Chapter 680: Long Time No See, Coral
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The revelry on Sardinia continued. But Lu Shu had no interest in it anymore. He had to spend the following week waiting before he could meet up with the new team and go protect Coral.
To his surprise, there were a number of Chinese tourists here. While others were enjoying themselves, a Chinese tour guide was shouting through a loudspeaker, waving a small orange flag, “Hey, everyone! Here we see the famous Horse Racing Festival of Sardinia, whose history can be dated back to…”
The tourists cast their curious gazes at the crowd. Some of them were pondering whether it was possible to take a photo with those Metahumans or give them a touch for 10 dollars. In any case, Metahumans were a rare sight in public in China.
Of course, no one was rude enough to really lay their hands on the performers…
At this moment, Lu Shu suddenly noticed something was wrong. He realized that the energy waves in the crowd were seemingly stronger than those in the cheer-leading squads. He studied them using his peripheral vision to search for anything unusual.
Indeed, those people were a poor fit in this lively scene. They were like indifferent spectators who failed to resonate with the joyful atmosphere.
Lu Shu did a careful mental calculation. There were more than ten Metahumans along this part of the coastline highway alone. In that case, how many watchers were there in total along the entire highway?
This was a planned scheme. Lu Shu had reached this conclusion almost subconsciously. It was hard to believe that this was a coincidental gathering of individual pract.i.tioners.
“There’s something weird up.” Lu Shu felt as if he had missed a key part of the puzzle. This was supposed to be an insignificant island for Pract.i.tioners, but in reality it was such a thriving city. Moreover, the sheer presence of so many Pract.i.tioners from various large organizations was suspicious too.
What were they doing here?!
Lu Shu messaged You Mingyu, pretending to be casual. “Are you hiding something from me? The situation here in Sardinia is strange. Why are there so many Metahumans from large organizations here?”
At this moment, a man walked past Lu Shu. He looked up and, to his astonishment, it was Francesco!
Lu Shu was stunned. Something must be going on since even Francesco was here!
Dressed in his usual white cloak, Francesco navigated the crowded streets. His attire blended well with the exotic racial costumes of native Sardinians during this festive season.
Francesco shot Lu Shu a glimpse when he walked past, which gave Lu Shu a chill. It was not out of fear, though, because Lu Shu had full confidence to defeat Francesco now that he was a real Cla.s.s B. Just like him, Lu Shu still had many secret trump cards up his sleeve too.
Lu Shu was rather proud, actually.
But his pride was not blind. He knew there was a Cla.s.s A bishop behind Francesco’s back. If Lu Shu got bullied by them abroad, no one would come for help, since Li Xianyi and Chen Baili were so far away!
But Francesco did not show any more interest after the brief glance. He walked forward along the coastline highway. Lu Shu let out a sigh of relief. He had been acting under Li Teng’s appearance in Africa, and Howard’s during the fight with Francesco. Hence, it was pretty normal that Francesco could not recognize him now.
Lu Shu lowered his head again, acting as if he did not recognize Francesco. As he looked at his phone, he had to pretend that he was a tourist too. You Mingyu’s reply soon came in. “Some European n.o.ble is holding an auction in Sardinia, and the goods for sale include a sample of the World Tree. It’s scheduled to be in two weeks’ time. The organizer comes from an influential European family, and he wants to trade the sample for awakening fruits that are best suited for the young generation of his family.”
Lu Shu was skeptical. “How do you know that the sample belongs to the World Tree?”
“No idea. We only know that it’s a 37cm tree branch.”
Lu Shu was speechless. After a while, he asked, “Even if it’s a real sample of the World Tree, it’s a loss-making business if he trades it for one fruit only. The most expensive power nowadays is the thunder type, but even a thunder fruit is not as precious as a sample of the World Tree.”
It was easy math. The value of one fruit was equivalent to that of one third of Gungnir. In fact, it all depended on the quality of the sample, because not all World Tree branches were as powerful as Gungnir.
“He’s not trading for one fruit only.”
“How many?” Lu Shu was stunned.
“23. He has 23 sons.”
Lu Shu was dumbfounded.
This time, it was China’s one-child policy that had limited his imagination!
If that was the case, it might not be a loss-making deal after all. Lu Shu asked, “So are all small organizations refused entry? Only large ones allowed? But even large organizations may not have so many in stock, I suppose.”
“They say it’s okay to break the branch and sell in parts…”
“… Amazing.” Lu Shu marveled. To him, the name “World Tree” sounded very sacred in the past, but now it seemed as if it could be chopped into pieces to make tea.
Admittedly, it would be literally magical tea, but who would do that? It would be such a waste!
Although the total length was only 37cm, it was long enough for a short sword or a dagger.
At this moment, a cruise s.h.i.+p slowly entered the port. Standing along the coastline highway, Lu Shu could see a group alighting from the boat. There was a unique air around them, and their build was rather tall too.
The team was led by a girl, whose silver-gold hair flew gently in the sea breeze. Dressed in a light green silk dress, she looked like a beauty from the most stunning painting.
Lu Shu looked at her in silence. Long time no see, Coral.
He had a hunch that it might be unnecessary to bring his team to Sweden when You Mingyu mentioned the World Tree. In fact, their original destination was this island, so Coral would certainly be here too.
Although Coral did not need any sample of the World Tree, her visit was understandable, considering that she was the owner of the other segment of the World Tree. Actually, Lu Shu could not even be sure whether they really had no need for another branch.
For some reason, Lu Shu had a bad feeling about this. His gut feeling told him that things were not as simple as it seemed, though Francesco’s and Coral’s appearance was justifiable.
Lu Shu returned to the crowd. Now that the main character was here, his job at the moment was to investigate the situation fully before the arrival of the Heavenly Network’s team.
In the meantime, he also had to figure out what on earth the Department of Faith Theory was up to.
Suddenly, the wind started blowing. As if covered by a few layers of cloth, the clear sky dimmed in no time. Lu Shu turned to gaze at the sea surface. A storm was coming.