Chapter 369: The Return Journey
In the past three days, Hammerhead practically shut himself behind the closed door while the apprentice was fully responsible for handling Xiao Lin and Ibeiya. Xiao Lin took that opportunity to ask the apprentice a lot of things, and the young apprentice had an overwhelmingly good impression of Xiao Lin, perhaps because he was an Earthling or because he had previously helped the apprentice out of the situation. The apprentice answered Xiao Lin’s questions earnestly and did not hide anything.
Xiao Lin also learned more about Hammerhead. For example, he did not stay in a fixed place during his early years. Although his ident.i.ty as a mixed-race made his bullies somewhat apprehensive, he was regarded as a b.a.s.t.a.r.d among the orcs and was looked down upon. As a result, Hammerhead left the orcs early on and did not identify with them.
Due to his father’s abandonment, Hammerhead did not have the slightest affection for Earthlings either. The conflicted feeling had long been the cause of Hammerhead’s loneliness. Although there were many visiting guests, he did not have any friends.
In addition, Hammerhead was seriously ill, which puzzled Xiao Lin as Hammerhead looked physically strong and mentally healthy when they met a few days ago. Xiao Lin could not see any trace of sickness at all. However, the apprentice’s words were conclusive and he was sad to inform them that his master had few years left to live. That was why he accepted an apprentice to try and pa.s.s down his knowledge.
Hammerhead seemed even more pitiful than Ibeiya, and the little girl had reddened eyes after listening to everything. If Hammerhead had not repeatedly told them not to disturb him during that period, Ibeiya might just go over to him at once.
Three days pa.s.sed quickly, and Hammerhead appeared rather sluggish when he reappeared before Xiao Lin. Hammerhead might not have slept for three days, but his eyes shone and he cupped his hands to offer a shining silver ring.
“Is this the spatial storage ring?” Xiao Lin could not wait for it to be handed over. The ring was still warm as it had just been completed. He looked at it carefully, and the ring itself appeared rather ordinary, without any decoration, pattern, or text.
“Because of the relatively short time, I wasn’t able to incorporate too many details,” Hammerhead explained.
“That’s not important.” Xiao Lin did not care about external decorations, only quality. He had known how to use that kind of spatial storage ring a long time ago from Lilith.
He closed his eyes slightly and channeled his mental power into the ring. A huge, empty, and strange s.p.a.ce suddenly appeared in his mind. Of course, he could not actually see it, as the information he received was that which had been fed from his consciousness.
The s.p.a.ce was still in a completely chaotic state, like a wasteland that has not yet been developed, but the most intuitive feeling for Xiao Lin was its unimaginably huge size. He was previously skeptical of Hammerhead’s words but had now believed it completely. Indeed, the s.p.a.ce was like a huge city, except that there was nothing there at all.
Xiao Lin also felt exhausted after his consciousness exited the ring. Hammerhead reminded him that it was an inevitable result of using the spatial ring. To be precise, it could no longer be regarded as a storage ring, but shared more similarities to an independent domain spatial ring. Hammerhead could not elucidate any purpose other than storage, so Xiao Lin could only treat it as a storage ring for the time being.
After making payment and getting ready to say goodbye, Xiao Lin made a point to show a bit of concern over Hammerhead’s body before leaving. He received confirmation from Hammerhead that the latter had not much time left, but Hammerhead did not seem to care at all and refused Xiao Lin’s gesture.
“If you need anything, you can come to Dawn City and contact me at any time.” Although Xiao Lin consoled him with an a.s.surance, the other party simply smiled as he knew that such a possibility was very slim.
Upon leaving Hammerhead’s residence, Xiao Lin immediately began planning to return to Dawn City. Going through the original route was not possible and the situation in Wildfire Town was still unclear. He hated the fact that Planet Norma’s communication system was underdeveloped, and there was no such thing as the Internet or media outlets there. Under the painstaking official concealment, it would be hard to find out anything even in Wildfire Town, which was not too far away.
“Are sure you want to go back with me?” Going back was not too difficult, but Xiao Lin had the baggage of a little girl, which left him with a severe headache.
Ibeiya nodded hard, and Xiao Lin could only sigh and agree. Even if he did not, the girl might go by herself, so it was better to bring here along with her.
...
“Is that the boy?”
“Yes. I’ve been searching for him for a long time and you managed to run into him.”
“Perhaps the G.o.d of Fortune is looking kindly upon us.”
“It’s a pity that the other woman who was walking with him has disappeared. ”
“The girl is still with him, isn’t he?”
“Hmph, that’s not the same one! But that girl you’re referring to is very special too.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so fixated to him. I observed him when I met him earlier and I think he’s just a very ordinary person with really measly strength.”
“I need him. If our plan is to succeed, the final key lies in him, as well as the little girl from Judge Academy. ”
“I hope you are not joking and that you’re aware of our limited patience.”
“You’re wasting our time if you continue talking nonsense.”
“Hmph, fine then. Where’s that orc?”
“I’ll take care of that stubborn orc.”
When Xiao Lin left, he did not notice that two pairs of eyes were constantly following him from the shadows nearby.
On the way back to the city center, the people from the Public Security Alliance interrogated and asked to show the certificate issued when he entered the city. Of course, Xiao Lin did not have it when he sneaked in, but he made no compromise on that occasion and directly spoke in fluent Chinese. After shouting loudly, the interrogators were immediately scared away. As Ibeiya mentioned, the ident.i.ty of Earthlings was indeed very useful in the city.
After buying back the map and studying carefully with Ibeiya for a long time, Xiao Lin decided to bypa.s.s Wildfire Town from the southeast and directly enter Dawn Academy’s colony. It would be riskier to do so however, because one-third of the time spent during the journey would be the orcs territory.
Orcs hated Earthlings and the hatred did not dissipate even though their war happened over a century ago. Dawn Academy might have established certain fronts at the border and pushed deep into orc territory, those areas were still subject to intrusion from time to time.
The only advantage was that those places were guaranteed to be within range of the resurrection tower, while the resurrection tower in Wildfire Town had long been destroyed by Xiao Lin after it had been defiled. In comparison, a detour through the orc territory was the safest choice, because he would only lose 20 years of his life if he died.