How much knowledge does Zhao Xiaokui gain from contact with a higher-level item? Nobody knows.
After all, she is the only one who, after coming into contact with a higher-level existence, safely survived and could inform others about it.
This allowed her to extract all the extraordinary knowledge mixed in her mind and lay it all out.
Since others didn’t know how much she really knew, as long as Zhao Xiaokui insisted that she obtained it from inherited memories, no one could guess that she had actually traveled to another world.
After identifying things on this side of City S, and making a simple classification, the subsequent research had little to do with Zhao Xiaokui. After all, once you roughly understand the functions of many things, reverse engineering the structure and energy equations is something professionals need to do. It has little to do with her in terms of her role; Zhao Xiaokui considers herself a consultant for the extraordinary world.
Even this consultant is not very competent because there are significant differences between the two worlds. The knowledge she acquired in another world cannot be fully applied in this one. She can only provide a direction or a kind of perspective, slightly influencing the use and development of extraordinary powers in Huaxia.
What she doesn’t know is the stir her report caused when it reached higher-ups.
The report even made its way up and eventually reached the hands of the leader in charge of extraordinary individuals in Huaxia.
Holding the report, the busy leader asked, “Can this young comrade really identify things dug up from the ruins?”
The secretary replied, “That’s what they say in City S. It is said that she has recognized many weapons from the previous civilization’s strategic level. Now they are reclassifying and assessing the danger of things dug up from those ruins based on her suggestions, making charts. It should be submitted in some time.”
After some thought, the leader said, “When can we invite this young comrade to Beijing? I would like to have a chat with her about extraordinary individuals.”
…
When Zhao Xiaokui returned home, spring was almost over.
A few days after her birthday, she encountered the disappearance of Guan Huimin and chased the cultists all the way to the sea ruins, experiencing a coma that lasted for over a month. Walking into the office building, the gentle sunlight illuminated the entire space through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Watching the busy employees, she felt a sense of being in a different world, as if time had passed like a dream.
In her mind, remnants of giant sea creatures and mysterious, eerie mermaid statues still lingered. These images intertwined with reality, like the two sides of a piece of paper.
Employees of the Shen Corporation recognized her, nearly exclaiming in surprise, “Zhao…”
Zhao Xiaokui extended her finger, gesturing for silence.
She spoke softly, “I’m here to see President Shen. Is she in?”
The employee, full of joy, noticed her gesture and also lowered her voice, saying, “President Shen just finished a meeting. She should be in her office now.”
Zhao Xiaokui smiled at her, “Thank you.”
After that, she headed towards Shen Zhifei’s office.
A junior employee, returning to her workstation with documents in hand, watched Zhao Xiaokui’s brisk footsteps. She grabbed her colleague, who was busy typing on the computer keyboard, and with excitement in her voice, said, “Guess who I just met?”
Without looking up, the colleague asked nonchalantly, “Who?”
“Zhao Xiaokui!”
The hands on the keyboard paused for two seconds. “Who?”
“Zhao Xiaokui.”
“Ah, ah, ah! Where is my Kui Bao?!”
…
Shen Zhifei pushed aside the documents, grabbed a coin placed nearby, flicked it with her thumb, and the silver circular coin spun into the air. She caught it with one hand as it descended.
She opened her fingers, and the coin’s front side faced up.
This was a usage of a recently explored extraordinary ability she had mastered—divination.
Only simple judgments of the coin’s heads or tails were needed to obtain the desired answers in her mind.
Of course, questions couldn’t be too complex; the coin had only two sides, and the answers were limited to yes or no.
The accuracy was average; divination was more accurate for events happening in the near future and less accurate for distant events. Sometimes, the results for the same question could even change within a short period. For instance, about a month and a half ago, when Zhao Xiaokui went to the ruins, she had repeatedly divined whether the other party was safe. The heads and tails of the coin always maintained a one-to-one ratio, with no credible result obtained.
Now, what she was divining was whether she could see Zhao Xiaokui today.
The divination gave an affirmative answer—indeed, Zhao Xiaokui had sent her a message yesterday saying she would be coming home tonight.
However, the waiting still felt tedious, and she even considered driving and waiting directly at the Nightwalkers’ base.
At that moment, the door rang, and she grabbed the coin, put it back in her pocket, picked up the pen beside her, and pulled the documents back in front of her.
“Come in.”
The door was gently pushed open, and a person softly said, “President Shen, these are the documents from our department. Please review them.”
“Put them here—” A sudden flicker of intuition made her suddenly lift her head from the documents. She saw a smiling face, and she stood up with a swish. The boss’s chair behind her made a harsh sound, but she paid little attention.
“President Shen, long time no see.” Zhao Xiaokui took off her hat, grinning.
Shen Zhifei stared at Zhao Xiaokui, who had approached within a meter, and was momentarily stunned.
She was dressed in a black combat suit, with long and slender legs, a slim waist, and a very upright figure.
Her seaweed-like hair was tied neatly behind her head in a clean high ponytail. Smiling slightly at this moment, she made Shen Zhifei feel both familiar and unfamiliar—something seemed different.
She looked for a while before realizing what was different.
Previously, Zhao Xiaokui, although constantly advancing and improving her abilities, was still a young girl overall.
From her, one could sense childish innocence and simplicity.
However, the Zhao Xiaokui standing in front of her now seemed more like a warrior who had experienced blood and war. There was still the lingering scent of gunpowder on her, yet when she smiled, it seemed as if nothing in the world could stop her.
All obstacles in front of her would be flattened and crushed.
Shen Zhifei heard the pounding sound of her own heart.
Zhao Xiaokui always seemed to have a magical ability to make every reunion feel like love at first sight.
She loved Zhao Xiaokui in this way.
Without hesitation, Shen Zhifei directly hooked her arms around Zhao Xiaokui’s neck, held the back of her head firmly, and kissed her passionately.
Zhao Xiaokui’s nose tingled from the impact, but she didn’t reject the kiss. Instead, she tossed her hat aside, lifted Shen Zhifei, and took the initiative to place her on the office desk. With one hand supporting Shen Zhifei’s back and the other propping up the desktop, she deepened the kiss.
After a while, the two gasped for breath as they separated.
Shen Zhifei’s clothes were crumpled, her face flushed, and her chest rose and fell violently. Zhao Xiaokui embraced her slender waist, rested her chin on her shoulder, gently rubbed against her, and whispered next to her ear, “I’m back.”
Shen Zhifei bit her lip, feeling a slight tingling at the tip of her nose, and nodded softly.
“It’s been over a month, and President Shen is becoming more passionate,” Zhao Xiaokui chuckled lightly.
Shen Zhifei lightly nibbled her ear, with a slightly breathy voice, “I can be even more passionate. Do you want to try? The lounge is behind that wall over there.”
Her hint was almost as explicit as saying it.
In an instant, Zhao Xiaokui’s eyes changed from amber to dark gold.
Shen Zhifei felt her waist, which was held tightly, suddenly tighten even more. Those slender arms felt as strong as steel.
“Don’t… don’t tease me,” Zhao Xiaokui took a deep breath.
She tried to loosen the embrace herself, but Shen Zhifei, using her legs to hold Zhao Xiaokui’s waist, prevented her from doing so.
“I’m going crazy,” Shen Zhifei looked at Zhao Xiaokui and said, “I want you.”
Zhao Xiaokui stared into her eyes, trying to find the slightest trace of reluctance, and asked, “Do you know what you’re saying?”
Shen Zhifei unbuttoned the buttons on her chest one by one, revealing soon a patch of snowy white skin.
She proved her words with actions.
“Stop,” Zhao Xiaokui halted her actions. Though she didn’t understand why Shen Zhifei suddenly became so passionate today, she helplessly said, “Can we discuss this matter later?”
Shen Zhifei’s response was to grab her hand and press it down.
There’s only so much a person can endure.
…
Shen Entertainment, which had expanded several times in a row, had hundreds of employees. Just less than ten meters away from the lounge, employees of Shen Entertainment were diligently performing their duties at their workstations. Meanwhile, in the small lounge less than ten meters away from them, the temperature was steadily rising, and two sets of breaths mingled together.
Kisses rained down one after another.
Almost all of Zhao Xiaokui’s extraordinary characteristics were forced out by Shen Zhifei.
Two sharp ears, golden scales spreading from the waist downwards, sharp claws, and glinting sharp teeth…
Even at this point, her rationality still held the upper hand. She restrained herself, holding Shen Zhifei, and asked again, “Are you really sure? Don’t be impulsive. I can wait, and I can endure.”
Shen Zhifei gently licked the scales below her ear.
She wouldn’t tell Zhao Xiaokui how many nightmares she had during these days without her.
She dreamed of Zhao Xiaokui drifting in the endless void, eyes tightly closed. She kept calling and calling, but there was no response. She reached out, wanting to grab her as if she were right in front of her, but no matter how much strength she exerted, there was always a distance between them, as if they were separated by the ends of the earth.
She dreamed of Zhao Xiaokui completely transforming into a mermaid, but when those dark golden eyes looked at her, there was no longer the past affection and admiration. They were cold as if a god was looking down on all living beings, and she was just one among them.
…
Every day, she told herself that Zhao Xiaokui would come back.
She reminded herself to trust Zhao Xiaokui; they had promised to be together for a lifetime.
But the feeling of almost losing something or someone still lingered in her heart, never completely dissipating.
Until Zhao Xiaokui appeared in front of her, that sense of panic diminished slightly.
Intimate contact was always accompanied by both joy and pain. The humidity in the air increased, and if anyone else entered, they might feel like they had entered the water, suffocating under high-density water vapor. Fortunately, the two extraordinary individuals in the room had a strong adaptation to water.
Zhao Xiaokui kissed Shen Zhifei’s forehead and said, “I love you.”
Shen Zhifei, drenched in sweat, looked into her dark golden eyes filled with deep affection. However, for a fleeting moment, she felt like those eyes were cold, as if carved from ice found deep in the Antarctic.
She smiled, her clean arms wrapped around Zhao Xiaokui, leaning against her embrace, softly saying, “I love you too.”
