After Frost and his people left, an awkward silence filled the hall.
Chloe took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her heart: "Alright, everyone, you're dismissed."
Turning to Serie, her voice returned to its usual gentleness: "Come with me, I'll show you to your room."
She led Serie through the crowd, deeper into the darker areas of the air-raid shelter.
They finally stopped in front of a metal door that was clearly a later addition.
Chloe pushed it open, revealing an extremely simple room inside.
What met the eye were cold, bare concrete walls and ceiling, with the rough texture characteristic of an air-raid shelter.
In the corner, some newly installed moisture-proofing and simple ventilation pipe connections could be seen, which were among the few signs of modification.
A sturdy iron bunk bed, a simple storage cabinet, a table, and a chair were all the furnishings.
Light came from a low-power emergency lamp overhead, casting a slightly harsh, cool glow.
"I'm sorry, the conditions... might be a bit rudimentary," Chloe's voice was a little soft in the empty concrete room, with a hint of apology. "And... about this Black King matter, I didn't ask for your opinion beforehand, I apologize..."
Serie shook her head, indicating she didn't mind.
Chloe had practically given her half of her possessions and even her people, so Serie naturally had no complaints.
Although she would bear corresponding responsibilities, it was also an opportunity.
The only problem was... were they really going to get married? That's just too...
As Serie was pondering, Chloe looked at her, her eyes becoming somewhat complex and probing, and she asked softly, "Lord Goluthos... I wonder if you still have any impression of Black Queen?"
Serie was startled, looking at Chloe with confusion.
Black Queen? Wasn't that the resistance organization she was currently in?
Chloe saw Serie's question.
She shook her head slightly, leaning against the wall, lost in thought: "Actually, the Black Queen organization wasn't founded by me..."
"When I was very young, I liked to follow my father and explore those forgotten corners," her voice carried a distant meaning. "One time, deep within a ruin that was almost completely buried... I discovered traces of your era."
"It was then that I realized your story wasn't a fabrication by later generations, but something that truly happened."
Chloe's gaze became bright and focused, as if piercing through time and space:
"Broken stone tablets, faded murals... they recorded the secrets of the Goluthos Dynasty from nine thousand years ago, about you, about the queen who stood beside you, and about the powerful Black Queen you jointly established."
Serie's pupils constricted slightly, and she suddenly had a strange feeling of destiny crossing time and space, reconnecting them.
She paused, a slightly self-deprecating bitter smile appearing at the corner of her mouth: "So, rather than saying I founded Black Queen, it's more like... I plagiarized your idea and name."
She spread her hands, her tone candid: "This also includes the system of co-governance by the Black King and Black Queen."
"It's just that our current Black Queen, compared to the glory of your era..."
"It's insignificant, like a group of ants in front of Saint Martan."
By the end, Chloe's voice became a little despondent.
She lowered her eyelashes slightly.
Just then, a slightly cool hand gently covered the back of her hand, which was resting by her side.
Chloe was startled and looked over.
Serie was looking at her.
There was no ridicule in those clear, emerald green eyes, nor was there condescending pity, only a calm understanding.
She indeed couldn't speak, but this simple gesture was worth a thousand words.
Chloe's heart felt as if it had been brushed by a warm current, and most of her sense of loss was instantly dispelled.
She gently squeezed Serie's hand in return, a hopeful smile blooming on her face again, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Serie: "But, now you're back!"
"With you here, restoring the glory of Black Queen... will definitely no longer be an unreachable dream!"
"However..." Chloe finished, looking at Serie's slightly tired expression, and considerately advised: "You should rest well first."
After all, Serie had expended a great deal of energy during the battle just now.
Even a short nap in the bumpy jeep could not fully restore her strength.
She pointed to an equally heavy door opposite, "I live right across, feel free to find me if you need anything."
Watching Chloe walk into the room opposite, Serie was thoughtful.
So...
"Black King" and "Black Queen" were just job titles.
They had absolutely nothing to do with a marital relationship like a king and queen?
Cough cough... she almost forgot! Her mind had just flashed with a tiny bit... of fantasy about married life.
Truly... overthinking!
She... she wasn't disappointed at all!
Serie quickly shook her head, bundling up those inappropriate distractions and throwing them out of her mind.
Important matters first!
The most urgent task was to have Kuchiha open a stable Rabbit Hole.
With this spatial passage, it would be much more convenient for her and other Witch clones to enter and exit the Black Queen headquarters, and even Saint Martan.
A moment later, within the door frame of Serie's room, the air seemed to be stirred by an invisible hand.
A door flowing with dazzling, dreamlike colorful light appeared out of thin air.
The halo swirled, as if a rainbow had been crushed and poured down.
It instantly dispelled the gloom and severity of the air-raid shelter, illuminating the area around the doorway with fantastic colors.
Immediately after, a fluffy white ball with a silver spiral horn on its head lightly leaped out of the hole.
It curiously surveyed this unfamiliar concrete world.
When Serie saw the Unicorn Rabbit, she instinctively smiled, reaching out to hug it and rub it as she usually did when inside Kuchiha's body, and praise it with "Well done."
However, the Unicorn Rabbit's large eyes widened instantly when it saw Serie's outstretched hand!
All its fur bristled up with a "whoosh"!
It let out a nearly inaudible, short, terrified "Chirp!"
Then—
Whoosh!
It turned around sharply and darted back into the Rabbit Hole, which was still flowing with dazzling light, with a desperate, scrambling momentum, moving so fast that only a white blur remained!
Serie's hand was still awkwardly suspended in mid-air.
...Serie was silent for a full three seconds.
Tsk! Almost forgot!
She was Goluthos now...
It seemed Kuchiha's Rabbit Spirit... had an unusually large psychological shadow of Goluthos!
Serie lay on the hard iron bunk bed, feeling depressed.
Her body was indeed tired, and the slightly heavy dampness of the concrete room made her instinctively shrink into the covers.
Gradually... she closed her eyes.
When she woke up, she had to find a way to locate Centipede and Toad.
Chloe, as a "local expert," might be able to help her.
Her consciousness blurred, like a feather sinking into warm water.
At some point, the hard, cold sensation disappeared.
It was replaced by an indescribable softness and warmth.
She felt as if she was sinking into clouds, or perhaps wrapped in the most precious silk, with an extremely faint, elegant, and time-worn exotic fragrance lingering at her nose—like spices offered in ancient temples, mixed with a certain cool floral scent.
She felt herself resting in someone's arm, her body gently embraced.
In her hazy vision, the outline of a woman was sketched.
Familiar, yet strange.
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