"He’s the only young man in the village, easy to inquire about." Nora Scott said, "Baja, a local, left the village to explore the world ten years ago and ca back two years ago. Now he lives with his grandmother. No other family."
"Two years ago?" April Thomason was surprised, "That’s quite a while."
"Yeah."
It was around the ti Alexander Vaughn threw her into the river.
However, the people behind the scenes must have been planning this even earlier.
Emma Thomason asked, "Anything else?"
"His actions are quite mysterious. During the day, he drives around Maze Village with so unknown device. Usually quiet and not very sociable with the villagers." Nora Scott analyzed, "He should be inspecting for the entrance to chanism City."
Afterward, Nora Scott inquired among a few more locals for information about Baja, gradually gathering quite a few details.
For instance, Baja lost his parents at a young age and was raised by his grandmother, to whom he is very filial. He worked outside the village to support her and returned when her health declined.
After hearing Nora’s account, April Thomason clicked her tongue, "Why don’t I believe it?"
Nora gave her a sidelong glance.
"I may not understand their dialect, but his tone when speaking to that old lady last night was pretty harsh." April paused, adding, "Not because of the accent."
Nora chuckled, "Perhaps you’re right."
After pondering for a mont, April asked, "Do we go now?"
Weighing the backpack on her shoulder, Nora slowly said, "Let’s head to the car first."
"Afterward..."
April casually glanced back.
"Rember the route?" Nora asked.
"Yep."
As April spoke, she waved her hand, revealing a piece of white paper between her fingers.
Nora said, "Alright, we’ll et at the car."
"Okay."
April gave her a reassuring look.
*
Luna Durant was diligently tracking Nora Scott and April Thomason.
Initially, she tried to morize the route, but soon gave up and decided to just follow wherever Nora and April went, focusing solely on tailing them.
However, Nora sohow spoke the local dialect fluently, chatting with the residents without Luna understanding a word, which made her anxious. Frustrated, Luna decided to note the locals’ features for later inquiry.
Then—
While deeply focused on her task, Luna noticed Nora and April whispering before they split at a crossroads.
Luna Durant: "..."
Standing bewildered for three seconds, Luna felt like a headless fly, unsure whose trail to follow or how to return. Eventually, she decided to tail Nora and hurried after her.
However, once she separated from April, Nora picked up her pace, making it hard for Luna to keep up despite just walking.
Moreover, Nora’s constant turning and twisting without leaving any marks confused Luna, leaving her dizzy.
Suddenly, as Luna rounded a corner, gasping for breath, she heard Nora’s voice—
"Tsk, I’m lost."
Luna Durant: ?
What the hell.
Are you deliberately asking for trouble, knowing you’re lost?
She inwardly cursed, then glanced up to see Nora standing in a dead-end, watching her with an amused look.
Catching her breath and calming herself, Luna coldly asked, "You did it on purpose, didn’t you?"
"Yep."
Nora shrugged.
Luna smirked coldly, "I don’t believe you can rember the way like this."
"Who knows."
Nora replied leisurely, advancing slowly, her fingers cracking one by one.
Suddenly, the air in the alley felt thick with tension.
The repeated cracking noises seed to brush past her scalp, making Luna swallow nervously.
She stared unwaveringly at Nora, "What are you doing?"
"... I’m just going to beat you up. Not too much to ask, right?" With a drawn-out tone, Nora flashed a soft, warm smile.
In that mont, Luna sensed a chilling aura in Nora’s smile, shivering instinctively.
She wanted to run, but it was too late.
*
In the off-roader, April Thomason sat at the front, gnawing on a packet of jerky.
The falcon circled overhead, and occasionally, she tossed a piece of jerky up. The falcon swooped down, effortlessly catching it before flying away.
Picking up a piece of jerky, April brought it to her mouth, squinting in the dazzling sun. She could vaguely see a tall figure appearing at the village entrance. Her eyes widened, and sure enough, she saw Nora Scott walking over at a leisurely pace.
In due ti, Nora arrived.
Tossing the remaining jerky over, April raised an eyebrow, "A bit late compared to what I imagined."
Taking the jerky, Nora rotated her wrist and chuckled, "A little sothing held up."
Jumping off the front, April took out the car key, twirling it in her hand, "Where to?"
"Anywhere within ten kiloters."
"..."
April understood.
...
Ten minutes later.
Nora Scott sat in the passenger seat, squinting at the scenery outside, her elbow resting against the window ledge, fingers stroking her chin, the other hand tapping away nonchalantly at her phone screen.
"Desolate." April suddenly spoke, musing, "Could make for a great wilderness survival show."
Nora’s crimson lips curled slightly, leisurely she replied, "It might be even more exciting."
"Hmm?"
April glanced over suspiciously.
"For example," Nora paused, "off-road racing."
"..."
April instinctively checked the rearview mirror.
Sure enough, a car was tailing them.
Continuously aware of being followed, April had kept an eye on the situation behind. She could swear, there was no car following a minute ago.
Where did it pop up from?
"When did this happen?" April asked.
"Just now, coming up from the side road." Nora said flatly, "It’s the car from the sister squad."
"Do you want to lose them?"
Nora glanced at her, "Your driving skills——"
"Although I only got my license half a month ago," April paused, then smiled over, "my driving is top-notch."
Funny, she’s driven tanks and planes before.
Shaking off a car would be a piece of cake, right?
Though April can sotis be blindly confident—like last night’s sleeping posture—Nora had quite a trust in April’s personal abilities, so she leaned back, ready to watch April’s maneuver.
April slamd on the gas pedal.
A race against ti.
Nora didn’t bat an eyelid.
The car behind quickly followed.
Not rely focusing on speed, April’s goal wasn’t just to shake them off. She targeted a slope and charged up, using a blind spot to mask a rock, then at the last possible mont when they were about to collide, she swerved the wheel to avoid it. The unsuspecting car behind couldn’t react in ti, quickly slowed down but still crashed head-on.
A large-scale man-made accident scene.
Nora: "..." Wild indeed.
"How was that?" April hit the brakes, bringing the car to a delicate stop, then glanced at Nora with proud eyebrows, "Not bad, huh?"
"Impressive."
Nora comnted with a smile.
"I’m going down for a bit."
April chuckled, unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and hopped down.
She walked directly to the side of the crashed car.
Since they had slowed down before the crash, it wasn’t too severe, plus the airbags worked, the people inside weren’t injured.
April tapped on the car door, resting a hand on it, and asked the man inside who was struggling to open his eyes, head bleeding, "Do you need saving, pal?"
"...$%^!@#"
The man cursed at April incoherently.
In the end, he even spat at her.
April dodged, swung a punch at his jaw, dislocating it directly, neutralizing his ability to curse and spit, satisfied, she raised her eyebrows.
Dusting off her hands, April smiled broadly, looking rather amiable, "If you’re not dead, we’ll be leaving you here, okay?"
"..."
The man’s eyes widened, glaring at her fiercely.
If wishes could kill.
April cheerfully left.
She got back into the car, slamd the door shut, "Let’s go, I’ll take you sowhere with signal."
"..."
Nora, who had observed the whole scene, had the corners of her mouth twitch slightly.
That bandit deanor, sure enough, taught by her junior ntor.
...
April drove the car out of the other group’s line of sight.
Nora said, "There’s signal now."
"Stop here then?" April looked over.
"Hmm."
Nora nodded slightly.
She tapped open her contacts, dialed Barton Mansfield of Biel Hall, directly using her senior-level privileges to investigate Baja.
"Alright," hanging up, Nora told April, "Just wait is all."
April chugged half a bottle of water in one go, hearing that, she furrowed her brows, "Just wait?"
"..." Silent for two seconds, Nora offered a way to pass ti, "Perhaps, you want to try camping?"
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