"So, what do you want to talk about?" Chichu Hong said.

Up close, the girl had a truly fine figure; the lines of her legs beneath the skirt flowed smoothly, her neck was gracefully bared from the neckline, and her collarbones protruded elegantly under the adornment of a necklace. Her vibrant red dress flaunted like the feathers of a firebird, highlighting the girl's personality.

However, no one present would be fooled by the girl's deceptive appearance. Everyone knew this flamboyant girl was a Fifth Tier Battle Banner Master, among the top-tier combat forces of the association, an unmistakable human ultimate weapon.

If she wished, not just this small dance hall but the entire ship would be capsized and sunk to the sea floor in an instant.

In terms of power and status, the girl was above everyone present, an existence unattainable for those noble scions.

"By the way, I haven't seen you within the family. Do you know me?" Chichu Hong asked.

"Of course, Miss Hong."

"Do you really understand me, or have you just heard rumors from those spoiled family brats?"

"Or do you have no concept of a Fifth Tier Battle Banner Master set by the association, walking arbitrarily into the few meters surrounding me?"

When saying these words, Chichu Hong's tone was not filled with superiority, merely stating facts.

She observed Xu Xiaoyou standing steadily like a snow cedar, then looked at the white gloves of the blonde girl holding the crystal glass stem, which subtly trembled, indicating the immense pressure the other party was under, straining to keep the glass contents from splashing onto her.

"Stay a bit farther; this is a friendly reminder.

Xu Xiaoyou nodded and stepped back, the pressure on her body slightly easing, while her heart subtly fluctuated, not from the powerful aura the girl emitted, but from an indescribable —

— "Gaze."

For a moment, she seemed to see countless cracks open around the girl, with bleeding eyes within, staring at her.

That was a "gaze" from the Mysterious Domain, the association judged a Cleaner reaching the Fifth Tier by whether one could contact the Mysterious Domain through soul contact and build a consciousness bridge with the Sea of Consciousness, transforming the soul fluff from that domain into one's spiritual power.

Ninety-nine percent of humans, sub-human, and alien races would inevitably fall into madness upon encountering the Mysterious Domain, even if just peering at the fringe, a single wisp of soul fluff infiltrated into the Sea of Consciousness would rapidly spread like a plague, contaminating and twisting the entire Sea of Consciousness.

Xu Xiaoyou recalled the contact with the Heart of Desire, those red substances floating around her were soul fluff — the fundamental energy forming the "Mysterious" domain, it was during that encounter she first contacted the Mysterious Domain.

Like those who fell into madness, her entire Sea of Consciousness appeared polluted, yet for reasons unknown she did not lose rationality, or say, she wasn't driven by the most basic desires, appearing no different from ordinary people on the surface.

The girl in front of her was quite different; whereas Xu Xiaoyou's contact with the Mysterious Domain was passive, the other proactively explored within it, her Sea of Consciousness maintained a long-term, stable semi-polluted state, hence involuntarily conveying that "gaze" sensation.

"So, what brings you to me?" Chichu Hong asked with interest.

"World-class horror tale." Xu Xiaoyou casually uttered these five words.

"She's on this ship now, right?"

Chichu Hong's body trembled, her previously calm eyes suddenly turned grave, a sharp murderous intent shot through, piercing Xu Xiaoyou's body.

The next moment, before Xu Xiaoyou could react, Chichu Hong swiftly closed in, pressing her raised hand against the wall, elbow thrust forward, horizontally staging across her fragile neck, lifting her knee to hit her abdomen.

Chichu Hong constrained all of Xu Xiaoyou's movements, pinning Xu Xiaoyou against the shadow in the aisle; people below continued laughing and singing, unaware of the commotion here. Meanwhile, on the other hand, her hand was immobilized on the wall, her slender white wrist pressed out with purple bruises, wine spilled from the glass, soaking her expensive off-shoulder suit, the pure white lapels quickly deepened in color.

Yet, her face showed no panic, breathing steadily, golden strands disheveled beside her face:

"So, I guessed right."

Realizing she fell into the opponent's trap, Chichu Hong's gaze shifted multiple times but did not release the girl in front, her faintly red pupils turning into vertical slits, ice-cold murderous intent embedded in her words.

"What is it you truly want to do?"

Xu Xiaoyou didn't answer Chichu Hong's question, only furrowing her brows slightly: "You hurt me there."

Chichu Hong was stunned, not expecting that response, subconsciously loosening her arm clamped around Xu Xiaoyou's neck, stepping back a few paces, maintaining vigilance.

"Was such a reaction necessary?" Xu Xiaoyou lightly coughed, "I just heard some rumors from the Withered Flower family, so I wanted to test it out."

"So it's true..." Xu Xiaoyou's gaze dimmed slightly, tidying up her disheveled clothes.

"A world-class horror tale running amok on the Star of Art, anyone would be concerned, right?"

"Every time something like this happens, the association conceals it from ordinary people, this terrifying horror tale is on the ship now, yet as passengers, we know nothing. Do we not even have the right to choose whether to die?"

"A cruise ship that could capsize into the sea at any moment, it's just so unfair..."

Chichu Hong realized she misunderstood the girl in front, feeling secretly frustrated, was it because her nerves were too tense, or too relaxed?

She was so easily tricked into talking by the other side.

"You..."

Xu Xiaoyou spoke first: "Rest assured, only I'll know about this, I swear on the Stars I won't tell them."

Even though the other seemed quite ordinary, Chichu Hong felt tricked to the point of dizziness, which aggravated her greatly, but unable to reveal it openly, she finally snorted coldly, turning her head away in frustration, descending toward the lower aisle.

Xu Xiaoyou watched her disappear into the dance hall, rubbing her bruised wrist.

As expected of a Fifth Tier Battle Banner Master, aside from testing a problem, she had wanted to assess just how much difference there was between them, but the outcome was undoubtedly vast, like an insurmountable chasm.

The opponent's neural reaction speed was at least several times her own, so large that her intentions hadn't even transmitted through her nerves to her body when the opponent already predicted her next move and reacted immediately, shoulder press, elbow top, knee lift; showing lethal moves from three different angles simultaneously.

If Chichu Hong had been willing earlier, Xu Xiaoyou would have been dead three times.

She'd ruined the Fifth Tier Battle Banner Master Miss's impression in their first meeting; however, it verified her guess.

Anya hadn't left the Star of Art and was currently aboard this ship, having awakened.

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