Chapter 114

Outside the academy gate.

Several dozen large hovercars were parked neatly and orderly.

Under the maintenance of the intelligent law enforcement puppets, 120 Storm Sea Newbloods from the four grades of the South District exited the academy first.

According to grade, they boarded four hovercars respectively.

Afterwards, the North District's local apprentices filed out of the academy, orderly boarded the hovercars, and each took their seat.

Throughout, no formal wizard appeared.

The order on site was entirely controlled by the spirit of the main tower of the elementary academy's intelligent management center, via the intelligent law enforcement puppets.

Soon, all participants had boarded the vehicles.

The hovercars then started moving one after another.

Several dozen unmanned hovercars, following the preset route, headed for the sole openly existing cross‑world transfer portal in the Ruiwo Si Si special zone.

The reason it's called the sole openly existing one is, of course, because the Ruiwo Si Si Academy has more than one cross‑world transfer portal!

The journey took about half an hour.

The destination had been reached, and the several dozen hovercars were parked properly.

The South District had fewer people, yet it was still the arranged Storm Sea Newbloods who took the initiative.

The fourth‑year group got off first, entering what appeared to be an unguarded, bare cross‑world transfer portal standing alone in a wide open plaza.

There were no special light or shadow effects.

One by one, the Storm Sea Newbloods walked into the portal without causing the slightest ripple.

Soon, the third‑ and second‑year groups had all entered the portal, and it was the first‑year's turn.

Under the prompting of the intelligent puppets, the Newbloods entered in order according to the combined ranking of their three exam scores.

Lan Ni. Tai Le was the first to walk into the portal, and her figure vanished instantly.

Lin Ke followed closely behind, carrying a large heavy pack, and stepped in.

After entering, the sensation of time and space being torn was extremely strong, and his eyes instinctively shut tight.

Lin Ke felt as if he were being wrapped and protected all over by a current of water.

Only the sensation of time‑space tearing did not cause too much impact on his body and senses.

I don't know how long passed—perhaps a second, perhaps a long while.

Lin Ke felt that under his feet was no longer a hard, flat floor, but a layered, uneven ground of dead leaves.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a forest.

This forest was extremely desolate, giving Lin Ke the first impression of an old man whose oil lamp has run dry.

Setting aside the slightly strange feeling, Lin Ke readied his defenses and observed his surroundings.

The forest wasn't large, covering roughly one mu of land.

Dead branches and leaves littered the ground, and many snapped‑off dead tree trunks lay scattered.

A few steps away from Lin Ke lay a palm‑sized small pouch, its surface embroidered with the emblem of the Ruiwo Si Si Academy.

Taking off the heavy pack on his back, Lin Ke took out four reconnaissance puppets that resembled intelligent law enforcement puppets, laying them flat on the ground.

He placed two standard‑grade Magic Stones on each puppet, then activated them.

After a faint, almost inaudible hum, the reconnaissance puppets rose from the ground and flew off in four directions for surveillance.

Thanks to the extra rewards granted by Wizard Selrin, Lin Ke updated another batch of equipment before the midterm exam.

These four reconnaissance puppets are all first‑ring magical devices, costing nearly three‑quarters of his net worth to obtain.

Besides that, the large pack contained many assorted rune items, as well as three heavy weapons.

The more good stuff, the better.

For his own safety, Lin Ke added another heavy weapon said to have a chance to kill a first‑rank wizard.

Soon, the reconnaissance puppets' feedback was transmitted to Lin Ke via the bone‑conduction earpiece hanging on his left ear.

After confirming there were no hidden dangers around, Lin Ke stepped forward and picked up the small pouch.

Opening the small pouch, he found only two items inside: a wristwatch and a folded sheet of paper.

Lin Ke unfolded the folded paper, only to see the following written on it:

Main Quest 1: Choose a Faction (Your actions determine your faction; think carefully before acting)

Main Quest 2: Faction Conflict (What the enemy wants to do is what you must destroy)

Main Quest 3: Save the World, or Destroy It (Depending on the faction)

Side Quest 1: Investigate the Truth Behind This World's Decline (Optional, depending on circumstances)

Side Quest 2: Map the World

Side Quest 3: Collect Water Samples and Analyze Their Composition

Side Quest 4: Collect Soil Samples and Analyze Their Composition

Side Quest 5: Produce Specimens of Various Plants

Side Quest 6: Produce Specimens of Various Animals

Side Quest 7: Find Strategies for the World's Sustainable Development

In total, there are 3 main quests and 7 side quests.

After reading the paper's contents, Lin Ke fell into thought.

Judging from the few traces so far, it seems this Two Districts Grand Comparison has a deeper meaning!

He folded the paper back up, put it back in the pouch, and took out the wristwatch to check its functions.

After a series of careful operations, Lin Ke had something he wanted to say but wasn't sure whether to speak up or stay silent.

The wristwatch's functions are very simple—just three:

First is contact, with three modes: public channel, faction channel, and private channel,

In public channel mode, one can send one message per day not exceeding ten characters, visible to everyone,

In faction channel mode, one can send two messages per day not exceeding ten characters, visible to all faction members,

In private channel mode, one can send three messages per day not exceeding ten characters to a private individual, visible only to the other party;

Second is positioning; after searching a name and mutually agreeing to bind, each day one can locate the other's position once;

Third is the footprint map, which is easy to understand literally.

The wristwatch's three functions are all practical, but the academy is truly stingy!

One, two, or three messages per day are fine; it's understandable.

But each message not exceeding ten characters—what's that about?

Is it testing word‑forming and sentence‑making ability, or the mutual understanding between the two parties?

Regardless of whether to complain, Lin Ke put the small pack into the big pack, then shouldered the big pack.

He set the scout puppet's mode to trailing guard; Lin Ke does not intend to stay long here and is preparing to leave.

However, before leaving, there is something to be done.

Wizard Aila's emphasized words still ring in his ears:

The danger of solo action is far greater than that of team action;

After confirming safety, the first thing is to look for teammates!

Lin Ke entered Mo Li Kidman's name into the wristwatch's positioning function.

Only one person's position can be located per day; naturally the first choice is Mo Li, whom he trusts most.

He only hopes Mo Li's surroundings are safe and that he can quickly find her small pack.

Not long after, the wristwatch reacted; Mo Li agreed to the mutual binding request.

After carefully choosing his words, Lin Ke input a concise message: "Locate each other, watch out for danger."

Not even a punctuation mark.

After waiting a moment, the wristwatch sent back a reply: "Good, don't worry—I'm temporarily safe by the river, though dangerous beasts block the way, and I'm thinking."

Lin Ke glanced at it and immediately translated the specific meaning:

"Okay, don't worry, I'm temporarily safe by the river; dangerous beasts block my path, and I'm thinking of a way."

The lax academy doesn't handle personnel matters!

They gave a wristwatch for contact, yet they imposed such harsh restrictions.

Lin Ke cursed under his breath and sent out a mutual positioning request.

Mo Li's side quickly agreed.

Two tiny arrow‑shaped light dots immediately appeared on the wristwatch.

But they flashed for less than five seconds and then vanished.

Fortunately Lin Ke remembered the positions of the two light dots and the direction the arrows pointed.

The unpleasant part is that there are no reference points or scale, so one cannot tell how far apart they are.

Not dwelling on it, Lin Ke, under the protection of the four scout puppets, set off toward Mo Li's location.

When traveling in the wilderness, especially in this unfamiliar wild where nothing is known, speed cannot be increased, nor should it be.

Lin Ke simply proceeded while carefully observing the surroundings.

From time to time he took water and soil samples, plucked some plant roots, stems, leaves, and fruits utterly different from those in the wizard world, and quickly made specimens with magical assistance.

The big pack he carried contained a set of simple alchemy equipment.

Just taking samples and making some specimens—nothing difficult at all.

What troubles Lin Ke is the limited capacity of the big pack; he must consider the future, so he cannot keep all the samples and specimens he finds interesting and deems necessary to retain.

"We must find Mo Li and Ba Ke and the others as soon as possible."

Holding that thought, Lin Ke was not impatient; he continued forward at a steady, unhurried pace.

After walking for about two and a half hours, he had covered roughly ten li.

Lin Ke noticed that the "sun" overhead showed no sign of movement, arousing his suspicion.

Could it be that this world has no day‑night cycle?

Carrying this doubt, Lin Ke walked another hour or so, constantly paying attention to the relationship between the "sun" and his own position.

From various signs, Lin Ke could preliminarily conclude that the "sun" in this world is suspended in the "sky" and does not move.

"Interesting."

Lin Ke deliberately kept this finding in mind; if he pondered, he might gain insight.

As for what he might have realized, Lin Ke said it was merely a guess and not yet certain.

"Is anyone there? Help me!"

Suddenly, Lin Ke heard cries for help coming from ahead.

Question: When hearing a cry for help in the wilderness, how should one respond?

Lin Ke's choice was to instantly activate the active defense mode of the "Defender 3202" set,

then command two scout puppets to patrol within a hundred‑meter radius around him,

while the other two scout puppets detour from the left and right to scout the source of the cries.

He swiped his left hand at his waist, plucking a flash‑type self‑destruct fire bomb, ready to launch at any moment.

With his right hand he took a black lens from his chest pocket and clipped it onto the gold‑wire glasses exchanged for two "credits" on the bridge of his nose.

This lens links to the scout puppets, allowing him to see the real‑time footage from all four scout puppets.

By mental control, he can switch between different scout puppets and also zoom in or out the image.

After a moment, Lin Ke saw a well-equipped but immature female student, surrounded by a group of beasts resembling gray wolves but much larger, on a small dirt mound.

Among the 30 first-year Storm Sea Newbloods, there was no such female student.

So, this is a local apprentice from the North District.

Whether cautious or prejudiced, Lin Ke does not intend to get involved in this matter.

Even if he vaguely guessed it, the key to distinguishing factions lies in these choices of good, evil, or indifference.

Lin Ke is neither a great evil who loves destruction nor a great good who acts kindly without principle.

He feels no responsibility toward this world; saving or destroying it needs no deliberation, it matters not.

After determining his bearings, Lin Ke decided to take a detour.

Detouring around the female student ahead, detouring around that pack of hungry "Wild Wolves".

But before Lin Ke could act, the North District female student trapped on the small dirt mound unexpectedly spotted him.

Obviously, more than just Lin Ke possesses detection-type magic devices.

Like a drowning person grasping at a straw, she shouted from afar toward Lin Ke's direction: "Friend of the Witch, help me! Lend a hand! This humble woman is eternally grateful!"

Lin Ke's retreating steps stopped instantly.

He was recognized!

Moreover…

"Friend of the Witch"?

The other party even knew this title, which only occasionally appeared on the "Ruiwosuosi Luntan"!

Obviously, it's impossible for them to know nothing about Lin Ke's situation.

In that case, taking a detour is no longer the best option.

We must think of another way.

The burst of updates for the past two days ended yesterday; starting today, updates will resume normally—if I write more, I'll post more; if less, I'll post normally.

(End of chapter)