Chapter 484: Cabin

[Audience Expectation +3]

Yang Xiao also reached out and shook hands with Chen Ling.

"Let's formally introduce ourselves. My name is Chen Ling." Chen Ling took the initiative.

"Chen... Ling? Which 'Ling'?"

"The 'Ling' from 'Lingren' (actor)." Seeming afraid that Yang Xiao wouldn't understand, Chen Ling added, "The 'Ling' from 'lonely and helpless'."

Yang Xiao nodded slightly. "Yang Xiao, the 'Xiao' from 'Yuanxiao' (Lantern Festival)."

After the introductions, Chen Ling withdrew his hand, fastened his seat belt again, and started the car.

"You said you want to explore the secrets, how should we do it?" Yang Xiao asked suspiciously. "Analyze the Red Star? But it has already left the Earth and entered the next orbital path..."

"Of course we can't catch up with the Red Star, but fragments of the Red Star's power remain on Earth."

"Where?"

Chen Ling didn't speak, just looked at Yang Xiao in the rearview mirror.

"Us?" Yang Xiao reacted quickly. "You mean, the reason we gained the power of knowledge is because we absorbed Red Star fragments?"

"Exactly. So the primary goal is to gather the Nine Sovereigns as much as possible."

"Since that's the case, wouldn't it have been better to just gather everyone together when we were in Shennongjia? Explaining the situation to them wouldn't that be the most convenient?" Yang Xiao asked suspiciously.

"It's not that simple."

Chen Ling handed a notepad to Yang Xiao. "Among you, some have returned from another era, and their allegiances are unclear. Some are even trying to kill the Nine Sovereigns... If I were to gather everyone together with great fanfare, not only would you be in danger, but I would also be targeted and erased."

Yang Xiao took the notepad. It was the character relationship map that Chen Ling had organized himself. Seeing the names of Dr. Lou and Dr. Ji circled, he suddenly realized.

"No wonder you kept asking about their research fields at the time... You suspect them?"

"Exactly, and I can't rule out the possibility that others are also pretending." Chen Ling sighed. "So, I can only come to find you first, and then secretly contact the other Nine Sovereigns."

"I see."

Yang Xiao looked at the people on the list, thoughtful. "But I'm not very close with these people... Only Lu Xun can be considered an old friend, and I only got to know Su Zhiwei during the exploration."

He looked up at Chen Ling. "Do you have the next candidate?"

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"Su Zhiwei."

Chen Ling said calmly, "During the exploration, I also kept an eye on the others. Su Zhiwei acted with us the whole time and didn't have any strange behavior. Compared to the others, her suspiciousness is very low, so she can be trusted... Besides, I'm also very interested in her 'String Theory'."

"Dr. Su... I have a good impression of her too." Yang Xiao nodded slightly.

"Do you know where she went?"

"I don't know, but I can ask around. She told me her unit when we were chatting."

"Good, then I'll leave it to you."

Yang Xiao took out his phone, flipped through his contacts for a while, locked onto a name, and dialed the number.

About five or six minutes later, he wrote down an address on the back of the notepad and handed it to Chen Ling.

"I asked. She didn't return to her unit but went straight back to her hometown... She must be psychologically exhausted after experiencing this and wants to rest for a while." Yang Xiao pointed to the address. "I found out her home address from a friend, so we can go directly there."

"Gusu?" Chen Ling glanced at it and nodded. "Good, let's go to the airport now."

"Let me check the latest flights... There's one in two hours. Give me your ID number, and I'll buy a ticket for you too."

"Buy a ticket?" Chen Ling chuckled and pressed the accelerator to the floor, and the car sped off into the distance!

"I never buy tickets when I fly."

……

Airport.

Chen Ling was wearing a brown overcoat. He closed his flip phone and walked to one of the machines that printed boarding passes, and two tickets were automatically spat out.

Chen Ling tucked one into his pocket and handed the other to Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao saw the words "First Class," "Yang Xiao," and "VIP Channel" on the ticket, and his mouth fell open involuntarily...

"How did you do that?" he asked in disbelief.

Chen Ling smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Watch carefully, learn carefully. You'll be able to do it too in the future."

[Audience Expectation +2]

Watching Chen Ling's retreating back, Yang Xiao stood there for a long time before he came to his senses and hurried to catch up. "But isn't this not very good? Flying without paying should be considered fare evasion. I feel like we should go and pay for it."

"How do you know I didn't pay?" Chen Ling raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't pay, how could it spit out a ticket for me?"

"You..."

"It's just that I didn't spend my own money." Chen Ling said calmly. "In this world, some people's money is not legitimate anyway. I just froze their accounts and collected a little handling fee along the way."

Yang Xiao: ...

Compared to fare evasion, Yang Xiao's acceptance of this "punishing evil and promoting good" method was significantly higher, and he didn't pursue the matter of paying for the ticket, walking straight toward security.

The two passed through security smoothly and boarded the plane. Chen Ling had booked first class, which was not only spacious but also had very few passengers on this flight, so they were almost the only two sitting together, and the other seats were empty.

"So this is first class..."

Yang Xiao seemed to be sitting in first class for the first time, still fiddling with the tilt of the seat, while Chen Ling closed his eyes and began to rest.

Time passed minute by minute, and most of the passengers had boarded. Just when Chen Ling thought they had booked the entire first class, a burly figure dragging heavy luggage boarded the plane.

"Hello, sir, your seat is here..." After checking the ticket, the flight attendant enthusiastically led him to another seat in first class.

"I'll help you put your luggage away..."

"No need." Nie Yu's cold voice rang out. Then, the man used a little force and put the black metal suitcase into the overhead compartment with a clatter. Although the box didn't look big, it was heavy.

Hearing this sound, Chen Ling instinctively opened his eyes and turned to look in the man's direction...

Seeming to notice Chen Ling's gaze, the man also looked back, and their eyes met in the air for an instant.

But the next moment, Nie Yu's gaze shifted away, and he went to his seat and sat down, separated from Chen Ling by only one aisle.

"This guy..." Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly.