Ark, after I died, the operators started to love me.

Phantom actually considered it?!

He actually considered it?!

Did the Gauls and the Victorians share similar behavioral habits?

Why are you interested in this, Chongyue?

When Mike looked at Chongyue, his expression was very complicated, and he even subtly took a few centimeters back.

His actions naturally fell into the eyes of the Grandmaster. How could Chongyue, who had honed his skills to perfection, not understand what Mike was thinking?

His temples were bulging with veins, and he couldn't help but say, "My sisters are very curious about this."

Mike gasped. How old is Nian Xiling? She's still chasing gossip like a little girl.

Seeing that the discussion was stalled, Chongyue quickly stepped on the gas and got back on the road.

Even he, as the eldest brother, felt extremely troubled when faced with these situations.

After all, what the doctor did back then was really too unique.

……

As day and night alternated and the autumn wind began to blow, seven or eight days passed in the blink of an eye.

Mike drew two more lines on the map and said to Phantom and Chongyue, who were setting up camp, "We've now entered Letania. Just as I expected, we didn't find any border personnel or any signs of mobile cities passing through when we crossed the Ursus border. It seems that although the wasteland is vast, not all places are inhabited."

Chongyue sighed, "I once heard of a prosperous era when the population was more than ten times that of this land today. People lived in peace and contentment, and there were no terrible Originium disasters."

“Every era has its own limitations. There is no need to envy the past. Peace and happiness in any place are temporary. As long as there are conflicts between people, there will inevitably be struggles. This has been the case since ancient times.”

Mike put down the map, jumped out of the passenger seat, and said briefly, "We'll be staying in Letania for a few days. I have to meet with a few people."

"no problem."

Phantom naturally obeyed Mike's every word, and Chongyue, adhering to the principle of reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles, would not object either.

After entering Letania via the main road, they obtained entry permits at the office of the first transit point. Mike also bought a recent Letania map and quickly found their destination.

It was a land city, and like all previous impressions of land cities, it lacked vitality and had outdated facilities, but at least it was habitable, providing a place for those who did not want to leave to live.

As for the person Mike wanted to see, he was in that land city.

……

Antomd.

Today was another peaceful day, with fairly good weather, sunny and breezy, and the temperature was pleasant.

Since autumn arrived, the trees along the road have begun to shed brown and yellow leaves, which fall rustling down like a soft carpet.

Local residents may be used to this, but for outsiders, it is a great experience.

4. Black bonds and chalk

This land city is both peaceful and stable, and even Originium disasters deliberately avoid it, making it a suitable place to settle down and live in seclusion.

Although it is located at the crossroads of three mobile cities, the inhabitants of those cities rarely disturb Antomud, which is also known as the forgotten land city.

Mike and his two companions drove here, causing a slight ripple in this sparsely populated inland city.

The other two people in the car had no idea why Mike would specifically visit this city; they simply looked around with curiosity.

Phantom needs no introduction. Before joining Rhodes Island, he was trapped in Dionysus's troupe and knew very little about the outside world, except for the Gauls described by the troupe.

Chongyue had served as a border guard in Yumen, Yan Kingdom for a century. Having never left his homeland, he knew nothing about the outside world.

After checking the time, Mike, who was sitting in the passenger seat, decided to drive directly to the vicinity of the high school in Antonmed.

“I have three friends. One friend is a teacher here, and the other two friends are students here. They are friends despite the age difference.”

At this point, the puppet seemed to understand something. In his memory, the Doctor had left Rhodes Island for a period of time and gone to Letania. After returning, he sealed the files, and the other operators were unaware of what had happened at that time and could not access the relevant information.

For Mike, that was all some years ago.

The weather was getting colder, and the autumn wind was sweeping away fallen leaves. It wasn't a good idea for them to just wait in the car, so Mike went to a convenience store on the roadside and bought three cups of coffee and some donuts.

They ate and chatted, and before long, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the school term, and students began to leave.

The young man looked at the van parked near the school gate, then at the three men gathered together, and couldn't help but feel a little curious.

Inland cities rarely receive visitors from outside, and those who do are usually messengers, so what exactly happened?

Mike swallowed the last bite of the donut, threw his empty coffee cup into the trash can, and his eyes swept over the students leaving the school. Just as he was about to look away, he suddenly saw three people, one tall and two short.

The tall, adult man had long orange hair tied in a ponytail and wore a pair of glasses with a high prescription. What was truly eye-catching was the pair of enormous antlers on his head.

Following the antler-wearing man were two middle school students. One student had black hair and black antlers, and wore a black traditional Letanian outfit under his school uniform. The boy next to him did not have very obvious racial features, and wore a white formal suit under his school uniform.

When Mike saw them, he already had a prepared speech in his mind.

"Greetings, gentlemen. I am a messenger from Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals. This is a letter written by Dr. Kal'tsit."

Mike handed a pre-prepared letter to the antlered man. He knew it was from Czerny, the famous musician of Letania. After the invention of the Stone Generator, the prefix "Infected" could be crossed out.

The boy dressed in black stared warily at the man in front of him. He was a complete stranger, so why did he feel so familiar with him?

The young man in white next to him stepped forward and extended his hand to Mike.

"Hello, so you're from Rhodes Island. Welcome."

Cherny took the letter from Mike, opened it, and glanced at it: "Dr. Kal'tsit said he's just here to visit us and will leave after checking on things."

Mike nodded in agreement: "Indeed."

There are some things he can't say; his current identity is Mike, not the doctor from Rhodes Island.

The young man in white smiled and asked, "Mr. Mike, where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I'm going to the north, but I can't disclose what I'll be doing there."

"It's alright, I'm just curious. Not all questions need to be answered."

The boy in black looked dazed, a rare occurrence that had almost never happened since they came to this small city to live in seclusion. What was wrong with him today?

……

"Old man, what exactly do you want?"

"Do as I say, hand over the black whistle you have to this person in front of you."

"Why? Is there something special about him?"

"Don't ask, it has nothing to do with you. You should be glad that it has nothing to do with you."

"I don't understand."

The aged voice laughed loudly, "If it really has anything to do with you, then this land should be doomed."

……

The boy in black regained his senses, stepped forward, bowed slightly, and took a pendant from his neck. The black ornament looked like a whistle.

"Mr. Mike, this is for you."

His actions left both Czerny and the boy in white stunned.

The antler-wearing man asked, puzzled, "Why?"

The boy in white seemed to be deep in thought, then his gaze fell on Mike's face.

"No reason."

Mike chuckled, his gaze seemingly piercing through the black-clad boy's soul, and then accepted the pendant: "Thank you very much."

Just as the three of them were about to leave, the boy in black said again, "Someone wishes you a safe journey and a safe return."

"Concession."

Chongyue clasped his hands in a fist salute, started the vehicle, and drove away.

The van didn't stop in the city, but drove straight into the wilderness. Only after everything related to human habitation had disappeared from sight did Chongyue, who was holding the steering wheel, finally let out a long sigh of relief.

"I never expected that two of the three people you came to see were so terrifying."

Mike held the black whistle in his hand and tossed it to Phantom behind him: "You take it. I'm not musically inclined and can't play any interesting tunes, but you shouldn't use this thing normally either. It's not an ordinary instrument."

Phantom, sitting in the back, took the whistle and uttered a name in his hoarse throat.

"The bloodline of the Witch King."

Mike lamented, "When I arrived in Letania, both boys were on the verge of death. If I had been any later, I could have written their epitaphs. Fortunately, they both survived, and the final tragedy was averted."

Chongyue was very interested: "What happened next?"

“I gave the White Queen of Letania a suggestion: instead of continuing to fish like this, she should just say they are dead, find another place to live in seclusion, and avoid anyone causing similar trouble again.”

Mike didn't continue, which suggested that the White Queen had agreed.

Chongyue exclaimed, "That must have been a thrilling adventure."

"Don't even mention it. It took a lot of effort back then. I'm just a weak scholar, how could I possibly have the strength to fight the enemy head-on?"

As Mike spoke, his fingers unconsciously rubbed the watch on his right wrist.

If it weren't for Kal'tsit, he never imagined he would end up like this.

5. Encountering Eyjafjalla

early morning.

As Mike yawned and walked out of the room, he saw the grandmaster practicing boxing in the hallway.

They spent more than ten days traversing the wilderness of Letania, shuttling between transit stations and land cities. The car broke down once along the way, but it was quickly restored to driving capability thanks to Mike's professional handling.

Finally, we arrived at a mobile city that happened to be parked on the only road we could pass through.

Having traveled such a long distance, even Phantom lost his original composure. Exhausted, the three couldn't wait to dive into civilization and enjoy the various conveniences brought by human society.

The Grandmaster had just finished his last move and turned to Mike: "Want to join in?"

"No need, I'm not suited to exercising so early."

Mike decisively rejected the Grandmaster's invitation. He was constantly harassed by Aya on Rhodes Island, and the only thing he could do to cope was to change his alarm clock to a certain blue Liberi, which was a way of finding some joy in his misery.