Rulu remembered that Captain Guan had mentioned waiting in a nearby vilge, so he continued moving through the darkness, searching for the vilge Captain Guan had described.

  Since it was the dead of night and Rulu was unfamiliar with the area, it took him nearly two hours to finally find the vilge and arrive at its entrance.

  "Who's there?!" a voice suddenly called out from the darkness. Rulu felt the voice sounded somewhat familiar — it resembled A-Bing from the Rebels — so he called back: "It's me, Rulu. Are you with the Rebels?"

  "Is that Rulu? You're actually alright?!" A male voice that sounded very much like Captain Guan came from the darkness, and as it did, lights began to appear around him.

  Rulu looked toward the light and saw roughly ten to fifteen people sitting in a field near the vilge entrance. Though the light was dim and he couldn't make out their faces clearly, he guessed they were Captain Guan's group who had escaped through the underground tunnel earlier.

  "Rulu, I thought I'd never see you again…" An excited female voice came from the field. Rulu turned toward the sound and saw a young woman crawl out of the field and come stumbling toward him.

  "Nana!" Rulu immediately recognized her and called out joyfully, hurrying in her direction.

  The two met, and Nana opened her arms wanting to embrace him, but she suddenly remembered something, her face flushed, and she held back — instead reaching out to grip Rulu's hands tightly.

  "Rulu, I waited so long without seeing you. I thought you were going to leave me behind, that I'd never see you again." Nana's face showed a sorrowful expression as she spoke with deep feeling.

  "How could that be? I'm here now, aren't I?" Rulu said with a smile.

  Nana's gaze moved over Rulu, and when she saw his disheveled appearance and the bruises on his face, she couldn't help but reach out to touch his cheek, asking with concern, "Rulu, you're hurt — is it serious?"

  "No, just superficial wounds. Don't worry about it, Nana." Rulu smiled, deliberately acting casual.

  "You're fibbing. Where else are you hurt — your shoulder? Your back? Let me have a look." Nana said anxiously, running her hands over him. Not wanting to worry her too much, Rulu didn't resist.

  "Hey, Rulu, you really are something! I couldn't beat those two nasty old men, and yet you came out without a scratch?!" A light, cheerful young female voice rang out, and with it, a red-haired young woman appeared not far away, smiling as she walked briskly to Rulu's side.

  "Kallen." Rulu held Nana's hand and turned toward the red-haired woman.

  By now, Kallen had removed her red armor and was dressed in a red form-fitting outfit. Likely from years of regur training, her figure looked remarkably toned — carrying the kind of beauty one sees in athletes.

  "Hmm, who knew you had such a great figure, Kallen? At first I thought you'd be all muscle, but you're actually quite feminine — you've really changed my impression of you." Rulu studied her for a moment before commenting openly.

  "You… what are you talking about? Honestly, what a ridiculous thing to say." Kallen was taken aback, a faint blush spreading across her face. She shifted uncomfortably, pcing a hand across her chest and turning to stand sideways to Rulu.

  "Ha ha ha, so Kallen can get embarrassed after all! You always seem so carefree, but you do have a girly side to you!" A-Bing let out a teasing ugh as he walked over alongside Captain Guan and the other Rebels.

  "Shut your mouth, or you'll regret it." Kallen snapped fiercely at A-Bing, who sensibly closed his mouth and said nothing more.

  "Kallen, how are your injuries?" Rulu remembered that Kallen had been struck by a rge boulder thrown by the white-haired elder, so he asked.

  "Much better now. It was truly dangerous back there — if that boulder had hit me one more time, I might have actually died. I really have you to thank for that, Rulu." Kallen let out a long breath, looking shaken by the memory.

  "Don't mention it. That white-haired old man is probably a level-five Magic Ultra-capable — he can manipute the gravity of objects to attack others. He's extremely powerful and genuinely difficult to deal with." Rulu said, and remembering how close he had come to dying at the old man's hands, he felt a lingering chill himself.

  At that point, Captain Guan came to Rulu's side and said: "Rulu, those two old men were so formidable — how did you manage to escape from them?"

  Rulu was momentarily stunned. He thought of the green-haired woman he had encountered in the underground cavern, and the strange power she had given him. The whole incident was so bizarre that he felt it was hard to put into words, so he answered vaguely:

  "It's a long story. I managed to escape mostly by sheer luck. I'll expin the details another time."

  Captain Guan nodded. "That's alright — as long as you're safe, Rulu. We've left the Concession, but the Sanctuary's forces may pursue us outside its borders. It's best we move to somewhere safer as soon as possible. There's a secret Rebels stronghold nearby — it's remote and hard to find. Come with us there, Rulu, Nana."

  Rulu felt Captain Guan's reasoning was sound and said: "Let's do as you say, Captain Guan."

  Captain Guan said: "I've already arranged two vehicles. If there's nothing else, we should set off now."

  "Alright, thank you for everything, Captain Guan."