An electronic voice announced at the bus terminal, “The Eastern Region hover bus will be leaving in five minutes.”
Hazel held her ticket along with her travel bag and walked towards the hover bus heading to the Eastern Region.
Very quickly, she found her seat number.
Then she placed her bag in the luggage area before sitting down.
Resting her head against the seat, Hazel thought about what had happened in the Xu family.
Earlier today, after waking up, she had changed into full combat wear and taken the bag containing her belongings, planning to leave.
Father Xu and Mother Xu, along with Rosie, had been waiting for her in the sitting room.
To cancel one’s parentage, the parents had to be the ones to remove it from their profile.
After they did so, Hazel’s parentage section changed to “None,” and her status became “Orphaned.”
Rosie, with tears shimmering in her eyes, came forward as Hazel turned to leave.
“Sister, I spoke to Mum and Dad.
You don’t have to stop being the Xu family’s daughter.
“Why don’t you come and beg them for all the troubles you have caused?
They would probably accept you.”
Hazel finally looked into Rosie’s eyes.
“Troubles?
You know yourself who caused those troubles.”
The cold gaze made Rosie step back a little, as she felt as if she were looking into the eyes of a predator.
It was only after Hazel left that her heartbeat was able to return to normal.
‘Is that really the Hazel she knows?’
“Sigh.”
Hazel closed her eyes to rest.
The journey ahead was still long; it would take about ten hours to get to the Eastern Region.
“Gbim!”
Something collided with the bus.
Hazel opened her eyes immediately as the bus shook from the impact.
Something had hit the hover bus.
“Everyone, freeze!”
A voice came from the door.
People with guns and face masks entered the bus.
The woman opposite Hazel held her daughter tightly as they trembled in fear, while Hazel only felt a headache coming.
“Driver, land this hover bus now,” a man threatened the driver, holding a gun to his head.
The bus immediately began to descend.
“Now, everybody, get out!
No one should try anything funny, or else you die,” they threatened.
As Hazel moved out of the bus with the other passengers, a Sentinel suddenly used his scorpion spirit body to attack one of the masked men.
“Bang!”
The Sentinel’s body fell to the ground.
He had been shot dead.
The crowd screamed.
“Murder!”
The scar-faced man who had shot him walked over to help his comrade.
“Boy, are you good?” he asked the man who had been attacked.
The man nodded to indicate that he was okay.
Then the scar-faced man turned to the crowd.
“If you try to act funny, you will end up like him.”
Hazel and the other passengers filed out of the bus.
The scar-faced man then pointed towards the two sides.
“Females and children to the right.
Men to the left.”
Everyone separated.
One of the masked men came forward and began touching the women’s faces.
His gaze became increasingly lewd as he harassed the women, who dared not scream.
He continued touching them one after another.
Seeing this, Hazel began calculating her move.
There were seven masked men in total.
Four were closer to her, while the other three were farther away.
By now, the man was standing in front of her.
As his hand moved towards her face, Hazel grabbed his wrist, gave him an uppercut, twisted his arm behind his back, and stabbed the knife hidden in her boot into his neck.
She moved quickly towards the person closest to her, stabbing him in a vital spot.
The others immediately fired at her, but she used the man she had just attacked to block the bullets.
Facing the remaining men, her tendrils emerged, wrapping around the guns in their hands and pulling them away.
Hazel moved with precision.
By the time she was dealing with the sixth man, the last man pulled out a hidden gun.
“Bang!”
He fell to the ground before he could press the trigger.
“Marshal, that is great marksmanship.
A new record!
It went straight through his forehead.”
Hazel, who had just finished off the person in front of her, turned around to see a new group of men wearing uniforms.
“Wow, you just took down six men.
This group of scourges has been attacking hover buses heading to the Eastern Region for a while,” the gold-haired man said.
“Louis, can you stop talking?” another person from the group said.
The man Louis had called Marshal, a man with green hair and green pupils, walked up to Hazel.
“You are not a Sentinel,” he said with certainty.
“Yes, I am a Guide who was just transferred to the Eastern Region,” Hazel replied.
He stared straight at her for a while, as if trying to confirm her words.
Hazel, not to be outdone, stared back at him.
Green eyes faced purple eyes.
“What?
She’s a Guide?” Louis scratched his head, wondering when Guides had become so good at combat.
This broke the stalemate, and they both looked away.
‘After two years of silence from the Imperial City, why did they send one now?’ Simon thought.
Everyone returned to the hover bus, which continued towards the Eastern Region.
Following behind them was the Sentinel’s vehicle.
The closer they got to the Eastern Region, the more excited Hazel’s tendrils became.
They even came out by themselves, as if unwilling to return to the Spirit Domain.
She tried controlling them, telling them to go back.
“…”
Nothing happened.
Seeing that they would not return to the Spirit Domain, she simply let them be.
“Welcome to the Eastern Region,” the female electronic voice announced as the bus entered its terminal and landed.
Each passenger collected their belongings and headed out.
The bus terminal was not too crowded, unlike the one in the capital.
With a deep breath, Hazel left the hover bus terminal.
If the Imperial City could be described as luxurious and opulent, the Eastern Region could be described as a breath of fresh air.
The people here did not seem to be in a hurry.
They could stand by the roadside and talk, and everyone seemed to know each other.
Farmers wearing bamboo hats around their necks could be seen returning with muddy shoes.
All in all, the place gave off a rustic vibe, like a breath of fresh air compared to the oppression-filled Imperial City.
Before the day could get any darker, Hazel found a clean and comfortable hotel that cost 100 star credits per night.