Transform into a human

To thank Yue Lai, Tang Xiao not only helped him and Mo resolve their criminal records involving a series of "minor issues," but also obtained legal permits for the Return Home ship, allowing the three of them to return to Esfri without any hindrance.

As for why there are three people... there's also Cavendish, the new employee that Yue Hao helped his brother recruit.

The fact that the ships were handcrafted had at least one advantage: they didn't need to rent berths at starports. Practice makes perfect, and just as they were about to crash into Windmill Town, Mo made a sudden stop, and the Homecoming hovered safely above the town.

The three jumped down from mid-air. Yue Lai gently waved his hand, and the warship shrank to the size of a model, which he held in his hand.

"It really is a small town." Cavendish had already searched for a lot of information about Windmill Town on the Chain Crystal Network, but only found snippets of information from travelers, with descriptions limited to things like "simple and honest people." Now that he saw it, he was indeed not surprised at all.

This is a typical town in the style of the Fifth Republic, with a small fountain in the center, from which four streets extend, stretching as far as the eye can see.

Yue Lai smiled enigmatically: "Otherwise, would Windmill Town still be considered a city?"

The skin-painting artist scratched his head: "Miss Yue Hao assured me that it's a 'renowned' agency, so I still have some expectations."

"But it's fine as it is now," he muttered to himself.

If it's merely about "becoming famous," then the Windmill Town Lost Heritage Agency has undoubtedly achieved that goal. As Yue Lai's reputation spread throughout the Federation, this small lost heritage agency has also become well-known. Although it can't be compared to the level of Mirror Flower and Water Moon, it is still considered a leader among its peers—in terms of fame alone.

The group arrived at the street southwest of the fountain, where the firm finally revealed its true nature to Cavendish:

This is a three-story building made of red bricks. The only difference between it and other houses in the town is that it is a bit taller, and there is a large lock hanging outside the door.

Mo gently touched the keyhole, and the simple mechanical structure instantly changed. The lock clicked open, not forgetting to say:

"Welcome back, Miss Mo Nicole, the most intelligent elf in the entire universe!"

"Hello, number seventeen!"

Cavendish asked blankly, "Uh, why the 17th... was it bought on the 17th of a certain month?"

Yue Lai said casually, "Guess how she learned this little trick?"

"o_o.."

The office was extremely messy, and it was clear that neither of the two people who had worked there before were the type to enjoy cleaning. Yue Lai went straight to the pile of clutter and began rummaging through drawers and cabinets looking for something.

"Mo, where's the ID card the self-governing committee sent last time?"

Miss Elf was praising Number 17 for making her look good in front of the newcomers when she heard this, and quickly said, "You mean those pretty little cards? I took off the card sleeves to put the photos in!"

Yue Lai angrily demanded, "Where are the things inside?!"

Mo shrank back: "It's on the photo wall... I guess."

Cavendish looked at the wall opposite the fireplace in the living room, which was covered with many photos of different styles: a haunted house with dead trees, a beach under the blazing sun, a futuristic city, wild beasts in the jungle... It was hard to find two photos with the same style. When Yue Lai approached, they all curled up the upper left or upper right corners, as if to greet him.

He immediately became interested: "Have you been to all these places?"

Friends and family couldn't understand why he would give up his enviable job at the National Federal University to work in the countryside of a remote planet.

Cavendish responded that he would rather risk his life adventuring across the universe than live a peaceful life in a laboratory; he wanted to pursue his own kind of romance!

So after the incident at the police headquarters, he could have asked Yue to put in a good word for Tang Xiao. In that case, the police and the school would not only not pursue his cooperation with Yue Hao and others, but would even commend him. However, he, who had always followed the rules, chose to be "brave" this time.

Moreover, Yue Lai had promised him that he would go to see the high priest of the Sosa, Arian!

"Found it!"

While Cavendish was regaining his confidence, Yue Lai was pleasantly surprised to find Mo's carelessly discarded ID card in the corner. He then casually picked up a pen from the coffee table and handed it to Cavendish.

"Fill in your name."

The skin-painting artist didn't pay much attention, assuming it was some kind of symbolic procedure for this tiny studio. He leaned against the back of the sofa and neatly wrote his name:

Cavendish Odysseus.

In an instant, a certain barrier of perception was broken.

Cavendish suddenly recalled what he had seen when he first entered the town—four straight streets. Yes, the cross-shaped streets all ran east-west and north-south, and he had been walking southwest without feeling anything strange!

Looking at that light and airy card, he suddenly felt that he had made the best decision of his life.

"Mo, why don't you go with our new colleague to the basement?"

"Okay!"

With a heart full of trepidation, the Skin Painter followed the Elf Miss into the wine cellar. Mo casually pulled out a bottle of red wine and poured the crimson liquid onto the ground.

The wine in the bottle seemed endless, tinged with a dark red starlight, gradually submerging Cavendish's ankles until... it completely engulfed the two of them!

An overwhelming sense of dizziness washed over him, and when he opened his eyes again, he was presented with a breathtaking fantasy epic!

An enormous tree supported the entire underground space. It had no leaves, but its branches stretched to the horizon. Dragons danced beneath it, and giants roamed about like apes—if Cavendish wasn't mistaken, those were Titan statues! Their bodies were measured in "kilometers," and races even multiplied on them.

Under the tree canopy, they look no different from the little monkeys in the mountains!

Moving the view downwards, a steam-powered city rises from the ground, high in the center and low around the edges. Rough-lined iron-clad buildings dominate the landscape, but there are also exquisite elf houses, bronze towers, and even the Empire's floating gardens!

Cavendish had been to Penglai before, and he thought the art style there was already quite diverse, but it wasn't until he came here that he realized what a "lawless land" really meant.

He witnessed a steam train roar past and smash the corrugated iron building in half, then the building, cursing and swearing, welded itself back together.

The street where their own office was located was much quieter, but what the heck was that bakery next door—why were there two dead bodies hanging at the entrance?!

"Grandma Nicole!"

The little girl dressed as a maid was overjoyed. She pushed aside the unsightly corpse with one hand and came to the two of them with an extremely natural expression.

Cavendish was about to speak when he found his throat extremely dry and could only swallow his saliva first.

"W-Where is this...?"

"Welcome to Windmill City! This is the entire Andromeda region where everything is called Windmill Town!"

"Yue Hao wasn't lying to you, Mr. Odysseus. In the underworlds of various star systems, our reputation is no less than that of a mirage!"