Trok Republic · Feklay The morning sun shone through the window, illuminating the empty hall. Lin Chichi stretched lazily, yawned, and dragged her small suitcase forward along the somewhat old train station. "Eight o’clock, huh." The girl raised her head to glance at the early morning light above, and yawned again. Although Mote City and Feklay are not very far apart, the railways between Yika Republic and Trok Republic are not connected. From the information Lin Chichi gathered, this stemmed from the multiple frictions and wars between these two neighboring countries in history. However, as a result of historical issues, tourists need to change trains at the border, which meant Lin Chichi couldn’t sleep straight through to her destination. "I should have taken a plane." Lin Chichi glanced at the empty hall, dragging her small suitcase, heading towards the exit of the station. In front of her, a family of three, seemingly from Tia, were leaving the station. The girl scanned the three people ahead, then slowly moved forward, following the crowd out of the train station. Many taxis were already waiting outside the station entrance, and the girl randomly chose one. The taxi driver got out to help her put the suitcase in the trunk, then led her into the vehicle, looked back at her, and asked in Trok language, "Are you here for tourism?" "On a business trip." Lin Chichi answered briefly, then picked up her mobile phone, opened the map, and showed the driver a location. Before coming to Trok, she had already learned some commonly used Trok phrases. Perhaps due to an improvement in her physical fitness, her memory had improved a lot compared to before. Words that she previously couldn’t remember even after many attempts, she could now recall after a few glances. Of course, she still couldn’t speak Trok fluently, but she could manage some simple communication. The driver raised his hand, made a gesture of understanding, and then started the car. Accompanied by a slight tremor, the taxi began, taking her along some narrow, old roads. Feklay is an ancient city, and such old cities often have many problems, such as narrow roads and outdated infrastructure that are difficult to maintain. Of course, the public security isn’t very good either. Lin Chichi glanced out the window, seeing yellow tents set up along the roadside, and some homeless people squatting around the tents. These homeless people, with cigarettes in their mouths, were all more or less watching the surrounding vehicles. Behind their murky gazes lay hidden fierceness. Soon, the girl withdrew her gaze, leaned back in the rear seat of the car, and slightly closed her eyes. She was indeed feeling a bit sleepy. The taxi driver looked up, glanced at the Central Earth-styled girl in the rearview mirror, then lowered his head and turned the vehicle into a small alley. The old taxi navigated through the narrow lane, the morning sun streaming through the gaps between the old houses, brushing across the girl’s cheeks. After an unknown period, the taxi halted at a traffic light at an intersection. The driver looked up, seeming to check the surroundings for any traffic police. As he was about to stomp on the gas to run through the red light, a cold and sharp blade pressed against his neck, "Where are you taking me to?" A calm and cold voice came from beside his ear. Although the Trok pronunciation was not quite standard, the driver clearly understood the meaning. "This, this way is a bit closer." The driver answered tremblingly, then fearing the girl might not understand, he slowed down his speech, "Closer." He then gestured with his hands, a movement from long to short. "You took me on a big detour." The girl looked at the taxi’s odometer, took out her phone, showed the map route history, and said in stiff yet calm tones. "I’ll take you there." The driver reached out to turn off the meter, trembling as he lifted his hand and spoke in a hushed voice. Accompanied by a faint whistling sound and the noise of a sharp blade being sheathed, the cold and hard object pressed against his neck naturally withdrew. The driver looked up and glanced at the rearview mirror. In the mirror, the demure, cute girl from Central Earth was still leaning back on the rear seat with her eyes closed, as if she had been asleep all along, and everything that had just happened was but a dream. The driver looked at the meter again, hesitated, and ultimately decided not to turn it back on. He started the car and made a left turn. Soon, the vehicle arrived at the destination—a grand and splendid building. The girl paid the fare as per the driver’s demand, took out her suitcase, and walked towards the building. Watching the girl’s retreating figure, the driver let out a long sigh of relief. He leaned back in his seat, resting his hands on the steering wheel. Then, he pulled out his phone, opened a contact labeled ’Boss’, and sent a message. [People from Central Earth, from the train station to Dew Morning Building, might use weapons.] He then put away the phone, resting his hands on the steering wheel again, and started the vehicle. As the vehicle shook, he feelt something and looked suspiciously behind him. For some reason, he felt as though someone had been sitting in the back, watching him as he sent the message. Shaking his head, he started the car and drove away. Meanwhile, behind him on the street, a young man with the look of someone from Central Earth, lifted his head to watch the car drive away. Then, he turned to look at the grand building behind him. He played with a butterfly coin in his hand, then walked deeper down the road. Dew Morning Building·53rd Floor A soft knocking sound came from outside the heavy office door. The man sitting behind a desk piled with documents quickly responded. Then, the office door opened, and a girl with the appearance of someone from Central Earth walked in. The girl lifted her head, looked at the man behind the desk, and asked in the Yika language. "Is it Miss Lin Chichi? Please, have a seat." Hearing her voice, the man was slightly startled. He looked up at the girl and smiled, "Miss Yan Yue has already briefed me about your visit. What do you need to know from me?" Lin Chichi closed the door, opened her suitcase, took out a laptop, and then sat down on the chair in front of Senwen. "I’m currently investigating the ’K Belief’ across Western Lands. Mr. Senwen, do you have any information?" "Although I’d love to say I have a lot of information for you, unfortunately," Senwen shook his head and sighed, "I just arrived here a few days ago and haven’t quite figured everything out yet." "Is your work not going smoothly?" Lin Chichi asked softly. Senwen looked up at the Central Earth girl in front of him. Although he did not know her exact identity, her introduction as a ’publicity worker’ capable of getting Yan Yue to greet him and ask for his cooperation indicated that her position at the Research Institute was significant—even possibly having a good relationship with Minister He. "As you know, our work is somewhat challenging," He shook his head and smiled, "Perhaps it never goes smoothly." Then he patted the mountain of stacked files on the desk and pointed to another pile in the office corner, "After I came here, I spoke with the local person in charge and asked to review records of Transcendent events over the years. Then they brought all these over. This is only a tenth of it, and it’s already been sifted through by my subordinates." Miss Lin Chichi glanced at the mountain of files, startled, "Haven’t they digitized? These files should be able to be electronically archived, right? Didn’t the World Tree headquarters require it?" "There was a requirement," Mr. Senwen shrugged, "But they said the workload was too massive and the equipment outdated, so they can only do a little each day. I’ve seen their archive room computers, maybe they are over thirty years old?" "That really is somewhat ’outdated’," Miss Lin Chichi sighed helplessly, then she glanced at the files filling the office and pondered, "Among these files, have all the Transcendent events been resolved? Is there anything peculiar?" "From what I’ve seen so far, most of those recorded have been resolved." Mr. Senwen spoke gently, "If you’re talking about something strange, there is one," He casually pulled out a file and handed it to Miss Lin Chichi, "Take a look at this file. Do you see any problems?" Miss Lin Chichi, puzzled, took the file and quickly read through it, "A haunted house ghost event? An extraordinary event triggered by an F-class Extraordinary Item?" Then she slightly startled, "This haunted house event resulted in dozens of people dead or missing?" Although she had only recently joined the Research Institute, she had seen quite a few records due to her work, and she commented with some doubt, "Logically, such an F-class Transcendent event shouldn’t have such high casualties, right? The records at the institute even mostly show zero casualties." "Is the Research Institute that impressive?" Mr. Senwen slightly startled, then he said, "The situation here at World Tree was a bit worse, but still, at most, there were a few injured, at least in the regions I was previously in charge of." Miss Lin Chichi had seen Mr. Senwen’s resume. Mr. Senwen had been a member of the World Tree in the Yika Republic, but due to his opposition to Sett, he was sidelined to a remote area until He Ao came to power in Yika, and then he was promoted for reuse. According to Miss Yan Yue, Mr. Senwen very much agreed with Minister He’s reforms and was grateful to him, marking him as a capable person. She looked at Mr. Senwen, thinking and asking, "So these situations are ’abnormal’?" "It’s not entirely proper to say it’s ’abnormal’," Mr. Senwen shook his head, looking at the files on the table, "Among the records in these files, many cases involve an absurd number of deaths and disappearances, and mostly—it’s ’civilians’. "But looking closely at the reasons for these tragedies, often it is because this side’s World Tree organization failed to detect the Transcendent events early on, turning what were originally non-threatening Transcendent events into major disasters. "And those Transcendent events they detected right away, they managed to handle relatively well, at least resulting in far fewer casualties. "This seems to only indicate their lack of competence, not quite ’professional’." Speaking of this, his tone paused slightly, "But this bit of ’suddenness’ and ’unprofessionalism’, for those families that lost loved ones, it’s a devastating blow." Miss Lin Chichi raised her head, looking at the dense files around her, "How many people have ’suddenly’ died or disappeared in total?" "I don’t know yet, I haven’t tallied them up," Mr. Senwen sighed, "The time span is too long, each of these files has more or less added some ’numbers’." Miss Lin Chichi was momentarily at a loss for words, she sighed, "So many people, isn’t there anyone to manage this side of the World Tree organization?" "Trok Republic is a large country with a population of eighty million, over a timeline of ten years, these missing and dead compared to the total population of the country isn’t a lot," Mr. Senwen paused, "And according to my investigation, sometimes this side’s World Tree organization would wait until the situation escalated, many people died, and the local residents were in panic before they started handling the Transcendent events. "At that time, those residents felt they encountered saviors, and oftentimes, those Transcendents would even use this opportunity to extort more money, exploiting the people. "As for how slow their efficiency is, and how many people have died because of their actions, only they themselves know." Miss Lin Chichi opened her mouth, momentarily speechless. Finally, she gently sighed, "These guys are really bastards." "And this is also why Minister He wants the reform," Mr. Senwen sighed softly, then he chuckled, "Honestly, I was initially dubious about a Central Earth person managing the Western Lands, but the fact proves that he is the most suitable person for the job." Then he closed the file in his hand, putting it back into the stack, "We’ve more or less sorted out this pile of files, I’ve also almost finished writing the summary report, and I guess it can be sent to Minister He in a day or two. "After finishing up here, we almost have time to further investigate the structure of World Tree here, as well as their actions over these years," He pondered for a moment, "However, I can now arrange for someone to inquire about the specific circumstances of the ’K Belief’ and I will send all the sources and information to you later." "That would not be troubling you then." Lin Chichi slightly startled, quickly spoke up. "It’s alright, we have to conduct the investigation anyway, this is just something we will do along the way." Mr. Senwen said smilingly. "That really puts you at trouble, then." Lin Chichi nodded slightly, handing the document back to Senwen, "I’ll go to other places to look for clues first." "I’ll contact you as soon as there’s any news," Senwen took the document then paused in his speech, speaking slowly, "Please pay attention to your safety here, the World Tree Organization here does not protect ordinary people." "Thank you, you too should take care." Lin Chichi nodded gently, putting away her computer. It was apparent that Senwen, as He Ao’s person, did not have good relations with the local World Tree Organization, yet his office was located in the Dew Morning Building, which is precisely the headquarters of the local World Tree. Senwen nodded with a smile. Then the girl packed up her suitcase and left the office. Senwen glanced at the slowly closing office door, then at the mountain of documents in front of him, and lightly sighed. As Lin Chichi walked through the corridor to the elevator, a girl in a gray knitted sweater, with silver short ponytail, and white-framed glasses was waiting at the elevator door. The girl looked at Lin Chichi coming towards her, slightly surprised, and stepped back half a step, leaning toward the corner of the elevator area. Lin Chichi glanced at her and greeted her amiably. The girl in front seemed to be a member of the World Tree Organization here. The girl nodded slightly, then looked down and stopped talking with Lin Chichi. Seeing this, Lin Chichi was slightly startled, then didn’t continue to inquire further. The elevator arrived. The girl did not enter the elevator with Lin Chichi; instead, she hid in the corner, letting Lin Chichi go in first, apparently preparing to wait for the next one. Lin Chichi was somewhat perplexed by the girl’s behavior but still took the elevator down to the first floor. Then she walked out of the Dew Morning Building. Standing in front of the building, the girl turned back and looked at the magnificent edifice behind her. This is the tallest and most splendid building in the center of Feklay City. "Sister, would you like an amulet?" It was at this moment, Lin Chichi heard some stiff Central Earth language from behind. The girl was slightly startled, turned around, and saw a little girl holding a plastic bag with a Grass-woven Amulet, standing behind her, holding the amulet high up, offering it to her. "Do you want to learn about it, the K’s amulet," The little girl continued in stiff Central Earth language, looking at Lin Chichi, "It’s very cheap, just 1 Golden Shield." Hearing ’K’, Lin Chichi visibly startled, then she took the amulet, carefully examining the little girl in front of her, and asked in Tia language, "You’re not from the Western Lands?" Aside from the Central Earth language, the language she was most proficient in was actually Tia language. The little girl blinked her eyes, then nodded, "We came here on a trip." Then she scratched her head, "It’s just that we ran a bit hastily."