Does the Butterfly Effect Really Exist? (13)

When Tingmei arrived, the spacious cave at the end of the passageway was filled with mud and stones.

Just as Tingmei was struggling with how to get past these obstacles to find Sordil, a silvery-white halo suddenly appeared beneath her feet.

"Buzz!"

The dazzling silvery-white radiance was fleeting, like a night-blooming cereus, and Tingmei, who was enveloped in the center of the halo, also disappeared.

When Tingmei opened her eyes again, she was already in the center of the cave, standing in front of a colorful rock wall.

"Huh? Why is this rock face hot? And why are there so many carvings on it?"

Just as she was filled with astonishment at the strange rock face before her, a rough yet slightly shy voice came from above her.

"Tingmei, could you please take your hands off my stomach?"

Although the volume of this voice was much higher than those she had heard before, the essence of the voice remained unchanged. Therefore, upon hearing these words, Tingmei immediately recognized the owner of the voice, and at the same time, she realized the true identity of the colorful rock wall in front of her.

"Ta-da!"

After taking ten or so steps back and creating some distance between herself and Old Suo, Tingmei was finally able to take the entire Seven-Colored Rock Wall into her view.

Looking up at the 25-26 meter tall dragon before her, Tingmei praised herself for her courage in holding and playing with it earlier, while simultaneously berating herself for doing so. Besides, she was also very grateful for the goddess of fate's favor; otherwise, she would probably have been crushed into a meat patty and eaten by her new master long ago. (Haha! Miss Tingmei, you're mistaken this time. Old Suo is a vegetarian dragon; he never eats meat! Uh... no, Old Suo only doesn't eat human flesh; he does eat other kinds of meat!)

"Gulp"

After swallowing hard to calm herself, Tingmei's brain gradually began to function again, and long-lost memories started to return to her mind. Then, belatedly, she asked, "Master, have you caught 'Master'?"

Upon hearing Tingmei's question, Old Suo proudly waved his tightly clenched right hand, then laughed:

"Haha! This guy just tried to escape, but I suppressed him with my absolute strength. Now he's locked up in here!"

Glancing at Old Suo's right hand, Tingmei thought to herself, "Boss, you're not locking him up, you're grabbing him!"

Just as she finished complaining about Sordil, a bolt of lightning flashed through Tingmei's mind, and she hurriedly cried out, "Master, won't you suffocate him by 'locking' him in your hand?"

"Don't worry! I left a gap for him inside, he won't suffocate!"

As he spoke, Old Suo moved his thumb and forefinger apart, revealing a head with a 'pointed horn' on its forehead.

"Master, why does he have a horn on his forehead? Could it be that he's not human?"

Seeing the 'pointed horn' on the other person's forehead, Tingmei exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh! You mean this? Hehe! It's not that it grew a horn, but when I caught him just now, this guy resisted desperately, so I gave him about ten... uh, maybe twenty flicks on the forehead, and then this thing appeared on his forehead."

Hearing Old Suo's explanation, Tingmei didn't know how to criticize him. In the end, she could only force herself to praise him, "Master, your accuracy is really good!"

"Hehe! That's what I think too!"

Looking at Sordil, who was grinning like a complete idiot, Tingmei said speechlessly, "Master, did you get any useful information out of him?"

With Tingmei's guidance, the foolish Sodir finally understood. Thus, the rational Prince Sordil once again took control of his body and remembered the true purpose of his painstaking search for his Old Friend.

"Mode switch, Sky Dragon Mode!"

With a flash of milky white light, Tingmei was honored to witness the miracle of the dragon coming to life.

"Cure!"

Watching Sordil use Healing Magic to save her Old Friend, Tingmei pinched herself hard. Only after the intense stimulation reached her central nervous system and was converted into pain signals that were transmitted to the effectors did she realize that she wasn't dreaming, but that dragons capable of altering species truly existed in this world.

Just as Tingmei was bewildered by the discovery of a new species of dragon, a certain unicorn dragon had emerged from its coma and regained consciousness.

"Hmm! Where am I?"

"In the palm of my hand!"

Hearing Sordil's perfectly reasonable answer, the Old Friend suddenly raised his head warily and tried to break free from his restraints. However, under the suppression of the dragon's absolute power, all his efforts were in vain.

Once his Old Friend was exhausted and unable to resist, Sordil coldly said, "All done making a scene? Shouldn't we have a proper chat?"

"Talk? Hmph! Prince Sordil, if you want to kill me, you can do so anytime. But if you want to extract information from me, you'd better give up on that idea. I won't say a word!"

"Heh! You've got guts, huh? Alright, I'll play along with you. I hope you won't regret it later!"

After coldly finishing his statement, Old Suo switched to Iron Dragon Mode and used Shape-Making Magic to create a series of interrogation tools that were famous throughout the land in his previous life. Immediately afterward, a series of miserable wails echoed through the underground cave.

Above the sea

After an hour's rest, Ishgar began to regroup his army, preparing for another battle. Just then, Olibuk and Talib, hidden in the shadows, suddenly realized that Ishgar's army was reduced to half its original size.

"What... what's going on? Why are half of Ishgar's people gone?"

Upon hearing Talib's exclamation, Montedoss, who was hiding to the side, revealed a mocking smile.

"Haha! Those who don't heed the advice of their elders will suffer the consequences!"

After mentally ranting about the other person, Montedoss shrank back to make sure he wouldn't be seen by some irrational guy, lest he be used as a punching bag.

However, even though he wanted to hide, the irrational Talib was unwilling to let him go!

"Montedoss, come out here!"

Since he'd been singled out, there was no escaping it. His only option was to find a way to divert the other man's attention elsewhere, ensuring he wouldn't take his anger out on him. With this thought in mind, Montedoss flew cautiously to Talib's side.

"Commander, what instructions do you have for me?"

Upon hearing the word "commander, "Talib instantly recalled a remark he had made not long ago. Glancing at the 'humble' Montedoss, then at the group of subordinates gathered around him, Talib's intended reprimand caught in his throat. Helpless, he could only maintain the situation with an awkward, forced smile while mentally reorganizing his thoughts.

After about three or four minutes, he said with a 'smile', "Chief Montedoss, now that most of our target has mysteriously disappeared, what do you think we should do?"

"Chief Talib, you are the supreme commander of this operation. How should we proceed is up to you. How dare I interfere?"

Upon hearing Montedoss's words, Talib's anger surged, but in order to complete the mission smoothly and find a perfect scapegoat dragon, he forcibly suppressed his anger, maintained a stiff smile, and said, "Hehe! Chief Montedoss, what are you saying? We're all good brothers, can't we just discuss things together?"

Although Montedoss had gained an instinctive awareness of the dangers on the battlefield after being 'specially trained' by Old Suo and others, he was still a Little White when it came to cunning. Therefore, upon seeing Talib surrender, he felt nothing more than immense satisfaction. He naively accepted the surrender and began to offer Talib strategic advice.

"Chief Talib, since half of the enemy has already escaped without a trace, we can only keep a close watch on the remaining half and use them as our spoils to report to Kelsu and the others!"

"You mean... launch a general offensive?"

"Do we have any other options besides this?"

"Good! I'll give the order right away and have them prepare to launch an attack!"