Operation Red Book

"Joshua?"

The first one to discover it was Ivy. She was sitting sideways on the floor, her face already mottled from tears.

Joshua sat upright on the sickbed. His lips were a little pale, and his back, which had never been straightened, was now as straight as a board.

The two children looked at each other, one raised his head and the other lowered his eyes; one pair of eyes trembled like the wings of a butterfly, and the other pair of eyes was like flames under a glacier.

"Joshua!"

Then it was Belle, who was ecstatic and rushed to Joshua's bedside first.

"Are you okay? Can you hear me? Where is the discomfort? Here? Or here..."

She pushed Joshua back onto the pillow and immediately began to examine him.

"Joshua..."

Moriarty and Holmes followed closely behind. They were panting from the quarrel, and the redness in the corners of their eyes had not yet completely faded away.

"You weren't like this just now, you know? Just now, you were floating and twitching violently, I thought you were going to transform!"

Holmes joked, and helped Ivy up who had fallen to the ground.

"We should thank Miss Ivy. She was so anxious just now..."

Moriarty smiled, his voice as gentle as a spring breeze.

He waited patiently for Bell's inspection, his feet raised, ready to move.

After Joshua took a whole bottle of transparent potion, Moriarty finally couldn't contain his excitement and bent over to give Joshua a passionate hug.

"We almost thought you would never come back, fortunately... fortunately..."

He held Joshua tightly in his arms, his fuzzy curly hair rubbing against his cheeks, looking both annoying and endearing.

Unfortunately, Joshua did not respond, not even willing to give a simple hug back.

It wasn't that he had no strength left, but that his heart wasn't in it at all.

On the other side of the hug, Joshua had no expression. He stared straight into Ivy's eyes with great passion and desire in his eyes.

"He's looking at you..."

Holmes noticed the eye contact between the two, and he patted Ivy's arm with a teasing tone.

"He's going to die of heartbreak because he didn't get the 'princess's' true love's kiss!"

"Go, go! You were crying your heart out just now, and now that he's back, you've become stupid again!"

Holmes led Ivy towards Joshua, not noticing the uneasiness and protest in Ivy's eyes.

There is something wrong with this Joshua; this was the only thought in Ivy's mind.

But what is wrong?

Maybe it was the long gazes they exchanged, or maybe it was the straightened and open chests...

Maybe it was that determined smile, or maybe it was that quietly changing aura...

The Joshua in front of him looked exactly like Joshua, but he was not the original Joshua...

Ivy was fifty-five percent sure, but she couldn't guarantee it.

Everything was pending, she didn't dare to go forward, let alone hug...

She pursed her lips, and inevitably a layer of disgust appeared in her eyes.

"I have something else to do, so I'll leave first..."

Ivy decisively broke free from Holmes' arms and ran a long distance without looking back.

"What happened to the little sheep all of a sudden?" Holmes asked puzzledly.

Everyone else was still immersed in the joy of recovering what they had lost, and no one except Ivy noticed Joshua's problem.

The drizzle outside the window has long turned into a downpour, fiercely washing the city sleeping in the quiet night.

Ivy leaned against the door, breathing the hot and humid air unbearably.

The discomfort in her heart did not go away, and Ivy sighed several times... quietly. This was natural, she was not a tactless killjoy.

"Is your name Ivy? Hola…"

The lady who was also alone appeared beside Ivy at some point.

She is very attractive, with smooth and delicate skin, sexy and exquisite facial features, and her every move reveals the passion and charm of Latin America.

"Hola! Yes, may I ask your name?"

"Beatrice...you are very beautiful!"

Beatrice blurted out something in broken Chinese. Although none of the intonations were accurate, she spoke it very fluently.

“I visited Guangdong, China, and the people there were so friendly!”

The shining white teeth appeared naturally on Beatrice's face, sincere and lovely.

Ivy relaxed immediately, and she curled up the corners of her mouth unconsciously, responding enthusiastically to the beautiful witch in front of her.

"Thank you! You are very beautiful. Welcome to China again!"

Polite words, a classic that never goes out of style.

Beatrice laughed even more happily, like a child who had never been in the world.

Then, she produced two pots of nectarine-sized succulents from behind her.

Clean lines, textured colors… that’s right, the potted plant on Alexander’s desk.

"This is……"

Ivy took the small potted plant and touched the gray-green petals on the succulent.

"If Boss asks you about me, please tell him that it was indeed me who saved you, okay?"

"Hmm, um... Sorry, I still don't understand..."

Beatrice bit her lower lip and lowered her chin silently. Her chocolate-like face was shrouded in fluffy shadows, and Ivy could only see the tip of her nose among her black hair.

"My boss gave me instructions to check on Ivy's condition, but..."

"You know, Ivy... leaves like maple trees, branches like wisteria..."

"Of course, Ivy means ivy!"

"Hmm... that's what I meant..."

Ivy blinked, and the fleshy thing in her palm trembled rapidly.

"I took great pains to sneak in here. There are many kinds of plants here, comparable to an entire Royal Botanic Garden, but there is no ivy..."

"So I only stole two of the smallest plants, intending to use them to report to the Boss, but I didn't expect..."

Beatrice raised her eyes, her amber eyes emitting a captivating luster.

"I didn't realize Ivy was a girl's name."

"Pfft hahahahaha!"

"Don't laugh at me! I've never seen anyone named Ivy in Columbia! It's just that Boss doesn't want to reveal more information!"

But this was too outrageous! Ivy doubled over with laughter, her laughter louder than the noise of rain hitting the window.

"So, please don't tell my boss about this... He will blame me or even punish me..."

At this point, Beatrice shuddered as if she had been struck by a hundred thousand volts of electricity.

"Of course I will keep this lovely fact a secret for you, but the prerequisite is that I don't know who your boss is!"

"Ah! You must know him. He cares about you very much. He always took some time to spend with you during your coma!"

"is it?"

Ivy tilted her head, and at that moment, she thought of no less than five candidates.

"Really? Tell me about it! Let's get to know each other better!"

The boastful voice was amplified several times, and Ivy and Beatrice turned their heads at the same time, shooting them several looks that were both cold and hot.

The main target is still Beatrice, and Ivy doesn't understand the reason.

"Sorry, no comment." Beatrice crossed her arms.

"So this is your real purpose? Not for Bell? I can't imagine it."

"Although we have long been accustomed to your stupidity in the consciousness space, we didn't expect that you could lower the lower limit by another value."

Moriarty sneered, "Your ability to be sarcastic is no worse than Sherlock Holmes. They are really a pair of natural enemies..."

"How rude..."

Beatrice rolled her eyes.

"It's just a mission assigned by the Boss. I am indeed here for Bell Cruz. In addition to revenge for what she did to me, I also have a necessary message to convey..."

"I'm sorry, but we just met today."

Bell quietly raised his hand behind Fomo, his voice filled with hesitation and trepidation.

"Although I always think you are somewhat familiar..."

"Hey! Witch! Here!" Holmes rudely interrupted the connection between the two.

"Let us get this over with! Come with me to Scotland Yard, where there is a very large prison!"

"I won't leave until Bell Cruz explains why he drank the 'Moonlight Goldfish'!"

"'Moonlight Goldfish'? It's the highest level of forgetfulness spell, which will cause irreversible memory damage. Why would I drink it?"

"That's a question you should answer for me."

A hint of viciousness flashed across her beautiful eyes, and Beatrice quickly grabbed Ivy beside her to block her in front of her, and a shining black magic wand appeared out of thin air in her right hand.

"Beatrice... we really just met today..." Ivy said with a wry smile.

"Remember me, Bell Cruz!"