Xing Chen walked on the sun-drenched beach, his mind full of questions.
Wasn't he in Sami?
Where had Theresa run off to?
The sea breeze was gentle, full, and attentive.
The beautiful environment was almost frightening.
Walking aimlessly, Xing Chen tried to find some clues to answer the doubts in his heart.
A Garden World? Just a second ago, he was fighting Subspace creatures with Theresa; it would be more reasonable to say he was scared stiff.
Earth? That was possible, but he couldn't pinpoint his location at all, especially with that sun, seemingly always hanging at the most comfortable position in the sky.
Suddenly, there was the sound of something leaping out of the water from the sea. Xing Chen looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of flying fish.
The flying fish glided neatly through the air, all flying in the same direction.
"Are you showing me the way?"
Following the direction of the flying fish, Xing Chen saw a large wooden platform suddenly appear on the sea.
The people on the platform also saw him and waved to him.
As he got closer, he saw different groups of people gathered for a party.
Xing Chen confirmed that he didn't recognize any of these people.
But these strangers were surprisingly friendly and enthusiastically invited him to join the party.
Xing Chen stepped forward, hoping to use this opportunity to figure out the current situation and Theresa's whereabouts.
However, he hadn't walked many steps when the wooden plank beneath his feet suddenly broke, and he fell into the sea.
"Help... gurgle..."
He could swim, so why couldn't he float?
Also, it was clearly a shallow part of the coast, yet the darkness below was so profound.
Just as he was about to give up struggling, a pair of hands grabbed him... Theresa tied another knot in the thread formed by Originium Arts; this was her third time returning to the starting point.
After her shoulder was injured by the Imperial Guard, she prepared to act according to the plan she had agreed upon with Xing Chen.
When she began to use the 'Continuance of Civilization,' the scene before her became increasingly blurry.
She initially considered it the mental pressure from the Black Crown activating, but after she blinked, she found herself on this black coast.
She was certain this wasn't Terra, because there were no familiar twin moons in the night sky.
In fact, there was nothing in the sky.
The coast beside her was covered in a thick layer of ice, yet she felt no cold whatsoever.
"Forget it, third time's the charm, I'll walk it one last time."
So, Theresa took a step and continued along the fog-shrouded coast.
This time, specks of firelight appeared in the darkness. Relying on her excellent eyesight, she saw a platform of broken and decaying wooden structures.
As she quickly closed the distance, a strong smell of blood assailed her nostrils.
Theresa went into alert mode and slowly climbed onto the platform.
This was a crimson gladiatorial arena, with countless weapons of all kinds scattered about.
Theresa picked up a sword stuck in the ground; in a trance, she touched a protrusion, and the blade immediately glowed green.
"Enchantment?" Theresa didn't feel any fluctuations of Originium power. "...I haven't seen this before. It's not a weapon from Lingzhang."
Putting down the green blade, she picked up a hilt lying on the ground; the moment her palm touched it, a blue blade instantly shot out.
She was very familiar with this energy; it was an electrically powered weapon.
"These... don't seem to be weapons from a single nation."
An increasingly strong sense of doubt drove Theresa to make a strange decision—she bent down, dipped her finger into a drop of un-dried blood, and gently put it into her mouth.
Not the same race.
"It looks like people of different races, holding weapons of completely different technologies, are killing each other here," Theresa concluded.
Just as she was about to follow the bloodstains further, a large hole appeared beneath her feet without warning.
The Demon King fell, her not-so-heavy body easily smashing through the thick ice layer.
She struggled to swim to the surface, but she got farther and farther from the light.
Just as she lost strength and helplessly reached out her hand, a strong hand grabbed her.
---
"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough—"
Xing Chen and Theresa simultaneously woke up from their dreams, startling Brother Wang, who was concentrating on peeling an apple nearby.
Xing Chen was quick-witted and grabbed the falling knife handle.
He couldn't train his muscles on Terra, but he could hone his skills, especially dodging—his base stats were too low, and he couldn't get +200% attack power, so he could only focus on survival.
"You scared me to death! What's wrong with you two? You suddenly started bleeding from all seven orifices and collapsed on the bed."
Brother Wang took the fruit knife and gently placed it on the bedside table.
"Maybe we got food poisoning from the mixed meal," Xing Chen said with a silly grin.
"Ah, forget it. Have a banana to regain your strength."
Xing Chen took the banana and handed it to Theresa.
"Brother Wang, didn't you peel an apple?"
"Here, you can have it if you want."
Looking at the apple, which was almost just a core, he decided to peel and eat a banana himself.
"My previous girlfriends used to peel them for me," Brother Wang seemed a little embarrassed by his own skill. "Never mind that. Have you told your family about this?"
"Did you tell them?"
"No, I figured you wouldn't want your family to worry."
"That's great. I plan to tell my family when I'm almost completely incapacitated."
"Suit yourself. Let me know if you need any help," Brother Wang said nonchalantly. "Oh, right, when I brought you to the hospital, a few strangers kept peeking around. I know you've been working on some secret project lately, so I used the blood draw as an excuse to kick them all out."
"Oh, thank you." Maybe it was someone his mentor sent, Xing Chen thought. "Wait, you said blood draw?"
"Yeah," Brother Wang nodded, then glanced at his watch. "You both had blood drawn."
Oh no!
"Um, Brother Wang, I'm fine now. Why don't you go home first?"
No matter what Theresa did, people might just think she was eccentric, but a blood test would reveal everything.
If it turned out to be a 0% genetic similarity, it wouldn't just be a simple joke.
Not using extremely drastic measures doesn't mean being a saint. Normal people have bottom lines.
But for his friends, he tried his best not to involve them.
"Alright, give me a call if anything happens." With that, Brother Wang left decisively.
"Theresa, when the doctor comes in a bit, don't say anything, just erase his memory."
"Huh? Didn't you tell me not to use that ability?" Theresa asked, confused. "Didn't you say erasing memories is like killing a person's life?"
"That's what I said from a human perspective. Now we both need to consider our own safety!" Xing Chen said excitedly, grabbing Theresa's hand.
"Oh... okay... okay, just let go of my hand first..."