"Big Bear, let me tell you, Cipher is super strong! That mercenary couldn't land a single hit on her no matter how he attacked. And she only needed one strike to send him flying!"
On the way back, Luo Lin excitedly recounted what she had just witnessed to Xiong Lei, waving her hands around and occasionally mimicking Cipher's lines to make the story more vivid.
Xiong Lei listened attentively beside her, nodding and chiming in now and then.
Cipher, walking behind them, could only sigh and cover her face with her hands.
Anyone would feel awkward watching someone dramatically reenact their own actions right in front of them. At least, she certainly did.
Just as Luo Lin was wrapping up her story, she suddenly slapped her forehead. "Ah! I forgot Xiao Wei recorded the whole thing. I could've just shown you the footage, Big Bear."
With that, she turned to Cipher with hopeful eyes.
"Go ahead and watch it. You've basically described everything already anyway," Cipher said with a helpless wave of her hand.
"Wow! Sister Cipher, you're the best!" Luo Lin cheered and immediately hugged Cipher tightly.
Caught off guard again, Cipher's face flushed slightly before she quickly pushed the girl away. "Let go! You can watch it, just don't get handsy!"
"We're both girls. What's wrong with a hug?" Luo Lin asked, puzzled, but released her anyway and turned to Lin Wei. "Xiao Wei, lend me your recorder."
Lin Wei obediently handed over the camera-like recorder.
After taking it, Luo Lin eagerly ran to Xiong Lei's side and started playing the video.
After walking for about ten minutes behind Luo Lin, they stopped at a relatively wide entrance.
Luo Lin turned around and introduced proudly, "This is our current base."
"This place... is an underground parking lot?" Cipher tilted her head, looking at the space that strongly resembled underground parking lots from her previous life.
"Eh? Cipher, you actually knew?" Luo Lin was surprised. After all, there was no signboard indicating this was a parking lot.
"Mm." Cipher nodded. "I recognize this type of building. I seemed to see them quite often, so the word just came to mind."
"Huh, looks like Cipher isn't completely amnesiac! If you see enough familiar things, will your memories gradually come back?" Luo Lin spoke cheerfully, happy for Cipher's progress without a hint of doubt.
Looking at the innocent Luo Lin before her, Cipher suddenly felt a twinge of guilt. Should she really be lying to her?
But she quickly suppressed that thought, telling herself it was better to wait until their relationship has improved. By then, they probably wouldn't care about the matter.
Putting that thought aside, Cipher focused on Luo Lin's way of addressing her just now.
"Cipher?"
She tilted her head, not understanding why Luo Lin would call her that.
"What's wrong? Don't you like being called Cipher?"
"It's not that I dislike it. It's just, judging by age, I should be older than you. Hearing you call me Cipher feels a bit strange," Cipher explained after thinking it over.
After all, in her previous life she had been in her twenties already, while Luo Lin in front of her looked only about fifteen or sixteen.
Being called by her first name by a girl who looked much younger than her gave Cipher an odd feeling.
"That's true. Then I'll call you Sister Cipher since you're older than me," Luo Lin said.
"Sister..."
Cipher was momentarily speechless. She couldn't very well say she had been male in her previous life, even though this body was undeniably female. Could she?
"You don't want me to call you sister either?" Sensing Cipher's hesitation, Luo Lin lowered her head dejectedly, her voice turning sad.
"It's fine! Just call me Sister Cipher from now on. I don't mind!" Cipher quickly responded to comfort her.
"Yay! I knew Sister Cipher is the best!" Luo Lin cheered and suddenly leapt to hug her again.
But this time, Cipher was prepared.
She sidestepped smoothly, letting Luo Lin lunge past her, then reached out and accurately grabbed the back of Luo Lin's collar, lifting her up effortlessly.
"Just talk normally. Don't keep hugging me out of nowhere."
"Okay..." Luo Lin replied reluctantly.
Entering the underground parking lot, Cipher discovered that what should have been a spacious area was now piled high with construction debris, completely blocking the opening below.
Before she could ask, she saw Xiong Lei walk to a corner near the opening, grab a large steel plate, and heave it upward.
Behind the plate was an opening barely over a meter tall.
Looking at the narrow passage, Cipher was dumbfounded. It reminded her of a doghole, though it was much bigger.
"Sister Cipher, let's go. Big Bear will be last to enter and put the steel plate back," Luo Lin said, then immediately crawled into the opening. Lin Wei followed right after.
Seeing both of them disappear inside, Cipher had no choice but to crawl in after them.
The passage was narrow at first, barely wide enough for a person. After crawling forward several dozen steps, the space suddenly opened up.
After crawling about ten meters behind Luo Lin and the others, Cipher finally saw a glimmer of light shining from the end of the passage.
Standing up, she realized that amidst all the construction debris, there was actually a hidden space.
Right in front of her stood a red brick wall with a door, so much so that she almost thought she had crawled all the way outside.
Why would she see a house inside a buried underground parking lot?
"Sister Cipher! Over here, this is our secret base!" As soon as she crawled out, Luo Lin grabbed Cipher's hand and pulled her toward the house's entrance.
The door didn't require a key. Luo Lin simply pushed it open.
Entering the room, Cipher curiously looked around.
It wasn't that she had never seen the decorations and furniture inside. It was just astonishing that this house could remain so well-preserved beneath a pile of rubble.
The furniture was simple but complete: beds, chairs, tables, chests, cabinets, all present. The cabinets even contained blankets and quilts.
Cipher felt slightly disoriented. If she hadn't personally crawled in through a pile of rubble, she would never have believed she was actually inside a ruin!
★ ★ ★
T/N: Apologies if I nope'd out of nowhere. I got caught up with school work last year.