Recap: William Mu entered and his father arrived in the Pentagon. They meet the director of the Dicer Division, Roger Haunt, and learn the horrible truth about Dice. They learn the true reason why some Dicers, like Uncle Wan, chose to never come back whenever they survived another year. William is covered in a sphere of blue light and vanishes from the rooftop of the Pentagon.
Chapter 3: Earth-4
"Your son will be fine. He's a strong lad," Director Roger Haunt said as he and Tian head to the elevator. "Are you sure you don't wish to go home?"
"I will stay. I told my wife I'd be at home with my son. I can't go back without him. Between you and me, she controls our marriage. Not complaining, but there are times where I'm afraid to do what I want," Tian chuckled as the returned to the glass room.
"Sir! Big news! Another alternate Earth has appeared!" one of the agents shouted and Tian and the director raced to the giant monitor in the glass room.
"Earth-4? Impossible. He should have been sent to Earth-3," the director gasped.
"There were more alternate Earths?" Tian gasped.
"Over a hundred years ago, Dicers were sent to Earth-2. It was a futuristic Earth with flying cars and plasma technology. Then, Dicers were sent to Earth-3 after the Dicers living reached some quota. We never figured it out. Now, your son was sent to Earth-4," the director answered.
"We received reports of five new Dicers. Two of them are in the United States!" an agent cried.
"So soon? Are the live screens still showing the Dicers of Earth-3?" the director asked.
"Yes sir, but we have no visual confirmation of what is happening to Dicer William Mu. At the top right corner of the screen, azure letters state that Earth-4 is being prepared and Dice rewards are being adjusted," another agent said. "Putting it on the main monitor now."
The two men stared at the giant monitor to see a girl fighting a giant wolf pack. At the corner of the screen, there were indeed azure letters stating what the agent reported. The director then yelled orders to retrieve the new Dicers in the United States as Tian sank into a chair and prayed his son was alright. His heart ached as he remembered his son's last words before he vanished.
In an unknown place isolated from time, William Mu awoke. He was still in the sphere of blue light, but he was traveling through the stars. He saw countless planets as the sphere zoomed by. He saw giant gas planets like Jupiter. He saw cold planets with ice rings. He saw pink and purple planets. He passed by yellow suns and blue suns. He soared above black holes and past galaxies.
"What is this? What is happening? If I only had my camera..." William sighed as he admired the cosmos.
"Hello William," a man said as he appeared beside him.
"Me? Wait. You can't be me. Who are you? What are you?" William gasped.
"We figured this was the best way to calmly communicate to you," his clone said, save he wore blue and white robes and not brown robes.
"We? Those colors....are you the Immortal's Dice?" William asked.
"Yes and no. What you are seeing is an illusion, an image formed to communicate," the clone said and changed form to a Hispanic teen. "Perhaps this form will be easier for you."
"Jorge. He was my best friend," William said softly. "The last time I saw him was on the television screen as he got his chest ripped apart and his head bitten off in pieces."
"Not a pretty picture. My friend, the news you need to hear is not one which you prepared for. You are heading to a new Earth in the same dimension of your own world. Slight differences, same universes, and different galaxy. In simpler terms: we are in in the universe your Milky Way Galaxy is in, but not the same galaxy that contains your world. The Milky Way Galaxy is one of several galaxies in the universe. You saw the blue sun. That is the center of the universe, and not even one hundred of your Jupiter planets can fill even five percent of the sun," the Jorge clone said.
"Why send me somewhere else? Something wrong?" William asked.
"The quota was filled. The right amount of living Dicers was met," Jorge smiled. "You are the first Dicer to go to Earth-4. As a reward, you will learn the Ghost Severing Strike skill and gain spirit energy sensing. The next two Dicers will also receive the ability albeit slightly weaker, and a different skill."
"What a weird skill," William noted as information branded into his memory.
"Earth-1 is where you come from. Earth-2 is a futuristic Earth. One your planet will never achieve even if six hundred years pass by. Your oceans already have plastic islands and glaciers the size of Texas already fall off your arctic lands. Earth-3 is where you would have gone. It is an Earth very much like the xianxia novels you love to read. Earth-4 is quite different. Every Earth has similarities. You should know that," Jorge said as they passed another galaxy. "The universe is quite amazing. So much life and death created similar by forces we cannot comprehend. Every day a new star dies and many more take its place. Some stars fall apart in itself and form black holes. Others burn bright and become suns which burn despite the lack of oxygen in empty space. Do you know that?"
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Why are you telling me this?" William asked.
"The universe is the like the living body. The cells live and die everyday like stars. The heart is the blue sun. Your organs are the galaxies. Such is the analogy. Earth-4 is where you will go. You must survive, Dicer. You'll have many enemies on that Earth," Jorge said and vanished like dust blown in the wind. William didn't know what the Dice meant as is eyes felt heavy. He took one last look at the stars before he lost consciousness.
"Dicer is unconscious. Now updating memory based on Earth-4 Dicer parameters. Memory updated. Now downloading memories and sealing Earth-1 memories," the die said in a monotone voice. "Download complete. Seal complete. Update acknowledged. Due to update, Dicer will forget Fireball spell and learn the Lightning Arrow spell. The Sunbolt technique will be replaced with the Earth-Shattering Fist. Totem-grade sword and spatial ring remain unchanged. Destroying flesh and scanning Earth-4 for suitable host.......scanning......host found. 98% match to William Mu's appearance. Now transferring spatial ring and soul to new host body."
A blue crystal die and a black ring levitated within the blue sphere as it shot down onto a planet similar to Earth. The sphere of blue light entered an ash-colored cabin by a giant lake with a river connecting to the ocean past the mountain range. A boy with brown hair and brown eyes was on the bed with his eyes wide open. The boy had succumbed to a mysterious poison and died from excruciating pain. The blue sphere of light landed on the body and a black liquid was expelled from the pores.
The ring adjusted on the left index finger as the boy opened his blue eyes. His breathing quickened as he leaned upright, memories buzzing in his head. Knowledge flowed in his head as his body grew slightly and developed lean muscles. The Immortal's Dice sent invisible energy all over the lake village. Those who had any knowledge of the boy had their memories changed.
One old man and his granddaughter were the most affected. They were the blood-related family of the boy. Their memories of the boy, Feng Bai, was nearly the same. They would always believe Feng was always born with blue eyes. Shen and Qing Bai were Feng's family. Feng did not know about his parents, his grandfather raising him and his sister. Feng was seven and Qing was about three months old when Grandpa Shen brought them to the village.
Feng was rescued by an immortal while hunting in the woods. This immortal taught give him scrolls containing secret skills. These skills were Beast Tamer and the Ghost Severing Stike skill. Feng also found a spatial ring from a dead immortal at the bottom of the lake. It contained exotic food and beverages. Most importantly, it contained a scroll of a martial technique called Earth-Shattering Fist. Feng also found a scroll containing the Lightning Arrow spell.
Grandpa Shen, Qing, and Feng would believe these memories to be real. They also hoped Feng had affinity to thunder. The Bai Clan had a long history of affinity to fire, but their clan was most famous for an ancestor who was an immortal with the affinity to thunder. That ancestor was Lei Bai and one of the most powerful thunder immortals in history. If he had more than one elemental affinity, the Bai Clan would have ruled the world. Anyone fortunate to become an immortal would celebrate just to have two affinities. The maximum elemental affinities one could have, even with mystical items or immortal methods, was five.
"I'm alive. My name is Feng. Why do I have fragmented memories of myself as William Mu?......Oh! So the Pepsi is a soda. Where did the immortal find it and how did I know that?" Feng groaned as he felt a pang of pain in his head. "Man my head hurts. Am I dehydrated? Tomorrow, grandpa and Qing come back from the port city. Hopefully the crops and boar hide sold well."
Feng stared silently at the lake before meditating in the backyard. On his lap was a scroll containing a Qi condensation method. Qi was another term for spirit energy. Qi condensation methods were the meditation techniques that allowed a mortal to cultivate spirit enery and become an immortal. The immortal and his grandfather said he had average talent. It would take him months to condense spirit energy in his body. For some reason, he could actually sense spirit energy circulating in his body. Black liquid seeped from his pores and spread a rancid stink all over his clothes.
"I, I did it! I became an immortal!" Feng celebrated as he jumped to his feet. His nose wrinkled as the stench became too strong and quickly ran to the tub in his room. He did not notice the blue crystal die on his bed. Nor did he remember that he would be watched until the day he died.
This boy was not William Mu of Earth. He is a Dicer of Earth-4: Feng of the Bai Clan.
Author: I have finals this week so there won't be a new chapter for a while. Now, the transition to the new Earth is complete. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.