Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Han Xiao and the gang took the low altitude transport aircraft to the north of City 8, the popular commercial street that the stone mercenaries’ clue pointed to. It was crowded, noisy, and wide. In the middle of it was a fountain square, surrounded by shops of all kinds.
Following the address, they came to the door of a shop. This building was colorfully painted, and vibrant magic lanterns were installed on both sides of the open door.
Herlous looked up at the shop’s name, and his face twitched.
“Universal Love Bookstore… what kind of name is this?”
“Go in and see.”
The layout of the shop inside was surprisingly very simple. The floor was made from smooth, brown wood, and there were rows of glazed wood shelves filled with books. These books exuded a rich magic vibe; they seemed to be high-grade magic books. The store was filled with the fragrance of books. In a place like Noriosse, Mages were almost the only ones left still using books. This was clearly a bookstore for Mages.
According to the clue, there was a person there who knew the whereabouts of the target. Han Xiao looked around, but because there were so many bookshelves, he could not see if there was anyone inside. He patted Herlous on the shoulder, telling him to call for someone.
Herlous was about to open his mouth when he suddenly noticed a problem. “Wait a minute, why don’t you do this little thing yourself?”
“You have a great physique and a loud voice,” Han Xiao said with no expression on his face. “It’s mainly because I’m lazy.”
“…”
Herlous stared at him before letting out a thunderous shout. “Is—any—one—in!!”
Swoosh!
A sound came from deep within the bookshelves. The person inside was shocked and accidentally bumped the shelves, causing a pile of books to drop.
“On—one moment, I’m coming…”
A male human in a Mage’s robe walked out limping while still hissing from the pain on his foot caused by the books that had fallen. When he saw Han Xiao and the others, he put up a warm smile.
“I am the owner of this bookstore. Do you like single or multiple people? Beautiful or rough? What race do you like? Oh, you are all humanoid species. I have humanoid creatures of all skins tones here!”
They were confused, and Sylvia asked, “What are you talking about?”
The mage store owner blinked, then gave a look of understanding and said, “I see, we have hybrids too. Be it insects, beasts, machinery, or anything you can think of, I have it here. I’m sure it will suit your taste!”
The more Han Xiao heard him talk, the more he felt something was wrong. “Aren’t you selling books?”
At this time, Aroshia opened a book on the shelf, and the others looked over. The magic book was filled with illustrations, and the pictures were moving like they were alive. This was a kind of magic often used to make videos. Like movies in a book, every picture was a fragment.
It looked very high-end, but the content was…
“Ah!” Sylvia’s face suddenly turned red, and she hurriedly turned away, but she could not help but to peek at the book.
“Th—this…” Herlous was bewildered. His world view was impacted.
Aroshia was amused. “So, this is the material life reproduction process…”
“Unknown information discovered, hum… Ongoing data acquisition, hum… ” Philip’s mechanical eye was wildly flickering, capturing every frame of the picture.
The Volga three brothers took out a huge pile of books from the bookshelf extremely quickly, placed them on the counter, and asked, “How much? I’ll take all of them!”
“Stop it.” Han Xiao closed the book in Aroshia’s hands and threw it aside. He stared at the Mage owner and said with a deep voice, “I’m looking for a guy with foresight ability. He should’ve left you a message.”
The Mage shop owner’s smile suddenly turned stiff. He become disappointed and mumbled, “Not here to buy books again. I have already made the decoration so formal, how are there still no guests? Is it really necessary to be this afraid of letting others know about this kind of thing?”
The Mage glanced at Han Xiao and the others, adjusted his clothes, and stood straight. His temperament suddenly changed. Now he looked like how a Mage should look like. He said, “Let me introduce myself. You can call me Yi Xuan; I’m a Teleportation Mage. This bookstore is just a side job; my main business is operating a portal service.”
In some of the magic focused planets or advanced civilization planets, there were always Mages that ran teleportation businesses. They sent the customers to another location on the same planet, saving their time. The further the distance transported, the higher the consumption and difficulty was. Hence, most of it were same planet teleportations, rarely to other planets. If the coordinates were not set correctly, the customer would be thrown into space. Only Mages that were strong enough dared to do extremely long range teleportation.
Back then when Ames demolished the DarkStar mothership, she had used teleportation magic and arrived instantly from several Star Systems away. The caster was another Beyond Grade A individual who she fought with to kill time. That person had accurately located Floating Dragon Island from several Star Systems away with no deviation. Their magic power was unbelievable.
“You are a Teleportation Mage?” Han Xiao asked. “So, was the target that I want to find sent to another place in Noriosse by you?”
Yi Xuan shrugged and said, “He paid the fees, so I teleported him. It was a normal transaction.”
“Where did he go?”
“Ha, I will not give away clients’ privacy.” Yi Xuan chuckled. “By the way, he also left me a message to convey to anyone that wants to find him.”
“What did he say?” Han Xiao frowned.
“He said, he wants to play a game with you. As long as you steal the Heart of Crystal Fire, he will meet you.”
“Heart of Crystal Fire?” Han Xiao kicked Phillip lightly and said, “Search it.”
“Searching, hum… Found, hum…” Philip’s mechanical eye suddenly emitted light in the air to form a translucent projection screen. On it was information about the Heart of Crystal Fire.
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Heart of Crystal Fire: A ring made by a rare crystal born in lava, a very exquisite luxury. Legend says that it is immune to high temperature and burning. It was once sold for a high price of 7,930,000 Enas to the leader of the Noriosse financial group, Rockfess, for his wife. When Rockfess and his wife appeared in public, his wife is always wearing this ring.
_____________________
“Sev—seven million and nine hundred thirty thousand!” Herlous spat blood. Spending so much money to buy a lousy ring just to please a woman‽
This could buy numerous battleships!
His world view was once again shaken.
Han Xiao’s expression also changed. “He wants me to steal a Super financial group’s leader’s wife’s price jewelry, huh? Is he trying to use us, or is he trying to make a fool out of us‽”
Stealing some precious jewelry from the wife of the leader of the financial group that controls Noriosse in Noriosse?
The Dragon Emperor’s teacher clearly wants to ridicule me!
“Don’t ask me, I just took the money and pass the message.” Yi Xuan shrugged. “Rockfess’ wife is in Noriosse, but don’t expect me to send you there directly; I don’t want to be as your accomplice.”
Squinting, Han Xiao said with a low voice, “I have no interest in completing this ridiculous request anyway. Where did you send him?”
“Haven’t I already told you?” Yi Xuan said impatiently. “I will not disclose the privacy of customers. Also, don’t think about bribing me, I have my professional ethics.”
“Then don’t blame me for beating you up.” With a ferocious expression, Herlous raised his huge fists and stepped forward. He planned to scare this Teleportation Mage.
His hand was just about to touch Yi Xuan’s collar when a change happened!
Hum!
A light door suddenly appeared right in the gap between the two of them. Herlous was shocked. His reaction was very fast, so he stopped his forward momentum immediately and was about to retreat. To his surprise, a red tentacle suddenly extended out quickly of the light door and wrapped around his body. A huge force blasted from the tentacle and pulled Herlous into the light door as Herlous disappeared.
Then, a whirlpool-like sound appeared in the air. The light door rotated around the center point, narrowed, and quickly disappeared without a trace.
“Herlous!” the oldest Volga exclaimed in shock.
The face of everyone suddenly changed.
The atmosphere was stiff for a moment.
Yi Xuan glanced at everyone proudly.
“What that person said was exactly right. When the people that are here find that they can’t get the information they need, they will threaten me. Humph, you didn’t expect this, did you? I’m prepared!”
Han Xiao was very calm, but he held his forehead in frustration. When Herlous acted, he was already aware that something was not right. He wanted to stop him, but before his mouth opened, Herlous was already caught. Pugilists being able to move too fast actually had its disadvantages!
Sure enough, the target guessed this situation, so he reminded the Mage in advance to trick them. When the target made the over the top request to steal the Heart of Crystal Fire, it became a ‘trigger’ to his prophecy. Furthermore, even without the use of his prophecy ability, their reaction could be guessed. He knew that there was a great chance that they would refuse the request and find another way from the Teleportation Mage, and threatening was clearly highly likely. Hence, he did this to put them in a dilemma.
“Teleportation magic, such an irritating ability…” Han Xiao discreetly sighed. Herlous was unluckily caught, so getting him back was a pressing matter.
The atmosphere was intense. This time, Yi Xuan pointed to the door, and with a tone of having everything under his control, he said, “I’m trained in teleportation magic and always maintain it at a state that can be triggered anytime. Before you can touch me, I will be able to teleport away, so don’t even think about threatening me.
“Your friend wanted to attack me, so I will let him suffer for a bit. In two hours, I will send him back and throw him at the northern entrance of City 8 where you can find him. Now, I have no interest in fighting with you. If you’re not going to buy a book, please get out of my bookstore, you are not welcomed here!”
