Regarding the matter of awakening lightning abilities after transformation

The giant serpent that Gu Cheng saw in the ruins of Beidu was just the tip of the iceberg. Jormungandr's true body lies dormant beneath the Mariana Trench, and its head and tail together can traverse the entire Eurasian continent.

Su Wanxi knew that Ying Qiuhuai's words were true. She tilted her head to look at Gu Cheng, who bit her lip and her long eyelashes trembled slightly.

Outside the tent, the wind howled incessantly, and the flickering campfire cast a reddish glow on the background. Ying Qiuhuai was very close to the tent, and her fair skin seemed to be enveloped by the sunset, with a flawless light tinged around her edges.

After a long silence, Gu Chengfen parted her lips slightly and whispered, "...Thank you, I understand."

A healthy body, strong recovery ability, and the most lacking yet most important intelligence—the gifts the other party has given her are already more than enough.

Ying Qiuhuai exhaled softly, and a thin white mist rose and swirled around before disappearing completely.

"You can ask any questions you have now."

After a moment of silence, Su Wanxi lowered her eyes and asked in a gentle voice, "Miss Ying, I am very curious about the formation principle of this area."

"...In its prime, Nidhogg used its claws to cut through the earth, tearing apart and gnawing at the continental plates, forming the broken islands you see today."

Ying Qiuhuai's explanation confirmed Gu Cheng's earlier judgment: the Destruction Dragon does indeed have the ability to affect the landscape.

"The rift space you are in contact with is actually a projection of another world; its existence is solely for connecting to reality."

“It’s a bridge,” Su Wanxi said.

Ying Qiuhuai nodded upon hearing this, her tone as calm as ever: "Miss Su is right."

"As early as the mid-20th century, researchers studying cracks made a surprising discovery: they noticed that the environment of cracks changes over time."

"Several teams of processors, with government support, entered the rift and placed signal markers in specific areas, intending to retrieve them when the next mission began. However, no matter how many times they tried, they were unable to retrieve the markers."

Gu Cheng had heard An Zhishui mention this experiment before. The latter believed that such phenomena could prove to some extent that each time an awakened person enters a rift, it is an independent space.

Su Wanxi frowned slightly, her tone a little low: "Miss Ying means that in another world that we have never been in contact with, Nidhogg has destroyed the entire Beidu urban cluster and burned the existing order to the ground."

Ying Qiuhuai squinted and did not rush to deny it. She leaned her arm to the side, and her smooth, silky long hair fell from her shoulder, outlining her beautiful collarbone.

“Miss Su is very smart, but there’s one thing you’re wrong about.”

"...Manipulating gravity and controlling lightning, you are in contact with it every time you use your abilities."

As soon as the woman's voice fell, Gu Cheng suddenly felt her fingers tremble slightly. She then realized that Gu Chengyan was controlling her body, so she asked her softly, "What's wrong?"

Ms. Gu paused for a few seconds, her tone gradually becoming complicated: "Do you remember the first time we participated in crack repair?"

In the abandoned real estate agency building, Gu Cheng faced a giant spider that seemed unsolvable to her.

"Afterwards, you took Su Wanxi's advice and rented a place in the city center. The furnishings of the real estate agency were almost identical to the cracks."

"Later, the agency moved, and the billboard inside the crack changed from Youjia Real Estate Agency to a broken DEYO sign."

In other words, changes in the real world indirectly affect the world Nidhogg inhabits, and there is some kind of invisible and intangible connection between the two.

“It is a reflection of the real world... and also, my hometown…” Ying Qiuhuai stood up, her slender feet stepping on the smooth tent floor.

She walked to the tent flap, turned her head to look at Gu Cheng, and the light in her eyes was mottled and hard to discern.

"It's getting late, I should go..."

Gu Cheng sensed a hint of sorrow emanating from Ying Qiuhuai, a loneliness that seemed to emanate from the depths of his heart and was genuinely transmitted to her through their bloodline.

A part of her body also originated from that land that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

"There's something I forgot to tell you... When I came here, I saw a camp to the northeast with the aura of S-class Awakened individuals inside. They should be volunteers like you."

After saying this, Ying Qiuhuai pushed open the tent flap, and Gu Cheng subconsciously stood up, put on her military boots, and hurriedly chased after him.

Seeing this, Su Wanxi immediately picked up her coat and draped it over Gu Cheng, then strode behind her.

Under the deep night sky, the slender and beautiful woman walked past the campfire and headed towards the coastline, her figure desolate and lonely.

Gu Cheng stared at Ying Qiuhuai for a long time until the other's figure disappeared into the thick fog before slowly coming back to her senses.

Su Wanxi hugged her from behind, her warm breath hitting her neck and slightly easing the girl's heart pounding with grief.

"That strange feeling again," Gu Cheng murmured.

Just like that time in the hospital, an indescribable sadness suddenly filled my chest.

"It's okay, Wanwan, I'll be fine after a while."

Upon hearing this, Su Wanxi tightened her grip on Gu Cheng, holding her even closer.

Back in the tent, Gu Cheng was only wearing a single layer of clothing because she was resting. Even with a coat on, she was still a bit cold. Her pretty face was red from the wind after going out. Su Wanxi felt sorry for her and warmed her face with her hands, and then took the initiative to twist the blanket.

Finally, he lowered his head and gently kissed the girl's lips.

After the kiss, Gu Cheng smiled at her, and the knot in his heart seemed to have been mostly untied.

"My Wanwan is so good at taking care of people~"

Su Wanxi blinked and said softly, "I don't know how to take care of people."

Everything I do for you is just following my instincts.

Without any supernatural abilities, Su Wanxi could clearly sense Gu Cheng's emotional fluctuations and the intense sadness that permeated the surroundings with just the slightest movement of her fingers.

“I didn’t cry the second time,” Gu Cheng muttered to himself, his head resting on his fiancée’s lap.

Su Wanxi sniffed lightly, her jade-like fingers tracing across Gu Cheng's eyelids.

"Ok, I know."

This time, she was not late either.

Chapter 418, Section 426: Old Friends

The next morning, after receiving the assembly order, Qin Kexin hurriedly climbed out of her sleeping bag, dressed and washed up, and ran all the way to the center of the camp.

Quite a few people had already gotten up around six or seven o'clock and were sitting in twos and threes outside the tents eating breakfast. Qin Kexin greeted them briefly, chewing on a compressed biscuit while smoothing her hair and using mental communication to contact Gu Cheng.

"Orange, has the operation begun?"

Gu Cheng replied immediately, asking her to turn on the public channel right away.

Their plan today is to venture deep into the scorched earth, find the dragon's lair most likely to hatch Nidhogg, and plant explosives nearby.

After Qin Kexin confirmed that everyone had connected to the communication, Gu Cheng spoke slowly.

"Last night, all of Miss Zhao's paper angel figures ascended into the air. Based on the intelligence gathered at the scene, it can be roughly deduced that the target of this mission is in the center of the island..."

As soon as he finished speaking, all the awakened beings present were connected by a shared vision, and vast stretches of scorched earth instantly came into view.

"In addition, we also discovered a medium-sized survivor squad in the northeast of the camp, whose commander has been identified as an S-rank Awakened according to the data."

Before entering the rift, the military released a list of personnel, including two S-class Awakened: Wu Shaoqiu was dead, and the other was Mr. Liu, whose only name was known.

As the paper figure's perspective shifted, a makeshift camp appeared in everyone's minds.

Just as Su Wanxi had predicted last night, Gu Cheng didn't hear any cheers coming from the communication channel. Rather than excitement, people seemed to feel more doubt and unease.

Gu Cheng paused, her voice low: "No matter what, we must try to make contact with them."

An hour later, the two teams successfully met up. Gu Cheng immediately spotted the distinguished middle-aged man in the center of the crowd.

He was wearing a black combat uniform. He was very thin, with arms about the same thickness as a girl's, and almost no muscle definition. His cheeks were pale and wrinkled, but his eyes were bright and piercing.

From Gu Cheng's perspective, this was the first time she had met Mr. Liu, but the latter was deeply impressed by her.

During that powerful rift involving Surtur, he froze time, but Gu Cheng, as if nothing had happened, propped herself up and slowly rested her head on Su Wanxi's shoulder.

She broke through the static force field without even trying to resist.

After a moment, the man shifted his gaze to Su Wanxi standing to the side, his brows furrowing slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He sensed an aura emanating from the other person, who was also a high-level awakened being. Although currently weak, he believed that given time, the other person might not be inferior to him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. May I ask if you are Mr. Liu?" Gu Cheng stepped forward and extended her delicate hand, her five jade-like fingers slender and graceful.

The man nodded and shook her hand, his hoarse voice like that of an antique record player that had been sitting idle for more than half a century and could not be repaired.

"...Nice to meet you."

Concise and concise.

Feeling the rough texture in her palm, Gu Cheng glanced at the man's wrist without making a sound. The skin there was dry and withered, like tree bark lacking water and sunlight, so hard it was almost painful.

The next second, the two let go of each other's hands, and Gu Cheng smiled as she recounted her experiences along the way, while keeping a close eye on the man's every move.

Mr. Liu listened silently, his face expressionless, until Gu Cheng mentioned Wu Shaoqiu's death, at which point his usually calm eyes showed a slight tremor.

“It was him…” Mr. Liu’s lips moved slightly, his tone complex, neither angry nor regretful.

Su Wanxi also stared at the man, her dark eyes narrowing slightly. She remembered that in order to mitigate the rejection effect, the latter had stayed in the life support pod for many years until the strong rift appeared and he was awakened.

Logically speaking, he should not have had any opportunity to come into contact with the crow.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries and confirming that Mr. Liu had not shown any malice, Su Wanxi's brows gradually relaxed, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Half an hour later, the team expanded again. Gu Cheng asked Qin Kexin to set up a communication channel for only three people to discuss the marching plan with Mr. Liu.

The three met... Su Wanxi's ability to defeat Wu Shaoqiu head-on must involve S-level abilities, and Miss Gu, who controls lightning, must also be hiding something, otherwise she couldn't have broken through the time field...

Mr. Liu had a general idea of ​​what was going on and understood the underlying meaning of this conversation, so he got straight to the point: "Both of you are S-rank Awakened..."

The male voice simulated through mental manipulation was gentler than the previous roar. Gu Cheng nodded and smiled.

"Mr. Liu's speculation is correct."

There's no need to hide something that can't be hidden. The girl used some cunning, admitting that she was an S-class, but not specifically limiting her abilities to lightning manipulation.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Liu lowered his guard slightly and habitually glanced at his watch.

7:34.

......

Unlike the tentative conversations within the channel, Qin Kexin received an unexpected surprise.

"Little Lin, how did you get in here too?"

Hearing the familiar voice in his mind, Lin Li reacted for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Holy crap, it's Aunt Qin!"

Zhou Li died in the line of duty, Gu Cheng retired due to injury, and Captain Su disappeared. The original case handler team was reduced to only three people: Qin Kexin, Qi Bei, and Lin Li. Later, Qin Kexin was transferred to Beidu, Lin Li went to the logistics department, leaving only Qi Bei, the case handler, to continue working.

So, it's been almost half a year.