Chapter 203: The Blood-Coloured Lakeside
As Raven 12345 was unreliable as always, Hao Ren took the initiative to read up on his job manual. He knew that solving issues related to inter-dimensional travelers was part of his job scope. If Hilda really came from another world, he would then need to find out why, and figure out how to send her home. Or, he would have to deposit her at the Space Administration’s designated settlements, or any other places that would be suitable. But first, he would need to get her out of The Plane of Dreams, and into the real world.
The MDT then rang in his head. “No problem, we’ll just use your current position in the real world as the triangulation point. I’ll do the necessary computations and calculations, 100% safety guaranteed.”
“Wow, can we really bring a living, breathing being back into the real world?” Hao Ren was surprised. “How do we do that? For us, we at least have a body there, and when we return, it’s more like our spirits returning to their shells. How do we go about Hilda then?”
“If you have deeper knowledge about Data Unification, you’ll know that ‘transference’ is nothing more than copy pasting a set of data, and this happens to be the most vaunted expertise of Xiling technology. It’s true that Hilda doesn’t have a corporeal form on Earth, but we can use her data from The Plane of Dreams to replicate it in the real world. Remember, The Plane of Dreams is a proper world by itself but, for some reason it’s Actualisation Priority Grade is lower than the Surface World’s. So, to bring something out from the Dream Plane simply requires some complex data conversion. How do you think you managed to bring that tuft of fur out in the first place?”
Hao Ren pondered about what the MDT said for a moment and asked, “So by that, does it mean we can enter The Plane of Dreams without using the sleeping pods? Can’t we just perform the transference for this?” He really did not want to revisit the “coffins” that were now in the basement of his house.
“Regrettably, it’s not possible at the moment.” The MDT shattered whatever hopes that Hao Ren had harboured. “A transference is one-way only. As of now, both The Plane of Dreams and the Surface World exist under a very delicate balance. You could say that the Dream Plane is an old system while the Surface World is infinitely more robust and complex. You can read data from an old system using the new one without much issues but, the old system usually has no way to properly read data from the new system, resulting in errors. As such, entry into The Plane of Dreams will still require the sleeping pod as a guiding beacon. That said, you can always bring loads of stuff, even a spaceship if needed before entering The Plane of Dreams. Also, if Hilda leaves The Plane of Dreams, she’ll need to use the pod if she ever wishes to return.”
The Hao Ren of today could understand such complex theories and he was immediately left disappointed.
The mental conversation only took a few seconds. In the meantime, Hilda had begun performing her magical ritual. She reached the side of the burnt treant protector and pulled out an odd powder from one of her satchels. She spread it all over the tree’s charred husk. As she did that, she started her incantation. The weird powder started shimmering in a greenish light as it slowly covered the remains of the treant. The dead husk, as if through a mircale, returned to it’s former verdant green, as a pod and leaves started sprouting from the outer shell.It was like the protector was coming back to life.
However, it did not. The verdant spell on the protector’s body only covered about a meter wide. After the pod had sprouted to a certain level, it bloomed and a bud popped out of it. Hilda gently took the bud and revealed its content: A seed.
“It followed me all the way from home, the very least I could do is bring its seed back,” Hilda said as she bid a solemn farewell to the protector. Turning towards Hao Ren, “Let us get on our way,” she said.
On their way towards the lakeside, Hao Ren walked with Hilda out of curiosity. He knew that Hilda had a two day head start but, she was still wandering around the forest before running into them. Hilda did not hide anything as she explained, “All of the known roads are guarded by sentries, and you need a pass to get through. I did not want to face any unnecessary trouble so, I was looking around for any other routes. But, any place that isn’t patrolled or guarded is infested by monsters. I simply could not find a way through easily. I summoned the treant protector for protection, but I never thought it would go berserk. Basically, I was chasing it around for the past two days.”
“Why did it suddenly go berserk?” Hao Ren raised an eyebrow.
From what he saw of the treant protector, Hilda was definitely capable. While he had no idea what level of a spellcaster she was at home, clearly being able to summon a treant by herself was no easy feat. This was probably the reason why she was able to roam around alone, as well as have the confidence to work with strangers. That still did not explain the fact that a treant protector went berserk.
“I’m not sure, but I’m pretty certain it has to do with the soil and water here.” Hilda shook her head. “This area has a very…unusual life force. It allows everything to grow strongly but at the same time, slowly twists the very nature of their being. I thought I had found an incredible seedling, but I did not notice the side effects of this life force.
Before Hao Ren could even open his mouth, the MDT sounded on its own, “I don’t have the data module for this. Don’t understand a word she said.”
By the time the group reached the lakeside, it was almost evening. Even with the roads, it took them a good part of the day to navigate through the forest. And, they were not even moving slowly. Such was the scale of the Gnarled Grove.
A sense of overwhelming awe overcame the group as they approached the crimson lake. From the moment they got out of the Gnarled Grove, Lily was hoping and leaping about at the front of the party. Her excitement however ended when she saw the lake proper. Perhaps, the husky wanted to take a bath there, but the blood-like water put a stop to whatever she had planned. She carefully paced along the lakeside, and only after a while, decided to dip her tail into the water. As it hit the water, she exclaimed, “Whoa, coldddd!”
Hao Ren went up to her and smacked her in the head. “Stop fooling around, what if your fur can’t take it and starts shedding again… Wait! Stop shaking your tail like that! I’m all wet!”
Y’zaks approached the lakeside too. Trusting his veritable constitution, he paid no mind to the strange looking water (it was definitely safer than lava). He scooped up a handful of water and drank it. “…Hmm…tastes normal, a little salty… Seems like your usual salt lake.”
“That’s definitely not blood. In fact, it has nothing to do with blood at all.” Vivian had also sent one of her small bats to take a sip of the water. “Aside from the odd colour, there’s nothing special about it.”
Becky was shocked by Y’zaks guts, that he would simply drink the water from the lake like that. “Don’t drink it! There’s something strange in the water, most people who drink it fall ill!”
Y’zaks was not concerned at all. As a demon, his blood itself was poison. Vivian quickly dispersed her little bat. “You mean to say the water is poisoned?”
“Poison isn’t the right word for it, but it’s definitely not normal.” Becky turned towards the Gnarled Grove behind her. “Well, both the forest and the Virulent Flatlands are both affected by the lake water. You tell me whether that water is potable.”
Lily suddenly started crying and pulling on Hao Ren’s sleeves. She showed Hao Ren her tail. “Mr. Landlord… My fur really did shed… sobs. .. I think I’m poisoned. I want to eat something good to recover…”
“That’s you shedding, not me!” Hao Ren said as he grabbed the tail. “Besides, you’re just shedding for the cold weather. Do you think I’m so daft that I can’t tell the difference between an allergic reaction and normal shedding?”
Lily just wagged her tail. “Then…I want to eat something good.”
…So, she was just hungry after all and she was looking for an excuse to gorge on food.
Becky simply laughed and pointed towards a small hill in front of them. From a distance, they could see a few simple structures. “Let’s get to the knights’ outpost to report ourselves. There’s a place to rest and get more information about the search.”
Vivian eyed the mercenary lass, “You still want to go about that? Seems like most of the search for the Orb has stopped.”
“Because of that, now’s the best chance! My luck with money is pretty good, chances are, we may find the thing. If not, that’s fine too. There are a lot of rare and valuable herbs around here. If we get some, we might even make a pretty good profit. Hahaha, trust me on that.”
Vivian had just mentioned the search in jest but, what she got in return was a direct stab to her pride. A defeated look was clearly etched on her face as she went back to Hao Ren. “Curses be to anyone who talks about wealth, curses… Just bloody die already you rich f*gs…”
Hao Ren could only look on in silence.
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