Light Fortress
Chapter 377 - 63, Gift

Chapter 377: Chapter 63, Gift

"Is it really that bad?"

Duke Zhuxue smiled as he lightly flicked the white paper.

"Boom!"

A tremor came from the study’s floor as the labrador evil dog was flung from the paper, crashing heavily onto the ground, legs in the air, its dog face filled with confusion... After regaining its senses, it immediately rolled over to its master’s side, growling viciously in a low voice, yet it did not dare take a step forward.

"Actually, it’s not that bad."

Lin Lin walked over to the desk, swinging his legs up without waiting for permission, and looked at the gentle man on the roof, "After all... I’m just here to say hello. I’ll leave in two minutes."

"Is this considered an evasion?"

Duke Zhuxue was speechless.

Every year, he would send someone to Gu Castle Fortress with gentle reminders and instructions, which gradually turned into requests. When all these methods proved futile, he switched to a more forceful approach, demanding Lin Lin to come back to Advanced City for a visit.

And today... Lin Lin indeed returned to Advanced City.

But just for two minutes before leaving.

This visit seemed very insincere, and somewhat mocking.

"Are you leaving North Continent?"

Duke Zhuxue did not show any anger, but continued to smile as he spoke.

He looked down, folding the pristine white paper in his palm.

After flinging out the labrador evil dog, the few drops of black ink that were originally on the paper had vanished, as if they too had been flung from the paper with that flick, and the paper had once again become an ordinary white piece.

"I just want to go out for a drive and breathe some... fresh air," Lin Lin said calmly. "You know, Gu Castle is too cold. The soldiers take turns every year; they all have their own holidays."

"And you’re no exception. It’s just that you never take a holiday... great Gu Castle Fortress lookout, right Wing Arch Point Night Watchman, and the youngest Quasi-General in the history of North Continent."

Duke Zhuxue folded the white paper, the corners of his lips upturned.

Lin Lin fell silent for a moment, sensing the mockery in those words.

"How could someone who never takes a holiday suddenly decide to take one?" Duke Zhuxue seemed to pose a question, more like he was asking and answering himself, "It reminds me of more than ten years ago, when we were studying behind ’Teacher.’ You never liked to attend classes, always preferred to skive off and cause trouble during lessons, until one day you suddenly behaved... not because you had an epiphany, but because you fell asleep."

Human habits.

They cannot possibly be changed in one day.

"So there is only one truth... This trip is not as simple as just breathing fresh air..." Duke Zhuxue suddenly raised his palm and smilingly displayed the freshly crafted object, saying, "Ta-da."

In the short span of a few words, he had folded the white paper into a simple paper airplane.

Lin Lin, with his legs crossed, silently watched the man in front of him.

Many people in Advanced City fear the name Zhu Xue... because it represents iron blood, a cold demeanor, and ruthlessness.

Zhu Xue had no friends.

Therefore, no one had ever seen... the Duke talk so much at once.

"As expected, meeting you is a terrible thing," Lin Lin slowly uttered these words, "Then I’ll just lay my cards on the table, erase the trail of GB096."

"...Everyone has secrets."

Duke Zhuxue narrowed his eyes and said, "Where you go is none of my concern. But erasing the trail of movement, that’s a big responsibility for me."

"It’s not a secret; I will tell everything to my sister."

Lin Lin said something that made it impossible for Zhuxue to rebut.

Duke Zhuxue had nothing to say.

Seconds later.

He examined the paper airplane in his palm and heaved a slight sigh, asking, "I wonder... after this is done, you won’t stay in Advanced City?"

Lin Lin was silent.

Duke Zhuxue asked with a smile, "Not even for a minute?"

Zhuxue sighed again, "Your sister wants to see you, can’t you catch up on old times?"

The silence in the study lasted for a long time.

"Six hours ago, when you set off, I had already erased the records. GB096, this airship, will not be discovered by the Federation Council. I have granted it the highest clearance in Advanced City; now it’s just a ghost floating above the Five Continents."

Zhu Xue turned away and gently breathed on the paper airplane.

The pure white paper spun in the air.

A strong wind blew across the sky above the advanced city, the air currents erratic. Yet the paper airplane flew steadily, sailing far into the high skies and vanishing into the pale, shallow clouds before ultimately disappearing from sight.

Duke Zhu Xue squinted his eyes, looking toward the distant clouds, and whispered softly, "Headstrong people always seem to be accompanied by good fortune... Congratulations to you, you’re free again."

The study was already empty.

...

...

Dadu District.

On the northern edge, atop a desolate mountain peak, a dozen or so [lanterns] were lit.

As the flame of these [lanterns] ignited, the mountaintop was thoroughly shielded from the Deep Sea network’s data surveillance... In fact, this place had always been one of the weakest spots in the Dadu District’s monitoring grid. On ordinary days, it was scarcely populated, and big data hardly allocated computing power here. The monitoring density couldn’t compare to the bustling central areas of Da Du.

"Although it’s unclear what the transaction is... But you insisted on dealing with it personally, even making use of [lanterns], yet without any guards. Isn’t that somewhat improper?"

The view from the mountaintop was exceedingly open.

There was only one person here.

Lu Nanzhi stood amidst the mountain winds, saying calmly, "Ying Ji is still laid up in bed... If he were restored to health, I would be more than happy to have him by my side."

Cui Zhongcheng on the other end of the communicator, fell silent for a brief moment.

Flower banners had received the task to arrange "Golden Flag Mountain" a few days ago. The place was a remote desolate mountain... The so-called arrangement task was to place their own "monitoring" measures while obscuring the Deep Sea data surveillance as much as possible.

As the person in charge of the task,

Cui Zhongcheng only knew that the madam would conclude a transaction today... As for the identity of the person involved in the transaction, the item, and everything else, he had not been informed.

Ninety-nine percent of people in the world would be curious.

Yet Cui Zhongcheng was of that one percent.

He didn’t ask, simply because... he didn’t want to ask, or rather, he didn’t care.

Cui Zhongcheng glanced at the time and said, "The appointed time has arrived, and there’s no anomaly detected in the surveillance cloud map... As you said, if the ’transaction’ begins, surveillance needs to be disconnected. If anything unexpected happens, how can we ensure your safety?"

Five kilometers away,

snipers, officers, and Sincere Heart Association members had already been covertly positioned... They were all ready to respond to any contingency that might arise during this "transaction."

Lu Nanzhi raised her head.

Above the clouds in front of her, there was a rumble as if storm clouds were stirring.

It seemed as if a faint shadow of a whale swam among the clouds above.

There was a sound of something plummeting at high speed in the sky.

Everyone was on edge.

But... a heavy-duty alloy case fell from ten thousand meters in the air, landing with astonishing accuracy on the peak of Golden Flag Mountain. After kicking up a cloud of dust, the surface of the case remained undamaged.

In the next moment,

the massive whale-like thing seemed to spew out a ring of exhaust, like a resounding, high-pitched blast.

None of the Transcendent figures waiting here managed to see the true appearance of the "visitor."

It was all over just like that.

Even Cui Zhongcheng fell into silence, uncertainly asking, "Is it over?"

"Hmm..."

Quite the elusive fellow indeed.

Lu Nanzhi narrowed her eyes, attempting to catch the departing shadow in the clouds, but to no avail.

She shook her head and said softly, "The transaction is complete, you can tell the people outside to withdraw."

The shadow that had just passed was... a North Continent airship.

truly had come.

In fact, from the beginning, the biggest issue with the transaction wasn’t whether the goods could be delivered.

But rather... whether 073 was willing to keep the appointment.

She approached the immense alloy case and noticed a line of small characters etched on its surface.

"073, from."