Chapter 971: Chapter 657: Lanel City [03] Who Knows What Persona Nora Scott Wants to Hype This Time
"The journey will be tough, the big star should take good care of himself. Our team originally didn’t want to bring outsiders, but Frank persuaded the professor to agree to take you along, so I hope you won’t act like a diva and cause trouble on the road."
Upon hearing this, the other four present had varied expressions.
This sarcastic remark made April very angry, but she couldn’t stand up for Nora, because she was the assistant to the Living Map and could support Nora secretly but not too openly.
Annabelle curled her lips into a smile, raised her eyebrows at Nora with a hint of triumph in her eyes. Clearly, before coming here, she had already taken the young man under her wing.
Nora’s expression was indifferent, not paying much attention to the pawn’s words.
Frank was confused, not understanding why his senior had such hostility towards Nora.
"Senior, do you have some misunderstanding about her—"
"No misunderstanding." The young man directly interrupted Frank, giving Nora a cold glare, "The well-known top tier Nora Scott, who doesn’t know about her behavior and style?"
"..."
Frank suddenly recalled Nora’s performance in the 1101 Engineering Team and the Global Art Exhibition... and for a moment couldn’t figure out how to respond to the young man.
With a cold snort, the young man’s gaze moved away from Nora and turned to Annabelle, his demeanor and tone completely shifted, "Miss Pinto, the professor is waiting for you, I’ll take you there first."
"Mm."
Annabelle nodded, following the young man away.
April raised her eyebrows at Frank, who was standing aside, "Not going to say something for your sister-in-law?"
"Ah."
Frank snapped back to reality.
He blinked, "Actually, I kind of understand my senior."
"What do you mean?" April frowned.
Frank scratched his head, looking a bit innocent, "Sometimes Nora is quite... infuriating, right?" He asked while glancing at Nora.
"..."
Nora didn’t respond, turned around, and walked into the elevator.
April followed into the elevator, turning her head to ask Frank who joined them, "What do you mean?"
"It’s just, her actions tend to offend people, my senior probably heard some rumors, so he has a prejudice against her," Frank said, "Don’t worry, sis, I’ll speak up for you."
"..."
Nora didn’t want to engage in this conversation at all.
"How much say does your senior have in your team?" April asked, "And what’s with that woman just now? Quite annoying."
Frank explained, "My senior is Felipe Clark, currently pursuing a doctorate, graduating very soon. In our team, he’s practically the second to the mentor. The mentor is quite old, it’s mostly him leading the team."
After a brief pause, he added, "Not sure about Miss Pinto. But she has a good relationship with my senior, and it’s because my senior kept requesting that she came to help."
"What is her expertise?"
"I heard she grew up in the Northwest, has lots of connections here, familiar with the terrain. Plus, she specializes in geology, she’s an expert."
While speaking, Frank subtly glanced at Nora from the corner of his eye.
In this team, probably only Nora was the "outsider."
Noticing his gaze, Nora asked suspiciously, "What?"
"Uh," Frank thought for a moment, then asked, "Sis, you haven’t researched geology, have you?"
"...No."
She indeed hadn’t properly studied it.
"Oh," Frank actually breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and said, "My senior is quite career-focused."
The implication being, as an outsider outside the team, he had no issues. But outsiders wanting to join the team, that’s where the resistance came in. Especially with Nora being a complete "connection entry."
The elevator doors opened.
As Nora walked out of the elevator, she paused, suddenly turned her head, "Wasn’t Miguel Smith in the team last year?"
"Yes."
"Was your senior there too at the time?"
"Yes."
Nora knitted her brows, "Did he have a prejudice against Miguel too?"
According to Miguel’s account, the whole team was quite welcoming towards him, he never heard about being targeted or disliked by anyone.
"Well..." Frank hesitated for a moment, then straightforwardly said, "My senior is his fan."
Nora: "..."
*
April and Nora lived next door to each other.
After entering the room, Nora didn’t relax, taking out a map, and using memory, sketched the route map for their journey, analyzing the situation along the way.
The geology expedition team doesn’t take normal routes, they make detours, stopping intermittently, spending five days on the road.
According to the plan, they will reach near Lanel after five days, at which time the two groups will split and go their separate ways.
After studying for two hours, Nora organized her findings, took a photo and sent it to Jared Oliveira.
[Nora]: Memorize it.
[Jared Oliveira]: ???
[Jared Oliveira]: All of it?
Nora Scott: Hmm.
A long time passed.
The phone vibrated, and Jared Oliveira sent another message.
Jared Oliveira: Sis, can I slack off a bit?
Jared Oliveira: I promise I won’t let the Living Map persona crumble.
After pondering for a moment, Nora Scott consented.
She chose Jared Oliveira to be the Living Map to confuse the situation, because he "understood" the Living Map, and because she valued his cleverness.
Jared Oliveira might seem unimpressive, but his mind is quick and he adapts well.
Nora Scott is pretty good at judging people; she doesn’t think Jared will do anything foolish.
So—
In the evening, Nora Scott came to the hotel restaurant, wanting to eat something, and saw a group of people clustered together, led by Felipe Clark, who were probably members of the survey team.
"This is the information from the Living Map?"
"Amazing."
"No wonder it’s called the Living Map, no wonder the price is so high."
"It includes geography, cultural customs, accommodations, and food, even key dialects are marked... This guide is valuable."
"Well-known for a reason, truly an expert."
...
Nora Scott frowned slightly.
Frank Ford noticed Nora Scott’s presence, waved at her, and called out, "Sis!"
Then, he jogged over.
She gestured with her chin towards the crowd, asking suspiciously, "What’s going on?"
"Look." Frank Ford took out his phone, pulled up a document, and handed it to Nora Scott, "This is what Mr. Oliveira shared in the group. It covers everything from here to Lanel City: precautions, cultural geography, food, lodging... every aspect in detail."
Nora Scott casually flipped through it.
Well done, Jared Oliveira.
He combined all the information she gave him into a beautiful document and shared it all at once.
—Such a piece of information, in Nora Scott’s hands, could easily be sold for money.
"No wonder he’s the Living Map! Mr. Oliveira is truly impressive!" Frank Ford’s tone was full of admiration, "The mentor just said that anyone who can create such a guide must be knowledgeable, knowing a bit about everything. So we were advised to consult him along the way."
Nora Scott: "..."
Finding ways to increase her workload?
"Frank."
At this moment, Felipe Clark came over, giving Nora Scott a cold glance.
Frank Ford called out, "Senior."
"Go upstairs and ask Mr. Oliveira if he’s available to talk with us." Felipe Clark instructed, his tone carrying a faint arrogance.
In the team, Frank Ford, being only a graduate student, was considered the lowest rank. Even as a graduate student, being able to join the team was a sign of capability.
Frank Ford often got asked by these seniors to do chores.
Moreover—
Frank Ford never disclosed his background, and in their eyes, he’s just an ordinary graduate student, nothing special.
Frank Ford has good manners and a nice temperament, doesn’t flaunt his family background, and comes to school with the intent to study, so as long as they aren’t too excessive, he generally doesn’t mind.
"Oh, okay."
Frank Ford nodded.
"By the way," Felipe Clark suddenly frowned, glancing at the phone in Nora Scott’s hand, "Mr. Oliveira said this document is only shared within our group, and must not be leaked. It doesn’t need to be shown to outsiders. Besides, they might not understand it anyway."
Detecting Felipe Clark’s sarcastic undertone, Frank Ford lowered his face slightly and reminded, "Senior."
Felipe Clark ignored him, directly provoking Nora Scott, "Master Sliver is skilled in Mechanical Techniques and comics but doesn’t understand cultural geography, right?"
Nora Scott smiled playfully, "Indeed, I don’t understand."
Felipe Clark frowned in disgust, looking at Nora Scott unpleasantly from inside out, and directly reached out to her, "Then let’s not waste time."
Holding the phone, Nora Scott didn’t give it to Felipe Clark but handed it to Frank Ford instead.
"I’m off."
Nora Scott waved to Frank Ford, put her hand in her pocket, and walked away.
Watching Nora Scott’s back, Frank Ford restrained his relaxed and good-natured demeanor, "Senior, treat people with courtesy. After reading so many books, at least show some basic manners, right?"
"Does she have manners?" Felipe Clark sneered coldly, retorting.
Frank Ford: "..."
A deadlock.
"She decided to join us to Loulanel out of the blue. Who knows what persona she wants to promote again?" Felipe Clark scoffed at Nora Scott, "This year, everything she does becomes trending. Do you think it’s all coincidence?"
Frank Ford: "..."
He hasn’t been paying attention, how would he know!
