Chapter 349 Under the Fluorescent Tree
Cicadas chirped endlessly, a sense of anxiety filling the streets like smoke. The usually boisterous citizens were uncharacteristically silent, glancing suspiciously at those who passed by.
Voting officially closed yesterday, and the results would be announced soon, perhaps within the next two days if they were quick. There was nothing left to do but wait, and everyone who followed politics felt like the most anxious person in the world.
And it is obvious that there are always people in this world who are more anxious than them.
Velvet drew the curtains shut and looked away from the suffocating window. The second hand of the wall clock ticked silently. It was just a highly realistic projection of information, but it gave her a clicking sound.
The cabin she lived in was located at the corner of a downtown intersection. Filled with wooden furniture, botanical artwork, and various local favorites, it looked like a typical old house. However, in reality, the house had only just appeared this morning. Everything inside was manufactured using cyber-materialization technology. The large-scale psychological suggestion of the laboratory had caused the surrounding citizens to ignore this newly constructed house.
Velvet distrusted the current state of the city-state of Thorns, so she constructed a temporary shelter. Her concerns proved to be justified, as a full 25 hours passed without anyone noticing anything unusual. If even a mage scholar, two days removed from the city, could evade Thorns' surveillance network, how much more so could a premeditated assassin from the Blood Alliance?
“Rocked with holes.” Velvet shook her head.
Secretary Hill whispered, "Boss... I think your skills are enough to conceal the bases of most forces..."
"This means that Jingsha City-State will become like the 'vast majority', a bubble vulnerable to the attack of the foreign armies," Velvet said. "In a land like this, there is no trust. I cannot take any action."
Hill declined to comment and flipped through the report in his hand: "I found the address of the Aquatic Bookstore."
“Have you ever been to that bookstore?” Velvet asked. “Do you know the employees? Have you ever seen the interior of the bookstore in person? Have you ever interacted with them face to face?”
Hill swallowed and said, "No."
"Your knowledge of this location comes entirely from intelligence, and intelligence without empirical evidence is just empty talk. I'm the same way, so I don't have the confidence to distinguish truth from falsehood."
"But you can always recognize... the person you're looking for, right?" Hill said, "Let's try big data search..."
“The problem is that he won’t leave the bookstore.” Velvet shook her head. “He’ll be worried about missing me.”
Hill was speechless. It was the first time she knew there could be such a situation in the world. The boss was almost about to find the invisible man who was everywhere, but he couldn't move forward because they knew each other too well.
"Would you mind asking for help from Mansa Star Fort?" She came up with another plan. "We were planning to contact the captain and ask him to come forward to protect us..."
“Why do you trust the captain?” Velvet glanced at her.
Hill screamed inwardly. It was indeed true. Putting aside that terrifying imposter, with the traitor clearly within Jingsha, no official in Jingsha was trustworthy. The third captain was the least suspicious, and the only person the boss could fully trust was probably the killer...
So she would never leave the Third Meridian. The killer was here, and this was the safest place for her.
Hill took small steps back to the corner of the room, looking at the ammunition piled up all over the room. Thinking of the terrifying firepower that his boss had stored somewhere, he gained a little more confidence.
"Boss, if you don't take action, it will be hard for him to find you." She mustered up the courage to say, "Should we consider sending a bigger signal?"
Velvet was also considering the matter. She had already rejected several proposals before the secretary spoke, as Jingsha's media industry was equally untrustworthy. With Perriman controlling the media, the information conveyed through the water screen could be distorted.
Perhaps she should try using physical information like fireworks... perhaps projecting a divine staff with clear coordinates...
This was a good idea. She tapped her smooth cane. Another shot of the Divine Staff would lock the coordinates at the intersection, and Chu Hengkong would surely arrive in time. It didn't matter if Wang Quan arrived first; she could always hold out until Chu Hengkong arrived... To be on the safe side, she needed to increase the yield, ideally vaporizing half of the Third Pulse Order in one strike. This meant she would need to urgently evacuate approximately 200 million people... assemble a discrete space transfer device on site...
(I’m going to die! The boss is starting to go to extremes!)
Hill, watching from the sidelines, broke out in a cold sweat. The look in her boss's eyes brought back horrifying memories. The last time she encountered that look, three islands had vanished from the world. She rapidly activated her autonomous machine, hoping to find a breakthrough from the newly gathered intelligence. A new poster caught her eye.
"Boss, I think he sent you a message!"
Velvet turned around and snatched the poster from the secretary. She groaned a second later.
"what have you been doing……"
It was a cartoon-style poster, with cute little animals dancing on the grass and couples walking together under fluorescent trees.
·
"I'm really satisfied with this poster!" Bang Bang Crucian carp said proudly. "It has all the necessary elements. I drew a baby seal, a baby otter, and a small crucian carp in the background, so you can tell at a glance that it's ours."
Poison Otter pointed at the map and explained, "The forest in the background is meticulously drawn based on the park plan. The position of each tree corresponds exactly to the rotated map. You can mark a spot so she'll know where to find you."
Chu Hengkong randomly pointed at a large tree and said, "Here, draw a smoking snake, bent into an 'S' shape."
"What about time?" Ji Huaisu asked, "This event will last the whole night."
"This snake is also a sign of time. She will understand it once she sees it."
·
Velvet stared at the little snake puffing out smoke, as if she saw the smug face of someone a few years ago.
She knew immediately what he was talking about; a certain assassin was taking the opportunity to bring up an embarrassing past. It was during his first heraldry class, when the old professor, holding up the coat of arms of the Velus family through the generations, explained the shifting ideologies of governance. One generation's caduceus, depicted as a double-snake, had become an Ouroboros. After a lengthy discussion, the old man asked his assistant if he could deduce the personality of the incoming head of the family. He nodded, saying, "I understand. Two snakes together make sense." These two snakes, coiled together, formed an 8. Congratulations on your prosperity! That generation of head of the family was a money-grubber!
The old professor, nearly succumbing to anger, said, "Master, please find someone better. Your assistant is far too talented to be taught by someone as mediocre as me." So, starting from the next class, someone was dismayed to discover that his heraldry teacher had been replaced by Velvet. By the end of the training, he had received a perfect score in the class.
This time he brought up the past and told a dull joke... There was only one snake under the tree, and if another snake came, it would be "8", so it would be eight o'clock in the evening...
Velvet glanced at the clock again. It was now 4:30 in the afternoon. She had less than 4 hours to prepare.
"Boss, I think this idea is very romantic!" Hill said excitedly. "The location is also very safe, right? The enemy can't possibly disguise a forest and hundreds of migrant workers in the city center."
Velvet, however, was no longer thinking about these things. There were only four hours left, and she was still in her usual work clothes. She hadn't made any preparations... She hadn't even put on makeup yet...
How stupid! She groaned in her heart. How could she still be thinking about such meaningless things at this point! As if it was important. Chu Hengkong didn't care about it at all. He couldn't even tell that he had changed his jewelry.
She held the poster in her hand for a moment in silence, then instructed her secretary:
"Please buy me some clothes."
“Okay, boss!”
She hesitated for a moment and then asked, "...Did you bring any cosmetics?"
·
"I can't breathe wearing this." Chu Hengkong's face turned pale. "Let's change into something else."
Ji Huaisu took off his sexy crimson tuxedo and rejected his next suggestion in advance: "No suit."
"Suits, ties, and gloves are the most traditional—"
"It's the most traditional thug attire. It makes you look like you're ready to make a killing," Ji Huaisu said. "Do you want to dress like a kidnapper to meet your boss?"
Chu Hengkong pondered for a moment, then picked up another yellow vest. Before he could express his opinion, Fander groaned, "Come on, buddy. If I were you, I wouldn't wear a takeout jacket on a date."
"But she is very familiar with this kind of clothes. She recognized me at the first sight."
"Nostalgia is a good thing, but we still have to strike a balance between nostalgia and decency," Ji Huaisu said. "What you really need are clothes that are familiar, comfortable, natural, and full of memories."
She showed off her symbolic green coat.
"Goodbye..." Chu Hengkong hesitated, "This is too ordinary."
Ji Huaisu patted his shoulder vigorously: "Master Chu, you have known each other for almost ten years! Do you really think that a new piece of clothing can make the other person feel refreshed? The key to reuniting after a long separation is this familiar feeling that makes you smile knowingly!"
"What you said does seem to make sense..."
Chu Hengkong picked up his coat and went into the house, ready to change back into his original outfit. Fander took the opportunity to jump onto Ji Huaisu's shoulders. His pitiful conscience made him unable to endure it any longer.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Vander said, "You're helping him pursue Velvet!"
Ji Huaisu was calm and collected: "Is there any problem?"
“There are so many questions! Velvet is—”
"Of course I know she's a woman. I knew it the moment I heard her mention Akong. A man wouldn't talk like that."
Ji Huaisu folded up the unused clothes and stuffed them into the closet. Fander was dumbfounded when he heard it: "What about you?"
"They've been separated for more than two years before they finally met. How could I just sit there and watch him running around like a headless fly?" Ji Huaisu closed the closet door. "Before we talk about love, I'm his buddy first!"
At this time, Chu Hengkong changed his clothes and pushed the door open. He put on the green coat again and fixed his hair. He asked nervously, "How is it?"
·
“That’s terrible,” Velvet said.
She went into the room, took off her light blue dress, and changed back into her white shirt and work clothes. The secretary was still holding two evening gowns that looked like works of art, but she quickly stuffed them into the closet after seeing her boss's expression.
"Boss, maybe you should be a little nostalgic," she whispered. "These clothes suit you very well, but... he might not recognize you..."
“I thought so,” Velvet sighed. “I wasted a good two hours.”
She sat at her dressing table, staring at the dull woman in the mirror. She still had straight hair, the tips of her black hair turning a faint blue due to her spiritual power, far less fashionable than those of modern women. Her skin was unnaturally pale, far from a healthy tan, like a vampire afraid of the sun. Her facial features could only be described as delicate, far from profound, like those of an Oriental woman who had lived in the boudoir for a long time.
After all these years, that vague feeling of frustration resurfaced. Why would a woman like this need to dress up? What on earth was she wasting her time on?
Hill quietly looked at the beautiful woman with long hair, and couldn't understand why such a beautiful person would look at herself in the mirror with loss.
"Ms. Velvet," she changed her address. "I don't think those clothes suit you very well... Are they just as bad as usual?"
She found the suit jacket and draped it over her friend's shoulders. In an instant, the wise scholar was back.
·
"I'm starting to feel uneasy." Chu Hengkong stared at his watch. "Now that I think about it, this is actually pretty stupid. It's all based on chance, and Velvet probably won't come. I've never seen her participate in this kind of... event before."
The little animals all booed. Ji Huaisu pushed him out of the bookstore door and threw an umbrella over to him: "Stop talking nonsense and get on with it!"
·
“That’s stupid,” Velvet said. “I don’t think he would take the initiative to participate in such an event. This is most likely just a local custom in the city-state. Excessive expectations have clouded my judgment…”
Hill handed her an umbrella and forcibly interrupted her mumbling: "I wish you success, Miss Velvet!"
Velvet shook her head helplessly and walked out the door under the secretary's encouraging gaze.
She had never imagined she'd ever feel grateful for the law. Thanks to the city's political strife, the streets were unusually quiet tonight. Most citizens stayed in their homes, but a few who cared little about politics played clear songs under the night sky. She passed countless strangers as she headed towards the glowing forest nearby.
The fluorescent trees stood out so prominently against the night sky that she could see their gentle glow from blocks away. Soft specks of light drifted through the trees, like infinitely slowed raindrops gently brushing the ground. The glow, in its true form, was a fluffy ball of fluff. Couples who arrived first grasped it in their hands, their delight as if they had grasped happiness.
Here, too, music played. Slow, lyrical melodies flowed like water. The musicians sat atop the trees, their eyes closed, enchanted by the music alongside the conductor. Their presence infected the men and women of the forest, making the place less shrill and noisy. Everyone stood in tacit understanding beneath the trees, expressing their affection with gazes instead of words.
Velvet opened her umbrella to block the ubiquitous, shiny fluff. She felt herself blushing. Why had she come to a place like this? It was as if she was actually expecting a secret meeting.
They had visited most countries on Earth, and on many nights they had feasted and danced together, and when the lights went out, they had rushed to the battlefield together. They were gangsters and killers, and they never belonged in such a gentle place.
But she continued to walk, umbrella in hand, following the faint hope in her heart. She walked for a few more minutes, reaching the depths of the forest, where even couples were reluctant to tread. Here, there was only a faint light, and no one was seen under the shadows of the ancient trees.
Could this be a trap? Velvet suddenly thought. Had she really stepped into danger? In the next moment, the killers would pounce from the shadows, baring their bloodthirsty fangs...
A single light fluttered down, illuminating the path ahead for her. Beneath a large tree stood a lone figure, holding an umbrella like hers to block out the surrounding light.
Velvet held her breath. At that moment, she truly wasn't thinking about anything, she simply stepped forward subconsciously. The edge of the umbrella gently bumped against hers, and the person holding it raised their gaze.
His pupils had turned red, and his physique had subtly changed. The traces of the reckless young man from years ago had almost faded. He now appeared more composed and calm, but the gleam in his eyes hadn't changed.
In a trance, Velvet seemed to see the boy who opened the car window on a rainy night again, smiling as before, waiting for her not far away.
They stood silently under the umbrella, in their own little world.
I don’t know who put down the umbrella first, erasing the insurmountable barriers between the worlds.
I don't know who took the first step forward and stepped into the other's inviolable space.
Then, their worlds merged again.
(The Jinghua Festival incident is over, and the publication will be suspended for three days to adjust and sort out the outline of the second half. Updates will resume on Wednesday~)
(End of this chapter)
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