After crossing the waterfall behind Jinzhou City Square, following the guidance of the Starshine Flowers along the way, crossing the bridge made of flowers, they arrived at Pingting Mountain.
Under the faint sunlight, the mountain breeze carried the fresh scent of moist soil and flowers, and a petite green figure appeared in their view.
Her light golden long hair was carefully braided into twin tails, with slightly curled ends, ears and back growing Starshine Flowers and vines, wearing light green vintage-style clothing.
As if sensing their gazes, the green figure squatting on the ground observing the flower field slowly stood up, her smile blooming like Starshine Flowers:
"Excuse me, are the two of you lost?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Verina realized her mistake and quickly apologized:
"I'm sorry, I should introduce myself first. That's the etiquette here in Huanglong. My name is Verina. Very pleased to meet you both... is that how it's said?"
"No."
Noah shook his head, cupped his hands toward Verina with a smile:
"It should be like this: I've long admired your great name, Goddess Verina! This lowly one is Noah, finally meeting the living Goddess Verina!"
Mastering Verina was practically a mandatory course for playing Wuthering Waves.
Verina could fit into any team and was almost the only healer for all newcomers, extremely useful for both exploration and healing.
As a professional surrogate player, when Noah took on holographic challenge commissions or map farming, almost every account had a well-built Verina.
In the Wuthering Waves anniversary summary, Verina had healed a total of 28 zettabytes of health for all Rovers in the past year.
Goddess Verina's greatness needs no further words.
"Alright, stop teasing Verina. She's a Botanist Resonator who came all the way from the New Federation."
Chixia quickly walked up to Verina and greeted her:
"I'm Chixia, this is Noah. We were commissioned by Grandma Lin to come. She's worried you might encounter bad people in the rear mountains."
"So he's the great hero who saved Jinzhou. I've heard Grandma Lin mention him."
Verina secretly glanced at Noah not far away, then quickly averted her gaze after being noticed:
"Grandma Lin wants to reclaim a flower field in the rear mountains. I just wanted to help her find a fertile spot. I didn't expect to cause everyone worry."
Expressing her apology, Verina then realized that the sky was indeed getting dark.
Unknowingly, she had indeed stayed in the rear mountains a bit too long.
"It's fine, it's fine. Let's head back to the city. Going back now, we can just make it for off-duty—perfect!"
Chixia happily took Verina's hand and called out to Noah not far away:
"Noah, we can go back now!"
"I'll wander around the rear mountains a bit. You two go ahead. Oh, right—if you encounter a little girl with pink hair on the way back, remember to contact me."
After sending Chixia and Verina off, Noah stepped deeper into Pingting Mountain, his mind racing with thoughts.
In the game plot, before Rover encountered Verina, they faintly sensed someone secretly watching them, set up a counter-track, and captured the stalking Camellya.
Considering this plot point, Noah remained vigilant the whole way, never stopping the release of his perception ability.
His perception range was enough to cover more than half of Pingting Mountain. If someone was following from behind, he could definitely sense it easily.
But... no one was following.
"That's right. After all, I'm not Rover. The yandere Camellya has no reason to stalk me."
Noah sighed:
"It seems that to find Black Shores, the only way is through finding Aalto and Encore. I hope Chixia encounters them on the way back, just like in the plot."
Although Noah didn't sense Camellya's presence in Pingting Mountain, it wasn't without gains.
Casually collecting materials along the way like Belle Poppy, Lemongrass, Wintry Bell, and Noctemint, Noah quietly approached the targets within his perception.
Two ordinary Artificers from the Fractsidus.
Strange—Scar had already been taken down by him, and the defense strength within Jinzhou City had been raised several levels.
In such circumstances, there were still Fractsidus members infiltrating Jinzhou.
With curiosity, Noah didn't immediately act against the two but concealed his figure and secretly observed their movements.
"The Overseer clearly already has the Jinzhou Sentinel trapped. Why still target Jinzhou?"
The fat tall member grumbled dissatisfiedly, but was ruthlessly interrupted by the skinny tall member:
"Do what you're supposed to do. Why ask so many questions? Are you scared?"
"How could I not be scared? Even Overseer Scar fell in Jinzhou. If we're caught, there's no way we'd survive."
Getting a response made the fat tall member even more dissatisfied as he grumbled, suddenly kicking the mechanical construct beside him:
"Even if this Court of Savantae tech is reliable, what good is descending Retroact Rain in Jinzhou City? The first descent of Retroact Rain at most attracts some surrounding Tacet Discords—what use is that?"
"Idiot. If you don't understand, shut your mouth. Do less, watch more."
The skinny tall member coldly snorted, with no desire to explain, which instead provoked a more intense argument from the fat tall member:
"You understand, you understand everything, you're the smartest. Then let me ask you:
The first descent of Retroact Rain, besides attracting some surrounding Tacet Discords, can't even produce illusions of the past—what use is that?"
"Heh, who told you this is the first time Retroact Rain has descended in Jinzhou City?"
Provoked repeatedly, the skinny tall member no longer held back:
"Here's a hint for you—
Overseer Scar, Jinzhou City, Whisperin Erosion."
With these keywords dropped, the fat tall member fell into thought, suddenly inhaling sharply in shock:
"You mean, when Overseer Scar first invaded Jinzhou City, he already used Court of Savantae tech to descend Retroact Rain!"
"Looks like your brain isn't that stupid after all."
The skinny tall member smiled coldly and fully opened the floodgates:
"This was originally Overseer Scar's request—to be able to review and admire the scene of Jinzhou's destruction at any time. Unfortunately, that waste was beaten to death by some unknown wild kid."
"But thanks to his impromptu request, it allows our Fractsidus to later catch Jinzhou in a pincer attack."
"With Scar's level as Overseer—it's a joke."
At this point, the two Fractsidus Artificers laughed mockingly together, and in high spirits, let out more trash talk:
"If you ask me, that Overseer position would be better if I took it. That wild kid—I could easily handle him."
"If that wild kid appeared in front of you right now, how would you deal with it?"
Hearing this question, the skinny tall member disdainfully straightened his back, his words exuding unquestionable confidence:
"Of course I'd run! I run damn fast!"
"Wait, no!"
Realizing something was wrong, the skinny tall member jerked his head around, only to see a dark gun barrel pointed right at his forehead.
"This Undying Flame once reaped the lives of over twenty Fractsidus members in one minute. I advise you not to make any rash moves."
An indifferent voice came from the gun owner's mouth.
Noah held the gun with both hands, pointing at each Fractsidus member, issuing a soul-piercing question to the skinny tall one:
"I hear you run very fast. Is it faster than a bullet?"