Overprotected By My Tsundere CEO

Chapter 972 - 658: Loulanel City [04] Setting Out

After dinner, Nora Scott went back to her room alone.

She ran into Luna Durant when she got out of the elevator.

"Nora."

Luna Durant called out to Nora with a straight face.

Nora turned her head to look at her.

"Do you think with Biel Hall backing you up, you can act recklessly in the northwest?" Luna threatened coldly.

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"It’s best to be cautious in other territories," Luna warned, "or you might not even know how you died."

With a slight curve of her lips, Nora’s eyes filled with laughter, "Thanks for the advice."

Luna Durant: "..." She bit her silver tooth in anger.

An ignorant woman.

*

By the end of March, the nighttime temperature in the Sand Delta was very low, and the hotel had the air conditioning on.

Nora put on a coat and opened a window, seeing this not-so-bustling city adorned with scattered lights. A breeze hit her face, carrying a slight chill, and she frowned slightly.

The phone rang; it was a call from Rosie.

"Hall Master, everything is fine on Clement Winter’s end."

"Mm."

"Luna Durant and Stella Durant want to take this opportunity to find the entrance to Mechanism City, so they’ve taken most of their people away," Rosie asked, "Robert Durant indeed lacks manpower here, but over there... in the wilderness, do you really not need more people?"

Nora leaned back against the window and said lightly, "No need."

Rosie was still worried, "But—"

Interrupting her, Nora reminded, "Focus on your own tasks."

Rosie was taken aback and quickly replied, "Yes."

Without chatting more with Rosie, Nora hung up. She turned her head and looked through the open window at the myriad lights of the city, her gaze distant, as if she could see decades into the past.

An eagle screeched in the night sky.

Nora’s eyes brightened for a moment.

*

After a night’s rest, the next day, the sky was still pitch black as the two teams set out.

The expedition team had five vehicles, one of which was reserved for Jared Oliveira and April Thomason.

Nora had a car to herself.

Luna Durant and Stella Durant had four vehicles on their end, but how many more were in the shadows was anyone’s guess.

At exactly six o’clock, everyone gathered downstairs at the hotel.

"Is everyone here?"

Felipe Clark held the list, looking at the sparse gathering at the door.

Everyone looked at each other.

After a while, someone raised their hand and reported, "All our people are here, but Nora is absent."

As soon as they said this, someone started complaining.

"I heard she’s a diva; maybe she hasn’t even gotten up yet?"

"Who’s going to ask?"

"Who dares? She seems pretty fond of snapping at people."

...

Clearly, the expedition team had no good feelings towards Nora.

Felipe Clark frowned and wanted Frank Ford to contact Nora, but just as he scanned the crowd, he noticed Frank, who had been among them, was nowhere to be seen.

"The professor and Miss Pinto are already in the car," at that moment, Frank Ford came running over from the darkness, "Bro, aren’t we leaving?"

Seeing Frank looking relaxed, Felipe irritably asked, "Where’s Nora?"

Frank was briefly stunned.

"Hurry and get her—"

Before Felipe could finish, Frank smiled, "She’s been waiting in the car for you all along."

"..."

Felipe was immediately speechless.

Frank added, "Right, since she’s a woman, driving alone isn’t convenient. Can I go with her and take turns driving?"

Felipe sneered, "Go ahead if you want to play the lackey."

With that, Felipe ignored Frank and called the others to move towards the convoy.

Frank scratched his head, glanced at Felipe’s back, and found it a bit amusing.

Was it necessary?

...

The two teams arrived at the convoy one after the other.

The sky at six was still dark and deep, with streetlights lining the road, a few of them extinguished, casting dim light over the desolate, desolate streets where hardly any pedestrians could be seen.

Ten cars formed a straight line along the street, exuding a formidable presence.

The originally sparse teams wanted to board quickly and set off, but as they approached the convoy, they simultaneously paused in their steps.

On the off-road vehicle at the front, a woman sat on the hood, black boots reaching her knees. One long leg dangled below, the other bent atop the hood. She wore a denim jacket, its front open to reveal a fitted T-shirt outlining her slim waist, looking both heroic and captivating.

Her long hair was tied back simply, leaving her forehead and delicate face exposed.

She raised a hand with a water bottle, tilted her head back, and drank, her long neck stretching into a sleek line in the dark night.

In the dim light, this woman was as beautiful as a fairy.

Seeing this scene, everyone involuntarily froze.

!

This woman’s beauty, figure, and aura were downright perfect.

Luna Durant instinctively looked at herself, then glanced at Nora Scott, feeling so angry her teeth itched.

"Here she comes."

Nora tightly screwed on the water bottle and jumped down from the car’s hood.

In that instant, an eagle’s cry was heard, and a massive creature descended from the sky. As Nora raised her arm, the large creature landed steadily on it, its wings folding neatly—revealing itself as a majestic eagle.

"..."

Everyone swallowed hard.

An indescribable awe took root in their hearts.

Nora glanced at Frank Ford, "Get in the car."

"Oh."

Frank, dumbfounded, nodded and quickly walked over.

Nora turned around, and both she and Frank sat in the front passenger and driver’s seats of the off-road vehicle.

And just like that, Nora’s words seemed like an order, prompting the two stunned groups standing there to start acting subconsciously. It wasn’t until they got in their cars that they realized—did they just follow Nora’s command?

"What about that eagle? Is it remote-controlled?"

"It seemed real. I saw it on ’On the Road,’ when many online guessed it was CGI."

"This celebrity has got some skills."

...

After getting in the car, the conversation naturally revolved around Nora, whether positive or negative, she remained the focal point.

Luna Durant was so furious she seemed about to explode, her displeasure evident on her face.

Someone quite like her was Annabelle Pinto.

In the off-road vehicle, Felipe Clark handed a bottle of water to Annabelle Pinto sitting next to her, "Miss Pinto, have some water."

"Thank you."

Annabelle accepted the water and took a sip.

Felipe glanced forward and asked, "People in your circle probably don’t like Nora Scott much, right?"

"Never inquired."

"Someone as flashy as Nora won’t stay popular for long."

Annabelle capped the bottle and laughed sarcastically, agreeing, "She is rather flashy."

The entire previous year, she lived in Nora’s shadow.

Her company’s image for her always leaned towards Nora’s style.

She indeed capitalized a lot from Nora’s fame.

But she hated being someone’s shadow and inevitably grew to detest Nora.

However—

There will always come a time when Nora stumbles.

*

After having breakfast from rations on the road, Nora napped in the car. When she removed her eye mask, the sunlight outside was dazzling.

Rolling down the window, she leaned onto it, squinting contentedly into the oncoming wind, seeing only the desolate desert. Buddha spread its wings in the sky, following the convoy.

Frank noticed something amiss and said, "Hey sis, you awake?"

"Mm."

"Mr. Oliveira said there’s a rest stop ahead, let’s have lunch first."

"Mm."

Nora agreed softly.

It was only March, the daytime temperature wasn’t high, and the breeze was pleasant. Once more alert from the breeze, Nora took out a notebook, grabbed a pen, immersed herself in writing and drawing, her eyebrows occasionally furrowing, then relaxing, mostly in deep thought.

Frank focused on driving, not noticing her actions.

Otherwise, even a cursory glance would have revealed that Nora’s notebook contained maps, data, records, all related to Lanel City.

Ding dong, ding dong.

The phone rang nonstop.

Looking at it, Nora saw they were all messages from Jared Oliveira.

[Jared Oliveira]: Sis, what should I do with these intellectuals nagging me about the cultural differences in the Northwest?

[Jared Oliveira]: I can’t search the internet fast enough.

[Jared Oliveira]: Help!!

Nora raised an eyebrow.

[Nora Scott]: Be cool.

[Nora Scott]: Shut up.

[Jared Oliveira]: ...

[Jared Oliveira]: Oh, got it.

...

At one in the afternoon, the car stopped in a small town.

Although called a town, it was actually on the outer edges with only a few households. Two restaurants stood by the road, desolate and rundown, dust swirling in the air, sign letters faded, wobbling in the wind.

The two groups split intuitively, each choosing a restaurant, leaving each other undisturbed.

Nora and Frank got out of the car.

"Hey, hey, how many tables are we setting?"

"Two tables, I suppose."

"Everyone, self-allocate, okay?"

"Mr. Oliveira and Miss Thomason will sit at another separate table."

...

Everyone hurried about, calling to each other, but as if by secret agreement, they conspicuously ignored Nora and Frank, seemingly intent on isolating them.

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