Lin Ran's words caused Luo Qing Yan to react even more intensely. She struggled, trying to get away from him, too embarrassed to speak.
Seeing her curled up in a corner like a pitiful kitten, Lin Ran couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Alright... while I did manage to activate the illusion, I'm not that perverted."
"Come back, good girl. I haven't had enough of your lap pillow yet."
Only then did Luo Qing Yan reluctantly return, pressing Lin Ran's head back onto her lap with annoyance.
However, Lin Ran was far from being well-behaved. The tomoe in his Sharingan spun wildly, pulling both of them into the Kamui dimension.
He then began to slide up from Luo Qing Yan's knees towards her thighs.
Before Luo Qing Yan could resist, he flipped her onto the ground.
"The tree was indeed too wild, but in this world for two, you have no say!"
With that, he immediately covered Luo Qing Yan's mouth as she tried to exclaim.
Now, Luo Qing Yan could only let out meaningless grunts.
...
The next morning.
Zhao Wudi opened his eyes.
For powerhouses of their caliber, going days without food or sleep was trivial.
Throughout the night, he, Xiao Wu, Xiao Liu, and Xiao Qi had remained in a state of light slumber.
However, looking at Lin Ran and Luo Qing Yan on the tree, they hadn't moved much, possibly having slept soundly.
Zhao Wudi chuckled.
It was understandable; they were young and inexperienced, and with their guardians present, a little lapse in vigilance was normal.
Still, he felt it was necessary to remind them.
Seeing Lin Ran and Luo Qing Yan standing up, their eyes still heavy with sleep, Zhao Wudi approached them.
"Brother Lin, Miss Luo..."
"There's something I don't know if I should say..."
Lin Ran immediately smiled.
"With our relationship, Captain Zhao, why be so polite?"
"Just say it!"
Zhao Wudi then coughed awkwardly.
"It's not really a big deal..."
"It's just that if you're on missions in forbidden areas in the future, you must never do what you did last night."
"It's very dangerous."
Hearing him say that, Luo Qing Yan's face stiffened. She immediately pinched Lin Ran's thigh and glared at him shyly.
Lin Ran knew Luo Qing Yan had misunderstood and put on a calm front, smiling at Zhao Wudi.
"I know what Captain Zhao means. You're reminding us not to sleep so soundly, right!"
"We won't do it again!"
"This time, we relied on your protection, so we let our guard down a little..."
"It was indeed a bit careless."
Zhao Wudi laughed heartily.
"Brother Lin is indeed sharp; you understand with just a hint..."
"Since that's the case, I, Zhao, can rest assured."
With that, he went to check on the three technicians.
Only then did Luo Qing Yan realize that Zhao Wudi was talking about this matter. She resentfully pinched Lin Ran again.
Lin Ran was helpless.
"We did such a good job of keeping it a secret..."
"Why are you still pinching me?"
Luo Qing Yan snorted.
"None of your business? I want to!"
With that, she lightly jumped onto another treetop, not forgetting to glare back at Lin Ran, who remained on the ground.
Lin Ran could only shrug helplessly and rejoin the main group.
Today, the ferocious beasts were also quite sparse. The group didn't expend much effort before reaching the second target location.
As soon as they arrived, all nine were startled.
Because scattered around the area were the corpses of some异族 (Yi Zu - foreign races/aliens)!
Besides the familiar Dark Elves, there were also remnants of Thunder Elementals.
Zhao Wudi's expression turned grim.
"Thunder Elementals?! Has this foreign race also gotten involved?"
Lin Ran and the others remained silent, scanning their surroundings.
At this moment, the young man Zhao Wudi called Xiao Wu also spoke.
"But no matter what, let's continue setting up the equipment first."
"This mission's situation might be a bit unusual, so let's try to be quick and get back!"
The three technicians clearly thought the same, and soon began their work.
Lin Ran kept his Sharingan active, intently observing the foreign race corpses on the ground.
He had to admit, the appearance of these corpses was quite strange.
There were no signs of a fight nearby, nor any trace or scent of ferocious beasts. The immediate battlefield was definitely not here.
Therefore, these corpses were likely deliberately placed here.
As for who was doing this and what their intentions were, Lin Ran couldn't figure it out yet.
At least, it was certain that someone was causing trouble from the shadows!
Lin Ran's gaze flickered as he observed everything around him, lost in thought.
Soon, the technicians completed their task without incident, and the nine of them advanced towards the third location.
However, upon reaching the third location, Zhao Wudi's expression grew even more troubled.
Because in addition to the corpses and remnants of Dark Elves and Thunder Elementals, there were many human corpses here.
Furthermore, these humans had a series of cyan-green luminous tattoos on their skin.
"Fallen Ones!"
Zhao Wudi clenched his fist tightly, almost grinding his teeth to dust.
The so-called Fallen Ones were traitors among humans, deserving of death by all.
For power and wealth, they resorted to any means, even pledging allegiance to foreign races.
They madly slaughtered their own kind, plundered the wealth of Awakeners, and fawned over foreign races.
These cyan-green luminous tattoos were proof of their identity.
Lin Ran's expression was also exceptionally grim.
Compared to those foreign races, the Fallen Ones were even more cruel and brutal towards humans.
With the presence of the luminous tattoos, they could no longer live normally in the human world.
And these traitors were not well-received by the foreign races either; being beaten and humiliated was a common occurrence.
Almost no one showed them a good face, and they were mostly used.
Over time, this forged the extremely radical and biased personalities of the Fallen Ones.
These beings, surviving in the shadows, no longer deserving of the name human, dared not rebel against their foreign masters, so they could only vent all their anger on humans!
Besides his apprehension towards the Fallen Ones, Lin Ran also considered another matter.
That was, why were the locations where these corpses appeared so coincidental? They were all at their pre-arranged coordinates!
If the second location was a coincidence.
This time, it couldn't still be a coincidence, could it?
Lin Ran quietly walked over to Luo Qing Yan and took her hand.
After exchanging a glance with Lin Ran, Luo Qing Yan also understood his concern and immediately became vigilant.
In fact, both of them had already begun to eye Zhao Wudi, his seemingly honest figure.