I'm Shook

The two sides agreed on a time and place to meet tomorrow.

This was the first official exchange visit between someone from Earth and people from another world.

The princess and her companions watched Kang De leave.

Tina was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Knight, why did you arrange to meet him?"

Cleveland replied, "Because I want to see what kind of person he really is."

The princess turned to look at him.

The knight met her gaze and lowered his head slightly. "I overstepped, but this is something that must be done. Whether his nature is good or evil, whether his desire for material things is greedy or restrained... I must see it all for myself."

Tina frowned. "I told you not to treat him as..."

"Even so, contact and communication are necessary. Given your noble status, Your Highness, it would not be appropriate for you to take the initiative to visit him. Allow me to go first."

The knight said, "I will exercise restraint and never come into conflict with him. I swear it on my honor as a knight."

The princess considered it for a moment and reluctantly accepted his explanation.

She thought it over carefully for a while, then suddenly said, "Sometimes, first impressions are very important, because they are the first judgments made by our intuition... So, everyone, what is your impression of Mr. Kang De?"

Head maid Bedela said, "My family has served Teldrassil for generations. In my humble view, Mr. Kang De's conduct is rather lax and frivolous. He does not maintain his elegance and self-discipline at all times as a noble would... He may not have received strict training and education from childhood."

She bowed slightly. "Forgive my rudeness."

The princess said, "Mr. Kang De is from Cathay. To judge him by the noble etiquette of the continent..."

Head maid Bedela said slowly, "Cathayan nobles are still nobles. They must act just as the continent's nobles do. Forgive my bluntness, but nobles everywhere are remarkably alike in their strict pursuit of etiquette and ceremony, because it is an important way for them to indulge in self-admiration over their own character and distinguish themselves from commoners."

"..."

The princess smiled wryly. "Head maid, are you praising Mr. Kang De?"

Head maid Bedela said, "I wouldn't presume to. I am merely sharing my personal insights based on my limited knowledge."

Tina looked at Captain Oswald. This man of the sea had spent decades sailing through raging waves, traveling far and wide, visiting countless places and meeting countless people.

"Captain?" she said. "Please tell us your impression and opinion."

The captain replied, "I am no noble, merely a sailor, but from our perspective, you cannot judge a person's upbringing and status solely by the etiquette he displays. You must look at the attitude he shows when dealing with all kinds of people."

Tina raised an eyebrow slightly. "Please be more specific."

"Mr. Kang De looked at us with curiosity, but without fear. When facing us, he was neither humble nor arrogant, but very... calm. I judge that he received an excellent education and is a true noble. He must have a very high status in Cathay."

He took the pipe from his mouth and said calmly, "Because from beginning to end, he looked at us as equals... with strength and confidence. It was neither ignorance nor arrogance."

The princess nodded.

She looked at the last person. "Knight?"

Cleveland bowed. "Forgive me. Please wait until I have confirmed it tomorrow."

Tina glanced at him and nodded. "All right."

The knight still stood as straight as a statue.

But the figure of that Cathayan appeared in his mind.

Their first meeting had been anything but friendly, and a conflict born of misunderstanding had led to a fight to the death. But Her Highness was right: an intuitive first impression was very accurate. The impression that Cathayan gave him was...

Madness.

Like a pile of extremely unstable mana crystals, ready to explode at the slightest disturbance or influence.

That is why I do not wish to tell you this first impression, and why I must see for myself, Your Highness, he said silently.

He did not want Her Highness to think he was speaking ill of Kang De.

But the Cathayan named Kang De did indeed give him a very dangerous feeling.

His soul is full of uncertainty, and after uncertainty comes madness. He is like the Bayero People wandering the entire continent, those pitiful survivors of a fallen nation. They lost their faith and their morals, growing mad and depraved, extreme and hysterical in their despair and uncertainty... because they no longer had a home.

The knight thought silently, This Cathayan named Kang De gives me a feeling very, very similar to those Bayero People. Only, he should have used extraordinary willpower to control his mental decline and transformation, but his mental state is still very unstable. The slightest provocation could cause a change... just like during the day.

I must observe him carefully.

If possible, I want to know his story.

I must never allow a dangerous element near Her Highness... never.

Kang De, what kind of person are you? Let me see for myself.

On the way back.

Kang De lit the path with a flashlight and turned his head. "Come to think of it, Tina knows where we live... We can't afford to let our guard down. Sleep lightly these next few days."

The animals called lazily a couple of times, looking completely unconcerned.

Kang De was still uneasy and added, "I found a few boxes of screaming chickens while rummaging through the shopping center warehouse. Later, I'll scatter them along the paths people have to take and use them as alarms. Don't step on them... If we had enough power, I'd set up surveillance too."

The animals immediately looked delighted.

They were very fond of the screaming chickens, those silly toys for little kids.

Kang De rolled his eyes. "And stop pretending you don't understand me... I let it go before when you couldn't understand Chinese, but now I've learned the other world's language..."

He switched to the foreign language he had just learned. "What kind of place is the Holy Seal Archipelago? And what's that altar down below? What's going on with the superpower I awakened?"

When he finished, the animals gazed at Kang De with shining eyes.

Clearly, they were very interested in the superpower Kang De had demonstrated.

"All right, all right, I'll show you when we get back."

Back in the valley.

They lit a campfire. Kang De sat beside it while the animals sat in a row, watching him eagerly.

"It goes something like this..."

He reached toward the firelight. His mental beam spread out, extracting the elements. The flames dimmed and turned into a cloud of flying red light that flowed into his fingertip, then attached itself to a fruit knife.

A crimson flame glimmered along the slender blade.

Kang De twirled the knife, fiddled with it a little, then showed it to the animals. "And now the fruit knife has a fire enchantment... Its killing power has increased dramatically. This ability can probably be called the great art of enchanting. It seems pretty impressive, and it can greatly increase the killing power of my weapons. I've also thought of lots of advanced combinations and tactics, like..."

Before he could finish, the parrot toppled headfirst onto the ground.

And let out a drake-like cackle.

It rolled on the ground. "I'm shook! I'm shook!"

Then the animals erupted. The pigeon, chicken, and swan collapsed into a laughing heap, the kangaroo pounded the ground, and the marmot and wolverine struck "dying of laughter in the street" poses.

They laughed like crazy, as though they had seen something extremely ridiculous.

Kang De's face burned. Damn it, this ability was so cool. What was wrong with them?

His face darkened. "Stop laughing."

The gorilla also bared her teeth and roared at the animals a few times, but they paid no attention and kept laughing wildly.

Kang De shouted, "Laugh again, and forget about spicy strips and booze!"

The next instant, the animals immediately sat up obediently.

"...You really are hiding a lot of secrets."

Kang De pinched the bridge of his nose. "Is it that funny?"

The animals nodded furiously.

Kang De sighed. "Did I use it wrong? Is that not how this superpower is supposed to be used?"

The animals nodded even more frantically.

Kang De asked, "Then what is it?"

The pigeon stepped forward, head high and chest out, and put a wing around the parrot. It looked like it wanted to demonstrate for Kang De using its exceptionally expressive body language.

But the next moment, the kangaroo stopped it.

The kangaroo called out solemnly a few times, and the animals immediately looked thoughtful. Their animal faces once again showed humanlike expressions: first contemplation, then sorrow.

The kangaroo then turned around, reached out a thick arm, and patted Kang De on the shoulder.

Its eyes were filled with a gentle light.

As if to say that this way of using it was fine.

As if what these animals considered the "correct way to use it" was an enormously heavy burden.

Kang De said, "I don't understand."

The kangaroo waved a paw and turned away. The animals, too, seemed to have suddenly lost interest. They got up one by one and slowly walked away, leaving Kang De standing there in a daze.

Being kept in the dark like this felt awful...

Kang De looked at A Xing, who had stayed behind. A Xing looked back at him, her eyes full of bewilderment.

A Xing seemed to know nothing about it.

Whether it was the Holy Seal Archipelago, the island's secrets, the animals' origins, or even this superpower-Kang De had asked these highly intelligent animals about them before. The other beasts had all played dumb, but only A Xing had truly known nothing.

"Sigh... What a headache."

Kang De's mood also grew a little gloomy.

After that bout of wild laughter, he couldn't be bothered to show the animals the other great construction fantasy enchantment method based on the law of blossoming on both sides.

"Let's sleep, let's sleep. A Xing, you should get some rest early too. Stay alert tonight."

With that, he returned to his room.

At sea.

The Wings of Wayne.

The powerful elven capital ship floated on the sea.

"Master, must we continue waiting here?"

"Captain, today's meditation gave me an uneasy premonition. My intuition is even urging me to advance at once and slaughter every human aboard that ship..."

"But they entered the forbidden waters. That is the Holy Seal Archipelago."

"Precisely because of that, I have an extremely uneasy premonition. It is as though a seed of destruction is about to be planted. My soul is howling, urging me to act and snuff out this dangerous sprout. Tonight, I will pray again."

"As you command, Master. The Wings of Wayne relies on your judgment."

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PS1: Second update... Another six thousand characters today. Ah, come to think of it, I still haven't played The Division 2 or Devil May Cry 5...