"A new task?"

Zhang Tianmiu glanced at his deputy and replied deliberately,

"Just five hours ago, Charter City was attacked by an unknown force. We lost three squads there and still haven't been able to contact them. Headquarters wants us to go there immediately to assess the casualties and losses—"

...

In the old district of Elpaxin, the Crown Inn, a place with considerable history, had stood there even before the old district was known as such, and decades had passed since—during which the ownership of the inn changed hands several times, continuing to this day.

On the third floor of the inn, within a street-facing room, the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive. At this moment, it was the beginning of the evening, and the room was also brilliantly lit—the Light Crystals on the lampstands emitted a warm glow, casting light through the lampshades onto various large and small blueprints piled atop a red pine low table nearby.

Two camel-hair sofas sat side by side, with Luo Yu and Parker each occupying one end.

The Papalarians curiously flipped back and forth through the assortment of large and small peculiar patterns and symbols on the blueprints, "Is this a heat conduit? Is this a Balance? Is this a compensator? Ha, I recognize this one, it's a Magic Power storage Crystal Array!" Not far from the noisy Papalarians, the Lion Man, Reed, leaned against the wall, contentedly puffing on his pipe with his claws.

He squinted his eyes at Parker, who had not even finished half of them, when the Elf Girl swiftly extended her hand to snatch the blueprints from his hands, glared at him, and then righted the blueprints to take a closer look before raising her head again.

Her emerald eyes stared at the not-too-distant Fang Hong.

Fang Hong scratched his head awkwardly—

As for Sister Hilveld and Xiesta, the maid and servant duo sat very quietly by his side, one seated, one standing.

Atira was about to speak when an exaggerated complaint came from outside the door: "It infuriates me! He actually said there wasn't a single room specifically for a cat. Did you see that, Gita? He must think the two of us are crazy."

With such words, the French girl stormed through the door, fuming. Following her was a short, slender girl like a sheet of paper, Gita, who held several large books in her hands, almost covering half of her body.

Fang Hong was startled and quickly went over to take the books from Gita's hands. The young girl blushed, panting as she thanked him.

Only then did he notice Tianlan's puffed up, seemingly aggrieved face, full of indignation. He couldn't help but wonder curiously, "What's the matter, Tianlan, Gita?"

"What's the matter? It infuriates me, Brother Ade," Tianlan responded indignantly, "Do you remember Mr. Hudi and his cat, the one called Miss Spoon? He asked us to visit him once we arrived in Elpaxin. This afternoon, Gita and I went to that inn, but that annoying innkeeper adamantly told me that he would never rent a room in his inn to a cat—unless he were mad. I think he is indeed mad! How could renting an inn room to a respected Miss Cat be wrong? It infuriates me!"

Fang Hong always felt her focus seemed a bit off: "Could you have gone to the wrong place?"

"How could that be, even if I were mistaken, Gita couldn't possibly be wrong," Tianlan turned back, "Right, Gita?"

Gita nodded, her face red.

That was rather strange. Fang Hong thought Hudi wouldn't lie about such a trivial matter to them, as there was no benefit in it. In fact, even if there wasn't a cat named Miss Spoon staying in the inn, so what?

There was absolutely no need for that—

It was at this moment that Tianlan noticed the peculiar atmosphere in the inn room. She stopped and curiously looked at the others, her gaze sweeping over the stacks of blueprints and parchment scrolls on the table, eventually settling on Sister Hilveld and her maid.

"Sister Hilveld, what brings you here?" she paused slightly, then looked around at the others, "What's happening?"

...

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