Chapter 224: Chapter 222: Leia Abducts Bai Su
So, Mr. Qin stepped forward with a chuckle and said, "It’s just a little squabble between youngsters. There’s no need to take it so seriously."
"It is indeed getting late. Anyone who’s tired is free to head home. For those who’d like to stay and have fun, we will of course be happy to entertain you."
"Please, everyone come back inside. It’s not a good look to be standing around out here."
Mrs. Qin went forward to lead the aggrieved Qin Nuo back into the banquet hall.
Before anyone could react, Qin Nuo had already run off, the faint sound of her crying trailing behind her.
Her heart aching for her daughter, Mrs. Qin gave Mr. Qin a meaningful look, then turned and hurried after her.
The banquet continued with Mr. Qin presiding.
But the mood had grown much colder. After all, only the small-timers were left, and Mr. Qin’s desire to play host had diminished somewhat.
He shot a look at Xiao Yi, the president of the Medical Alliance, who had yet to leave.
Having received the signal, Xiao Yi lowered his gaze and discreetly exited the banquet hall.
*
Bai Su looked at the massive crowd that had followed her out and said with a sense of helplessness, "You all really didn’t have to..."
Gu Yong, now without his earlier dignified air, just laughed heartily. "Miss Bai Su, please don’t feel burdened. I’m getting old, and it really is time for me to leave. This is a perfect excuse to have Alan take me home."
Li Chenlin leaned against her as if he had no bones. "Wherever you go, I go. Don’t you dare ditch me!"
Rosa Meiya copied his move, leaning in. "Ditto!"
Li Chenlin shoved her away. "Get lost! What gives you the right to stand with me?"
Rosa Meiya’s face twisted in anger. She turned, grabbed Bai Su’s arm, and whined, "Susu, look at him! Bullying your bestie is the same as bullying you! He’s showing you no respect!"
After all their clowning around, much of the gloom in Bai Su’s heart had dissipated. She couldn’t help but say with an amused laugh, "Alright, that’s enough. There’s a child present. Have you no shame?"
After coming outside, Wen Dabao was draped over Wen Lan’s shoulder, already dozing off.
Bai Su’s heart went out to the child. She retrieved a scarf from her smart-brain’s storage and handed it to Wen Lan. "The wind’s picking up. You should wrap her in this."
Wen Lan, for his part, didn’t refuse and accepted the scarf.
Bai Su then said, "Back in the banquet hall... thank you."
Wen Lan raised an eyebrow.
Bai Su said, "You were the one who had Da Bao smash the table, weren’t you."
’Given Wen Dabao’s troublemaking nature, she would have wanted nothing more than for Bai Su to crush Qin Nuo on the court. Why would she be the one to destroy the table?’
Wen Lan didn’t nod, but he didn’t deny it either.
Bai Su said, "In any case, thank you for tonight."
In the distance, the two youngsters from the Bounty Hunter Guild watched the group but didn’t follow any closer.
Bai Xiaoshe asked, "Big brother, aren’t we going to follow?"
Bai Xiaolang replied, "No. They’re all together. We’d be easily exposed. Let’s go."
Bai Xiaoshe could only nod and quietly left with Bai Xiaolang.
’This trip wasn’t a total waste, though. At least they could now be certain that the backer behind the Medical Alliance was, in all likelihood, the Qin Family.’
’No wonder Xiao Yi was so arrogant. No wonder the International Alliance still couldn’t touch the Medical Alliance, despite all the evil they had done.’
「Elsewhere.」
Bai Su and the others were joking around as they prepared to head back to Snow Country, waiting by the roadside for their heli-pod to arrive.
Suddenly, a RUMBLING sound filled the sky.
Bai Su instinctively sensed danger and dodged to the side.
A Light Energy Bomb plummeted down, landing between her and the others with Li Chenlin.
As the explosion rang out, Bai Su was instantly cut off from the rest of the group.
Li Chenlin sensed something was wrong, and his first instinct was to grab Bai Su.
But it was too late. When the dust and smoke cleared, Bai Su was nowhere to be seen.
Wen Lan’s expression instantly turned cold. No one had ever managed to abduct one of his protection targets from right under his nose.
High above, the aircraft had already vanished into the clouds.
Li Chenlin immediately called for backup.
Yelias, who had been hiding in the shadows, rapidly descended on a web. "Li Chenlin, I’ll launch you up there with my silk!"
Li Chenlin nodded, his face grim.
Suddenly, his shoulders dipped. Wen Lan had seized the opportunity to hop onto his back. "Launch me too, thanks."
Before Li Chenlin had a chance to curse, Yelias had already manipulated his silk, tying it between two massive tree stumps to create a giant slingshot. He launched the pair, sending them flying straight toward the fighter jet deep within the clouds.
Suddenly, the clouds rapidly condensed and underwent Steelification, turning into a gigantic barrier wall.
The two of them slammed hard into the barrier and fell into the forest below.
「Inside the fighter jet.」
Bai Su was thrown hard onto the floor. The surrounding glare was so bright it forced her to squint.
"Boss, is this the female who cooks that amazing food?"
"Uh-huh," came a childish voice.
As her eyes adjusted to the light, Bai Su slowly opened them. She found herself in a cabin of a dozen or so square meters, surrounded by cold white holographic screens and data displays.
Three or four burly Bear Beastmen were clustered around a small female in their midst.
The young female was also a Drooping Ear Rabbit, dressed in black overalls. Her hair was in twin ponytails, completely done in tiny braids.
Her young face was a mess, covered in random smudges of blood and paint.
Her eyes were arrogant and defiant, a look that practically begged to be punched.
The bib of her black overalls was filthy, making her look like a little mud monkey who had just been rolling around in a puddle.
While Bai Su was sizing her up, she was sizing up Bai Su right back.
Leia leaned in curiously, then struck the back of Bai Su’s knees with a rod, forcing her to fall back to the floor so she could easily look down on her.
"So you’re the little chef who had Li Yue craving your food for months, almost to the point of defecting?"
Bai Su winced, her brows knitting from the pain. She watched the young female warily. "You’re Leia?"
’Perhaps it was because Leia’s face was so strikingly similar to Wen Xiaobao’s, but looking at her gave Bai Su a strange, inexplicable sense of familiarity.’
’Besides, Yelias had said that she and Leia could very well be family...’
Leia leaned in closer, a corner of her mouth lifting. "Just a little weakling."
She grabbed Bai Su’s collar. Empowered by her superpower, the fabric rapidly underwent Steelification, transforming into a thin, sharp blade that pressed ever closer to Bai Su’s neck.
Sensing the danger, Bai Su struggled to pull back.
Leia scoffed. "Don’t waste your energy. A little newbie like you? I could crush a dozen of you with a flick of my finger."
Bai Su released her own spiritual power in defiance, forming a protective layer around herself that stripped Leia’s spiritual power from her body.
Leia raised an eyebrow, a flash of contempt in her eyes. "Overestimating yourself."
A murderous glint flashed in her eyes.
She took two steps back, grabbed a random object, and used Steelification to form it into a gun, aiming the muzzle right between Bai Su’s eyes.
She pulled the trigger.
Bai Su activated a system item: "Absolute Rebound." The instant the bullet made contact with her spiritual power, it reversed direction and shot back toward Leia with immense force.
With a loud BANG, the bullet hit Leia in the shoulder. The force of the impact slammed her against the control console behind her, causing the entire fighter jet to shudder.
"Boss!" The three or four males at her side paled in shock. "Are you okay, Boss?"
Shrouded in dust, a short, blurry silhouette could be seen slowly rising from the floor, its eyes blazing with renewed fighting spirit and a predatory gleam.
"I! AM! FINE!"
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