area of Yan's border.
Although the aircraft's flight altitude probably exceeded the maximum altitude of all current aircraft, Yan was different from Siracusa. Siracusa had no air defense surveillance capabilities whatsoever, but Yan did. As long as their aircraft reached Yan's core cities, it would almost one hundred percent be discovered. And if they were discovered like that, it would be a blatant provocation, easily leading to bad relations with all of Yan.
Therefore, Lucas Reeve chose a safer method.
He had the aircraft land in a corner, and then the group would take the Land-runner from the transport drone to their destination for this trip, Shangshu.
————————
"Mmm...."
Lin Qingyan yawned in her dormitory. Standing in front of the mirror, looking at her slightly tired self, she turned on the faucet, splashed cold water on her face, and only then felt a little more awake.
She hadn't had a peaceful night's sleep in a while.
After parting ways with Lucas Reeve and the others a few months ago, Lin Qingyan returned to the Dali Temple and resumed her daily work. And without her needing to say anything, the people from the Ministry of Rites and the Sui Regulator Commission had long known the news of that Sui Beast fragment leaving Mount Huiqi.
This was no small matter for Yan. After all.
The Sui Beast fragments were different from other ordinary Divine Fragments. The strongest three Sui Beast fragments might not even be inferior to an ordinary complete God. After all, their power came from Sui.
And the ninth and eleventh of the Sui Beast fragments had suddenly left Yan. According to subsequent intelligence, these two had gone to Columbia.
Because they were in another country.
And in the distant Columbia at that, Yan couldn't control them even if it wanted to.
Originally, the people from the Sui Regulator Commission were preparing to communicate directly with Columbia's officials and have them send the Sui Beast fragments back, after which they would suppress these two in the Sui Regulator Commission. However, this resolution was rejected by the current Grand Tutor. The verbal edict given by the Grand Tutor at the time was.
Let nature take its course.
And to prevent the same thing from happening again, the Ministry of Rites and the Sui Regulator Commission naturally increased the number of personnel stationed near the other known locations of Sui Beast fragments.
Lin Qingyan, because of her Master's connections, also went to Shangshu as a member of the Dali Temple to assist in monitoring the Sui Beast fragment present in the Shangshu area. Of course, Lin Qingyan was also temporarily serving in Shangshu.
In reality.
Lin Qingyan knew that with her Master's connections, it was unlikely she would really stay in the Dali Temple in the future. She would most likely end up in the Ministry of Rites, working on matters related to Behemoths. This was probably an internship.
After quickly washing her face.
Lin Qingyan walked out of her residence. Recently, she had been assisting the Shangshu constables in tracking down a cunning demon beast evil spirit in the city. They were now preparing to close the net. According to the informant's last tip, this demon beast evil spirit was formed from desire, was very fond of harvesting the essence of mortals, and possessed the ability to shapeshift into human form.
It was very likely hidden in one of the pleasure houses.