Chapter 259: Chapter 258: Return to the Scene

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"Dinner’s ready!" Elorie called out.

"Hmm... okay." Chen Xuan replied from leaning at the windowsill.

He was still within the dream, and the city before him was the evidence: the sky full of crimson clouds gradually faded, streetlights flickered on one by one, outlining the crisscrossing streets; window lights sporadically appeared from the apartment building not far across, as if people were finally able to return home for rest after a busy day. But in reality, whether the streets or the buildings, they were all empty, devoid of a single person.

This city of Paris seemed to belong solely to Elorie.

Chen Xuan didn’t immediately question what happened that day, because he sensed her confusion. He realized he had to play according to the dream’s rules and act his part properly. If Elorie found anything too suspicious, it might bring the dream to an abrupt end.

This is the incredible nature of dreams.

Little Angel wouldn’t be suspicious of the empty city but would grow wary if he asked too many questions.

Chen Xuan could only be patient and wait for a better opportunity.

Dinner was onion soup, pan-fried cod, beef bourguignon, and a stack of bread. Except for the bread, which was a store-bought product, all the other dishes were made by Elorie herself. The small round table was filled to the brim, looking both sumptuous and delicious.

"You’re quite the cook," Chen Xuan sincerely praised.

"Hehe, I learned it online." Elorie laughed happily, "Before Miss Liuli came, I lived here alone, gradually teaching myself to cook."

"Considering it’s been so long since we met again, it’s worth celebrating." Liuli skillfully poured red wine for all three, "Come, cheers!"

"You can only finish this one bottle," the Angel advised.

"Oh come on, it’s a rare occasion, let’s not worry about that. Having fun is what matters, right?" She laughed it off.

Chen Xuan raised his glass and clinked it with theirs, then drank it all in one go.

The taste was slightly acidic, with a hint of fruity aftertaste, exactly resembling the taste of real wine.

"Drink less, this isn’t white liquor." Liuli looked at him with disdain, though she refilled his glass but only with a little this time.

This Liuli seemed somewhat different from the N21 Liuli he knew; could it be because she’s spent half a year with Elorie as per the dream setting?

"Turns out special beings need to eat too," Chen Xuan teased.

"I could live without eating, but why not eat?" Liuli responded nonchalantly, "I have taste, smell, all the human senses, wouldn’t it be wasteful not to use them? Besides, I like Elorie’s cooking quite a lot."

According to the setting, this dinner was specially prepared by Elorie for him.

Simply because he rarely came by.

Chen Xuan didn’t expect that she would miss him so much. Her attitude was far more than just a guest to a store owner; it felt more like a rare friend.

The question was, if Elorie truly wanted to see him, why not visit him at the store through the VIP suites directly?

But Chen Xuan didn’t dare to ask this question in the dream... because how far the dream world can unfold is still unclear, and topics about boundaries might trigger a bug.

After a few rounds of drinks, a faint redness also appeared on Elorie’s face.

Chen Xuan, seeing the timing was right, cleared his throat, "How are you recovering from your previous injuries?"

"It’s all healed long ago." She replied briskly.

"Can you tell me what happened then? I kind of don’t remember." He deliberately acted slightly drunk.

"It’s nothing major." Elorie smiled, her gaze at Chen Xuan turned a bit lost in thought, "I was looking up information in the library, I left a bit late, the streets were very quiet, I didn’t pay much attention, and ended up being ambushed."

Chen Xuan held his breath, "The attacker... used a gun, right?"

"Yes, and the bullets could track, worthy of future tech." She said it blandly, as if the one assaulted wasn’t herself, "Non-central parts of Paris were always chaotic, but I didn’t expect a hundred years on, law and order hadn’t improved, people were still running amok with automatic weapons."

Indeed, she was talking about this assault!

Chen Xuan didn’t know the details of the attack, and thus the dream he imagined certainly didn’t include related content, but Elorie recounted the circumstances. These memories could only come from her!

"I got hit several times and tried to run, but a demon intercepted me... It’s funny how, as an Angel, I couldn’t even match a demon. He felt different from usual demons, not at all frail." Elorie smiled, "Luckily the store manager showed up, otherwise I could’ve died."

"I... showed up?" Chen Xuan said instinctively.

"Yeah, I was calling your name at a critical moment, then you dashed out from a nearby store, not only driving the demon away but also taking me out of danger." Elorie lowered her head slightly, "You said whenever I encounter trouble, I can call for your help at any time, and you’d solve it for me... the store manager’s promises are indeed reliable."

Chen Xuan felt a slight tremor inside.

Is this how dreams are woven?

Did he ever say such words? Definitely. To every customer visiting the Ability Store, he’d say lines like that, just like giving a professional smile to every customer at a fast-food joint.

But it didn’t represent his genuine thoughts.

To him, every customer was different; some customers could offer abilities of more value and thus received more of his attention.

Elorie was precisely not one of those.

But he seemed to have overlooked that for customers, he and the store were the only hope most of the time.

Because there weren’t multiple Ability Stores for them to choose from in this world.

Fact was, Chen Xuan didn’t arrive on the scene in time; when the store connected to her area, she was already lying on a cold emergency bed.

Yet the dream altered this segment... why? Did Elorie still believe that deeply inside? That he would definitely fulfill his promise?

Chen Xuan suddenly tasted a hint of bitterness.

He operated a store, but it shouldn’t just be a store.

"Don’t worry... everything will turn out fine." Chen Xuan paused momentarily, speaking slowly, "No matter how severe the situation, even if it means altering the future again, I will ensure your safety."

"Mhm!" Elorie nodded with a smile, "Thank you. That’s always what I believed."

"Oh, it’s so sour, hurry drink up!" Liuli poured another half glass for the two of them.

After eating two bites of grilled fish, Chen Xuan asked in perplexity, "Why did the demon find you?"

He previously suspected that demons might not have disappeared completely, but had quietly blended into human society without leaving traces and had specifically warned Elorie. According to Elorie, she never exposed her identity as an Angel, relying almost solely on libraries and the internet for an information gathering.

"I found it strange too, initially couldn’t make sense of it," Little Angel sighed, "but later I suddenly recalled receiving some WeChat messages during the attack."

"WeChat? In future Paris?" Chen Xuan exclaimed. He then quickly realized it was entirely possible, because since the apocalypse was averted, every human city remained intact, and so could the company running WeChat.

"Who sent them?"

"Honglian. She is with the Dimensional Limit Mechanism."

This name was extremely familiar to Chen Xuan; he’d heard it from Lin Qing many times. "Did she need something from you?"

Elorie took out her phone and showed it to him.

"I kept the chat log, it’s my only tie to the outside world."

It was simply a few inquiries, like ones a concerned group leader, anxious for a missing subordinate, would ask.

Chen Xuan didn’t notice anything odd at first glance, but when he looked again, he suddenly spotted an inconsistency. No, there was something wrong with these messages!

His eyes finally paused on the lines "We’re still looking for you" and "Where are you? We’ve been searching for you for so long".

How could Honglian, who entered Otherworld with Jiang Siqi, have any memory of searching for Elorie?!

Jiang Siqi didn’t even have an impression of the apocalypse!

They might have initially tried to find out Elorie’s whereabouts, but the moment history altered, they shouldn’t have remembered this at all!

The person who sent these messages probably wasn’t Honglian at all.