.....

.....

Meanwhile, in another corner of Hai Fan City, at the base of the Old Wu Antiques Shop.

If you were to step in here, you'd be greeted by the sight of a brightly lit tavern, with neon signs hanging everywhere. That's right, it's hard for anyone to imagine that beneath this antique shop there's actually an underground tavern, flamboyant as can be, the style of the upper and lower buildings seemingly not from the same world.

The name of the antique shop's owner is "Urushibara Wuer," with the surname "Wu," thus the name "Old Wu Antiques Shop" came to be.

Xia Pingzhou heard from the hacker that the owner of the antiques shop had previously been an exorcist under Lake Hunting.

Later, due to unfavorable circumstances, he was expelled by Lake Hunting, but in the antique market, due to his knowledge and love for antiques, he met Zhou Jiuya from Lake Hunting.

At that time, the two argued fiercely over whether an antique was genuine.

Upon hearing this, Xia Pingzhou secretly sweated, thinking it's a wonder that with Zhou Jiuya's temper, a pillar didn't come down to smash Urushibara Wuer into a bloody mess.

In the end, Urushibara Wuer slightly won that debate. Because that antique was a counterfeit personally crafted by Urushibara Wuer. His forgery skills were superb, enough to confuse the real with the fake, even fooling Zhou Jiuya.

Zhou Jiuya considered himself a master of forgery, but didn't expect to meet his match, so the two formed a bond and opened this antique shop together.

Later, Zhou Jiuya joined Lake Hunting and severed some messy relationships, having long ceased contact with Urushibara Wuer.

Urushibara Wuer doesn't have a concept of good and evil, he acts purely based on profit criteria. Over the years, he coincidentally befriended the captain of the White Crow Travel Brigade.

Urushibara Osamu saw promise in Urushibara Wuer's Celestial Driver and wanted to recruit him, but Urushibara Wuer refused.

Yet the two remained quite close. At that time, Osamu's younger sister Urushibara Ryuri even recommended the idea of building a tavern under the antiques shop, so she could come play when it was done.

Urushibara Wuer had quite a fondness for this innocent-looking little sister, and he really did go ahead with the idea. Surprisingly, the tavern was built a few years later.

But by this time, Urushibara Ryuri had vanished without a trace, and when asked about his sister, Osamu was also tight-lipped.

At this moment, inside the tavern under the antiques shop, a girl dressed in a reddish-brown kimono stood in a corner of the bar, holding a gray-white copybook.

Papers flew up from the copybook, transforming in mid-air to cherry blossom color, swirling around her kimono like blooming cherry blossoms, with the wind lightly lifting the girl's clear hair. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"You can change the color of the pages of the Endless Copybook now? I remember it wasn't possible before." Xia Pingzhou said softly, watching the papers dance like cherry blossoms.

"It seems your young lady has enhanced her ability to transform the properties of paper pages." Bloodline said with a smile.

"This is also thanks to the existence of the Endless Copybook. With endless paper materials, whether it's finely honing skills or boosting limits, it's much more convenient." The hacker said casually, "The young lady was originally a genius, she just hadn't focused much on superpowers. Having this copybook is like a scientist who used to lack funds suddenly coming in possession of inexhaustible wealth, allowing for expensive research that was previously unaffordable, where the money seems impossible to exhaust, naturally speeding up the efficiency of mastering abilities."

"Did you hear that?" Yanmo Lin looked at Xia Pingzhou, "No wonder your kimono-clad young lady gets such elaborate praise from our hacker lord."

Upon hearing this, Ayase Origami retracted the pages back into the copybook, turned her head to look at Xia Pingzhou.

"Wasn't he praising the Endless Copybook?" Xia Pingzhou asked, "What's it got to do with our kimono-clad young lady?"

"I also feel it's the effect of the Endless Copybook." Bloodline smiled, resting her chin on her hand.

"Little Cat, rebellion." Ayase Origami said softly after a moment of silence.

While they were chatting, a familiar voice suddenly came from the bar entrance, "Yo, long time no see."

Xia Pingzhou turned his head to look. The door was pushed open, and a blond young man in a British-style suit walked in, his face wearing the usual teasing smile, clearly he was the 11th member of the brigade, Anluns.

Following close behind was another person wearing a duckbill cap, ponytailed, dressed in a casual T-shirt and jeans, a look that had become synonymous with Tong Zizhu.

"Yo, Little Cat love expert, your mom's here." The hacker rested his chin on his hand, glancing at Tong Zizhu, then turned his head towards Xia Pingzhou.

"Shut up." "Shut up."

Xia Pingzhou and Tong Zizhu spoke in unison.

"And you say she's not your mom?" The hacker said with a "tsk," sipping his orange juice through a straw.

"Looks like everyone's here." Robert, with his mechanical box on his head, walked in, emitting a husky magnetic sound.

Following close behind him was Andrew, wearing a denim jacket and a brown cowboy hat.

He still carried a sniper rifle on his back. Since Lan Duoduo's death, Andrew had not been so flamboyant and carefree, rather he seemed weary and gloomy.

"Seeing that everyone's still alive, it's great news." Andrew grinned, "Lan Duoduo is still waiting for us in Hell, Zhou Jiuya, you beast, here I come."

Finally, a man with rimless glasses walked in. Ryukawa Chiba, the brigade's sole Spiritual Ability User.

"Long time no see." Ryukawa Chiba smiled at Xia Pingzhou, and Xia Pingzhou met his gaze for a moment before quickly looking away.

Moments later, a dark crow flew in, perching above the bar, and then dispersed into Crow Feather, revealing a figure in a black swallowtail windbreaker coat at the bar.

Urushibara Osamu pulled up a chair and sat down, his gaze raising to the brigade members.

"Three days later, we begin the operation." He spoke, "Our primary target is just one: take down Zhou Jiuya."