### Chapter 43: A Bit of Challenge
Night Lan was snuggled up in her bed, pondering over what to do with her time next.
Fortunately, there was a huge time difference between her side and Night Star’s side—roughly half a day—so she didn’t often have to multitask.
For example, when Night Star was asleep, she could be full of energy, and when she was snoozing, Night Star would be bouncing with life on her end.
But if she had to juggle both at the same time? Now that was a different story.
“Ah~”
Night Lan wriggled her way out of the blankets, ready for a little excursion.
Right now, her only option was to head over to the Night Watcher Base and stick around with White Fish and the others.
With that thought, she quickly freshened up and stepped outside to summon her Starry Chariot.
As the chariot rolled up in front of her, Night Lan hopped into the back seat instead of taking the driver’s seat.
After all, it could drive itself, and she had played chauffeur enough.
Once she settled into the back, the Starry Chariot roared to life, zooming off toward the parking area of the Night Watcher Base.
Before long, Night Lan arrived at the base and headed straight to Zero Meow’s lounge.
Everyone was already hanging out in the lounge, looking as if they were eagerly waiting for her.
“Morning, Night Lan!”
“Uh-huh, morning to you all too!”
Night Lan responded casually and plopped down next to White Fish, while Neko Shinna dashed off to the kitchen to fetch some breakfast.
“Today’s breakfast from Neko Shinna is as delicious as always~”
“Thanks~”
Neko Shinna beamed with a satisfied smile.
Even though Night Lan had praised her countless times—like, every day—she was still delighted to hear it.
Just then, Zero Meow, lounging on the bed, glanced over and chimed in.
“Hey, according to your words, has the Rising Sun Theater Group already relocated to the Free Country?”
While munching, Night Lan replied, her mood slightly brighter than yesterday’s gloom.
“Uh-huh, that’s right! I never expected them to move so far away—it really caught me off guard.”
Night Lan still kept mum about her connection with Night Star, playing it close to the chest.
“If that’s the case, then I can’t play with the Audience Performer anymore… It could be a month before they might even come back, Ji.”
“In that case, it seems like I’ll have to go abroad?” White Fish patted Night Lan on the head.
Knowing all of Night Lan’s secrets, being in the loop, she understood how her friend felt.
Night Lan must be feeling pretty downcast right now.
Not being able to stick close to her other self was quite the hardship!
What if Night Star’s Night Lan ended up low on energy while Night Lan herself ran low on Night Star’s energy? Now, that would be an absolute mess.
Who knows if Night Star Lan could hold it together.
Even though Night Lan had her friends around her, and Night Star had Lianhua and the others, they probably couldn’t fill the void left by the other self.
With that worrisome thought, White Fish continued to gently stroke Night Lan’s head as if to offer comfort.
Night Lan soaked up White Fish’s soothing touch, letting her hand fall onto White Fish’s dainty legs for a good ole’ stroke.
At this moment, the only way to mend her broken spirit was some extra touches with the Loli!
But that wouldn’t hold out for too long.
Night Lan and Night Star were one entity, and once separated for too long, there was this bizarre gravitational pull between them, stirring up an insatiable desire to be close.
And it wasn’t just Night Star Lan craving some buddy time.
Once they became two little Lolis, it was like soul proximity became paramount.
Who knows what kind of trouble would arise from such a long separation?
If push came to shove, it seemed she’d have to concoct an excuse to hop on a plane to the Free Country.
But would Boss Xiao Jin even agree to that?
Felt a bit dicey.
Just then, Night Lan piped up.
“What do you all know about the Free Country?”
Everyone shook their heads, clearly clueless about this foreign land.
Zero Meow pulled out the Night Watcher device and accessed the official website.
“Let’s ask the internet! Plenty of elder Night Watchers have been to the Free Country on missions; they must know what’s up, right? What do you want to ask, Night Lan?”
“Um…” Night Lan pondered, “Just curious about the Star Law Enforcement in the Free Country. I want to see how powerful a city’s enforcement can be.”
“Okay, I’ll check for you!”
Zero Meow started typing frantically.
[One of my friends is super curious about the Star Law Enforcement in the Free Country. Would be great if we could compare it to Night Watchers so they get a better picture. Waiting online, super urgent!]
After hitting send, Zero Meow stared at the screen in anticipation.
Before long, replies started pouring in.
[Your friend… wouldn’t happen to be you, would it?]
[The situation regarding the Star Law Enforcement in the Free Country is pretty easy to figure out. Here’s a link: A Night Watcher who has been undercover in the Free Country for quite a while gathered a lot of useful information. Check it out yourself!]
Sure enough, the link was right there.
Once Night Lan finished her breakfast, her curiosity piqued, and she sidled up next to Zero Meow.
Zero Meow clicked on the link, and the screen quickly switched to another page.
There was indeed a wealth of information compiled by foreign Night Watchers, including a basic introduction to the Order of Sequence—it looked very useful.
Night Star was peering at it too.
“Oh oh~ So that’s how it is.”
The big shot’s summary was super detailed, even more than what Claire from the Night Hunt Organization had said.
Claire’s info might have had a few gaps, but this was all laid out in black and white.
In the big shot’s notes, Night Lan learned plenty of things, including the internal hierarchy of the Order of Sequence, their philosophy and attitude, along with their collaboration with the national government—it was nearly all covered.
Night Lan was left wondering if this big shot had played the role of an undercover in the Order of Sequence at some point.
How else could they know so much?
After reading through it, Night Lan fell deep into thought.
“Wait, every city’s Order of Sequence church actually has four Holy Knights? Each Holy Knight is like a battle-type Sunlight Night Watcher. This seems pretty troublesome.”
Now, Night Lan finally grasped the level of hassle the Order of Sequence presented.
A single city having the might of four Sunlight Night Watchers was downright terrifying.
But that seemed to only apply to the combat personnel.
On the Night Watcher’s end, a city typically had two combat types and one strategic support type—talk about a difference in delegation.
Wonder if Waltonka had anyone like a strategic Sunlight Night Watcher.
If they did, that would add even more complexity to things.
Under these circumstances, it was safe to say Night Star would be quite hesitant to make wishes.
She could only hope those Holy Knights were somewhat less competent, so that when the weekend rolled around and they thought about starting a brawl, the Group Leader and others could just wipe the floor with them.
With that thought, Night Lan continued to browse through the records of Night Watchers abroad, committing some key parts to memory—no need to get caught off guard.
It was becoming clear that the situation in the Free Country was a tangled web indeed.
Hoping to hold three performances abroad and one grand show? Now that was going to be a challenge.
It probably wouldn’t go nearly as smoothly as things did back home!
