"What is it? Go ahead."
Arden nodded in satisfaction and listened attentively.
"When you took me back last time, how did you know we'd meet again so soon?"
Ellen had wanted to ask this the moment they met again, but the situation hadn't been appropriate, so she had held it in until now.
"Could it be… that you already knew the master had a mission that required cooperation between Victoria Housekeeping Co and Yunkui Summit?"
"Of course not. I only found out we'd be working together when we rendezvoused."
Arden gave a straightforward denial.
"Then…"
"Of course—it was divination!"
Without letting the shark girl speculate further, Arden gave the answer directly.
"Yunkui Summit's divination is quite famous. Ellen, don't tell me you didn't know?"
"I do know…"
Her school friends often talked about going to Yunkui Summit for love divinations and the like, so Ellen had heard plenty.
"It's just that… isn't the one who's really amazing at divination Master Yixuan?"
"Heh heh! I'm Master Yixuan's direct disciple. My divination skills were passed down properly, you know."
At this point, Arden couldn't help but feel a bit proud.
Most of his abilities came from the system, but divination was something he had mastered through his own talent and effort. It was also the only skill that exceeded the system's limits and reached a [Grandmaster]-level standard.
"By the way, want me to divine your love fortune or something?"
As he spoke, Arden took out a talisman specifically used for divination and waved it in front of Ellen, clearly eager to try.
"Um… I guess that's fine, but don't expect me to pay!"
Victoria Housekeeping Co paid well, but Ellen lived on her own—rent, tuition, and daily expenses were all on her shoulders—so she wasn't exactly flush with cash.
"No divination fee? That works. But in exchange, you'll have to…"
A faint smile curved Arden's lips. He still remembered how his little tiger had been refused earlier.
….
"Only… just a little, okay!"
Ellen's personality was cold on the outside but warm on the inside. After some shy hesitation at the mention of touching her shark tail, she eventually agreed.
"T-Then I won't hold back—rawr~~!"
Watching the shark tail swing over, Ju Fufu's eyes lit up as she let out an excited tiger-like cry.
Usually, it was Arden and Yixuan who rubbed her tail. Ju Fufu never imagined she'd have a day where she could rub someone else's tail instead.
"Slurp…"
But as Ju Fufu kept touching it, something suddenly felt off.
She started drooling.
"It smells so good! It looks really tasty, slurp~~!"
"Fufu!"
Arden, who was in the middle of reading Ellen's palm to divine her love fortune, quickly pressed down on Ju Fufu's head to stop her from actually "taking a lick."
"I… what just happened to me?"
Ju Fufu snapped back to her senses, seemingly unaware of her earlier lapse.
"Uh… nothing! Cats—no, tigers—liking fish is only natural!"
Arden forcefully came up with an excuse for her, then took out some prepared meat buns and Beast Feed Pellets and handed them over.
"Eat up and you'll be fine."
Ju Fufu was incredibly strong and could fight head-on without fear, but like most felines, her endurance wasn't great and she got hungry quickly.
That was why whenever Arden went on missions with Ju Fufu, he always prepared food and Beast Feed Pellets in advance.
"What's that? It smells amazing!"
Ellen was also drawn in. Her gaze skipped over the familiar meat buns and landed on the pale-golden, ultra-high-grade Beast Feed Pellets.
"These are Beast Feed Pellets. They're perfect for Beast-type Thirens—very nutritious."
As he explained, Arden thought about it for a moment. Sharks could probably count as beasts… more or less.
"I've got plenty. Want to try some?"
As he spoke, Arden separated a few pellets and handed them to Ellen.
"Thanks! Then I won't hold back—slurp~!"
Rumble—rumble—!
Before Ellen could even take the pellets and give them a taste, the ground suddenly began to shake violently, like an earthquake.
"!!"
All three immediately assumed combat stances.
Arden frowned, carefully scanning their surroundings.
"Again?!"
Ju Fufu was both alert and annoyed—the sensation was exactly the same as the Hollow tremor she and Arden had experienced last time.
"…"
Arden pulled out the Carrot data and checked it. As expected, there was a discrepancy between the data and the actual surroundings.
"Sigh~~! Let's contact Von Lycaon's side first."
He took out a talisman, preparing to contact Von Lycaon's team and explain the situation, but before he could activate the communication spell, a large mass of foul miasma suddenly began to gather not far away.
Gurgle… gurgle…
Then, accompanied by a series of warped sounds, a black shadow rapidly "grew" out of the miasma.
In the end, it formed a humanoid shape—like a shadow person.
"Ionized-type, Doppelganger."
Arden narrowed his eyes and called out the shadow's true nature.
Even among the bizarre and uncanny Ionized-type Ethereals, the Ionized Doppelganger was an extremely special variant.
This type of Ethereal could coat its surface with specially active ether particles, allowing it to precisely imitate a target's appearance—so convincingly that it was almost impossible to tell the difference, whether in detail or texture.
Even worse, they could mimic the target's powerful and aggressive combat techniques.
The Ionized Doppelganger facing Arden's group had taken the form of someone's shadow. Though it was unclear exactly who it was imitating, fortunately, it wasn't very strong.
"Sigh~~ Looks like more overtime."
"Mighty Tiger Descends from the Mountain!"
"Torrent Swordsmanship: Long Flow!"
"….."
"Hah…"
Working together, the three eliminated the shadow without much trouble. Arden let out a relieved breath.
"Good thing it wasn't Master Yixuan's or Hoshimi Miyabi's shadow."
Because of the Ionized-type's inherent limitations, even if it mimicked a Void Hunter, it wouldn't be as strong as the original—but it would still be far stronger than the one they had just faced. Arden's team might not have been able to handle that.
After all, before transmigrating, Arden had fought plenty of that ilk while operating agents, and he knew all too well how troublesome they could be.
"Brother Xu, how's Von Lycaon's side doing?"
Ellen asked with concern.
Even though she disliked trouble and overtime, she genuinely cared about her coworkers' safety.
"Mm."
Arden resumed the spell he had been interrupted from casting and successfully contacted Von Lycaon's team through the talisman.
"Von Lycaon, how are things on your end?"
"Encountered… strong… Ethereals… please… hurry… support…"
The connection was choppy due to distance, space distortion, and ether fluctuations, but it was clear that Von Lycaon's situation was dire and that they urgently needed assistance.
"Hold on. We're on our way!"
Arden didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately prepared to move out for support.
And then, they ran into a new problem.