On overlapping, colliding cobalt waves, Huang Xu clutched a dagger in his left hand. His severed right arm rested on the wooden staff that he leaned on for buoyancy, and he panted heavily as he stared at the waves before him.
Dark, gloomy storm clouds spread slowly across the horizon.
Suddenly, a faint trace materialized in the air, leaving a trail as it landed upon one end of the wooden staff. This revealed a dark-hued dove, the size of a small bird, its colors appearing as delicate as enamel in the sunlight.
It twisted its head a few times to nibble beneath its own exquisitely crafted wing, then turned its head towards Huang Xu, who was looking back.
“Did you complete the task I set for you! ” The Little Bird bored into him with a deep, solemn stare.
Huang Xu hesitated. “Lord Little Bird, I still haven’t found a single fish half my size. So…sigh. ” He dropped his head with a disappointed sigh.
Tip-tiptip-dodododo!
A burst of sharp pain from dense bird beaks pecking at the man’s head and face, “Aah, Demon Lord! “
Shua, Cuckoo appeared at the other end of the wooden staff, leisurely burying its head to peck at its other wing. Panting heavily, Huang Xu’s head resurfaced from the water, water streaming down his face.
“Fighting with strength equal to yours really brings back memories of distant childhood. “
“Childhood? Did you grow up looking like this? “
Cuckoo slowly raised its head, the covert feathers beneath the beautiful outer flight feathers of its wings slightly tilted and extended, making its wings appear more elongated as they rested against its back. With a hop, it turned around to gaze into the gloom between the distant sea, sky, storm.
“Human. Sometimes, ‘childhood’ is just an adjective, ” it turned its head back, “Can’t you grasp the meaning of that description? “
Huang Xu’s reply got stuck in his throat.
Submerged in water, he tilted his head in thought for a moment, then said, “Sorry, I thought you weren’t sculpted by someone. “
“Hmph. “
“Could you give me some clear water to drink, De— “
“Either Little Bird or Lord Cuckoo for addressing me is fine. I don’t want to tell you how to call my name for the third time. “
“Lord Cuckoo. ” Huang Xu recalled some memories from the panic of the past two days. “Could you give me some clear water? “
“Is that the extent of your ambitions? “
“Uh… ” Huang Xu waved his hand, “I once dreamed of becoming a department director or general manager, but… I’m too old. They’ve already approved my retirement. “
“A passable mission target. ” Little Bird turned its head solemnly, continuing to admire the sea and sky.
Waiting a few seconds and seeing no mention of the clear water, Huang Xu ventured, “Lord Cuckoo, what is your dream? “
“Cuckoo’s dream? ” Little Bird pondered for a moment. “Me? I want to write a serious work of documentary literature. “
“Alright. So… that morning, you said you needed to ask someone about a map of some Demon King’s domain for me… right? “
“Oh, you mean that, ‘Cuckoo’, ” Little Bird suddenly perked up, turned around completely, lowered its head, and said mysteriously:
“Originally, this map was promised to Yang Zicang, but he’s far too busy now, and today’s him looks down on that kind of warrior’s path of honing through storming the Demon King’s Palace. So, Huang Xu! I plan to stuff this gift into your future for you. “
“Oh? ” Huang Xu slightly tilted his head, thinking about the name ‘Yang Zicang’, a corner of his mouth twitching. “I feel you’re also something of a poet, Lady Little Bird. So, are you going to give me the map directly? “
Cuckoo glanced at Huang Xu’s left-arm sleeve, stained with fish blood from his tightly gripped dagger, along with some fish scales and fragments of soft-bodied marine life hanging on its threads.
Little Bird lifted its head slightly, staring at him intently.
“You have indeed gotten a little smarter. A palace like this, ruled by a Demon King—you’re not even qualified to die there trying to rush in. “
Huang Xu’s eyes shifted slightly, and he laboriously moved his Adam’s apple.
“Before continuing the training, let’s replenish today’s energy first. “
As he spoke, Cuckoo flicked its head, and a dark object abruptly slammed into Huang Xu’s field of vision above the water.
“Thump! “
A dull, dark Soldier Army helmet crashed against the man’s head and tumbled into the water. The youth’s body tilted backward, drifting a short distance away as he stared at the swaying steel helmet before him.
A water pouch barely poked out from the edge, resting inside the slightly tilted helmet, floating like a half-open coconut shell on the water. Against the backdrop of the dim, stormy scene, unable to focus on anything else, Huang Xu locked all his attention on the helmet before him, licking his chapped, withered lips.
……
“Mr. Buchen, why do I still need to seek out another Science Demon? “
“Could it be, Chairman Yang, that you plan to take our strongest Warrior down to fight the demon once the ‘Fire Godbird’ finds its true form? “
“Extreme heat would instantly… Oh no, extreme heat would not instantly burn a Fogfolk to death. “
But that would be excruciatingly painful. They knew that Fogfolk possessed remarkably long lives, along with the ability to acquire and control tainted bloodline powers through such longevity. For a Fogperson, being scorched by flames or being submerged and buried in water or soil would not end their life within a short amount of time.
Gazing at the eager and sincere looks in the eyes of the people before him.
Yang Zicang, who had initially only made an attempt, felt a slight tremor in his heart. “Well, it is indeed quite difficult. But now we have one more thread of possibility to explore, compared to when we knew absolutely nothing about the true form of the demon. “
“You are right. That single thread of possibility alone is enough to give us genuine confidence that we might catch a glimpse of the demon’s true form. “
“As long as we can figure out what it really is, we’ll find its weakness sooner or later. “
The few people who were speaking enthusiastically suddenly felt that the atmosphere around them was becoming stifling and off.
Turning around to look, they saw that every Fogfolk there was staring at them—or more precisely, at Mr. Yang Bucheng right before them—with expressions that suggested they were barely restraining some intense emotion, trying hard to appear normal.
“Ahem, well… it seems everyone holds great approval for the President. ” The voice of the minister who said this gradually faded. Feeling a slight unease in his heart, he took a step back and vacated the position he had been occupying all along.
A few people within the Dragon’s Domain who were fairly close with Yang Zicang were somewhat awkwardly pushed forward by the others. They walked to stand before Yang Zicang, whose brows had twitched slightly as he watched them approach.
“President, you are just too incredible. To think you could discover a trait like that. “
Yang Zicang, knowing full well what they were getting at, let out a light huff. “Not bad, I suppose. “
“The key is to be able to find the kind of thing from just now… “
“Enough. ” A nearby figure cut off the speaker, their eyes darting with concern that if too much was revealed now, the effect of inspiring everyone to complete pieces of ancient gold-level intelligence later would be diminished.
“Alright, alright. ” The man suppressed his eagerness with a nod, rubbing his hands together before glancing at the onlookers. “Chairman Yang, uh, you know… you’re already a five-pointed star now… what’s left, ” his voice dropped as he leaned in slightly, “there are still four more… couldn’t you find a way to give us brothers a hand? “
Yang Zicang glanced at the group of experts behind him, all standing around in various poses. These men, who had once seemed unfathomable during their first encounter, now reminded him of restless schoolboys in the back row, waiting to hear that they had no holiday homework.
“I’ll find a way, ” Yang Zicang nodded, then raised his gaze towards Ang Pulse. The man was watching him from amidst the crowd in the rear.
Yang Zicang met his eyes briefly, then looked away.
“Rest assured, everyone. The promises I make, even if I don’t respond right away, are never forgotten. “
“Mm-hmm! ” The man in front of him nodded with eager excitement.
At that, a wave of relief washed over the gathering. They nudged each other’s arms and tapped each other’s hands in quiet camaraderie.
It would be extremely difficult to find an opportunity to convey intelligence concerning Heritage Emerald, but Yang Buchen before us, and the other two fellows already confirmed to have conceived a fifth side, now caught and squeezed in the midst of the crowd—the “Heritage Emerald ” contained within them, if only it could be securely and confidentially obtained, would allow every single person here to generously conceive a mind-model shaped like a ring with that fifth golden side.
The perfect ratio, permeating all things, possesses one shared characteristic. On this geometric symbol, it even converges to five instances—a phenomenon both most ordinary and yet hard-earned and extraordinary.
Heritage Emerald.
The assembled individuals discreetly pressed down with elation on the shoulders of the two quinary orbital modelers, who were displaying bitter smiles, using their palms or arms.
Their current predicament lay in how to retrieve these heritage insights that could not be directly communicated.
Hrum-hrum-hrummm…
Even as he spoke excitedly in hushed tones, Yangzai Yimo Zangqian Trunc-fragment, standing opposite with arms crossed as he watched casually, lifted his head to glance at the empty space beside the gathered group.
The crowd turned, seeing a person quietly riding a dark crimson motorcycle slowly toward them.
“When did he get here?“
Several figures in army gear rushed forward, but were swiftly restrained by the members of Dragon Domain; everyone recognized Zorro’s silhouette in a blue-threaded, Ceylon light-linen undershirt picked up God knows where.
Zorro, wearing protective windproof goggles, let his feet straddle the ground and lightly pushed off a few times, rolling forward at a slow speed.
“Ah, Yang! ” Zorro called out from a distance.
Seeing this motorcycle, which looked somewhat familiar yet was now markedly different from its former slender and weak state, Yang Zicang suddenly became overjoyed. Could it be that Little Red Horse hadn’t died?!
“Zorro, you’re back! This is great, ” Yang Zicang said.
“Too bad you’re late, treasure, ” a few people in the crowd snickered meanly.
Zorro glanced at these people, let out a “harrumph, ” and rolled his motorcycle forward a few meters. “Wasn’t it you who called and told me to come back? “
Yang Zicang, having taken a couple of steps forward, was stunned for a moment. Then his gaze locked onto the round headlight at the front of the Nightmare Motorcycle. Inside the red-tinted lamp cover, a beam of light resembling a vertical, glaring eye slowly illuminated. The light then flickered, as if looking around.
“C-C-Curses! ” Yang Zicang pinched the bridge of his nose with his hand, forcing himself to calm down.
Across the way in the crowd, Colonel Brownlion raised a hand to cover his forehead.
The crowd fell into a dead silence, followed by a chorus of low, halting coughs. A few people who had started to move forward were pulled back by two others, right into the midst of the group.
“The President is just too unlucky. Had another flower whisked away from him just moments ago. “
The mutterer was immediately grabbed by several hands around him, while one person leaned in close and warned solemnly, “What the hell are you saying? “
“What fresh flower? Could that beautiful lady at the inn have some strange connection to the chairman? “
“Ah, no, I don’t know anything about it. ” The man he had met at the scene of the Keren rescue averted his eyes as he spoke.
“Playing mind games with us, huh? Come on, let big brother here collect some intel properly. “
This man was dragged away by a few others slinging their arms around his shoulders.
After hearing about everything that had happened here today, Zorro could hardly describe the feelings in his heart at that moment.
But with danger imminent, Zorro quickly composed himself and listened to Yang Zicang’s plan for a vehicle—the need for another one that could travel quickly across long distances and also dive underground.
“But my Little Red Horse has never tried anything like burrowing beneath the earth. “
“Since that agent from the Tiaoli Angel Committee said he would fulfill my wish, I wondered if it might have some special ability that hasn’t been unlocked yet. For instance… maybe it could condense some kind of marker or insignia, and then reach a distant location quickly, just like my train, or those trait name cards. “
“Name cards? ” Zorro pondered deeply. “Make one for it? But then, how would you send it down? “
Listening to Yang Zicang talk, the few others nearby also started to think it over. Having seen Chairman Yang’s name cards themselves, they knew those weren’t indestructible; on the contrary, the material of the name cards was just ordinary paper.
Until another way could be found to reinforce them, there was no legitimate method to get them below the Earth’s crust. Let alone letting that scorched piece of wood do the job.
“About this, I’ll try taking Little Red Horse later to see if we can travel underground, ” Zorro immediately decided, raising his head and then saying:
“As for a plan like going down to find the demon’s main body… “
Faced with what Yang Zicang had said, everyone still felt the immense pressure.
It was obvious to imagine how futile armed force would be for a single individual against metal vines that could cover the earth. Unless… Zhao Anlong’s Ring of Annihilation advanced two more steps, giving him a chance to fight it within a short period; otherwise, with current combat strength limited to destroying walls with a single fist or punching through iron plates with cannons and trucks, dealing with such a thing was truly a pipe dream.
“Being able to go down and fight once is already a miracle, ” said Orn Palis.
This remark immediately made several people look up in sudden realization. “Ah! “
“Yeah, old treasures, the only one who’s gone down now is that bird. None of our people have gone yet! “
Their faces suddenly lit up with renewed hope.
However, they saw that Yang Zicang was looking at Ang Pailisi beside him with a grave expression.
“Mr. Pailisi, let’s go inside and talk. “
“Alright. “
The two entered the room filled with the smell of smoke and fire. Yang Zicang thought for a moment and said:
“Earlier, I told you about all our discoveries, but I just thought of something with a friend: the migrating animals are being affected by the Earth’s magnetic field. That’s why recently, these creatures, which had not been attacking each other, are being assaulted by the iron vines upon reaching their destination. “
“I have indeed noticed this, but what I don’t understand is, can a demon with such powerful abilities actually cause a small number of plants to exhibit those mutations that only appear during periods of extreme cold? “
Yang Zicang also frowned, looking very puzzled.
“Well, let’s put this question aside for now. I have a few not-so-reliable guesses myself, after all, I’m neither a botanist nor an expert in physical sciences like geography and geomagnetism. “
Colonel Brownlion said in a very somber tone:
“Considering the current situation, and especially after you, President Buchen, bravely bombarded the Doom Vines around the crowd last night, which brought us… shock no less than the airship ‘Kruun’ fire incident that was reported back today. I have been thinking… why is it that once a mass death signal appears, the Doom Vines underground attack all humans and living creatures? “
Yang Zicang looked up.
Colonel Brownlion spoke slowly, “After all, various natural disasters could also rapidly claim a very large number of lives. “
After two breaths of silence, Yang Zicang said, “So, I want to go down and take a look. “
“That would be very difficult, ” Ang Pailisi said, looking over with a sigh.
Yang Zicang glanced sidelong at the half-closed door, then turned his head back. “Before this, I never thought about the possibility of going down there. But now… it seems slightly possible. “
Pailisi looked at him with some curiosity.
Yang Zicang slowly closed his eyes. A silvery-white halo lit up on his chest, and Ang Pailisi stared at the five-pointed star shining within it.
Suddenly, at its very center, a slender silver-white point of light began to emerge, along with a burst of colorful radiance that rotated slowly. The pentagram began to follow the rotation of the central point, flickering in and out of view, and the lines swiftly became a dizzying, indistinct blur that obscured its true shape.
The information for the “Track Berth ” ability, nestled in Yang Zicang’s heart—which allows one’s mind to trail the course of a controlled object and leave a mental mark in its wake, whether at midpoint or at its journey’s end—began to waver and cloud overslide deep into that inner spiritual reservoir, collapsing into a frenzied, dissipated clumpness chaos
In the next instant, something wrung drastically contracted within that same tumultuous cradle collapse.
Yang Zicang realized that the now harshly compressed point of light even absorbed the “Crystal of Serenity “entirely was swallowed up naturally into a gape-mouth magnet hollow.
Following this, a complex, intense patch of emotion fledged within a gush from the pentagram—spikes off strange furious angles huning to fuel, tempering the merging appetite fire “torching empty fifth path nong sky … a chase for all around twosyn…**｝a “! In syn sound that every hold gut marks, plinks out for info bune to glimpse catch future fix around craving grasping feeling the hez would never know plainflect but he understand it eventually drove forth passion to be used tag chain next complete knowledge signal grasp of other inside:
In response, the white vapor shadow-Well shadow-dragon behind Zicang blank echo shape upriseing overhead pull shapes like ripples as even then Colonel Pilisi gradually turned his unclenching head.
Finge gossamer shreds teases minor psychic filaments fuse, swim skimming shape track eye along high from shadow slowly diffuse quiet sky of the colonel crane wait: The flux of th thread losses of energy against Yang stretch but comes toward new power already—though for a dragon dragon and brain must important restore want even the shadow giving still high growing already think future hour:These softly carved very now bled seconds giving maybe were cost too nothing sooner pickable for feed if a model shape of newly birthed tomorrow!,
｛Ancient Gold — Gestator the star evolves Quint-Element original Sacred fountain source—｝
｛I seek more: nothing-shrouded the leash to go full remove pain from held reach e outer clarity｝:
Consequently drop collat resource reach heat ever’‘collect I own sphere whichever weave identity currency enough for where each funnel pours its mind in unseen, want all so densish soon, clear emptiness swirles orbit absorb like mass, Pull Everything Into Absorption Now.
Suddenly, Yang Zicang thought of the exploration capability of Silent Night. At the last moment, he just managed to release some mental energy to mobilize Silent Night’s power. Suddenly, the aura within the entire room fluctuated with a heavy, slow throb!
For an instant, those outside felt an intangible, indescribable sensation surge up from under their feet, spreading through their entire bodies, coming and going in a flash.
“Uh… “
At this moment, Yang Zicang felt a stabbing cut in his mind, as if his skull was pried open by some sharp tool. At the same time, within the halo on his chest, the hollow emptiness that filled it briefly and suddenly became firm again.
He body swayed once before he instantly and automatically adjusted his muscle tension to stand erect.
This quick change of posture, in Colonel Ang Pailisi’s eyes, appeared as nothing but a blur, and in an instant he stood upright and quite at ease, as though he had always been this proudly gallant and pure.
Yang Zicang opened his eyes and looked down at his chest. Within the silver, ring-like glow, those countless swirling dotted lines began to slow down upon a subtle stir of his heart, like a diffuse mental mist rising up from within and spreading across his entire body. Yang Zicang felt his bodily vitality gradually becoming more abundant.
A few bits of information floated into his mind.
“Mind Dragon Express? ” Yang Zicang muttered subconsciously, then his gaze shifted slightly.
“Are you alright? ” Colonel Brownlion Pailisi inquired with concern.
Yang Zicang quietly looked at the gradually stabilising six-pointed star glowing inside the halo on his chest.
“Uh, I’m fine. But I think I’m in urgent need of a locomotive or a streetcar.“
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