Gao Yang shook his head. “Nowhere. This is the last teleportation point.”
“Okay.”
Gao Yang turned around, looking down at the city drowned in the deep red light of the setting sun. The night wind carried the discordant chorus of the boisterous city.
His earpiece beeped as the public channel came to life. Hong Xiaoxiao made her routine report: “This is the temporary second investigation team. No death monsters sighted at the moment.”
Beep. Nine Frost spoke, “First team, no death monsters sighted,”
“Third team,” Liao Liao said. “Same here.”
“Stop searching. Disband the temporary investigation teams and return to your original teams. Follow the plan.” Gao Yang’s experience and instinct told him that the death monsters would not make an appearance until the Three Double-Hours of Heavenly Tribulation.
Zhang Wei’s voice hissed to life. “Brother...Captain, when will the moon turn white?”
“Midnight,” Gao Yang confirmed.
“Why?” Zhang Wei asked.
“Because it’ll only be the 20th past midnight, genius,” War Tiger said. “And the moon’s out. You can see for yourself.”
“Holy! It’s true!”
Gao Yang ignored the chitchat and looked up at the setting sun on the horizon. The moon was visible, small and inconspicuous, like a healing acne.
“What do we do now?” Qing Ling asked.
Gao Yang considered it. “Nothing for now. We wait patiently.”
“Then let’s wait here.” Qing Ling jumped into a pod of the Ferris wheel, taking a seat. Gao Yang teleported in and sat beside her.
They looked at the dying sunlight in the distant sky. The city slowly drained of color and luminance. After a moment, Gao Yang said, “This may be the last time we watch the sun set.”
“Yeah,” Qing Ling said calmly. She didn’t seem to find that a shame. But then her eyes glinted, and a soft regret colored her voice. “This may be our last dinner.”
Gao Yang chuckled quietly. “Yeah.”
Qing Ling gave it a good thought. “I want to have pork chop rice. You?”
After a pause, Gao Yang said, “I’ll have the same.”
“No, you’re not,” Qing Ling declared. If her order turned out bad, she would exchange hers with Gao Yang’s.
“Then I’ll have beef rice,” Gao Yang said.
“Good,” Qing Ling approved.
Gao Yang took out his phone to order delivery. Sёarᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
“Not that.” Qing Ling jumped onto her approaching Tang Dao. “Delivery will be too slow. I’ll get takeout myself.”
“Okay.”
Qing Ling flew away, leaving Gao Yang sitting on his own.
“The sunset is beautiful, only it’ll soon sink under the horizon.” A familiar voice broke the silence. Gao Yang didn’t have to turn around to know it was the system.
It took the form of the dorm keeper, dressed in a patterned long dress. She took the seat Qing Ling had relinquished, her hands propping herself on the edge of the rooftop, her legs swinging to and fro. Although she looked like an adult, she acted like a child.
“How fitting,” Gao Yang said.
She smiled at him. “Don’t be so pessimistic. You may not lose!”
Gao Yang glanced to the side. “You really think we’ll win?”
The dorm keeper laughed, brushing her wind-swept hair from her cheek. “I wouldn’t know. I’m only a system.”
“Right.” Gao Yang nodded. “Brief me.”
“As you wish.” The dorm keeper conjured a holographic window, displaying Gao Yang’s current stats and Talents.
[Current accumulated Luck points: 7706]
[Constitution: 3919 Endurance: 3771]
[Strength: 2901 Agility: 3665]
[Willpower: 4563 Charisma: 5151]
[Luck: 2766]
[Time Space Spirit Lv7]
[Absolute Defense lv7]
[Teleportation lv7]
[Replicate lv7]
[Fire lv7]
[Gecko lv7]
[Double lv7]
[Psychic Armor lv7]
[Lie Detection lv7]
[Lucky lv6]
[You need 7680 Luck points to acquire a new Talent.]
[You need 5000 Luck points to make a wish.]
“Congrats.” The dorm keeper cocked her head. “You have just enough points to attempt a comprehension. Wanna give it a try?”
“What if I fail?” Gao Yang asked.
“Right. If you make a wish first, your chance of acquiring what you want in one try will be much higher.”
“But I won’t have enough points to attempt comprehension after making a wish.”
“Yes.” The dorm keeper paused for a moment. “Although you can accumulate Luck points while fighting the death monsters, it may take quite some time. A fight at this level often ends quickly. What a dilemma.”
Gao Yang didn’t deem that a response. He had considered all that before.
“So, just make a pull!” the dorm keeper suggested. “A single pull can bring you a miracle!”
“No thanks,” Gao Yang said.
“Then make a wish?”
“No.”
“What are you gonna do then?”
“Put all the points in Luck,” Gao Yang said.
The dorm keeper called out in surprise, “Are you for real, boy?”
“For real.” Gao Yang narrowed his eyes, unfazed. “Failure to comprehend a talent will be a total waste. Even if I succeed with one try, Eidos won’t guarantee my win. While Wang Zikai is weak to psychic attacks, Pride may not be.”
He met the dorm keeper’s eyes. “Moreover, I already have two of the top twelve Talents, and I have been carrying the Rune Circuits with me. Still, I haven’t reached level 8.”
“So I’d rather ask for good luck.” He tilted his head and smiled wryly. “Perhaps that’ll help Absolute Defense reach level 8 and allow me to be a hero when it’s needed, just like my dad.”
“Hm, that makes sense,” the dorm keeper said seriously. “The Malediction tried to destroy everything at the price of its life without warning. Perhaps the death monsters will do the same.”
“Yeah.” Gao Yang sighed softly. “So I’ll put all my points in Luck and see if it pays off.”
“Alright. As you wish.” The dorm keeper patted Gao Yang lightly on the shoulder. The Luck displayed on the screen before him quickly increased until it reached 10472.
“Congrats!” The dorm keeper clapped with a beam. “Your Luck’s now over ten thousand.”
Gao Yang waited for her to continue, but she never did. “That’s...it?”
The dorm keeper blinked innocently at him. “Yeah. Is a verbal congratulation not enough?”
Gao Yang pressed. “No new section or function?”
“Nope.”
“You’re getting stingier,” Gao Yang commented flippantly.
The dorm keeper gave him a cryptic smile. “Could it be that this is the norm, and I was being generous to you?”
“Right.” Gao Yang accepted it calmly. “Give me some privacy.”
“Alrighty, I’m off. Good luck.” The dorm keeper cocked her head with a smile before vanishing.
Gao Yang braced himself against the wind. The last ray of sunlight shone into his melancholy eyes before abandoning him. Finally, he mustered the courage to take out a recorder, turning off the radio.
Beep.
—Haha! Son, I’m dad... Wait, let’s start over.
—Ahem...Yang Yang, it’s dad. Is this better? Yeah? Okay, let’s go with this.
—Yang Yang, leaving a message to you in this way is the best option I can think of.
—There are many things I can’t say to you in person. And if you know what your mother and I are going to do, you’ll stop us.
—When you hear this, we’re most likely gone already. We’re sorry for making such an important decision behind your back, but we don’t have another choice.
—You’re special, Yang Yang. Whether you like it or not, you are burdened with a grand calling. As your dad, I am proud of you, but the greater feeling is sadness.
—Because I know you’ll have to endure more pain and face more difficulties. Your path ahead will be unimaginably treacherous. As your parents, we would rather you lead a happy, peaceful life.
—Yang Yang, do you still remember our trip to Naldives?