It was Katherine, Katherine Holt, a member of the Ice Saint Beast Cult. She was the only connection he had in the New World to his old life, to Yaoyao. She looked just like before, perhaps a little more suntanned.

He knew they would likely meet again. Heather had mentioned her when discussing Riverside Village. Still, he felt unprepared.

A mixture of emotions swirled within him. There was an uncomfortable sense of longing for the past and the connections that had been severed. He wasn’t interested in joining her beast cult. But if it meant being able to find Yaoyao faster, he was willing to entertain the idea.

There was also a feeling of disappointment. When he was at his most desperate and downtrodden, he had placed his hopes in her. He shouldn’t have done that. He shouldn’t have trusted her as much as he should have. She kept so many secrets from him that resulted in the disaster at the monolith. Did her mission for the Ice Saint Beast Cult really have to do with him? Did she really follow him to the New World or was it a convenient excuse?

But he also had to thank her. If it were not for her, he would not have jumped into that watery abyss. He would not have met Wander, an encounter that changed his life completely.

“This is Zach, a new member of our Roan Oak Village,” Heather said, gesturing to him.

“Hi, I'm Zachary.” He added, trying not to look at Katherine.

The introductions between the two groups wrapping up quickly. They had met each other before. They weren’t friendly but they weren’t enemies. Heather and Thomas chatted about some things that Zachary didn’t care about while the rest eyed each other awkwardly.

Katherine was no longer staring at him. She had chosen to hide herself behind another member of her group. Given her small stature, she was no longer visible to him. But he could still sense her presence as well as a faint feeling that she was sneaking glances at him every so often.

“Big bro, so that’s the woman you were telling me about?” Wander asked.

“Yeah, Katherine. We were companions for a few weeks at the beginning.”

“She’s not that impressive. Heather is much better. She’s taller and prettier. Didn’t you say you prefer bigger chests and bigger backsides? Haha, Heather’s dimensions are all superior.”

“Wander, what do you know about human beauty?”

“Hmph! More than you think!”

Zachary and Wander continued to argue about the finer points of human sexual attraction compared to that of turtles. Meanwhile, Heather and Thomas wrapped up their meet and greet and went their separate ways. Although they had worked together in the past, they were now competitors. There were only four tickets back to the Old World up for grabs. They had always been competitors from the start.

“Guys, listen up,” Heather said once they were alone. “Whatever happens, whatever the Republic tries to do, remember that we are a team. Nellie… Shuhua… Carlos… Zach…”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

She looked at each of them in turn to make sure that they were paying attention, “I will do my best to help you and you should do your best to help each other. If, by chance, one of you has to fight with anyone else here for a spot to go home, do it fairly and show mercy. Remember, we are in this together. And if all else fails, we can just brave the New World together.”

With her last words, she gazed at Zachary meaningfully.

“Fine.” He replied.

They already had this conversation many times. He understood why. She wanted him to stay. But he couldn’t. If he couldn’t go back, he didn’t know what he would do.

After that, the gang sat around under the shade, waiting for something to happen. So far, there was hardly any activity on the ship. Aside from the occasional flying summons sent out for scouting, nobody had disembarked. There was still time, perhaps more survivors would show up before sundown.

While Zachary was chatting with Wander about whether he liked Katherine or Heather more, an unnatural shadow fell from the trees. It landed in front of him and took the shape of a man. It was Jean-Pierre.

“It’s you,” Zachary said unenthusiastically.

“What’s with that? You’re not happy to see me?” Jean-Pierre asked.

Zachary shrugged, “Should I be?”

“It’s you again. How have you been?” Heather asked.

“Great!” Jean-Pierre replied cheerily.

The two exchanged pleasantries. He also greeted the others before circling back to Zachary. He led Zachary to another tree, away from the others.

“What’s up?” Zachary asked.

Jean-Pierre looked around to make sure they would be undisturbed. He then waved his hand toward the ground.

“Just making sure we won’t be overheard.”

A steady stream of Eternum flowed out and took the form of a hazy gray shadow that covered them both. It was like a light fog that obscured their surroundings from the inside. It also faintly concealed them from the outside world.

Zachary recognized it immediately as ability summoning. He didn’t know what kind of ability but he didn’t sense any danger.

“Interesting.” He said as he waved his hand through the gray fog, “Is this another ability of your owl?”

“Yeah, jealous?”

“No.”

Jean-Pierre chuckled.

“So, what happened to the scorpion dragon? I assume you stayed around to keep track of it.” Zachary asked.

“It didn’t die, if that’s what you’re asking. It killed a lot of seagulls but in the end, it couldn’t win against such overwhelming numbers. It fled underground and hasn’t shown itself again. I have no idea where it went but it abandoned the quintessence spring. The seagulls now own the place but they don’t have many uses for earth quintessence. They can dig it out but they can’t use it to cultivate. These days, they just use the rocks as bait for prey."

“I see. What a waste.” Zachary replied.

"Yeah, what a waste," Jean-Pierre waved his hand, “But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. I came to give you another warning.”

“Oh?” Zachary tilted his head, finally interested.

“Last time, you helped me with the scorpion dragon. That favor was too great. I had to return it. So, here it is… You should be careful. Some people don’t want to see you return to the Old World. They will do anything to stop you.”

There was a long pause as Zachary let those words sink in. He studied Jean-Pierre’s expression and it was completely serious. Such a warning was unexpected but it didn’t seem unreasonable. The Yoon-Cromwell Corporation played a lot of tricks to entrap him and turn him into a mass murderer. They would not be happy to see him again.

“I appreciate your warning,” Zachary said, “But why should I trust you?”

Jean-Pierre smiled, “I knew you would say that. Here.”

He waved his hand through the surrounding fog. The shadow of his owl flashed past, depositing a small, sealed envelope. He then handed the letter to Zachary.

Zachary took the letter and examined it. There was nothing written on the envelope but the stamp on the wax seal was distinctive. He recognized it immediately. It belonged to his mother’s bookshop.