Chapter 164 - Li Ling Gege Doesn't Need To Do This.

Leyah, "But... Even if they do return, not many believe that they would help us." 

Zhihao furrowed his eyebrows as he questioned, "Why is that?" 

Leyah, for the first time since they had met her, didn't have a smile on her face as she answered the question with some kind of guilt laced along with her expressions, "It's our fault... We were the ones who threw them away. Why would they come to help us?" 

Zhihao pursed his lips as he thought about it. He had no idea what 'fault' this woman was talking about, but he still knew the two captains would never refuse to help them. Why? Well, because this was their mission! 

Win the war against the Ribix! 

Unless they do that, they would be losing out on a lot of T-points and it would possibly make Zhihao cry... Just a little. 

This was a D-ranked level that gave out the fixed reward of 24,300 T-points! A number that no one would ever want to miss out on. Zhihao wasn't crazy to let this opportunity go and so, he was going to carefully play this to make sure that he doesn't get yeeted out of this level because of dearest OOC. 

They continued to listen to more books and after another twenty minutes, they had exceeded the time limit spent at the Oracle center and as a result, were forced to leave the place. 

When they got out of the Oracle center, Leyah enthusiastically asked them where they wanted to go next, "I'll suggest the ping-pong rally. It's a really fun place." 

Zhihao smiled, "That sounds tempting, but I think I have somewhere in mind already." 

"Oh... Where?" Leyah asked as she tilted her head in confusion. 

Zhihao, "This Utopia has a leader, doesn't it? Can you take us to her place?" 

Leyah's smile twitched as she heard this, "Why would you want to go there?" 

Zhihao shrugged it off as nothing more than pure curiosity, "I just want to meet her." 

Leyah shook her head as she tried to warn him, "It's better not to get involved with her."

"Huh? Why?" Zhihao was a bit confused. 

"You might not know this, but the real leader of Utopia isn't her. It was her sister who created this world for us. Laura created Utopia and she was the first leader of this safe haven, however, she was killed a few years ago and her sister, Rei took over the leadership of the place." 

"Oh..." Zhihao seemed to ponder over something for a minute before he questioned, "But why would you warn me against her for that?" 

Leyah sighed, "Don't tell anyone you heard this from me, but it is said that Rei was the one that killed Laura. She murdered her own sister for the position and some even say that she is on the other side." 

"The other side?" 

"Ribix. Some say that she is with them."

Li Ling frowned as he heard this, "Why would they say that?" 

"Eh? Well, because she acts that way! Whenever the teams go up to complete missions, Rei follows them and orders them not to hurt the Ribix. She's the reason why a lot of the people who went out for mission had come back as corpses!" 

Zhihao, "Maybe she feels sympathy for them?" 

Leyah, "Sympathy? I dare not believe something like that. She doesn't look like the type to feel sympathy towards another." 

Zhihao pursed his lips as he looked at her, "And you know her personally?" 

Leyah scoffed, "Of course, I don't!" 

Zhihao, "Then why talk so bad about her without knowing her?" 

Rei looked suspicious to Zhihao but he didn't peg her to be the kind of person that kills their own blood sister. She just didn't have an aura of a villain. Her character was much more complicated and seemed to be hiding a lot of secrets. 

Zhihao, "If you know the way, just take us there." 

He sounded a bit strict and rude. Leyah gulped as she nodded her head, "Okay..." 

She walked in a certain direction followed by Zhihao and Li Ling but after walking for more than ten minutes, Zhihao frowned as he asked, "Can't we take a cab if it's too far away?" 

"Cabs?" Leyah chuckled as she repeated, "I'm afraid no one will be willing to take you to the place where you want to go." 

Zhihao, "..."

Li Ling chuckled as he patted Zhihao's shoulder in an assuring manner, "It's okay, A-Zhi. We can walk." 

Zhihao looked at Li Ling's face with half-open eyes, "Gege, there is something wrong." 

Li Ling's cheeks turned a bit red as he heard the word 'Gege' being used to refer to him, however, he still tried to calmly ask, "What do you mean?" 

Zhihao sighed as he whispered, making sure that Leyah who was walking ahead in front of them wouldn't be able to hear them, "How come Rei recognized us and bought us back here without telling us anything about the prophecy?" 

Li Ling, "Maybe she didn't want to throw so much at us as soon as we met...? Is this why you asked to go meet her again?" 

Zhihao shook his head as he answered, "The reason I want to meet her again is different." 

Li Ling had an indecipherable expression on his face as he asked, "What do you want to ask her?" 

Zhihao shook his head once again, "I don't want to ask her any questions. I want to ask her for aid." 

"Eh?'

Zhihao smiled as stretches his hand out to brush Li Ling's head once, "Gege, I know you wanted to explore because of me." 

Li Ling's cheeks turned even more red as he heard this and wondered if he should deny it or just stay silent. 

"But you don't need to do that," Zhihao continued with a sigh, "I'm not stupid and although Utopia might look amazing, I would never want to enjoy exploring it at a time like this." 

Li Ling, "..." 

Zhihao, "We are here so the war is probably just around the corner. If we stay here for too long, we might destroy this place soon." 

Li Ling, "but the ping-pong rally sounds really fun..." 

Zhihao chuckled as he heard this but didn't give a verbal response. 

Li Ling wanted to show Zhihao how amazing this place was. He wanted to have fun together, but he knew that it wasn't possible under such circumstances when the war was just a few hours away. 

Li Ling was about to say something more but suddenly they heard Leyah speak up, "We are here!" 

Zhihao and Li Ling both turned to face the front where they saw a gate. A gate that didn't have any walls to support it from the two sides.

Zhihao, "Eh?" 

Leyah smiled as she explained, "She lives here. The leader's headquarters. Just go through this door and you'll get there." 

Zhihao was a bit suspicious about it as he looked at the lonely door that looked as if it were one of those 'anywhere door' from an old hit children's cartoon called Doraemon. 

Li Ling was the first to step forward and reach out his hand to open the door, but he was stopped by Zhihao who warned him not to open it. "It could be a trap," Zhihao whispered. 

Li Ling smiled as he looked at Zhihao with an amused expression, "Trust this Gege." 

"..." 

Li Ling opened the door and entered the 'invisible' headquarters. 

Zhihao didn't hear or see him for the next few minutes as the Li Ling that had gone from this side didn't appear on the other side of the door. It was as if he had vanished in thin air. 

Oh God! This is really like the anywhere door! 

Zhihao turned his head to face Leyah as he questioned, "Are you sure you're sane?" 

"Eh?" Leyah smiled in confusion. 

Zhihao squinted but in the end, he shook his head and decided to follow after Li Ling. 

He entered the door and found out that he had been fooled. This wasn't anywhere door! 

From the inside, the outside was clearly visible with Leyah standing there, smiling in one moment before her eyes widened and she panicked. 

Zhihao was confused to see this. 

Leyah who was still outside couldn't be heard by Zhihao as she cried out, "You didn't pay me yet!" 

Zhihao felt someone tapping on his shoulder and when he turned around, he saw that it was Li Ling who was smiling as he asked, "Are you surprised?" 

Zhihao reluctantly nodded. 

Li Ling, "The walls were invisible. We can't see anything from the outside." 

"It was an illusion to hide the headquarters," Zhihao added as he stretched his hand forward to touch the wall that could only be felt and not seen. 

"What are you doing here again?" It was a familiar voice of a girl. 

Zhihao and Li Ling turned their heads to be met with a frowning Rei. 

Rei, "Weren't you taking a break to relax? How did you find this place?" 

Zhihao was about to answer her but before the words could roll out of his tongue, his eyes trailed behind her where he saw something that shocked and amazed him at the same time.