Because Bai Zemin was too anxious about the fast-rising temperature of the hammer-shaped mold, he had no time to pay attention to Shangguan Bing Xue.
If the mold was burned and the Lapiodite fragment turned into lava fell to the ground, Bai Zemin's losses would not be light at all!
Not only would he be losing all the work done after more than seven hours of effort, but he would also be losing a precious block of Rank 2 ore! Bai Zemin was definitely not willing to suffer such heavy losses so when Shangguan Bing Xue appeared in the midst of his despair, it was no different to him than an angel descending from the heavens.
As for Shangguan Bing Xue herself, for a moment she felt something peculiar that she could not identify correctly. However, she did know that as she felt Bai Zemin's big hand hold hers to rush her to the work table she felt that for some reason she could not keep 100% calm as she had always done.
"Bing Xue, help me!" Bai Zemin quickly urged.
"H- Help you?" She looked at him still in a daze.
"Quickly! Use your skill and freeze this!" Bai Zemin didn't give much explanation as the mold began to lose shape faster and faster.
If he didn't hurry, everything would be lost, and even if they didn't manage to contain the heat in the end the shape of the hammer would distort to the point where it would become completely useless!
Shangguan Bing Xue quickly calmed down and looking at the place pointed out by Bai Zemin she was immediately able to judge what was happening. The whole situation became clear to her in an instant.
The steam, the reason why he said those words, the cause behind his anxious expression as well as his haste… She sighed as if relieved of something and then stretched both hands forward as she sent a wave of mana to one of the runes engraved on her soul.
The skill Second Order Ice Maker level 1 activated at her command and the mist condensed in her hands stretched forward. An instant later, the mist whose color wavered between white and light blue swirled, surrounding the hammer-shaped mold in a few blinks.
"Seal." She said in her distinctive cold, indifferent voice.
The mist seemed to stagnate for a brief moment, and in the next instant, it flashed into light.
"Phew…" Bai Zemin let out a huge sigh of relief at the sight of the ice block on the table.
However, even though the biggest of his worries hadn't happened, Bai Zemin knew that it wasn't over yet.
Inside the hammer-shaped mold, the yellow lava still burned fiercely as if trying to free itself from the ice which imprisoned it.
"What's wrong with this lava?" Shangguan Bing Xue asked in surprise.
Although the sealed lava was far from being able to break free from the bonds of her Ice Maker skill, she was surprised that it did not turn into a pile of ice. It was obvious that it was not lava made of ordinary rocks and normal fire.
"Do you remember the Rank 2 ore I showed you earlier?" Bai Zemin looked at her with a smile.
"You mean that stuff called La …. Lapiodite something?" Shangguan Bing Xue furrowed her eyebrows slightly, somewhat unsure.
"Lapiodite." He nodded before continuing, "That's it. I was trying to forge a new forging hammer since the normal hammer I'm using now will probably have too much difficulty shaping a rare precious metal like this."
Even if Bai Zemin empowered the normal hammer with his Mana, the amount of work he had to do due to not having a proper working tool was much larger than it actually should. Therefore, before setting to work on a new weapon he decided that the wisest and smartest thing to do would be to forge a hammer using the most valuable metal he currently had in his possession.
Shangguan Bing Xue nodded, finally understanding everything as she turned her eyes to the hammer-shaped mold.
Since Bai Zemin did not have the ability to mold the metal at will due to the lack of tools, he had no choice but to create a mold that would fit the shape of the hammer he wanted and then melt the metal completely before putting the liquid inside the created mold.
"It was assumed that after melting the Lapiodite liquid into the mold I would just have to wait for the heat to subside so that the lava would settle once again…. But I didn't expect that even a mold created from the thorax bones of a Second Order mutant beast wouldn't be able to contain the heat." Bai Zemin couldn't help but smile bitterly.
He looked at her and said with genuine gratitude in his eyes and voice, "You really saved me this time. If it wasn't for your timely arrival. I'm afraid that more than seven hours of work and valuable materials would have been wasted."
Shangguan Bing Xue stared at him, saying nothing to his words. Her blue eyes looked like a scanner, staring at him as if she wanted to see into his soul.
Bai Zemin felt a little awkward at the intense stare so he asked somewhat perplexed, "Did something happen?"
"You…" Shangguan Bing Xue frowned slightly but the next moment her expression returned to normal as if nothing had happened. She sighed and while continuing to keep her skill active to cool the contents sealed in ice faster, she said with some helplessness in her voice, "Bai Zemin, you should be more careful with your words."
"Excuse me?" He looked at her with wide eyes.
Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head and stopped looking at him. Now that she had calmed down and understood the situation, she could finally realize the reason why previously her heart fluctuated strangely. It was just that she didn't want to believe it so she vehemently denied it. She refused to believe that this fluctuation was her emotions in motion even though she no longer felt anything unusual now.
Seeing that she didn't seem very willing to talk, Bai Zemin shrugged his shoulders and also didn't attach any importance to her earlier words. Instead, he said:
"By the way, if you don't have something urgent to do, would you mind helping me freeze the hammer? It'll be much faster and I can get to work sooner."
"All right." She nodded easily. "Actually, I was looking for you cause I need to talk to you about something."
"Tell me." Bai Zemin replied as he gently jumped up and sat down on the work table.
Shangguan Bing Xue only now noticed that he was still wearing sleepwear and the corner of her mouth twitched a couple of times as she looked at him closely.
"About Camp Baiquan, what will you do with them?"
"Camp Baiquan…" Bai Zemin thought about this question a long time ago last night, so it didn't take him too long to respond now, "We will finish them off. We will crush their forces completely until they submit."
"…"
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at him silently and he did not evade her gaze. After almost a full minute, she finally couldn't bear it and looked away as she said in a neutral voice:
"So this is how it will all end after all."
"I'm afraid I don't have time to do it as smoothly as I would like." Bai Zemin replied and then revealed, "I have to conquer China in a few months."
"… Is it because of your breakthrough mission?"
"Yes, it is because of my breakthrough mission."
The workshop remained silent after that. But this silence did not last long as Bai Zemin had not yet finished:
"Bing Xue, I would like to ask you for a favor."
"A favor?" She looked at him in confusion.
A proud person like Bai Zemin would definitely not ask favors from someone easily. Even when his life was at stake during several battles in the past he didn't ask for help from anyone nor did he beg anyone for support. Therefore, she was genuinely curious to know what could be so important to him.
"Currently, you are one of the few people I trust enough to ask this of." He nodded and sighed as he said, "After conquering China, I'm afraid I'll have to leave Earth for a while."
Shangguan Bing Xue's face changed at such a revelation and her voice subconsciously pitched up, "What do you mean by that?"
Then, Bai Zemin began to slowly explain what was happening.
The way he had obtained the title 'Irregular' after killing with a single attack two Second Order beings despite still being a First Order existence and the function of the title. Rather than the function of the title, what Bai Zemin explained to her was the special skill of the title but left out the bizarre but ominous description.
Then, he told her a bit about the requirements he needed to fulfill to evolve to the second stage of evolution so that she understood the reason why he said he needed to leave Earth for a while.
"I… see…" Shangguan Bing Xue didn't know what to say or feel about it.
On one hand was the fact that he received a strange and powerful enough title that allowed him to undertake space travel to reach worlds with a power that somehow or other more suited his current strength and growth speed.
On the other hand, there was the fact that the young man in front of her had received a breakthrough mission that limited his time to only twelve months, one year. If he failed to complete those crazy and nonsensical requirements, then all his effort would be wasted.
Therefore, he had to leave this world…. Because the current Earth did not possess the ability to spawn so many Second Order monsters so casually, let alone Third Order monsters. Even after almost two months of apocalypse, First Order existences were still rarities that could not be found everywhere like Unclassified existences.
While feeling a little uncomfortable inwardly, Shangguan Bing Xue couldn't help but wonder what kind of existence the man in front of her would one day become…. With everything that had happened, she had forgotten for a moment that this stubborn and proud man aspired to become the most almighty existence in the universe.
"Your strength and my strength… The disparity only continues to grow and I fear it will only grow even more." Shangguan Bing Xue smiled bitterly and shook her head.
Bai Zemin tried to smile, but he could not.
What Shangguan Bing Xue had just said was true…. It wasn't just her, Bai Zemin's strength was growing so fast that it was most likely that each and every person he knew would never even be able to see his back.
"Don't worry." He said, trying to ease the slightly heavy mood a bit. "No matter how strong I get, we'll still be friends. If someday you become stronger than me, will you look down on me?"
"Of course, no!" Shangguan Bing Xue hurriedly shook her head and stared at him as she said in a softer voice, "Friends in life and friends in death. That's how it is."
"Friends in life and friends in death, huh…" Bai Zemin repeated before smiling slightly. "That's a good way to put it."
"… Hey, Bai Zemin." She suddenly raised her head after lowering it and while looking at him asked somewhat hesitantly, "That title of yours…. Doesn't it allow you to bring a second person?"
"A second person?" Bai Zemin blinked in surprise. Eyes wide open, he said somewhat uncertainly, "…. It shouldn't, should it?"
Shangguan Bing Xue's eyes twinkled uncharacteristically as she realized that he wasn't sure if his title could let him carry one or more companions. If that was the case, didn't that mean she had hope? If she could follow him to a more evolved world, while the danger would be much greater, the chances of becoming more powerful would be much higher!
At the same time, she could prevent that great gap between her and him from growing any wider!
* * * * * * *
Thank you very much to everyone who voted for Blood Warlock with Golden Tickets! <3
