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Chapter 363 - 360: "Rin, I Can’t Return Home Anymore

Chapter 363: Chapter 360: "Rin, I Can’t Return Home Anymore

This voice, Su Ming’an still remembered.

In fact, he habitually remembered the voice of each person who communicated with him, so he could recognize them immediately.

...but he had originally thought she was already dead.

He turned around, and the first thing he saw was a flash of bright red, like strands of hair that were flames.

Warm light gathered on her, she held a lamp, and her long hair fluttered behind her with her steps.

When turning around, Su Ming’an had already anticipated what kind of face he would see.

...It should have been like a red rose blooming in fire, a young and beautiful face.

She was youthful and radiant, breezy as the wind, even the lines of her facial features carried a playful charm, and she naturally had an air of arrogance when she spoke, but it was not off-putting, only suggesting she was a girl with a genuine personality.

She would cheekily call herself "Miss", and like a crazy girl who only knew to devour romance novels, she would rush into the deepest danger, her mind unable to turn the corner, even claiming she wanted to slay him aboard the Yate Vessel.

[After this, you won’t meet another woman who loves you as much as I do!]

Her bombshell of an opening line, he still remembered it now.

...but at the moment he turned around, he saw a face that was completely different from the one in his memory.

Underneath the vividly fiery hair, her slightly elongated eyes were looking at him, pupils muddy, the whites yellowing, and that originally fair skin was now full of wrinkles.

That was a face with protruding cheekbones, severely aged, without the slightest hint of life in the eyes anymore.

Under the youthful and bold fiery red hair, her face, as if that of a centenarian, seemed terribly out of place, as if an old face had been forcefully embedded there.

"...Miss Nailuo?"

Su Ming’an called out the name with some disbelief.

"It’s me," Nailuo responded, her voice still that familiar young girl’s voice. Seeing his astonished look, she let out a bitter smile, "Ah, Su Rin, it’s good that you still recognize me. I thought you would mistake me for an old hag coming up to you."

"Miss Nailuo, how did you..."

"Stop calling me miss," Nailuo’s smile faded.

The lamplight flickered across her aged face, she turned her cloudy eyes slightly, hiding a trace of moisture within them.

"The Yate Vessel has sunk," her voice was somewhat choked up, but still with a smile on her face, "Looking like this, I can’t go home anymore, I’m no longer a miss."

She stepped forward, the light in her hand trembling.

Through the light in her hand, Su Ming’an had already noticed that the crystal stones in the church had turned from a bright red to a dim and lusterless blue, clearly, the place had been taken over by players.

According to the points settlement panel, Lin Yin had already been here. The current system time was 4:10 AM, and she should have already taken five ordinary strongholds, including this special one—the church.

While he was still observing, the blustery Nailuo rushed up quickly, grabbing his arm.

"Listen up, Su Rin," she said, "I don’t care if you are some sort of behind-the-scenes mastermind, nor do I care why the Yate Vessel sank, all I know is—you saved me, and I liked you."

Su Ming’an looked into her no longer youthful eyes, a bit taken aback.

"So," her eyes locked with his, "I’ve come to save you."

"Save me?"

"You’ve seen my face, right? It was that person... that so-called Tulip Princess... it was that bitch’s doing," Nailuo gritted her teeth, not mincing words, "She’s conducting an experiment, draining others of their life force to replenish her own... it’s utterly disgusting."

Her hand rested on his shoulder:

"Pay attention, Su Rin. The Tulip Princess isn’t any good—after the Yate Vessel sank, fortunately, I ended up in Pulaya. But this damned fate, as disgusting as it gets, I thought I was saved, I thought I could get in touch with people from the Yate Empire, but then fell into a slavery stronghold. That Tulip Princess—that bitch... when she rescued me, I thought she was kind. But then she turned around and sent me straight into her secret laboratory—there, there were many others like me, foreigners stranded at the slave market. In the laboratory, I suffered torture, my life force was drawn out, and during this process, I overheard... her conversation with a middle-aged man in black."

Su Ming’an listened carefully.

In his right hand, he held the pitch-black Soul Hunt Communicator. Since the team channel chat was closed at night, he could not communicate with his teammates and could only rely on this communicator to exchange messages.

The one in his hand was an upgraded version of the communicator, capable of two-way communication and sending text messages. At the moment, the screen lit up with a message—Lin Yin was telling him that she was guarding five ordinary strongholds and there were no issues for now, instructing him to focus on increasing Exploration Degree.

"What did they talk about?" Su Ming’an asked as he walked.

"—They said, you are their ultimate target." Nailuo spoke at an extremely fast pace, "They called ’Su Rin’, your name, which is very rare. I think it must be you, so I came looking for you. You can’t let them catch you—"

"Wait." Su Ming’an stopped in his tracks.

Nailuo turned around, staring at him, a gaze that could almost be described as "forceful."

Her eyes were full of bloodshot veins, and she seemed somewhat disturbed.

"Are you saying that Princess Tulip is going to make a move on me?" Su Ming’an asked.

He hadn’t expected such an answer.

If he had to say who had helped him the most so far, it would be Princess Tulip.

Princess Tulip had pardoned Sherrod’s crimes, spared the Gerald family, granted him the position of Shadow Soul Hunt Leader, and allowed him to lead the Soul Clan. She almost pushed him into helping him take control of the situation.

...And now, this Miss Nailuo who appeared out of nowhere was telling him that Princess Tulip ultimately wanted to harm him?

"Yes—I think, even if I’ve become this old and hard of hearing, I wouldn’t have misheard your name." Nailuo said, grinding her teeth in anger, "They definitely called your name, that guy... must be out to get you."

"How did you escape then?" Su Ming’an asked.

"Family secret." A "click" echoed from Nailuo’s hand as she revealed a pocket watch.

She stared at the red pocket watch in her hand that was "clicking" audibly and laughed, a laugh that was somewhat eerie, "...She definitely didn’t expect that I still had a trick up my sleeve. I am a miss from the Mil family. After she loosened my bindings, I used this thing."

Su Ming’an looked at the pocket watch in her hand.

...

[Mil Khris Family’s Blood Seal Pocket Watch (Epic Quality)

Type: Teleportation Prop

Effect: Call out a person’s name, and you can teleport to their side immediately. (Teleportation range limited to within ten kilometers).

This prop is limited to three uses, each use resulting in the loss of one third of the user’s blood, and it will break after three uses (Current usage count: 1/3).

Introduction: "True love will never cause regret," Mil Khris had said before the last drop of her blood drained away.]

...

Epic quality prop.

Su Ming’an’s gaze fixated on the watch.

Teleportation props were always extremely precious, let alone those that do not require the consent of the other party and could directly teleport to the designated person. Whether for protection or assassination, this was a divine artifact.

It was just unfortunate that it could only be used three times, and Nailuo had already used it once—only two uses remained before the prop would break.

Nailuo noticed his gaze.

She smiled:

"Do you like it? Want me to give it to you?" Her tone was slightly regretful, "But Mother said that this thing would become part of my dowry, it’s very precious..."

Her fingers tapped on the red cover of the pocket watch, revealing five fingers painted with bright red nail polish.

...However, at that moment, even those fingers seemed extremely aged, with bluish-red veins crawling on the thin skin of her hands like pythons, and the red nail polish that young girls favored looked particularly jarring against them.

She seemed to notice her hand too, and abruptly withdrew it into her sleeve before turning her body away as if nothing had happened.

Her fiery red hair concealed her aged face as she hummed a little tune customary to the Yate Empire.

"How did you restore it?" Su Ming’an asked.

"What?" Nailuo still didn’t turn around.

"Your youth," said Su Ming’an.

"Ha," Nailuo laughed, her tone as arrogantly self-assured as ever, "What, you still love me, don’t you? That must be it, right? What, now that I’m not young and beautiful, you’re going to abandon me?"

"..."

"Well, I guessed as much," Nailuo shrugged, "that’s how you men are. Even though I’m naturally brilliant and beautiful... the moment my looks fade, you’re quick to chase after the new and forget the old. I know."

She adjusted the sleeve covering the back of her hand.

The fiery red hair flowed behind her as she turned, and with a "click" the pocket watch in her hand snapped shut.

"I’ve heard tell that beneath the Royal City of Pulaya lies a treasury with endless treasures," Nailuo spoke with her back to him, only her flame-like hair obscuring her slightly hunchbacked figure.

"Rin—find me the legendary pearl that grants eternal youth from the sea," she said, her tone rising slightly.

"...In exchange, I will give you my most treasured pocket watch. How about that?"

Su Ming’an heard the system’s voice:

"Ding Dong!"

[A-rank Quest · Royal City Treasury Initiated]

[Proceed to the Royal City Treasury to uncover more clues about the "Brave".]

[Quest Reward: 20% Exploration Degree.]

...

"Okay," Su Ming’an said.

His Exploration Degree had risen to 60% after viewing Su Rin’s Memory Stone, and completing this quest would take it to 80%.

Nailuo turned around, a grin on her face.

Her hair, a tumult of red flames, fluttered behind her as her smile deepened the wrinkles and the purplish hue of her lips, revealing loosening teeth.

"Let’s go," she said, hopping and skipping as she walked out.

Just as Su Ming’an was about to follow, he noticed the barrage of comments floating across the live broadcast:

[Ew, this is way too ugly, you guys can actually keep watching this...]

[This Nailuo, still trying to act young even though she’s an old maid, isn’t that disgusting?]

[Haha, she probably still thinks she’s a pretty little girl, hopping along as she walks. Guys, I’m laughing so hard, I’m thunderstruck.]

[... But I find you guys even more disgusting, brethren.]

[What? Can’t even exercise freedom of speech now? If it’s disgusting, it’s disgusting, what, can’t that be said?]

[LMAO, I’ll say whatever I damn well please. Is someone going to cover my mouth and stop me from speaking?]

[...]

Su Ming’an’s fingers twitched.

The chat interface instantly went dark, leaving the audience that had started to get noisy ejected in an instant.

His face showed a rare expression of disgust.

"Could I too be under the influence of the Sirens?" he wondered aloud to himself.

Although so far, he hadn’t encountered these so-called Sea Monsters.

But for some reason, he felt awful, his mindset nowhere near as calm as before.

...

[Southern District Dock]

In the wee hours of the morning.

The giant cruise ship lay quietly sleeping at the dock, still adorned with colorful red and green Christmas lights.

It seemed that the lights had not been taken down yet as the Christmas season approached its end.

Inside the rooms on the ship, people were immersed in the deep slumber of the night.

This place was teeming with players who didn’t dare join the Maritime Banquet.

Since the colossal vessel also housed native residents of Pulaya far from the ravages of war, a unique peace permeated the area. No troublemaker would stretch their claws this way.

Legend had it that this was a resting place for the Maritime Banquet, a sacred combat-free zone. If anyone carelessly dragged the flames of war here, it would incite the wrath of the gods of Cloud City.

Several small boats bobbed beside the huge liner, and on this calm sea, the occupants, too, were sunk in sweet slumber, save for the sparse oil lamps still shining, like sprinkled stars upon the sea’s surface.

On one of the small boats, a girl with a ponytail rose, yawning. She felt the night breeze was a bit cold, the awning not quite blocking out the snow.

"Mom, I’m going to draw the awning," Xiangzi told her mother, who had been awakened by the noise.

She was a player, an Adventurer Player. After the third instance, she had successfully found her mother. The pair had supported each other and passed through many perilously dangerous checkpoints together.

She was grateful that her mother was young at heart and adept at playing the Switch, quickly acclimating to such games.

However, faced with the self-destructive rules of the Maritime Banquet, her mother had become fearful, so they withdrew from the battlefield and settled down in this peripheral area, planning to wait out the remaining days.

"It is a bit chilly, the weather has changed too quickly," murmured the remarkably young-looking woman, rubbing her smooth face and squinting, "And the blackout curtains, remember to draw them... Xiangzi, put on an extra layer before you go out!"

"Okay!" Xiangzi headed to the bow and was about to take a jacket out of her backpack when she suddenly caught a glimpse of a light.

It wasn’t a light from the sea.

...but rather, it was shining from the land, the streets, steadily radiating, bit by bit, like a host of stars.

Rubbing her eyes for a clearer view, she realized those lights were torches.

Like a military formation, dozens of people, each holding a torch, were heading this way.

The leader, a burly white-skinned man, wore a necklace of teeth around his neck, which looked grotesquely pale in the light of the fire.

Xiangzi had a bad feeling about this.

At that moment, the white-skinned man also looked up, his eyes fierce as a tiger’s or leopard’s, and their gazes met.

"Time to begin our little Pulaya player party, my dear comrades," the big man said with a cruel smile.

He raised his torch high as if passing a judgment:

"—let’s start with this flock of lambs for the slaughter before us."