A seemingly golden canopy that occupied part of the world, because of his presence, the tree trunk seemed filled with golden light.
The gentle breeze blew, and Scarlett Jennings instinctively took a step toward him.
However, just as her foot moved, she felt several oppressive auras bearing down on her from all around.
"Who dares trespass the barrier?"
The deep voice of an elder reached her ears.
Scarlett Jennings focused her gaze and only then noticed the figures standing beside the silhouette covered by Samuel Chalmers’ golden light.
Perhaps because the golden light was too dazzling, she instinctively ignored the people around.
Upon closer inspection, she found that aside from a few relatively unfamiliar elders, there were two acquaintances.
One was Simon, the head of the Security Bureau.
One was Cassian Wolf, the head of the Mystic Regulation Office.
She didn’t recognize the remaining elders, but she could roughly guess their identities.
Scarlett Jennings vaguely realized she might have disturbed some important meeting.
Seeing the elder who had just spoken harshly about to act, Aaron Hearne and Simon both stepped forward,
"She is with my Mystic Regulation Office."
"She is with my Security Bureau."
The two spoke simultaneously, looking at each other with a slight provocation in their eyes.
The elder frowned at their words and was about to speak when the person standing at the center slowly began to speak, his familiar deep voice carrying a solemn and indifferent tone, simply saying,
"The main crown of the ginkgo is unharmed. As for the rest, I am aware. You may leave."
Upon hearing this, the previously confrontational Simon and Aaron Hearne both looked at him and nodded in unison,
"Alright."
With these two having stated their positions, the remaining elders had nothing more to say and also nodded respectfully in Samuel Chalmers’ direction before turning to leave.
The group walked away in different directions, and although the surrounding area was vast, their figures quickly vanished from sight.
Scarlett Jennings knew this must be due to leaving the barrier, but she couldn’t concern herself with that now.
Her gaze was fixed on the figure enveloped in a golden world ahead.
She watched as he slowly approached her.
For some reason, she forgot to move.
She just watched him come closer, until finally, he stopped a meter away from her.
The piercing splendor of the golden light faded, and she barely made out his appearance.
He looked exactly the same as before, but when his dark eyes, cloaked in golden light, looked at her, they seemed somewhat unfamiliar.
Her eyes trembled slightly, and an uneasy feeling grew stronger in her heart, as though to suppress that sense of unfamiliarity, she called out to him, her voice somewhat hoarse,
"Samuel Chalmers..."
Samuel Chalmers looked at her, his dark eyes lingering on her face for a long time, and finally, he said,
"I know you."
He said,
"You exist in my memory."
To be precise, in the dreams before he awoke from slumber, it was all her.
He remembered, her name was Scarlett Jennings.
She was "his" fiancée.
Scarlett Jennings looked at him, the foreign numbness spreading from her chest, and the light in her eyes dimming inch by inch as she looked at him.
In an instant, she was sure where her previous uneasiness came from.
"You are not him."
Her voice was cold, carrying a disappointment she hadn’t even noticed.
Samuel Chalmers seemed stirred by her emotions, his dark eyes flickered for a moment before returning to normal,
"I am him, but not entirely the Samuel Chalmers you know."
He looked at her, saying,
"You can also consider me another stranger."
Scarlett Jennings fixed her gaze on him, asking, "What do you mean?"
She had waited so long to see him again.
Yet at the very moment of reunion, it filled her with disappointment.
She could see that the person before her was Samuel Chalmers.
Just as he said, he was indeed him, but not only him.
He claimed to remember her, but there wasn’t a trace of recognition from before in his eyes.
She couldn’t stand seeing him like this.
She didn’t accept him like this!
Her heart brimmed with questions seeking answers, but she knew the present Samuel Chalmers couldn’t give her what she sought.
Rather than staying there, dwelling on her sorrows before him, she preferred finding the one who could provide the answers.
And right there stood Simon, that person.
Scarlett Jennings stood still, looking at Simon who was standing not too far away. Clearly, after he left, he had been waiting here all along.
When she counted the times she’d met Simon, it was only that one time.
But after realizing Samuel Chalmers’ true identity, she was absolutely certain about the role Simon had played from the start.
He knew everything about Samuel Chalmers from the beginning.
That’s why he collaborated with Samuel Chalmers to hide and cover everything from her.
Thus, the answers she sought now could only be given by Simon.
Simon hadn’t expected her to come out so quickly.
He thought that even if she realized he wasn’t the one she believed him to be, she wouldn’t just leave so readily.
However, observing her demeanor now, Simon understood that Samuel Chalmers had foreseen her reaction from the very start.
Thinking of this, he waved a helpless hand at her, as if resigned,
"As you can see, I am not the real head of the Security Bureau."
He said,
"The true founders of the Security Bureau and the Mystic Regulation Office are the one you just met."

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