Chapter 269: The Meeting Place

Chapter 269: The Meeting Place

“Ah~ Much better.” After roaring with a voice like a broken gong for a long time, Zheng Yichen felt a lot of the pent-up annoyance in his heart had been vented. But checking his physical state quickly brought back plenty of gloominess!

That single roar had consumed almost four-fifths of his Mana… What the… what sort of Lion’s Roar did he just let loose? Why such a huge cost?

The expenditure of Mana made Zheng Yichen shift uncomfortably. He gradually reduced his flying altitude. Hmm, this wasn’t physical stamina; using up lots of it just involved a drain on Spiritual Power, it wouldn’t affect his physical condition. As for why people looked so exhausted after prolonged fights until their energy was depleted?

Did they think roaring when unleashing big moves didn’t take effort?

Looking left and right, Zheng Yichen decisively left the area. Seriously, who knows how many people his roar just disturbed? Stick around waiting to get grabbed? Before leaving, he flipped through his backup Magic spell notes. From them, he pulled out a spell he felt necessary and had kept aside. He used it to disperse the residual ripples nearby – not just traces of Mana, mainly to obscure some other signs.

Logically speaking, the emotions were incredibly strong during his outburst. A normal dragon doing this would definitely stir their own Dragon’s Aura, releasing it involuntarily. But even if he roared his throat raw, no Dragon’s Aura would come out. It wasn’t long after he slipped away that several figures descended on the spot. One of them cast a Detection Magic spell.

“The scene’s been cleaned up… but it should have been that dragon. Nothing out of the ordinary nearby… what was he doing here?” The caster frowned, puzzled. The emotional undercurrent in Zheng Yichen’s roar had been far too intense. If someone wasn’t frightened by the roar itself, they could clearly hear the emotional turmoil within it.

After all, it was a dragon roar infused with Mana. At that moment, Zheng Yichen was only focused on venting; he wasn’t holding back. The expelled Mana inevitably carried some Spiritual Power along, and Spiritual Power was the perfect vessel for carrying emotions and thoughts!

“Maybe he had a bad breakup? The cry sounded frustrated and miserable,” a somewhat younger-looking youth near the man said casually, arms crossed. The others shot him a glance, then ignored him, intently searching for any trace they could find. But Zheng Yichen truly didn’t come here for any purpose beyond roaring out his frustration. So no matter how diligently these people searched, they weren’t going to find any useful clues.

“Absolutely nothing then. Someone’s coming, let’s go.” After confirming there were no traces of clues, the group shook their heads. That cleaning spell was quite special; it destroyed any important information that could have been gathered here. Apart from a faint residue of Mana, nothing important remained, including any trace of that dragon’s Dragon’s Aura.

Every dragon’s Dragon’s Aura was unique, almost like a facial signature for identification. If they could confirm Zheng Yichen’s Dragon’s Aura, they could use it as a lead with the Dragon Clan to track him down, since Dragon’s Aura was so intricately linked to the dragon.

They left openly, without any attempt to conceal themselves. They didn’t need to hide, because they were members of the Sanctuary Church! As for interception, while the Sanctuary Church was vastly powerful, it had few negative rumors about bullying others… if any, those were mostly fabricated by Cults. So much so, that while such talk might have been somewhat believable earlier on, later, common folks hearing it would just think, ‘Oh, this is probably just another Cult trying to slander them maliciously.’

As long as they weren’t there to cause malicious trouble, even if they arrived early and collected important items, few would dare openly stop them. Those arriving later now just silently watched the Sanctuary Church members depart. Most were citizens of Kaja City – the roar had been closest to Kaja, after all – so they were likely the most worried about trouble.

“Save your effort. The place is spotless, nothing left behind,” the youth called back to those trying to find traces as they walked away before being pulled forward by his companion.

“Talk less. Let them see for themselves.”

It wasn’t about lacking kindness. Some people just wouldn’t believe warnings. Saying something might be useless, and worse, finding nothing themselves, they might start suspecting the person who warned them. “Alright, alright. I wonder if that girl I met at the bar is still around…”

“Shut up!”

“They got here fast!” Only after everyone had left did Zheng Yichen, hiding some distance away, pull off the Camouflage Cloth. Its principle was similar to mirror reflection, but not physical – it targeted Magic. Encountering certain detection spells, it would reflect part of the probe effect. The reflected part would mingle with the detection spell, creating similar information feedback to indicate nothing was there. This only worked with items like Camouflage Cloth.

Putting it on an Alchemical Puppet was asking for trouble. Cast a Detection Magic spell, and back comes the feedback: ‘nothing there.’ Did that person casting the spell suddenly go blind?

“Urgh~ Hiding just got me depressed again. Should I roar again?” Zheng Yichen knocked on his head. Forget it, better head home quickly. Focus and struggle for another eight or ten years… he refused to believe he’d spend his whole life hiding. But thinking about the Witches’ typical lifespans of hundreds of years… sigh, maybe Dan Marina was the most carefree among them all.

When could he be like Dan Marina? Wearing the identity of a Cursed Dragon, moving about freely outside. As long as he didn’t do something unforgivable, even if he ran into a Saintess from the Sanctuary Church face to face, he’d be… ‘overlooked.’ Hmm, tsk! That also took foundational strength. If Dan Marina hadn’t been powerful enough back then and couldn’t escape, that Saintess probably wouldn’t have minded taking her down while doing her job. Strong power, making a move would invite absolute trouble, staying low-key and not causing trouble…

Hmm. Given the current situation, he only fit the third point… the first two? Sure, he was strong among ordinary beings. But on the Sorceress’s level, he was still insignificant. Causing absolute trouble if moved? He thought about it: he had no Nuclear Bombs, no biochemical viruses, and lacked Dan Marina’s abilities. As for being ‘trouble,’ there were far more troublesome existences in this world; he didn’t even rank.

So, to strive for this goal… shouldn’t he put in more effort? Figure out how to create some viciously destructive weapons?

“Hey, I’m back.” Rubbing his bald dragon head, Zheng Yichen sounded a bit awkward seeing Loris waiting outside his den. Earlier, he’d been focused on running away himself and completely overlooked Loris. Seeing her standing there waiting for him now made him feel rather sheepish.

“It’s fine. Let’s go back.” She shook her head. She hadn’t been waiting constantly. Zheng Yichen flew fast, but it wasn’t difficult for her to follow. She just hadn’t interrupted while he was venting. Back inside the Underground Base, Loris took out that crystal Zheng Yichen had used before. It had been completely divided. Though it looked whole, a close look revealed countless fine fracture lines inside!

“Huh? It’s already done?” Zheng Yichen saw it and asked in surprise, “Since when?”

“Two days ago.”

“…Two days ago.” He twitched his lips, suddenly unsure what to say. If this was ready two days ago, maybe his earlier mental meltdown wouldn’t have happened?

“State of mind. Suppressing it all the time isn’t good.” Loris shook her head. She had planned to give it to him when it was finished two days prior. But seeing him just lazing around like a useless dragon, his mental state seeming off, she temporarily held onto it to see how things developed. Zheng Yichen’s workaholic state could pass as passion for a while. But maintaining that intensity for so long—barely taking a break except when an Avatar left—that was a problem.

Plus, each time Zheng Yichen returned after the Avatar went out, his mood lifted noticeably. His demeanor became much more relaxed and leisurely. Yet soon enough, he’d plunge back into studies and research. Loris had sensed his mental state might be troubled back then.

Having lived a long time, she hadn’t pointed it out directly then. She waited for him to realize it himself. Telling him early could have alleviated things, but that relief couldn’t compare to the real release he’d just vented.

“I’m worried about it too,” Zheng Yichen scratched his bare dragon head. Before, he’d done his best to ignore the issue. Now it had exploded; bringing it up now felt self-deceptive. Just accepting the problem meant once it happened, it would happen again. Maybe one day, overreacting to something would cause another blowout!

“Urgh~ What I mean is, if something like this happens again, don’t just watch me with this… ‘considerate’ approach. Just knock me out flat.” This time nothing bad happened. Next time he flies off roaring somewhere, what if someone catches him?

“Alright,” Loris nodded seriously.

“…!” Zheng Yichen stared at the divided crystal in his hand for a while, then looked at Loris, who was staring intently back. He swiped his claw beside him, creating a spatial rift. “Rest well today. We’ll deal with this tomorrow!”

The next day, before Zheng Yichen even opened his eyes, he felt a small form huddled against his claw. Opening his eyes, he saw the little one, Loli, nestled by his claw, still asleep. The corner of his mouth twitched. This… he was already awake, and she hadn’t stirred yet? Could she be pretending?

This wasn’t blind suspicion; it had happened many times before. Almost always, he’d open his eyes just as Loris opened hers at exactly the same moment, sometimes her even waking slightly earlier. But this time… wake her?

Zheng Yichen shifted slightly, adjusting his claw to make a more comfortable pillow for her, then closed his eyes again. He’d wait until she woke up. He’d steal some lazy time too—not the melancholy laziness from before yesterday, but actual, deliberate laziness.

“Oh dear? Has the door been blocked?” Dan Marina looked at the disguised entrance before her, hugging her arms and resisting the urge to touch it. It radiated a layer of Power of Annihilation. If she pressed a finger against it, forget visiting Zheng Yichen later; she’d need several days to heal.

This one blocked? On to the next!

Zheng Yichen didn’t leave many entrances outside, but she knew most of them. Changing places several times, however, she found every entrance sealed by the same destructive layer. For others, touching it might be fine. For someone like her? Instant trouble. Blocking off all access so thoroughly… maybe something really happened to that Little Dragon? A bit worrying.

But trying to go now would probably just provoke Loris to forcefully eject her. The seals themselves were a warning… one seemingly targeted specifically at her!

Tsk tsk, really, shrink the body, shrink the attitude too, huh?”

Tsk tsk-ing twice, Dan Marina set aside the idea of going to Zheng Yichen. Might as well wait until he came out on his own in a few days… Hmm?

Dan Marina’s brows lifted slightly. Her form gradually faded into the air, leaving not the slightest trace. She hadn’t learned many spells; her most recent study was the simple Fireball Spell. But that didn’t mean her abilities were limited. She knew few spells, but many Secret Methods. Before disappearing without a trace, she also casually masked the residual aura around the entrance.

Unless the Power of Annihilation erupted directly, even someone possessing abilities akin to hers standing right there wouldn’t detect the destructive power woven into the hidden entrance. Without preparation, a blast from that power would turn the weaker to dust.

In the Bar, Qin looked displeasedly at Dan Marina, who had very rudely settled into a secluded Booth Area. This woman… truly did not know the meaning of tact. Seeing her here always brought Qin a wave of discomfort. Who knew if she’d bring trouble? Who knew indeed? Only Dan Marina herself knew.

While visits in the past hadn’t caused issues, it only needed to happen once, and it would be trouble! As the pioneer bar, Qin quite enjoyed running it herself. This place had now become Kaja City’s premier establishment.

Just as Qin was already annoyed by Dan Marina’s arrival, she spotted another ‘person’ who had seemingly materialized silently opposite Dan Marina. Qin’s normally well-composed face completely fell; her cultivated restraint couldn’t stop a silent curse in her heart.

This woman! She really did bring trouble! A bar with two Sorceresses present simultaneously?! What were they planning?! Couldn’t they meet inside a stupid Cave or some damn woods instead?! This was her turf! Not a place you just waltz into!

Qin stormed over toward them, face stormy, nearly crushing the glass in her hand.