Shu stood in the conference room for just a moment longer. By the time he walked out, Kiana and the others were already out of sight.
A flicker of panic went through him, but he quickly located everyone and let out a small sigh of relief.
Kiana was running, with Mei chasing after her. The others were heading back to their rooms.
Cocolia followed behind Shu, and the rest of her people trailed after them.
Shu glanced back, his expression not looking great.
"Are they coming with us?"
Cocolia chuckled. "Of course. The place we're going holds their most valuable assets. Or are you worried about them too?"
Shu was silent for a moment. "Unless it's absolutely necessary, it's better if they don't come along."
Cocolia paused, staring at Shu for a long time, her brow furrowed in thought.
"You all stay here. Wait for Shu to assess the situation before you head back," Cocolia said, waving a hand at the people behind her. They exchanged glances before nodding at Cocolia.
"Then we'll wait here for your return."
Shu nodded. Cocolia fished out a car key and dangled it in front of him.
"How about it? Want to drive?"
Shu glanced at the expensive-looking car key and shook his head. "I don't have a driver's license."
The rest of Cocolia's sentence died in her throat. She looked at Shu with surprise, then suddenly remembered the Fire Moth's profile on him.
[Lived deep within the Fire Moth's base since childhood, dedicating everything to his own growth.]
The implication was obvious: Shu might have some gaps in his common knowledge. So, not having a driver's license... wasn't entirely incomprehensible, was it?
"Alright then, I'll drive." Cocolia tossed the key, pressed a button aimed at a nearby garage, and with two beeps, the roller door slowly opened to reveal a gleaming red, two-seater luxury convertible.
Shu: "..."
"You seem surprised?" Cocolia laughed.
"I thought you'd drive a camouflage armored car," Shu answered honestly.
Cocolia paused mid-motion as she opened the car door. She squinted at Shu but said nothing.
Half a minute later, the sports car was roaring across the bridge at full speed. The fierce wind whipped Cocolia's mane of curly blonde hair into a frenzy. She turned her head and noticed that Shu's hair, despite being longer than hers, was as steady as a sculpture.
The wind parted around Shu. He felt a growing irritation in his heart; the look Kiana had given him back in the conference room kept replaying in his mind.
It was the look of someone who clearly knew something but was holding back, unable or unwilling to say it.
That look made him uneasy.
"Hmph..." Letting out a long breath, Shu closed his eyes. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, but he quickly pushed it aside, his mind turning to the matter of the Herrscher.
Meanwhile, Cocolia drove in silence, the wind unable to disturb her thoughts.
Only she knew how much sincerity her words in the conference room had truly held. It was a situation that could have been resolved through rational negotiation, yet her own emotions had led to this outcome.
Her wrist still throbbed faintly. Shu truly hadn't held back. But considering his real power, it was more like he had struck her just hard enough to teach her a painful lesson.
She knew Kiana's mother—a woman who had saved her life on the battlefield. Mei's father had also been a past collaborator. In fact, she knew everyone present.
But those two were not her children. Offering them such counsel was the most she could do. But Bronya...
Cocolia's grip on the steering wheel tightened. The image of Bronya, covered in blood, dragging Seele and standing at the orphanage gate, flashed before her eyes again and again.
She had already nearly lost them once due to her own mistakes. This time, she absolutely would not...
About half an hour later, the car left the bridge and, after passing through a small urban area, stopped in front of a Western European-style villa.
Two brawny Western European men with bulging muscles stood guard at the gate. They wore simple tactical ammo rigs over their chests and carried long guns with a black finish.
The moment the car approached, the two men, who had been bantering, instantly displayed their professionalism.
One guard pressed himself against the wall, ready to take cover at a moment's notice. The other drew a handgun better suited for close combat, racked the slide, and stepped forward, placing a hand on the car door.
"Ms. Cocolia, this is..." The guard clearly recognized her, but seeing her driving and Shu sitting beside her, he was unsure of Shu's identity.
After all, the person inside this room was someone they couldn't afford to be careless about. Chatting on duty was a habit, but they took their other responsibilities very seriously.
Cocolia took off her sunglasses and produced an ID card. "This is Shu of the Fire Moth. When it comes to dealing with Herrschers, he's a lot more professional than we are."
The guard's eyes widened, his gaze instantly locking onto Shu.
After looking him over twice, the guard turned and waved to the bearded man by the wall. "Hey! Mark! You'll never guess who Ms. Cocolia brought!"
The bearded man put away his gun and stomped over, grumbling, "Harun, you think I'm some kind of celebrity chaser? If it's one of those pretty boys, I'll spike your dinner and then f--k your a--!"
The glasses faithfully translated the sentence for Shu. His eyebrow twitched, and his hand subconsciously went to his stomach.
It was soft. He couldn't feel any abs.
And in his current state...
Damn it, he can't be talking about me, can he?
As he got closer, the bearded man's small eyes went wide. Shu looked up at the guard, who stood nearly two meters tall and was built like a tank, and felt a strange pressure.
"It's Mr. Shu !!" To everyone's surprise, the burly, bearded man let out a rather high-pitched shriek, a complete contrast to his gruff tone from moments before.
Before Shu could say anything, the man pushed the first guard aside and grabbed Shu's hand.
The rough, large hand made Shu's body tremble slightly.
"Mr. Shu!!" he blurted out in heavily accented Mandarin, though that was all he could manage. "I am your ultimate fan! No one knows you better than me!"