D: Jiu Chen Level: 5 (0/20000) HP: 560/560 MP: 14594/14594 (+14029) Strength: 10 Intelligence: 20 Spirit: 20 Agility: 22 Constitution: 20 Traits: Saint, Gardener Skills: Halo of the Saint, Gift of the Saint 5, Flower Grafting Equipment: None Core Power: 565555
Over the past few days, Xiao Fan had farmed nearly four thousand more points of mana. With his current mana pool, he could use skills nonstop all day and still not run out.
He also hadn't spent the attribute points he'd received from reaching level five. He wanted to save them for when he created his fourth skill at level ten.
It was already the third day, and Xiao Fan still hadn't heard from Ye Bugu. His heart sank little by little.
In Zone 18, new players had begun logging into the game one after another.
Xiao Fan had thought there was little chance the Fatty would come to Zone 18. After all, transferring from Zone 2 to Zone 18 was like transferring from Qingbei to some no-name university.
Even developing poorly in Zone 2 was better than coming to Zone 18, a zone that had already been abandoned.
The Fatty's family probably wouldn't let him transfer to Zone 18.
"Brother Fan, I'm here!"
The Fatty's voice came from behind him. Xiao Fan turned and saw him running excitedly toward the village entrance.
"Your parents actually agreed to let you transfer to Zone 18?"
With his hands in his pockets, Xiao Fan looked the Fatty up and down. He wouldn't be surprised if the Fatty had taken quite a beating over the past three days.
"How could they?" The Fatty waved his hand, then leaned toward Xiao Fan with a secretive air.
"Listen, Brother Fan, I didn't tell my family about this at all. They still think I'm going back to Zone 2, and they happily sent me on my way."
Xiao Fan: "..."
"Oh, and you absolutely can't let this slip to them, or I'm done for!" The Fatty clasped his hands together and looked at Xiao Fan pitifully.
Xiao Fan was speechless. The Fatty really was...
Forget it. The man was already here; he couldn't very well send him away.
Anyway, sticking with the only person in the whole zone who had a God-Tier Skill was better than spending a month in Zone 2 without gaining a single level.
"My goodness, this is Zone 18?"
The Fatty's massive frame passed Xiao Fan as he stared in disbelief at the Novice Village in Zone 18.
"This place is awful!"
A wooden fence that offered no protection, dusty roads, and crude thatched huts like the kind you'd only see in primitive villages in Black Africa.
It wasn't just bad. It was downright unfit for human habitation.
The Fatty had spent time in Novice Village Zone 2, after all. Its development was every bit as advanced as a first-tier city in the Real World.
Seeing such a primitive village now left him with a huge sense of dislocation.
"You've had it rough, Brother Fan."
The Fatty patted Xiao Fan's shoulder and shook his head, pretending to feel sorry for him.
Xiao Fan: ...
After the Fatty transferred to Zone 18, all his levels, skills, and Core Power had been reset to zero.
That night, he temporarily stayed in Xiao Fan's thatched hut.
Xiao Fan planned to train the Fatty to serve as the team's frontline, the main tank.
So he didn't want the Fatty to create a skill based on the usual weapon-based approach. His first skill would ideally be a taunt or damage-reduction skill.
Xiao Fan could easily come up with hundreds of skills like that, but a skill had to be created according to the player's attributes and traits.
If he remembered correctly, the Fatty's initial attributes weren't high. Back then, he hadn't even met the attribute requirements to create a Mystic Rank Skill. Even if Xiao Fan helped him create a high-tier skill, he might not be able to create it successfully.
Ding.
Just as Xiao Fan was thinking, the notification sound for a friend message rang out.
His first thought was that there was news from Ye Bugu.
He hurriedly opened his messages. Sure enough, it was from Ye Bugu.
The message was very simple.
"Great God Jiu Chen, we've found the person you asked us to find. He's still alive."
At that moment, the tension that had kept Xiao Fan on edge for so long finally eased.
He dropped onto the bed and let out a long breath. At last, his heart could settle.
Who knew what kind of days he'd endured while his uncle had been missing?
Before Xiao Fan could celebrate, another message from Ye Bugu came through.
"He's in bad shape. Both his legs were cut off. When we found him, he was unconscious. We've brought him back to the Gathering Point, and a Doctor is treating him. His life isn't in danger for now, but we couldn't find his severed legs, so there's no way to reattach them."
"What!"
Xiao Fan sprang to his feet. His heart, which had just settled, plunged down again in an almost convulsive drop, sinking into an endless, icy abyss. The joy of finding his uncle was utterly crushed by an even crueler truth.
"Both legs... cut off..."
Those four words were like sharp icicles, their bone-deep chill piercing straight through his chest, which had only just begun to warm.
Xiao Fan staggered, his clenched fists bulging with veins.
"Brother Fan, what's wrong?"
The Fatty noticed something was off and hurried over, looking at Xiao Fan with concern.
Xiao Fan didn't know how to describe what he was feeling.
He might not have been the original owner, but after transmigrating into this body, he had all of the original owner's memories and had inherited all of his feelings.
Cloud Sea was a game, but not a game in the true sense. Players who died or became disabled wouldn't come back to life or recover after returning to the Real World.
The thought of his uncle—that once indomitable man—without his legs sent a burst of violent killing intent mixed with heart-piercing pain rushing to Xiao Fan's head.
Xiao Fan forced himself to calm down and replied to Ye Bugu.
"Do you know who did this?"
"We'll have to ask him once he wakes up," Ye Bugu replied.
"Okay. Please take care of him for now, and let me know when he wakes up."
Xiao Fan would have to wait for his uncle to wake up before he could find out how he'd gone missing and who had done this to him.
"Okay." Ye Bugu happily agreed. He wasn't afraid of Xiao Fan asking him for help now; he was afraid Xiao Fan wouldn't.
That was how he could build a good relationship with Xiao Fan.
"By the way, Great God Jiu Chen, lots of people have been asking how I created a Heaven-Tier Skill. I didn't dare reveal your involvement without your permission, so I just said I created it myself. You won't be mad, will you?" Ye Bugu asked cautiously.
"No. You did the right thing. For now, don't tell anyone that I helped you create the skill."
Only after seeing Xiao Fan's reply did Ye Bugu finally relax.
People had been asking him about the Heaven-Tier Skill for days. Many of them were people he couldn't afford to offend, so he could only say that he had created it on his own. He'd worried Xiao Fan might mind, but now it seemed he'd been overthinking it.
After closing the chat window, Xiao Fan's face turned ashen.
At least his uncle was still alive. As for his legs, he'd see if he could create a skill that could regenerate severed limbs later on.
He didn't know whether the game would allow a skill like that. Creating it might well fail, so he'd wait until he found a trait that fit such a skill and then try.
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