Chapter 57: The Anomaly

[Mission completed, reward issued.]

“Eh?”

Before Bai Nian could even react, the change was already complete.

She immediately stood in front of the mirror to observe, even pinching herself as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Is it this obvious?”

Well, her chest indeed felt a bit heavier.

But then Bai Nian thought of a very serious problem: her current clothes no longer fit…

“What should I do?”

She didn’t have any of those one-size-fits-all sports styles.

In the end, she could only find a black camisole as a substitute and threw a short-sleeved shirt over it.

Although it was a bit hot, at least it was secure.

Bai Nian didn’t want to stay in this city for even another moment, and she had no time to go to the mall to buy clothes.

She had booked a flight for the early hours of the morning.

Once she finished packing everything, she could leave with peace of mind.

She ordered takeout for lunch and didn’t step foot outside the apartment once the entire time.

In the afternoon, Bai Nian played a well-known gacha game to pass the time.

The news of the Bai Family Villa being blown up had already made the hot searches in Tianmu City, but the members of the Heavenly Dynasty Nine Provinces did not step forward to help with the investigation.

Because this concerned the face of the Bai Clan, they were handling the matter entirely on their own.

Bai Tianyi was no fool.

He might have already guessed that Bai Nian was behind all of this, but now that the matter was out in the open, he had to produce solid evidence.

Of course, such things could be forged, which was why Bai Nian needed to hurry and leave this place.

Time passed until evening.

Bai Nian carried a simple backpack and left the apartment as if she were just heading out like usual.

She ordered a bowl of beef noodles downstairs for dinner.

After taking one last look at the bustling crowds and passing vehicles, she took a taxi to the airport.

Nowadays, flying was the only option if one wanted to travel to another city.

The Wilderness was dangerous, and the range of a vehicle simply couldn’t support such a journey.

Tianmu Airport, located in the suburbs, was the largest airport in the city.

It was responsible for maintaining connections with many Base Cities in the Outside World.

The grounds were vast, but there were very few passengers.

The ticket prices were exorbitant, yet it was the only passage out of Tianmu City.

Along the way, Bai Nian didn’t feel any stares or scrutiny from strangers, which relieved her quite a bit.

After successfully entering the airport, she found a random seat to rest.

Her flight was scheduled for midnight, so she still had four hours to wait.

“Running away right after the Bai Family Villa got blown up… it feels a bit like a self-incrimination,” Bai Nian muttered.

She looked out the window toward the entrance where the foot traffic was sparse.

As she observed the passersby, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure among them.

It was a youth.

A few days ago, Bai Nian had seen him displaying great power in the Wilderness.

A middle-aged man followed behind him.

The youth was expressionless, seemingly always wearing that same face; in contrast, the middle-aged man looked quite easygoing.

However, Bai Nian could see the respect for the middle-aged man on Chen Yi’s face.

What was their relationship?

A bodyguard brought along when a Young Master of a family went out for training?

The Chen Family was located in the Magic Capital, which was relatively close to Tianmu City.

Coming to the airport at this time meant they were likely heading back there.

Chen Yi naturally noticed Bai Nian as well.

After passing through security, he actually walked straight toward her.

The middle-aged man followed behind with his hands behind his head, maintaining a casual pace.

“Bai Nian, I know you,” he spoke plainly, his face devoid of any extra expression.

“Chen Yi, I know you too,” Bai Nian replied.

“And?”

“Let’s be friends. You aren’t as useless as the rumors say; you’re very excellent,” he said calmly.

Hearing this, the middle-aged man immediately slapped his own forehead and said speechlessly, “My disciple, that’s not how you greet people…”

So they were master and disciple.

Bai Nian realized the situation.

From the middle-aged man’s words, she understood that this genius of the Chen Family, who was excellent in all other aspects, seemed to be exceptionally poor at socializing.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Her lips twitched, but she didn’t take it to heart.

Chen Yi didn’t think much of it and sat down on a chair while carrying his heavy sword box.

“Where are you planning to go?”

“Di Du,” Bai Nian didn’t hide it and answered truthfully.

She wasn’t afraid of him leaking the word because the youth came from the Chen Family’s Main House.

The Bai Clan of Tianmu City wasn’t even fit to carry their shoes.

“That’s perfect, it’s on the way,” Chen Yi said.

“But you should take tomorrow night’s flight instead.”

Bai Nian was stunned for a moment.

She didn’t wonder why he was also going to Di Du but immediately questioned his last remark.

“Why? Did you charter the entire plane?”

“It’s nothing. If you’re worried about the ticket money, I can reimburse you,” he said without explaining further.

“How about you just buy me a plane and send me off?”

Bai Nian hated people who talked in riddles the most.

“Tonight’s flight won’t be able to fly. It involves organizational secrets, so I can’t say more.”

With that, Chen Yi stood up and left the seat with the middle-aged man.

Since they weren’t far, Bai Nian could still hear the middle-aged man’s laughter.

“Hahaha, this little girl is much more interesting than a blockhead like you. I almost want to take her on as a disciple myself.”

Looking at their receding backs, she was filled with confusion.

“I can’t fly to Di Du, but you guys can? What kind of logic is that…”

Time quickly reached 11:30 PM, and boarding had already begun.

Bai Nian saw Chen Yi and the other man at the front of the line.

She looked around and found everything to be normal.

Where could there be a problem?

Soon, after passing the gate, Bai Nian successfully boarded.

Chen Yi and his companion were in the first row of economy class.

Bai Nian passed by them, but there was no communication between them, as if they had already forgotten their previous conversation.

Reaching her seat, she was still wondering if Chen Yi had lost his mind.

Unable to take off?

Everything looked perfectly normal right now, and he was sitting right there himself.

It wasn’t until the plane started moving and began taxiing toward the runway that Bai Nian looked at the night view outside the window and sighed softly.

She could finally leave this place.

She leaned back in her seat to rest.

Just as she was about to close her eyes, she suddenly saw a golden meteor streak across the sky.

With its long tail, it looked incredibly dazzling in the night sky.

A sense of familiarity welled up in her.

Bai Nian snapped upright and stared wide-eyed out the window.

The golden light grew increasingly bright.

The meteor from just a moment ago had already grown to the size of the sun.

Before Bai Nian could react, a violent explosion followed.

The entire plane began to jolt violently, the instruments failed, and the captain performed an emergency brake.

Chaos immediately erupted inside the plane.

Flight attendants began shouting to maintain order.

In the front, Chen Yi and the man stood up.

They flashed a credential to the lead attendant, who immediately became incredibly respectful.

Then, the cabin door actually opened, and the boarding stairs were lowered.

Bai Nian, looking at the scene outside, finally processed what was happening.

It was a Region-level Disaster Portal!