Chapter 252: Can

The World Transit Station, the dimensional beast reluctantly thudded to the ground, its entire body swelling like an inflated balloon until it expanded into a colossal mass forty to fifty meters in diameter.

But as its size grew, its fur also lengthened, sticking out like a furry ball or a sea urchin.

Truth be told, it wasn't particularly fond of dimensional drifting—though it was a dimensional beast, a native of the dimensional realm, such journeys were still perilous; one misstep and it could get lost in the void.

It wouldn't die, but it could get lost—and never return.

Granted, it had followers; the dimensional divine attendant Serina could help it orient itself, but in the dimensional realm, anything could happen—if it drifted too far and lost Serina's signal, it wouldn't be able to come back.

Still, despite its reluctance, Big Cat was a dimensional beast of its word; once it promised something, it would see it through even if it had to cry through it, woof~~

Watching Big Cat look like it was about to cry, Ang walked over and pulled out a Life Fruit.

Two large eyes opened within the furball, glancing sideways with disdain before turning away.

Ang pulled out nine more Life Fruits, stacking ten together.

Big Cat's eyes turned toward them, glancing with hesitation.

Ang pulled out another ten Life Fruits, piling twenty of the basin-sized fruits together.

Big Cat's eyes couldn't move anymore, fixed rigidly on the pile, its body emitting a low gurgle-gurgle.

Ang pulled out another ten.

Adding ten at a time, when the pile reached fifty, Big Cat shot out a paw and slapped it beside the mound of Life Fruits.

Nagelis asked beside Serina: "What does this mean?"

"Wait, Big Cat is thinking," Serina replied, then frowned at the Life Fruits: "What kind of fruit is this? Why is Big Cat hesitating? It's just a big hairy watermelon—is it really that tasty?"

Nagelis gave her a look of "you've never seen the world," and said: "Yeah, why hesitate? It already agreed to go—no reward needed. What's there to think about?"

Serina snorted: "Going is one thing, but if you don't bribe it, it'll bolt at the first sign of danger. Once it takes your gifts, it can't run away—that's why it hesitates."

"..." Ang almost forgot—they had no binding contract with Big Cat. If it dumped them in the dimensional space, it would be extremely dangerous. So Ang had accidentally hit the nail on the head.

Of course, Ang had no such cunning—he simply sensed Big Cat's reluctance and offered fair compensation.

"By the way, you still haven't said what these fruits are," Serina pressed, for anything that made Big Cat hesitate couldn't possibly be as ordinary as it looked.

"Elven Life Fruits. Consuming them slows aging, extends lifespan, brightens and whitens skin, enhances vitality..." Nagelis said.

Serina's eyes widened in disbelief: "You're serious? Not joking?"

"Of course I'm serious. I am the God of Knowledge—why would I joke with you? Otherwise, why do elves live so long?" Nagelis sneered dismissively.

"D-Does the world really have fruits that extend lifespan?" Serina trembled with excitement, her excess flesh jiggling wildly, blindingly.

Nagelis, dizzy from the shaking, snapped: "Stop jiggling! Of course they exist—these Life Fruits are proof."

"Can you sell them? How much? Can you sell me one?" Serina grabbed Nagelis's tiny paw, smiling sweetly and swaying seductively.

Unfortunately, she didn't fit Nagelis's taste for plump mother dragons, and it refused: "Buy? You couldn't afford half a fruit even if you sold yourself. When elves offered a reward to cure the Withering Plague of the Tree of Life, they only gave out one seed—a single fruit contains a thousand seeds."

Though they only offered one seed, it wasn't because elves were stingy—if it were magic crystals, they'd gladly offer millions. They simply didn't want the seeds to leak out.

Seeing Serina's disappointment, Nagelis comforted her: "Don't be too disheartened. One or two fruits won't help—you must consume them long-term to extend life. Even if you could afford them, unless you eat them for decades, your lifespan won't increase much. Better to eat lightly—it does more for longevity."

He added: "Though one or two fruits won't extend life, the first one noticeably boosts vitality. Stronger vitality means stronger blood, faster metabolism—kidney deficiency, dysmenorrhea, pigmentation, bad breath, rhinitis, dizziness, lower back pain, weak legs, diarrhea, tremors—all respond well."

"If you have many minor ailments, one fruit clears away most of them. Too bad—you can't afford it," Nagelis sighed.

Serina clutched her chest and crouched aside, mourning her poverty.

Over there, Ang and the dimensional beast had finally reached an agreement. Big Cat swept its massive paw, and the fifty Life Fruits vanished into its fur, then spat out a fist-sized transparent crystal.

Ang picked up the crystal, tilting his head in confusion.

Before the beast could explain, a figure flashed before him—High Altitude Spatial Mage Shiludi appeared, eyes gleaming as she stared at the crystal, leaning closer and unconsciously flashing Ang a flirtatious glance, hoping he'd let her see the crystal.

Today, Shiludi was extraordinarily beautiful—a transformation as profound as rebirth, like the difference between a messy, eye-crusted female mage and a radiant, holy light maiden.

Her previously rough, oily skin had vanished, replaced by smooth, supple, dewy skin. Her greasy, thin hair was gone, replaced by thick, glossy, shoulder-length locks that no longer clung pitifully to her scalp.

The ends were loosely tied, neat and elegant.

Too bad, she'd flashed the wrong eyes—Ang shoved her head away, tucked the crystal into the Realm of Rest, and asked: "What is this?"

"Woof." The dimensional beast let out a cry.

Ang tilted his head—he didn't understand—and turned his gaze to Shiludi.

Shiludi sighed, smoothing her hair. Since her appearance changed, she'd returned to school and been showered with attention, boosting her confidence. She'd occasionally followed Lisa's advice and showed off her charm—but none of these people were impressed.

Not even Lisa herself could make them react.

Looks wouldn't work—only strength would. Shiludi grumbled: "That's a Dimensional Core. It can anchor space and summon this dimensional beast. If you get lost in the dimensional realm, you can use the core to call it to you—and it can anchor a patch of space."

"In the dimensional realm, anchoring a patch of space means you own it—no one else can enter. If you're capable, you can reshape it; if not, use it as a storage space—it's far larger than the space inside jewelry."

As Shiludi spoke, Ang and Nagelis both instinctively glanced at Ang's Passage Hand—hadn't that been fused with a dimensional space teleportation bracelet? Was that thing made from a Dimensional Core?

With the Dimensional Core, summoning the beast in the dimensional realm meant securing the mission. Ang summoned everyone, shoved them all into the Realm of Rest, then followed Shiludi into the beast's fur.

Inside the fur, it was pitch black. The fur parted endlessly as they walked—far beyond forty or fifty meters—and still no end was reached.

Remember, the beast's body was only forty to fifty meters long. Walking so far without reaching the other side meant only one thing: space had shifted.

After walking further, Ang felt a sudden brightness—the fur vanished, and he stood on a massive rock.

The rock was perhaps hundreds of meters in diameter, floating in darkness, with a giant furball sitting alone atop it like a sea urchin glued to a boulder.

Shiludi, who had emerged first, had already cast her spell. A glowing magical array hovered above her palm; she kept adjusting it, muttering: "Eight-nine-seven-two, nine-nine-eight-one..."

Based on these calculations, Shiludi adjusted the array until, finally, an arrow emerged from it, pointing toward a dark spot.

The dimensional beast stared, as if sensing something.

Nagelis's voice echoed from Ang's body: "I just went offline—when space shifted, my projection failed. So, where are we?"

"The dimensional realm," Shiludi replied offhandedly.

Nagelis glanced again at Shiludi's array and said: "You're calculating direction and coordinate distance—circle tangent amp; mp; mp; %@* multiplied by intersecting line, plus square root of relative time value…￥amp; mp; mp; @#%, spiral trajectory far end fastest, final value is ****."

Nagelis's casual remarks left Shiludi stunned, jaw hanging. She recalculated herself, spending half an hour before arriving at the same value Nagelis had stated.

"My god, are you the God of Olympiad Math? Doing coordinate trajectory calculations in your head?" Shiludi's eyes sparkled with awe.

Nagelis sneered: "What's the Olympiad Math God? Can it even compute spatial coordinate systems?"

"Yes yes yes, you're far more powerful—then this value is correct," Shiludi raised her array high for the dimensional beast to see.

"Wait, you spent half an hour just calculating—you must factor in time variation," Nagelis hurriedly added.

"Oh oh oh, time variation—I'll calculate that first... ah ah ah, no! Adding variation means I need another half hour—and then more variations, I'll never finish," Shiludi sank into a loop of calculations outpaced by changes.

Finally, Nagelis stepped in, computing the value in just over a minute and marking it on the array.

The dimensional beast stared, paused, then slammed down hard, signaling Ang and the others to hurry back into its fur.

Another stretch of passage through the fur—when they reappeared, they stood in empty void, with no ground to stand on, forced to cling to the beast's fur.

The surroundings were no longer pitch black—instead, streaks of white light flashed past, interspersed with other colors, eerily similar to the lights Ang had seen while being transported through the Heavenly Staircase.

One streak of light was about to strike the beast, but silently curved around it, veering away into the distance.

Shiludi didn't fear—she rejoiced: "Perfect! Turbulence means there's a large dimensional fragment nearby—likely what we're searching for. Look for gaps or openings!"

These streaks of light were dimensional turbulence from colliding fragments. Such scale meant a large dimensional space was nearby.

Ang scanned the area, then pointed into the distance.

The dimensional beast squinted, stretched its limbs from its fur, and frantically paddled, slowly drifting toward the direction Ang indicated.

Another streak of light flashed past, curving around the beast and vanishing into the distance.

Nagelis noticed Shiludi's body had gone rigid with tension.

"What's wrong?" Nagelis asked.

Shiludi grimaced: "I'm scared. Dimensional turbulence is terrifying."

"Terrifying?" Nagelis watched another streak curve around the beast, baffled: "Why?"

Shiludi sighed: "With the beast here, it's not scary. My teacher's teacher was torn apart by dimensional turbulence—she'd already reached the Truth Mage realm."

"Even a Truth Mage couldn't withstand it? Is dimensional turbulence that terrifying?" Nagelis exclaimed.

"No. Like the strongest dam can't hold back a tsunami—these turbulent flows are tsunamis to us. Their energy level is too high. The magic we learn isn't designed to resist such power," Shiludi said.

No wonder she'd refused outright at first—only after learning a dimensional beast was involved did she reconsider. In the dimensional realm, only native creatures like this beast could survive—like fish hiding beneath a tsunami.

Except this "fish" wasn't a strong swimmer—it flailed for ages before finally reaching a dimensional fragment.

The fragment had a four- to five-hundred-meter-long crack. Friction with the void soon generated a new turbulence, zipping off into the dark.

The dimensional beast strained desperately, reaching the crack, and plunged its head inside—into the dimensional space. Before them stretched endless rows of neatly aligned tombstones, stretching to the horizon.

Landing, Nagelis immediately ordered Ang to release it. Flapping its wings, Nagelis soared into the air, staring at the sea of tombstones, muttering in shock: "It... it's the Place of Slumber. It really is the Place of Slumber. How? How could this be..."

CRACK! A nearby tombstone flipped open. A lich sat up, cursing: "Who's crying and wailing over there? Can't you let people sleep?!"

ps: Taking care of kids is brutal. Trading a fanfic with an author as old as me—link below.