The bewildered little dragon stopped crying and fixed its gaze on a tall man approaching from a distance. Its eyes were filled with confusion.
It felt like it was waiting for a human to comfort it, but when it saw this particular human, it felt like he might be the one, but subconsciously, it doubted that this human would comfort it.
As a result, the little dragon stared at Huo Yi in hesitation, unsure whether to continue crying or not.
Following the little dragon’s gaze, Jing Nian locked eyes with Huo Yi. In an instant, he was sure that Huo Yi could see him because the way Huo Yi looked at him was subtly different from how he looked at others.
When the little dragon saw Huo Yi and stopped crying, the old dragon looked at Huo Yi warily. It squinted its eyes and switched from the dragon language to the common language of the mainland.
“Who are you?”
“Huo Yi! Huo Yi! Can you see me?”
In the Dragon Soul Space, Jing Nian didn’t have the inclination to ponder why both he and Huo Yi were behaving so uniquely toward each other. He only knew that someone could finally see him.
In the soul space, he excitedly shouted and jumped while he noticed a slight upturn at the corner of the man’s mouth.
Huo Yi, the man whose mouth was as icy as his eldest brother’s, was actually smiling.
Actions spoke louder than words, and it was a sure sign that he could see him!
Jing Nian paused and exhaled, speaking naturally, “Quick, help me comfort the little dragon and tell it that Jin Jin will come to see it soon.”
After he spoke, Jing Nian suddenly realized that he might have been too casual. Huo Yi was, after all, a deity. How could he be so impolite and request help so nonchalantly?
He was about to say something to rectify his casual request when Huo Yi, in an act of goodwill, bent down, extending his hand to gently stroke the little dragon’s head.
“Don’t cry. We’ll take you to see Jin Jin shortly.”
The man’s melodious voice lacked emotional fluctuations, but Jing Nian could sense a hint of tenderness within it.
It wasn’t just Jing Nian who felt this tenderness; even the little dragon couldn’t believe what it was experiencing.
The little dragon tilted its body as it gazed at Huo Yi, a cold, aloof figure flickering in its mind. The feeling of disbelief grew stronger.
Huo Yi’s hand didn’t stop after stroking the little dragon’s chubby back; it even reached down to the tail.
The little dragon closed its eyes in comfort.
Unfortunately, Huo Yi stopped after one stroke.
Ardently, the proud little dragon stared at Huo Yi, wanting to hold his hand but strangely hesitating.
It watched Huo Yi’s hand, which had just caressed the dragon.
‘Feeling so good, and I want more…’
In the Dragon Soul Space, Jing Nian, who understood his pampered baby’s expectations, couldn’t help but look expectantly at Huo Yi.
Huo Yi: “…”
Faced with the boy’s expectations, he couldn’t refuse.
Luckily, this little dragon was much smaller and less temperamental than his own slightly spoiled dragon. Otherwise, his hand would be exhausted 😀
Seeing Huo Yi’s cooperation, Jing Nian got to the point, “Can you help me convey a message to my brothers?”
After saying this, Jing Nian regretfully covered his mouth, cursing his habits.
However, Huo Yi didn’t find anything amiss; instead, he continued through their mental connection.
“Yes. I also found a place that might be the key to the world’s fusion.”
Upon hearing this, Jing Nian’s eyes widened, “Doesn’t that mean… Is there a way to separate these two worlds?”
Huo Yi replied, “We’ll have to go in and see first.”
Jing Nian quickly followed up, “Then let’s go check out this nexus!”
Huo Yi glanced at Jing Nian’s three hesitant brothers.
The brothers had a somewhat embarrassed expression, as they initially suspected Huo Yi of manipulating their younger brother. They hadn’t treated him well. However, with their younger brother missing and unreachable, the amnesic giant dragons in the game world, who had a close relationship with their brother, had made them lose hope. Huo Yi, the person who had a seemingly good relationship with their brother in the game, might be the only one who knew their brother’s whereabouts.
“Do we need to ask my brothers to log out first?” Jing Nian asked, thinking about his own experience and worrying that interacting with the nexus might hurt his brothers.
“No,” Huo Yi started to reply, but then he had a change of heart, nodding slightly as if there was indeed a need.
“Do you and your brothers have a secret code that only the two of you know? Words are not enough.”
Realizing that his brothers had reservations about trusting Huo Yi, Jing Nian thought for a moment with his head tilted.
He then said, “Well, I have a fear of insects, not because of the Zerg that invaded our home when I was seven, but because…”
Jing Nian paused, looking slightly embarrassed and blushing, as he continued, “It’s because I idolize my brothers too much. I once attempted to watch a first-person recording of Big Brother slaughtering a Zerg swarm in holographic display…”
Huo Yi’s mind immediately recalled a scene he had seen in the Red Thread Shuttle earlier, which he had mistaken for a medical pod. For a brief moment, he wondered why that healing session had been different from the others.
The delicate and fragile image of a young boy vomiting while crawling out of the holographic pod matched the scene when he had encountered the green worms in the novice dungeon.
Huo Yi understood.
Seeing Huo Yi hesitating, Jing Nian decided to explain, “My brothers were a bit wary of you before because they were concerned about me…” He chuckled, not even realizing how his eyes sparkled every time he mentioned his family. “I haven’t told you yet, but my health is extremely poor in my own world, to the point of almost dying. That’s why my family is overly protective. I apologize on their behalf.”
“As long as you tell them what I’ve said, they’ll change their opinion of you and see you as a close friend of mine!”
Jing Nian made this assurance.
Huo Yi, under the brilliant, star-like gaze of the young boy, faithfully relayed the message and the implied meaning to the three brothers.
The eldest brother of the Jing family was momentarily puzzled. Knowing his brother’s whereabouts, he breathed a sigh of relief and then felt guilty. He instantly thought of the battle when his brother was seven years old. At that time, he had just joined the battle and was not yet proficient in combat, and the scenes weren’t very pleasant to watch. If he had known that his younger brother would be watching his combat videos, he would have taken more time. Later on, he had researched the aesthetics of killing insects just to avoid frightening his adorable younger brother, but it had been too late.
Following that, Jing Chen, full of remorse, his gaze turned dangerous. “Why did you tell him all this, Jing Nian!?”
Huo Yi: “…”
In the dragon’s soul space, Jing Nian, locking eyes with Huo Yi, felt a twinge of guilt.
Fortunately, Jing Xing, who often got jealous, chimed in, “Why does he watch your videos? Why not mine!?”
Jing Chen glanced over with a faint smile and couldn’t hold back his amusement. “Who made you such a stubborn young officer back then?”
Standing nearby, Jing Yan, who was the twin of Jing Nian and was indeed a stubborn young officer himself just wanted to express that he and Jing Nian were the true close ones, but he decided to keep quiet.
Instead, he turned to look at Huo Yi, not daring to challenge the authority of Jing Chen.
Even he didn’t know that Jing Nian, at the age of seven, had secretly watched their eldest brother’s battle videos. His face turned sour.
Just two minutes ago, Jing Nian was assuring that his brothers would change their view of Huo Yi and see him as a close friend. Now, Jing Nian was left dumbfounded.
Their view had indeed changed.
For the worse.
Jing Nian didn’t quite understand why the Jing family’s jealousy had turned towards an outsider, but now was not the time to dwell on it.
His brothers had the same thought.
Although they didn’t particularly like this man, their little brother had confided in him about such matters, which indicated a high level of trust.
So, there was no need to hesitate.
In the current situation within the dungeon, the only way to exit was through failure or death.
So, Jing Chen and Jing Xing turned to Jing Yan and, in unison, said, “Cut us.”
Jing Yan’s hand trembled. “C-Can I really do that?”
To be honest, he wasn’t entirely unenthusiastic about the idea, but he wasn’t Jing Nian.
However, if he acted without hesitation today, and they got into trouble in the future, his brothers might suddenly remember today’s events and might decide to tie him up and give him an unreasonable beating.
Seeing through his youngest brother’s cautious thoughts, Jing Chen sighed and decided not to hesitate. With swift movements, he took out his weapon and sent both his younger brothers away.
Then he turned to Huo Yi and simply said, “Thank you.”
It was a succinct way of conveying the meaning of “cut us.”
Jing Nian, viewing everything through the eyes of the little dragon cub, was left speechless. Just when he thought Huo Yi, a man known for his brevity, would follow suit like his eldest brother and act decisively, Huo Yi turned to look at the old dragon, Hesse.
Hesse, who had been watching this stranger with surprise and wariness ever since he had calmed the little dragon cub, was even more astonished when he witnessed the strange turn of events. Especially when he saw them inexplicably communicating, and it evolved into a scenario where they were about to strike each other.
What surprised him even more was that he didn’t find it strange when he saw the two humans get struck down. Instead, he felt a term emerge from the depths of his mind: “Log out.”
Why did he know such an odd term? Hesse rummaged through his own long and ancient memories but couldn’t find any source for this newfound knowledge.
He was quietly amazed.
Then he heard the man utter a sentence in dragon language: “I have a way to help you.”
Hesse froze in place.
Help them with what?
Did the proud Dragon race really need help from a human?
“As long as you do me a favor, kill him,” the man continued with a confident tone as if he were sure it would agree.
With a swift swipe, old Hesse sent Jing Chen away.
Yes, it was willing.
It took a moment for Hesse to fully process why he trusted this man.
“You’ve forgotten some things, but I believe you should be able to sense the inconsistencies in your memories.”
Beyond Huo Yi’s proficient use of the Dragon language, what astonished Hesse even more were the implications of his words.
With Huo Yi’s reminder, he was suddenly struck with realization.
Yes!
There were too many inconsistencies in his memories, and he had never noticed anything strange before.
All of this was very wrong.
For instance, his brief moment of confusion about the term “log out” that had only lasted for an instant and was quickly ignored.
Now, thanks to Huo Yi’s prompt, it all became clear.
The doubt resurfaced.
Moreover…
Old Hesse furrowed his brow. Why had he been in slumber?
The Dragon Lord was still young, so why had the entire Dragon race allowed the young lords to be alone outside and collectively enter a slumber?
Wait, young lords?
Usually, you would use “lords” when there was more than one, right? Why had he subconsciously said “young lords”?
The Dragon race had only one Dragon Lord…right?
The more Hesse thought about it, the more shocked he became. Soon, he was trapped in the chaos of conflicting memories between reality and assimilation that hadn’t been completely integrated yet.
But thanks to the reminder from Huo Yi, all the things that should have been subconsciously ignored were brought back into focus.
After a while, the old dragon, having sorted out his confused thoughts, glanced at Chi Yan, and then rechecked the condition of their young lord.
He asked uncertainly, “Do we have another Dragon Lord…?”
In the Dragon Soul Space, Jing Nian, who had been anxiously watching Huo Yi and the old dragon talk, suddenly had his pupils shrink in disbelief. He looked at the old dragon, and soon, his beautiful blue eyes became moist with tears.
In those eyes sparkled the light of deep emotion.
“There is another one.”
Saying this, Huo Yi glanced at the handsome young man in the Dragon Soul Space, who was overwhelmed with emotions. He felt an urge to embrace the young man and console him gently.
Hearing the answer he had believed in his heart, the old dragon completely let go of its guard against Huo Yi.
“So, where is the other young lord? Is he in danger?”
Although it was more eager to know why it had forgotten the other young lord, its first concern was the well-being of the missing one.
When it learned that the other young lord was within the Dragon Soul Space of the young lord before it, the old dragon’s brows furrowed again.
Before reaching adulthood, the Dragon Soul Space was completely visible to adult dragons. So, in Hesse’s eyes, shouldn’t the young dragon’s Dragon Soul Space be empty?
But Hesse found that he strangely accepted this answer.
He thought to himself.
If it’s the other one, it’s possible. After all, he…
But whatever he was about to think, Hesse found that his thoughts had become “blurry” again.
After all, Hesse was an old dragon who had lived through many ages and eras. This time, he understood what was happening completely.
His usually composed expression now looked unusually grim.
It was the “rules.”
When Hesse learned that the young dragon had been crying and searching for “Jin Jin,” who turned out to be the other young lord, the old dragon promptly agreed to Huo Yi’s request to enter the underground dragon tomb of the dragon clan. Of course, this was on the condition that Huo Yi promised to safely return both young lords and reveal all the truths to him.
After a careful examination of this man (without any disguise on Huo Yi’s part), the old dragon recognized the man’s extraordinary identity. He wasn’t like the other humans in front of him, and he wasn’t from the Grans Continent. He came from a higher-level world.
In Hesse’s memory, there was only one place, the Divine Realm. However, the language of dragons was not something that gods could easily master. The fact that this human could speak dragon language fluently indicated that he had once gained the trust of a dragon.
In other words, he could gain the trust of the entire dragon clan.
This is why Huo Yi could successfully lure the young dragon, who was still naive, to the entrance of the dragon clan’s underground tomb using “Jin Jin” as an excuse.
In reality, it was the ancestral dragon’s tomb.
—
At the same time.
In the center of the Grans Continent, inside a certain white tower, two small figures, accompanied by a group of light elves, struggled to climb to the top of the tower.
The white tower progressively narrowed as they ascended. At the top, there was only a small attic measuring two meters by two meters.
In the center of the attic, the place where the continent’s foundation stone should have been was now occupied by a figure shimmering with golden light, breathing like an embodiment of light.
Seeing this figure, the baby-faced Light God, known as the “Son of Light,” pouted, clearly irritated. This substitute not only stole his divine power but also used his appearance for cultivation!
It was clearly an attempt to not only usurp his divine position but also steal his face.
Disgusting!
On the side, a little skeleton, eager to escape, was even angrier than the Light God!
Someone was trying to take his wife!!!
The infuriated little skeleton, with a face about to split from anger, charged forward without thinking.
Then, with a loud crash, he crashed into a mess.
The sulking Light God who observed this scene: “…”
The Dark God, a pile of bones, sighed, “QAQ, I need a kiss from my wife to get up.”
The Light God: “…”
Fool.
He, with a pouting face, stepped onto the pile of broken bones as if nothing happened, then extended his small hand and gently placed it on the figure.
Golden light slowly flowed into the figure through his small hand, and the golden light flowed into his body.
The small bifurcated body of the Light God, surrounded by these golden rays, slowly grew larger, and a handsome man with long golden hair gradually appeared.
Although the appearance was identical, the impostor was utterly inferior due to the noble aura emanating from him.
Of course, the most immediate evidence was the pile of broken bones on the ground, which had begun drooling without even being pieced back together.
After releasing his own seal, the Light God thought for a moment, then slowly infused the power of light into the new body before him, allowing it to slowly transform into the likeness of the Son of Light.
As the new Son of Light took shape, a terrified cry rang out from a secluded corner of the continent.
