Hyperion Wants to Save Lanqi

The first floor of Boss Cat Restaurant was somewhat lively and bustling during the lunch rush. "Huh?" Standing by the wall, Antanas stared in bewilderment at the empty space where the cat had just vanished from her hands, then turned around to look. There was nothing out of the ordinary. As far as her eyes could see, the three people sitting over by the far window had their backs to her, looking perfectly normal. Scratching her head, Antanas was finally called back to her busy duties by Sinora's reminding voice. Pranay had taken leave early today, leaving Antanas as the sole waitress in the restaurant alongside Sinora, the receptionist who occasionally had to fill in as waitstaff as well. At that moment, before the bar table by the window, all three sat staring at the tabletop without a word, cold sweat beading on their foreheads. Fortunately, the three of them had snapped out of their daze just in time, preventing Antanas from noticing anything amiss. "..." Hyperion kept her head buried low. Even if she could rein in her facial expressions with acting skills, she could not stop the crimson flush spreading across her cheeks. She was tempted to just turn invisible and flee right now. Yet where could she even run? If what Antanas said was true, that painting might be seen outside, too! That scene had made her want to die on the spot; if it had only been witnessed by the Wilfort family, she might have eventually managed to forget it with time. Yet now, a painting of it was hanging right here in Boss Cat Restaurant. It was as though it stood as an eternal reminder of the bizarre spectacle the three of them had made of themselves that day. The three reached an unspoken, uncanny consensus at this moment. Terrified that Antanas would catch onto something strange, they forced themselves to pretend they had no opinion whatsoever about the painting. Soon, having confirmed that Antanas had walked into the back kitchen, Tata was just about to stand up and take the painting down when Hyperion firmly gripped her hand. Braving the sheer awkwardness, they exchanged glances. Talia instantly understood Hyperion's look. And so, Talia sat back down. She looked over at Lanqi, who picked up his glass of water, took a sip, and nodded. They all decided to pretend they had never noticed the painting in the first place. Since the situation was already beyond salvation, they might as well play along. As long as no acquaintance realized the three figures in the painting were them, they wouldn't suffer social death! Thankfully, Pranay wasn't here today. Otherwise, given Pranay's sharp eyes and intellect, he likely would have deduced something from their reactions just now. That brought a collective sigh of relief. The three exchanged one last glance. At this moment, they stood united as one, as though bound by a common destiny, resolved to carry this secret to their graves and never let a soul find out! "..." Yet before long, an awkward stillness fell over the trio again. None of them knew what to say. Never before had sitting in Boss Cat Restaurant felt so much like serving a prison sentence. "...Tata, Hyperion and I are heading into a Shadow World tomorrow. We probably won't see you for a while," Lanqi finally spoke up. "Oh. Oh," Talia responded absently. She ought to have felt a tinge of disappointment over the pair departing again, but right now, she was only genuinely relieved that they could all give one another some time and space. If the three of them kept spending every day together like this, Talia felt all their mental states would deteriorate. Afterward. Lunch passed in a blur— Boss Cat quietly served the food, and they quietly finished eating, exchanging no further words. The three of them sat in inexplicable silence for a while longer. "Well, I'm heading back to campus. Hyperion, see you tomorrow. Tata, next time we see each other will probably be at least a week or two from now," Lanqi said in farewell. "I'll come find you at school tomorrow," Hyperion nodded. "Mhm," Talia gave a slight nod. Immediately afterward, she fell into an extended silence. Just as Lanqi pushed the barstool back under the counter and got ready to leave, stepping past Talia's side— "Good luck," Talia added, almost like an undertone to herself. "..." Lanqi turned around in surprise, looking at Talia. "Tata, are you cheering me on?" Lanqi pointed at himself and asked. He had never received such treatment before—or rather, he hadn't expected Talia to be acting more and more like a gentle, tender woman. "You misheard," Talia's eyelids drooped instantly, her voice cold. Whenever Lanqi opened his mouth, she grew annoyed—or rather, his very face seemed to speak volumes. She really shouldn't engage with this guy. "Thank you, Tata! When I get back, I'll celebrate your birthday!" Lanqi waved cheerfully, bade them goodbye, and walked out the door of Boss Cat Restaurant. The chimes of the wind bell jingled, and the first floor of Boss Cat Restaurant lapsed once more into the white noise of lunchtime. Staring at her clean plate, Talia noticed the corner of her lips curving up into an involuntary smile. "Wait..." She suddenly hesitated. If Lanqi knew her birthday, would he also know her age? Thinking about it, Talia shook her head. Even if Lanqi's mind was always concocting damnable notions, he shouldn't be capable of doing anything too outrageous. "..." Hyperion didn't dare say a word beside her. She had a sneaking suspicion that Lanqi would buy eight hundred candles on that day. She was already doing research in advance on how to rescue Lanqi. ... The next day. The sky reflected a brilliant blue, imbued with the distinct clarity of early summer. The Ikerite Academy campus had already awakened, teeming with vitality and bustle as students gathered in twos and threes, chatting and laughing. After a hearty breakfast, Lanqi and Hyperion walked along the campus pathway, brimming with energy. Their voices echoed in the air, interweaving with birdsong and the rustling of leaves. "This time the three of us are gonna tear through everything, meow!" Early that morning, the three had gone to the School of Magic Engineering to pick up Lanqi's special tier approval letter and Boss Cat's logistical magic artificer challenger license, and they had also given Boss Cat a team card for their Model of Civilization Team. "Don't worry, Boss Cat. I'll help you break through to the eighth tier. You have to become the pride of all cats." "Meow-haha! I'll get a big head, meow!" Listening to Boss Cat's laughter, Hyperion thought it probably hadn't yet grasped the true weight of destiny. Then again, wasn't she the same? Even though she knew staying with Lanqi meant straying further and further from her status as an ordinary human being, she had already resolved to accompany him to the end, whether the future brought peril or peace. In the early summer of mid-June, just past eight in the morning, a warm breeze swept across the academy's lawns. The two youths and the cat soon arrived at the very heart of Ikerite Academy— Even on an end-of-semester morning, layers of top-tier barrier spells continued to seal off the Rubik's cube-like deep-blue iron walls housing the Void Gate, projecting the solemn isolation of a heavily guarded stronghold. Members of the Royal Knights on duty remained on high alert, patrolling the perimeter. They reached the first security checkpoint at the building entrance, used their registered challenger licenses to pass through the only main gate, and then proceeded through one security checkpoint after another. "If what we enter shortly is a sixth-tier Shadow World, nothing will come of it. But if it really turns out to be seventh-tier, Dean Loren might face a whole new wave of scrutiny, to the point of completely overshadowing the rumors regarding Senior Asna," Lanqi said in a low voice along the corridor, accompanied by faint echoes in the vast hallway. "Still, this is also a strategy to divert attention. Those looking to impeach Loren won't be able to make an issue out of Senior Asna anymore. I believe Dean Loren would rather be tied to me than drag innocent Senior Asna into this mess. So let me lend Dean Loren and Senior Asna a helping hand." "..." Hyperion felt Dean Loren probably did not want that at all. A single Lanqi, once he turned his aggro-drawing magnetic pull to the max, would make every enemy lose their minds and attack him like madmen. And nowadays, Loren was occasionally forced to share in that magnetic pull at critical moments. The shadows of the two youths and one cat stretched across the quiet hallway until they finally stepped into the deepest recess of this facility leading to the Shadow World. Far away on the elevated plaza platform, the mirrored surface of the gate connecting to the Shadow World still shimmered with profound, deep-purple starlight. "Boss Cat, have you bound the team card for our Model of Civilization Team?" Lanqi asked Boss Cat, looking ahead at the final inspection gate and service counter, then glancing around the empty hall on this end-of-semester morning. They only needed to register their challenger licenses here, have the staff from the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association verify that their [Shadow World Recording Program] was properly equipped, and they could proceed to the Void Gate ahead for challenge matching. If they wished to use the [Shadow World Synergy Program] for a team challenge, it merely required one additional step of registering their team information. "Brought it, meow." Whenever Boss Cat recalled that their team was named "Model of Civilization Team," it was at a loss for words. Back during that Banquet of Sanctuary Villains or whatever, these guys went around harvesting the Blood Clan's organs at every turn—what kind of model was that supposed to be! Yet when it thought about how it was getting carried through such a miraculous, ultra-difficult, perilous realm like a Shadow World, Boss Cat felt an uncontrollable surge of excitement. Lanqi nodded. Thereafter, the two humans and the cat handed over their licenses and utility magic cards to the attendant at the checkpoint counter, quietly waiting for the staff member to complete their registration procedures. "Could you please..." The young female attendant looked curiously at the little black cat. At first, she had wanted to ask the challenger to dispel their polymorph magic and register for the challenge in their true form. Upon seeing Boss Cat's credentials clearly, she froze entirely. She hadn't expected that the cat was its true form, and that it was an astounding seventh-tier. In all her years working here, she had never seen a seventh-tier cat. "All set. When you come out, just let me read your [Shadow World Recording Program] once more, and you can retrieve your challenger licenses." Smiling, the attendant returned their utility magic cards to the two humans and the cat, and the turnstile before them swung open. Her gaze lingered on Boss Cat; she seemed to dearly want to pet a seventh-tier cat. However, Boss Cat could not be loaned out right now. The two and their cat thanked her, retrieved their utility magic cards, and strode straight toward the Void Gate. A distance of about a hundred paces passed quickly as they chatted along the way. The Void Gate still resembled a bottomless black hole. Merely standing not far from it, one could feel an invisible gravitational pull, as if any living being drawing near would be sucked into that endless, uncharted realm. "Hyperion, Boss Cat, time to start challenging the Shadow World," Lanqi said to Hyperion and Boss Cat with a smile. "Ready," Hyperion nodded. By now, she was an experienced veteran at this. "Meow-meow, no problem!" Though Boss Cat had visibly grown tense, it swallowed hard and bravely stood tall. With those words, Lanqi stepped into the Void Gate as if passing through the surface of water. What followed was a sensory-depriving total darkness where nothing could be seen and not even the sound of a heartbeat could be heard. Countless gears began to spin and mesh, the rumbling they produced echoing throughout the pitch-black space. [Blood Moon Ruined World, novel node "Glimmer of Fireflies," historical projection unraveled.]