Unknowingly, Gu Qiye’s consciousness drifted into a hazy darkness.

In the very end, he only remembered seeing that floating battleship-like giant Shark in New Leaf Village Prison, when suddenly the diamond pattern on his wrist erupted with a blinding light. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

A moment later, an unexpected bright light pierced through his eyelids.

Startled awake, Gu Qiye opened his eyes abruptly.

He instinctively raised his arm to shield his eyes from the light. After blinking, a silver-white room came into view. The walls of the room were all silver-white, with a deep blue diamond mark in the center.

He paused slightly, then relaxed his arm and looked ahead. Two figures suddenly came into view: a woman in a black vest jacket and a white-haired girl in a black tight-fitting suit.

You Ruirui was silent, lost in thought; Urushibara Ryuri crossed her arms, examining him with interest.

Seeing their faces, Gu Qiye finally breathed a sigh of relief and slowly took off the black mask on his face.

He glanced around and looked at the diamond mark on the wall, suddenly raising his eyebrows, roughly understanding the origin of this space.

"Don’t move around." Urushibara Ryuri smiled, "Only I can take you in and out of here, moving around recklessly could lead to trouble, and we might not be able to return." Her words supported Gu Qiye’s guess.

Curiously, he asked, "Can your ability actually create an independent space?"

"That’s one of my superpower effects," Urushibara Ryuri said.

Gu Qiye contemplated: "Then you could become an almost unbeatable assassin, for instance, sending enemies into this space and killing them before they can recover?"

His statement had a basis, being transported into this space by Urushibara Ryuri made his consciousness hazy and blurred initially—if during this time, Urushibara Ryuri had taken the opportunity to attack, the outcome would be obvious—he would die.

"Did you misunderstand something? The prerequisite for teleportation is for me to touch the opponent and leave a mark on them." Urushibara Ryuri chuckled, "If I could teleport anyone in the world to this space at will, that would indeed be somewhat invincible."

You Ruirui quietly waited for them to finish their discussion and then asked, "Why did you bring us back?"

"Is it hard to understand? Because the situation had gotten out of control."

"Objection." You Ruirui remained expressionless, "I believe at that moment, the situation was still within the control range of me and Blue..." She corrected herself, "Black Flash."

"Oh, are you sure? The brigade members killed the warden, and among them, there are at least two Catastrophe Level threats," Urushibara Ryuri said, "Not to mention that Shark; if its strength far surpasses Catastrophe Level, by the time you understand its power, it will already be too late."

"No matter what, rushing us back like this was not a smart choice." You Ruirui said, "You either admit your judgment was wrong or acknowledge that your actions have another motive."

"Is there such an unreasonable three-no girl in this world?" Urushibara Ryuri said, "Continue like this, and I’ll strip you of your title."

You Ruirui said coldly, "Firstly, I never acknowledged this nickname; secondly, my statements are well-founded, you’re the one who needs to explain, and from what I see, you’re trying to change the topic."

"Fine, let’s be reasonable." Urushibara Ryuri said blandly, "From the moment Mechanical Soul Bodhisattva died, the United Nations upper echelon’s action plan for Rainbow Wings clearly stated in black and white that all actions now prioritize safeguarding member safety."

"We weren’t in life-threatening danger."

"Really? Despite the enemy having two Catastrophe Levels, along with a several hundred-meter-long flying Shark, any upper echelon standing beside me would order me to take you back."

At this point, Urushibara Ryuri paused and smirked sarcastically:

"If you want to blame anyone, blame yourselves for not reducing the enemy’s Catastrophe Level at first sight. Moreover, judging by the on-site situation, those two Catastrophe Levels in White Crow Travel Brigade were going all out, and you might not be their match, not to mention the Shark."

She spread her hands: "So many unknown factors are there. Sister, I am a backup personnel, not a gambler. If you die, the higher-ups will see me as seriously negligent, and I will be severely punished, understand?"

"But I still doubt your motives," You Ruirui said.

"Then we’ll see each other in military court."

You Ruirui was silent. Her ice-blue eyes unwaveringly bore into Urushibara Ryuri, pupils seemingly about to freeze.

"Were you merely displeased with the fight, or did the woman in the red dress anger you?" Urushibara Ryuri diverted her gaze.

"I don’t want to keep arguing with you. Regardless, please release us from here first." You Ruirui pulled up her black leather gloves, "While not too much time has passed, we can still return to New Leaf Village to track the whereabouts of the White Crow Travel Brigade."

"No..." Gu Qiye shook his head, "They have likely gone far, and it’s too late to chase now."

"Why are you so sure?" You Ruirui turned to him.

"Because I saw with my own eyes at the Tokyo Auction, there is a superpower user in the brigade who can create Teleportation Gates." Gu Qiye explained, "With that superpower user’s ability, to transport other members from that prison is simple; tracking their whereabouts will be extremely difficult for us."

"Did you hear that? Can you calm down now?" Urushibara Ryuri laughed.

"I am very calm. You caused us to lose a chance at completing the mission."

"If a person is dead, what’s the point of a mission?" Urushibara Ryuri paused, "Or are you just eager to show off in front of your destined one?"

You Ruirui was taken aback.

After a moment of silence, she said slowly and deliberately, "Unreasonable."

Gu Qiye couldn’t stand the two of them anymore, looking down at the mask in his hand, "So what do we do now?"

"What else can we do?" Urushibara Ryuri said, "Go back and report the situation."

"Just report like that?" Gu Qiye said.

"Don’t worry, given so many unexpected factors, the higher-ups won’t think of us as ineffective, but will find our gathered intelligence very valuable," Urushibara Ryuri said quietly, "I suspect the wanted level of the White Crow Travel Brigade will be raised to an unprecedented height."

Gu Qiye nodded silently. Time has passed, but in his mind, the shock brought by that colossal shark still lingered.

"What exactly is... that creature?" he pondered.

....

....

Meanwhile, in an empty basement in Sapporo City, Hokkaido.

Black Cocoon hung upside down from the ceiling, flipping through the Japanese edition of the manga "Boy’s Abyss," quietly waiting for a guest to arrive.

This place had been introduced to him by Mu Long, who said it was where he and Ghost Bell had trained in Hokkaido, a location known to few—one has to admit, this master and apprentice seemed to favor gloomy basements, possibly finding them more secure.

After a while, a white-haired, green-eyed youth suddenly pushed the door open, with a palm-sized shark perched on his shoulder. Cezar held a rope in his hand, which he pulled, dragging the unconscious Julius in from outside the room.

"Big flapping moth, here’s your man!" Yaguba pointed at Julius with a fish fin.

"I’ve confirmed it, Mr. Black Cocoon, he is indeed the guy in the photo, with that very noticeable walrus moustache." Speaking, Cezar let out a breath and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Yes, he is indeed my specified individual." Black Cocoon closed the book, "Thank you very much for helping out this time, Prince Third, and our chowhound shark."

"Mediocre, mediocre," Yaguba snorted coldly.

Cezar smiled and said, "So then Mr. Black Cocoon, can you tell us the whereabouts of the Light-Eating Bees?" His tone implied a desire for a straightforward exchange, as if he had been deeply influenced by darker dealings.

"Don’t worry, in a few days I will certainly tell you, I never disappoint my partners." Black Cocoon looked away; he had not exchanged information with Gu Qiye yet, so naturally, he didn’t know the whereabouts of the Light-Eating Bees. For now, he could only stall.

Cezar’s expression turned serious, "Really, you won’t deceive me, will you?" He raised his green eyes, staring unblinkingly at Black Cocoon’s mask.

"Of course not," Black Cocoon said.

Cezar was silent for a while, then a smile appeared on his expressionless face, "Alright then, I believe you."

Saying that, he released the rope, lay Julius down on the floor with some effort, and then muttered, "Do you need us to help with anything else? Like waking him up or something?"

"No, no, no, that’s not necessary." Black Cocoon put his hands on his hips, "You guys can go have lunch if you’re hungry, having meals on time is more important than anything else."

"Mm-hmm, then we’ll go first." With that, Cezar turned and walked out of the basement.

He casually closed the door, "Goodbye, Mr. Black Cocoon."

Black Cocoon listened as Cezar’s footsteps faded away, then stretched out a restraint belt, wrapping Julius’s body layer by layer, so that the officer’s superpower was sealed, even if he suddenly awoke, he wouldn’t pose any threat.

Then, Black Cocoon slowly dragged him onto the sofa and activated the power of the No. 1 unit—"Restraint Truth."

[Restraint Truth: Forces a person bound by your restraint belt to speak the truth.]

In the next moment, Julius’s eyelids twitched slightly, his mechanical eyes opened wide, staring blankly at the ceiling. Blood vessels spread throughout his pupils, as if the eyeballs might pop out at any moment.

Black Cocoon did not allow himself to appear in his field of vision, keeping a certain distance from his line of sight. Then, using a voice changer to alter his voice, he disguised it as the deep tones of an adult male.

He took a deep breath and asked softly, with a hint of eeriness:

"Mr. Julius, do you know... where the Salvation Society’s base is?"