"Eh? Wha... what do you mean?"
Hearing Hyacine's words, the girl was stunned for a moment, unable to grasp her meaning.
"I mean, why don't you just stay by my side for a while? After all, I'm quite curious about this 'secret' of yours. Besides, don't you want to confirm something while being near me?"
Hyacine spelled it out clearly. For her, everything she did now served two purposes: first, to earn Stellar Jade, and second, to satisfy her own whims—whether that meant sating her curiosity or seeking excitement.
Since the girl in front of her had a secret, and the thing she wanted to confirm seemed related to Little Ica—a creature that had never appeared in this world before—Hyacine had enough patience to explore this mystery.
As for trouble? What was that? At worst, she'd just let Little Ica flatten whatever came their way.
"No... that's okay... if you don't mind... I'll just observe from the side... I won't get in your way..."
The girl swallowed hard and slowly took half a step back, speaking in a weak, timid voice.
"That won't do." Seeing the girl refuse, Hyacine took a step forward, once again flashing a "kind" smile. "You see, I really don't like people peeking at me from the shadows~"
"I-I-I... I promise! Just... just don't hit me!"
Seeing that the pink-haired girl's expression seemed a bit off, the girl immediately dropped into a head-clasping crouch, shouting in a panicked tone.
Hyacine found the sight quite amusing. This girl hadn't even feared death for the sake of her secret earlier, yet now she was terrified by a simple "kind" smile.
She leaned down and pulled the girl up.
"Then come with me. By the way, my name is Hyacine."
The girl, having been pulled to her feet, replied somewhat stiffly, "My name is Hong Guoguo..."
"Hong Guoguo? Then I'll just call you Guoguo from now on."
"Okay..."
"By the way, you've dyed your hair, haven't you?"
"Eh?"
Guoguo, who had been walking with her head down, looked up in disbelief. "How did you know?"
Hyacine pointed to a tuft of hair by Guoguo's cheek that had turned silver-white. "While I was treating you just now, I cleaned the dirt off your face. The hair dye on that lock of hair was treated as a 'stain' and cleaned off as well."
"What?!"
Hong Guoguo let out a cry of disbelief and hurriedly felt the top of her head. It was unclear what she felt, but her face first showed confusion, followed by a strange look of relief. She then quickly pulled her hood back on, hiding the silver-white hair.
Hyacine didn't quite understand Guoguo's reaction. Was silver hair that strange? There were countless hair colors in this place—red, yellow, purple, green, pink. What was there to hide about silver?
However, suspecting it was linked to Guoguo's secret, she didn't press further. She simply noted the strange gesture of the girl feeling the top of her head and continued toward their destination as if nothing had happened.
"Miss Hyacine, why have you returned?"
Upon returning to the gang's stronghold, Song Lin, who had received word of her arrival, rushed out to greet her with a face full of smiles.
"You were right; the people at those hotels are indeed annoying." And they give too little Stellar Jade. "So, after thinking it over, I've decided to stay with you guys for now."
Song Lin was overjoyed. He hadn't expected this powerful Ability User to return. It was a complete turnaround; he really had to thank those blind fools from the other gangs!
He immediately turned to his subordinates. "Go, prepare a room for this lady and one for the girl with her."
"Yes, Boss!" The subordinate turned and left the room instantly.
"The rooms are being prepared. Do you need me to arrange some food?"
Hyacine shook her head slightly and pointed to Hong Guoguo. "Prepare some for her. I'm going back to my room to rest. If there's anything else, we'll talk tomorrow."
With that, she prepared to head to her room. However, after taking a few steps, she suddenly turned back to Hong Guoguo.
"Don't take this as an opportunity to run away. Even if you run, I can find you." This was the truth; while Hyacine might not be able to, Cipher certainly could.
Hong Guoguo nodded frantically, indicating she wouldn't run. Only then did Hyacine continue toward her room.
After following Song Lin's subordinate to her prepared quarters, Hyacine stretched and headed to the bathroom for a shower, tossing out the Little Ica that had tried to follow her in.
Ever since that one bath as Cipher, she had gradually become immune to her own body, so showering no longer felt awkward.
"Mr. Xu... it's time to wake up."
"Hiss... inside a medical pod? Why am I here?"
In a high-tech infirmary filled with a sci-fi atmosphere, Xu Zhe slowly sat up from within a medical pod.
"You were knocked unconscious by B155's standard-issue heavy hammer. After performing emergency first aid, B154 notified us, and we brought you back," a doctor in a white lab coat said to Xu Zhe.
"B155 and B154? They're back to normal?" Hearing those names, Xu Zhe immediately sat upright and questioned the person before him.
"Yes." The doctor nodded. "They explained the entire sequence of events. According to them, after coming into contact with those iridescent bubbles, they retained their consciousness, but their bodies no longer felt like their own. Their bodies moved of their own accord, leading to that scene. However, the control wore off after an hour."
"Controlling the body to perform random actions without the user's consent? And the aggression didn't seem high after being controlled..."
Upon receiving this information, a single word flashed through Xu Zhe's mind: Warning.
"Tell them to stop tracking that Ability User for now. These bubbles she left—which aren't particularly harmful—were likely a warning to us. Since she can make bubbles that force us to move randomly, she can certainly make bubbles that force us to kill one another. Let's ease off for a bit. We'll wait for her to show herself before we attempt to contact her again."
"Understood."