The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 171

Chapter 171: Forming a Party

 

By the time Hao Ren finished his shopping binge, it was late in the evening.

The moment he stepped into the door, Lily was the first to pounce on him. The husky was so excited that her wagging tail was almost a blur. She even had a bulky duffel bag in hand. “Mr. Landlord, let’s go to bed now!”

Hao Ren did not have enough time to process what Lily said before she almost landed on him. With much effort, he held her at arm’s length as she looked the part of an excited dog that wanted to lick its master. “Calm down would you?! Remember, you’re still a girl!”

“So… can you bring others in?” Vivian questioned as she dragged Lily away by the collar. Her voice was composed but, one could clearly see the gleam of anticipation in her eyes.

“Yes, not a problem. I brought back five sleeping pods that will allow us all to access The Plane of Dreams. It will also prevent anyone of us from being accidentally ejected from the plane,” Hao Ren said as he looked about the living room for a place to put the pods. “…Not enough space…”

“Sleeping pods? Where?” Lily’s eyes widened as she circled around Hao Ren twice, looking for them.

Hao Ren simply grinned. “Come, let me show you some magic…”

As he said this, he extended his hand in front of Lily. A sudden glow of swirling light flashed by and a loaf of bread appeared on his hand. Lily jumped up almost instantaneously as the bread landed on Hao Ren’s hand. “Wahhh!! What is that?!”

“A Dimensional Pocket!” Hao Ren lobbed the bread at Lily and crossed his arms, feeling all high and mighty. “I finally have a set of abilities worthy of a main character! The Dimensional Pocket can even store a few thousand old coots if I need it to.”

Lily and Vivian gasped in amazement. The ruckus even drew the attention of Wuyue, who was playing with Lil Pea and she promptly brought the pot with her. Once again, Hao Ren, like a little child who just got a new toy performed his trick. Lily just slung her bag off and gave it to him. “Here, you’re in charge of our baggage from now on.”

Vivian ran towards the sofa like a gust of wind to pick her luggage up and passed it to him too. “Oh, here’s mine.”

Wuyue also put the pot down quickly and ran back upstairs to her room. She brought down two big bags. “And mine.”

Thankfully, Y’zaks was rather understanding as he smiled sympathetically at the forlorn look on the latter’s face. “I don’t have much baggage to speak of.”

Hao Ren was just about to nod and thank him before he saw the great demon pointing at the TV set.

“Bring that along would you. I’m afraid I’ll get bored.”

“There’s no bleeding signal in the dream plane!” Hao Ren exclaimed exasperatedly and pointed at himself resignedly. “This Dimensional Pocket is such an amazing ability… Yet, I’m relegated to being a bellboy? What happened to the main character’s signature ability?”

The four of them threw him a weird look and retorted in unison, “If it’s not for carrying stuff, what good is it for?”

He was speechless.

From that moment on, Hao Ren did not ever dream of a moment where he would really outshine others… At least, he would not with this bunch of people around. He reckoned if he brought Frostmourne back from the Space Administration’s office, having shaved ice for summer would probably be the first thing on the lot’s minds.

“Talking about space… why not put them in the basement?” As Hao Ren fretted about where he would put those five caskets, Vivian remembered that the basement she was sleeping in was pretty spacious. “The basement is rather big no? Aside from the small storeroom, it’s my sleeping space. I don’t have much furniture to begin with so, it’s pretty spacious.”

Due to the fact that they all wanted to see how the pods looked like, they quickly ran down to the basement. Thank god, Hao Senior had the foresight to have a big basement when he designed the house. The spaciousness was almost at the level of a warehouse and it could store lots of stuff. At that moment, it only housed Vivian’s bed, a short table, two chairs and a small cupboard. It almost fit her poor as hell image. Hao Ren actually thought about getting her some extra furniture like a sofa and a TV but, the vampire had politely declined as she was very satisfied with her living conditions. For her, being able to watch TV in the living room with the rest was a luxury that she would never have dreamed of. And so, the basement was still as empty as before.

Well.. before is the keyword here. Now, five brand new sleeping pods (cas-kets) lay in a line, facing Vivian’s bed. Finally, something to fill the rather overly spacious basement.

But… to use five caskets to fill in the space… Hao Ren was not sure whether to cry or laugh at the scene.

As he placed the pods in their respective spots and stepped back to have a look, Hao Ren felt like he was in a morgue. Not only were the pods shaped like bleeding caskets, they were even painted with the most common color one could find in the morgue. To add to the eerie atmosphere, the machines exuded a chilly and lifeless feeling, and there was a crystalline cross engraved on each of the cover of the pods. If anyone simply turned off the lights, you would not need special effects to re-enact a scene from Ju On.

“… Won’t it be weird to put these where you’re sleeping?” Hao Ren looked at Vivian sympathetically. He believed that even if the vampire was a kind enough soul, he should not be taking advantage of her like this. Who would have liked to sleep among caskets anyway?

“If you’re not okay with this, I can move them upstairs. With two to three pods per room, there shouldn’t be a problem. We have four empty rooms at any rate.”

Once again, Vivian shook her head. “It’s fine. It does feel like home with them.”

Hao Ren then recalled that the vampire had slept in a casket before and spent many nights sleeping at the grave yard. Of course being surrounded by caskets seemed like home to her.

The MDT then floated to the front of Hao Ren and displayed the operating manual. Just as Raven 23333 said, the pods were very easy to use. They even supported mental input which made them accessible to even the dumbest of the Imperial citizens. (Hao Ren figured that higher end, military grade stuff would be much, much more complex.) It did not take long for Hao Ren to figure out the basics of the pods. He was even more impressed that each pod came with its own AI support and MDT dock, allowing the system to perform any automatic correction should the new user screw up somewhere.

Hao Ren grew curious of how Raven 12345 and Raven 23333 managed to wreck a device that even Lil Pea could learn to use. Got to give it to the crazy goddess though, she could even blew up the Reconfiguration Chamber, which only had a single button.

As he prattled on about the goddess to himself, Hao Ren forgot that he was connected to the MDT and his thoughts were being shared to it. The latter shook itself as it adopted a lazy tone to explain: “The reason that all Ravens were not able to use technological stuff is not because they can’t remember the operational steps but, they always have to do something unnecessary. Most of the time you just need to wait for the system to start itself up but, they just had to use spells to do some ‘enhancement’ and wreck things in the process. All of the Ravens come with the knowledge to use technological stuff however, all of them have this ‘I can do better than this’ quirk. There’s no exception to that… I guess it’s because all of them came from the same template.”

Hao Ren gave the MDT a perplexed look. “And this sort of information is disclosed to the public?”

“Why not? It’s available on the Main Data Network. The earliest thread was about 2000 years ago.”

Hao Ren was surprised. “Isn’t this blasphemy? Don’t the goddesses take issue with it?”

“The thread was started by His Majesty himself.”

Hao Ren was at a lost for words.

Lily by then, had been circling the caskets for a good part of the day. She had in her hand, a multi-socket plug. “Where are the plugs for these things?”

“You expect a mere 220V to power such high tech stuff?” Hao Ren leered as he flicked Lily’s ears. “The pods are self-powered. They use a micro-reactor furnace located in a sub-dimension for power. Once in operation, this machine will function to the world’s end if it’s not broken. Come, stop fiddling with it. I need to brief you guys on some stuff.”

Hao Ren clapped and the crew gathered in front of him. Hao Ren pointed at the caskets. “This thing here will slow down our metabolism to the point where we’re almost frozen and will sustain us while we are in the The Plane of Dreams. We won’t have to worry about of dying from hunger. The basic concept you need to understand about bringing someone into the dream plane is the synchronisation of the mind. These cas… sleeping pods will synchronise our minds and use me as a ‘guiding light’ of sorts to lead all of you to The Plane of Dreams. Simply put, all of you will enter my dream and follow me to dream plane. Remember to stay close to me. You might be booted out of the server if you stray too far.

Lily quipped excitedly, “So.. you’re like the WiFi?”

Hao Ren glared at Lily for a while and then he remembered something. “Oh right, Lily, do you know how to do dentures for canines?”

Chapter 172: It’s Not Easy Raising a Kid

 

 

Upon hearing Hao Ren’s words, Lily immediately tucked her tail between her legs warily and asked, “…Landlord, are you going to play tricks on me again?”

Looking at the husky girl’s cautious face, Hao Ren was not sure how to respond and asked, “When did I play tricks on you?”

“Because people often fool me,” Lily said and pulled back. “And the last time you gave me a bottle, you lied that there was jam inside. Turns out, it was chili oil when I bit off the lid. You kept tricking me into opening the bottle. One time, you asked me to bite off a bottle of mustard and there was another time you let me bite off the beer bottle and the last time… You always take me for a bottle opener. This time you’re asking me about dentures. This must mean that you want me to open a bottle again!”

The rest of them immediately turned to Hao Ren with a fierce look but, he stared at Vivian and said, “Why are you looking at me?! You’re the one who suggested that Lily open the bottle of chili oil. You said the pupper has good teeth and it was too wasteful for her to just watch the door and we should let her work as a bottle opener in the kitchen…”

Lily immediately bared her teeth and glared at Vivian. Hao Ren hurriedly stood in the middle of them and explained, “Ehem, let’s stop talking about old things. I’ll go buy a can opener tomorrow, okay?Lily, I’m serious. Can you implant dentures on dogs? In fact…”

He told them how he met the wolves and accidentally broke their teeth. After listening to Hao Ren, Lily covered her mouth and gasped. “Ouch … Sounds like it really hurt! You’re so cruel, Landlord.”

“I was almost bitten as well, okay,” Hao Ren said, staring at Lily. “So honestly, do you have the skills for dog dentures?”

“Even if I have the relevant skills, there aren’t any materials to do it,” said Lily as she spread out her hands. “Have you ever seen a pet hospital that provides denture services? Normally, dogs don’t like the weird feeling of having a foreign body in their mouth. This doesn’t include how difficult it is to make one. No matter how exquisite the porcelain teeth are, they’re still fake. For canines that frequently use their claws and fangs to hunt, that thing will affect their judgment.”

Watching Lily explain everything logically, Hao Ren could not help but ask, “How do you know about this so clearly?”

“I lost my tooth once before.” Lily opened her mouth to show a row of white fangs which were neat and sharp like small knives. “I lost a tooth, fighting with a tiger when I was young but, I could regenerate my tooth. The tiger was so delicious by the way…”

Imagining the scene of such a seemingly harmless and beautiful girl squatting in the forest glade, tearing the tiger’s corpse with her claws and blood all around, Hao Ren had goose bumps at the back of his neck. It was better not to delve into the past of these aliens.

It appeared that Lily was unable to help him. However, while Hao Ren imagined those unlucky, black wolves having to eat porridge for the rest of their lives, Nangong Wuyue suddenly spoke, “Talking about treating injuries… maybe I could give it a try.”

Everybody looked at her. Nangong Wuyue smiled and said, “Sirens have the ability to heal wounds. Although it’s not as fast as a werewolf’s healing power, the key thing is that it can be used on other people. It should be able to help them grow a few teeth. But, I don’t know if the creatures in The Plane of Dreams and those of the real world are the same so, I’m not too sure if my healing power will work on them.”

Everyone unanimously decided: Forget about whether it works or not, just give it a try! From now on Nangong Wuyue was not just a humidifier, she had another role, as first aid kit…

With nothing else left, the last step was to enter The Plane of Dreams together. Hao Ren, assisted by the MDT, quickly adjusted the settings of several dormant cabins and registered everyone’s mental frequencies into the devices. With the input being the last parameter, the upper lids of the ‘coffins’ slid open quietly, exposing the empty, crystalline inner tanks. Faint fluorescence twinkled from inside the crystalline tanks, as if summoning the users to lie down in the ‘coffin’.

Hao Ren was unwilling to enter the ‘coffin’ but, Vivian already made the first move excitedly. She held a large pile of blankets and bedding, approached a dormant cabin and spread them out in the cabin smoothly. Soon, she made it a soft and comfy coffin bed. After she had finished, she looked at the MDT awkwardly and asked, “Ah, I forgot to ask, is it okay to put these things inside?”

“It’s okay. All of the cabin’s functions involve non-physical contact. It’s good to make it comfortable. You’re quite creative. Usually people never think of putting blankets into a dormant cabin.”

“I’ll take this as a bed.” Vivian happily lay into it and felt the touch. She then jumped out and called Lily, “Doggie, come with me. Let’s go upstairs and take those spare blankets. I’ll make the beds for you guys.”

The vampire girl was immersed in helping them prepare the dormancy cabins. Those metal boxes would have been able to look less like coffins with the touch of technology. However, they looked more like coffins after they were covered in quilts. Vivian came down to the basement holding a bunch of white candles. She wanted to light them up around the coffins according to a vampire’s sense of aesthetic. After Hao Ren threatened Vivian with his life, he finally crumbled the vampire’s excitement. However, when everybody was ready to enter the cabin, Hao Ren suddenly realised one more thing and asked, “We’re going to stay inside for a few days. What about Lil Pea?”

Lil Pea, together with her mother (the pot) were also brought to the basement and placed on Vivian’s low table. The little one peeped out from the pot and curiously looked at the bunch of grown-ups. Upon hearing someone calling her name, she happily swished her tail, making a big splash. She kept waving at Hao Ren.

“Bring her in too?” Nangong Wuyue thought about it and decided to suggest.

Hao Ren looked at the MDT and asked, “Will it be okay?”

“There’s no problem theoretically but, you have to think about it. There may not be mermaids in The Plane of Dreams. And even if there are, they’re not necessarily a common species. If you hold such a mysterious creature in front of the local people, it’ll very easily be surrounded by the people there. Also, Lil Pea is so small. What if you lose her or she gets eaten? If one dies in The Plane of Dreams, one dies in real life.”

Hao Ren looked at everyone awkwardly and asked, “Or can someone stay behind to take care of the kid?”

Everyone looked at each other. Nobody wanted to miss the opportunity to enter The Plane of Dreams. Also, everybody had their own task in this trip: Vivian was a rune expert, Nangong Wuyue was the chaplain and Y’zaks was the essential golden fighter regardless of any situation. He was the fighting power they absolutely could not lack in The Plane of Dreams, where the risks and dangers were unknown. As for Lily… she did not seem to have a unique role but, the girl was a husky. Do you think she would have been able to stay at home obediently? In this case, she was even stickier than a plaster.

In the end, the MDT finally came up with an idea after it pondered for quite some time. “How about we put her in the fridge first?”

Hao Ren glared at the stupid PDA and said, “Can you not be a fool for once?”

“I mean, let her hibernate!” the MDT shouted. “She has the habit of hibernating anyway. Can’t we just throw her into the fridge to let her sleep for a few days?”

Hao Ren paused for a moment and thought that it made sense as well. But when he saw those big, bright eyes staring right at him, he shook his head and said, “No, I feel sorry for her, I can’t do it.”

“You’re expressing a bit of your fatherly consciousness now,” the MDT mumbled. “Then, you carry her in since you don’t find it troublesome. But, you have to find something to keep her. This pot won’t work for sure. It’s too inconvenient. You need to find a container that’s easy to carry and has a lid on. It must have a lid to prevent the little kid from popping out or being seen in the wrong place.”

Hao Ren brainstormed for a while and ran to the kitchen. He took the kettle. “It should be okay to put her inside this.”

“But what if Lil Pea becomes afraid after the lid’s closed?” Nangong Wuyue looked at the big kettle and said, “It’s dark in there and she’s so small.”

Hao Ren then looked at the MDT for more than 10 seconds. The MDT finally could not stand it and floated into the kettle despondently saying, “Fine, I’ll be the trotting horse lamp for the little one… You guys are really demanding! Not only do I have to serve the adults but also the kid!”

Nangong Wuyue filled the kettle with water and put the small mermaid in carefully. Lil Pea was quite afraid of the strange-looking iron kettle in the beginning but, when she saw a glowing, metal discus inside, she was happy. She began to amuse herself by turning the MDT over and over in the water. Nangong Wuyue reminded the little kid not to go out as far as possible via mental connection and explained that the adults had something serious to do. Lil Pea nodded. She was very clever and could now understand these things.

“I want to tell you something by the way,” Nangong Wuyue looked at Hao Ren and spoke after she explained things to Lil Pea. “Now Lil Pea thinks that this pot is her aunt, hang in there…”

“… What the! I’ve given up on how I used to perceive the world, okay? I can calmly face whatever happens now!”

“Oh, Lil Pea asked me why dad has no lid on his head.”

“…”

Chapter 173: A Trip to the Bizarre World

 

 

When the lid of the dormant cabin slowly folded down, Hao Ren’s confused thoughts gradually calmed down and he began to enter the forced state of dormancy. Before he slept, his last thought was, if a team specialising in Hollywood science-fiction movies came and saw this scene, they would not be able to imagine anyone using high-tech gadgets quite like this: The sleeping-cabins were covered with bedding and pillows, and a kettle filled with water sat beside his head. More and more he felt himself lying in a coffin.

Stuck in a trance; the same as his previous experience. The darkness lasted for less than a second and he ‘woke up’ again. Noise from The Plane of Dreams was ringing in his ears. The breeze, which was fresher than that of the earth brushed against his cheeks. Hao Ren opened his eyes and found himself standing in the small town, Lamberg, near its entrance. What he saw were the strange buildings he saw once before as well as a circle of terrified locals and two soldiers who were holding spears pointed at him.

“Who are you?!” One of the soldiers holding a pike shouted nervously. This guy had little freckles on his face and looked about 10. He stared at Hao Ren, who suddenly appeared before him as if he was about to face a formidable enemy.

Hao Ren hurriedly raised his hand (together with the kettle) to indicate that he meant no harm. He just remembered that one of the distinguishing features upon entering The Plane of Dreams was that he would appear at the same spot where he last left. The last time he disappeared right in the middle of the public’s eye on the busy street! They were in trouble this time.

“Errr, I’m a wizard from another place, err, a wizard.” Hao Ren quickly organised a sentence and made up a believable excuse based on his understanding of The Plane of Dreams. “We were just experimenting with teleportation but we ended up here. If you don’t believe me, we can do it again and show you…”

Hao Ren spoke as he looked around for the rest of the gang. Supposedly, they should have appeared beside him. However, it was probably just a ‘ride’ so, the teleportation speed of the rest could have been slower. Soon, he found that the air around him began to twist. One by one the figures slowly emerged from virtual to reality. Among them, the 2.15-meter-tall giant was the easiest to recognise. This apparent abnormality made the two soldiers nervous again. The freckled lad continued shouting, “No dangerous magic experiments on the streets!”

“Last few people, last few people!” Hao Ren waved his hands as he signaled Lily to stay on the spot. She just went through teleportation and was a little confused. “We are the wizard team. We’re studying teleportation technology!”

Vivian and Nangong Wuyue arrived and wanted to study the strange buildings around them but, they found that something was not right. The two of them leaned towards Hao Ren at the same time, whispered and asked about the situation. While Hao Ren explained things to the two ladies, the soldiers confirmed that the teleportation had stopped and the strange guys in front of them did not seem to be hostile. They put their guard down slightly and asked, “What kind of wizards are you? How is it that you guys don’t know that no dangerous experiments are allowed on the streets? Do you have a pass? What about your Professional Qualification Certificate of Wizardry?”

“What’s that?!” Hao Ren shouted but then, he quickly corrected himself and said, “Err, I mean, who would’ve had time to take those things when in an experimental accident. Don’t you see that I’m still carrying the kettle? How hasty we were…”

“Holding a kettle while carrying out teleportation experiments?” The freckled guy paused for a moment. “Although I don’t know magic, you don’t fool me…”

“This is a personal habit, you can’t control it.” Hao Ren gently knocked on the lid to gesture the little mermaid inside to keep quiet. The little kid was probably playing with the MDT, making some cracking sounds. Then, he began to wave his arms to disperse the crowd. “Let’s disperse. Just an experimental accident, nothing special…”

“Everybody, go back to whatever you were doing. Don’t block the road.” The two soldiers also began to disperse the crowd. And the freckled boy walked up to Hao Ren after he dispersed the passersby and said, “Follow us to the garrison to register.”

This made Hao Ren’s head ache. He did not expect to have such just right after they entered The Plane of Dreams. He was not sure if he could fool them if they really went into the garrison. He tried awkwardly to discuss with them. “We have something urgent to do now. I wonder if you can…”

“Hey, just a standard procedure,” another soldier smiled and said. “The control in our little place is quite lax. Also, these experimental accidents involving wizards can get kinda troublesome. Just registering your name will do. In case there’s any request from the Wizard Guild, we can explain it.”

Hao Ren looked at Vivian and the rest, thinking that it was certainly not a problem to resist arrest with their skills. They could even just run away. However, if he wanted to carry out the investigation in this world smoothly, he could not get into trouble. While he was hesitating, Y’zaks suddenly said, “We’ll go then. Just register our name.”

Now, Hao Ren just remembered how the great demon was a moral pacesetter. With this man, Hao Ren had no choice but to be a moral pacesetter as well…

The two soldiers glanced fearfully at Y’zaks. One of them stayed behind to guard the entry. The other one (the freckled boy) brought into the town. Nangong Wuyue was at the back of the team, her shoulders drooped. She heaved a sigh and said, “Such bad luck. Landlord, how did you manage to get us into this?”

Hao Ren laughed awkwardly but did not speak. Lily, who did not seem to have the slightest negativity in her mood, began her journey of exploration. Even though she could only follow the team, she still ran around as far as possible. One moment she was studying the wall decorations, the next moment she was studying the things being sold on a roadside stall and another moment she was playing with cats and dogs by the roadside. She was really happy and enjoying herself there. It was the first time for Lily to enter The Plane of Dreams. She saw such a different world with marvelous style and this really excited the husky girl.

The pedestrians by the roadside were also attracted to this group of foreigners who had on outlandish costumes, especially after Lily kept jumping around excitedly. The situation was getting worse. Hao Ren had no choice but to drag Lily’s collar, pulling the girl back again and again. “Can’t you calm down?”

“I can’t,” Lily replied straightaway. “The… There’s so much fun here!”

“I’ve wanted to ask you this since just now.” The freckled soldier who led the way had never seen such a group of wizards, especially someone like Lily, who seemed so excited. “Are you guys really wizards? Why aren’t you wearing robes?”

Hao Ren lied. “Oh, we are a small team from a self-formed faction. The faction’s rules allow us to not wear wizard robes.”

“Is this big brother a wizard too?” The freckled soldier gingerly pointed at Y’zaks. “Why does he look like a mountain berserker?”

“He is an all-rounder,” Hao Ren laughed and said. The information he got from Becky last time was coming in handy, including information about the wizard’s nature and the existence of the ‘magician knight’ type of career in this world. “So, you’ve seen the mountain people?”

Hao Ren found the soldier very easy to talk with. Therefore, without being suspicious, Hao Ren tried to ask him for some information. The soldier answered him without doubting him too. “Mountain people, I’ve seen a few times. Isn’t there a small village of theirs in the Far West? Many mountain people have started to move to the plains. They also communicate with people from the outside frequently. But I really found out for the first time that the mountain people also learn magic.”

Y’zaks smiled perfunctorily and said, “I know a little bit of it.”

When the freckled soldier saw Y’zaks’ ‘friendly’ smile, he immediately stopped going on with the topic.

They did not forget to observe their surroundings as they walked on the street. Vivian studied the ancient symbols depicted on the outer walls of houses by the roadside since the very beginning. She moved closer to Hao Ren and whispered, “They’re really Letta runes but, I don’t see anything valuable. These are all the simplest sentences used to pray for well-being and peace of the homestead. Plus, there are many spelling mistakes and far-fetched sentences with almost no practical magic effect.”

“Meaning… they’re just for decoration?” Hao Ren whispered.

“Well, they do only serve as decoration,” Vivian muttered, “And the mysterious Letta runes on Earth may only be common words that people use in their daily life here so, people here won’t deliberately use them to cast spells.”

They finally reached a fortified building in the middle of the town, the so-called garrison. However, when Hao Ren got ready to step in, a slightly familiar voice suddenly rang from the side. “Ah! The one who broke the head! You’re still here?”

Chapter 174: The Unexpected News

 

Upon hearing the voice, Hao Ren turned and looked to the direction and found that it was Becky whom he had met once.

The mercenary girl is coming out of the other door of the garrison, holding a few pieces of paper that seemed like she had just finished some sort of formalities. She immediately ran to Hao Ren excitedly when she saw him. “Hey! I thought I was wrong, why are you still here? You just left without saying goodbye a few days ago, I haven’t seen such a bad-tempered man. Do you really have to run away because of a music box?”

Before Hao Ren could speak, the freckled soldier asked curiously, “Miss Becky, do you know them?”

“Errr, they’re all with him? How come there are so many people… “Becky looked at those of them beside Hao Ren with amazement. “I just knew this guy, he was a magician. That time he flew to the prairie when doing teleportation experiment. He hit his brain when he fell from the sky. He still owes me a music box by the way…”

“Can you not mention my broken brain!” Hao Ren was almost subdued by this lady’s steel-like stubbornness. “My brain is totally fine! Also, I brought you a music box this time…”

When the freckled soldier saw that they really knew each other, he felt relieved. He also did not willing to lead the strange foreign wizards to do registration, because it was going to take a lot of procedures and he had to write a report. Now he was explaining the situation to Becky, “Well, it looks like your wizard friend didn’t take the lesson, and it’s getting worse. They all came here during the accident of teleportation. They suddenly appeared at the busiest intersection and gave me and Joseph a fright. Right now I’m going to take them to register themselves. Miss Becky, can you be their guarantor? Just prove that you know one of them, so they don’t have to go through the registration procedure of wandering wizards.”

Hao Ren thought that Becky, who only met him once, would refuse it. He did not expect her to nod without hesitation. “Sure, I’m free anyway.”

“Errr, thank you.” Hao Ren did not know what did the guarantor and wandering wizard procedure mean, but he still appreciated her help. After all, she did not have to help them.”

Becky just waved her hand and said, “No problem, you said you brought me a music box? I’m waiting for your music box, this time you can’t teleport and runaway again, especially doing it in the street. You don’t know how dangerous it is.”

All of them followed the freckled soldier and entered the garrison. When Vivian saw Becky was walking ahead of them and did not notice them, she leaned to Hao Ren and whispered, “Music box? Running away? Hit your head? The incident you encountered last time was quite colorful.”

Vivian said with an amused banter in her tone.

Last time when Hao Ren came back from the Plane of Dreams, he had already told Vivian the experience inside it roughly. He also mentioned Becky the mercenary girl. However, he did not go into detailed, especially that shameful scene of ‘falling down from the sky’. Of course Vivian was a little curious about it now.

“Let’s don’t talk about it,” Hao Ren sighed. “Especially that incident. This sister witnessed the moment when I fell down from the sky, and she remembered it until now. I reckon she already forgot my name.”

While they were talking, they entered the copy room. This was a small room filled with bookshelves, wooden cases and files. The wall had mottled and the wooden floor was creaking, only the bright sunlight that shone through the high glass windows into the room made the room looked lively. The unique wooden furniture reminded them of the small study room in the old European manor in the movie. A middle-aged soldier who looked somewhat bookish sat behind the large wooden table. When they went in, the soldier was concentrating on reading something that looked like a newspaper. The freckled soldier called the name of the person in charge, “Mr. Wilton, I brought some people to register.”

The middle-aged soldier, known as Wilton, straightened up and looked at the freckled soldier with dignity. “Call me Sir Wilton, Ryan. This is the military department, and you and I are soldiers.”

So the freckled soldier was called Ryan. It was easy to remember.

Ryan the young soldier explained the situation of these foreign wizards who ‘carried out dangerous experiment in downtown and obstructed traffic due to the accident’, and then pointed to Becky and said, “Miss Becky is a guarantor, so they don’t have to go through the registration procedure of the wandering wizards, right?”

“Yes.” The middle-aged officer got up and looked for something on the file rack beside him. Hao Ren found that there seemed to be something wrong with the officer’s leg and he could not walk well. The middle-aged officer finally found a register, opened it and put on the table. Becky went up to write her name swiftly, and then turned to call Hao Ren, “The one who fell down from the sky, come and sign it!”

…This lady had really forgotten Hao Ren’s name.

Vivian came forward to look at the registration form and found something immediately.

The form uses another type of text, not the Letta rune that was previously thought to be used as a daily word in this world.

Hao Ren also found this soon. Both of them saw the doubt in each other’s eyes: Blessing words were written on the buildings here with Letta runes, but this text is not used on daily basis? What’s the use of Letta runes here then?

It is not a problem to master the words of another world under the aid of the translation system. Perhaps there are other imperial staff already registered in the character library here when they performed their task in the Plane of Dreams. Hao Ren and the rest of them can read the registration form very easily, but had some difficulty when writing it. They spelled their names awkwardly by transliteration with that zigzag symbol, then skipped most of the sections under the guidance of Becky, and finally they paused in the column ‘Registration of foreign wizard faction and the origin’.

What is the registration of faction?

“Are you a faction of steeple or college?” Becky is also surprised that a wizard does not know which faction he belongs to. “Don’t you have a mentor, are you all self-taught?”

“Errr… We are in a very remote place. There are some of the hidden priories in the Northern Empire.” Hao Ren remembered that Becky knew little of the other side of the prairie, coupled with some of his own speculation of this world, he was thinking of the reason slowly. “What is the difference between the faction of steeple and the college?”

“The Priory? Then it’s belong to the steeple,” Becky nodded. “I’ve heard of the priory, but I didn’t expect that you guys would be so out of touch to this extent. I guess you guys don’t even join Wizard Association, right? I thought you belong to college faction according to the way you dress.”

“What exactly do the two factions mean?” Hao Ren thought that Becky did not suspect them, so he simply asked for more details like a rookie.

“The steeple faction is the old faction that has been developed strictly in accordance with the rules of the wizards that have been handed down since ancient times, because the base of the veteran wizard is the Wizard Tower that had hundreds of years of history, and most of their activities are in the Wizard Tower, so they are called steeple faction. The college faction was the new faction of the last few decades, spring up from the Hognar Empire at northern side. It was called the college faction because the new students are educated in college. Now there are more and more college wizards.”

Hao Ren and the rest of them nodded, and then decisively wrote down the steeple faction. This faction sounds conservative, and there is the existence of hidden types, which is very suitable to explain themselves in the unfamiliar situation. As for why Lily, such a happy weirdo will appear in the minaret faction such a conservative faction…

Hao Ren thought, and decided if someone asked about her, he would say that Lily ate the wrong pill during the experiment. Anyway, no one will go into, and Lily’s opinion can be ignored.

While they were filling out the forms, Wilton and Ryan was chatting. Ryan pointed to the newspaper that Wilton just read, asked, “A group of search teams are missing at The Beinz Blood Lake again?”

“Yes, this is the fourth batch of people who have disappeared in the last two months, the church was a little unable to keep calm.” Wilton shook his head and move his lame leg to another leg laboriously. “Some said that the bottom of the The Beinz Blood Lake lead to The Otherworld, and the search teams have been sucked away. The church is now refuting the rumor. Tsk, people nowadays really dare to say whatever they want to. The The Beinz Blood Lake is the holy land created personally by the Goddess. That group of storyteller picked the wrong place to make up their story.

Hao Ren is filling in the form, he stopped writing when he heard this.

It seems that it is a smart decision to follow the guy to the garrison. Lucky for him to get such important news—The Beinz Blood Lake lead to The Otherworld?

Chapter 175: Becoming a Mercenary?

 

Hao Ren casually filled out the form—no one cared after all. As he was writing, he pointed at a newspaper, pretending to ask, “What happened in The Beinz Blood Lake again?”

The word “again” would make him not sound less like an ignoramus as he figured that news of the situation at The Beinz Blood Lake two months ago would have already spread far and wide.

“Disappearances, a series of disappearances. It’s the fourth time in a row.” Wilton shook his head. “Four groups of people have disappeared since the first expedition team was sent to locate the Orb of the Holy Synod two months ago. Among them were two mercenary veterans. Tsk, tsk, people still keep coming even after more than 10 people have gone missing.”

“It’s all about the money,” Becky muttered. “I’d have gone too if it wasn’t because of the fact that I didn’t have my own team. If you find the orb, a manor will be yours as reward plus, the title of ‘knight’ to sweeten the deal. You don’t have to work again, ever.”

Standing next to Wilton, Hao Ren took a quick glance at the newspaper which still stank of printing ink. Some key words registered in his mind in particular about the The Beinz Blood Lake incident: “…it has been two months since the orb went missing near the Blood Lake. Its whereabouts are still unknown… Bloch, who was tasked with escorting the orb, was investigated by the Holy See and the Kingdom Joint Review Group. The pope announced that the missing orb was a divine trial and Bloch was acquitted… Civilian Headhunter Mercenaries went missing near the southern part of the blood lake during their attempt to cross it. There were no eye-witnesses. All 36 team members went missing, which adds to the total missing persons of… As the orb is still not found, Prince Hoffman has announced the cancellation of the pilgrimage celebration this year…”

The Beinz Blood Lake incident was probably related to the missing Orb of the Holy Synod.

Subsequent disappearances were still without official confirmation. It looked like The Beinz Blood Lake’s connection with the Otherworld was just a rumour. Its authenticity was in question. Anyway, Hao Ren thought it was still worth a look.

They were a lost ball in high weeds without a clear idea of where to begin. A good starting point was looking into the popular legends or historical sites. The Beinz Blood Lake incident was possibly the best place to start their investigation in this world.

Furthermore, Hao Ren was interested in the strangely-named place since he heard Becky talking about The Beinz Blood Lake and destruction of an ancient civilisation. He sort of suspected that there had to be something behind the so-called end-of-the-world incident and its related historical relics some 10,000 years ago.

Being the slowest among them, Nangong Wuyue was finally done with the form. Becky started to hurry them to leave. There had been no incidents of provocation and exploitation by the local soldiers. They were released and they passed through registration. Outside the garrison, Becky reached her hand out and asked Hao Ren, “Where’s the promised music box?”

This lady’s perseverance was extraordinary.

“Here, take it.” Hao Ren tucked his hand into his Dimensional Pocket and took an MP5 out as well as a charger. “This is a good object. You won’t find anything like it in this world.”

“Is this a music box?” Becky looked at the strange gadget in total surprise. “It looks different from the flying gadget last time.”

As Becky’s voice trailed off, a tingling sound came from inside the pot. Either the MDT or Lil Pea could have been frightened.

“This one doesn’t fly but, it has far more functions.” Hao Ren played with all the functions of the MP5 in such a way to confuse her. “Look, it’s got photos, you can take a picture or video; isn’t it far better than the music-only gadget? This is the charger. Just place it under the sun and it’ll recharge the music box…”

As Hao Ren explained enthusiastically, Vivian sensed something amiss. She asked him quietly while Becky played with the MP5, “Wait a second! How can you give it to a local…?”

“It’s okay. An MP5 won’t cause any damage to the world’s equilibrium.” He waved his hands as he was not bothered. “I’ve done my homework. They’ve got some kind of alchemy skill; snapping pictures and playing music aren’t strange in this world. The electronic gadgets from Earth simply look strange in design, and they’re small in size; If you don’t open them up, they’ll remain just like an alchemy machine.”

Hao Ren was right. But, something he did not realise was, the skill of alchemy in the plane was still at a small scale and things were hand-made. Entertainment gadgets like the MP5 were usually made by senior alchemists for the enjoyment of the elites or customised for military use. Ordinary people did not have access to such luxury.

After tinkering for a while with the wondrous gadget, which had a display screen, Becky quickly shoved it back to Hao Ren as if it was hot iron. “No, this thing’s simply too expensive for me. All I want is just a music box. I can’t have this. Even the village head’s crystal box is already worth three fine horses. You should leave this to the rich…”

“It’s my gift to you. I don’t want to take advantage of you,” Hao Ren shoved the MP5 back to her. The MP5 meant nothing to him after all. “Because, I have a favor to ask from you.”

“Oh? Just say it.” Becky was too excited with her new found toy. She nodded her head as she hesitated on whether to accept the gift.

“I need you to be our tour guide as we’ll be going to The Beinz Blood Lake.” Hao Ren was upfront. “We’re strangers here. It’s not convenient for us to go around in an unfamiliar place. You know my home’s in the empire far north…”

“I’m just wondering—,” asked Becky. “—the last time we met you were alone. Now, there are so many of you… Were all of you teleported here?”

“We’re into teleportation research!” Lily said proudly without even thinking. Hao Ren sent her a complementing glance; the husky maiden’s instincts had grown.

Becky looked suspiciously at these strange “wizards” whom she still considered strangers. Years of mercenary experience told her that something was off about these fellows but, she also knew that they needed help and she could very well land herself a good job—the “music box”, which was worth an enchanting armour, was proof of that. The kind looking guy just parted with it without blinking an eye; he was either a filthy rich member of the Veteran Wizard Tower or a nerd, a greenhorn who did not know the value of money.

Or, this man was suffering from brain damage due to the fall.

No matter what it was, the deal seemed profitable.

Becky’s mercenary instincts (we cannot say how smart she was while she still held on to the so-called “music box” in her hand) told her that it was going to be lucrative. So, she nodded. “Deal. Since many mercenaries have signed up for the search, I might as well join the bandwagon. But, before that, I think you should register as a mercenary—The Beinz Blood Lake and its surroundings are high risk areas, a no-go zone for civilians.”

Y’zaks listened with interest to what Becky said about mercenaries. He remembered mercenaries existed back home too—in fact, he was attacked by no less than a thousand mercenaries and the braves simply because he was the King of Demons. He was thrilled by the idea of playing a mercenary this time. He curiously asked, “No trouble for registration?”

“No trouble. The mercenary’s the most out-and-out life for money, life for reputation, and life for everything. Money’s the boss. Life’s the capital. No one can fool anyone. The registration’s the easiest part—to come back alive’s the trickiest part,” Becky said proudly, exuding her pride as a senior mercenary. Then, she asked, “Oh ya, do you lot have wizard qualifications or ID cards? It’s required for mercenary registration.”

Hao Ren was plagued with silence.

Why did no one ask about that when others came over from the other side?!