Chapter 662: Small Cabin

Chapter 662 Small Cabin

“Uncle Bluesea, you are up?”

Due to the sound coming from the helicopter’s rotors, Bluesea slowly opened his eyes. Raising his head, he saw Qiao Qiao sitting opposite from him while Chen Xiaolian sat on the pilot seat, his back facing Bluesea.

“This is?”

Bluesea sat up and glanced at his surroundings.

“Bounty. We had finished off all of the pursuers. Next up, we just need to wait for Sister Yun to meet up with us,” replied Chen Xiaolian without turning his head.

Bluesea nodded his head without saying a word. However, there was an odd look on his face.

“What is wrong?” Qiao Qiao looked nervously at Bluesea.

“No, it is nothing.” Bluesea raised his head again and smiled at Qiao Qiao. “We finally managed to save you. You… … do somewhat resemble Brother Qiao.”

“In the past… … you have seen me before, back when I was in Zero City.” Qiao Qiao gave Bluesea a detailed look. “I already know that all the participants in this game, be they Player, Awakened, or Irregularity, must risk their lives. Even so, I never thought that an expert like you would also…”

“You still do not know what happened?” Bluesea looked at Qiao Qiao. “Mm, when you put it that way, you must have died before me.”

“What happened… …” Qiao Qiao was stunned. Bluesea gave a wry smile and pointed at Chen Xiaolian. “I am no longer an Awakened. After getting refreshed as a human, I no longer have my memories of that time. I heard about what happened from him.”

“Just what had happened, Xiaolian?” Qiao Qiao had a feeling that something shocking had happened during the period where she had died.

“We’ll talk about it when we land.” Chen Xiaolian lowered his head to look at the area beneath the helicopter. It was an expanse of white snow. They had arrived at the designated rendezvous point.

The helicopter slowly landed and gusts of snow blew up from the ground.

Chen Xiaolian jumped down the helicopter and opened the rear hatch. Then, he extended his hand to provide support for Bluesea. However, Bluesea rejected his offer and jumped down by himself.

They were within a snowfield with not much protruding surfaces. The terrain was generally flat and was filled with large cedar trees. It would take several humans to wrap themselves around each of the trees. Still, there was a distance of roughly tens of metres between each cedar tree.

There was no weather in World’s End. Yet, for some unknown reason, endless winds blew across that stretch of area. The wind, along with various dirt blew upon their faces, each gust feeling like a piercing knife.

“The temperature is below 30 degrees. We cannot stay here.” Qiao Qiao glanced around with a frown. “Although I can become immune to low temperatures after entering my Anti Materialization form, I cannot maintain it indefinitely. Uncle Bluesea’s body as well…”

“I am fine.” Bluesea shook his head, interrupting Qiao Qiao. “The Bug Armour is wrapped over my body and I do not feel cold right now. However… … I fear that Chen Xiaolian cannot hold on. The question is… … what do we do now?”

Qiao Qiao frowned. “Can we not stay in the helicopter?”

“No.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head firmly. “The sound from the helicopter’s engine is too loud and obvious. If the Coalition send other pursuers after us, it will make things easier for them to track us down. Let’s head deeper into the snowfield.”

“Then… … the companion that you mentioned, the one called Zhao Yun. Won’t she be unable to find us?” Qiao Qiao was puzzled.

“Not a problem.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “She gave me a way to contact her. Mr Bluesea, what do you say?”

“Head in.” Bluesea did not hesitate to agree with Chen Xiaolian. “Although I do not know where this instance dungeon is based, terrain wise, it should be either North America or Siberia. Maybe we can find a place to hide. Even a small wooden cabin would do.”

“All right.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and kept the helicopter into the storage ring. Then, the three of them walked into the inner area of the snowfield.

The deeper they ventured in, the more intense the winds became. Whistling winds continuously blew past them. The area before them was all white and their sight range fell to less than 50 metres.

“Should we head back? This kind of terrain…” Qiao Qiao used her palms to cover her nose as she breathed. Then, she turned to Chen Xiaolian. “We have been walking for so long and seen nothing except these trees.”

“Let’s continue first. If we still cannot find anything, we can bring out the helicopter.” Chen Xiaolian pulled Qiao Qiao’s hand and used his own bodily heat to warm her up. “Do you want to enter Anti Materialization form for a moment?”

“No need. I can still hold on for a while.” Qiao Qiao shook her head gently and wrapped the scarf on her head tighter. She leaned closer to Chen Xiaolian as they trudged deeper in.

The snow on the ground almost reached their thighs. Although their bodies had been enhanced to varying levels of strength, the environment had still made it somewhat difficult for them.

“Look!” As Chen Xiaolian was about to give up on moving forward and summon out the helicopter to shield them from the snow, Qiao Qiao suddenly pulled her hand out of Chen Xiaolian’s grasp and pointed forward. “What is that?”

Amid the snowy winds, they were able to vaguely make out a blurry object. Appearance wise, it looked like a wooden cabin.

The three of them rushed toward the object. After approaching it, they saw that the object standing before them was really a small wooden cabin built against a large cedar tree.

The small cabin was only around 20 square feet in size. Its top was a spire while colour was muted by the snowy winds. It only had one door and no windows.

Chen Xiaolian and Bluesea exchanged glances before nodding their heads. According to their life signature detector, there was nothing suspicious about the cabin.

Bluesea was took the lead and carefully pushed open the door. Next, he turned and gave Chen Xiaolian a thumbs up, indicating that there was no problem there.

Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao rushed forward. After entering the wooden cabin, they closed the door, blocking the snowy winds from entering.

The surface of the ground and walls within the cabin were covered with animal hide. The spots and colour of the skin were so varied, it was impossible to tell exactly which type of animals they were from. The wall greeting them was a fireplace, with a pile of chopped firewood and an axe.

A long rope hung down from one part of the ceiling. Tens of dried meat hung from the rope. It was unknown what type of meat they were. On the other side of the wall were several rough looking hunting bows.

In the centre of the cabin was a huge stump. The cut was performed smoothly. Although the surface of the stump appeared slightly blackened from oil and smoke, it remained very smooth. It would appear that it served as a table. Beside the large tree stump were several smaller-sized stumps. They were also flat and smooth. They must be the seats.

In the corner were several layers of thick blankets.

“This seems like a hunter’s house.” Bluesea inspected the place for a moment. Then, walking toward the fireplace, he started up a fire. Red coloured flames danced and a feeling of warmth slowly filled the cabin.

“Finally, warmth.” Qiao Qiao pulled the thick blankets in the corner over and handed Chen Xiaolian and Bluesea one each. Then, she wrapped herself with one and sat down beside the fireplace.

“All right, now… … we should be safe now.” Qiao Qiao extended her hand out toward Chen Xiaolian and smiled.

“Wait a bit.” Chen Xiaolian nodded and retrieved the spear that Sister Yun had given him from the storage ring. He then passed it over to Bluesea. “Mr Bluesea, I will have to trouble you.”

Bluesea accepted the spear. He then held it horizontally with both hands before him.

This time, though, his luck was not too good. Chen Xiaolian had to hack down five times before he could break the spear. Next, the spear transformed into glowing motes of silver light, which gradually dissipated into the air. 

“All right, Sister Yun should be coming to meet up with us soon.” Chen Xiaolian sat down beside Qiao Qiao and pulled her hand. “After you died, many things happened. The most important one was… … Zero City was destroyed.”

“What?” Qiao Qiao’s eyes widened as she stared with disbelief at Chen Xiaolian. “Zero City? How is that possible?”

“Nothing is impossible. No matter how big, how powerful and how secretive Zero City may be, it was simply a matter of time before the system finds it. The system issued an emergency quest, gathering all the Players.” Chen Xiaolian smiled bitterly. “Mr Bluesea had died back then.”

He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should tell Qiao Qiao the reason why Zero City’s gate had malfunctioned. In the end, he chose not to say anything.

“Then, my father! He… … is he all right?” Qiao Qiao gripped Chen Xiaolian’s hand tightly as she quickly asked.

“He is fine. He was not in Zero City when the incident occurred.” Chen Xiaolian’s words comforted Qiao Qiao somewhat and she listened on to Chen Xiaolian. “Although Zero City had been destroyed, a good number of the Awakened ones inside had managed to escape. However, they have hidden themselves up, no longer maintaining any form of communication with the outside world. I believe that when your father lost contact with the other members of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, he must have realized that something big had happened. However, he certainly has no way of knowing exactly what had happened.”

“Then… … is he safe?” Qiao Qiao was keenly aware of the gist of the issue. “As the Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s representative in the secular world and the owner of the entire guild’s assets, the other Awakened ones… … when they find out that something had happened to Zero City, will they do something toward him?”

Chen Xiaolian considered the question before shaking his head. There was a wry smile on his face. “I am uncertain what conclusions the Awakened ones now have regarding Zero City’s disappearance. However, I believe the conclusion that Zero City had been destroyed will not be appearing any time soon. Besides, your father has bodyguards assigned by the guild by his side. Safety wise, he should be fine for now.”

“That is fine, then.” Qiao Qiao breathed a sigh of relief. “The others in the guild… … are they all right?”

“They are doing very well.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “It is just, Roddy…”

“Roddy? What happened to him?”

“I myself do not know if it is a good thing or a bad thing.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. “That Nicole, whom he had been pining for all this time, returned as an Irregularity. However, I get the feeling that he… … may not get the chance to go after her.”

“He is your good friend. Are you not planning on helping him?” said Qiao Qiao with a smile as she turned to glance at Chen Xiaolian.

“Help? With what? The matters between man and woman must have consent from both sides. What can I help with?” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “Back then, when I got together with you, did I depend on Roddy for help?”

“You are right.” Qiao Qiao laughed before turning to look at Bluesea, who was sitting on the other side. She noticed that there was a frown on his face and he was leaning against the wall.

“Uncle Bluesea, what is wrong? Are you not fully recovered?” Qiao Qiao asked gingerly.

Only after Qiao Qiao had asked twice did Bluesea wake up. He nodded his head and said, “It seems, by using the Bug Armour’s powerful attacks and consuming too much power, I will enter a weakened state. Although it comes with its own self-recovery abilities, it would be best if it could receive energy from external sources.”

…