Cat Boss Restaurant, the slightly bustling and noisy first floor during lunchtime.

"Hmm?"

Antanas stood by the wall, looking puzzled at the disappearing cat in her hand, and turned her head back.

She saw nothing unusual.

As far as she could see, the three people sitting by the window in the distance had their backs to her, acting perfectly normal.

Antanas scratched her head and, reminded by Sinola, returned to her busy work.

Today, Prahna had taken a leave of absence early, so Antanas was the only waiter in the restaurant, along with Sinola, the front desk clerk who occasionally had to fill in as a waiter.

At that moment, the three people at the bar table by the window were staring at the tabletop without saying a word, sweat starting to bead on their foreheads.

Fortunately, the three of them quickly regained their senses and didn't let Antanas notice anything amiss.

"..."

Hyperion kept her head down, desperately. Even though she could control her expression with acting skills, she couldn't stop her cheeks from flushing crimson.

She even wanted to use invisibility to run away right now.

But where could she escape to?

If what Antanas said was true, that painting might be visible outside too!

The scene that made her want to die, if it was only seen by the Wilford family, she could barely forget it over time.

But now there was a painting hanging in the Cat Boss Restaurant.

It was as if constantly reminding her of the strange things the three of them did that day.

The three of them became unusually tacit at this moment. They were afraid that Antanas would notice something strange, so they stubbornly pretended that they had no feelings about the painting.

Soon, after confirming that Antanas had entered the kitchen, just as Tata was about to get up to take the painting down, Hyperion tightly grabbed her hand again.

They exchanged glances, filled with embarrassment.

Thalia instantly understood Hyperion's look.

So Thalia sat down again.

She looked at Lan Qi, who picked up his water glass, took a sip, and nodded.

They all decided to pretend they hadn't noticed the painting.

Since it was beyond saving, they might as well make the best of a bad situation.

As long as no acquaintances found out that the painting depicted the three of them, they wouldn't suffer social death!

Luckily, Prahna wasn't here today.

Otherwise, with Prahna's insight and wisdom, she might have been able to see something from the three of them's reactions just now.

This made them all breathe a sigh of relief.

The three of them finally exchanged glances. At this moment, they were united as one, as if their destinies were linked together. They decided to take this matter to their graves and never let anyone find out!

"..."

But not long after, the three of them became awkward again, not knowing what to say.

They had never felt that being in the Cat Boss Restaurant was like being in prison.

"...Tata, Hyperion and I will go to the Shadow World tomorrow. We might not see you for a while."

Lan Qi finally spoke.

"Oh, oh."

Thalia answered absentmindedly.

She should have felt a little sad about these two going on a trip again, but at this moment, she was only genuinely glad that they could give each other some time and space.

If the three of them continued to stay together every day like this, Thalia felt that their mental states would all have problems.

Next.

Today's lunch ended quickly—

The Cat Boss quietly served lunch, and they ate it quietly, without saying anything to each other.

The three of them sat in silence again for a while, with no particular purpose.

"Well, I'm going back to school. Hyperion, see you tomorrow. Tata, the next time we meet may be at least a week or two later."

Lan Qi said goodbye.

"I'll go to school to find you tomorrow."

Hyperion nodded.

"Mm."

Thalia nodded.

Then she fell into a long period of silence.

Just as Lan Qi pushed the high stool back under the bar table, preparing to leave.

As he walked past Thalia.

"Good luck."

Thalia added as if talking to herself.

"..."

Lan Qi turned back in surprise, looking at Thalia.

"Tata, are you cheering me on?"

Lan Qi pointed at himself and asked.

He had never received this kind of treatment before, or rather, he didn't expect Thalia to become more and more like a gentle woman.

"You misheard."

Thalia's eyelids drooped instantly, and she said coldly.

She was annoyed as soon as Lan Qi spoke, or rather, he had a face that could talk.

She shouldn't communicate with this person too much.

"Thank you, Tata, I'll celebrate your birthday when I come back!"

Lan Qi waved cheerfully, said goodbye to them, and walked out of the door of the Cat Boss Restaurant.

The sound of a wind chime echoed, and then the first floor of the Cat Boss Restaurant fell into the white noise of lunchtime again.

Thalia stared at the clean plate, seeing a slight, unconscious curve appear at the corner of her mouth.

"Wait..."

She suddenly hesitated.

If Lan Qi knew her birthday, would he also know her age?

After thinking about it, Thalia shook her head.

Even if Lan Qi was always thinking about some damn things in his heart, he shouldn't be able to do anything too outrageous.

"..."

Hyperion didn't dare to speak to the side.

She felt that Lan Qi would buy eight hundred candles that day.

She was already researching how to rescue Lan Qi in advance.

…

The next day.

The sky reflected a bright blue, with the clarity unique to summer.

Ikrite Academy's campus had already awakened, filled with vitality and hustle and bustle. Students gathered in small groups, chatting and laughing.

Lan Qi and Hyperion, after a hearty breakfast, walked spiritedly on the campus road.

Their voices echoed in the air, intertwined with the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves.

"This time, the three of us will go on a rampage, meow."

The three of them went to the Magic Engineering Institute early in the morning to get Lan Qi's special rank approval letter and the Cat Boss's Challenger License for the Magic Engineering Craftsman. They also gave the Cat Boss a team card for their Civilization Model Squad.

"Don't worry, Cat Boss, I will help you break through to the eighth level. You must become the pride of the cats."

"Meow haha, I'm going to get carried away, meow!"

Hyperion listened to the Cat Boss's laughter, and felt that it might not have understood the weight of destiny.

But wasn't she the same?

Knowing that being with Lan Qi, her human rights were getting further and further away from her, she had also decided to stay with him, whether the future was dangerous or stable.

In mid-June, early summer, a warm breeze blew across the school's lawn just after eight o'clock in the morning.

The two people and one cat quickly arrived at the most central heart of Ikrite Academy—

Even on a late morning at the end of the semester, layers of the highest-level barrier magic formations still locked the magic cube-shaped deep blue iron wall where the Gate of the Void was located, full of the sense of isolation of a heavily guarded place. Members of the Royal Knights were on duty, patrolling the surroundings.

They came to the first security checkpoint at the entrance of the building, and used the registered Challenger License to pass through the only main entrance. Next, there were layers of security checkpoints.

"If we enter the sixth-level Shadow World later, then nothing will happen, but if it's really the seventh level, Dean Loren may face new questions, and even the scandal of Senior Asina's incident will be overshadowed."

Lan Qi said softly in the corridor, accompanied by a slight echo in the empty passage environment,

"But this is also a strategy to divert attention. Those who want to impeach Loren will no longer bring up Senior Asina's matter. I believe Dean Loren would rather be tied to me than involve the innocent Senior Asina. Let me help Dean Loren and Senior Asina."

"..."

Hyperion felt that Dean Loren might not want this.

A small Lan Qi, when he maximized his attractiveness, all the enemies would lose their minds and try to mess with him like crazy.

Now, this attractiveness, Loren could sometimes share at critical moments.

The shadows of the two people and one cat stretched out on the silent corridor, until they finally stepped into the depths of this building leading to the Shadow World.

On the distant square high platform, the door mirror connecting to the Shadow World still swirled with deep purple starlight.

"Cat Boss, did you bind our Civilization Model Squad's team card?"

Lan Qi looked at the last inspection gate and workbench in front of him, and then looked at the empty hall in the morning at the end of the semester, and asked the Cat Boss.

They only needed to register their Challenger License here, and let the staff of the South Continent Shadow World Management Association check the [Shadow World Recording Program] wearing status, then they could pass through the Gate of the Void in front to conduct a challenge match.

If they also wanted to use the [Shadow World Coordination Program] to conduct a team challenge, there would be one more step to register the team information.

"I brought it, meow."

Whenever the Cat Boss recalled that their team was called the Civilization Model Squad, it didn't know what to say.

What kind of Saintly Church Villain's Banquet was this? These guys would just take people's blood clan organs, so what was the model for!

But when it thought about it, it could also be taken to experience the Shadow World, this magical, super-difficult, dangerous area, and the Cat Boss felt excited and eager to try.

Lan Qi nodded.

Then, the two people and one cat handed their respective licenses and tool magic cards to the staff at the checkpoint workbench, and waited quietly for the staff to complete the registration procedures for them.

"Can you let..."

The young female staff member looked curiously at the little black cat.

At first, she wanted the challenger to remove the transformation technique and register the challenge in its original form.

After seeing the Cat Boss's certificate, she was completely stunned.

She didn't expect that the cat was the main body, and it was as high as the seventh level.

She had worked for so many years, and she had never seen a seventh-level cat.

"There's no problem. When you come out, read the [Shadow World Recording Program] to me again, and you can get back your Challenger License."

The staff member smiled and returned the tool magic cards of the two people and one cat to them, and the gate in front of them opened.

Her eyes were still on the Cat Boss, as if she really wanted to stroke a seventh-level cat.

But at this time, the Cat Boss could not be lent out.

The two people and one cat thanked them, took back their respective tool magic cards, and walked straight towards the Gate of the Void.

The distance of about a hundred steps was passed by while chatting.

The Gate of the Void still looked like a bottomless black hole. Just standing not far from it, you could feel an invisible pull, as if all the creatures that approached would be sucked into this endless unknown world.

"Hyperion, Cat Boss, we are about to challenge the Shadow World."

Lan Qi said with a smile to Hyperion and the Cat Boss.

"I'm ready."

Hyperion nodded. She was already a skilled worker now.

"Meow meow, no problem!"

Although the Cat Boss was obviously nervous, it swallowed hard and stood up straight bravely.

Along with the sound, Lan Qi walked into the Gate of the Void as if passing through water.

Then there was a complete darkness that lost all senses. You couldn't see anything, and you couldn't even hear your heartbeat.

Countless gears began to rotate and interlock, and the roar produced echoed in this dark space.

[Blood Moon Ruined World, New Alien Node "Firefly Light", Historical Projection has been unraveled.]

(End of this chapter)