It was four in the morning.
The wasteland night wind cut across the camp like icy blades.
Only a few bonfires with stubbornly glowing embers still flickered with faint red light.
Inside the tent, it was warm as spring, but someone was suffering terribly.
Fei Xia stared expressionlessly at the canvas patterns on the tent ceiling, a vein throbbing on her forehead, her body rigid as a wooden board.
“Mmm… Little Red Bean… so soft… so nice…”
Beside her, Amber Flowing Light was clinging to her like a giant orange octopus, limbs wrapped tightly around her.
One of her legs was pressed indecently across Fei Xia’s stomach, while her arms hugged Fei Xia’s arm.
Her entire face was buried in Fei Xia’s neck, her warm breath spraying against her skin.
A trace of glistening drool had even soaked into the collar.
‘This girl… is definitely faking it, right?’
Fei Xia gritted her teeth, suppressing the urge to kick this human pendant away.
She took a deep breath and, using every ounce of effort, carefully extracted her numb arm from the other girl’s embrace like she was defusing a bomb.
“Mmm…”
Amber Flowing Light let out a dissatisfied whimper, smacked her lips, rolled over, hugged the blanket, and went back to sleep with a silly, infatuated smile on her face.
Fei Xia wiped her sleeve in disgust and quietly slipped out of the warm bedding.
She put on the torn black cloak once more and sneaked out of the tent like a silent black cat.
The outside air was piercingly cold, instantly chasing away any sleepiness.
Fei Xia didn’t head straight for the supply truck. Instead, she first circled around to the tent where Qinghai Starlight was resting.
Holding her breath, she peeked inside through a gap in the tent flap.
Under the faint moonlight, she saw Qinghai curled up on the camp bed.
The senior who was always tense and maintaining her perfect idol persona had finally let down all her defenses.
She slept like an exhausted child.
However, her brows were still slightly furrowed, as if she was still worrying about something in her dreams.
‘She really overexerted herself.’
Fei Xia calculated inwardly.
They had originally agreed to meet at this time to “transport” the supplies to Bellflower together.
But seeing her like this, it was better not to wake her.
Fei Xia’s hand paused on the tent flap for a moment before she finally withdrew it.
‘Never mind.’
She pulled her hood lower and turned, disappearing into the darkness.
‘This kind of physical labor… I’ll just treat it as a free gift on behalf of my guarantor.’
***
After Fei Xia’s presence completely vanished from her perception range.
Amber Flowing Light, who had been “sound asleep” inside the tent, suddenly opened her eyes.
Where had the sleepiness gone?
Her orange eyes were crystal clear, even sparkling with cunning and excitement.
“Hehe…”
She sat up, pinched her own palm as if savoring the memory, and revealed a meaningful, mischievous grin.
‘She looks so skinny, but Little Red Bean’s body is surprisingly soft~ And she doesn’t have that annoying perfume smell, just a pleasant cool scent. Slurp…’
‘Wait, no! That’s not what I should be thinking about right now!’
Amber Flowing Light shook her head vigorously, patted her flushed cheeks, and forced herself to switch from “fangirl mode” to “detective mode.”
She crawled out of the tent, looked suspiciously in the direction Fei Xia had disappeared, then glanced at Qinghai Starlight’s tent next door.
Flames of “gossip” and “curiosity” burned fiercely in her heart.
There was definitely some big, unspeakable secret between those two!
Otherwise, why would Qinghai Starlight look like that when they returned?
Were they doing special training? Or searching for some legendary treasure?
Or maybe… Qinghai Starlight was suffering from some hidden injury and Fei Xia was helping her find medicinal herbs?
‘Uwaa… I really want to know! I want to know so badly!’
Amber Flowing Light paced back and forth anxiously, her imagination running as wild as Bai Ning’s.
Although the fierce team leader had specifically warned them before departure: “No matter what sounds you hear at night, stay inside and don’t come out.”
However…
The more something was “forbidden,” the more it made people itch to find out!
‘Come to think of it, the team leader told me to wake Fei Xia at two in the morning.’
“Ahem.”
Amber Flowing Light suddenly stopped pacing, cleared her throat, and put on a righteous expression, raising one finger as if defending herself before an invisible judge.
‘That’s right! I just remembered! The team leader said that in case of emergencies, I could act at my own discretion!’
‘Also, General Bureau Regulation Number One: Newcomers are strictly prohibited from acting alone!’
‘Since Senior Qinghai is exhausted and collapsed, as a reliable senior, how could I just watch my cute junior go on an adventure by herself?’
‘That’s right! I’m not going to spy, and I’m definitely not causing trouble!’
Perfect logical loop!
Amber Flowing Light nodded in satisfaction, feeling as if the nonexistent red scarf on her chest had become even brighter.
‘Wait for me, Little Red Bean! Senior is coming to protect you!’
She hopped lightly and followed quietly in the direction Fei Xia had gone, like a nimble swift.
At the edge of the camp, inside the supply truck.
Fei Xia enhanced her vision with magic power as she looked at the neatly stacked crates of food supplies, preparing to carry a few away.
Buzz—
Space rippled. Snowball emerged from a magic circle in mid-air.
Perhaps because it had witnessed the tragic sight of the Chimera, the usually gluttonous Snowball had an unusually serious expression.
“Wait!”
Snowball suddenly called out in a hushed voice.
“What?”
Fei Xia’s hand paused in mid-air.
“Something’s off with these.”
Snowball wasn’t looking at the food. Instead, it was staring intently at another pile of black metal crates at the very back of the truck, covered by several layers of oilcloth.
Yellow biohazard symbols and warnings against violent impact were printed on the crates.
“What’s inside… are monster cores.”
Fei Xia’s eyebrows twitched. She closed her eyes and sensed them.
Sure enough, even through the lead shielding, she could feel a disturbing, restless surge of magic power.
“Does this have something to do with the Chimeras?”
Fei Xia’s thoughts naturally drifted in that direction, her expression growing serious.
“It does, but not directly. Monster cores have many uses. Being used as material for Chimeras is only one of them.”
Fei Xia’s heart sank.
If the Chimeras were really connected to the General Bureau, then what she had been escorting wasn’t life-saving supplies…
But blades that devoured people.
Just as she was about to investigate further—
“Got you~”
A cheerful, crisp voice suddenly rang out from the truck entrance, shattering the heavy atmosphere.
Amber Flowing Light dropped down from above with a bright, triumphant grin.
She clung to the half-open truck door and poked half her body inside.
“Little Red Bean! Sneaking around in the middle of the night instead of sleeping—what kind of good stuff are you hiding and ea—”
Her voice abruptly cut off.
The smile froze on her face.
Under the dim lighting inside the truck, Amber Flowing Light clearly saw the scene before her:
Fei Xia was standing in front of a pile of crates marked with danger symbols, her expression grave.
And on Fei Xia’s shoulder floated an unfamiliar familiar glowing with soft white light.
The air froze.
Amber Flowing Light swallowed hard.
Her gaze darted back and forth between the familiar and the stack of biohazard crates.
She instinctively sensed danger.
She slowly and stiffly began retracting her body from the truck.
“Um… Did I… come at a bad time?”
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