Perhaps Lin Luo’s cry for help was truly heard by Lian, or perhaps it was the product of wishful thinking turning into a dream, or maybe, frustrated by unsatisfied desire, he could only vent in his slumber. That night, Lin Luo indeed had an utterly absurd, incredibly magnificent, overwhelmingly dominant dream, one with an obscene number of *scenes, and he died happily within it…

Of course, the next morning he was back on his feet, full of vigor, though his complexion was somewhat off. Even dreaming took mental energy, let alone such a… monumental dream.

After quickly finishing some breakfast, Lin Luo and Makino continued on their journey. They didn't discuss what happened the previous night, but their movements were noticeably more intimate than before. Along the way, they spoke only of necessary matters, and they encountered neither the bizarre army nor any other Travelers. They passed uneventfully until noon the following day.

“It’s time for her to come out now.”

Standing in a quiet grove of trees, Lin Luo materialized the Book of Contracts, suspending it in mid-air. A seven-hued light cascaded down as the Fourth Dimension opened, and within that rainbow glow, a girl with black twin-tails wearing a red coat appeared before him—Tohsaka Rin.

Having left the flow of time in the Moon World for this new reality, Loli Rin had finally reverted to her teenage self, radiating a unique, inimitable charm.

Rin had a distinct quirk: despite her usual sharp intellect, the moment she woke up, she became terribly muddled and slow-witted—intermittently naturally slow. This trait remained constant whether she was in her loli or teenage form; in fact, inheriting some of her disposition, even Lin Luo occasionally fell into that state.

Naturally, most people rarely witnessed Rin in that condition, given she was an heiress and a magus.

However, for Lin Luo and Makino, who had lived with her for nearly a year, this phenomenon was commonplace. And indeed, just emerged from the Fourth Dimension, she stretched with a yawn, staring blankly ahead with sleepy eyes. She rubbed her eyes, covered her mouth with one hand, let out another massive yawn, and stretched her arms languidly.

“Huh? Where are we? A jungle?” Rin tilted her head, looking utterly bewildered, mumbling incoherently, “Great, just five more minutes of sleep… Haaah…”

What connection did a jungle have with five more minutes of sleep?

Lin Luo desperately wanted to retort, but he realized that in this state, any sarcasm would be useless. So, Lin Luo decided to communicate through direct action.

He extended both hands and gently placed them on Rin’s chest, which was barely a B-cup, and gave a light squeeze upward.

Instantly, the air froze.

Makino stared, dumbfounded. Rin stopped yawning, stopped stretching, stopped rubbing her eyes. She looked blankly at the two intrusive hands on her chest. Her green pupils slowly widened, her thought process gradually rebooting. Three seconds later…

Slap!

Rin reflexively smacked Lin Luo across the face.

“You perverted bastard, filthy lecher, indecent thief…” Having snapped fully awake, Rin’s face instantly flushed crimson. She clutched her chest with one hand while pointing accusingly at Lin Luo, unleashing a torrent of curses.

This was understandable. Anyone waking up to find their body being handled inappropriately would be furious, let alone the proud and cunning Rin. The fact that she only slapped him instead of incinerating him with magic was already an act of remarkable restraint.

“I was just trying to get you awake as quickly as possible! Why so fierce? Look, you even ruined my face,” Lin Luo complained, pointing to the five red finger marks stinging on his cheek.

“Even so… who—who told you to use that method? Are you an idiot? Isn’t there a normal way to do it?” Rin spat out, a mixture of shame and anger coloring her voice.

“Serves you right,” Makino chimed in, shooting Lin Luo a look of utter contempt before adding hatefully… Holding back her impulse the night before and not giving her body completely to him had clearly been a wise choice.

Regarding the chest-fondling incident, the two of them verbally flayed and severely judged Lin Luo for over ten minutes, culminating in him hanging his head and admitting fault… This left Lin Luo thoroughly dejected. It was just a quick squeeze of the chest; what was the big deal? It wasn't the first time. Did they really need such a dramatic public shaming?

Sigh. Girls nowadays are losing all their standards… Wait, no, that’s not right. Why did I suddenly become so impulsive? Is it still because of unsatisfied desire?… It’s all because I have beautiful girls around but can’t properly pursue them, leading to this human tragedy.

Girls are the root of all evil… But I still adore girls.

His thoughts wandered wildly for ten seconds. Then, when Rin asked about their current situation, Lin Luo spent another half hour meticulously explaining their predicament. Naturally, he was very careful about what he shared and what he omitted—things like one certain night or another certain night, those matters were absolutely off-limits.

“Hmph,” after listening to Lin Luo’s summary, Rin tilted her head in deep thought and reached a conclusion. “So, we are currently targets for the other six Travelers, and what we need to do is avoid contact with them as much as possible, find the hosts of the three unknown World Hearts first, and then combine everyone's strength to capture them all, right?”

“Correct,” Lin Luo nodded. Although teenage Rin could be occasionally befuddled and often made mistakes at critical moments, her mind was generally very clear. She could untangle complex threads and grasp the overall scope of events with precision.

While her IQ wasn't the highest among them, if they needed a competent strategist, Rin was undeniably the one to pick… Misaka’s intelligence only manifested as crackling electricity; Makino was smart but hardly suited to be a strategist; Misaki’s intelligence stemmed from her complex psychic calculation formulas, fitting for someone dealing with psychology.

IQ is not the same as strategy. Rin was a genuine combat expert, not because of sheer power, but because of her precise analysis, clear logic, and excellent grasp of the flow of battle… As long as she wasn't tasked with the final execution step, the battle plan could absolutely be drawn up by her.

“But the problem we face now is a shortage of combat power. Once the other six Travelers find us, it will be extremely dangerous, and we have no fast way to locate that core host. So, we only have two paths forward…” Rin filtered all the information through her mind and held up two fingers.

“First, we find a secluded place to hide until fifteen days pass and the ABERs can fully mobilize. Then we won't have to worry about those six Travelers at all. Second, we continue with your original plan: search for the World Heart host.”

“Of course, both methods have flaws. The first is that if the Travelers find that core host before we do within those fifteen days, we’ll have failed halfway. Moreover, we can’t be 100% sure our hiding spot won't be discovered. If that happens, we’ll inevitably be in a life-or-death situation. So, this path cannot be taken.”

“Meaning, we still have to look for that core host like before?” Lin Luo asked, nodding.

“No,” much to Lin Luo’s surprise, Rin shook her head. “That path is also difficult. You are currently running around like headless flies. Even if the World Heart has a connection with the Book of Contracts, for a girl you’ve never met, someone whose location you don't even know—are you truly confident you can find her in a short time?”

“Of course not,” Lin Luo shook his head immediately. There was no point denying such a clear impossibility.

“Exactly. Since we can’t find her immediately, and we face the risk of being ambushed by the Travelers, not to mention attacks from the natives of this world, this path is also PA.” Rin decisively cut off the only two options presented.

“You vetoed both paths; what should we do then?” Lin Luo was instantly lost, completely unable to follow.

“Naturally, we take the third path,” Rin said with a mysterious smile. “Find the host who can use the power of Rules.”

“Huh?” Lin Luo froze.

“You just said that girl instantly defeated the Hunter Book’s Traveler with one move, meaning her strength is definitely above yours, right?” Rin asked deliberately.

“At my current strength, I absolutely cannot reach her level,” Lin Luo nodded. He could beat Ling Yi, but defeating her in one move was utterly impossible.

“So, we find her first. Firstly, she’s strong enough that with her, we don't need to worry about being attacked by the other Travelers. Secondly, we already know something about her… A girl around eleven or twelve years old. That target should be easy to find, right? Thirdly, can you sense the presence of that huntress?”

“Of course. My Perception Domain reaches everywhere. Since I interacted with her, her aura is naturally…” Lin Luo’s eyes suddenly lit up, finally understanding Rin’s implication.

That girl fought Ling Yi, so he could track Ling Yi’s aura to find the location where the fight occurred. Then, that spot would most likely retain the girl's aura as well. From there, he could follow that aura along the path she took… It was perfectly clear!

Lin Luo couldn't help but admire her. While he had considered finding that girl before, he hadn't thought of it on this level. In truth, his ability to devise perfect plans in the past stemmed from knowing the plot beforehand. But now, arriving in an unfamiliar world, his analytical ability proved insufficient.

Then, Rin added smugly, “Moreover, there are countless small animals here. Birds flying above, rabbits scurrying below—I can turn them into my familiars and use them as my eyes. Isn't that easy?”

“Rin, you truly are a genius,” Lin Luo said sincerely.

“Naturally so,” Rin replied, lifting her head proudly.