Chapter Sixty-Eight: Mihoko’s Suspicion

"Let's go, Sister Keiko!" Yue Longze urged Miho Keiko along, for there was truly nothing interesting to see here. Little did he know that, at the other end of the tunnel, Daigu and Horii from the Victory Team were investigating the corpse of a giant dinosaur encased in ice!

———

"Wow, it's huge—absolutely enormous!" Horii stared in shock at the massive frozen dinosaur before him.

"It's hard to believe..." He continued to examine the creature with intense focus.

"There's something even more unbelievable," interjected a stern-faced man in glasses and a white lab coat standing beside Daigu and Horii, clearly a researcher from the Dinosaur Biology Research Center.

"Oh?" Daigu looked at the researcher, both curious and skeptical.

"This dinosaur, from the Cretaceous period, actually underwent bio-electronic surgery," the researcher said calmly, adjusting his glasses.

"How is that possible? Who could have performed such a procedure on a dinosaur tens of millions of years ago?" Daigu frowned, clearly doubting the researcher's claim. Meanwhile, Horii had raised an infrared scope to his eyes; through the specialized lens, he could see intricate electronic circuits inside the dinosaur’s body.

"It's truly a bio-electronic dinosaur..." Horii lowered the scope, his expression grave as he addressed Daigu.

Ding— Ding—

Just then, the Victory Team’s special communicator, the PDI, began to ring.

"TPC headquarters is being bombarded by intense electromagnetic waves—anomalies are occurring," Norui reported urgently on the communicator’s screen.

Snapping the communicator shut, Daigu and Horii wasted no time. With swift, practiced movements, they prepared to rush out and drive the Sherlock Patrol Car back to base.

——————

"Miho, how long do you plan to stare at these dinosaur fossils?" Yue Longze ambled along lazily, finding the whole display rather dull—just a few glances were more than enough for him. But Miho was absolutely enthralled.

"Idiot! I told you to call me Sister Keiko from now on!" Miho pouted, puffing her cheeks and giving Longze’s head a gentle knock.

"Alright, alright, Sister Keiko!" Yue Longze replied helplessly, still not quite used to this sudden demand to change how he addressed her.

"Since you like wandering so much, why don’t we go play inside that tunnel we saw earlier?" Longze's eyes lit up with mischief—if she enjoyed this, he’d let her have her fill.

"Really?" Miho tilted her delicate head, rubbing her soft, refined chin between thumb and forefinger.

"Really!"

"You're not tricking me?"

"If I’m lying, I’m a dog!" With that, Yue Longze grabbed Miho’s slender wrist and led her toward the previously forbidden tunnel.

They soon arrived beside the tunnel. Because entry was prohibited, there were hardly any visitors—only a handful of people nearby.

"Shh..." Yue Longze raised a finger to his lips, signaling Miho to be quiet.

"When I count down from three, let’s dash in while no one’s looking!" he whispered, eyeing the distant visitors to make sure their attention wasn’t on them.

"Okay!" Miho nodded obediently, balling her small fists, her face set with determination.

Longze couldn’t help but laugh at her serious expression.

"Get ready!" He crouched low and began counting.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

With a swift motion, he and Miho slipped beneath the barrier.

"Aze, why does it feel like we’re acting like thieves...?" the two of them hid behind a wall inside the tunnel, which perfectly shielded their bodies.

"Nonsense! We’re just here to have some fun," Longze replied with a straight face, though he couldn’t deny that sneaking around like this did make him feel a bit like a thief.

He cautiously poked his head out to check on the few people at the tunnel entrance—none of them were looking their way.

"Come on!" He gestured and led Miho forward, treading softly and quietly further into the tunnel, anxious about being discovered.

As they walked through the deserted corridor, Yue Longze began to feel more like a secret agent than a trespasser.

Even the lightest footsteps echoed faintly in the empty, slightly damp tunnel. The tapping of their shoes reverberated in Longze’s ears. As they ventured deeper, his extraordinary hearing picked up the sound of hurried footsteps approaching from up ahead!

"Not good!" Longze stopped abruptly. Seeing Miho’s puzzled look, he explained, "Someone’s coming this way."

"How come I can’t hear any footsteps?" Miho gazed at Longze intently, as if trying to see right through him.

Longze inwardly sighed—he knew he had aroused her suspicion.

And he wasn’t wrong. Ever since the incident on the foggy mountain, when the tumor meteorites attacked and Longze summoned the Cloud Sword to protect her—only for it to vanish right after—Miho had been suspicious. Though frightened by the monsters, she hadn’t missed those strange details. Combined with Longze’s almost supernatural hearing, she genuinely wondered if he might be an alien.

But there was no time to dwell on that now. Longze pulled Miho down, and together they crouched in a recess by the tunnel wall, pressing themselves into the corner to minimize their exposure.

The approaching footsteps were urgent, suggesting the person was running and unlikely to glance to the side—most people focus straight ahead when running at speed.

The rapid footsteps grew louder, coming closer and closer.

Longze stared fixedly at the path beside him, ready to bolt if they were discovered.

Two figures in white uniforms flashed past their line of sight—it was Daigu and Horii from the Victory Team!

"Strange... what are they doing here?" Longze and Miho exchanged glances, sharing the same confusion.

Longze helped Miho to her feet and brushed the dust from her back, then did the same for his own legs. "Wherever the Victory Team shows up... it never bodes well."

"You’ve still got dust on your back." Miho, standing beside him, reached out with her delicate hand to brush off the remaining dirt, then added, "Maybe we should've greeted them just now..."

Longze shot her a look. "You think of that now, after they’re gone? Besides, this really wasn’t the time for pleasantries!"

"Oh..." Miho lowered her head, lost in thought.

After a moment of silence, she spoke softly.

"Aze... are you... an alien? Or maybe... you have some kind of special power...?" Her big eyes blinked, looking at Longze with timid curiosity.

"How could I possibly be an alien? And I don’t have any special powers either!" Longze replied, knowing full well that Miho’s questioning was only just beginning...