Nana said, "So that's how it is. Miss C.C., you really know a lot. By the way, C.C., how do you know so much about the Sanctuary? It's almost like... like you've been to the Sanctuary before."

  C.C.'s expression stiffened slightly, and she replied vaguely, "Well, I heard about it from someone else."

  "Is that so?" Nana blinked and looked at C.C. with a suspicious gaze. "Then can I ask who told you all this?"

  "Well..." C.C. felt the question was a bit difficult to answer, so she gnced at Rulu beside her and said, "It was Rulu who told me. If you don't believe me, just ask Rulu."

  "Is that right, Rulu?" Nana shifted her gaze toward Rulu.

  Rulu said with a calm and composed expression, "Actually, at this point, there's no need to keep it from you anymore. The truth is, both C.C. and I are from the Sanctuary — we've both lived there before."

  Hearing this, Nana was startled. She said, "I had my suspicions before that you came from the Sanctuary, Rulu. So it really is true. Since both you and C.C. used to live in the Sanctuary, why did you leave and come here?"

  Rulu said, "The reasons are far too complicated, and I'd rather not talk about the past, so I can't tell you just yet, Nana."

  Nana said with a grievance, "Why can't you tell me? Aren't we family? Don't you trust me, Rulu?"

  Rulu said, "It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that hearing all of this might cause you unnecessary trouble. How about this, Nana — when the time is right, I'll tell you everything little by little. Okay?"

  "Okay, alright..." Although Nana was very curious about Rulu's past, she didn't want to make things too difficult for him, so she stopped pressing the matter.

  Before they knew it, the car had left the urban area of Blue Sea City and arrived along the eastern coastline. Rulu looked toward the sea and spotted a rge cruise ship anchored near a distant port — the very direction their car was heading.

  After a while, the car arrived at the port's parking lot. Rulu, Nana, and the other two grabbed their luggage and got out of the car, making their way toward the port where the cruise ship was docked. A rge crowd had already gathered around the port, and numerous Sanctuary soldiers along with humanoid armored soldiers patrolled the area to maintain order.

  Nana looked at the passing crowd and the Sanctuary soldiers with uneasy eyes, whispering, "Rulu, is this really going to be okay? There are so many people here — what if we're discovered?"

  Rulu whispered back, "Don't worry. According to my investigation, there are several thousand tourists heading to the Sanctuary this time. People have come from many other cities besides Blue Sea City. Everyone stay calm and act as if nothing is out of the ordinary — that's the only way we won't be noticed."

  The four of them continued moving with the flow of the crowd toward the port. Although some soldiers spotted them along the way, none paid them any particur attention. They smoothly reached the port checkpoint, where a female inspector in uniform greeted them with a friendly smile. "You're part of the Sanctuary tour group, right? Please present your identification documents and travel passes for inspection."

  "Of course. Here are my documents." Rulu immediately retrieved his ID card and a small green booklet from his backpack and handed them to the inspector, who took them and began examining them carefully.

  Suddenly, the inspector noticed something off. Her brow furrowed slightly. She looked closely at the photo on the documents, then at Rulu's face, and said with a guarded expression, "I'm sorry, but the photo on your ID and travel pass looks a little different from you in person. Would you mind removing your gsses so I can take a closer look?"

  "Of course." Rulu agreed without hesitation, calmly taking off his gsses. He met the inspector's gaze and said, "The thing is, I've been spending a lot of time in the sun tely, so my skin has gotten a bit darker. But my documents are absolutely fine — please look carefully."

  The inspector seemed to shudder the moment Rulu looked at her, as if she had been struck by electricity. She murmured, "Y-yes... I must have been seeing things just now. Your documents are in order." With that, she gathered the documents and returned them to Rulu.