"Ethan, let me tell you, Sister Cipher is really strong! That mercenary couldn't touch Cipher no matter how he attacked, and with just one strike, she sent him running for his life!"
On the way back, Lauren excitedly shared her recent experience with Ethan, waving her hands as she spoke, and occasionally imitating things Cipher had said earlier, as if to make her words more vivid.
Ethan listened attentively, occasionally agreeing with a few words.
As for Cipher, who was following behind them, she covered her face in a bit of despair.
Anyone would feel embarrassed if someone vividly reenacted all the things they had just done right in front of them, right? At least she did.
When Lauren was almost done talking, she suddenly clapped her head, then said with a touch of annoyance:
"How could I forget that Jassy recorded it? I could have just shown it to Ethan..."
Thinking of this, Lauren immediately turned to Cipher, looking at her with anticipation.
"Go ahead and watch it, you've pretty much told the whole story anyway."
Cipher waved her hand somewhat helplessly, indicating her agreement.
"Wow! Sister Cipher, you're the best!"
Seeing her agree, Lauren happily hugged Cipher.
Being hugged again without warning, Cipher's face flushed slightly, and she quickly pushed Lauren away.
"Let... let go of me! Just watch, don't be so handsy!"
"We're all girls, what's wrong with a hug?"
Lauren was a little puzzled, but she quickly let go of Cipher and turned to Jasmine next to her.
"Jassy, let me borrow your recorder for a bit."
Jasmine obediently handed over the camera-like recorder she was holding.
After getting the camera, Lauren excitedly walked over to Ethan and started playing the video... After walking with Lauren and the others for more than ten minutes, Lauren stopped at a relatively wide entrance.
Then Lauren turned around and introduced it to Cipher.
"This is our current base."
"Is this... an underground parking lot?"
Looking at the place, which resembled an underground parking lot from her previous life, Cipher tilted her head and asked with some confusion.
"Eh? Cy, you actually know?"
Lauren was a little surprised, after all, there were no signs or anything written above indicating that this was an underground parking lot.
"Mm." Cipher nodded, "I have an impression of this kind of building; I used to see them often, so the term just subconsciously popped into my head."
"It seems Cy isn't completely amnesiac then. Does that mean if you see enough things, little Cy will gradually regain her memories?"
She didn't doubt the truthfulness of Cipher's words at all, but was genuinely happy that Cipher had regained some of her memories.
Looking at the innocent Lauren in front of her, Cipher suddenly felt a sense of guilt, wondering if she shouldn't be deceiving her.
But she quickly squashed that budding thought.
No, no, it's better to wait until their relationship is better established; by then, they probably won't care about this matter.
After retracting that thought, Cipher's attention returned to Lauren's recent address for her.
"Little Cy?"
Cipher tilted her head, indicating she didn't understand why Lauren would use that address for her.
"What's wrong, Cy, don't you like this address?"
"It's not that I don't like it... it's just... in terms of age, I should be older than you. When you call me Little Cy, I just feel like something's a little off..."
After thinking for a moment, Cipher gave her reason.
After all, in her previous life, she was at least in her twenties, but Lauren in front of her... looked like she was only fifteen or sixteen, right?
Being called "Little" by a girl who looked younger than herself, Cipher felt a strange sense of awkwardness.
"That's true... Then I'll call you Sister Cipher, since you're older than me."
"Sister..."
Cipher was momentarily speechless; she couldn't possibly say that she was a man in her previous life... although she was indeed a woman in this life.
"Can't I even call you 'Sister'...?"
Feeling Cipher's emotions, Lauren lowered her head somewhat dejectedly, and even her voice became a little sad.
"You can! Then you can call me Sister Cipher from now on, I don't mind!"
Hearing Lauren's voice, Cipher quickly came to her senses and began to comfort Lauren.
"Yay! I knew Sister Cipher was the best!"
With that, Lauren made a flying leap, intending to pounce on Cipher again.
This time, however, Cipher was prepared in advance.
She simply sidestepped, causing Lauren to miss, and then Cipher reached out, precisely grabbing the back of Lauren's clothes and effortlessly lifting her up.
"Just talk normally, don't always be hugging people..."
"Alright..."
Cipher rubbed her forehead, saying this helplessly.
Seeing this, Lauren could only reluctantly agree.
Walking into the underground parking lot, Cipher then realized that the originally spacious parking lot was now filled with various architectural debris, directly blocking the opening below.
Before she could ask, she saw Ethan walk to a corner of the opening, grab a large steel plate, and hoist it onto his shoulder.
Behind this steel plate was an opening only a little over a meter high.
Looking at the opening in front of her, Cipher was a little stunned; she felt it looked so much like a dog hole, though it was much larger than one.
"Sister Cipher, let's go. Ethan will go last; he needs to put the steel plate back."
With that, Lauren was the first to squeeze into the opening, followed closely by Jasmine.
Seeing both of them go in, Cipher had no choice but to follow suit.
Initially narrow, just wide enough for a person to pass, after walking a few dozen steps, it suddenly opened up.
After crawling for more than ten meters with Lauren and the others, Cipher finally saw a glimmer of light shining in from the end of the opening.
Standing up, Cipher then saw that amidst this pile of construction waste, there was actually a hidden world.
In front of her was a combination of a red brick wall and a door, making her almost think she had climbed outside.
Otherwise, why would she see a house in a buried underground parking lot?!
"Sister Cipher! This is our secret base!"
Seeing her emerge, Lauren immediately took Cipher's hand and led her to the door of the house.
The door didn't require a key; Lauren pushed it open with ease.
Entering the house, Cipher looked around curiously.
It wasn't that she hadn't seen the decorations and furniture inside, but rather that the house had remained so well-preserved beneath the ruins, which truly astonished her.
Although the furniture was simple, it was complete: beds, chairs, tables, boxes, cabinets, and more were all there, and the cabinets even stored some blankets and bedding.
Cipher felt a bit disoriented; if she hadn't personally crawled in from a pile of ruins, she would never have believed that she was currently inside the ruins!