9527: [You may choose to immediately enter your exclusive refresh point for confirmation or at any time before the countdown of this mission ends, to ensure the task completion settlement.] Wen Nan took a look at the countdown of the main mission in the system; there are still 10 hours left before the mission ends, so there’s no need to rush to find his exclusive refresh point. He could use this time to look for other clues. Now the [Queen] was lying trembling before him, indicating that his earlier deductions were all correct. The situation of the Justice faction was basically clear. What’s left is to investigate the Evil faction as thoroughly as possible. Where should he begin his investigation... Just as he was thinking, a message popped up on Wen Nan’s phone. It was from Hu Jiayao: [hz, I’ve tracked the person to the Hong Kong Drink Tea Shop! I’m tailing them!] Just when he didn’t know where to start investigating, a lead presented itself. Wen Nan quickly replied: [Keep an eye on them, I’ll be there soon.] After settling Wu Qing, Wen Nan left the laboratory, looking around for that familiar figure. Apparently sensing he was being sought, Yu Shujun emerged from the shadows and approached him. Wen Nan got straight to the point: "I need you to watch over Wu Qing and ensure her safety, can you do that?" Yu Shujun furrowed his brows upon hearing this. Clearly, the other side confirmed Wu Qing’s identity through the second main mission; it’s understandable that the loyalists must protect the Queen. However, Yu Shujun was reluctant to accept this order, "My primary mission is to ensure your safety." Although this intermediate instance isn’t very challenging in terms of difficulty, there is Wei Zhe, a high-level player holding a Divine Staff Fragment, among them. If he targets Wen Nan, with Wen Nan’s current capability, handling it would be difficult. Yu Shujun didn’t want to leave Wen Nan’s side, Wen Nan surmised, also considering this factor. But, precisely because the current [Traitor] is a formidable high-level player, Wen Nan is even more inclined to strengthen the protection around the [Queen]. During the first main mission, everyone’s identity was ambiguous, allowing them to muddle through, but now, with the second main mission nearing its conclusion, since Wen Nan could find the [Queen], [Traitor] with their skills is sure to pinpoint the [Queen] eventually too. If the [Traitor] chooses to attack the [Queen] with full force initially, among the personnel Wen Nan could mobilize, only Yu Shujun is capable of ensuring the [Queen]’s safety. Thus, Wen Nan insisted on his plan. This caused Yu Shujun’s expression to sour, reluctant to execute the command but powerless to defy it. During this deadlock, a car horn sounded down the corridor. Wen Nan and Yu Shujun exchanged glances, moving towards the end of the corridor. Through the window, they saw a familiar blood donation van parked outside the Life Sciences Institute building. Guan Ailin stepped off the blood donation van, looking up with a smile and waving at the two. Five minutes later, Wen Nan and Yu Shujun reached the door of the blood donation van. Guan Ailin inspected both of them, sensing an odd atmosphere, she leaned towards Wen Nan and whispered, "Nine, what did you do this time to upset Xiao Jun?" Wen Nan shrugged, thinking this little brother was going through a rebellious phase, he didn’t need to provoke him, and the little guy could just get grumpy all on his own. However, since Guan Ailin asked, Wen Nan briefly recounted the situation. After listening, Guan Ailin chuckled and approached Yu Shujun, "Xiao Jun, it’s not worth getting upset over this. I’ve learned how to drive the blood donation van, I’ll drive and keep Nine within 10 meters of the van. Rest assured." Wen Nan, upon hearing this, looked at Guan Ailin in surprise. He thought Yu Shujun was likely the one who summoned the blood donation van, considering last time when Guan Ailin first approached it, the blocking effect of the van even prevented her from seeing its existence. At that time, it was only because Yu Shujun recalled Guan Ailin was a character, and through the blocking effect, she’d subconsciously ignore the van unless added to its "whitelist," that she could eventually see it. Unexpectedly, Guan Ailin had already learned to drive it independently in such a short span. Previously, after just a brief meeting, she’d picked up different skills, now in just one night, she’d learned to drive the van, imagine if they didn’t see each other for three days, would she be driving excavators or fighter jets by then? It seems, this woman’s adaptability in these new worlds was even stronger than Wen Nan had anticipated. As Wen Nan was stunned at Guan Ailin’s capability, Yu Shujun’s expression quickly eased upon hearing her assurance, even slightly curving his lips towards Guan Ailin, "Hmm." Wen Nan was surprised. He barely ever saw that poker-faced expression crack a smile, during his second main mission in particular, the other’s expression was so dark it seemed like it could turn into ink. Unexpectedly, just a few simple words from Guan Ailin made Yu Shujun smile? Was all the rebellious teen angst directed solely at Wen Nan? Was he just being treated differently? Ignoring Wen Nan’s accusatory gaze, Yu Shujun returned to his impassive expression, "If anything comes up, summon me at once, Master." With that, he promptly turned around and walked towards the Life Sciences Institute building. Wen Nan stood there dazedly watching the other’s retreating figure, while Guan Ailin hooked her arm around his and pulled him towards the van, "Don’t just stand there, where to? I’ll take you." Ten minutes later, the blood donation van smoothly parked on an open space in front of the Hong Kong Drink Tea Shop. As soon as Wen Nan got off the van, he spotted a familiar burly figure squatting inside an empty shed, his attention locked on the tea shop’s entrance. Following the other’s gaze, Wen Nan looked towards the shop, through its open door, he caught sight of Zhou Shijie sitting at a table, holding a cup of milk tea, seemingly engaged in a warm conversation with someone. Wen Nan walked at a leisurely pace towards the shed, lowering his gaze to the crouching man. Hu Jiayao specialized in strength, his build appeared two times larger than Wen Nan, standing over 1.9 meters tall. Despite his size, he was huddled like a little chick inside the shed, using a folding cart not even as high as his waist for cover. Wen Nan chuckled helplessly, "Is this pretending not to hear the bell, or hiding behind a leaf?" Recognizing who had arrived, Hu Jiayao beamed and called out "President" in a low voice, explaining, "I was shadowing him from the side, but the student named Zhou talked with a girl for too long inside the shop. I feared something might happen, so I switched positions. This place is indeed likely to expose me, but it offers a good viewpoint to observe his every move. As long as we withdraw in time when he steps out—whoa, he’s coming out now!" Halfway through his explanation, Hu Jiayao noticed Zhou Shijie getting up and briskly walking out of the tea shop with the girl across from him. The parking shed was directly opposite the shop entrance, the instant they crossed the threshold, their gaze landed on Wen Nan and Hu Jiayao; if they were to retreat now, it would be too late. "It’s over, we’ve been exposed." Hu Jiayao slapped his forehead, "Might as well go all the way, let’s just catch them!" Saying that, Hu Jiayao rolled up his sleeves, preparing to charge towards the tea shop entrance, when Wen Nan grabbed his collar and pulled him back. "President?" Hu Jiayao turned his head blankly, looking at Wen Nan. Wen Nan shook his head, "Don’t move, they haven’t noticed us at all." "Ah?" Hu Jiayao was confused. They were standing directly in front of those two, how could they not be seen? But with Wen Nan saying so, Hu Jiayao turned to look again, realizing that although the duo had indeed glanced their way upon exiting, their gaze hadn’t focused, just casually swept over, and soon shifted elsewhere, as if the shed and the two men within it were mere air. "Are they... two blind characters?" Wen Nan shook his head, "It’s my blood donation van, it has a certain shielding effect, characters passing by tend to subconsciously ignore our existence." Hu Jiayao turned to confirm the presence of the blood donation van nearby, "Such an awesome gear, where did you get it?" While Hu Jiayao was observing the van, Wen Nan’s gaze fell on the girl beside Zhou Shijie. Wen Nan recognized her as the girl Li Fang previously referred to as senior. Both she and Zhou Shijie ignored those within the blood donation van’s protection range entirely, which was quite strange. The blood donation van’s defense mechanism worked against everyone, but its visual cloaking ability only affected characters, which is why previously Yin Zhi’en, and currently Hu Jiayao, could see it unobstructed at first sight, while Guan Ailin needed to be whitelisted by Yu Shujun later to enter the van. Zhou Shijie, being an NPC here, ignoring anyone within the van’s vicinity was understandable, but that girl Li Fang called senior, could she also be merely a regular character in the instance? Could she too just be an NPC manipulated by Wei Zhe? Impossible, based on her attire and demeanor, she clearly didn’t belong to this era; she appeared from a time closer to Wen Nan’s own. Moreover, during Li Fang’s birthday gathering, her change in style from something dated to something futuristic likely followed her senior’s tweaks. With such an evident non-native figure in this instance, why would she still be concealed by the blood donation van? A character, yet not belonging to this instance... Could only be a character brought in by another player. A player bringing in a character could happen via the Drivatar Glyph. However, someone like Qiqi, controlled by a Silver Drivatar Glyph, lacking faction and identity, isn’t permissible to bring along per the instance’s rules; only Golden Drivatar Glyph characters can be brought in. Yet, per Yang Mingzhong’s previous explanation, the appearance rate of a Golden Drivatar Glyph among characters is one in a million. Such extreme rarity truly appearing here by chance? Alternatively, it could resemble Guan Ailin’s situation. But Guan Ailin’s case was peculiar, and according to the system, her ability to be brought in was due to exceeding ten stars and possessing Architectural attributes. Could this short-haired girl, similar to Guan Ailin, possess Architectural attributes, or other non-human attributes? Animal attributes? Item attributes? Gear attributes? Impossible... this chance might be even smaller than the Golden Drivatar Glyph. Believing she bears special non-human traits seemed less plausible than considering her a character controlled by a Golden Glyph, especially since this instance hosted a manipulative Traitor like Wei Zhe, who wielded a Divine Staff Fragment and had a knack for manipulating women. While pondering this, Hu Jiayao next to him suddenly said, "President, they’ve left, I’ll follow!" Wen Nan nodded, adding, "Forget Zhou Shijie, just keep tabs on the girl with him." Though confused about the reasoning, since the President instructed so, Hu Jiayao chose to heed without question. Once Hu Jiayao left, Wen Nan entered the tea shop, only to be startled by a certain sight. In a corner sat a short-haired man, yet this man bore an identical resemblance to the girl previously seen leaving with Zhou Shijie.