The King of Black Fog

"Hmm," Li Changzhou pondered with his arms folded.

His elbow almost brushed against Yang Qinglan's East Hemisphere, so she forcefully pushed it back.

"Perhaps there really is a possibility," Li Changzhou said suddenly, as if he had just thought of it.

"Where do you get your basis?" Li Qianxia, who had been with him since the cellular level, undoubtedly had the most authoritative say.

"You don't understand," Li Changzhou said, "I've actually been consciously studying mechas since I was young. Every time I passed by a construction site, I would seriously watch an excavator for half an hour."

"Excavator…" Yang Qinglan repeated the word, seemingly a bit desperate.

"Beia," Li Changzhou said, looking past her to Beia Triss, "Excavators count as mechas, right? Right?"

"Excavator... is it?" Beia Triss said slowly, her gaze turning to Li Qianxia.

Li Qianxia mumbled, gesturing the operation of an excavator in a vivid and expressive manner that illustrated what an excavator was.

After listening to Li Qianxia, Beia Triss thought for a while: "I'm not a professional mecha master, but I think, even if excavators aren't mechas, they're undoubtedly a type of engineering vehicle very close to mechas."

"So that's how it is. That explains why I could drive a mecha just by reading the manual!" Li Changzhou said, punching his right fist into his left palm.

"..." Beia Triss felt like Li Changzhou's tone seemed like he was joking, but she was not in the mood to worry about that now.

Being addressed as 'Beia' was part of it too; such an intimate nickname is usually used by a husband, and she was not in the mood to care about that either.

She felt listless about everything.

Along the way, she had seen people dying one after another; now only five remained. After so much effort and sacrifice, their future was just a prolonged ordeal.

She wished she could, like a convertible car, suppress infrared radiation, absorb radar waves, and disappear from this world completely.

Li Qianxia grasped her hand, squeezing it gently in comfort.

Li Changzhou ignored the princess's mood and whispered to Yang Qinglan, "I think the main reason is that you sat on my lap and gave me a reward, which stimulated my potential."

"Was it really a reward?" Yang Qinglan said with a deeper meaning.

"Huh?" Li Changzhou didn't understand the meaning of her words.

"If I don't sit on your lap, who will?"

"... Qian Xia?"

"I'll give you another chance."

"Come to think of it, it could only be you."

Yang Qinglan nodded in satisfaction.

The two had already communicated with their eyes—they would find a chance later to test Wen Carol with the "Bible."

The car was driving openly on the main road, invisibility turned off. This feature consumed too much energy and could only be used at critical moments.

"All the nearby traffic arteries have been blocked. To reduce accidents, I need to take a detour," Wen Carol said.

"Safety first," Turquoise Pool replied.

The roads at the border were wide and empty, not a single car in sight for half a day, silently driving as if they were the only ones in the world.

After driving around for the entire day, avoiding a few checkpoints, they were a bit closer to the Imperial Capital.

At night, Wen Carol parked the car at a roadside gas station, posing as tourists staying at the motel.

Yang Qinglan took out several "Jade Cauldron" pills from the small container, with no one feeling like eating, they were just right; you just throw them in your mouth and swallow.

"What is this?" Wen Carol asked curiously.

"A secret of the Empress's Knight Order," Yang Qinglan said calmly and detachedly while Li Qianxia said it cheerfully and livelily, both at the same time.

Beia Triss, in a bad mood, pursed her lips too.

"Beia, shall we go to the toilet?" After eating the "Jade Cauldron" pills, Li Qianxia issued an invitation that symbolized female friendship.

Beia Triss had never gone to the toilet with anyone from childhood, but perhaps it was an instinct ingrained in the female body—to go to the toilet together—she didn't refuse the invitation.

"I'll come too," Yang Qinglan stood up.

Li Qianxia, holding both of their hands, chattered as they walked into the gas station.

The night was quiet, with the gas station looking like a fortress of light resisting the heavy darkness, cutting off the outside world.

Only Li Changzhou, Turquoise Pool, and Wen Carol remained in the car.

"According to our current speed," Turquoise Pool looked at the electronic map, "it will take about four days to reach the Imperial Capital."

"This is the safest route," Wen Carol said.

"If it really is safe," Turquoise Pool mused while studying the map.

Li Changzhou tapped his fingers lightly on the car door, on the alert for his surroundings.

Soon, the three came out of the gas station. Li Qianxia was chatting with Wen Carol, with Yang Qinglan listening silently.

"Thump!" The car door closed.

"Carol," Yang Qinglan began nonchalantly, "what is your purpose?"

"To delay time, for... huh? Ugh!"

At the moment Wen Carol realized what was happening, Li Changzhou had choked her from behind.

Beia Triss stood there dumbfounded, unaware of what was happening. She hadn't even paid attention to the phrase "delay time."

Li Qianxia, who hadn't known the plan either, overheard Yang Qinglan chanting the "Confession" from the "Bible" in the restroom thanks to her exceptional hearing.

It took Turquoise Pool a moment longer to realize that Wen Carol was the odd one out, and her second thought was that she had experienced the same situation in the past at the Jade Cauldron, suddenly speaking the truth.

"Who sent you?" Yang Qinglan continued to question.

Li Changzhou slightly loosened his grip, and Wen Carol coughed violently; she had almost choked to the point of sticking her tongue out.

He whispered in her ear: "Be honest, and I promise you, as long as you cooperate, I won't harm you and I'll let you leave."