Chapter 419 Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

GOR Chapter 419 Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Skyblade’s passing seemingly caused a huge blow to Bluesea.

It was not that hard to understand.

All these years, Bluesea had exerted a great deal of effort to maintain stability. He had even put the guild forward in a gamble for a Blood Verdict. Although it was partly due to the adamant nature of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, there was also the belief that his brother Skyblade would return and lead the guild back to glory.

It was through this persevering heart and faith that Bluesea had been able to continue on to this day.

That was his spiritual pillar!

However, just as he had seen the light of hope, Skyblade died. Gone.

Getting thrown up and down, becoming overjoyed only to be drowned by sadness. There was nothing more to it.

Chen Xiaolian understood how much of an impact this was to Bluesea. Thus, he was not surprised by Bluesea’s display of grief.

After that, Bluesea silently led Chen Xiaolian away from this old quarter and they returned to the honeycomb shaped headquarters of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.

“You may rest up for a moment. I will escort you out of Zero City later.” After saying that, Bluesea left Chen Xiaolian to the care of his AI assistant, Sarah. Then, he walked into his room, alone.

Perhaps he went to try and get drunk or perhaps he went to cry his heart out. But that was not something for outsiders to pry.

Chen Xiaolia sighed as he faced the virtual Sarah. “Bring me to Mr Qiao Yifeng.”

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

…

Qiao Yifeng opened the door. When he caught sight of Chen Xiaolian standing before him, light practically shone from his eyes as his hand shot out to grab Chen Xiaolian. Pulling him into the room, Qiao Yifeng then stared at him. “Tell me! Tell me! Just what is going on?”

Chen Xiaolian rubbed his nose. He had wanted to inform Qiao Yifeng of Skyblade’s death. However, after considering it, he finally whispered, “About the specifics… … you should go ask Mr Bluesea. He is now in his own room.”

Qiao Yifeng gave Chen Xiaolian a glare. With a grunt, he hastily ran out of the room.

With his departure, Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo became the only ones left in the room beside Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian looked at the two girls sitting on the sofa. Qiao Qiao was already in the middle of standing up. He quickly made his way forward, both his arms outstretched.

Qiao Qiao fell into his arms. As the two of them were about to kiss, Soo Soo’s dissatisfied voice came from beside, “Sister! Xiaolian oppa! There is a minor here!”

Chen Xiaolian laughed before pulling Soo Soo over as well and the three of them came together in a hug.

Qiao Qiao raised her head and looked into Chen Xiaolian’s eyes. Seeing the emotional look in his eyes, she said, “Now… … what do we do?”

“Leave of course.” Chen Xiaolian frowned. “Honestly, I don’t want to stay even a while longer in this Zero City. The sooner we leave, the better.”

Qiao Qiao was about to say something. Then, she thought of something and she whispered, “All right. We’ll continue after we’re back home. This place…”

As she spoke, she extended her hand to point out the surroundings of the room.

Chen Xiaolian was quick to understand what Qiao Qiao was hinting at.

This place was the headquarters of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild. Only Heaven knows if there were any monitoring or listening devices here.

…

About an hour later, Bluesea and Qiao Yifeng arrived together.

Bluesea’s expression showed that he had calmed down. Qiao Yifeng on the other hand, his pair of eyes were red and swollen and his voice hoarse. It appeared that he had been sobbing wretchedly for a while.

“If you want to leave, I can escort you all out now,” said Bluesea in a calm manner.

Chen Xiaolian looked at Bluesea and the two of them quietly exchanged a look.

“All right, we want to leave now… but… …” Chen Xiaolian pondered before continuing, “Can I meet Fatty for a bit?”

Bluesea hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “I am sorry, he is no longer in Zero City. On the second morning after you disappeared, I had my men send him out of Zero City.”

Chen Xiaolian was somewhat surprised. Next though, he felt relieved.

Sending Fatty out of Zero City was something that Bluesea had decided upon long ago. Back then, Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild was in danger. Thus, sending Fatty who was an ordinary human out of Zero City was a good choice. Otherwise, having him on a sinking boat might cause further problems.

Furthermore, before Skyblade passed away, he had made some arrangements. It would appear that Fatty would not have the chance to return to Zero City anymore.

At any rate, he was on ordinary human. Staying away from Zero City would be a good thing for him.

Chen Xiaolian quickly spoke up, “If so, there is nothing else… … can we leave now?”

…

Qiao Qiao was forbidden to leave Zero City by the Angel Corps. However, Bluesea had been very tough on this matter. After personally meeting with Angel Wu to negotiate this matter, he was able to get the Angel Corps to lift the restriction placed on Qiao Qiao.

The Angel Corps member known as Walker even came out personally to escort them.

When they reached the access passageway area in the central plaza, Walker politely apologized for the sake of the Angel Corps before leaving.

Qiao Yifeng looked at Qiao Qiao who was leaning close to Chen Xiaolian and was unable to stop himself from letting out a sigh. He gave Chen Xiaolian a stare and said, “In the future… … you take good care of her.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.

“Soo Soo as well.” Qiao Yifeng shook his head. “I’m counting on you…”

After saying that, Qiao Yifeng let out a wry smile. “The power you displayed back in Zero City, humph… … I probably don’t need to worry that much.”

After having said that, Qiao Yifeng took a few steps back.

Bluesea looked at Chen Xiaolian and examined him from head to toe a few times.

There was a penetrating gaze and tangled look on this new Guild Leader of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s face.

“I don’t know if Skyblade’s choice is correct or not. However, I am willing to believe in his decision. I still have my scruples about you; however, since this is his decision, I will do my best. I also hope that you won’t let me down. I hope you won’t let him down.”

Bluesea weighed his words as he spoke. After that, he sighed. “We’ll be keeping in touch. If there is anything, I will come find you. If you need to meet me, you can contact brother Qiao.”

After considering it, Bluea then pulled out a small item that resembled a bracelet from his pocket.

“This is for you. It is Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s internal access device. It will allow you to freely enter and exit Zero City through the guild’s internal passageway.” Bluesea furrowed his brows and said, “This item is very important. Make sure to bind it to you after you return. If you lose it, others would not be able to use it. However, remember the safety protocols. Before using the passageway to enter Zero City, you must make sure that the surrounding area is secure and that there aren’t any Electronic Guardians! If not… … you’ll end up causing a huge problem.”

“I understand,” said Chen Xiaolian. He accepted the bracelet and immediately wore it on his wrist.

…

After coming out from Zero City’s passageway, he found that they were in the hotel room that Qiao Yifeng had invited Chen Xiaolian to the other day.

Qiao Yifeng had reserved the entire room. After the three of them appeared in the room, they looked around. Qiao Qiao rushed toward the window to check outside.

Observing the familiar cityscape, Qiao Qiao shouted happily, “We’re finally back!”

Soo Soo continued standing beside Chen Xiaolian, one hand tightly gripping Chen Xiaolian’s sleeve.

At present, Chen Xiaolian himself was feeling rather excited himself.

He had gained much from this trip to Zero City. Although he had unexpectedly stayed in Zero City for over one week… most of them was spent inside the ancient painting world. Thankfully, that allowed him to deal with Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s Blood Verdict.

Looking at it objectively, he had obtained a huge victory in this trip to Zero City. Not only did he get many benefits, he had also successfully brought back Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo, two important companions of his.

Chen Xiaolian stood in the room for a moment before patting his head. “Right, I need to inform our companions back at home. Since we can’t contact each other when I was in Zero City, they had probably gone anxious from all the waiting.”

The first person he contacted was Roddy.

After contacting him, Chen Xiaolian found that he was still in Africa.

After successfully making contact, Roddy gave a sigh of relief before complaining a bit about Chen Xiaolian disappearance. Next, he gave Chen Xiaolian a pleasantly surprising news.

After entering the C11 mine, Roddy did some research on the main control system…

“My Mechanical Heart skill can improve mining efficiency by around 10 per cent. That is pretty much my limit. However, this function has yet to be stabilized. So, I will need to stay in the mine for a few more days. Only after I am done tinkering with the main control system and stabilized this new rate of mining will I be able to leave. From the looks of it… … I will need around 10 more days.”

Roddy’s tone revealed excitement. He also told Chen Xiaolian something else. He was very interested in the mining androids.

This was not that surprising… … this fellow was originally a big fan of machines and mechs.

According to Roddy, he had already dismantled two mining androids for research.

“There might be some interesting surprises. I am now making some changes to it. If it is successful… … he he he.”

However, he was someone who would not disclose anything before it was done. Chen Xiaolian simply let him keep the suspense to himself.

Additionally, Roddy also expressed great joy in receiving Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo.

“Ha ha ha! Big Miss Qiao is finally back! Oh joy! Our poor brother Xiaolian can finally say goodbye to the bitter days of depending on his hands… …”

Pa!

Without waiting for the bastard to finish his words, Chen Xiaolian fiercely ended the call.

“Bastard!”

…

After returning, Chen Xiaolian directly brought Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo to the city side. They went to the base beside the abandoned resort island in the middle of the lake.

The old members Lun Tai, Bei Tai and Xiaolei expressed surprise and joy at their return.

As for the newest member, Qimu Xi, she revealed shyness during their reception.

After Chen Xiaolian made the introductions for Qimu Xi, he summoned everyone for a meeting.

While they were on the way to the base, Chen Xiaolian had relayed what happened in the earlier London instance dungeon and the punishment instance dungeon to Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo.

Even so, to personally see the wondrous base for themselves made Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo incredibly astonished.

“Even Zero City… … is only this good.” That was what Qiao Qiao had to say.

Next, Chen Xiaolian led everyone into the base’s equipment warehouse.

The warehouse was large enough and Chen Xiaolian immediately brought out all the supplies and materials from his Storage Watch. While the others had been able to take in the shock quite well, Bei Tai who was a military enthusiast promptly cried out sharply. Rather, he nearly fainted on the spot!

Sentinel mechs!

Thunderstorm Tanks!

Even a Tidal Fighter!

Bei Tai ran over and embraced the landing wheel of the Tidal Fighter tightly. Without letting it go, he screamed, “Rich! We’re rich! Guild Leader, we have struck jackpot! There are so much equipment here! There’s enough for us wage battle against a small nation!”

Chen Xiaolian smiled. “For the mechanical-type equipment, wait for Roddy to return so that he can examine it first. We are not familiar with these things. The Thunderstorm Tanks on the other hand are something we have used before. Mm, Bei Tai, take a Thunderstorm Tank and teach them the basics.

“By my calculations, the time for our next instance dungeon will be coming soon. Although we can avoid being selected for the instance dungeon using this base, I feel that there is no use in just avoiding. I have decided that we’ll continue participating in instance dungeons. We’ll only avoid instance dungeons if the degree of danger is too high. We must still participate in normal instance dungeons.”

“No problem!” replied Bei Tai with a smile.

Lun Tai walked over to the various cold weapons taken from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s warehouse. After inspecting them, he was unable to stop himself from sighing. “As expected from a resident guild of Zero City, they are powerful and aplenty with resources.”

“There are also [A] class protective suits. We have enough to give everyone one.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “We’ll be able to greatly increase our level of safety.”

That night, everyone rested in the base. No one left at all.

The functions of the base were vast. It was only natural that it would be able to provide personal accommodations for every member.

The powerful spatial technology was sufficient to satisfy everyone’s need for living spaces.

Though… after dinner, Lun Tai grinned as he walked over and carried Soo Soo up. Without giving the little girl any chance to struggle, he laughed out, “Let’s go! Soo Soo, I’ll bring you over to play with a tank…”

As he said that, he winked at Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao.

Bei Tai who was beside them also quickly got up. He pulled Xiaolei up and said, “Let’s go. You inexperienced kid, are you going to stay behind and be a lamp post?”

As for Qimu Xi, she had long since excused herself after saying she wanted to rest.

When there were only Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao in the central resting area, the two youngsters felt their heartbeats rising.

Seeing Chen Xiaolian’s gaze upon her, Qiao Qiao could sense a fire inside his eyes.

After being subjected to Chen Xiaolian’s stare for a long time, Big Miss Qiao’s temper flared up and she glared back. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Chen Xiaolian, with a smile on his face, walked over and suddenly moved to lift Qiao Qiao up.

“You, what are you doing?” Qiao Qiao became somewhat panicked.

“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Chen Xiaolian carried Qiao Qiao as moved toward his own room with big strides.

However, when they were at the door, Qiao Qiao suddenly said something, which nearly caused Chen Xiaolian to slip and fall.

Err, naturally, it was not “I’m on my period” or something else that killed the mood.

Qiao Qiao’s words were. “… … the last two months… could it be you really had been using your hands?”

Hearing that, Chen Xiaolian became furious. He harrumphed. “You’ll know soon enough!” Carrying Qiao Qiao through the door, he reached out with his leg to shut the door.

Mm, it’s good to be young.

…