Overturned Tower

At this moment, Xiao Liuli's face showed no trace of the confidence and cunningness of yesterday.

After tidying up her clothes, she took off her crying mask and sat in front of Russell who was waiting at the round table, her cheeks flushed.

She obviously hadn't sobered up yet, or was thinking about something else and was distracted - Xiao Liuli subconsciously picked up a can of beer from the table, opened the ring and poured a full glass for Russell.

Fortunately, what Xiao Liuli filled him with was not the rye whiskey that the two girls in her arms fed her before, but twelve cans of ice-cold beer placed on the table like an iron tower.

This made Russell, who also took off his mask, swallow his rejection and could only nod and take the wine glass.

"...Thank you, thank you?"

Russell took the cold beer with some hesitation. This temperature is also the time when it tastes best.

The foam spreads very slowly and is brown in color.

Russell put his nose close and sniffed, smelling an obvious, slightly burnt, strange and bitter smell.

Apparently good wine.

This is supposed to be some kind of high-priced craft beer...but that also means it's probably going to be more bitter.

It's not that Russell can't drink, it's just that he was a little injured when he was holding back alcohol when he was in school - at least he would definitely not drink when he was alone.

Mainly because of this strange scene like "come and meet my brothers for a full drink" and "brother will give you a full drink and sit down and talk", he was confused for a moment.

It was as if the person in front of him was not the top idol of Happy Island... but some social big brother with a bold personality.

...By the way, can executives drink alcohol during working hours?

Russell held the glass and fell into deep thought.

Xiao Liuli looked at this scene and obviously realized something was wrong.

She apologized profusely: "Sorry, I didn't order tea here... Well, whatever you want to drink, I'll order some more!"

"No, it's almost noon now... Why don't I go treat you to a meal!"

"It's okay, it's okay, I can drink this."

Russell quickly refused.

When Amirus invited Russell to have dinner at the "Peach Blossom Spring" before, Russell did not refuse and went with the idea of ​​eating from a wealthy family.

Although Xiao Liuli is considered a celebrity on Happy Island and her income is not low, she is still a wage earner after all.

When the two of them are not that familiar, it would be a bit shameless to ask the other party to apologize for such a trivial matter...Russell himself can't stand such soft food.

"Speaking of which..."

There was some lingering worry on Xiao Liuli's face: "Why did you come to me specifically?"

"Actually, it's not a big deal. A large part of the reason is a coincidence, and the other part is a misunderstanding."

Russell came up with the excuse he had thought of before.

He lowered his head slightly, with a proper apology on his face: "Actually, it's because... when I saw you today, I originally wanted to come and say hello. But I didn't expect you to follow someone in here."

Although Xiao Liuli's bodyguards were not seen here, Russell knew that they must be hiding nearby.

Russell didn't know the specific number of people. However, it is impossible for the newspaper to allow their top reporter to go out alone to drink wine... This may completely lead to Xiao Liuli's private contact with someone.

Russell blurred "who" he saw, and Xiao Liuli naturally filled in the content.

Even if she did get rid of her bodyguard, there must be someone in front of her. After all, there are so many people in this hall, it's impossible for them to be teleported in directly.

The beer on Xiao Liuli's table was still cold and motionless, so it must have just been delivered. Next to the sofa bed, only half the bottle of whiskey had been opened.

Judging from these details, she must have just arrived.

"I'm a little worried that something might happen to you."

So Russell showed an awkward smile on his face, lowered his head and touched his cat ears, and subconsciously moved his fingers: "So I also lurked in...

"I've been shopping here all morning. I got that name with great difficulty..."

"That's it..."

Xiao Liuli responded softly.

The next moment was a brief moment of silence.

The two extremely eloquent cats fell into silence while looking at their wine glasses.

——But this sudden silence proved Russell's previous speculation.

Generally speaking, looking for a drink in broad daylight, or even ordering two girls to accompany you, is nothing more than two situations: one is worrying about something, and the other is feeling happy.

What's more amazing is that Russell found these two emotions at the same time on Xiao Liuli's face.

Her eyes, which had been modified by the prosthetic body, no longer emit signals uncontrollably due to emotional fluctuations. But relying on micro-expressions, Russell could still judge Xiao Liuli's thoughts.

...But now it seems that Xiao Liuli is more inclined to be happy.

Another piece of evidence is that even when she fell silent, she did not drink alone, but relaxed and slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

Usually at this time, Xiao Liuli should talk to herself about what good things happened to her.

The silence at this time was precisely because she judged that this matter could not be discussed. But this matter had filled her head, and alcohol dulled her thinking, making it impossible for her to think of other topics for a while.

"Actually," Russell said suddenly, as if to break the embarrassing silence, "I do have a question.

"Do reporters from Tian'en Daily... usually run so fast?"

"What do you mean?"

"After I killed the gangsters who hijacked the airship yesterday, Mr. Amirus should have had the opportunity to find your newspaper. In the end, within five minutes, the three helicopters flew over..."

Russell asked curiously: "Are you on call all the time, like firefighters? As soon as you receive news, you will rush over immediately?"

This is actually just a common topic.

Asking questions that are related to the other person's profession, can be talked about for a while, and are not so amateurish and stupid can make the other person become more talkative.

In this way, people who would otherwise be bored can find interesting topics to talk about. Russell only needs to say "Uh-huh," "I see," and "That's it," to change the topic and find the next topic.

But unexpectedly, Xiao Liuli frowned and thought for a moment.

"I can probably tell you about this. After all, there are quite a few people who know about it."

She said seriously: "Because technically speaking, I have been on standby since the afternoon."

"……What?"

"Just the afternoon before, someone sent a letter to our newspaper office. It said that before dark tomorrow, the 'Tower of Babel' organization would launch a major operation... So I have been on standby since two or three o'clock in the afternoon. ——Until Mr. Amirus informed us about the attack on the airship through the channels of our president. I flew over immediately..."

Under normal circumstances, it is impossible to be so fast.

Xiao Liuli said with great certainty.

"How long will it take?"

"Fifteen to twenty minutes, maybe. Not all news is worth sending out an interview helicopter. Occasionally I will take a float...and there won't be so many bodyguards."

Xiao Liuli replied without hesitation: "If there had been no advance warning, most of the passengers would have left by the time we got the information and rushed over."

"How many people know about this?"

"As long as you ask anyone at our newspaper office who was at work the day before yesterday or yesterday, you can learn about this."

Xiao Liuli said and paused: "Do you feel something is wrong, Mr. Hero?"

"...Don't call me a hero, it sounds awkward."

Russell waved his hand and smiled bitterly.

This time he really felt a little embarrassed, not because of his acting skills.

As for what's wrong...

——That’s too many, too many to count.

But there are only a few of them that I can tell Xiao Liuli.

"Are the contents of the letter you received the day before yesterday confidential?"

"That's right, but we have notified the execution department before."

"Then," Russell whispered, "why would an elf appear alone on an airship heading to Happy Island without even a bodyguard?"