CHAPTER 527: CHAPTER 326: CONFESSION AND PROMISE

Osaka, Japan, Dotonbori.

On the brightly lit long street, Gu Qiye and You Ruirui walked shoulder to shoulder, with a row of warm orange lanterns hanging from the eaves of the shops on both sides.

Girls in kimonos held koi-shaped kites, laughing as they passed by, and looked up to see the kites dancing and swaying in the night breeze.

"The personnel allocation has been done," You Ruirui suddenly said.

Gu Qiye moved his gaze from the swaying kites and turned to look at her. The Icelandic girl was looking down at her tablet, the glow of the screen making her ice-blue pupils shine brightly.

"How’s the allocation?" he asked.

She said, "Urushibara Ryuri will leave a mark on each member, then she will stand by the edge of Nameless Island. If she observes us encountering danger, she will bring us back immediately."

"That wasn’t hard to guess, considering that’s her only use."

"Agreed."

While saying this blandly, You Ruirui flipped through the documents with her fingertips. "Next is the task of clearing the worker bees—Alexandra will handle the worker bees on the east side of the island; Jiushijiu on the west side; Oda Ehgo will take care of the south side; Kalina will handle the north side. They will exterminate all the worker bees to prevent them from affecting the battle at the hive’s center."

Gu Qiye thought for a moment, "So, our mission this time is not only to eliminate the Queen Bee and the Four Great Bee Lords but also to kill all the ordinary worker bees on the island?"

"Yes," You Ruirui nodded, "The orders from above are to leave none. The total number of Light-Eating Bees on the island is around twenty thousand. After dealing with them, the four members mentioned will head to the hive to support us."

"Got it, that’s quite a workload," Gu Qiye said. "Go ahead and continue."

Without any expression, You Ruirui said, "Next is the allocation for the Four Bee Lords—the ’Father of Puppets’ will be responsible for hunting down the Great Bee Lord ’Qiao’; ’Garfield’ and ’Fan Dongqing’ will tackle the Second Bee Lord ’Guli’; the Third Bee Lord ’Cameron’ will be taken care of by ’Ke Qingzheng’."

"What about the Fourth Bee Lord?"

"As for the Fourth Bee Lord ’Malvite,’ it will be up to the two of us to handle," You Ruirui continued. "With the Four Bee Lords dealt with, along with the twenty thousand worker bees on the island, the Queen Bee will be isolated. We may be able to bring her back to Osaka for the researchers."

"Understood," Gu Qiye nodded.

He always felt like something was missing from the plan, and after thinking for a while, he realized, "What about Esther? Why isn’t she doing anything?"

"The ’Two Hundred Year Old’ is responsible for staying on standby in Osaka, Japan, in case of emergencies," You Ruirui replied.

"I suspect she just wants to slack off," Gu Qiye grumbled.

He looked up at the signs of neon lights lined up in the sky.

Then he lowered his gaze again, glancing at the candied hawthorn stall on the street side.

"I also suspect she wants to slack off," You Ruirui said, also looking up, "But preemptive measures are necessary, we mustn’t underestimate the Bee Race’s intelligence."

She paused for a moment: "If they do launch a surprise attack on Osaka, causing massive civilian casualties, we will be severely punished—it could mean the cancellation of our vacation, and then you won’t be able to accompany me back to Li Jing to see those kids."

"Got it, got it."

Half-heartedly, Gu Qiye replied as he walked over, using yen coins to buy two skewers of candied hawthorn from the stall owner.

"The operation will formally start in 28 hours, at midnight on the 14th."

You Ruirui, walking beside him, continued, "Until 12 noon on the 13th, we have free time. After that, we need to gather and prepare for the operation."

"Please, you speak like a robot,"

Gu Qiye said, smiling slightly, as he handed her one skewer of candied hawthorn.

You Ruirui was silent. She rarely furrowed her snowy-white brows, staring unblinkingly at the candied hawthorn.

"Shouldn’t you be used to this by now?" After a while, she asked.

"Do you talk to the kids at the Welfare Institute like this too?"

"What else?"

You Ruirui said, taking the skewer of candied hawthorn.

The two walked forward, eating the candied hawthorn, their faces bathed in the warm light of the lanterns.

After a moment, Gu Qiye suddenly laughed.

He took a deep breath and stopped by the canal, resting his arms on the railing. He looked up, gazing at the brightly lit sightseeing boats on the river.

You Ruirui glanced at him, feeling a bit inexplicable. But she also stopped, standing silently by his side without saying a word.

The two watched the boats on the canal, listening to the soft, hushed voices drifting from the boats.

On the riverbank, a girl accidentally let go of the string, and amid her shouting, a large red koi-shaped kite wobbled and floated skyward.

"Didn’t you say a few days ago that after the mission, you’re going to take me to meet the kids at that Welfare Institute?" Gu Qiye asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes."

"Do you have photos of those kids on your phone?"

"Yes."

"Can I see them?"

You Ruirui silently nodded and took out her phone from her coat pocket.

She lowered her eyes, opened the photo album, found a specific page, and then handed the phone to him.

Gu Qiye received the phone from her, lowered his head, and looked silently. The screen reflected the faces of children, the light illuminating his pupils.

The Icelandic girl was silent for a moment, then finally leaned over, accompanying him to gaze at the children’s photos.

"That girl is ’Qiao Qiao,’ the boy is called ’Li Yue,’ and the other child is an Italian mixed-race..." She introduced one by one the names of the boys and girls in the photos.

"Yeah, I’ve noted down all their names. Tonight, if I have nothing to do, I can wear the Blue Arc Mask and record a video for them. I’ve participated in many charity activities before and often made these kinds of videos. Although it was for marketing a public image... after doing it many times, I’ve gained some experience."

Gu Qiye rambled, somewhat incoherently, as his fingers stopped scrolling the screen, and his eyes fixed on a group photo in the album.

In the photo, You Ruirui stood amidst the children, their hands gently tugging at her skirt. She was expressionless, as motionless as a robot.

In the sunlight, her eyes didn’t blink, as blue as the sea.

Gu Qiye looked at the dazed expression of the white-haired girl in the photo, his mouth subtly lifting into a smile as he let out a low chuckle.

You Ruirui lowered her head, pondered, and asked in puzzlement, "Why record a video if you’re going to meet them directly with me?"

"Because they like Blue Arc, not Gu Qiye." Gu Qiye turned his head to look at her, "Don’t you like Blue Arc too?"

You Ruirui was taken aback.

"What if they like Gu Qiye?" She was silent for a long, long while before asking softly.

"Why?" Gu Qiye asked, "They probably haven’t even met me..." He was interrupted before he could finish his sentence.

"Because the person I like, they will like too," You Ruirui said softly.

Gu Qiye was slightly startled as she rarely interrupted him so firmly. Moments later, he came to his senses and turned his head to look at her, belatedly.

At this moment, she was lowering her head, her snow-white hair covering her eyes, the tips of her ears slightly reddened.

The wind tonight was boisterous, ruffling their hair as it blew from the canal. Gu Qiye stared at her blankly for a long time, his ears also turning a bit red, "What you just said, does it mean..."

"Don’t look at me like that," she said softly, "the robot... is going to break."

You Ruirui suddenly reached out and tugged at his sleeve.

Before Gu Qiye could say anything, she held onto his sleeve, walking forward without looking back. They crossed the incomplete section of the railing and stepped down along the riverbank to the water’s edge.

Gu Qiye was led by her, watching her back in a daze.

The girl walked quickly, her steps light yet hurried, as if concealing something.

She reached the canal’s edge but continued walking straight towards the water. Just when Gu Qiye thought she was about to take him with her into the river, the water ahead suddenly froze into a layer of ice.

You Ruirui held his hand, lowered her head, and slowly walked forward on the ice.

After a while, the ice beneath their feet ceased to extend forward, and they stopped in the center of the canal.

She halted, surrounded by brightly illuminated tour boats, the warm glow and night breeze brushing against her face, lifting her hair.

"I’ve stopped here... aren’t you going to speak?" she said softly, releasing Gu Qiye’s sleeve.

The ice they traversed bore two lines of footprints, seemingly stretching to the end of the world. She slowly turned back, raising her eyes to look at the bewildered Gu Qiye.

"You Ruirui." After a long silence, Gu Qiye suddenly spoke.

"Yes."

"After this mission is over, let’s talk about this topic," Gu Qiye said softly, "So, you have to live on." As he spoke, he reached out to touch the top of her head, the white hair flowing through his fingers like snow.

After a long, long silence, You Ruirui spoke softly.

"I don’t understand."

"Don’t understand what?"

"Was I rejected?"

She slowly lifted her head, her ice-blue eyes shimmering with waves, rippling.

"That’s why I said you’re a robot." Gu Qiye curled his lips, speaking softly.

By now, people on the surrounding sightseeing boats had noticed them. They were shouting and pulling out their phones.

"Looks like we should leave. Otherwise, if we’re photographed by the passerby, we’ll be punished when we get back." Gu Qiye said, glancing around.

He gazed into You Ruirui’s eyes, smiled at her, took her hand, bent down, and gently picked her up. Then he transformed into a streak of pitch-black lightning, swiftly traversing the river surface.

Moments later, the electric arc still lingered in the air, but the ice they had walked upon had already shattered, the footprints vanished.

The bustling lights on both sides of the river illuminated the water’s surface.

At this moment, the shattered ice dust rose and fell in the floating glow, swaying towards the distance.