Above the mage

Chapter 360 Orphanage

Vallar Bay.

Five-colored light flowed on the leaves of the Yugathishira.

Flora wandered among the leaves, looking left and right, very happy.

Gao De watched Flora running around under the tree, smiling without saying a word.

The batch of tree seeds he brought back needs to be planted as soon as possible to accelerate the growth of Yugathhira.

The planting of trees had to be handled by Flora herself to be considered safe, so God brought her along to Valar Bay.

"Are you leaving already?" Finally, after the initial excitement subsided, Flora landed on God's shoulder and said in a soft, gentle voice.

"I'm leaving soon."

"Remember to come back, you know the way."

"We came back via teleportation, so we don't need to know the way," Gao De said "honestly."

Seeing the stammering little girl, he smiled and stopped teasing her. "Don't worry, I remember. I'll definitely take Lady Flora around there before I come back."

"Lady Flora doesn't care about that," the little figure was clearly already flapping its wings happily, but it turned its head to look at Yugathira, put on a serious look as if it were important business, and solemnly instructed, "It's not like this over there, there will be bad people, mage, you have to be careful over there and pay attention to your safety."

"Thank you for your concern, Lady Flora. I will remember it."

"Then I'll have to trouble Lady Flora to take good care of things here."

"Lady Flora is very clever."

That's right.

Gaode didn't waste any more time and activated the interplanetary teleportation.

The multicolored light swirling around the leaves of the Yugathira quickly converged, and the abundant astral energy soon condensed into an astral gate.

This time, there won't be only one option: random teleportation.

On his return journey, Yoghathira marked his return coordinates.

So he now has two options: random teleportation or teleportation to a marked point.

Gaode Maps naturally chose the latter.

With the bulging bundle on his back, Gao De stepped into the astral portal, his figure instantly enveloped in multicolored light.

"I'm back."

After a flash of multicolored light, Gao De found himself back in his room at the Palm Tree Hotel.

Three days later, I returned to Lagos.

Everything in the room was unchanged from when he left.

Gao De put down the package and walked to the corner of the room. With a crisp click of a metal clasp, the capybara bag was untied.

The moment the bag was untied, the dumpling, which had been trapped inside the capybara for three days, excitedly poked its head out like a compressed spring toy, eager to breathe in the fresh air.

With a slight movement of his magic, Gao De cast [Beast Link+], establishing a mental connection with Tuanzi to confirm whether any outsiders had visited or any unusual circumstances had occurred during the three days he had been gone.

"Thank you for your hard work." After confirming that everything was alright, Gao De unpacked the package and took out a piece of meat that was still frozen.

The translucent amber-colored flesh has tiny ice element crystals faintly visible between the muscle fibers.

This is the intercostal muscle of the Frost-maned Lizard, a creature from the Three-Ring Earth Vein. Not only does it taste excellent, but it also contains an abundance of blood energy and magical power.

Gao De conjured a small flame at his fingertips, thawing the frozen chunks of flesh.

Tuanzi watched the whole process, its pectoral fins scratching in the air, its pink nose constantly moving upwards, almost touching the piece of meat.

Seeing its impatient look, Gao De sped up, completely thawed the meat, and handed it to Tuanzi's mouth.

The meat chunk had barely reached the tip of her nose when Tuanzi suddenly opened her three-lobed mouth, biting into the meat. Her teeth easily tore through the translucent muscle tissue, and she chewed rapidly, her cheeks puffing out into hamster-like round balls.

As the last piece of meat was swallowed, a barely perceptible stream of light flashed across the dumpling's body.

Although it's just a small piece of flesh and blood, the high quality of the three rings still brought about a slight change to it.

However, the dumpling is still small, and the blood energy and magic contained in this piece of flesh are already close to its limit. It needs some time to digest and absorb before it can be fed again.

You can't get fat overnight; these things can't be rushed.

Clang—clang—clang—

As I stepped out of the room, the clock tower in the center of Lagos was ringing out. The powerful and melodious chimes rang out eight times in a rhythmic pattern, indicating that it was now eight o'clock in the morning.

In Lagos, God still has two major tasks to complete.

First, the acquisition of Harland Shipyard; second, uncovering the mastermind behind the water monster expulsion mission, thereby gaining higher merit.

Clearly, the former is more urgent.

Now, although Gaode has fifty Ice Jade Wutong Leaves worth more than 15000 Golden Bird Flower Coins, how to sell them for money is a problem.

However, Gaode Maps had already prepared a contingency plan.

"Let's go find Anna first. They're probably getting worried if we haven't heard from her in three days."

Elsa left him an address: Haiyinrong Orphanage.

Although it's not a landmark building, it's still a well-known place, so it's not hard to find.

As Gao De left the hotel, he saw many horse-drawn carriages soliciting customers on the street outside.

He straightened his clothes and waved for a carriage: "To Haiyinrong Orphanage."

"Yes, sir!" the driver immediately replied loudly.

After getting into the car, the driver focused on driving and didn't say much.

These experienced drivers are generally very sensible. Whether they are talkative or not, they will not easily go out to chat with customers or disturb them.

However, Gaode took the initiative to contact the driver.

"How big is this Haiyinrong Orphanage?" Gao De asked casually.

These coachmen, who drove their carriages around the city, were locals and should be very familiar with the situation in Lagos.

"Haiyinrong Orphanage."

The coachman drew out his words, as if quickly recalling relevant information, and then continued, "In terms of scale, it should rank among the top three orphanages in Lagos City, after all, it was established by the Tide Whisperers Cult."

"Although the Tide Whisperers Cult has declined and is struggling to survive, even though they have transferred almost all of the cult's assets and scattered most of their followers, they still insisted on not closing the Haiyinrong Orphanage. They are kind people, it's a pity." The coachman said, gently cracking his whip.

"You mean, Haiyinrong Orphanage is the property of the Tide Whisperer Cult?" Gao De couldn't help but raise an eyebrow upon hearing this familiar name.

"Yes."

Was the Teochew Speakers a major sect in Lagos before?

When Gao De met Dr. Danica in the Marco district, he wanted to learn about the specifics of the Teochew Cult, but the injured person woke up at that time, so the question was skipped.

Now that they've met again, his curiosity has naturally been piqued.

The main reason for his curiosity was that Dr. Danica, a nun from the Church of the Whispers, possessed a rare spell called "Healing," which made him feel that this church must be quite extraordinary.

"It is one of the largest religious sects in Lagos. They provide fishermen with storm trails, guide them on when to go out to sea, and protect them, which is why they have many followers."

Once the driver started talking, he couldn't stop. His voice was tinged with emotion. "Unfortunately, the spiritual marrow craze broke out later, and many of the fishermen, who were the main believers, switched to mining. The number of believers was very high."

"However, the bishop at the time was exceptionally decisive. Seeing this situation, he invested a large amount of the sect's funds into the spiritual marrow-related industry."

"In the first few years, they made a fortune thanks to the craze for spiritual marrow. With the money earned from the dividends from the spiritual marrow industry, they expanded a stained glass hall, built guest rooms for believers, renovated the church bell tower, and purchased gilded ritual objects. In short, they kept expanding and were at their peak."

The driver described the scene vividly, as if it were happening right before his eyes.

"Although the number of believers has been severely reduced, the sect is thriving and developing against the trend."

Upon hearing this, Gao De remained silent for a moment.

He could actually guess what would happen next.

"But as you probably know, the good times didn't last long. The bubble of the spiritual craze burst, and without the dividends, sects that had lost many believers struggled to maintain their daily expenses. Moreover, the various buildings that had been expanded during the spiritual craze became a huge burden at that time."

Just as Gaode Maps predicted.

"For example, the expanded stained glass auditorium and the renovated church bell tower require a large amount of gold leaf coins every year just for cleaning and maintenance."

"In the first few years, the Teochew Speakers sect could barely support these expenses by selling ritual objects and other items within the sect, but these items are always limited, and later there were none left to sell."

"Without money to maintain the sect's buildings, the already small number of believers dwindled even further, and monks also began to leave because the sect could not provide subsidies. In short, it was a vicious cycle."

"If I remember correctly, most of the major and minor properties of the Teochew Church have been transferred. Now, only the Haiyinrong Orphanage and a church should remain."

"To be honest, given the size of the Haiyin Orphanage, the daily expenses are not small. I think that after a while, they will probably not be able to sustain the orphanage."

"Alas, if they can't hold on, what will happen to the children in Haiyinrong Orphanage?" the coachman couldn't help but worry.

Squeak!

Just then, the driver suddenly pulled the rope, stopping the carriage.

"Sir, we've arrived."

The Hainrong Orphanage is located in a working-class residential area on the east side of Lagos. Its exterior walls are made of dark bricks and stones, and the surface of the bricks and stones is covered with mottled marks, making it look dilapidated and old.

The paint on the heavy door has peeled off.

Above the main gate is a small pointed roof, many of which are missing tiles, revealing the wooden structure underneath.

Gao De paid the money and got off the carriage.

The air was slightly chilly on a winter morning.

In front of the gate of the orphanage, there were twenty or thirty children standing by the roadside, their little faces red from the cold.

Two of the children were holding donation boxes that looked old and worn, with most of the paint peeling off.

The other children were carrying individual food cans.

The can contained water and a small fish, which was swimming weakly in the shallow water.

Two children held up signs with the words "Please help us" written on them in crooked handwriting.

Dr. Danica stood among the children, wearing a simple gray robe.

She was with her child, soliciting donations from passersby. Kind-hearted donors would receive a tin can and Dr. Danica's blessing.

Clearly, the fundraising situation is not optimistic.

Most pedestrians hurried past without stopping, let alone taking out any money from their pockets.

Click.

Gao De dropped a silver dragon coin into the donation box, immediately eliciting gasps of surprise from several children around him.

"Thank you, brother!" The little boy holding the donation box looked up at Gao De with some timidness and said his thanks.

At this moment, Dr. Danica noticed the commotion and came over.

Upon seeing Gao De, Dr. Danica was slightly surprised at first, a glint of light flashing in her somewhat tired eyes. Then she immediately greeted him with a smile, placing one hand on her chest in a salute: "Sir, it's an honor to meet you here."

"Dr. Danica," God returned the greeting, then gestured to the children around them, "how long has it been since these children had a proper meal?"

"It's been two or three months, hasn't it?" Dr. Danica said somewhat apologetically.

"How could the situation be so bad?" Gao De was slightly surprised. He knew that the situation at Rongguyuan was not optimistic, but he did not expect that they would not even be able to get enough to eat.

"Ever since the bishop absconded with the sect's assets, the sect's morale has collapsed. After everyone divided up the remaining assets, they went their separate ways. Only this orphanage remains, and there are only a handful of monks still willing to stay in the sect." Dr. Danica sighed softly, her eyes filled with disappointment and anger.

"There are 132 children in the orphanage. The daily food expenses are a considerable expense, not to mention the costs of fuel, building repairs, and facility maintenance."

"The children are growing and need more and more clothes and shoes. The cost of buying quilts, toiletries and other daily necessities is also considerable. Sigh, money is needed everywhere."

"Although my medical and magical skills are still somewhat useful, and wealthy families in the city occasionally ask me to treat their patients, such occasions usually only happen once every week or two, and the fees I receive are far from enough to cover the expenses of the orphanage."

"So even though the orphanage has reduced its meals from three to two a day, they can still barely eat half full each time. There's no other way, so I had to bring them out to raise money," Dr. Danica said sadly as her gaze swept over the thin children.

Looking at these young faces, pale and sickly, and listening to what Dr. Danica said, Gao De felt a strange, indescribable feeling.

In his previous life, in the country he lived in, hunger was an absolute taboo that no one could tolerate.

The most vivid example is that if you go to the street to beg for money, no one will pay attention to you because everyone is afraid of being cheated. But if you go to the street to beg for food, to exaggerate, you might even eat yourself to death.

"This should be enough to feed the children for two days." Gao De thought for a moment, then took out a golden coin and handed it to Dr. Danica.

Dr. Danica accepted the golden coin, crossing her arms over her chest: "Sir, thank you for your kindness and generosity. You will surely receive the ocean's blessing and protection."

"Thank you, you are the truly merciful one, deserving the blessings and protection of the ocean."

"By the way, sir, did you just happen to be passing by?" Dr. Danica asked.

It's quite strange that a sea sentinel mage would appear here.

"No," Gao De remembered his business and said seriously, "I'm here to find someone."

Looking for someone?

"I'm here to see Miss Elsa." This was the signal that God and Elsa had agreed upon.

"So you're Miss's guest," Dr. Danica said, slightly taken aback. Then she gave God a deep look. "Sir, please come with me."

(End of this chapter)