The air in the office suddenly stagnated, with only the wall clock ticking "tick-tock," which sounded exceptionally piercing.
Under the combined pressure of invisible work stress and these incessant strange occurrences, the persona of Director Yan—who had always been dignified and serious, and once able to chat and laugh with Sparkle with a calm heart—ultimately collapsed.
"Ahem... Um, Director, what did you just say?"
Director Yanxi awkwardly cleared her throat, attempting to regain her usual composure. "...Ahem, I mean, let's temporarily set aside the matters regarding the Acheron family.
Ye Guizhou and his wife have a decent reputation in the Muyun City business circle. Although the identities of their family of three are a mystery, they haven't done anything out of line, so it's best to keep them under observation for now."
"Understood."
"Mm, after all, they are our little genius's family. This approach is appropriate and leaves room for maneuver."
Director Yanxi put on her serious face again and finished giving instructions.
Looking closely, the beautiful Director's cheeks seemed to be slightly flushed, though she quickly masked it well with her falling stray hairs and her deliberately stern expression.
Captain Chen was also very tactful; acting as if nothing had happened, he continued to discuss work matters.
"By the way, there is another file here regarding Stelle."
"She... never mind."
Although she already roughly knew the answer, Director Yanxi still looked at the report as per procedure.
When she confirmed the result matched her expectations, she instantly felt relieved.
[Stelle, identity unknown, background unknown...]
Well then, looking at how familiar Stelle and Yunli were with each other, Stelle's identity as an Otherworlder was basically obvious.
Compared to the mysteries surrounding these people, Mo Xin's experiences, and her sister Mo Xi's past—which resembled a novel plot of being kidnapped and then found—seemed exceptionally ordinary.
"Old Chen... did we not check the almanac[1] this year?"
"Er..."
Chen Yuxuan's mouth twitched, and a look of wry amusement appeared on his face—this kind of thing was indeed hard for him to comment on.
The frequent appearance of Otherworlders like Yunli, and Stelle—was it a good thing or a bad thing? He had no idea.
However, there was one thing the two agreed on completely: the appearance of Sparkle was absolutely eight lifetimes of bad luck!!!
While the two were busy and frazzled in the office, the training room was much more relaxed.
"Click!"
The door to the training room opened slightly.
Yunli looked over immediately; the person who arrived was Qing Yutong.
She was wearing a capable-looking training outfit and holding a bottle of water, evidently having just finished her training, and happened to see Yunli sitting to the side.
"Why is it so quiet today?"
Looking at the almost empty training room, Yunli asked curiously.
Qing Yutong looked at the little girl wiping her rough greatsword alone, suppressed the sense of incongruity in the scene, and explained:
"The Captain and Sister Yan have been busy investigating the anomalies in Muyun City recently.
Recently, the number of Ability Users in the city has increased, so Lu Hao went out to patrol around, incidentally helping them alleviate the pressure."
"Then what about that idiot Mo Xin and Senior Mu Yao?"
Mentioning these two, Qing Yutong's expression was unnatural for a moment, but she quickly returned to her usual coldness, though her tone was slightly hesitant.
"Mu Yao made plans to go out to eat with friends, so she's not at the Bureau."
"As for Mo Xin..." She paused, her tone slightly subtle. "She is at the Ability Bureau right now, and coincidentally, she is with Stelle."
"Is that so? Where exactly are they? I'll go take a look."
Yunli nodded, put away the wiped-clean greatsword, and turned to ask.
Qing Yutong thought for a moment, and seeing she had nothing else to do for the moment, she took the initiative to say, "I'll take you there."
As soon as she finished speaking, the two walked towards the door side by side.
On the way there.
In the hallway, Yunli noticed that Qing Yutong's expression was somewhat unnatural.
Bored out of her mind, she couldn't help but ask curiously.
"What's wrong?"
Upon hearing this, Qing Yutong didn't answer Yunli's question immediately.
Lowering her eyes in thought for a few seconds, she suddenly looked up at Yunli, her tone carrying a hint of probing.
"Yunli, your relationship with Ms. Stelle must be quite good, right?"
Yunli nodded. "Yeah, why?"
After hearing this, Qing Yutong seemed to be weighing her words, then tried asking.
"Can I ask, what kind of person is Ms. Stelle exactly?"
Yunli was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, her hands subconsciously stopping; she clearly hadn't expected Qing Yutong to suddenly ask about this.
But she blinked and answered truthfully.
"She once helped save the Xianzhou Luofu and possesses considerable strength.
She is undoubtedly a brave, kind-hearted, strong-willed, and optimistic."
After hearing this, Qing Yutong couldn't help but be slightly shocked. She really didn't expect Yunli's evaluation of that Ms. Stelle to be so high.
What concerned her even more was that when Yunli said these things, her tone was very natural, her eyes clear and frank, without a shred of deliberate flattery; it was clearly an approval from the heart.
After Yunli finished speaking, she didn't notice the surprise on Qing Yutong's face at all. She tilted her head, her gaze falling back on the other person, her tone carrying a bit of curiosity: "By the way, your expression has been weird this whole time; what exactly is wrong?"
This time, although Qing Yutong still hesitated, she took a deep breath and began to explain truthfully.
Among other things, it naturally included opening a box from a trash can this morning and accidentally unboxing a Stelle.
It must be said, something like inexplicably finding a pure and cute beautiful girl in a trash can—who wouldn't be stunned on the spot?
Anyway, at that time, the two of them were completely dumbfounded, standing there for a long time without recovering—after all, this was just too absurd; the impact was strong enough to overturn their cognition. Anyone who encountered this would suspect they were dreaming.
Then, what happened next.
Because Stelle had hidden in the trash can, combined with Mo Xin's good habit of throwing trash into the trash can casually.
The former's clothes were inevitably made dirty.
Although Stelle could directly let the system refresh her outfit, Mo Xin and the others didn't know this.
And so.
As Qing Yutong and Yunli pushed the door open, what came into view was Mo Xin squatting to the side—her eyes were dull, and she seemed to be reduced to only black and white colors, clearly having fallen into a state of withdrawal.
Yunli: ( ๑ •. • ๑ )?
Yunli's gaze, filled with confusion, moved slowly and soon locked onto Stelle's figure.
But...
At this moment, Stelle had shed her original daily attire and changed into a crisp and capable standard business outfit.
The protruding white inner shirt outlined her figure perfectly, and she wore a well-tailored black coat over it, making her aura appear increasingly composed.
The black short skirt on her lower body made her legs appear even longer. Wearing high heels, her long legs wrapped in black silk had smooth and full lines. Every movement exuded confidence and composure, causing people's gazes to be attracted unconsciously, unable to look away for a long time.
Her originally loose gray long hair was tied into a crisp high ponytail, with a few stray hairs hanging by her ears, further highlighting the slender lines of her neck.
A pair of thin-rimmed glasses, "swiped" from who knows where, sat on the bridge of her nose. The gaze behind the lenses had a bit more calmness, and an aura of stoic coldness instantly rushed over, making her seem like a completely different person from her usual lively self.
This unexpected scene caused Yunli's brain to instantly crash.
She froze on the spot, unable to react for a moment, with only one thought in her mind: Is this really Stelle? How did she seem to have changed into a different person?
At this moment, Stelle, who was busy preening herself, discovered Yunli's figure immediately.
She gave a wicked, charming smile and quickly came before Yunli, stepping in her high heels.
The next moment, Stelle slowly extended her slender jade hand, her fingertips carrying a cool temperature, and gently lifted Yunli's smooth chin, forcing her to look up slightly and meet her deep amber eyes.
Looking at the dazed and slightly flustered expression in the eyes of the person before her, the corners of Stelle's mouth curled into an imperceptible smile, her heart filled with triumph.
Immediately after, she parted her red lips slightly and asked a question:
"Yunli—am I beautiful?"
[1] A book or resource published every year that contains a calendar, weather forecasts, tide tables, and facts about the sun, moon, and planets.