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"Caesar, do you have any suggestions?"
Arden asked for Caesar's opinion. She might be straightforward, but she wasn't stupid—and as a local, she understood the local situation better.
"I know this one. First, we need to plant signal towers inside the Hollow to collect data, so it'll be easier to calculate routes later."
Belle answered immediately.
Even though she was a Hollow expert—the best Proxy in New Eridu—she wasn't familiar with any of the Hollows in the Outer Ring, and neither was Fairy. So, they had to go through the entire process from scratch.
"What Belle said is right. Also, we're planning to buy some motorcycle parts and do some race-oriented modifications."
Caesar smiled broadly and slapped her thighs. Pre-race preparations didn't require Arden and the others to worry—Sons of Calydon could handle it themselves.
"Very good."
As he spoke, Arden pointed at Yiji. "If you need anything, you can look for Yiji. She might be able to help."
Nowadays, Yunkui Summit's industries spanned many fields. There was a chance they could help Sons of Calydon.
By the way, ever since Yiji studied Proxy techniques under Phaethon, Yunkui Summit's businesses had mostly been handed over to Sweety for management, though Yiji still kept an eye on things.
"Mm, I understand."
Caesar agreed.
"Fairy can handle the data collection. Wise, can I leave that to you?" Arden turned to Wise again.
"No problem at all!"
Wise naturally had no objections. He and Belle had done this countless times before.
"And you, Daoist Arden?"
However, if he went off to handle tasks and left Belle alone with Arden, Wise felt a bit uneasy.
"I plan to take Yiji and Belle to check out other parts of the Outer Ring and gather some intelligence."
"Mm..."
I'm slogging away installing signal towers while you take two girls out for a ride? And one of them is my sister.
Wise was very dissatisfied with this arrangement.
"Bro, you don't need to worry about me."
With Wise around, she wasn't needed anyway—and with Caesar protecting them, safety wasn't an issue. Belle felt that going for a ride—ahem!—going out to gather intelligence sounded pretty good.
"O-okay. Be careful!"
Though reluctant, since Belle had said so much, Wise couldn't say anything more.
"Oh right, take this."
As he spoke, Arden took out a talisman and handed it to Wise. "If you run into danger, drip a drop of blood on it. I'll get there as fast as possible."
Rumble rumble rumble~~
A sidecar motorcycle tore across the vast wilderness of the Outer Ring.
"Riding my beloved little motorcycle~~ it never gets stuck in traffic~~"
Arden was still humming a cheerful tune, but he wasn't in the driver's seat—instead, he was sitting in the sidecar.
"Hubby, I'm going to accelerate!"
Yiji shouted excitedly from the driver's seat. She had long wanted to try being a female rider.
"I-it's already fast enough! Won't we flip?"
Belle clutched Yiji's waist, her voice trembling. Feeling the fierce wind slicing past them, she thought the speed was already high—and yet they were still going to accelerate.
"Go for it! Twist the throttle all the way!"
Seemingly oblivious to Belle's worry, Arden loudly encouraged Yiji. Even if they really flipped, he'd be there to cover it—no one would die.
"Got it!"
The throttle was twisted fully.
Vrooooom—
The sidecar motorcycle's engine let out a roar.
The speed continued to climb.
Yiji glanced at the speedometer and found it had already reached 100 kilometers per hour.
The scenery around them rapidly receded. This was Yiji's first time riding a motorcycle, and it felt completely different from being a passenger. Her heart pounded wildly, letting her feel the pulse of life with absolute clarity. The excitement was impossible to suppress, and she gradually immersed herself in the thrill of speeding.
"Hm?"
Arden suddenly turned his head to look behind them.
Perhaps because they were speeding too fast, they'd been noticed by other bikers. At some point, several motorcycles had begun chasing them.
Each bike was decorated in bizarre ways, and at the front was a burly Thiren.
"Big sister, street racing here is pretty dangerous."
One of the bikers rode closer and spoke up.
In their field of vision, it seemed there were only Yiji and Belle. They instinctively ignored Arden, the "pretty boy" sitting in the sidecar.
"..."
Yiji didn't respond. She twisted the throttle a few times, and with a roar, a puff of black smoke blasted from the exhaust pipe, smearing the face of the approaching Thiren biker.
"Hahahaha!"
"This chick's got attitude!"
"Spicy!"
Laughter and crude remarks rang out around them.
The biker who'd been smoked in the face had no mood to joke. He angrily mashed the horn.
Beep beep beep...
He chased up, clearly intending to teach Yiji a lesson. But every time he accelerated, he found that the woman ahead easily stayed in front of him—no matter what, he couldn't catch up.
You had to know that Arden could also use artifact-control techniques, making it effortless to boost the motorcycle's speed.
"!!!"
Yiji glanced down at the speed again—it had already exceeded 160 kilometers per hour. Any faster, and the sidecar motorcycle risked falling apart.
"Hubby?"
Now it wasn't just Belle—even Yiji was worried about wrecking the bike and losing their lives.
"Woman, I like you. Want to join our convoy? I'll make sure you eat well and live well! And if you want men, we've got plenty—definitely more built than this pretty boy!"
A modified bike roared desperately as it caught up. The biker shouted an invitation while showing clear disdain toward Arden, who was riding in a woman's vehicle.
Being able to ride in a woman's vehicle is also a kind of skill!
Arden rolled his eyes inwardly, then raised a middle finger at the loudmouth.
"You want to ride in a woman's vehicle? I doubt anyone would even want you!"
And indeed, no woman wanted him—because the one who'd caught up was an orangutan covered in brown fur. His face was a full circle larger than a normal person's, with a head nearly twice the size.
"You—!!"
Hearing Arden's mockery, the man was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
At such high speed, he had to focus entirely on controlling his bike—he couldn't even pull out a gun to shoot.
"Do you know Lucius?"
At that moment, Belle in the back suddenly asked.
Thinking about what they needed to do, Belle decided to try her luck and probe him with this question.
"Of course I know him. I just took a commission from him… why do you ask?"
Because it was a beautiful woman asking, Bellum answered reflexively. But the next second, he realized he'd let something slip.
Still, he didn't really care. They were strangers anyway, and judging by how Yiji's group dressed, they were clearly city folk.
"My husband is right. If you want to be a pretty boy, you still need solid qualifications."
Yiji said smugly at that moment.
In the past, she had always relied on Arden. This time, being the one relied upon made her feel incredibly satisfied.
"Tch! So, you're already married."
Bellum was a bit speechless. She looked so young—he hadn't expected her to already have a husband.
But thinking about it, they were city folk. Maybe city people married early. He had even heard recently that there was a guy in the city who married four wives at once. He didn't know if it was true or just bragging, but it still made Bellum insanely envious.
After all, the women of the Outer Ring were extremely wild—like Caesar and Burnice of the Sons of Calydon. If their husbands dared to take another woman, they'd be torn apart alive or burned to charcoal on the spot!
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