Chapter 82
Laurentina glanced somewhat resentfully at the black tea and the small cake that had been served in front of her.
Utterly tasteless.
The other couples in the coffee shop were snuggling together, whispering sweet nothings, and occasionally feeding each other cake with forks.
But... but the situation on my side is simply...
"Dad, stop reading the newspaper and have a bite of cake, it's delicious!"
The little girl at the next table raised her fork and spoke to the middle-aged man in front of her who was also reading a newspaper.
Okay~ Daddy won't watch.
Damn it, they're exactly the same!
Laurentina listened to the commotion behind her and glanced at the couples nearby.
No, we can't just sit here and wait to die!
"What's wrong, Laurentina?"
Her shout pulled Zuo Jian's thoughts back to the small coffee shop, and at the same time, allowed him to refocus his attention on the newspaper in front of him.
To be honest, most of the content in newspapers is not worth paying attention to.
Many places are filled with advertisements from businesses, trivial matters about female celebrities, and scandals.
The only information that could be considered worth paying attention to was those few short sentences in the corner.
[The Chernobog City Lord Assassination Case: The border city-state of Ursus has been suspected of being attacked by assassins, with two successive lords being assassinated.]
However, what he clearly cared about more than these things was----
Zuo Jian squinted, looking at the address of the publishing house marked on the daily newspaper.
Londinium...
Can newspapers in the capital be simultaneously printed in these outlying cities? Is it printed by the newspaper's branch offices, but the content should be identical...?
In other words... Victoria's newspapers can...
"Zuo Jian —stop reading the newspaper."
Laurentina tugged at Zuo Jian's arm, making him put down the newspaper.
"What's wrong..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw someone fork up a small piece of cake and bring it to his face.
"Zuo Jian, ah--"
"?"
He stared at the cake being brought closer to him, somewhat puzzled.
"To be honest, the main purpose of eating should be to help you regulate your mindset and mental state. Based on that, I don't think I need to take up your time..."
"I feel more relaxed doing this, so, ah----"
Laurentina held onto her fork, seemingly with no intention of backing down.
Seeing this, Zuo Jian felt somewhat helpless, but he couldn't refuse, so he had no choice but to comply and open his mouth.
He put the fork into his mouth, swallowed the cake, and it went down his throat.
"How is it? Is it delicious?"
Laurentina held her face, then looked at Zuo Jian with an expectant smile.
The latter looked at her face, hesitated for a moment, and then sighed.
"Actually, I can't really taste this stuff. This body's tongue hasn't evolved anything as essential as taste."
He took the fork from Laurentina's hand and then gently dug...
He then fed the next piece of cake to Laurentina in the same manner.
He also patted her head.
"So, you should just eat by yourself and don't worry about me."
"Mmm..."
Laurentina, with a fork in her mouth, stared at Zuo Jian, lost in thought.
However, the next moment, she suddenly braced herself on the table with one hand and grabbed Zuo Jian's collar with the Zuo Jian, turning his head directly in front of her.
Seeing Zuo Jian's puzzled look, Laurentina leaned forward, and their foreheads touched.
"Laurentina?"
Before he could react, a sweet, creamy, and fruity flavor filled his mouth.
She was sharing her feelings with Zuo Jian.
"Hehe, so now I can taste it, right?"
Looking at Laurentina's expectant eyes, Zuo Jian was momentarily speechless.
To be honest.
He doesn't really like this kind of sweet food.
But...
Looking into the other person's clear red eyes, I saw my own face reflected in them.
"Yes, it's delicious."
"Hey-hey."
She smiled, propped her cheek on her hand and leaned against the table, then handed the fork to Zuo Jian once again.
"Zuo Jian, feed me."
"?"
"Can't you eat by yourself?"
"No, I've already fed you, shouldn't you feed me back?"
Did I not feed it back?
"Hehe, there's an old saying in the Flame Kingdom, it goes like this... a drop of water..."
"A drop of water in need should be repaid with a spring of water." Where did you get that from? And this kind of saying is clearly not appropriate for this situation.
He sighed, looking at his Shark, which occasionally threw a tantrum and acted somewhat willfully.
"Fine, fine, I really can't do anything with you, open your mouth."
He reluctantly took the fork, cut the cake into pieces, picked up a portion with the fork, and presented it to Laurentina.
"Mmm~"
"Speaking of which, do you Abyssal Hunters have any street codes?"
Zuo Jian continued feeding Laurentina as he spoke.
"Ugh... ugh... ugh--"
"Swallow it before you speak!"
"Yes, I do. What's wrong? -- Hmm."
Another piece of cake was fed to Laurentina.
"Our next destination should be Londinium. Victoria is more developed than I imagined; a lot of information can be disseminated from its capital to various Mobile City."
"So instead of blindly searching, we should go directly to Londinium and try to get the information disseminated throughout Victoria through newspapers and radio broadcasts."
"Furthermore... if possible, I plan to search for the escaped Seaborn Bishop while spreading the word about finding your teammates."
"Hmm-- Amaya?" Laurentina swallowed the cake, her eyes filled with confusion.
"You care a lot?"
"How should I put it... it's a very strange feeling."
Zuo Jian stroked his chin. Ever since he saw the word "Demons" on the map of the Abyssal Hunters's safe house, this eerie feeling had been growing stronger.
At the same time, I kept telling myself that I had to find Amaya.
Or rather...
Find the piece of flesh that Amaya took away.
As expected, with his current level of perception, even if he couldn't control that part of the flesh, he could still sense its level of activity.
But he didn't react at all.
This indicates that the flesh and blood have basically entered a deep dormant state, which manifests as withered, grayish-red residue.
In theory, even a mad scientist like Lai Ke couldn't reactivate that part of the activity.
To put it simply...
Safety...
But... what's with this feeling?
Zuo Jian was puzzled, but this intuitive instinct was clearly not something he could easily ignore.
On the frigid ice plains, howling winds carrying gray snow surged forth from the depths.
Twisted pupils opened from the frenzied flesh and blood.
The Ursus people, relying on their Internal Guard to hold back the Demons, and their massive army to keep those twisted beings outside the borders of civilization.
But... no one knows that everything this country has built here is merely resisting the occasional lingering echoes of that "existence".
What truly keeps them from that endless icy plain is... the balance that Terra has always maintained.
Some have said that the development of Terra civilization was almost like walking on thin ice, and that its current position was purely due to luck.
The development of civilization has fortunately been dependent on a balance of mutual constraints.
But now... because of some external presence.
The precarious balance was broken prematurely.
The ocean has retracted its tentacles, halting its original expansion and evolution in order to survive.
The presence of land has weakened it.
Black crystals are scattered across the land, but no matter how new civilizations utilize or isolate them, their total amount remains unchanged.
What has disappeared will always return to what still exists.
And now...
... they have weakened.
A small portion of them disappeared.
It has vanished completely, vanished forever, never to return.
It was as if it had been swallowed up.
The crystallization of the earth also ceased its spread and expansion.
In the balance of these three constraints, both the ocean and the land chose to shrink back.
... But the ice fields did not know why they huddled together; they only knew that the balance had been broken.
The time to break free has come.
Ursus border.