About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

"Ugh...!"

A source stone spell passed through between Orson and Xingxiong, and scarlet blood instantly radiated outward from Orson's palm.

"Orson!!"

"I'm fine—there's an enemy at the door!"

Orson covered his hands and shouted, and Xingxiong immediately looked towards the entrance.

In the originally empty corridor, two people wearing black raincoats appeared at some point, their faces and bodies unclear.

"Officer Xingxiong, you've done a lot for Longmen. Hand over that man, and we'll forgive you."

One of the black robes spoke slowly. Its voice could not tell the gender or age, but only sent a chill that made the hairs on the neck stand on end.

“…I’m sorry.”

After a brief silence, Xingxiong pushed the suspect aside and stood in front of Orson.

"As a big sister, I can't just throw the justice of the Imperial Guard aside in front of my 'little brother' who trusts me so much. You just wanted to kill this man, right? Then let me solemnly refuse."

"Negotiations broke down? Longmen thanks you for your efforts, Officer Xingxiong."

There was still no fluctuation in the man in the black straw raincoat's voice, but the two men simultaneously raised their palms and pointed them at Xingxiong.

——Well, if I hold on, it probably won’t affect the rest of the battle... huh?

When Xingxiong was thinking about how to fight, she suddenly noticed that Orson was pulling her clothes from behind.

"Don't worry, Orson, leave this to me."

Xingxiong thought that Orson was a little scared, so he gave him a thumbs up.

"That's not what I meant, Ghost Sister! Hold on to that guy and follow me!"

"With you..."

boom! !

Two Originium spells bombarded the room directly. Black Pause looked forward and transformed his eyes into a shield to withstand the attack.

"Anyway, follow me, Ghost Sister!"

After blocking the first attack, the pause regrouped in Orson's arms. The strengthened body forcibly pulled Xingxiong and the unlucky guy and jumped directly from the window of the 11th floor.

"Orson, what the hell...Hold me tight!"

Xingxiong didn't have time to think about why Orson suddenly had the strength to grab her. She instinctively wanted this seemingly "weak" boy to hug her tightly, so that she could at least use her body to relieve some of the impact of falling.

"So...I can fight too!"

Orson complained loudly, while gathering the rest notes under his body to form a fluid-like state.

Poof!

The semi-fluid rest formed a huge buffer zone when it touched the ground, and everyone landed safely.

"Catch it, they're chasing us!"

Not long after landing, Orson immediately controlled Pause to take off the triangular shield "Prajna" next to the heavy motorcycle and threw it to Xingxiong.

"Thanks, Orson, very cool Originium skills. As for you - find a place to hide first."

Xingxiong took the shield and ordered the middle-aged man to hide quickly.

"On your right!"

"Uh-ha!"

Keng! !

The harsh sound of metal clashing and sparks burst out from the surface of Prajna. The two men in black straw raincoats who were clearly on the top floor a moment ago had come to their side without them knowing when.

Xingxiong swung his shield to push one of the black straw raincoats away, while Orson used the rest to entangle the long sword of another black straw raincoat who tried to attack Xingxiong from behind, and at the same time twisted the rest to force the long sword to the ground.

"The area around here is empty—ha, you're well prepared."

Xingxiong wiped the blood from the wound on his cheek in the recent confrontation with his black hand, his eyes fixed on the two unidentified uninvited guests in the distance.

"Powerful mid-range and long-range Originium skills and spells, strange attack patterns and speed... these are the types I'm least good at dealing with."

Orson temporarily burned the wound on his palm to stop the bleeding while observing the enemy in front of him.

These mysterious men are somewhat similar to the 'Assassins of the Helmetless Alliance', but the only problem is that this time they have entered combat mode.

Orson never thought of himself as a particularly powerful guy. Rather, among Draco, Princess Frost, Wendigo, and other ghost things, he was the weakest one.

But it is precisely because of this kind of self that I can defeat those strong ones.

"Sister Ghost, if you believe me... then do your best to withstand their attacks, and leave the rest to me."

Orson looked at Xingxiong, and the latter nodded without any hesitation.

"give it to me."

Xingxiong raised the Prajna statue and threw it with all his strength to the two men in black straw raincoats, and then rushed up immediately.

While Xingxiong was fighting with the man in black - or rather, he was unilaterally involved in defending against the other's attack, Orson was concentrating on watching everything in front of him. Not only was he watching the fighting posture of the reassuring "big sister" with long dark green hair, but he was also watching every movement and every breath of the two men in black straw raincoats.

About 40 seconds later.

--Oops

The moment Xingxiong raised Prajna to block the attack from the man in black straw raincoat in front of her, she noticed a second mysterious man appeared behind her, with the Originium skill that could shatter walls ready to be used in his hands.

The unique flash of Originium skills has gathered in the palm of the black straw raincoat, and then the next second - Xingxiong himself was entangled by a black twisted object that extended over and was quickly pulled away.

"Are you okay, Ghost Sister? My arm..."

Orson summoned Pause to pull back the Star Bear who was attacked from both sides. Although he took the opportunity to pose as a princess, the height of the prince and the "princess" were not well matched, so Orson had to put the Star Bear back on the ground after a few seconds.

"...If you feel heavy, it must be the weight of Prajna."

Hoshiguma said softly, looking away slightly.

"I don't have that idea... Compared to that, victory or defeat depends solely on the next move. Ghost Sister, I've analyzed their action patterns."

Orson complained with a wry smile, then his eyes became serious again.

"Just to be on the safe side... Sister Ghost, your body, uh, should be like this normally, right?"

"Are you sure you want to flirt with a guy like me at a time like this, Orson?"

"So it's not flirting!"

"Oh, I was just kidding."

Xingxiong rubbed his hair, and it seemed that he was not very suitable for joking.

"...Anyway, throw away Prajna. When I give the signal, Ghost Sister, don't think about anything else. Just attack the person you can see with all your strength - trust me."

Orson's tone was so firm that Xingxiong was stunned for a moment.

"receive."

Xingxiong threw aside the shield carrying his family, clenched his fists and looked quietly at the black straw coat in the distance who was ready for the next attack.

"Shhh!!"

The two men in black straw raincoats disappeared from his sight in an instant. What he should do next is to raise Prajna to judge the opponent's attack method and angle.

But Xingxiong did not move. She still stood there, waiting for the order from the young man behind her.

The afterimage of the black raincoat could only stay in the field of vision for a moment, and Xingxiong couldn't even accurately capture the other party's movement trajectory.

Finally, a man in a black straw raincoat appeared in front of her left and thrust his sword at an angle that she could not dodge at all.

"Right now—[Curtain Call]"

The young man's voice was heard, and these words were like the words of God. The black raincoat, which was originally moving at an incomprehensible speed, suddenly slowed down and paused for a moment.

Without thinking, Xingxiong changed her angle of movement, clenched her right fist, and gathered strength behind her. Then, she leaned forward and swung her fist forward.

"Boom!!!!"

A dull thud came from the right fist, and the black straw raincoat was blown away like a baseball, even crashing down the wall of a small garage in the distance before it barely stopped.

"...!"

The other black robe also put away his staff and rushed directly to the other person who was knocked away to check the situation.

"That was just...Okay, that's all for today."

The man in black straw raincoat's tone finally revealed surprise, and without any hesitation, he took the other man in black straw raincoat who seemed to be unconscious and disappeared.

"... Phew, luckily these guys' mobility relies on Originium techniques, otherwise it would be really difficult to deal with them."

After confirming that the enemy had left, Orson breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off his face.

“Speaking of which, who are those people… Ugh!?”

Orson was halfway through his words when Xingxiong picked him up again. Xingxiong ignored Orson's resistance and carried him to a bench and put him down.

"Hand out."

"Uh?"

"Let me check your injuries."

Xingxiong gestured to Orson to stretch out his injured palm.

"The wound isn't a big deal, Ghost Sister. Compared to that, shouldn't we—"

"Wait a minute, Orson."

Xingxiong walked over to the motorcycle and took out a bottle of water of life and a bottle of mineral water from the trunk. She bit open the bottle caps with her teeth and poured the two bottles of clear liquid on Orson's wound.

"Don't move...Okay."

After disinfection, Xingxiong untied the shoulder strap on his arm and wrapped it around Orson's arm to complete the bandage.

"You didn't have to block that attack for me, Orson. I'd be fine even if I took one."

"Being alright and not taking any action are two different things, Ghost Sister. This is an action I took on my own accord. You don't need to worry or blame yourself."

Orson flexed his hands and said to Xingxiong with a smile.

"...Ha, you're right. To have a 'little brother' like you is truly a blessing I don't know what kind of karma I've earned."

"Uh wow wow..."

Xingxiong also smiled, then stood up and rubbed Orson's head hard.

"So, you unlucky fellow over there, are you still thinking of escaping?"

"Well!?"

Xingxiong looked at the middle-aged man who was trying to escape not far away, and caught him back in a few steps.

"Sister Ghost, who exactly is this person..."

"It's the patrol officer in the area of the previous apartment."

"Patrolman...?"

"Ah, patrolman. With the current surveillance system of the Guards, if you want to conceal the darkness outside the city center, you only need to bribe an ordinary patrolman and you can rest assured. Do you understand what I mean now? This city does have some darkness, and this darkness cannot be eliminated by just approaching the Guards."

This overly "realistic" answer surprised Orson a little, but he quickly adjusted his mentality.

"...Even so, I still don't think the so-called [necessary evil] must exist. We can make this city a better place, and let the infected live in the same city with everyone else. Uh-huh... Stop rubbing it, Ghost Sister, you won't grow taller!"

"Hahaha, anyway, thank you again today, Orson. I'll buy you a drink later."

"I can't drink..."

"Well, haha, that's not going to be easy. I guess I'll have to owe you this favor first."

Xingxiong showed a hearty smile and looked at the boy in front of him. Although he was thin and always had to be carried by him to run, he would stand up to protect him at the critical moment.

Prajna is responsible for protecting Xingxiong, and Xingxiong is responsible for protecting everyone - this has almost become an unspoken view among everyone in the Guard Bureau.

However, today, just now, Xingxiong threw Prajna aside and still received protection that was completely different from Prajna, but also gave him peace of mind.

What a wonderful boy.

Xingxiong rubbed Orson's dog head again, then looked at the direction where Black Straw Coat had left.