Let me take you on

Just as Professor Woodrow was fretting, a figure trudging along under a heavy load appeared in the distance.

"Professor, look! Someone's coming our way!" his assistant pointed out.

Professor Woodrow hurriedly looked up. Sure enough, someone was slowly approaching them.

"The Flaming Sea rarely sees visitors. This must be the Resonator who accepted the bounty..."

Before Professor Woodrow could finish, he got a clear look at the newcomer and swallowed the rest of his words.

"Lollo Logistics?"

The newcomer was Mimika.

Holding a display screen, she wiped away her sweat and said wearily, "Looks like this is the Flaming Sea."

"Are you a courier from Lollo Logistics?" Professor Woodrow asked, unwilling to give up without checking.

Mimika nodded emphatically. "That's right. Were you the ones who placed the order?"

Professor Woodrow's face visibly fell. He waved a hand and said:

"If there's an order that can deal with that fellow in the Flaming Sea, I certainly wouldn't mind placing one."

"Huh?" Mimika sounded puzzled.

She looked into the Flaming Sea, then suddenly remembered that a certain cat Patroller had told her he was here to deal with matters concerning it.

She quickly told Woodrow, "Just a moment."

Then she turned, hopping up and down as she waved toward someone a short distance behind her and shouted:

"Patroller Ling An, I found the people you're looking for!"

Woodrow's heart leaped. Could a Resonator who had accepted the bounty really have come to help?

He hurriedly blinked and peered in the direction Mimika was waving.

On the clear stretch of grass outside the Flaming Sea, Ling An strolled lazily into view.

Although he had been traveling with Mimika, he had hung back the whole way so he could eat out of her sight.

Ling An burped and picked a small piece of yellow crystal from between his teeth with a claw.

The Fusion Prism he had just encountered had tasted decent, but it had been a little hard on his teeth.

Another eighty or a hundred low-level Tacet Discords like that might be enough for him to level up.

Meanwhile, Woodrow had not noticed Ling An at all-or rather, had paid him no attention whatsoever.

He kept looking into the distance, but still saw no Resonator. Puzzled, he asked Mimika:

"Where is this Patroller Ling An you mentioned?"

Mimika giggled and pointed at Ling An.

Professor Woodrow and his assistant both looked down, catching sight of Ling An's languid figure.

He pointed, but turned his head toward Mimika. "Him?"

That single word held all of Professor Woodrow's doubt, astonishment, and bewilderment.

Mimika nodded. "Yes! This is Patroller Ling An. He's super strong!"

Ling An pressed his audio switch at just the right moment. "I am Ling An, a Patroller of Jinzhou."

Professor Woodrow clutched his head and paced back and forth. "No, no, no. This cat? Have I inhaled too much Flamebloom pollen? Why does this feel like a dream?"

At that moment, his assistant prodded him. "Professor, you haven't been following the news from Jinzhou lately. I think there really is a cat like that."

Professor Woodrow stared, dumbfounded. "Seriously?"

"Of course." Ling An pulled the rolled-up wanted notice from his fur and pushed it in front of Professor Woodrow.

Professor Woodrow took the notice and verified it.

It was indeed the wanted notice he had posted in Jinzhou.

A cat had actually accepted it and come all the way to the Flaming Sea?

What in the name of a Hoartoise?!

Woodrow suddenly felt powerless. This world was far too crazy.

At this rate, perhaps one day a mouse would even serve as a cat's bridesmaid.

Still, he forced himself to compose his expression and cautioned:

"The reason I chose to post a wanted notice was that the unique conditions of the Flamebloom fields favor Resonators working independently, relying on their own abilities. In any case, since you've accepted the notice, go ahead and give it a try."

Ling An nodded in satisfaction. This professor seemed fairly reasonable.

He turned his gaze toward the center of the Flamebloom fields.

He had long since noticed the waves of energy coming from there.

"Glacio Rider. That's the name I gave him," Professor Woodrow added.

Glacio Rider, huh? Ling An gauged his opponent's strength from across the Flamebloom fields.

His opponent was far from weak. Even among Overlord-Class foes, he was undoubtedly powerful.

But being powerful alone would not be enough to get past Ling An.

Without hesitation, Ling An started walking toward the Flaming Sea.

"Be careful," Professor Woodrow suddenly called out. "Flamebloom pollen gathers near the ground. Inhaling it causes pain like being burned by raging flames!"

He was worried Ling An would suffer for his lack of experience.

Ling An glanced back at him, then stepped into the Flaming Sea.

Professor Woodrow watched Ling An ignore his warning, his face filled with helplessness.

Never mind. Inhaling a little won't do much harm. A bit of suffering might help make Ling An more cautious.

Yet, as though trying to prove something, Ling An leaned toward a Flamebloom and took a deep sniff.

"Hiss-"

The sight made both Woodrow and his assistant furrow their brows.

They had seen bold people before, but never anyone this bold.

That was a Flamebloom!

Woodrow had tried it himself once. Taking a deep breath at such close range would leave his throat covered in swollen blisters from the burns.

Or did cats' brains simply work differently from humans'?

He could only stare in utter bewilderment.

At that moment, Ling An showed no sign of any change after inhaling a lungful of Flamebloom pollen. A voice came from the Gourd around his neck:

"Very pure, but still not enough."

With that, he turned his back on them and walked deeper inside.

The other three were left standing there, silently staring as his figure receded into the distance.

"Professor, did you see that? That was Flamebloom pollen! My goodness, how on earth did he do it?" His assistant grabbed Woodrow's lab coat and shook him frantically.

"I saw, I saw."

His assistant shook Woodrow so hard that he could barely stay on his feet, but worry still lingered on his face:

"But there are tens of millions of Flameblooms throughout the Flaming Sea. The longer he stays inside, the worse the poisoning will become. This won't be that easy."

In fact, Professor Woodrow's knowledge of the Flaming Sea ranked among the very best in all of Jinzhou.

When analyzing things through conventional reasoning and practical facts, he rarely made mistakes.

Unfortunately, there was nothing conventional about Ling An!

No matter how knowledgeable Professor Woodrow was, he could hardly have imagined that Ling An was a Tacet Discord.

Meanwhile.

Inside the Flaming Sea, countless particles of Flamebloom pollen lay settled on the ground or drifted through the air.

Tens of millions of Flameblooms released pollen without pause, tinting the entire Flaming Sea orange-pink. It obscured the view while lending the scene a rather dreamlike quality.

Ling An surveyed his surroundings. No one nearby could see him anymore.

The Tacet Field lay just ahead. As though sensing Ling An's presence, an engine roared like thunder.

Ling An extended a claw and took a step forward.

In the next blink, Crownless stood tall amid the swirling pollen, his fists clenched.

He moved his long, muscular legs and flicked his wrists to warm up:

"Glacio Rider? Let me take you on."