Chapter 586 Celestial Carp Continent, here we come!
When Marcus said that Queen Mother looked p.i.s.sed, he really meant it.
"…" The rowdy crowd of Travelers, who were all talking with each other as they mingled, all went quiet as Queen Mother arrived.
How could they not be quiet, when Queen Mother herself looked extremely angry?
Gone were the gentle and tranquil expression on Queen Mother"s face. Instead, an expression of extreme anger could be seen carved on her head, something that she made obvious with her aura too.
"Hong hong hong~"
Before, Queen Mother"s aura felt like nature. It was both relaxing and comforting. But now, Queen Mother"s aura felt more like a natural disaster, making her look like she had arrived to destroy something.
With this kind of demeanor upon her arrival, some of the Rookie Travelers who wanted to greet her all went silent with fear, including Marcus.
They can only stare nervously at Queen Mother as they waited for her to talk, although her pursed lips and scrunched face made it look like she won"t even talk at all.
Fortunately for the rookies, Queen Mother did not stay silent for long.
"Today is your lucky day, rookies. Leader Alex had just drafted your first mission, so rejoice. All your training will be of use for this day." Queen Mother slowly said, with her monotone voice not showing any hints of emotion at all. "As long as you became stronger from the past few days, this mission will benefit you instead. So please, just rejoice."
"…"
The sheer lack of color in her voice was enough to make everyone s.h.i.+ver, as they realized that Queen Mother was really p.i.s.sed right now.
"What? No reaction? Where are the claps for me? Give it now." As if she was spurned by the rookies" silence, Queen Mother has finally showed an emotion, but this one is purely irritation. "Or have you lost your hands from your laziness? Tsk, don"t tell me you have wasted my time here?"
"Clap clap clap!!!"
With Queen Mother"s deathly glare overlooking them like a butcher, the rookies were of course hasty on clapping, as none from them wanted to gain her ire. They clapped like their life depended on it, with some ignoring the pain in their hands as they clapped with increasing intensity.
"Clap clap clap!!!"
Even Marcus joined in too, and he was one of the loudest clappers.
"Clap clap clap!!!"
"Okay, I had enough of your claps. Now stay quiet and let me talk again." Like a swinging pendulum, Queen Mother"s mood quickly changed again, with her flatline anger returning.
"…."
"Good. So, just like what I said earlier, you have a mission that Leader Alex had drafted. This mission will start…. 1 hour from now, so prepare everything that you need." Queen Mother said with a sigh after the claps have finally died down. "The other details of the mission will be given while you are preparing. "
"…."
"Now, does anyone of you have any questions?"
"…"
"If there"s none, then this meeting is already adjourned. Just go and rest on your houses. We will all meet up here after 1 hour to start the mission."
And just like that, Queen Mother quickly left the area, with her angry mood still the same as when she entered.
She did not say anything else as she exited the building, leaving all the Rookies silent with tension and antic.i.p.ation.
"…."
"…."
This silence however only lasted for a short while, as exactly 10 seconds after Queen Mother left, the Rookies began conversing with each other again.
[Hey! Did you hear what Queen Mother said? She said that there"s a mission for us later! What do you think it could be?]
[Traveler Kong, I don"t know. But I bet it could be exciting. It"s Leader Alex who drafted it after all.]
[Sigh…. I hope all our training will be worth it. Professor Frances" training regimen is really killing me off!]
[Heh, but we have clearly grown strong, right? I mean, I feel less intimidated by Queen Mother now! I think… that"s a testament for our growth! Heh, I bet that once the mission starts, I will achieve the most contribution~]
[You? Hah, what a boastful talk! Let"s see if you can really achieve that!]
This time around, there was more excitement on the voices of the rookies as they talked with one another. How could they not be excited? This was the first time that they will do an "important" task here in the Traveler"s World, so of course they"re bound to look forward to it.
Marcus was obviously excited too.
But within this excitement lay a layer of worry, as he found himself unsettled from Queen Mother"s strange att.i.tude.
"This is weird… If this is the first mission that Leader Alex has drafted, then shouldn"t Queen Mother be a little happy? But instead of being jolly, Queen Mother looked like something had been stolen from her…" Marcus thought to himself as he ignored the jeers and taunts by the nearby Audrey. "Why would she be this p.i.s.sed? Is there something more about the mission that p.i.s.sed her that we don"t know about?"
Marcus could have thought about this matter more, but he found himself unable to as his companions dragged him back to their house.
****************
1 HOUR LATER.
"Sigh… the healing formations inscribed inside our house is certainly effective. All the pains and injures in my body had already healed. Leader Alex sure is impressive." After staying and resting in his house for exactly an hour, Traveler Marcus found his body feeling extremely refreshed. The healing formation inscribed his house seemed to have helped his body, making him feel much more lighter compared to earlier.
But even with this relief, the worry inside Marcus" heart did not disappear. Instead, it actually increased, making him feel twitchy even just from the lightest taps of his companions.
"…Why am I feeling this worried? All my allies and companions are excited for this mission, so shouldn"t I be excited too?" Marcus thought to himself with worry as he tried to keep a straight face in front of Sonia. "Wait, maybe I am just being too cautious because of Queen Mother"s att.i.tude…."
Marcus tried his best to ignore Queen Mother"s sullen behavior earlier, but no matter what he did, her p.i.s.sed expression still played on his mind.
"According to the details given by our messenger earlier, our mission will be a big one. It will be a raid to conquer the Celestial Carp Continent, which is under the control of the Immortal Empress." Marcus thought to himself as he now also ignored Sonia"s lewd teasings to him.
"From what I also heard from the messenger, something has incapacitated the Immortal Empress, which made the whole Celestial Carp Continent vulnerable to attacks from outsiders. As of now, only our group knows about this fact, hence Leader Alex"s rush on making this raid."
"Since the Immortal Empress had been incapacitated, the only danger coming from the Celestial Carp Continent will come from its inhabitants and the Travelers under her control. With that kind of danger, I should not be this worried." Marcus further thought as he bit his lips. "Since this raid will not be at the peak danger, then I should be carefree too, right? Why am I then this worried?"
Marcus tried to think of more reasons on why he is feeling this worried, but no matter what he thought, he only got a blank.
"Tsk, since I can"t get anything from thinking, then I will just let things go on normally. Over-thinking at this point will just make things worse, so it"s better to worry about them later." Marcus finally gave up on his worries, as he knew that thinking more will just be futile.
"Hong hong hong~"
Marcus chose the right time to stop worrying, as it was at this moment that he and his companions found themselves standing right above a ma.s.sive teleportation formation.
This teleportation formation was inscribed deeply on the floors of the Rookie Headquarters, with its area spanning all over the whole floor. It"s intricate and delicate appearance made the whole floor look like a work of art, something that even an art newbie like Marcus can appreciate.
"Hong hong hong~"
Everyone who was inside the Rookie Headquarters found themselves stepping above the teleportation formation too, with not a single one able to look away from it.
How could they look away, when a formation full of pulsing spatial power was under their feet? Marcus certainly"s not one.
"I see… So this teleportation formation will be sending us towards the Celestial Carp Continent. This is really large-scale, given the power needed to do it." Sonia, the lewd succubus who has been standing behind Marcus all this time, let out a small gasp as she commented about the teleportation formation.
Her face was also covered with awe, as if the sight of the formation below her feet was beyond marvelous. "Hehehe, this is really impressive! I wonder who made it like this. It"s so… exquisite."
"Ha…." Sonia then began moaning at this point, with her moans seemingly directed only at the teleportation formation. "Ha…. This is making me h.o.r.n.y! Marcus, please, let us look for the creator of this formation! I really can"t take it anymore!"
"…" Although the target of Sonia"s l.u.s.t was not him, Marcus still could not help but feel hot. As such, Marcus had to shake his head first before he answered her. "Sonia, the creator of this teleportation formation is Leader Alina. Just feel the spatial power inside this formation. It exudes… the similar aura as Leader Alina"s power."
"Oh, now that I see it, this formation definitely has a similar aura as Leader Alina"s…" Sonia looked slightly embarra.s.sed as she replied, with her eyes darting around warily.
She was obviously fearful of offending Alina, hence her current reaction.
"Ehehe Marcus, I think I will take back my statement earlier. There"s no need for us to look for the creator…"
"Hah, that"s what you get for thinking of lewd things first. Well, Leader Alina is not here, so she definitely did not hear about your lewdness." Marcus laughingly said as he ruffled Sonia"s head. "Instead of thinking of lewd things, just prepare yourself for the mission. Even if this mission looks easy, you never know what will happen later…"
"Marcus, I can sense worry on your voice. Is there something that you are worried about?" Even when Marcus tried his best to hide his thoughts, the sensitive Sonia was still able to sense his worry. "Tell me what is worrying you, Marcus. You just can"t think of it alone."
"Ah… I was just overthinking again, Sonia. There"s no need for you to worry for me." Marcus hastily replied while shaking his head. "Come on, forget about me, and focus more on yourself. The same goes for you two, Vita and Dys. You three should not play around once our mission starts, ok? I can"t afford to worry about you and myself at the same time…"
"Noted, Marcus."
"Noted, Marcus."
"Noted Marcus."
Marcus" three companions sounded like obedient slaves when they replied, which made Marcus shake his head, as he realized that the three were teasing him again.
"Sigh, when will you three stop teasing me…?"
"Um, when did we tease you Marcus?"
"We, tease you, Marcus? Vita and I never thought of that!"
"I think so too, Marcus! I, Dys, never thought about teasing you like a cute little kid…"
"…Well whatever, the teleportation formation is about to activate, so let"s resume our conversation later." Marcus looked like he wanted to talk more with his companions, but with the sudden activation of the teleportation formation, he was left with no choice but to stop talking.
"Hong~"
The light of the teleportation formation covered Marcus and the other Rookie Travelers for a second before it faded away, revealing only an empty s.p.a.ce on their former positions. He and the other Rookie Travelers seemed to have been whisked away from the Rookie Headquarters, which was no doubt caused by the teleportation formation.
Their companions had also disappeared too, leaving only an empty Rookie Headquarters.