Chapter 970: Chapter 656: Loulanel City [02] Nora Scott Suspected to Be Pregnant
Stella Durant and Frank Ford worked efficiently, and within two days they had settled on a departure time—set for three days later.
During those three days, Nora Scott didn’t idle about. She stayed at the library all day, thoroughly researching Loulanel’s history, politics, and surrounding geography. Thanks to her good memory, reading wasn’t too troublesome. However, organizing the information was mentally taxing, more exhausting than a day of martial arts practice.
By contrast, April Thomason went to extremes.
She slept less than four hours a night, slept later than Nora Scott, woke up earlier, and had endless energy during the day, wandering around like a super-efficient robot that’s charged in an instant and lasts all day.
Nora watched April with envy, but concurrently—
She found herself becoming drowsy, lacking energy even after a full night’s sleep. She attributed this phenomenon to "poor physical health," and mentally tallied up another grievance against Alexander Vaughn for it.
The day before departure, Nora made a phone call to Pedro Langley.
"Have you got everything ready?" Pedro asked.
"Yes."
Pedro reminded her, "The temperature difference between day and night is significant over there, so bring some warmer clothes."
Side-lying on the bed, Nora listlessly replied, "Got it."
After a pause, Pedro added, "Has your menstrual cycle begun? Ask Benjamin to prepare some brown sugar for you to bring along."
"No." Nora frowned, "I can buy it there."
Due to her physical condition, Nora’s menstrual cycle has always been irregular. She got used to never tracking it, but Pedro remembered it better than she did.
Pedro said solemnly, "I’m uneasy. What if someone tampers with it?"
"Tamper with a can of my brown sugar?" Nora retorted, then muttered, "Might as well poison me with medicine."
"Be cautious about everything," Pedro continued advising, "Bring all your small weapons and hidden devices."
"Yes."
Pedro’s fussing seemed endless, "And—"
"And?"
Nora’s little temper was about to be stirred up by him.
Pedro said, "Call me every day, report your safety."
"Yes, I understand." Nora answered, feeling a bit sleepy, then turned over, "I’m going to sleep. Don’t hang up, stay until I fall asleep."
Pedro agreed with a smile, "Sure."
Nora closed her eyes and went to sleep.
*
The next day, Nora, Jared Oliveira, and April Thomason flew to Lanel, then transferred to Sand Delta, and by afternoon joined up with Frank Ford’s geology team and the group with Luna and Stella.
They first rested for a day at Sand Delta, preparing supplies for their departure.
Frank Ford met them at the hotel entrance.
"Mr. Oliveira, Madam." Frank first greeted the familiar faces, then his gaze fell on April Thomason, "Who might this be?"
"April Thomason," she introduced herself concisely, "Jared’s assistant."
Frank Ford: "..." I reckon you’re more of Jared’s boss than his assistant.
Nora glanced at April Thomason.
April gave a small cough, surveyed the weak-looking Jared Oliveira, frowned, though reluctantly, still called out, "Mr. Oliveira."
"..."
Jared’s mouth twisted in a shiver.
These past days, April Thomason had been sticking close to Jared Oliveira to familiarize herself with him, witnessing her legendary exploits of battling Martial World folks in Taste of Tea, fraternizing with Master Sedgewick, and rampaging in Anchel. Privately, he had started calling her "sis"...
Now being unexpectedly called "Mr. Oliveira" by April Thomason, he felt a chill on his head, a spiritual shock, as though his life was half gone.
Fortunately, Frank Ford was a guileless person who didn’t understand the "Living Map" status within the Martial World, nor did he notice so much.
Frank led the three inside.
"Nora—" Just as they entered the hotel lobby, a manager came to greet them. He instinctively wanted to greet Nora Scott but felt a sudden chill, and the words twisted on his tongue, quickly changing, "Mr. Oliveira!"
"Long time no see." The lobby manager maintained a standardized smile, showing great deference to Jared Oliveira, "Your room has been prepared."
Jared kept up appearances, simply replied with "Mm."
The lobby manager warmly said, "I’ll take you up."
Jared nodded.
Even the luggage was carried by the lobby manager.
Frank Ford carried the luggage for the two ladies. Seeing the lobby manager lead Jared upstairs, he felt baffled, "This manager gave me a bad face all day, turns out he has dual faces?"
Nora shrugged.
They were on a different floor from Jared, and as Frank led them to the elevator, an elevator abruptly stopped, letting someone out.
The three looked up.
April didn’t care.
Nora narrowed her eyes a bit.
Frank proactively nodded in greeting, "Miss Pinto."
"Nora," Annabelle Pinto nodded at Frank Ford, and then her eyes targeted Nora with sharp, blade-like intensity. She curved her lips into a smile, pronouncing each word slowly, "Long time no see."
Slightly tilting her head, Nora seemed to ponder for a moment, "And you are?"
"..."
The originally provocative Annabelle Pinto’s expression froze instantly, almost cracking open.
Frank, blissfully naive, hadn’t paid attention to entertainment gossip lately, unaware of their animosity, so presumed they really didn’t know each other, hurriedly clarified, "She’s Annabelle Pinto, an actress and also a former student of our professor. She was invited as she’s familiar with the Northwest area, to serve as external support. Much like the Living Map gentleman."
Nora: "..."
Involving both her and the Living Map? Is his reputation not loud enough?
Frank felt aggrieved. They hadn’t been sure they could find the Living Map, so made contingency plans. They settled with the Living Map, and meanwhile, Annabelle agreed to join. Both were hard to refuse, so they accepted both.
Moreover, Annabelle was free.
Just as Annabelle’s expression soured, she noticed a young man approaching, revealing a slight change in her demeanor as her stiffness subsided.
"Frank." The young man approached, glanced at Frank Ford, then looked at Annabelle Pinto, his expression softened, "Miss Pinto."
Frank nodded to him, "Brother."
The young man’s gaze sharpened noticeably when he regarded April and Nora, "These are the friends you mentioned?"
"Yes." Frank introduced them one by one to him, "This is my Madam, and this is Mr. Oliveira’s assistant."
The young man’s eyes bore a natural disdain for Nora, and he couldn’t resist using an intimidating tone, "The journey will be tough, big-time celebrities should take care of themselves. Our team wasn’t originally keen on bringing outsiders, but Frank managed to convince the professor to let you tag along. I hope you won’t act out or throw tantrums during the trip."
