Chapter 154: Chapter 154: No One Will Take Her Away
The young female’s expression changed visibly. A flash of panic crossed her bright, dark eyes, but she quickly hid it, gripping the glass with both hands and lowering her head to slowly sip her water.
Lou saw everything.
He came down, pulled out a chair, and sat down lazily.
"We’re leaving this afternoon, after lunch."
He alone decided the team’s itinerary.
Leopard perked up, asking excitedly, "Are we going to the Sixth Region?"
The Sixth Region was a convergence point where they would encounter many other teams.
Ai Li, who was sitting on the sofa, hadn’t slept well all night.
Her stream’s popularity had plummeted. She forced a smile. "If we follow the route, we should be."
Leopard was about to say something else when a notification sounded from his wristband.
"Identity re-verification in five minutes. All players, please be prepared."
Everyone looked at their wristbands.
Leopard pouted. "What’s there to check?"
’Who would come to Paradise for fun with nothing better to do? Do they have a death wish?’
Yu Zhizhi forced herself to stay calm as she stood up. She set down her glass and walked toward the nearby restroom.
’I need to find a place to be alone.’
’Considering the news I heard this morning, there was a high probability this check was the Guard Team searching for me.’
’It’s only been two days...’
’If they find me, will they take me away by force?’
’I think I heard that once you go deep into Paradise, you can’t be interfered with by outside forces...’
’I have to do whatever it takes to get deeper inside.’
Yu Zhizhi was washing her hands when she heard the door open behind her.
She looked up and saw Lou in the mirror. The young man closed the restroom door, leaned back against the wall, and slanted his gaze at the young female in the reflection.
"Turn off your stream," Lou commanded.
Yu Zhizhi didn’t hesitate. She closed her stream.
The bullet comments were instantly filled with cries of despair.
"Don’t turn it off, we haven’t seen enough!!"
"Waaaaah—"
Inside the restroom.
"What are you worried about?"
His little turtle was completely unable to hide her emotions. Those bright, dark, almond-shaped eyes were fraught with worry.
Yu Zhizhi’s fingers were wet. She had used pomegranate-scented soap, and a cloyingly sweet fragrance filled the restroom.
"They might be trying to catch me."
Although Yu Zhizhi couldn’t be one hundred percent certain, she figured the Moon Rising Empire would take action after her sudden disappearance.
She looked at her wrist, at the gray, faintly glowing wristband.
Lou raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"
Yu Zhizhi glanced at him quickly, then lowered her head. "Mhm."
The young man pulled her wrist up. "Looks like you’ve caused your fair share of trouble on the outside. To make someone go to such lengths to find you in Paradise—heh."
His laugh was a little strange. His fingers gently fiddled with the gray wristband on her arm. Yu Zhizhi heard a rapid BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. She looked down and saw the wristband’s light pulsing like a heartbeat.
After about a minute,
the wristband returned to normal.
Lou’s left eye glowed with a dark, jade-green light. "No matter what the test results are, they won’t be able to trace it back to you."
Last night, Lou had already decided not to press her about what she was hiding.
Today, he was just giving her a hand.
No matter who the little thing had offended, now that she was in Paradise, no one could bully her as they pleased.
Without his permission, no one could even think of taking her away.
Lou’s tone was completely certain.
It was as if he had fed Yu Zhizhi a calming pill.
She followed the prompt on the wristband’s screen and pressed her fingerprint against it. About ten seconds later, the check was complete.
Seeing the green confirmation box, Yu Zhizhi quietly withdrew her hand.
"Thank you, Lou."
She hadn’t expected Lou to take the initiative to help her.
’And Lou could actually tamper with the wristband?’
’He seems to know Paradise very well.’
Lou’s lips curved into a slight smile. He held out his hand, his meaning clear.
After stepping closer, Yu Zhizhi changed into her Beast Form and was held firmly in the young man’s palm.
He liked holding the little turtle.
The cool, hard sensation, her four little claws peeking out and resting lightly in his palm, tickling him.
When they came out of the restroom, the long table was laden with food.
Everyone was waiting for Lou.
He found a random seat and sat down, placing the little turtle next to his plate. He picked out a slice of ham from the pile of food, cut it into a small piece, and held it out to her mouth with his fingers.
Yu Zhizhi raised her little head and slowly swallowed the ham.
When the little turtle ate, her eyes narrowed slightly as if she were savoring it.
As she finished the last bite, she brushed against Lou’s fingers.
Yu Zhizhi quickly scrambled backward.
Her tail almost knocked over a glass, but Lou blocked it with one hand.
Yu Zhizhi’s stream was off, but the others were still on. Many viewers saw this scene and remarked with surprise that Lord 91’s hobby was raising a little turtle.
’Who would have thought?’
’But the little turtle is so cute!’
’And she’s a Healing System user!’
’No wonder Lord 91 takes her everywhere~’
Even though Yu Zhizhi’s stream wasn’t on, her follower count was soaring. She soon broke into the top thirty on the popular contestant rankings.
After feeding her the ham, Lou picked up a small piece of watermelon.
Yu Zhizhi opened her mouth and bit into a corner of the watermelon, sweet juice flowing into her mouth. She ate happily.
Lou’s jade-green eyes held a smile as he pulled out a napkin and wiped the watermelon juice from the little turtle’s mouth.
"Little slob."
Hearing this, Yu Zhizhi’s eyes went wide—
’I am not!’
’It’s just hard to eat in Beast Form.’
As if he could hear her thoughts, Lou tapped her little head with his finger. "You’re not allowed to refute what I say. Not even in your head."
Yu Zhizhi pretended not to hear and lowered her head, continuing to eat the watermelon.
「Meanwhile.」
The results of the Paradise check soon arrived at the command center.
"Reporting, sir! No anomalies found!"
"Keep searching."
"Yes, sir!"
The sudden idea to check Paradise was just to account for a certain possibility. They hadn’t held out much hope in the first place—
In a place as dangerous as Paradise Garden, if the Rabbit Clan Lady had really wandered in by mistake, her chances of survival were almost Zero.
Her not being in Paradise was the result the command center had hoped for.
But they couldn’t rule out the possibility of a wristband malfunction, so the command center would continue to monitor all activity in Paradise.
The commander glanced at the rankings. Number 91, who had been gone for nearly two months, had reappeared.
Meanwhile, Number 777, ranked first in points, was a complete newcomer.
He glanced at his test results. The section for clan displayed a single word—
[Wolf].
’...A criminal from the Wolf Clan?’
’When did the Moon Rising Empire’s Wolf Clan produce such a ruthless character?’
The Divine City Guard Team’s operation was kept strictly confidential from the public.
When the Duke saw the letter, his serpentine eyes darkened. "Send out the order. Keep a close watch on the Moon Ascending Royal Family."
"My Lord, are you worried that they..."
’Worried they’ll use despicable means to abduct Ms. Zhi Zhi!’
After all, her communicator had lost signal completely.
And judging by the time, the Delegation would be arriving soon.
Lord Locke would arrive before the Delegation; he was most likely already within the Moon Ascension Realm.
And in the Puluo Ocean, hundreds of kilometers from the maelstrom, twelve warships were lined up, anxiously awaiting the appearance of the Mermaid Young Master.
Suddenly, the underwater detector went off.
The leader, a white-bearded old man, walked onto the deck leaning on a cane.
He exclaimed excitedly, "Prince You Sen!"
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