"You do know this gun can’t get through my Battle Armor, don’t you?"
Zhou Chen replied in fluent English, unfazed by the threat of the Destroyer K-50.
He looked at the opened "052" shipping container, then at the princess aiming a shotgun. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, was dressed in a pure white, gold-trimd crinoline dress, and wore ivory lace gloves. The clues in his mind were beginning to connect.
This wasn’t so actress who’d wandered off a movie set, but a genuine, honest-to-goodness noblewoman.
What convinced him was the aristocratic air about her. Only soone who had received a noble’s education from childhood and grown up in that environnt could cultivate such a bearing over the years. It was sothing incredibly difficult to fake.
Factoring in the number, her attire, and her language, the true significance of "052" beca readily apparent.
Zone 052.
—Zone 052 was located on the island of Great Britain, in the land forrly known as England. It had been unsealed three years ago, and an Extraordinary Kingdom, similar to the Victorian era of the old world, had ford within its borders.
Three months after the Restricted Area was unsealed, the Laine Kingdom witnessed the power of modern society and ultimately chose to integrate with the tis.
When detailed information about the kingdom was made public, countless fantasy fans across the world went wild.
Because they really had dragons.
That’s right—Giant Dragons with massive wings and scales, that could breathe fire and fly.
They even had Dragon Ladies.
It was said that to attract tourists, they had even started a dragon-riding flight competition. In another two years, it looked like it could even beco an Olympic event...
As his thoughts raced, Zhou Chen saw the blonde princess cautiously backing away. One of her hands was surreptitiously reaching into the container full of weapons, as if to pull out so other heavy-duty toy.
"Calm down, Miss. This is Jinzhu City. My na is Zhou Chen, an Operator with the Jinzhu City Star Association," Zhou Chen said reassuringly.
"Jinzhu City? Where’s that?" The blonde princess had never heard of the place.
"In the East. Far from your ho."
’The East...’ The blonde princess’s expression froze, her breathing turning ragged for a mont before she suppressed it. She tightened her grip on the gun, trying her best to remain calm. Her beautiful, sapphire-like eyes were full of suspicion. "You’re an Operator from the Star Association?"
"Yes. My designation is..." Zhou Chen began, then switched tacks. "I’m guessing you’re from Zone 052. The Laine Kingdom, correct?"
anwhile, he was frantically hailing Jiang Che on his comms channel.
The urgency in his tone prompted Jiang Che, despite her busyness, to take a mont and check his first-person feed. Her eyebrows imdiately rose slightly.
"So that’s how it is..."
In an instant, it seed many things clicked into place for her. She began to speak:
"Her na is Erin Elizabeth, seventeen years old, the youngest daughter of Duke Elizabeth of the Laine Kingdom. She disappeared from a banquet two months ago. Many speculated she was kidnapped by a radical faction within the kingdom, but Duke Elizabeth never received any threats or ransom demands. To think she’d be in this shipnt... Heh. So that’s what ’Flower of Laine’ on the manifest ant..."
"A duke’s youngest daughter?" Zhou Chen was stunned. ’Duke is a very high rank. She’s a genuine noblewoman, through and through!’
"So protect her as best you can. There’s a lot in it for you," Jiang Che said.
The Laine Kingdom was a powerful Extraordinary Realm. The benefits of rescuing the daughter of a reformist Grand Duke would be imnse. If he played his cards right, he might even be able to push the Laine Kingdom toward deeper integration with the Star Association.
At that mont, Erin was staring warily at Zhou Chen. "How do you know I’m from the Laine Kingdom?"
"Your clothes, your bearing, your language, and the number written on that container."
Zhou Chen gestured to illustrate his points. "My superior told your na is Erin Elizabeth, you’re seventeen years old, and you’re the youngest daughter of Grand Duke Elizabeth. You were kidnapped two months ago, correct?"
"...Who is your superior?"
"Jiang Che. Do you know her?"
"I don’t... Please take off your helt. I need to get a better look," Erin said.
"Put the gun down first."
Erin hesitated for a mont before taking her finger off the trigger and lowering the barrel of the gun, though she remained ready to fire in an instant. "How’s this?"
Zhou Chen took three steps back, ensuring he’d have enough ti to react if Erin opened fire.
With a ntal command, he retracted the Alloy Battle Armor, revealing his face to Erin.
’He’s not one of the people who kidnapped , but I can’t rule out that he’s an accomplice... An Eastern face... Am I really in the East...?’ Erin wasn’t entirely convinced, but she couldn’t suppress the panic rising in her heart. If it was true, she was much, much too far from ho.
"My superior asked to tell you that while you’ve been missing, your father and mother have been extrely worried. If you’re willing to trust , I can take you sowhere safe and help you get ho."
Zhou Chen’s expression was sincere and earnest, his emotions perfectly calibrated for the mont.
"Even if you don’t trust , I’ll protect you here until my colleagues arrive. But it’s extrely dangerous here. We’re in the middle of a sweep operation, so we should leave as soon as possible," he added.
Erin fell silent, obviously caught in an intense internal debate. After a long mont of deliberation, she lowered her gun and chose to trust him.
She had no other choice.
Besides, she couldn’t defeat Zhou Chen. If he had wanted to do sothing to her, there would have been no need to chat for so long.
Zhou Chen smiled and nodded. "We’ll leave as soon as I get what I ca for."
With that, he walked to the side and picked up the burlap sack from the ground.
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