Ten days later, late March in the Protos Empire.

Snowflakes fell, and the vast snowfield stretched to the horizon, merging with the gray and white sky. The original outlines of everything on the snow were covered by thick drifts.

Hundreds of kilometers outside the city of Bandera, a stronghold near the northern border province, remained desolate and uninhabited, only barren snowfields.

The further north one went, the more frequent the unusually harsh climate became. It was common for travel to be impossible for two or three days due to the weather, and the scattered snowfield city-states and villages became increasingly scarce.

Beneath this vast expanse of white snow, a sled suddenly appeared on a hillside, slicing through the frost and snow on the ground, stirring up a white storm.

"Woo-hoo, liftoff!"

"Faster, faster!"

"Meow, meow, meow! You two slow down, don't fall off the cliff!"

The abrupt laughter and childish cries were particularly clear in the wind and snow.

Two figures sat on the sled, and even though the air was filled with a cold, pungent, frosty scent, it couldn't hide the excitement on their faces.

Lan Qi and Xi De were sitting on the sled, pulled by a large black fox. The tips of its ears blazed with golden flames, and its powerful footprints kicked up snow, each step deeply imprinted in the snow, leaving behind golden shadows of varying depths.

Cat Boss clung tightly to Lan Qi's clothes.

It could tell that Lan Qi and Xi De were really having fun!

If Tata were by Lan Qi's side at this moment, she would definitely tell Lan Qi to slow down with a stern face, and if it were Xiu Bao, she would probably gently remind Lan Qi to be careful on the snowfield. Only Xi De would tell Lan Qi to go faster.

"Meow, meow! Don't go so fast!"

Cat Boss knew that it had completely lost control of Lan Qi, but it still screamed desperately.

"What? Not fast enough?"

Lan Qi lowered his head in the howling wind and snow and asked the Cat Boss in his arms.

Immediately, he lowered his body, flicked the reins of the sled, and signaled the big fox to run faster.

"Meow-ah!"

Cat Boss swallowed a mouthful of snow as it opened its mouth again.

The sled sped down the hillside and gradually leveled out on the snowfield. The sled, painted with deep red paint, was still particularly conspicuous in the snow, but began to slow down.

"Haha, even if I fall, I won't get hurt anyway. As for him… doesn't he have a wind-attribute wheelchair?"

Xi De laughed so hard that she bent over, turning her head to look at the little black cat on Lan Qi's lap.

She knew that Lan Qi had many strange equipment magic cards.

Considering the secrecy of the investigation's ultimate destination, the two once again changed their identities and appearances after leaving Snowfield Province.

They no longer used the identities of Rocky and Xi De from the Protos Royal Magic Academy, but changed to magic craftsmen and merchants from Snowfield Province, wanting to do business in Northern Border Province.

This would prevent them from being tracked on the way back if they discovered anything during their investigation.

However, Lan Qi did have an excessive number of high-level purple magic cards in a sealed, unused state, making him look more like a magic card merchant than an actual magic card merchant. The benefit of being sealed was that it was easy to identify their effects when they were in an unowned state.

However, Xi De couldn't find the words to describe the quality of these cards. Most of them were scrap magic cards used for decomposition, of all kinds. It wasn't like they were for the little black cat to use, and even Xi De didn't understand why he brought so many useless cards.

She only knew that these magic cards were almost all obtained by Lan Qi through connections in the imperial capital before their departure. Duchess Chloe Rhys had helped a lot. She didn't know what kind of deal they had reached, but she had prepaid Lan Qi such a large reward.

"Meow, meow…"

Cat Boss sobbed, not responding, and turned into a crying cat meme again.

It didn't want to be with these two people anymore.

"If we can dig up some big news this time and expose it, the imperial reputation we gain will be considerable."

Lan Qi slowed down the sled a little, released the reins with one hand, and hugged Cat Boss, saying with certainty.

The sled continued to move, its skis rubbing against the thick snow, making a "creaking" sound. The snow tracks stirred up behind them were like a long tail, stretching endlessly.

Despite the howling wind, the two on the sled didn't care and continued to enjoy the feeling of being pushed back in their seats.

According to the map, there should be a plain ahead, with no more rugged mountain roads or lakes. At high speed, they should be able to reach their investigation destination, the northern border city of Bandera, soon.

"Isn't there an investigation team led by Major General Van Leek that went ahead? He'll probably be the one to discover any problems."

Xi De replied dismissively.

"Not necessarily. If there's an eighth-tier danger in the north, the investigation team won't be enough."

Lan Qi pondered. Apart from the secret Chloe Rhys had told him, which he had promised her not to tell anyone, he still hoped that Sigrid would clearly understand the degree of danger in the northern border province.

"Those who can reach the seventh tier are no longer ordinary people. It's easy to defeat them, but it's not so easy to kill them."

Xi De spread her hands, as if recalling her strength when she had just reached the seventh tier.

"..."

Lan Qi raised the corner of his eye and looked at this abnormal human woman.

A seventh-tier expert in full condition would be difficult to fight even if a group of sixth-tier experts teamed up, but for the person next to him, it was at a "very easy to defeat" level.

Most of the time, Xi De gave him the feeling that there was no distance between them, and her temper was surprisingly good, which was completely the opposite of a certain unmarried woman.

But only when talking about other strong people could he clearly feel from this difference in perception that all his past experiences were not in the same dimension as her power.

"Don't worry, even if your rank is always low, Holy Son, I won't look down on you. With me protecting you, just work hard for me."

Xi De grinned, her childish casualness mixed with the reliability of an empress making a promise.

"..."

Lan Qi was silent for a moment.

"If I want to retire one day, will you let me go?"

He had actually decided to disappear back to the Southern Continent when the time came, but recently, he had been chatting with Xi De every day without any distance, and he was a little reluctant to part with Xi De as a friend.

If possible, he didn't want to be enemies with the Batiya Theocracy's Sigrid in the future.

"..."

Xi De hesitated for a while before saying, "That depends on the situation."

"For example?"

"If my affection for you is very low, I will directly assume that you have betrayed me and help you retire completely."

Xi De ruthlessly clenched her fingers.

"..."

Lan Qi didn't know if she was joking to tell him the consequences of having a very low affection level, or if she was really threatening him.

And the Cat Boss, who was being held by Lan Qi, felt a chill and trembled with fear. It knew that Lan Qi shouldn't have gotten involved with this female demon!

She would never let you break up peacefully!

"But to be honest, in most cases, if you want to leave, I don't think I would let you go easily. I made an exception and chose you as the Holy Son, so naturally you have to serve me forever."

Xi De frankly told Lan Qi her real answer.

"I understand."

Lan Qi nodded, he probably guessed that this would be the case.

He looked down at the trembling Cat Boss and smiled, not nervous at all.

"!"

Cat Boss was shocked, and it immediately understood this nascent idea.

It could probably guess that when Lan Qi wanted to run away, he would at least fake his death, creating the illusion that "Rocky McCarthy" was dead, so that Sigrid wouldn't even think of tracking him!

Then this bastard would transform and become the "Lan Qi Wilford" of the Southern Continent, with no connection to Sigrid anymore!

But Cat Boss was a little scared. If Lan Qi really did this, it would trigger a series of unpredictable chain reactions.

"What if your former Holy Maiden wants to leave?"

Cat Boss swallowed and boldly asked in its childish, timid voice.

Sigrid had lost a Holy Maiden before. If she had to choose between her subordinates "leaving" and "dying," Cat Boss didn't know how ruthless Sigrid would be towards those who abandoned her.

If she was really extreme, then Lan Qi would have no choice but to fake his death!

Hearing this, Xi De was stunned for a moment, as if she had never anticipated this situation.

Finally, she showed a helpless smile.

"I should let go and let her live the life she wants."

Her voice was rare, filled with guilt and tenderness.

"..."

This time, neither Lan Qi nor Cat Boss spoke.

It looked up at Lan Qi.

It felt that if Lan Qi really faked his death, it might evolve into another nascent situation…

The second chapter hasn't been finished yet, before twelve o'clock.

(End of this chapter)