Chapter 6: What a Small World

Chapter 6: What a Small World

Danitz was startled and blurted out,

“Sorry to bother you…”

Before his words had even finished, his hand had already grabbed the handle and dragged the door toward himself.

Bang!

The wooden door closed before his eyes, its sound echoing through the corridor.

Only then did Danitz finally react.

“What was I doing just now?

“What was Anderson doing?”

By reflex, he removed the black glove and frowned in thought for a while. In the end, he decided to return to his room, pack his luggage, and prepare to leave.

As for what Anderson was really trying to do, he was curious, but he always felt there was something wrong about it. He planned not to get involved, lest he fall into a trap.

The Captain said one must maintain reverence toward the unknown, so I should keep my distance… Just as Danitz was about to turn around, he suddenly heard the sound of the lock turning and saw the wooden door open backward.

Anderson, with the lower hem of his shirt unbuttoned, walked out holding that pitch-black, lightless short blade. His expression was somewhat complicated as he looked at Danitz.

“Aren’t you going to try to stop me?”

Danitz keenly smelled an opportunity for provocation and immediately chuckled.

“That’s your freedom.

“And if you haven’t made a will, I’ll be rich!”

Anderson raised his hand and rubbed his cheek.

“Aren’t you curious what exactly happened to me?”

Danitz looked him up and down suspiciously.

“I keep feeling like you’re plotting something.”

Anderson laughed.

“It’s like this. I was previously captured and placed into a peculiar blood plasma soaked with many kinds of materials. After a very long period of corrosion, they formed a strange ‘cocoon’ inside me. This thing produces a certain attraction to high-sequence Beyonders of the Hunter pathway.”

As he spoke, he pointed at his lower abdomen.

Danitz listened in a daze.

“I’ve really never heard of something like this.

“If you changed your gender, I might think you were pregnant…”

He paused and said,

“That strange fellow back in Resurrection Square was drawn over by the baby in your stomach—no, by that ‘cocoon’?”

Seeing Anderson nod in confirmation, Danitz gestured with both hands.

“You were trying to cut open your own abdomen just now and take out that ‘cocoon’?”

Anderson answered sincerely,

“Yes. I’m worried it will affect my body or attract another demigod. I wanted to solve this hidden danger as soon as possible.”

Danitz thought for a moment and asked doubtfully,

“Then why did you stop?

“Did you forget to make a will and want me to be a witness?”

The muscles on Anderson’s cheek twitched. He chuckled.

“Not bad. Your Provoker potion should be completely digested by now.”

Then he sighed.

“After careful analysis, I believe there’s probably no way to take it out directly. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed to soak me in that blood plasma and let the materials corrode me bit by bit back then. They could have simply cut open my abdomen, placed the ‘cocoon’ inside, and stitched me up.”

Without waiting for Danitz’s reply, he said while thinking,

“Don’t you have Gehrman Sparrow’s contact method? He has experienced many things and possesses a lot of knowledge. I’d like to ask him whether there is any way to solve a similar problem.”

In the past few months, one of the things Danitz feared most was others saying that he was connected to Gehrman Sparrow. Almost by instinct, he refuted,

“No! Ever since he left the Golden Dream, I’ve never seen him again!”

The corner of Anderson’s mouth slowly curled upward.

“When you wrote to Gehrman Sparrow before, I was beside him and saw his messenger.”

Danitz’s expression froze on his face. Only after several seconds did he force a smile and say,

“Then why don’t you directly summon his messenger?”

Anderson once again raised his hand and touched his throat, chuckling.

“I don’t know the ritual to summon his messenger.”

Danitz still felt that Anderson was plotting something and was unwilling to let the other party confirm that he was frequently in contact with Gehrman Sparrow. So he changed tack and suggested,

“Actually, for something like this, you can completely ask our Captain for help. She is knowledgeable, skilled at research, and masters many secret arts. She can even request assistance from the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. She should be able to provide a solution to the ‘cocoon’ inside your stomach.

“Haha, if you’re embarrassed, I can tell her for you.”

The moment his words ended, he saw the smile on Anderson’s face brighten, and heard the other party respond rather quickly,

“Good. Then it’s settled!

“I’ve already packed. When can we leave?”

“…” Danitz stood stunned for several seconds, feeling more and more that Anderson had tricked him again.

He returned to his room, drank the remaining beer, and quickly threw all kinds of miscellaneous items into his suitcase, leaving behind only a dried leaf with golden patterns.

This was a token Danitz had previously used to establish contact with the subordinates of General Mesanyes, the leader of the Northern State. Following Gehrman Sparrow’s instructions, he left the leaf in the room and waited for the person in charge of the next step to handle it.

…

Inside the room Danitz had checked out of, a candle suddenly lit, raising a crimson flame more than two meters high.

From within the streaming flames, a figure walked out. He wore a silk top hat and black formalwear. His temples were graying, his blue eyes were deep, his bearing mature, and his appearance outstanding. It was Klein, now in the appearance of Dwayne Dantès.

After picking up the dried leaf with golden patterns, Klein left the hotel. He circled around the sealed-off side of Resurrection Square and arrived at the core area of Kukwa City: White Feather Square.

General Mesanyes’s residence was located here, beside a downward-facing Church of Death.

As a standard Loen gentleman, Dantès gave a sense of discord and incompatibility as he walked through this city. Here, foreigners were very few. They could almost only be seen often around Celebration Square, where several major consulates were located. In other places, the people coming and going were basically all local Balamese.

Their skin was somewhat brown. Their hair was black and curly. Their facial contours were soft. In the eyes of many Northern Continentals, for people of the same gender, the only differences were height and weight; they all looked quite similar.

Regardless of gender, these locals all enjoyed smoking East Balam tobacco, which was made by directly wrapping dried tobacco leaves around herbs. Along the way, Klein could occasionally see residents standing outside doors by the roadside, exhaling smoke.

In addition, a large portion of them carried a fruit called “dalawa” at their waists.

This fruit was the size of two fists and had an extremely thick outer skin. After digging open a small hole and eating the pulp, it could be used to hold water, alcohol, or various drinks.

According to Klein’s observations, most of what they drank was the orange-yellow Guadar. It was sweet and sour, cooled the body and quenched thirst, and was extremely refreshing.

I never had the chance to try it before… Klein muttered to himself, then found the guards on duty outside the general’s residence and asked to see a man named Haggis.

Based on his Loenese appearance and gentlemanly clothing, the guards neither refused nor made things difficult for him. One of them went inside and called out a man who looked under thirty.

This man’s features and skin color were standard Balamese, but his slightly curly black hair had been straightened and neatly combed backward, as though he were imitating the upper classes of the Northern Continent countries.

He wore a white shirt, a black waistcoat, and a very formal bow tie. The moment he saw Dwayne Dantès, he spoke in standard Loenese:

“Good afternoon. I am Haggis. It is an honor to meet you.”

His accent was a little odd and did not match the language style of any region in Loen.

Having lived in high society for a period of time, Klein did not find this surprising. He smiled slightly and said,

“Good afternoon. I am Dwayne Dantès. I did not expect to meet a gentleman here who could speak with such a practiced Loen noble accent.”

Haggis could not conceal the smile that appeared on his face.

“Many children from Loen noble families once came to East and West Balam to seek opportunities. I was fortunate enough to learn the language from several of them.”

“Oh, perhaps there may be someone I know among them.” Klein was in no hurry to discuss business. With gentlemanly manners, he exchanged pleasantries with the other party.

Haggis smiled.

“My friend, Colonel Alfred Hall, is the second son of an earl.”

Hall… Klein chuckled.

“I once met Earl Hall at a charity ball. He is a true noble.

“What a small world.”

Haggis nodded in agreement.

“Perhaps it is fate’s arrangement. Unfortunately, Alfred was transferred to East Balam last year.”

He said no more and immediately invited Dwayne Dantès into the general’s residence.

As they passed through the side gate, Klein suddenly raised his head and glanced at the many colored glass pieces embedded above the doorframe.

Under the sunlight, those glass pieces sparkled with different lights, as though one gaze after another were moving.