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Paimon’s goal is clear - the treasure chest!

The two of them shuttled through the mountains and sparse vegetation surrounding the Holy Flame Arena.

Paimeng's "treasure hunting radar" was fully turned on, guiding Ying to cross mountains and ridges, drill holes and climb slopes.

The harvest was quite substantial. Several exquisite treasure chests contained a considerable amount of Mora, which made Paimon's little face smile widely.

"Hehe, I'm rich, I'm rich!" Paimon hugged the heavy Mora bag and rubbed it with satisfaction.

"The biggest gain isn't this, Paimon." Ying smiled and pointed to an anchor-like device emitting a soft blue light not far away. "Look over there."

"Ah! It's the teleportation anchor!" Paimon flew over in surprise. "This will make it much more convenient to move around the Holy Fire Arena in the future!"

In one afternoon, they successfully lit up several key teleportation anchor points in the area around the arena, paving the way for a convenient transportation network for future trips to Nata.

Chapter 96: Promise, Ying loses Mora due to carelessness

In the evening, when Ying and Paimon returned to the Holy Flame Arena, it was brightly lit and bustling with people.

A huge bonfire burned brightly in the center of the square, and the air was filled with the aroma of barbecue and cheerful Nata folk music.

People were dressed in their best clothes, their faces filled with genuine joy.

Just as they were about to merge into this sea of ​​joy, a slightly anxious figure was waiting at the door - it was Aoi.

"Traveler, Paimon, this way!" When Aike saw them, she immediately waved and led the two to a quieter corner.

There was a hint of worry on her face, which seemed out of place with the festive atmosphere around her.

"Ms. Kuike, what's wrong? Is there something you want to talk to us about?" Ying asked with concern.

Aoi sighed and lowered her voice: "It's about my sister. You should have noticed that her mood... is sometimes unstable."

She paused, a trace of bitterness on her face. "Actually, I usually deliberately provoke her anger in the hope that she can vent in advance and relieve some of the pressure in her heart... I know this method is clumsy and hurtful, but I..."

"Aoi..." Paimon called softly, looking at Aoi with some heartache.

Ying patted Aoi's arm gently, her eyes gentle and understanding.

"I understand, Aoi. You are protecting her in your own way, even though it's a little...unique."

A trace of reminiscence flashed in Ying's eyes, "Because, I also have a very important relative, my brother."

"I understand the desire to protect one's siblings, even though it can seem clumsy and overwhelming at times. This kind of care is the most precious."

Aoi didn't expect Ying to understand her actions so deeply. Her voice choked for a moment: "Thank you... Thank you, Traveler. It's really... great that you understand."

She took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and then revealed her most important purpose: "Traveler, Paimon, I want to ask you for a favor."

"If... I mean if, in the future, you encounter my sister and she unfortunately falls into that uncontrollable manic state, could you please use your magical 'little wrench' to help her?"

"Just like how you helped Ianshan and the others purify the abyss erosion this afternoon? At the critical moment when she lost control and might hurt her companions or herself, you were able to calm her down and safely overcome the crisis..."

Kuike's eyes were full of pleading and hope.

Ying and Paimon didn't hesitate at all.

Ying nodded solemnly: "Chaska is our comrade, and we will never forget the friendship we shared while fighting side by side. If she needs help, we will do our utmost to help her. Paimon's abilities are always available to me for my friends."

"Yeah!" Paimon nodded vigorously, his little face full of seriousness, "Don't worry, Kuike! Leave it to Paimon! I'm on standby anytime!"

Aoi felt relieved and bowed deeply to Ying and Paimon: "Thank you! Thank you very much!"

The heavy stone in her heart was put down, and she finally left with a relieved smile.

The atmosphere of the celebration banquet was extremely warm.

A warrior of the Sons of Echo performed a street dance, people sang and laughed around the campfire, and Ying and Paimon were also immersed in this pure joy.

They noticed that Mavica, who was sitting at the main seat on the podium, looked more relaxed than ever before, with even a barely perceptible smile from the heart on the corner of her mouth.

"Mavika seems... very happy?" Paimon whispered to Ying while gnawing on the sizzling, greasy meat.

Ying nodded, her eyes also falling on Mavica: "Well, it seems that the burden on her shoulders has been lightened a lot."

She recalled the discussion she had heard earlier and whispered, "I heard that our trip not only saved Katsina, but more importantly, saved the consciousness of the Great Spirit of the Hanging Wood Tribe."

"Just the awakening of one of the Great Spirit's clones can protect the Echo Sons tribe from the invasion of the abyss for a long time."

"The return of a complete Great Spirit is of great significance to the entire Nata's 'Five Hundred Year Plan' to resist the erosion of the Abyss and repair the Kingdom of the Night God."

"This buys Nata extremely valuable time and greatly relieves Mavica's pressure."

"So that's how it is! No wonder she is so happy!" Paimeng suddenly realized.

Ying looked at Mavica's profile illuminated by the firelight, and realized in her heart: this relief is only temporary.

As the guardian of a country, Mavica knows better than anyone that people are born in hardship and die in comfort.

After the celebration, the important task of finding the remaining two of the six heroes and the long struggle against the abyss will still be the problems she must face tomorrow and countless tomorrows to come.

The banquet gradually came to an end amidst the climax of cheers.

Just as Ying and Paimon were about to leave contentedly, several shop owners dressed in different clothes, with polite expressions on their faces but obviously looking to "collect debts", surrounded them.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Traveler?" asked the leading boss politely.

"It's me. What's the matter?" Ying had a bad feeling in her heart.

"It's like this," the boss rubbed his hands, smiling awkwardly.

"In the afternoon, a man of extraordinary bearing, Mr. Zhongli, who claimed to be from Liyue, bought some specialty minerals and handmade accessories from several of our stores..."

"Uh, he said... to put it all on your account and to come back to you to settle it after dinner."

fluorescent:"……"

Paimon: “!!!”

Ying now only felt her temples throbbing.

With trembling hands, she took the detailed bill handed over by the bosses and looked at the total amount of 500,000 Mora - this was almost several times the Mora she had earned from opening the treasure chest in the afternoon!

"Zhong-li--!" Ying almost gritted her teeth as she pronounced the name. A familiar complex emotion of helplessness and pain surged in her heart.

She was still immersed in the joy of lighting the anchor point and attending the banquet in the afternoon, and completely forgot that this "worldly wandering" guest official also had the attribute of a "walking account machine"!

The fear of being dominated by bills in Liyue suddenly swept over me.

Ying resigned herself to her fate and took out all the Mora she had obtained from her adventure in the afternoon, and reluctantly made an additional payment from her own small treasury, only then was she able to barely fill the "huge hole" left by Zhongli.

Looking at her wallet that had deflated in an instant, Ying felt like crying.

"Mora! Our Mora! It's all gone!" Paimon was holding the empty purse, feeling a little sad.

"I worked for nothing this afternoon! Ying, we're losing a lot!"

Ying held her forehead and sighed, her tone filled with regret and self-mockery. "What a mistake... What a mistake! I was so happy that I forgot about Zhongli, the biggest 'unstable factor'! Next time... next time I must set a spending limit for him in advance!"

She looked at Paimon's sad face, patted her with helplessness and amusement, "Okay, Paimon. Just think of it as... just think of it as buying a gift for Walnut. Let's go back to sleep. You can dream about anything..."

The two of them, carrying "heavy" financial losses and a trace of "resentment" towards Zhongli, set out on the journey back to their temporary residence under the brilliant starry sky of Nata.

But the price of Zhongli's "leisure trip" was really high.

Chapter 97 The Disappearing Ropemaker

The mornings in Wildfire Town are usually awakened by the roar of engines, but today, a tense anxiety replaced the usual vitality.

The door of the room where Zhe and Ling were resting was wide open, and there was no one in the room.

But just last night, they had chatted with the rope-making brother and sister, Zhe and Ling, by the campfire, and the atmosphere was very relaxed and harmonious.

However, this morning, when Bernice knocked on their door to deliver breakfast as usual, no one answered.

After forcing their way in, the room was empty!

The bed was a little messy, and the siblings' personal belongings, video equipment, and even their video store van were parked outside the door, but they were missing! Their phones were completely unreachable!

This sudden disappearance, combined with the complex power environment of the Outer Ring and Zhe and Ling's identity as the legendary rope maker "Phaethon", immediately made the sons of Calydon nervous.

Was this a subsequent act of retaliation from Lucius during the Lake of Fire incident? Or was it some other force coveting the ropemaker's skills? All sorts of ominous speculations swirled in everyone's minds.

"Haven't you found it yet? Search again! Don't miss any corner!" Caesar's voice was filled with unquestionable majesty, and his brows were furrowed.

It was obvious that they had been searching for a long time but had found nothing.

Caesar stood in front of the room where Zhe and Ling were resting. The slightly messy beds in the room indicated that they must have rested here.

Moreover, the brother and sister's personal belongings and HDD equipment were left intact in their original places, and the tool cart was also outside, so they should not have left without saying goodbye. So where did they go?

This became a question lingering in the mind of every son of Calydon.

At this time, Lucy came back and said, "I have asked all the residents of Wildfire Town and the people who were on duty last night. They didn't see anything unusual, nor did they see Zhe and Ling go out."

Lucy's voice was tinged with exhaustion and disbelief. "It's like... like they're still in the room, but we can't find them!"

Wright, standing by, was also a little confused. "We've searched that room at least three times! We even pried open the cracks in the floorboards!"

Lucy double-checked the door lock and windowsill, brushing the dust away with her fingertips.

"There were no signs of forced entry, and no signs of a struggle or dragging inside the house… They were like…" She paused, her brows furrowing further.

"It's like I disappeared out of thin air, as if I used the spatial rift in the void to leave here directly!"

Thinking of this, Lucy came up with a new guess: "Could it be that Zhe and Ling went to find Dan Heng and the others? After all, their technology is very advanced, and they might have technology that can directly use space teleportation."

Caesar's face was solemn, the responsibility of being the new overlord weighing heavily on her shoulders.

"I know this possibility does exist, but we can't be blindly optimistic until we officially find or contact them both."

The disappearance of an ally on her territory was not only a dereliction of duty, but also a challenge to the prestige of the son of Calydon.

"Notify all members of the Motorcycle Alliance to help find Zhe and Ling!" Caesar ordered in a deep voice. His voice was not loud but was clearly heard by everyone.

"Expand the search area to within a 20-kilometer radius of Wildfire Town. Dig deep to find the person!"

Her orders were firm and decisive, revealing a determination to do so at any cost.

Just as the atmosphere in Wildfire Town was reaching its peak and Caesar was about to issue a full mobilization order—

"Creak" a light sound.

The door belonging to Zhe and Ling, which had been checked countless times by everyone, was pushed open from the inside.

Under everyone's almost frozen gazes of astonishment, Zhe and Ling walked out one after the other, looking calm.

"Ah--!!!" Bernice's scream broke the silence, filled with incredible surprise, "They! They're back! In the room!"

The whole scene exploded in an instant.

The members of the Sons of Calydon were all stunned, their jaws almost dropping to the ground.

It was obvious that all the Sons of Calydon, including the most careful Lucy and the most calm Wright, had entered and exited this room many times, rummaging through drawers and cabinets to confirm that there was no one inside.

But now, Zhe and Ling walked out of there intact and unharmed, as if they had just woken up.

Ling looked at the scene outside the door - almost all the Sons of Calydon were there, including all the core members of the Sons of Calydon, all of them looked as if they were facing a great enemy, and she couldn't help but be stunned.

She whispered, "Brother, what... is going on? A welcome ceremony?" She subconsciously nudged Zhe, who was standing in front of her, with her elbow.

Zhe obviously didn't expect such a big scene. The usual calmness on his face showed a crack, and he looked a little embarrassed. It was obvious that he had guessed the reason.

He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and bowed deeply to Caesar and Casa, who were in the lead, as well as all the anxious and worried townspeople around him.

"I'm so sorry," Zhe's voice was filled with genuine apology, "I've caused you all to worry. It was an oversight on our part to leave without informing you in advance."

He stood up and glanced at Caesar, Lucy and Wright, the three people who had witnessed the various "miracles" of Danheng and his group.

"We didn't encounter any accidents. Instead, we used a space-jumping technology organized by Dan Heng and his team to temporarily reunite with them."

He chose a word that sounded more in line with the understanding of this technological world.

"Space jump?" someone repeated in confusion.

"Yes," Zhe nodded affirmatively, his tone steady as he elaborated on the "technical truth."

"This is a special teleportation technology that allows us to directly reach Dan Heng and the others' location."

"It happened a bit suddenly. We were so busy with the appointment that we completely forgot to say hello to everyone first. We are really sorry for causing such a big misunderstanding and trouble." He expressed his apology again.