Chapter 344: Our Enemy (2)

At the airport, Rong Qiyue—dressed in a sharp suit with his jacket draped over his arm, his female secretary in black-framed glasses pushing his luggage behind him—walked straight to the airport services office and spoke, his expression flat.

“Sir, I’m terribly sorry, but we’ve just received a notice from the Administrative Hall. The airport is temporarily on lockdown. Please wait patiently for further instructions…”

The pretty attendant, awed by the man’s imposing presence, scrambled to her feet to explain.

“I wasn’t asking you!”

Rong Qiyue’s gaze skipped past her to a man sitting in the corner of the office, a briefcase at his side.

When the attendant moved aside, he walked straight up to the man and placed an Ancient Gold Coin on the table before him. His voice was equally arrogant. “Rong Qiyue, of the Seawall City Rong Family, from the Sea Relic School on the Eastern Continent. I’ve been invited for an academic visit.”

“I was supposed to land three hours ago, but my original flight was canceled over some so-called theft. Can you believe that?”

“Canceling a flight over a theft? What gives? Did someone steal the engine?”

“So I had to take another flight, and to top it all off, I couldn’t even get first class. I spent seven hours wedged between a snoring man and a woman in cheap, tall leather boots who took them off the moment she boarded…”

“Seven whole hours!”

“Now I’ve finally landed, and all I want is to find a place to rest. But instead, you lock down the airport and tell us to wait for instructions. Can you even begin to fathom the kind of mood I’m in right now?”

“…”

The man with the briefcase was an Investigator from the Giant Horn City Disaster Management Bureau. He was at the airport to enforce the lockdown and handle an emergency. The moment he saw the Ancient Gold Coin, however, he knew this was no ordinary person.

Besides, while he’d never heard the name Rong Qiyue, the Sea Relic School from the Eastern Continent was a renowned power in the Mysterious Circle—not to be underestimated.

He instinctively rose to his feet and lowered his voice. “Uh… Mr. Rong, there are riots out in the wastes. The airport lockdown is a temporary measure to protect the passengers…”

“Do I need your protection?”

Rong Qiyue scoffed and slid two more Ancient Gold Coins across the table.

The Investigator immediately said, “Please, use the priority lane this way…”

“Just be aware, a section of the highway back to the city passes through the wastes. Please be extremely careful. It’s best to head straight into the city…”

“Would you like an escort?”

“…”

Ancient Gold Coins were a currency that circulated throughout the entire mysterious world. People within the Mysterious Circle could use them to verify identity and request assistance.

The airport lockdown was a standard procedure, implemented because the situation had grown dire and there was a fear that ordinary people might witness the fighting in the wastes, which would arouse suspicion. Normally, such an order didn’t apply to those within the Mysterious Circle.

Besides, the man had paid him directly—with three coins, no less.

Of course, “force of personality” was also a key factor. One look at Rong Qiyue told you he was not someone to be trifled with, and any Investigator who managed to survive in the Disaster Management Bureau generally had a high EQ.

“Just get me a car.”

“The best one you have!”

After completing the necessary registration, Rong Qiyue left the airport by car. As the vehicle passed through a shadow, his form flickered, and he stepped out.

Meanwhile, Miss Sisi, sitting in the driver’s seat, made a slight movement. A figure peeled away from her body, transforming into a second Rong Qiyue that settled into the back seat. From then on, she would stand in for the real Rong Qiyue and complete the rest of his visit for him.

The real Rong Qiyue stood in the shadows beside the highway, looking out into the wastes. He could faintly sense surges of Spiritual Power clashing and weaving within the darkness, a sign that an unknown number of people were locked in a fierce battle.

‘Chaos follows him wherever he goes… ‘

Rong Qiyue grumbled to himself about Han Su, then used his Spiritual Coordinate to contact Wei Lan.

“Model, I’ve made it to Giant Horn City. Where are you guys?”

“…”

Wei Lan sounded somewhat surprised. “You came too? Didn’t I tell you that you could skip this meeting?”

“‘Skip it’?”

The muscles in Rong Qiyue’s face twitched. “Am I not an important person? Why would I be allowed to ‘skip it’?”

“Speaking of which, why have things changed so drastically this time?”

“It feels so bizarre. One moment, I was about to die, and the next, I find the entire world has been restarted. No one remembers what happened. Abyssal Studio never descended, Qinggang was never destroyed… All those horrible events just… never occurred.”

“Then I did some digging and found that a person named Boss Han doesn’t even exist in this reality. The man himself is living on the distant Southern Continent…”

“What kind of power does it take to do something like that?”

“Tell me, this power to toy with the entire world… is it really something that people at our level can Master?”

“…”

“Never mind, forget it. Since I’m here, I’m heading to the meeting!”

Faced with his barrage of questions, Wei Lan simply chuckled. “Once we meet, someone will be there to answer your questions.”

In truth, she had just as many questions as Rong Qiyue. However, as a member of the Queen’s Organization, she had undergone rigorous training and knew she had to play the most crucial role.

To a certain extent, “most crucial” meant filling whatever was most needed. When the group was weak, she had to be its muscle. When the group lacked information, she had to take on the task of intelligence gathering.