Ling Ling walked through the crowd, heading toward the direction of those golden eyes.
The owner of those golden eyes wasn’t deliberately avoiding her, but stood still, as if intentionally waiting for her to approach.
But whenever Ling Ling tried to get closer, the other person would deliberately take a few steps forward, always maintaining a certain distance.
Thus, the two engaged in an eerily strange chase within the aquarium.
Ling Ling hated this feeling of being led by the nose.
But she had no choice now. She had to find out who those golden eyes, similar yet completely different from Chiyotsuki, belonged to.
And the owner of those golden eyes also began to slow down, as if deliberately guiding Ling Ling to a certain place.
Soon, they passed through the dim deep-sea fish exhibit and arrived at an inconspicuous staff rest area.
That golden vertical pupil flashed in the darkness, then turned into a staff-only passage marked with a “Staff Only, No Visitors” sign.
Ling Ling followed, while slowly charging a fireball in her right hand for emergency use.
As soon as she entered, she saw a blue-haired girl leaning against an old vending machine, dressed in ordinary casual clothes.
The blue-haired girl’s hair was different from Chiyotsuki’s deep blue; it was a light blue like the sky after a rain.
Her face was about seventy to eighty percent similar to Chiyotsuki’s, but more youthful.
Her entire body exuded a bone-deep coldness and arrogance.
And those golden vertical pupils looked at Ling Ling as if she were nothing but a weed.
Upon seeing Ling Ling arrive, the blue-haired girl crossed her arms and said in a teasing voice:
“Not bad intuition, Zero.”
Upon hearing the other address her as Zero, Ling Ling quickly raised the hand she had been charging.
A fireball with scorching heat blasted toward the blue-haired girl.
At that moment, a black shadow like a legendary dragon appeared beside the blue-haired girl and devoured the incoming fireball completely.
After consuming Ling Ling’s attack, the blue-haired girl didn’t even blink.
“Don’t be so hot-tempered, Zero.”
Ling Ling condensed an ice spike in her hand and, with a cold expression, asked in a tone like interrogating a prisoner:
“Who are you?”
“What’s your relationship with Chiyotsuki?”
When the blue-haired girl heard the name “Chiyotsuki,” she frowned, then spoke slowly with a hint of confusion:
“Chiyotsuki?”
“Don’t know her.”
Ling Ling looked at the other’s seemingly lying expression, feeling perplexed inside.
But the top priority now was to determine whether she was actually from Cradle.
After all, the name “Zero” was only known to people from Cradle.
As for the rest, she would tell Chiyotsuki everything later.
The blue-haired girl was also somewhat puzzled. Her memory had no mention of this “Chiyotsuki” person that Ling Ling spoke of.
But she felt that name was vaguely familiar…
The blue-haired girl dropped some of her teasing and became serious, saying:
“But I do know you, though.”
Ling Ling pressed the other with cold words, while the ice spike in her hand was already aimed at her throat.
“Who sent you to follow me?”
“Speak.”
“I’ll spare your life.”
Seeing the ice spike aimed at her throat, the blue-haired girl burst out laughing.
Then, with an arrogance befitting a superior, she said:
“Zero, you don’t think these little ice spikes can hurt me, do you?”
The words fell. The shadow beneath the blue-haired girl’s feet twisted and deformed, then turned into a Western dragon head that seemed to come straight out of a movie.
In that instant, Ling Ling sensed the other’s true strength.
S-class. And moreover, an incredibly powerful S-class dragon.
After confirming that the opponent was someone she absolutely could not defeat, Ling Ling also put away the ice spike.
After all, the other had only revealed their ability to intimidate her and make her listen.
If she really wanted to fight, she could have attacked directly back at the jellyfish wall.
As for the lives of others, Ling Ling didn’t think Cradle people had that much morality.
Seeing Ling Ling put away the ice spike, the blue-haired girl also withdrew the shadow dragon at her feet.
Then, in a very teasing tone, she said to Ling Ling:
“That’s more like it, Zero.”
“Me? I’m just out having fun today.”
“I just happened to see you, the one Surtr mentioned to me.”
“Then my curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to observe you.”
“But I didn’t expect you to be so sharp.”
“I have to give you credit for that.”
After hearing that, Ling Ling’s conjecture was confirmed.
She was indeed a Knight of the Round Table who was acquainted with Surtr.
She looked straight at the other and said slowly:
“A Knight of the Round Table?”
The blue-haired girl kept the same expression. Being guessed about her identity was completely within her expectations.
After all, Zero, who had caused such a commotion, couldn’t be an ordinary person.
“Yes, as you can see.”
“I am the Fourth Seat of the Round Table—Tiamat.”
The blue-haired girl answered Ling Ling’s question with confidence.
“But as I told you before.”
“I’m just out to have fun.”
“I have no interest in laying a hand on a little white mouse like you or those ordinary people outside.”
Tiamat was inherently this kind of proud person. In her view, she would not actively attack those weaker than herself.
It was an absolute arrogance that stood above all living beings.
Like the dragons in fantasy stories. Ling Ling narrowed her eyes slightly, recalling what Hua Jianxi had told her earlier.
The Knights of the Round Table were not a monolith.
Each knight had a completely different personality and their own way of doing things.
And the one before her. Was the epitome of arrogance that had the pride of the strong carved into her bones.
“So…”
Ling Ling finally spoke. Her tone was still cold, but the tense atmosphere had gradually faded.
“You followed me just for fun?”
Tiamat nodded. A hint of amusement flickered in those dragon-like golden vertical pupils.
“What?”
“Isn’t that reason enough, little mouse?”
Saying that, she took a can of coffee from the vending machine beside her.
With a flick of her finger, the tab came off with a pop.
Ling Ling didn’t respond, just watched her quietly.
She could sense it. Although Tiamat’s words were full of arrogance and frivolity, she really had no murderous intent toward her.
This condescending “tolerance” was even more irritating.
“Since you’re just here to play, let’s end it here.”
Ling Ling finally said. Tiamat let out a light laugh at that.
She casually tossed the empty coffee can into a nearby trash bin.
“Pretty much.”
She turned around, with her back to Ling Ling, and slowly walked toward the exit. Before leaving, she left one last remark.
“Next time we meet, we’ll be enemies, Zero.”
“I hope you can play with me properly.”
With that final teasing whisper, Tiamat melted into the shadows and completely disappeared.
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