CHAPTER 482: CHAPTER 479 [LOUISE’S FRIEND]

Chapter 479 [Louise’s Friend]

A small-scale tsunami had brought enormous impact to London.

It was evident that the Government had already issued a state of emergency. Military police began to patrol the streets to maintain order, followed by the entry of various specialized disaster relief agencies; according to the news, even the Navy had been mobilized.

Chen Nuo had spent the night in this warehouse.

At first, Louise couldn’t sleep. It was clearly out of fear.

Of course, whether this fear stemmed from the disaster itself, her ordeal of falling into the drainage pipe, or because there was a stranger like Chen Nuo by her side was unclear—perhaps it was all three.

But children, being children, after struggling until the wee hours, the five-year-old girl eventually could no longer resist her drowsiness and fell asleep, her head nodding.

Chen Nuo had been sitting by the window. He turned his head to look at Louise, got up, walked over, and covered her with the blanket.

When Chen Nuo covered her with the blanket, it was clear the little girl was having a nightmare.

She curled up, her fingers clenching the blanket tightly, mumbling something.

Chen Nuo frowned and listened closely, confirming that the girl was calling out.

"Help."

Gently placing a finger on the girl’s forehead, a trace of spiritual power was infused, slowly entering the girl’s Consciousness Space, soothing her spirit...

A moment later, the girl’s furrowed brow relaxed, her breathing steady.

Chen Nuo thought for a moment, then added two more pieces of charcoal to the stove.

That night, he released his Spiritual Force Tentacles, enveloping all of London, but unfortunately, he did not find Lu Xixi.

That woman seemed to have gone into hiding after the battle at sea.

In the early morning, while Louise was still asleep, Chen Nuo went out for a while.

The water had receded from the streets outside, but devastation was everywhere.

The area was filthy, littered with the ruins of buildings destroyed by the flood. Nearby, people were organizing cleanup and rescue efforts.

Chen Nuo strolled around the streets for a while, gathered information about the outside world, then found a supermarket.

The supermarket had been broken into. When Chen Nuo entered, he discovered most of the goods on the shelves had been cleared out, with barely a tenth remaining.

He randomly filled his bag with items, but the main issue was the lack of drinking water.

On his way back, Chen Nuo even helped rescue a casualty trapped under the debris of a collapsed building. Then he slipped away quietly in the chaos.

When he returned to the warehouse, Louise was already awake, but she seemed surprised to see Chen Nuo back.

"...You didn’t expect me to come back?" Chen Nuo smiled.

Louise pursed her lips, then said softly, "I thought you left."

However, when Chen Nuo took out an orange from his pocket, the little girl’s eyes instantly lit up.

This was one of the scarce supplies Chen Nuo had managed to gather from the looted supermarket—the only orange that was still relatively intact.

He cut the orange and handed a segment to the little girl. She popped it into her mouth, and her eyes quickly narrowed, as if her entire being was dedicated to savoring the sweet taste.

"You haven’t had fruit for a long time, have you?"

"...Mmm."

After handing over the entire orange to the little girl, Chen Nuo stood up and looked around the room.

When he turned around, he noticed that Louise had carefully divided the orange in half and placed the other half neatly on the table for Chen Nuo.

"You had a nightmare last night, right?" Chen Nuo smiled.

"...What did you say?" the girl asked.

"You were shivering the whole time, and it seemed like you were very afraid. Then I heard you call for help."

The little girl shuddered.

But she gradually began to speak.

"I dreamt of the moment I fell into the drainage pipe. It was very dark and cold in there.

"When the water rushed into the pipe, I thought I was definitely going to die. Especially when...

"the water went over my head, I couldn’t breathe, and it was pitch black, so I couldn’t see anything.

"Also... for the first time, I realized that when a person is engulfed by water, not only can they not breathe... they can’t hear anything either."

"Yes, you can’t hear, can’t see, and can’t breathe," Chen Nuo nodded and pushed the remaining half of the orange towards the girl. "Now all those things are in the past."

Seeing the little girl’s eyes still filled with fear, Chen Nuo chuckled, "It’s fine. If I have a chance, I’ll teach you how to swim. Once you learn, you won’t be afraid anymore."

"Huh?"

"The best way to conquer fear is to face it head-on. Go for it! You got this!"

Chen Nuo made a joke, but obviously, Louise didn’t appreciate this gag from forty years in the future and just stared blankly at Chen Nuo.

His smile faded. Chen Nuo looked around and slowly said, "If there’s nothing else, let’s leave this place."

"...We?" the girl asked in confusion.

Chen Nuo took a breath and crouched in front of the girl. "I don’t know how much you can understand at your age, so let me start by saying you can ask me anytime if there’s something you don’t understand.

"The first thing I want to tell you is that I’m not a bad person; I’m not a human trafficker or any sort of criminal."

"I believe you... you saved my life. There’s no one around here, and yet you, all alone, jumped into the pipe to save me. So you must not be a bad person," the girl nodded, her voice firm.

"Good, so that’s the first thing cleared up. Next, I want to tell you that I won’t leave you here alone—because the situation simply doesn’t allow it."

"?"

"You’re a child; you have no one to look after you here. You have no relatives, no guardian, so... I don’t know how many days you’ve been here, because you can’t even say for sure.

"But I do know that it’s incredibly lucky you’ve survived up until now!

"But at the same time, it’s also very dangerous!"

"I can find food, and... this place is not very far from my home. I can go back and check occasionally. Maybe my mom will come back.

"If I go too far away, I’m afraid she won’t be able to find me if she comes back."

Your mom’s not coming back...

Chen Nuo really wanted to say those words directly.

But seeing the look in the girl’s eyes, he chose to swallow those words.

"But you can’t continue living here either," Chen Nuo said slowly. "This place is an unoccupied warehouse—it’s unoccupied, but not abandoned.

"Moreover, being situated on higher ground, it wasn’t flooded. So this place, now that disaster has struck, will certainly be reused by the Government.

"Soon, people will come in and reactivate this warehouse to store relief materials gathered from various places.

"There will be a lot of people here, and then this place will be requisitioned, and then... they won’t allow a little girl to live here anymore."

Louise’s eyes immediately filled with panic.

"So, you’ll come with me," Chen Nuo stated decisively.

Louise was silent for a moment, then asked tentatively in a low voice, "So... Sir, are you going to adopt me? Does this mean you’re adopting me?"

"..." Chen Nuo fell silent. Then, facing the girl’s gaze, he shook his head with difficulty, "Sorry, it’s not like that. I’m not from here. I’ll only be here for a short time before I have to leave, so... I can’t adopt you."

"...I understand," the girl lowered her head.

"However, before I leave, I will take care of you. You come back with me; there will be enough food, a warm room, clean water to bathe in, and a comfortable bed with pillows.

"I promise, before I leave, I will find you a very safe and suitable place to stay. Rest assured, I will arrange everything properly."

The little girl nodded, then shook her head again.

Chen Nuo frowned, "You...?"

"No, no, you misunderstand, Sir." The little girl took a deep breath. "I believe you’re not a bad person, and I’m willing to leave with you... but, can we please stay here for half a day longer? Just half a day!"

"...Why?" Chen Nuo began, on the verge of saying that her mother wouldn’t return in half a day.

But Louise had already given her own answer.

"I have a friend who occasionally comes to see me here and brings me something to eat.

"Our next meeting is supposed to be this afternoon. I want to wait until then, meet my friend, and then leave. Is that okay? If I suddenly leave, my friend might worry about me."

Chen Nuo nodded, "Okay... By the way, this friend of yours, who are they?"

"He is a person who doesn’t like to talk much, looks a bit scary, but—aside from not being talkative, he’s actually quite easy to get along with. He always brings me some food."

Chen Nuo frowned, "How old?"

"About the same as you..." Louise answered.

So, he’s an adult man?

Chen Nuo was a little puzzled.

Quickly, he asked for more information.

According to Louise’s answers, Chen Nuo found the situation quite strange.

The "friend" was an adult male, about the same age as Chen Nuo. He was very thin, uncommunicative, and aloof.

Not long ago, after Louise came to this warehouse, she encountered this man.

Afterward, the man would occasionally come over, bring some food, sit for a few minutes, then leave.

This was very unusual!

"Okay, we’ll wait."

That afternoon, Chen Nuo actually hid himself away. He pretended to go for a stroll but actually hid up on the roof beams, waiting.

And sure enough, just as Louise had said, a man suddenly walked into the warehouse!

What immediately struck Chen Nuo as odd was...

This man "suddenly" appeared at the warehouse’s entrance!

As a high-level Controller, Chen Nuo could guarantee that before this man appeared at the entrance, there had been absolutely no one walking on the road outside the warehouse!

And what surprised Chen Nuo even more was...

This person, he knew him!