[The Gear Church, Underground Passage]
"Huh? What happened?"
Chen Kong looked at the unfamiliar surroundings, his face a giant question mark. His last memory was of almost being killed by Euphemia. As for what happened in the soul space and everything that followed, he couldn't remember anything.
As Chen Kong wondered what was wrong with him, a voice came from beside him.
"Young man, can you tell me where the Holy Maiden named Euphemia is hiding?"
Chen Kong turned his head to see a small, unremarkable-looking old man suddenly appear in front of him. In that instant, memories of this old man suddenly flooded Chen Kong's mind, making his mouth drop open in shock.
Th-the President of the Steam Division, Liam!
Without any hesitation, Chen Kong said without blinking, "She-she should be up ahead, right? Old sir, you just follow this path and you'll find her. My gas stove at home is still on, so I'll be taking my leave now!"
With that, Chen Kong turned around and walked in the opposite direction from Liam.
But before he could take a step, Liam called out to him again.
"Don't be in such a hurry, young man. After all, I remember very clearly that not long ago, you and your little friend tried to steal someone from our Steam Division."
"Am I right, Starry Rank #36, Vortex of the Void, Chen Kong?"
Chen Kong's body froze. The dimensional viewers were all baffled as he put on a full display of "comical expressions" for everyone. Chen Kong's lips twitched and his eyes darted about, but when he turned to face Liam, he instantly tensed his facial muscles and said in a strange tone, "O-old man, you've got the wrong guy. I'm not Chen Kong. I'm just a regular plumber."
"I really have to go now!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Kong turned around decisively and assumed a standard running posture, ready to slip away.
However, a scrawny but rock-solid hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
"Ah, these young people today."
Chen Kong's neck stiffened as he turned back. He saw Liam, who had been standing on the ground just moments ago, now floating in mid-air, looking at him with a smile.
"Alright, Chen Kong, stop with the nonsense. Your sister had us revoke the warrant for your arrest, so you don't need to be so afraid of me."
"Of course, that's all on the condition that you haven't done anything to violate the guild's rules since then."
Hearing this, a large amount of sweat instantly broke out on Chen Kong's forehead. Strictly speaking, he had violated the guild's rules by trespassing without the Gear Guild's permission!
"Come with me. After all, I just felt two very powerful auras, which is why I ditched all the other metal heads and came here by myself."
With that, Liam didn't wait for Chen Kong's consent. He simply lifted him and flew in the direction of Euphemia's corpse.
The dimensional viewers burst into laughter at the sight of Chen Kong being carried like a little chick by Liam.
'Chen Kong, Chen Kong, has anyone ever told you that your acting is terrible?'
'A classic case of the main character having just finished a major boss battle only to be ambushed by a powerful old man at the exit.'
'The person above me, the one who just played the big shot was Bai Kong. What does that have to do with our Chen Kong? Don't steal his glory~'
At the same time, "Tendo," who had confirmed via the dimensional screen that Liam had left the Steam Division, immediately stood up.
"Let's go, Xing. It's time for us to move."
But what was strange was that Chen Xing was completely focused on the Demon Blade: Blood Flame at her waist and didn't respond to him. A moment ago, when "White kong (Bai Kong)" and Euphemia had their massive battle, Chen Xing had suddenly felt a strange sensation. It felt as if something was calling to her and her demon blade.
Although Chen Xing didn't know what exactly had happened to Chen Kong inside the Gear Church, her intuition told her that all of this was definitely related to him.
Thinking this, Chen Xing looked up at Tendo and asked, "Tendo, did you know about the special connection between me and Kong all along?"
Seeing the certainty in Chen Xing's eyes, Tendo smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you that his core is very special?"
"But you meant more than just the Vortex of the Void, didn't you?"
Tendo didn't directly answer the question. Instead, he said with a profound look, "Who knows? Just like you, don't you also have a little secret you don't want anyone to know about?"
Chen Xing was startled, then chuckled, "As I thought, nothing can escape your eyes."
Tendo looked down at her Demon Blade: Blood Flame at her lower back. "Seeing as you've helped me out a lot, I'll help you take care of this guy later."
With that, Tendo adjusted his sunglasses and gave a typical villainous smile.
"After all, fighting is what I'm best at."
Seeing Tendo's awkward attempt to feign indifference while clearly showing concern, Chen Xing couldn't help but laugh.
"Xing, why are you suddenly laughing?"
Looking at his puzzled expression, Chen Xing suddenly leaned in and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Nothing. I just thought, Tendo, you're... as gentle as ever."
"..."
Faced with Chen Xing's sudden heartwarming remark, Tendo had to admit that the adult version of her was much harder to deal with than before. In the past, Chen Xing wouldn't have understood any of this!
Although he knew what Chen Xing was trying to convey, out of some consideration, Tendo ultimately chose to pretend he hadn't heard. He avoided Chen Xing's beautiful, sparkling eyes and turned to look in the direction of the Steam Division.
"Alright, it's about time."
"After all, a certain angry old man won't stay away from the guild for too long."
Seeing him pretend to be clueless, Chen Xing sighed softly in her heart, then immediately returned to her usual confident self.
"Okay, let's go."
Chen Xing stood up and patted the dust off her clothes. Her gaze fell on Tendo's face, illuminated by the morning sun. Suddenly, her eyes froze. Her mood changed from a little down to joyous, so much so that she couldn't help but let out a little laugh.
"What is it again, Xing?"
"Nothing."
Chen Xing looked up at Tendo, who was now much taller than her, and whispered, "I just suddenly feel that today... you're a little different."
Upon hearing this, Tendo stumbled. He quickly adjusted his sunglasses and said, "Ma-maybe it's because the plan is about to succeed, so I'm in a good mood."
With that, Tendo didn't wait to see if Chen Xing believed his excuse and quickened his pace toward the stairs leading to the rooftop.
The warm morning breeze once again swept across the top of the clock tower. Chen Xing silently watched Tendo's "hasty escape" and reached up to tuck a stray hair behind her ear, revealing a beautiful smile.
If she hadn't seen wrong, Tendo's ears seemed to be a little red, didn't they?
With that thought, Chen Xing quickly caught up to Tendo and walked alongside him.
Although effort doesn't always guarantee results, Chen Xing was confident that as long as she persevered, she would one day be able to personally take off his sunglasses and get a good look at herself reflected in his azure eyes.
And that day... would definitely come.