Chapter 246 Friend of the Goblins (Part 2)

Ye Ci decided to take a seat and patiently waited for an outcome because of such a hint.

Fleeting Time shared Ye Ci’s patience. He sat down on the ground and began browsing through a cookbook. He then began cooking a meal over a hastily erected bonfire. Ye Ci stared at Fleeting Time. This man seemed to be a natural gamer. He could find the tiniest little things to keep himself entertained even when he was bored, and he could perform what many consider to be a trivial task to the point of perfection. A genius like Fleeting Time must have felt lonely to have no equal.

As the duo was waiting patiently for the NPCs, Absalom had already made his way to the teleportation NPC that would bring him back to the guild encampment. He had spent a lot of time looking for this particular NPC as most of the NPCs were merely displaced instead of disappearing outright in the wake of the earthquake.

The state of Absalom’s guild encampment was a direct contrast of the situation in Saint Light City. As guild encampments of levels 1-5 were placed in special maps that were not directly linked to the map, they were under system protection. An outsider would have to insert the serial number of the guild encampment to enter the specially protected maps. However, a lvl 6 guild encampment will be moved out of the special maps and bound to a plot of land in the city that had to be purchased by the guild. In the event of such an earthquake, the guild encampment would not enjoy the protection of the system.

Absalom was overjoyed. He had originally planned to upgrade his guild encampment to level 6 on the day before, but was occupied with the search for the Mithril ore vein. As a result, an otherwise devastating disaster had been averted. The guild, however, was still in a state of disarray. With the lost of many teleportation points in the city, many of the guild’s players found their guild teleportation scrolls rendered useless, and a lot of the players were left stranded in different maps.

Despite the chaos, Absalom could still remember Fleeting Time’s words. He took a Hawkeye skillbook from the guild warehouse, but was unable to leave the guild encampment in such a situation. Even Silent Hymn was preoccupied with trying to keep things in order. Absalom had no choice but to think of an alternative.

Just then, he was reminded of his wife. Despite her close friendship White Fairytale, Sour Apple was a reliable person when important matters were involved. As long as he was able to convey the gravity of the situation, Sour Apple would definitely get the job done despite any dissatisfaction that she might harbour against the arrangement. “Dear, where are you?” Absalom immediately sent a message to his wife.

“I’m helping out with things in the workshop. The buildings of our guild encampment was not damaged by the earthquake, but many of our supplies stored in the workshops were destroyed. Head to the potion brewery quick. I think the losses are quite heavy over there.” Sour Apple knew that her husband had arrived at the guild encampment the moment she heard his voice. Their guild had suffered quite some losses from the earthquake, and she was worried that the loss of precious resources would affect the growth of Genesis.

“Head to the guild warehouse. I need you to help deliver something.” said Absalom to his wife once he had confirmed her location.

“What is it?”

“You’ll know when you get here.”

Sour Apple immediately realised that something was up when husband refused further explanations. After giving some quick instructions to her subordinates, Sour Apple immediately headed to the guild warehouse. “Say, which hole did you crawl out from?” Sour Apple broke into violent fits of laughter when she saw the state of her husband’s clothing.

Absalom cast a look full of sorrow at his wife, “I’ve just crawled back from the streets of Saint Light City.”

“So what is it?” Sour Apple walked up to Absalom and gently wiped away the dust from his face with a loving expression.

Absalom initiated a trade with her, and spoke in the private channel, “Get this book to Fleeting Time in the Bloody Wilderness.”

Sour Apple immediately understood the need for secrecy the moment her husband switched to the private channel and when Fleeting Time’s name was mentioned, “Hawkeye? I thought he learnt the skill a long time ago? Why would he want something like this?” she was baffled when she noticed the title of the skillbook.

“It’s not for Fleeting Time. It’s for the person who is with him right now.” replied Absalom after a moment of thought.

“Who is it?”

“Gongzi You.”

“EH!?” Sour Apple, who could not believe her ear, let out a yelp. Her voice would have attracted the attention of the guild members around her if she was not speaking in a private channel.

Sour Apple’s apparent surprise was something that was expected by Absalom, who continued calmly, “Send Fleeting Time a message when you get to the Bloody Wilderness. Make sure that you’re not followed. You can come back once you hand him a book.”

“Wait wait wait wait… I’m a little confused here.” Sour Apple who recovered from her shock shook her hand.

“What?”

“Are you talking about the Gongzi You from the Eastern Continent, who is also a rival of Fleeting Time? The Huntress Gongzi You who was frequently made fun of by Fleeting Time in the World Channel?” Sour Apple was in total confusion. She even had the feeling that she was in a dream. Why would her husband hand a very expensive skillbook to an enemy? Has her husband gone mad?

“Duplicate names are not allowed in Fate.” Absalom indirectly confirmed her question.

“How did she even get here? And why are you guys not trying to kill her but are giving her freebies instead? Is she some sort of beauty who has stolen your hearts?”

Absalom furrowed his eyebrows and let out a long sigh after a moment of thought, “Alright, I’ll let you in on this, but you must never tell another living soul about this or Genesis is finished. Remember, not a single person, especially White Fairytale. If even a single word is leaked, Genesis is doomed.

Sour Apple’s nodded. Her heart rate had accelerated when she listened to the words of Absalom.

Absalom then proceeded to give Sour Apple a simple briefing of the situation. Of course, many of the finer details were left out in his explanation as such information was dangerous to Sour Apple. As a man, Absalom refused to place his wife in danger.

Sour Apple rolled her eyes and exclaimed, “My God, I don’t think that Gongzi You is a girl!”

“But she is!”

“There’s no way a girl can be so mentally resilience. I’ve always thought that I have a strong heart, but I am nowhere near her level.” said Sour Apple as she patted the Hawkeye skillbook and placed it in her inventory, “Alright then. I’ll go deliver this skillbook. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that I’m not followed.”

“Be careful.” nodded Absalom.

A sudden thought flashed across Sour Apple’s mind, “Hubby, has Fleeting Time really taken in interest in Gongzi You?”

Absalom shrugged. Women tend to view things differently from men when it came to gossiping. This was why Absalom was wise to never gossip with his wife to avoid any unwanted… Effects. “Why don’t you ask Fleeting Time himself when you see him later? I’m not a mind reader, how do I know what he’s thinking?”

Sour Apple snorted as she turned around and left, “You’re not going to fool me. You men are always covering for each other. You better not be hiding any secrets, or I’ll have your guts for garters.”

What did I even say? I did nothing wrong! Why am I suffering from this injustice? Absalom’s heart was filled with sorrow as he placed all the blame on Fleeting Time. I’m gonna make him pay when he comes back to China.

De’frei finally moved to face Ciel after a long moment of silence, “Your Majesty, where will you go after this?”

Ciel blinked, and cast a sideway glance at Llaesnyffan, “I will go to all corners of the world in search of more of our people and lead them to a new home. I will then pay a visit to the Dragonia and search of a way to resurrect Llaesnyffan. What about you, De’frei?”

“Orthus is waiting for me. I’m going to meet him.”

“Orthus?” confusion appeared in Ciel’s eyes before it was replaced with realization, “That youth who was the greatest Goblin Engineer of our kingdom? I believe that he’s a student of yours.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. You have a good memory.”

“I’ve done a lot of bad things to him.” Ciel was very apologetic. The king of Goblins was calm and collected compared to his maddened self in the palace, “Please deliver my apology to him when you meet. If he’s willing, I’d like to invite the both of you in my quest to search for a new home for our people.” Ciel then stood up, and with Llaesnyffan in his arms, bowed at Ye Ci and Fleeting Time. He then handed them a medal each with the words “Friend of the Goblins”.

“My dearest friends, no matter where you might be, you’ll receive help from Goblins as long as you’re wearing these badges.” and the king of Goblins left the dungeon with Llaesnyffan in his embrace.

De’frei walked up to Ye Ci, “Bring me to Orthus. I miss that child.”

“My pleasure.”

A system notification appeared right after Ye Ci gave her reply, “De’frei is following you. Please keep him safe.”

It was an escort mission.

However, with the whistle given to Ye Ci by Orthus earlier on, there was no need to traverse through the Western Continent with De’frei in tow as they could meet with Orthus right away upon leaving the dungeon.

“Alright, let’s take our leave then.” said Fleeting Time after making sure that Ye Ci had accepted the quest.

Ye Ci nodded, and the duo left the dungeon.

Fleeting Time’s private message channel was flooded with messages the moment he left the dungeon. They were all from Sour Apple. Why would she come looking for me at a time like this? Despite his slight annoyance, Fleeting Time sent her a reply, “What is it?”

“Where the hell are you? I’ve been going in circles in the Bloody Wilderness for two freaking hours! I tried sending messages to you but the system told me that you’re out of reach! Do you think I have nothing better to do?” Sour Apple roared with anger. Then again, anybody else would have a bad temper after traversing through the landscape of the Bloody Wilderness that was ravaged by the earthquake for two full hours.

“Why are you looking for me?”

“To give you a damned skillbook. What do you think I’m here for? Saint Light City is in ruins after an earthquake, and my husband was so busy with managing stuff at the guild that he sent me in his stead.” snorted Sour Apple.

Fleeting Time’s eyebrows immediately furrowed. Sour Apple is delivering the skillbook? Just what is she trying to pull of? He then cast a glance at Gongzi You. She’s not able to enter Stealth with De’frei following her around. What if Sour Apple sees her?

Sour Apple spoke up after noticing the silence.

“Oh, come on! Stop your overthinking! I know about your secret. Even if I tend to mess around, I still am serious when it comes to the important things. What are your coordinates?”