24: Chapter 24: Not a buddy... Do you even know how to chat?!

Rebecca saw Lu Yang looking a bit dazed and immediately burst out laughing, her laughter crisp and hearty: "You're so cute Hahaha! Just kidding~~ This Young Miss isn't that casual! But we can be friends!"

As Rebecca spoke, she extended a hand toward Lu Yang.

The metal gauntlet on her hand had been removed, revealing her snow-white, delicate palm.

Her fingers were slender, and her nails were neatly trimmed, emitting a faint gloss under the lights of the dungeon lobby.

Lu Yang came to his senses and twitched the corner of his mouth.

Good grief, what is up with this girl...?

He had never been in a relationship in either of his two lives, so to be honest, he didn't understand women very well.

He also extended his hand toward Rebecca and shook hands with her.

Her palm was warm and delicate, feeling like a piece of warm jade that had been warmed up by someone.

After shaking, the two let go, but the very moment they released, Rebecca's fingers gently brushed across Lu Yang's palm.

Lu Yang only felt as if a feather had gently grazed his heart, bringing a slight tingling sensation.

He drew in a cold breath inwardly, thinking this woman seemed to have quite a high skill rank.

He fell silent for a moment, then asked with a serious face: "May I boldly ask, have you been in relationships several times already?"

Rebecca was just too smooth, making him feel that the other party was very experienced.

He was a bit curious.

Although Lu Yang didn't understand women's thoughts, he personally preferred being more direct.

There was no need to beat around the bush.

Anyway, he had heard that sincerity was always the ultimate killer move!

As for whether these words were right or wrong, he wasn't sure either.

He would just use it first and see.

Rebecca obviously didn't expect Lu Yang to be so straightforward.

Seeing Lu Yang looking a bit dazed and seemingly easy to tease, she couldn't help but make a few jokes.

She never expected him to counterattack so directly!

Did he think she was promiscuous?!

There was still a smile on her face, but secretly her teeth were clenched tight!

With a forced smile, she looked at Lu Yang and said word by word: "Classmate Lu Yang, you really know how to joke. I haven't been in a relationship yet! Didn't I just say earlier, I'm not that casual!"

Lu Yang nodded and naturally chimed in with a sentence: "Oh, but you look quite experienced to me."

Rebecca's smile froze completely: "????? "

"Seriously, bro... Do you even know how to chat?!"

"Pfft..." Shen Qingci on the side finally couldn't hold it in anymore, raising a hand to cover her mouth while her shoulders shook as she laughed out loud.

This good best friend of hers, who was usually sharp-tongued and ran circles around others with her teasing, was actually left speechless by a single sentence today.

It was her first time seeing Rebecca get deflated like this!

Rebecca gave Shen Qingci an annoyed and embarrassed glare. Shen Qingci quickly held back her laughter, but the curve of the corners of her eyes betrayed her.

Lu Yang looked somewhat puzzled at Shen Qingci and Rebecca, who wore different expressions, a hint of confusion in his eyes.

...Did he say something wrong just now?

Lu Yang was a bit perplexed, but he didn't ask further.

Because at this moment, Shangguan Yunshu had already finished briefing Advisor Jiang Lan and the others on the subsequent matters.

Her fair fingers gripped that silver-blue longsword, and with a gentle twist of her wrist, the tip of the sword traced an extremely faint arc through the air.

The next moment, space warped, and silver-gray ripples spread out silently, swallowing all four of them within.

With Shangguan Yunshu's departure, the independent sub-spaces that had previously cut off each rookie professional also dissipated.

All the rookie professionals returned to the dungeon lobby once more, and that invisible barrier between them vanished, allowing them to touch each other again.

They exchanged glances, lingering fear still remaining in their eyes.

What happened just now was too sudden and too fast, leaving them still somewhat unreactive even now!

Before they could say anything, Security Officer Li Xining shouted coldly: "Everyone, move away from the Zenorian!"

The crowd finally snapped back to their senses, remembering that the Zenorian was still collapsed on the ground.

With anger and disgust in their eyes, they glared fiercely at the Zenorian, and then still obeyed the order, retreating backward and moving away.

Footsteps echoed chaotically on the metal floor for a while, quickly clearing out a large open space.

Advisor Jiang Lan and the others soared into the air, landing before the Zenorian traitor.

Security Officer Li Xining hoisted him up, while the others maintained a vigilant posture, their gazes sweeping across the surrounding crowd with tense expressions.

After a moment, seeing that no new traitors appeared, the crowd's expressions gradually relaxed a bit.

They also understood in their hearts that after the three Geniuses—Lu Yang, Shen Qingci, and Rebecca—left, traitors generally would not take action against ordinary rookie professionals.

After all, the number of rookie professionals was simply too large.

To kill some hundred rookie professionals and expose a long-hidden traitor was a total net loss.

Unless another Genius worth acting against appeared next, it was unlikely a traitor would make a move.

Of course, if it weren't a Genius of Lu Yang's caliber, they alone would be enough to guard this place.

Security Officer Li Xining immediately stated: "Next, continue raiding the dungeon!"

He dangled the still-dripping bronze body in his hand, crimson blood droplets flowing down the limbless torso, making soft sizzling sounds as they landed on the metal floor.

Then he nodded at Advisor Jiang Lan and the others, speaking up: "I'll take this Zenorian traitor away for interrogation to see if we can dig out a few accomplices. You guys keep watching over this place!"

Advisor Jiang Lan nodded slightly: "Let's head back to the observation room."

...

Lu Yang only felt his vision blur, and he found himself appearing in the sky.

Sunlight poured down from above, clouds slowly churning not far away, and the wind blew past his ears, carrying the chill of high altitude.

He lowered his head to look beneath his feet—there were no airplanes, no platforms, not even a trace of mist or dust, just pure air.

Yet he felt as solid as if he were stepping on the ground.

Lu Yang was a bit surprised, applying a slight force with his foot to step down, but the tactile sensation remained completely unchanged.

He was somewhat puzzled; how was this accomplished?

Shangguan Yunshu glanced at him, the hem of her plain white dress fluttering gently in the air, her cold and detached voice still clear within the wind: "I solidified the space beneath our feet."

Hearing this, Lu Yang nodded in realization: "Oh, Sister Shangguan is so amazing."

Although Shangguan Yunshu's age might even be older than his mother's.

But Lu Yang couldn't possibly call her Aunty Shangguan, right?

Even if Lu Yang understood women even less and frequently read the web, he knew that age was a major taboo for women!

Let alone the fact that Shangguan Yunshu looked much younger than his mother.

Calling such a great beauty an aunty was something he couldn't quite bring himself to say.

His conscience wouldn't allow it.

Of course, Lu Yang could also call her Your Excellency Shangguan, Lady Shangguan, or something similar.

But thinking that his future safety still had to be managed by her, Lu Yang felt that having a sweet mouth wasn't a bad thing.

Even though he wasn't afraid of death to begin with...

Shangguan Yunshu gave him a cold, detached look, her expression flat, before turning her head back to look straight ahead, saying nothing.

Lu Yang: "?"

He scratched his head, feeling a bit clueless.

A sweet mouth had no effect, huh?

That being said, Sister Shangguan was a bit aloof and seemed somewhat difficult to get along with.

During the process of her guarding his path in the future, he wondered if it would be a bit awkward.

Rebecca and Shen Qingci at the side looked at Lu Yang with expressions as if looking at a brave warrior.

Good grief... This person was none other than the star-slicing veil, Shangguan Yunshu!

To actually call her Sister Shangguan without getting her permission?!

With you being this ferocious, do your Family members know?

Fortunately, Lady Shangguan didn't drop all of them down.

Otherwise, even as ghosts, they would not let this bastard go!

Shangguan Yunshu glanced at Shen Qingci and Rebecca, who were muttering inwardly: "Send me the locations of your Family homes."

Shen Qingci and Rebecca hurriedly lowered their heads to operate their personal terminals. Light-blue projection screens lit up before them, quickly pulling up the three-dimensional spatial coordinates of their respective Families.

Shangguan Yunshu glanced at them and nodded slightly.

The next moment, their vision blurred once again.

The sky, clouds, and sunlight all vanished.

Subsequently, Lu Yang found himself appearing at the main gate of a huge courtyard residence.

The courtyard's main gate was made of black wood, with thick door panels where the grain of the wood itself could faintly be seen.

On both sides were tall white walls capped with dark cyan tiles. The tiles were arranged neatly, emitting a gentle, dim luster under the sunlight.

Overall, it looked somewhat like a large traditional Chinese courtyard house from historical dramas, but the land area was countless times larger than an ordinary courtyard, with just a single door standing three to four meters tall.

Shen Qingci hurriedly stepped forward and confirmed her identity via her personal terminal.

The main gate opened automatically and silently, revealing the courtyard faintly visible behind the spirit wall inside.

Just at this moment, several people descended from the air.

At the lead was a middle-aged man with a square face and a stern, unsmiling expression.

Behind this middle-aged man followed several men and women.

Among them, a woman looked five or six parts similar to Shen Qingci, but her temperament appeared much more mature. She wore a plain and elegant cyan long dress, possessing a gentle and serene demeanor.

Seeing Shen Qingci, smiles bloomed on all of their faces.

Even that stern, unsmiling middle-aged man at the front was the same, his lips twitching slightly into what could barely be considered a smile.

However, very soon, they caught sight of Shangguan Yunshu.

Everyone's expressions instantly turned solemn.

The leading middle-aged man hurriedly strode forward, stood before Lady Shangguan, raised his right hand to his ear to execute a standard Alliance salute, and spoke: "Lady Shangguan, I am Shen Yang of the Chiyang Blazing Fire Guild! I heard the whole story from Feng Lide, and I thank you for taking care of Qingci!"

Shangguan Yunshu glanced at him, a trace of ripples faintly rising within her calm, ancient-well-like eyes, as if encountering something worth noting: "I've heard of you. You're about to reach Tier 5. Is there hope?"

If Shen Yang could achieve a Breakthrough to Tier 5, then the Blue Star Alliance would gain yet another high-level powerhouse.

This was a good thing for the entire Blue Star Alliance.

Precisely because of this, the usually detached Shangguan Yunshu made an exception to ask an extra question.

Hearing this, Shen Yang's expression turned somewhat bitter as he said: "The Legendary-grade advancement quest is very difficult... I'll just do my best!"

Shangguan Yunshu nodded slightly: "Mhm."

Her personality was naturally cold, and she didn't say anything more.

Shen Yang didn't mind either.

The temperament of this star-slicing veil was known to all the mid-to-high levels of the Alliance; she was like this with everyone.

Shen Yang looked toward Lu Yang, the expression on his face instantly softening quite a bit. He nodded at him and said in a kindly tone: "Classmate Lu Yang, right? I heard you and Qingci are schoolmates? Young people should keep in touch more."

Lu Yang was somewhat flattered.

Judging by Shangguan Yunshu's words, this bigwig from the Shen Family seemed to be at max Tier 4, which was Level 49.

This was a Planetary-grade powerhouse!

Able to cross the Universe with just their Physical Body, and their attack power was comparable to a planet-destroying cannon!

A bona fide humanoid planet-destroying battleship!

A big shot.

He hadn't expected such a big shot to be so gentle toward him.

He even let him communicate and interact more with Shen Qingci.

Since the other party spoke nicely, Lu Yang wasn't the kind of person harboring deep grievances or someone who completely disregarded others just because he had a bit of talent.

He smiled and nodded, his tone sincere: "Thank you for the praise, Senior Shen. I'll communicate with Qingci often."

Shen Qingci also revealed a pure and sweet smile at this moment, raising her hand to pull up her communication code on her personal terminal, flashing it toward Lu Yang as she said poisedly: "Shall we add each other as friends then?"

Lu Yang was stunned for a moment, then quickly said: "Alright."

As he operated his personal terminal, he inwardly sighed to himself: If a great beauty of Shen Qingci's caliber had actively wanted to add him as a friend in his past life, he would have had to consider whether she intended to harvest his kidney, sell him tea leaves, or perhaps lost a game of Truth or Dare.

But right now, it definitely couldn't be for any of those reasons.