Upon hearing the silver-haired beauty speak those words, Su Xiaoxiao's brain stalled for a moment before she reacted with utter disbelief.
"You... you... you're Sam?!"
"That's right. But that's just a codename; my real name is Firefly," Firefly replied with a smile.
Watching Su Xiaoxiao's reaction, Firefly felt a secret sense of satisfaction. Her little "surprise attack" had achieved exactly the desired effect.
"Sam?"
Standing to the side, Ye Yunzhi watched their interaction in a daze. The name triggered a flood of memories from yesterday—the S-rank powerhouse clad in silver-white armor...
Wait! Su Xiaoxiao never mentioned the expert she knew was named Sam! How could it be such a coincidence?!
However, looking at Firefly's appearance as a delicate silver-haired girl, she fell back into confusion. The "Sam" in her mind was a figure of cold steel and a mechanical voice, while the "Sam" before her was a beautiful girl with a sweet tone. These two diametrically opposed images clashed in her head. Was this truly the same Sam from yesterday?
Su Xiaoxiao was grappling with the same thoughts, but she seemed to have a higher capacity for acceptance. She was the first to snap out of it.
"Sister Firefly... the difference between your combat state and your normal self... is truly massive," she murmured, a trace of lingering shock in her eyes.
Su Xiaoxiao now fully believed Firefly was Sam. After all, she hadn't told anyone except Sam and Ye Yunzhi about the tour guide arrangement. Therefore, anyone seeking her out as Sam—no matter how absurd they looked—must be Sam.
What if Sam had simply told someone else? Then it just meant Sam had given them her blessing. Besides, getting to be a guide for such a beautiful silver-haired girl felt like a win for Su Xiaoxiao regardless of her identity.
At that moment, Firefly turned her head toward Ye Yunzhi.
"What a coincidence, Ye Yunzhi. I didn't expect the friend Su Xiaoxiao mentioned would be you."
"Hello! Sam... ah, no, Firefly... Excellency."
Firefly's voice pulled Ye Yunzhi back to reality, and she hurriedly responded. She had almost reflexively called her "Mr. Sam," but realized instantly how inappropriate that was. After a frantic internal struggle between "Mr.," "Mrs.," and "Miss," she finally settled on "Excellency" as a formal suffix.
"Wait, wait a minute..." Su Xiaoxiao cut in, looking at their interaction with confusion. "You two know each other?"
"Yes..." Ye Yunzhi nodded. "Remember when I told you Lin and I were saved by a mysterious powerhouse? That was Sam... well, Excellency Firefly."
Su Xiaoxiao's brain stalled again. She hadn't expected this powerhouse to be her friend's savior as well. Previously, she had viewed Firefly as a powerful figure and a high-paying client; now, she wasn't quite sure what attitude to adopt.
"There's no need to be so formal," Firefly said, waving a hand at the title. "Just call me Firefly. Treat me like a normal person."
"Alright, Firefly..."
Even though she said so, the weight of an S-rank powerhouse and a life-saver made the two girls remain somewhat stiff.
Firefly didn't mind. If they had relaxed completely after a single sentence, it would have suggested they were uncomfortably thoughtless.
"Anyway, didn't I say you have to be my guide for the day? Tell me, what's fun around here?"
"Right!"
Excitement surged back into Su Xiaoxiao. She whipped out her terminal and began scrolling through it, chatting as she searched.
"Where do you want to go, Firefly? How about Scream Park? It's super thrilling!"
Su Xiaoxiao pointed to a specific location on the map displayed on her terminal.
"I'm not sure. Why don't you two take me there to see for ourselves?"
"Got it! First stop: Scream Park, let's go!"
With Firefly's approval, Su Xiaoxiao switched the map view and began tapping away. A moment later, she stopped.
"Firefly, I just hailed a taxi to take us to the high-speed maglev station. Let's wait here for a bit."
As soon as she finished, she immediately pivoted to a new thought. "By the way, did you come in through the East Gate? I remember Yunzhi and Lin went out through there, so they probably entered through the same way."
"Yes, I entered through the East Gate initially. Later, I headed to the South Gate for a mission."
"I knew it!" Su Xiaoxiao slammed her right fist into her left palm. "I guessed right."
"I don't know if you fell for it, but a lot of people get tricked by the Southeast Gates of Greenshade Spring!"
She pulled up another map, this one showing the full layout of the city.
Tricked by the Southeast Gates?
Firefly found the phrasing odd. How could a city gate trick someone?
She leaned in to examine the 3D map of Greenshade Spring. Only then did she understand what "tricked" meant.
The city's structure was utterly absurd.
A small portion of the city's southeast was built atop a massive forest cliff, while over 80% of the remaining urban area sat far below at the base of the precipice!
Colossal elevator platforms connected the northwestern and southeastern sections. Countless vehicles would drive onto these platforms from the southeast and wait for them to descend to reach the main part of the city.
Because of her mission, Firefly had been flying southeast toward the depths of the forest; she had never bothered to look back and see what the northwestern side looked like.
Seeing Firefly's surprised expression, Su Xiaoxiao put her hands on her hips with a look of "I told you so."
"Greenshade Spring is huge! Every traveler coming from the southeast is shocked by our bizarre city layout!"