"My, my — so Rulu is someone's boss now. You're becoming more and more outrageous by the day." Shari stood to one side, putting on a show of being displeased.

  "So does that mean you support me or not, Shari? Without your support, I can't very well be anyone's boss." Rulu looked at Shari with an expression somewhere between a smile and not.

  "I never said I don't support you. Besides, if I don't help you, you'll probably pull another disappearing act on me — you clearly don't care about me at all." Shari muttered with a pout.

  Rulu took hold of Shari's shoulders with both hands, looked into her face, and said softly: "How could you think that? You're very important to me, Shari. If you're willing to help me, I'll like you even more."

  Shari's cheeks flushed faintly. Unable to meet Rulu's eyes, she lowered her head and said: "Fine, fine — I know you. Always saying things like that just to win me over. So from now on I'll just serve as the go-between for you and Sphinx, is that right?"

  "Yes. And there are a few other things I'd like to ask you to do as well."

  "More things? Go ahead and say it."

  "Could you help me gather information on the other creatures at this school — ideally ones simir to Sphinx, creatures with enough intelligence to communicate through nguage."

  Shari looked at Rulu in surprise: "Wait — Rulu, don't tell me you think one Sphinx isn't enough and you want to recruit even more of these creatures as your followers?"

  "More or less. Are you willing to help me, Shari?"

  Shari felt somewhat reluctant — in truth she wasn't very keen on doing this sort of thing — but for the sake of pleasing Rulu, she said: "Fine, I'll do it. Rulu, you'd better remember how good I am to you — and make sure you never let me down."

  "Of course. Once you've gathered the information, send it to me by email — to that private mailbox I gave you before. And I'll contact you by email if I need to reach you as well."

  "Email — got it." Shari said. She blinked and looked at Rulu with an expectant expression: "Um…… Rulu, do you have anything on just now? If not, how about we go out for a walk together, maybe get something to eat, and then……"

  "I'm sorry, Shari." Rulu cut her off. "I still have other things to take care of — I can't stay and keep you company. I'll find a way to make it up to you ter. That's all for now — goodbye."

  Without waiting for Shari's reply, Rulu summoned the wind at once, whooshed up into a nearby tree, and then went skimming from tree to tree at speed, vanishing from Shari's sight in no time at all.

  "Honestly — finishes asking a favor and just leaves like that. What an idiot. Not the least bit considerate!" Shari stared in the direction Rulu had gone, her heart a tangle of feelings she couldn't quite name.

  "All right — I've got a few pieces on the board now. But with this little amount of strength, there's simply no way to stand against the Sanctuary. If I want to take on the Sanctuary, I'll need to gather far more power — and far stronger power — than this."

  After leaving the school, Rulu continued walking through Blue Sea City without any particur destination, turning over in his mind the question of how to deal with the Sanctuary and Prince Suwen.

  "Right — Captain Guan's Rebels are also fighting against the Sanctuary. If Captain Guan and his people could become part of my strength, that would be of tremendous help to me. But the Sanctuary carried out a rge-scale encirclement campaign against the Rebels outside Blue Sea City not long ago — I wonder if Captain Guan and the others are all right. It's still early — I might as well head outside the city ter and have a look."

  Rulu began to map out his next move in his mind. After eating lunch, he got in a car and drove west toward the Concession district.

  After the turmoil of recent days, security in Blue Sea City had returned to its usual x state. Rulu encountered no obstacles and left the city without difficulty.

  He drove steadily westward, and an hour and a half ter, arrived at a pce outside Blue Sea City called Haitian Town.

  "I remember Haitian Town being one of Captain Guan's regur areas of operation. Perhaps I can find them here."

  With that thought, Rulu drove through the town, looking around on all sides. The streets were almost completely deserted. The doors and windows of the residential houses lining the roads were all shut tight; the storefronts were nearly all closed. Many buildings in the town had colpsed or been burned to the ground, and in some of the back alleys, human corpses could even be seen lying on the ground.

  "It looks like this town was attacked by Sanctuary forces not long ago — that would expin why it's become so desote. I have no idea where Captain Guan and the others are now, or how to find them."

  Rulu continued driving through the town. Suddenly, a five- or six-story building by the roadside caught his attention. On the ground in front of the rge building stood a battered sign, upon which were written the words: "Dadong Hotel."

  "Right — this hotel is the secret rendezvous point Captain Guan told me about before. There might be some clue here." Rulu pulled the car to a stop near the hotel and looked it over carefully. The hotel's main door was wide open, and it appeared to still be operating normally.

  In the vicinity of the hotel, a scattering of people were spread about — some were beggars lying on the ground asleep, some were cleaning staff sweeping the pavement with brooms, some were street vendors selling their wares. Though these people looked unremarkable at first gnce, Rulu noticed that they all seemed to be observing their surroundings, consciously or otherwise, keeping a constant watch on everything moving around them.