The Time Traveler Unaccustomed to the Local Environment

"You've come." Jon did not turn around, merely gazing at the lush, verdant woods in the distance.

Hearing those familiar words, Angel suddenly recalled the exchange he had just had with his brother, and could not help smiling faintly.

"Yes, I've come." As Angel spoke, he pointed at the ointment on the table for the mute servant. The mute servant waved his hands at Angel.

Angel sighed helplessly, picked up the ointment, and went to sit beside Jon.

"Mentor, you haven't followed the physician's instructions again." Angel unscrewed the glass bottle's cap and carefully smeared the thick green ointment over Jon's limbs, which had already begun to wither.

"Whether I apply it or not makes no difference." There was a trace of nostalgia and sorrow in Jon's eyes. "I'm about to die. 'It' won't let me go on living."

"Who is it?" Angel abruptly swept his gaze around the room, alert. "Could it be one of your enemies, Mentor?"

After a long while, Jon shook his head. "I have no enemies. My enemy is in another spacetime."

The moment he heard his mentor mention matters of "another spacetime," Angel instinctively sent the mute servant away. Though the servant could not speak, Angel always had him leave whenever his mentor began talking about "things from the past," just in case.

Even now, Angel still found Jon's origins utterly inconceivable.

Jon had come from another world—or rather, another planet. Because of an accident, Jon had crossed over from his homeland to this unfamiliar land.

After arriving in this world, Jon had been saved by Angel's father. That was how everything that followed came to be.

Angel had not believed in this notion of "crossing over" at first. Yet as Jon taught him more and more, building his understanding of both the microscopic and macroscopic worlds, Angel had been forced to believe. The knowledge Jon taught him was still only grand and empty concepts, lacking genuine practical proof, but the figures Angel calculated on his own were enough to show just how precious that knowledge was. It far surpassed the Golden Sparrow Empire's present level of education.

Even if doubts still lingered in Angel's heart, he was largely convinced.

Only after he saw the mute servant close the door and heard his footsteps pattering down the stairs did Angel softly ask, "Then... who is this 'it' you spoke of, Mentor?"

Jon fell silent for a long time, but then asked Angel a seemingly unrelated question.

"Do you believe the world can possess consciousness?"

The sudden question left Angel looking dazed. After thinking for a moment, he answered cautiously, "Do you mean Gaia Consciousness, Mentor?"

Naturally, the Golden Sparrow Empire had no such term as Gaia Consciousness, nor did this world have any so-called Mother Earth, Gaia. Jon had explained the concept of Gaia Consciousness to him before, but Angel had merely taken it as a myth from another world. Who could have known Jon would suddenly bring it up now?

"Something like that." Jon nodded almost imperceptibly. "I used to be someone who firmly believed in science. Even when people said that the end of science was God, I never believed it. But after coming to this world, I've increasingly felt that certain things are slowly changing. Gaia Consciousness is among them."

Jon looked toward the distant mountains, their green hues like darkened indigo. "My body began to deteriorate for no apparent reason after I came to this world. I had the parasitic chip conduct a full examination of my body, but there was no trace of disease. In other words, I wasn't sick."

Though Angel did not understand what a "parasitic chip" was, he understood Jon's words.

"If you weren't sick, then why..." Angel looked at Jon, whose entire body had almost atrophied into little more than skin stretched over bone, and his confusion deepened. Jon was only a little over fifty, but if someone claimed he was already eighty, no one would doubt it.

"Why did I become like this?" Jon murmured softly, as though speaking to himself. Then he shook his head and chuckled. "If you had asked me half a year ago, I would not have been able to answer that question. But... as I draw closer to the grave, 'it' seems to have let down its guard somewhat. Through that, I've indirectly come to understand the source of this illness."

"The source?" Angel looked at Jon without understanding.

"Just like the Gaia Consciousness I asked you about earlier, I suspect... this world may possess a vast collective consciousness. It operates with cold impartiality. It rejects every foreign soul. It is the consciousness of the world. And this diseased body of mine may be its handiwork." Jon turned to Angel. "Simply put, my body is like this because I can't acclimate to the land and water. Because I'm not someone from this world at all."

In the magnificent main hall, beneath a crystal-glass chandelier, one man sat on each side of a long rectangular table. Behind each of the two seated men stood several knights clad head to toe in armor.

On the left sat Leon Pat, the next heir to Pat Manor's title, his brows tightly furrowed.

On the right sat a middle-aged man in silver armor, his face obscured by a thick brown beard: Eaton Mone.

Eaton Mone held the rank of count. He came from the Mone Family—the backbone of the Golden Sparrow Empire. This centuries-old family was renowned throughout the empire for its fierce valor in battle.

At present, a great number of the Mone Family's elites were fighting Hailan Kingdom at the front lines. No one knew why Count Eaton had suddenly come to Gelu Town.

After a lengthy silence, the momentum of the knights confronting one another continued to rise. The Mone Family was, after all, a family of warriors, and their knights' imposing presence soon suppressed the retainers of Pat Manor. One knight even failed to bear the pressure and let go of the longsword in his hand. It crashed heavily onto the floor with a clang. Seeing this, Leon's brow creased slightly, and he could only be the first to speak.

"My apologies. My knights do not understand proper conduct." Leon waved his hand. The knights behind him immediately dropped to one knee in salute, then slowly stepped back. With that simple movement, he effortlessly pressed down the opposing knights' surging momentum. "Count Eaton, you have arrived without warning. Could it be concerning supplies for the front lines?"

The two nations were presently at war. Though Hailan Kingdom was not large, most of its territory consisted of islands scattered like stars in the gap between the Azure Sea and the Storm Sea. The Golden Sparrow Empire's naval strength was not formidable, so in response to Hailan's invasion, it could only fortify the coastline and defend passively.

Once such a stalemated defense dragged on, coupled with the extreme shortage of freshwater resources along the coast, the later provision of food and water naturally had to be borne by several nearby towns. Gelu Town was one link in that supply chain.

Pat Manor shouldered the entire burden of supplying the front lines. Ordinary townsfolk might not know of this, but as the master of Pat Manor, how could Leon not?

"These past months, we truly have Pat Manor's vigorous support to thank. Otherwise, our vanguard camp would not have held out." After expressing his thanks, Count Eaton shifted the topic. "There is naturally no problem with the food and water supplies. The reason I came today is actually to ask about something."

"What is it you wish to ask?" Leon raised a brow at him.

Eaton smiled, though his beard obscured his expression, making it hard to tell. However, Leon saw no amusement in Eaton's eyes.

"I wonder whether Viscount Pat has ever heard of Morning Dew After Rain?"