Chapter 14 Another Hopeful Day

A week later.

"Today is another hopeful day."

"Brand new weekend, meow. You've been in the Kriti capital, Brilida, for 15 days now, October 14th on the solar calendar. It's late autumn, and the leaves outside are starting to turn yellow."

"Winter is getting closer, and you know this will be a tough winter for the Allied forces... meow, woof."

Halfway through its sentence, Lan Qi placed a dried fish next to its mouth.

The Cat Boss could only finish his favorite dried fish first.

Before it could finish, Lan Qi held its head down.

"Cat Boss, that's all for today's broadcast."

Lan Qi said to the surprised Cat Boss.

"Meow?!"

It didn't expect Lan Qi to figure out how to counter the Meow Meow Fist so quickly.

"You two are really bored."

Wearing an apron, Talia leisurely carried plates back and forth between the kitchen and the dining table, cleaning up after breakfast. Seeing the daily interaction between Lan Qi and the Cat Boss, she couldn't help but comment.

The Cat Boss was right, the climate in Brilida was likely to turn cold in the coming days, with large temperature differences between day and night. There were often cold winds at night, so it was necessary to wear warm clothes.

On this weekend morning, Lan Qi sat leisurely on the soft, off-white sofa in the first-floor villa, enjoying a moment of peace.

"Lan Qi, meow, you're quickly becoming a rising star professor at the Saint Kriti Monastery and the most watched new star of magical engineering in the Kriti Empire."

The little black cat patted Lan Qi with its paw on the sofa, encouraging its mount.

The feeling from the Northern Continent was back.

Sure enough, their Lan-Cat combo was unstoppable.

After a week of effort, with Abigail's active support, his theory of magic energy fission was not only accelerating in the Imperial magical engineering world, but also increasingly valued by the Allied countries, forcing the Kriti Empire to overturn objections, screen the source of intelligence leaks, and accelerate its actual research.

Professor Landry gave many lectures in Brilida, and many Imperial special department officials and military experts visited him every day.

"Sigh, I also want a ninth-order Divine Beast to protect me, I'm scared every day."

Recently, more people were trying to assassinate him. Whenever he left the Saint Kriti Monastery as Professor Landry without disguise, there were Imperial military vehicles following him.

On the one hand, it might be to monitor him, and on the other hand, to protect him.

At this point in time, Professor Landry was, in a way, an excellent bait.

As long as they followed him and caught anyone who wanted to harm him, they would undoubtedly be suspected of being major enemy spies.

The Imperial Special Operations Division now had an important task, personally ordered by Emperor Saint Baldo the Great and carried out by Duke Dex, which was to find out who was spying on the latest research results of the magic energy fission principle in Brilida and passing them on to the Allied forces.

"Meow, aren't you feeling guilty at the Imperial Special Operations Division?"

The Cat Boss watched Lan Qi tell blatant lies. He guaranteed to Duke Dex that he would do his best to pay attention to any suspicious people around him, and would never tolerate anyone who harmed the Empire.

Cörek Section Chief, Nikolai Red Falcon, and the action team's Captain Maguire were staring at Lan Qi all day long. Nikolai seemed to really suspect Landry, while Maguire wanted to find the Allied spy around Landry, but couldn't find any clues.

In addition to academic work, Lan Qi spent a lot of time this week dealing with Dex, Nikolai, and Maguire at the Imperial Special Operations Division.

"There's no way around it. There's now talk that Duke Dex of the Imperial Special Operations Division intends to retreat behind the scenes. The successors to the division chief are either Nikolai or Maguire, but Nikolai is a lieutenant colonel and Maguire is a colonel. In theory, Maguire should be chosen, but before Duke Dex officially finalizes this matter, if Nikolai makes a great contribution and is promoted to the same level as Maguire, Duke Dex might give the opportunity to his protégé Nikolai. So Nikolai and Maguire have been staring at me during this time."

Lan Qi put down the newspaper and said to the Cat Boss.

It might be a good idea to go to the Shadow World.

At least it would divert the Imperial Special Operations Division's attention from him.

"The Empire is about to use people, why doesn't Duke Dex want to do it?"

The Cat Boss asked Lan Qi, puzzled.

It had been following Lan Qi these days and still didn't understand this question.

"It's probably because the Imperial Special Operations Division's actions in Brilida have been too frequent recently, causing panic, and the power is too great, even having priority execution rights over the military. There are many opinions about it, whether among the people or the nobles. Saint Baldo the Great now wants to personally manage the Imperial Special Operations Division. On the one hand, he can eliminate some of the recent negative voices in the country, and on the other hand, he will definitely put Duke Dex in a higher position to check the rising star Commander-in-Chief Hysintos. After all, Duke Dex's say in the military has always been obvious to all."

Lan Qi folded the newspaper and picked up the Cat Boss.

"Rather than saying that Duke Dex doesn't want to do it, it's better to say that he saw Saint Baldo the Great's next idea, so he took the initiative to reveal his intention to retire. This way, Saint Baldo the Great will ask him to come back, saying something like, 'The Empire is in need of people, please Duke Dex contribute to the Empire again.' It will be justified to give him greater power, everything will look natural, and it won't seem like Saint Baldo the Great is intentionally suppressing Hysintos."

He told the Cat Boss his speculation.

Not necessarily accurate.

"Meow, meow..."

The Cat Boss was just a cat.

These power struggles were best left to Lan Qi to think about, and it had many things to do.

"Sigh, let's slowly look at the Imperial Special Operations Division when I come back. I should set off for the Shadow World gate at the Saint Kriti Monastery in a little while."

Lan Qi looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows, his eyes drawn to the beautiful scenery outside, he muttered to himself.

The colors of the season had quietly descended on this courtyard, and the scenery in the garden was dyed orange and red by the autumn.

The lawn was covered with a layer of golden fallen leaves, and the sound of a babbling stream could be faintly heard in the distance, blending with the chirping of canaries into a morning melody.

Lan Qi picked up the hot chocolate on the coffee table, took a sip, and the rich aroma spread in his mouth.

His mood also became warm and pleasant.

Talia had switched all the drinks to hot drinks during this time.

As expected of a senior gourmand, she knew what kind of food and drink was best enjoyed in which season.

"..."

In the kitchen, Talia untied her apron, her hand clenched slightly.

Listening to Lan Qi's thoughts, she had just thought Lan Qi was pretty good, but the thing that was supposed to come, came immediately.

"We can set off."

She walked out of the kitchen and said to Lan Qi expressionlessly.

The estimated time was nine in the morning, and it was already past eight o'clock, they should set off for the location of the Void Gate.

"Oh, okay."

Lan Qi stood up, stretched, and answered.

"Get ready to set off, the whole journey is 3.5 kilometers, meow."

The Cat Boss reminded him.

Talia silently turned into an orange light and disappeared on the spot.

Lan Qi confirmed that 【Raging Love Demon Lord】 was back, then walked to the entrance, picked up his gray coat from the coat rack, put it on, left the mansion, locked the door, and walked along the garden path towards the campus of the Saint Kriti Monastery.

"You've been wearing this diamond-patterned vest again recently, meow."

The Cat Boss lay on Lan Qi's head, watched Lan Qi walk in the garden, and observed his clothes.

In the early days of the Protos Empire, Lan Qi's coat might be black, beige, or purple, but it was often paired with a white shirt and a light brown diamond-patterned vest.

Later, since a wonderful encounter, Lan Qi began to like gray coats, and his clothing style also changed significantly, and he slowly abandoned the initial diamond-patterned vest, and mostly wore more formal dark shirts.

"It's getting cold."

Lan Qi answered it.

Adding a piece of clothing inside was just right.

In the cold morning of late autumn, chill permeated the air, it wouldn't be strange to breathe out white mist even at night.

Today was a day off, due to the early hour and the large area of the monastery, there were few people on the road.

After getting on the school bus inside the Saint Kriti Monastery, occasionally one or two school workers could be seen, as well as some students walking towards the school building early in the morning.

Lan Qi looked out the window and also felt the silence.

Talia seemed to have not spoken to him for a long time.

"Teacher, are you in a bad mood today?"

According to Lan Qi's observation, Talia still had a happy expression when she ate breakfast this morning, so she shouldn't be in a particularly bad mood.

"You're happy that your fiancée from the Allied forces has been found for you."

Talia responded in Lan Qi's heart.

"I heard that she also just arrived in Brilida today, Miss Unity still has to ask for her opinion."

Lan Qi knew what Talia was thinking.

"If she refuses, wouldn't you still have to rely on you, Teacher?"

However, today he and Talia didn't have time to meet with Unity, the scheduled Shadow World time had arrived.

"...Since you rely on me so much, then I might not be able to help you, who told me I'm your teacher?"

Talia's thoughts softened a lot.

"Yes, yes."

Lan Qi clearly felt that Talia had become cheerful.

The same was true for Toliado.

He said that his fiancée had been contacted by the means of the Church of Resurrection, and he had to personally take a long trip to pick her up. He had to talk to her about the specific matters in person. He didn't believe him if he only relied on communication. If she was willing, he would guarantee that she would be in Brilida when Lan Qi came out of the Shadow World.

"Their dimensional branch is really interesting, first the dimensional saint scolded the dimensional bishop, and now the bishop has to talk face-to-face to find a direct soldier."

Talia laughed.

"It won't be in the dimensional branch, the position of the dimensional bishop is the lowest, right."

Lan Qi currently felt that other branches might be pyramid-shaped, but the dimensional branch was an inverted pyramid, at least the position of the dimensional saint was higher than that of the dimensional bishop.

If it was placed on the Northern Continent, it would be unimaginable for the Saint of Annihilation, Anielo, to dare to yell at the fully prosperous Bishop of Annihilation, Askesan.

"Your trip to the Northern Continent seems to be quite interesting, I wasn't very interested before, but now I'm a little curious, tell me about it when I'm bored after I come back."

Since learning that Lan Qi met Associate Professor Cedo on the Northern Continent, Talia slowly felt that Lan Qi's story on the Northern Continent might be interesting.

However, she was never in a hurry, she had time, waiting five or ten years didn't matter.

"I hope this Shadow World won't be too long."

Lan Qi chatted with Talia while looking out the car window.

The flow of time might be different for him and Talia.

But now the task of the Kriti Empire was imminent, if possible, he wanted to seize every day.

"Eighth-order Shadow Worlds are generally calculated by the month, some long ones may take half a year, of course, there are also eighth-order Shadow Worlds that take less than a month, there is about a 50% chance of drawing a Shadow World that is less than three months."

Talia had read many books in the Southern Continent.

The time limit of the Shadow World would significantly increase with the promotion of the order, but the correlation was not so absolute. According to the statistics of the Southern Continent Shadow World Association, the average time limit of the eighth-order Shadow World with historical records was 107.5 days, but the variance was extremely large, and it was easy to have shorter or extremely long Shadow Worlds.

"Ifatia is still waiting for you to help her get the antidote."

Talia also hoped that the Shadow World was a short-term type.

She felt that after meeting her sister again, Ifatia had become a harmless and lovely little bun again.

Now Ifatia would borrow Barton's communication magic every day to call Lan Qi and chat with her, the two sisters would chat for an hour or two.

"When the Shadow World ends, Principal Violette may come back, even if she is just around the Botswana Province, the Empire will not let her leave the capital for too long."

Lan Qi and Talia communicated with their minds, and the target location gradually appeared in the field of vision outside the window.

In the central area of the Saint Kriti Monastery, a magnificent and strange building stood here, quietly standing in the middle of each surrounding area.

Its appearance was out of tune with the surrounding buildings, more like an indestructible fortress, the deep blue structure resembled a mechanical cube, surrounded by layers of enchantment formulas, emitting a clear light of pale purple, a visible protective barrier separated the building from the outside world.

Even from a distance of more than a kilometer away, you could feel the invisible oppressive feeling brought by this building.

Only with the formal certificate of the Saint Kriti Monastery or the Imperial National Challenger License can you pass through the only main entrance channel, go through several strict security checks, and set foot in it.

Until the school bus arrived, Lan Qi got out of the car with the cat.

He walked through the gate and into the building. Before his eyes was a transparent-floored, wide and empty hall, only a giant Void Gate stood on the innermost side of the underground area.

Its appearance was strange and beautiful, like the work of the Creator, the surface was as smooth as a mirror, the edges flowed with liquid starlight-like brilliance, the color constantly jumped and changed between black, purple and silver-white.

"Professor Landry, good morning."

The staff wearing the costumes of the Moon Goddess priests in front of the gate registered him with the magical instruments at hand and smiled at Lan Qi.

"Good morning."

Lan Qi responded politely.

Entering the Shadow World in the Kriti Empire was not as cumbersome as in many countries in the Southern Continent. The Kriti Empire had a complete and independent monitoring system.

People like Professor Landry were on the white list.

The gate slowly opened.

"May the Moon Goddess bless you."

The Moon Goddess priest signaled that Lan Qi could go in.

"Bless us all."

Lan Qi took the returned certificate, thanked the priest, and then walked towards the Void Gate.

A faint purple light flowed over the entire gate, sometimes appearing and disappearing, countless stars gently rotating in the vortex, reflecting his figure.

At a distance of hundreds of steps, he came to this Void Gate with the nervous cat.

"Are you ready?"

Lan Qi looked down and smiled at the Cat Boss.

Although it was not the first time for the Cat Boss to challenge the Shadow World, he felt that the Cat Boss would still be afraid in this unfamiliar environment.

Just by approaching, you could feel an invisible pulling force, the Void Gate seemed to absorb the souls of those who came into this unknown world.

"Meow!"

Just thinking about the temptation of the Divine Beast, the Cat Boss dispelled the fear and patted his paws.

"Teacher, what about you?"

It was the first time he teamed up with Talia to enter the Shadow World.

He really didn't expect that there would be a time to challenge the Shadow World with Talia.

Every time he entered the Shadow World, the teammates were different.

But in the end, the demon princess sent at the beginning could finally be used.

"What do you mean sent at the beginning, it's called I'm the chosen one, and I'm the only one."

Talia emphasized.

"Hoo hoo."

Lan Qi walked straight forward, and stepped in as if passing through the water.

In an instant, sound, sight, consciousness, and even time disappeared at this moment.

All you could feel was the breath of the universe, the endless stars, and the bottomless void.

There were two worlds weaving each other there, forming together, after everything was upside down, they finally came to a new world.

【Blood Moon Ruin World, final node "Tear Rain Eternity", historical projection has been unwound.】

(End of this chapter)