Only when she got closer did Serie clearly see Victoria's appearance.
Victoria had a neat, almost boyish, short black haircut, exuded a tomboyish vitality, and her skin was very tanned, which made her pair of pure white wings exceptionally striking.
"Big Sis! You're finally back! I was so worried!" Victoria's tearful cheer rang out.
She threw herself into Chloe's arms like a fledgling bird returning to its nest, completely disregarding everything else.
The immense force made Chloe grunt, and she stumbled back two steps before finally steadying herself. Serie, who was following behind Chloe and observing the base with great interest, became an unsuspecting victim of this "enthusiastic impact."
The retreating Chloe accidentally bumped into Serie, causing her to stagger and nearly fall to the ground.
Victoria seemed to notice the chain reaction she had caused only then.
She still clung to Chloe like an octopus, but she slightly turned half of her face, and her bright eyes swept over the disheveled Serie, who was supporting herself, with a hint of scrutiny.
In that gaze… a clear trace of impatience, even mixed with a hint of "how annoying" disdain, flashed by?
Immediately, she buried her face back into Chloe's abdomen, as if nothing had happened.
Serie hadn't felt much initially, but looking at Victoria's unapologetic, even somewhat smug, back of the head, an unnamed anger flared up!
This little girl! She bumped into someone and couldn't even say sorry? And she glared at me?!
Serie gritted her teeth in anger.
She's definitely from the same family as that big idiot Tarak! They're both so unlikable!
Victoria's loud shout was like a huge stone thrown into a calm lake.
From the depths of the air-raid shelter, human voices and footsteps echoed from various branch tunnels.
Soon, dozens of people, like streams flowing into the sea, surged towards the central plaza from all directions.
The composition of the crowd was very complex—
There were workers covered in oil, patrol members carrying rifles, and young students dressed fashionably.
The children Victoria had been teaching earlier also ran over.
About half of them showed obvious abnormal characteristics.
Their bodies were covered with fine, bluish-green, moist scales that shimmered under the lights. They had no hair on their heads; instead, there were soft, colorful fleshy tendrils like sea anemone tentacles, subtly swaying with their emotions.
Their pure black eyes, without whites, blinked curiously, exuding a non-human, strangely adorable charm.
Leaning in the shadows was a tall, thin young man, almost blending into the environment. His body's outline blurred in the light, occasionally even transforming into a insubstantial, thin shadow, like a ghost.
There was also a burly man nearly three meters tall, who had to bend down to enter the door.
His skin was chillingly pale, he had almost no neck, and no teeth in his mouth.
He gave off an indescribable sense of strangeness, like the uncanny valley effect, but he tried hard to force out a somewhat friendly smile.
As Chloe said, nearly half of the Black Queen were anomalies.
The rest, it was unclear whether they were humans or anomalies with less obvious abnormal features.
"Goluthos, are you alright?" Chloe naturally felt that she had bumped into Serie.
She pulled Victoria aside, set her on the ground, and then quickly turned back with concern.
Victoria immediately became unhappy, pouting and glaring fiercely at Serie, as if blaming her for stealing all of Chloe's attention.
This little girl's thoughts were too obvious.
Serie saw it directly, and couldn't help but sigh.
Had Chloe bewitched Tarak's family? Why do they all like her so much?
Serie shook her head, too lazy to argue with a little brat.
This kind of kid would become well-behaved after Billie "cared" for her one day.
Billie, being a "street-smart" person, specialized in dealing with these little kids.
At this moment, others also noticed the new face beside Chloe.
Several old members showed surprise, seemingly guessing something.
The younger ones didn't react much, probably assuming Serie was another person Chloe had picked up from somewhere, just like Victoria.
No wonder Victoria hissed as soon as they met; it turned out she was afraid her place beside Chloe would be usurped?
Chloe stepped aside, extended her arm to point at Serie, her voice filled with excitement: "Everyone, do you remember the Saint Martan government intelligence we intercepted some time ago? It said that Goluthos, the Witch who Devours the Sun, was about to revive?"
The young people whispered among themselves.
However, most of the comments were negative—
"It's that damn Goluthos again…"
"Black Queen is too obsessed with myths… If she can find her, I'll eat…"
"Instead of spending time looking for that illusory witch, we should pay more attention to ourselves… A few more brothers were publicly executed yesterday…"
"If this continues, we will sooner or later be completely annihilated by that bastard Santos, just like those predecessors."
A certain unnamed "damn" witch felt her temples throbbing.
She could hear them, and Chloe naturally could too, but the latter could only pretend to be calm and act as if she hadn't heard.
On the other side, several old members stood up abruptly, trembling with excitement, their eyes burning as they stared intently at Chloe, clearly having a premonition.
"That's right!" Chloe took a deep breath, her voice suddenly rising to its highest point, firmly pinning everyone's gaze on Serie, "She is the witch from a thousand years ago, Goluthos!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire place erupted in an uproar.
The young people whispered to each other—
"Wow, really? Is that Goluthos?!"
"Black Queen really found her? The myth is actually true?!"
"She's that incredibly powerful ancient anomaly? She doesn't look that strong…"
"Goluthos who devours all things? This… you're joking, right?"
"Brother… you might have to eat…"
The old people who had stood up were trembling even more with excitement.
Some even had tears in their eyes, their lips trembling as they tried to say something.
In the corner, several members who were clearly less experienced or less informed looked at the surrounding people's fanaticism and shock with blank expressions, exchanging bewildered glances.
It wasn't until someone nearby quickly whispered a few explanations that their gazes towards Serie instantly changed.
It was as if, during the church's most dilapidated time, someone suddenly brought old man Jesus over to "say hello."
But even more explosive news was yet to come, as Chloe continued to announce: "And from today onwards, she will be my Black King, on equal footing with me, possessing equal authority. Her words are my words; seeing her is like seeing me."
As soon as this sentence was uttered, the entire place exploded.
Serie was also stunned, partly due to pleasant surprise.
Originally, she had been critical of the organization's somewhat meager resources, but now, Chloe's sincerity was practically overflowing. This wasn't just letting her join the organization; it was practically feeding her half of their family fortune.
On the other hand… confusion.
Wait… what exactly is a Black King?
Earlier, I seemed to hear someone refer to Chloe as Black Queen…
Which means…
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