Ben10: A Romantic Adventure with a Gender-Swapped Class

Elena appeared out of nowhere, as if she had emerged from the thick darkness of night, and stood quietly in the shadow of an old locust tree not far away.

The moonlight was stingy, only outlining her blurry silhouette. Her dark clothes almost blended into the shadows, and only her face carried a faint, inscrutable expression.

Mo Bai's pupils suddenly contracted, and a strong sense of vigilance and strangeness instantly seized him.

He subconsciously took a small step forward, subtly shielding Xiao Ban behind him, his gaze sharp as a knife, fixed on Elena, as if trying to pierce through her calm facade and see her true purpose for appearing there late at night.

Xiaowen was also taken aback. She temporarily set aside her need to confirm the situation inside the coffin and asked in confusion.

"Elena? Isn't your research very important?"

Elena took a few steps forward, finally fully exposed to the cool moonlight.

Her face appeared somewhat pale in the moonlight, and her eyes darted away, avoiding Mo Bai's scrutinizing gaze. Her voice carried a deliberate ease, yet it couldn't hide a hint of insincerity.

“Research… is very important,” she said, lowering her head slightly, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, “but friends are also very important.” She spoke these words so softly that they seemed to be blown away by the wind.

Just then, Xiao Ban seemed to be frozen by the increasingly heavy and cold atmosphere in the cemetery, and couldn't help but shiver.

She shrank back, hugged her arms tightly, and nervously scanned the surrounding tombstones and swaying tree shadows, her voice trembling slightly.

"I...I mean, could we talk somewhere else? It's so late at night in the cemetery...it's kind of creepy." She looked at Mo Bai for help. "How about we go to Snow Mud King? We can drink and talk and warm up!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Mo Bai, Kevin, and Xiao Wen turned around almost simultaneously, looking at her with knowing, knowing eyes, and said in unison, "I think you just want to drink it!"

The little boy's thoughts were exposed, and a blush rose on his face. He stiffened his neck and muttered softly.

"Can't you drink something to warm yourself up?"

The sound of an engine once again broke the silence of the night.

Soon after, the familiar, vibrant neon sign of Snow Mud King became its new base.

Bright lights, cheerful music, and the sweet aroma of syrup and fried food filled the air, instantly dispelling the chill and oppressive feeling of the cemetery.

Five people sat around a small plastic round table, each with a large, colorful, steaming slush cup in front of them.

The sound of the straw stirring the ice cubes was crisp and clear.

Xiaowen broke the brief silence first, his gaze falling on Elena's slightly tired face, and asked the most crucial question.

"Why did those chips take on your father's appearance? What was their purpose in imitating him?"

Elena paused slightly in her grip on the straw.

She didn't answer immediately, but instead lowered her head and unconsciously stirred the pink liquid in the glass with the straw, watching the vortex swirl at the bottom of the glass.

Several seconds passed before she raised her head, her eyes unfocused, her voice carrying a heavy sense of reminiscence and helplessness.

“They’ve always been like this,” she said, a bitter smile playing on her lips, “using my father’s appearance to cause chaos and create panic.”

"What is the purpose?" Xiao Ban asked, his mouth full of straw, his big eyes filled with curiosity.

“I know,” Kevin answered quickly, his expression somewhat serious. “They want to kill us.”

“Except for me,” Mo Bai’s calm voice interrupted Kevin’s “profound remarks.”

He took a deep breath of the strawberry-flavored slush, the cool, sweet liquid sliding down his throat, but it couldn't suppress the doubts in his heart.

His gaze deepened, as if he were sorting through some fragments.

"What do you mean?" Elena turned her head in confusion and looked at Mo Bai.

Mo Bai put down the heavy slush cup in her hand, the bottom of the plastic cup making a slight tapping sound on the table.

He leaned forward slightly, placed his hands on the table, and scanned everyone present with his eyes, his tone carrying a calm and analytical quality.

"Because I always feel like it's deliberately avoiding me."

“Take last night for example,” he said, looking at the little boy. “The little boy was sleeping soundly at home. My house is just across the fence. There’s no reason why it only attacked the little boy and had no interest in my house, which is so close by, and didn’t even come near it.”

“And today,” Mo Bai’s voice turned somber, “I just arrived at the scene, and haven’t even made a move yet.”

He frowned, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table.

"It was so fierce when it was fighting three (referring to Wen, Kevin, and Ben) before, it wasn't afraid at all. Why is it acting like it's seeing a plague god when I'm there?"

Mo Bai raised her head and looked sharply at Elena.

That's strange.

Elena met his gaze, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end it only turned into a long sigh filled with deep helplessness.

She shook her head, her face filled with confusion and honest helplessness.

"I'm just a scientist, not an all-knowing detective."

“Then let me be the great detective!” Kevin slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly, his stone-like body making the chair clang as he hit it, his face radiating an air of “I’ve got this covered”.

However, Xiao Ban and Mo Bai remained seated firmly in their chairs, without moving an inch.

Kevin waited a while, and when no one responded, he frowned in confusion.

"Hey? Are you guys leaving or not?"

"Uh..." Mo Bai was about to explain something when a cool but undeniably strong hand tightly grabbed his arm.

Xiao Ban clung tightly to Mo Bai's arm as if protecting some precious treasure, tilted her face up to Kevin, and loudly and confidently announced.

"No way! He promised me! He was going shopping with me tonight! We've had the shaved ice and talked about business, it's time to keep his promise!" She shook Mo Bai's arm forcefully, as if emphasizing "ownership".

Mo Bai was pulled by Xiao Ban, and her body swayed, revealing an awkward and helpless smile on her face.

He raised his hand and scratched his cheek, adding to what Xiao Ban had said.

"Yes...yes, I did agree...but..." He glanced around at the bustling shops and muttered to himself, "I need to find a shopping mall...that hasn't been badly damaged by last night's battle..."

Just as everyone's attention was drawn to Xiao Ban and Mo Bai's "shopping promise" and Kevin's "great detective" declaration, Elena, sitting in the shadows in the corner, had a very subtle change in her tired and helpless expression in an instant that no one noticed.

She lowered her head slightly, a few strands of hair falling across her forehead, obscuring half of her face.

In the dim light, the corners of her mouth seemed to turn down very slightly, forming an almost imperceptible, cold, hard curve.

That was definitely not the bewildered expression of a scientist facing a difficult problem; it was more like... a forcibly suppressed restlessness, or a deeper, colder calculation.

Especially her all-black outfit that she wore today, almost blending into the night, and the black lipstick on her lips that looked particularly dark under the light, like congealed blood, seemed to be imbued with some kind of ominous implication.

A silent, chilling cold seemed to emanate from her quiet figure, clashing with the joyful atmosphere of the surrounding snow slush king.

The feeling was like a thin, poisoned blade, quietly hidden beneath a sweet, sugary coating.