Chapter 104 - Star of Art

When Xu Xiaoyou opened her eyes again, the surroundings had become noisy.Unknowingly, the car was already filled with people.

The train was descending from the sky to the ground, and the pitch-black starry night outside the window was gradually replaced by golden clouds as the altitude dropped.

Through the window, she saw a world covered in vast white snow, with a line of pale golden light spreading over the horizon, awakening this snowy world. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel-fire.ɴet

The steel barrier stretching into the sky was etched with erosion marks, and the raging and flying snowflakes condensed into frost on the window surface. Buildings resembling crystalline prisms rose from the ground, this city like a dazzling jewel on a crown, reflecting multicolored light.

Xu Xiaoyou knew about this European-style architecture; it had been meticulously planned during its design phase. Those arches and columns were arranged according to the golden ratio because this ratio could provide a natural visual aesthetic. The value 0.618, as an approximation of the golden split number, could often be seen in various artworks, including but not limited to paintings, architecture, and sculpture.

For example, the "Mona Lisa", the Parthenon, and "Venus de Milo".

It seemed she had arrived at the Star of Art, Xu Xiaoyou thought, and it really only took five seconds from departure to arrival at the destination without any unexpected events.

As the most economically developed, safest, spiritually enriched, and romantically atmospheric Nest City under the control of Cosmic Heavy Industries.

The Star of Art has too many famous places, various oil paintings, sculptures, songs, and many celebrities renowned throughout the Cosmos mainly come from this place.

Just like its name, it is the brightest star under the Cosmos.

The artworks born from here are not just simply beautiful; take oil painting as an example, a painting named "Starry Night" once fetched a sky-high price of three million inspiration at an auction in Chichu Heaven, shocking the entire Cosmos and causing a sensation on all social forums at that time.

Just being near this painting could help those in magic professions to calm their minds, enhance their perception and understanding of elements, and even allow their consciousness to extend into the mysterious domain and commune with ancient entities.

Though this may not necessarily be a good thing, after all, for most people with an unstable will, the outcome of interacting with those entities is either insanity or madness.

The artwork was ultimately not auctioned off but was instead kept in a local museum on the Star of Art for posterity to visit.

The train slowly pulled into the station.

Xu Xiaoyou observed the other people in the carriage; all of them appeared wealthy or noble, wearing various famous luxury brands, clearly high-caliber talents from various companies dispatched to this Nest City on business.

In contrast, she was dressed in nothing more than an ordinary white hoodie and loose cargo pants, making her seem like she had snuck in illegally.

Amazing how Celestial Wings Space-Time could gather people from all over the world heading to the Star of Art on this same train, their spatial technology was even more magical than she imagined.

"The train has arrived at the Nest City Star of Art, please passengers take your time organizing your luggage and stay composed, soon the train staff will guide you to the platform."

Apart from those elite individuals, there were also young masters and misses holding hands like couples from various families, as well as many who came for dates, as the Star of Art was also a famous dating destination, with many tourist attractions that became trendy, in addition to the overall artistic, slightly romantic atmosphere attracting couples from around the world to this place.

Xu Xiaoyou stood up, dusted herself off.

Beside her seat, two tall figures also stood up, both wearing the uniform of Cosmic Heavy Industries, with restrained auras. It was only then that Xu Xiaoyou noticed their presence.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Miss Xu."

One shadow approached her, lowering his head.

"We were sent by Cosmic Heavy Industries to protect your personal safety during the trip. I’m Lin Sheng, and this is my younger brother, Lin Xing."

Xu Xiaoyou already knew that Cosmic Heavy Industries wouldn’t let an S-class employee roam freely outside.

Under the guise of protection, these two brothers were actually sent by the company specifically to monitor her.

She had long heard about the ’Shadow’ cultivated by Cosmic Heavy Industries, specializing in assassination, surveillance, and similar tasks.

This was her first time seeing a Shadow. In her impression, they were like the taciturn assassins in movies, lurking in the shadows, with targets only realizing the danger when their throats had already been slit.

She hadn’t sensed the aura from them earlier; there was only one possibility.

Their strength far exceeded her own, able to hide their aura very well, possibly reaching the level of Two Tier, or even Three Tier Cleaners.

"Over the next month, we ask Miss Xu for your guidance."

Seeing the two were still quite polite to her, Xu Xiaoyou blinked her eyes:

"And if I don’t guide you, then what?"

Upon hearing this, beads of sweat appeared densely on the foreheads of the two Shadows.

They too had only been assigned the task at the last minute, a highest-level red commission, meaning this seemingly innocent and harmless girl was at least an S-class employee.

Every employee rated as S-class by the company is extremely dangerous, either having the combat power of a High Tier Cleaner or possessing methods to alter the pattern of the Nest City, not to mention, this girl was from the security department.

They were well aware of the situation in the security department of the Cosmic Heavy Industries headquarters where they worked.

Nothing in that place was easy...

And they had also heard about a newly promoted S-class employee in Corrupt Nest City who had single-handedly resolved a disaster-level monster story.

It was hard not to associate the girl with that incident.

More terrifyingly, they couldn’t even discern the girl’s true strength.

Someone who could resolve a disaster-level monster story, how could they just be a First Tier Cleaner!?

There was only one possibility...

The two Shadows swallowed nervously.

This seemingly harmless girl had Fourth Tier, or even higher tier strength!

She hid her true strength.

With this thought, their bodies became drenched in cold sweat.

Is the company kidding?

Sending two Three Tier Cleaners to monitor such a monster, if she suddenly lashed out, could they really manage the situation?

Xu Xiaoyou’s little hair strand twitched.

This felt strange, just one joking sentence from her and these two suddenly seemed really afraid of her, as if they were facing a great enemy, what was this all about?

But she didn’t think too much of it, yawned, and followed the rushing crowd to exit the train.

She had to find a way to shake off the two Shadows.

After getting off the train, the platform was brightly lit, bustling figures passed in front of the long silver-grey train, this steel beast lay dormant in the snow, in slumber.

The dome of the station cast large shadows, while the nearby square accumulated thick snow.

It was still early, and there weren’t many people in the square, cold and quiet, with only an occasional person holding a morning paper, sipping coffee, walking by.

People here dressed like gentlemen, with English-style coats, hats, impeccably groomed from head to toe, even with beautifully tied bowties.

Xu Xiaoyou even had an inexplicable premonition, as if in the next moment someone with a high nose bridge, a smiley face, would come up to her and ask in a genuine Star of Art tone, "Oh~ how do you do today, beautiful miss?"

The exit of the station was quite lively, people from all over the world who came to the Star of Art would exclaim "Wow—" upon seeing those magnificent and aesthetically pleasing buildings, then immediately start taking pictures.

Under the streetlights, the glow of yellow fireflies fluttered about, like little fireflies swirling in the air.

The cold wind crept into her sleeves, the chilly sensation came from her skin, and Xu Xiaoyou sneezed.

"Achoo!"

The two Shadows shook at the sound.

Her nose was red and slightly twitchy, she took out a tissue to blow her nose, then rubbed her arms, nonchalantly glancing at the two beside her.

"It’s freezing, no one mentioned the weather being this cold on the Star of Art, it must be below minus ten degrees..."

One of the Shadows understood, and somehow produced a neatly folded military coat, after unfolding it, he shook it and placed it gently on the blonde girl’s head.

It’s probably some space ring or something, Xu Xiaoyou thought.

Her already short frame appeared even tinier against the backdrop of the military coat, Xu Xiaoyou struggled to poke her head out from the garment.

Once clad in the fleece-lined coat, Xu Xiaoyou felt much warmer, gently stomping her feet, cupping her hands near her mouth to breathe warm air onto them.

Warm mist rose into the air, warming her chilly hands.

It was still not completely bright, half the sky was stained with morning red, the other half gray under wind and snow.

Under the streetlights, the girl’s face, tinted red by the snow, looked quite endearing to the two Shadows.

"Are you hungry?" Xu Xiaoyou suddenly asked.

The two Shadows glanced at each other.