Volume 2 Chapter 54: Returning to the City

The small light figure in the Boundary Dimension slowly faded. A small oval Space-Time Portal suddenly appeared on the rocky cliff of the Crimson Gobi.

A dazzling spot of light teleported out of the portal. Countless law lines surrounded the light spot, sketching a human shape in the void. Then, within this human form made of light spots and lines, bones and flesh began to grow. In the blink of an eye, a young man with black hair and black eyes appeared on the spot.

The rolling heat waves assaulting from all around made Qin Lun frown. Having grown accustomed to the damp and refreshing rainy season climate of the Odia mountain area, the hot weather of the Crimson Gobi made him very uncomfortable.

He looked intently at his own hands, his face showing an unstoppable admiration. Although the formation of the Law Body was instantaneous, his conscious mind could still observe the entire process. Except for the day he first entered the Shattered Starry Sky, this was the second time he had watched the process of his body forming.

Putting down his hands, Qin Lun looked around. As he expected, there was no second living being on the rocky cliff. The Shattered Starry Sky was different from the Other World. The native creatures here knew of the existence of Apostles. When Apostles returned, they did not specifically avoid other creatures.

At Academy Eiflit Bogg, the Elf responsible for teaching the Probationary Apostles had repeatedly reminded them. If they did not want to entrust their lives to others, then when entering the Other World, they must find a safe and remote place to perform the Space-Time teleportation.

Qin Lun took two steps, bent down, and retrieved a small backpack from a rock crevice. These were some of his personal belongings. Because he could not take them into the Other World, he had no choice but to hide them here.

Opening the backpack, Qin Lun took out an hourglass the size of a thumb. Basically, every Probationary Apostle had one of these. It was a basic benefit issued to Probationary Apostles by the elven Floating City—Moonlight Forest.

Each flip of the hourglass represented two hours. There were some markings at the bottom. Under the action of its internal mechanism, a small marking would move up every day, allowing it to relatively accurately record time periods from minutes to months. However, the markings needed to be adjusted every month, otherwise it could not be restarted.

In fact, this type of hourglass from the Elven Race was also very famous in the Floating Cities of other Sapient Races. Although many high-tech cities had invented clocks, light-speed timers, and even element decay timers, this type of hourglass still had an irreplaceable role.

Because there were many types and sizes of Suspended Continents, high-tech timers from other races had great limitations. Advanced technological timers might work well on one continent but not necessarily on others. Instead, this type of elven hourglass was accurate no matter which continent it was on. Moreover, it was small in size and easy to carry.

The hourglass showed that he had only left the Shattered Starry Sky for about an hour, which matched the common knowledge taught at the academy. Putting the hourglass back into the backpack, Qin Lun took out a monocular telescope and brought it to his eye, looking towards the stone cliff opposite where he had parked his motorcycle.

“Huh?” Looking at the scene through the telescope, Qin Lun felt slightly surprised.

The four-wheeled black motorcycle was parked intact under the shadow of the stone cliff. But surprisingly, there were four humanoid creatures wearing hooded cloaks hiding behind the rocks, vaguely surrounding the area where the motorcycle was.

The sharp knives and magic bullet guns they held clearly indicated they intended to give Qin Lun a special “surprise.”

Qin Lun put down the telescope, touched his chin, and fell into deep thought. Since these people were ambushing him around the motorcycle, they must know he was an Apostle. This was rather strange. He had only left the Shattered Starry Sky for about an hour…

Were they passing native creatures? Or was there another reason? Regardless, Qin Lun did not plan to reveal himself. Although he had undergone one enhancement, the extent of improvement probably wouldn’t have a earth-shattering impact. Moreover, this kind of power that hadn’t been trained and verified yet couldn’t temporarily become combat strength. It wasn’t worth gambling his life for a motorcycle.

Opening the pack, Qin Lun picked out a button-like item. This was the Soul Position Device issued to Probationary Apostles by Moonlight Forest. It could not only be used to communicate with native creatures, but it also contained a tracker. Once activated, the patrol team from Moonlight Forest would come looking for the Apostle.

The Elves of Moonlight Forest did not hide the existence of the tracker from the Apostles. The tracker wasn’t meant to control the Apostles but to help Apostles returning from the Other World.

Not all Apostles could successfully complete their Otherworld Missions. Many Apostles might fail their missions and be seriously injured. They would have no Shattered Crystal to repair their Law Bodies and couldn’t return to Moonlight Forest on their own. At such times, the tracker could summon the patrol guards of the Floating City to rescue them and bring them back to the city.

Qin Lun pressed the activation button on the device, then continued to use the monocular telescope to monitor the four “hooded bandits.” This place was only about half an hour’s drive from Moonlight Forest. The elven patrol would find him soon.

After about half an hour, Qin Lun suddenly felt a stir in his heart. He turned his head to look towards the left side of the rocky cliff. In the distance of the Gobi, a faint dust dragon was rising, accompanied by a low “rumbling” sound.

The sound of horse hooves… The patrol from Moonlight Forest was coming! A slight smile appeared on Qin Lun’s lips. He turned his head back and continued observing the four people.

The four “hooded bandits” ambushing around the motorcycle clearly also heard the horse hooves coming from afar. They immediately jumped up like rabbits. They went around to the back of the stone cliff, pushed out two motorcycles, jumped on, and left the spot.

They really were just passing “Scavengers,” not part of a scheme by other Apostles! Qin Lun’s expression turned somewhat strange. On his first time executing an Otherworld Mission, he encountered such a low-probability event. What kind of luck was this…

“Thank you for your trouble!” Qin Lun climbed down from the cliff and walked smiling towards the elven guard team.

“You’re alright?” The leader of the elven guard team was a female Elf with short hair.

The female Elf had a slender figure, black hair, blue eyes, and a healthy wheat-colored complexion. A small butterfly hair clip held her bangs at the corners of her forehead, making her look spirited. Her large blue eyes curiously examined the young man before her.

“You seem to have just returned from the Other World. Did you summon us because of those Scavengers?” A middle-aged Elf beside the female Elf looked towards the few small black dots in the distance, showing a hint of vigilance.

“Yes, thank you. May I return to the city with you?” Qin Lun politely nodded.

“I am Athka, captain of the third patrol team. She is my deputy, Adeline Moria.” The middle-aged Elf took off his helmet, slightly bowed on his Unicorn, and asked friendly, “How should we address you, respected Apostle?”

“Please just call me Qin Lun!” Qin Lun picked up his small pack and started the motorcycle.

…

“So you are Qin Lun!” On the way back, Adeline moved closer to Qin Lun and asked curiously.

“Yes. Are you a member of the Moria family?” Qin Lun asked with a smile. “Is Mafa Moria your brother?”

“No, he is my father!” Adeline wrinkled her nose, saying discontentedly, “And my father thought so highly of you. There were only four Scavengers, and you didn’t dare to fight them?”

Father? Qin Lun smiled wryly and shook his head. The Elves were truly blessed by nature. That handsome silver-haired Elf looked no different from a young man in his twenties, yet he already had such a daughter full of heroic spirit.

“Before Apostles grow, they are also just ordinary people. I am not stronger than you,” Qin Lun said, completely unbothered by Adeline’s disdain. “Is Mafa in Moonlight Forest?”

“No, Father just passed through the Starry Sky Gate in the city and teleported to another elven Floating City.” A trace of worry appeared on Adeline’s face. “After all the Apostles who went out return, Moonlight Forest will also soon leave the Crimson Gobi.”

There were other Apostles out performing Otherworld Missions… Qin Lun’s eyes flickered, and he asked with a smile, “Have my companions who went with me returned from the Other World yet?”

“I haven’t seen the other three, but judging by the time, it should be almost soon.” Adeline said absentmindedly.

Qin Lun silently nodded. From Adeline’s words, it seemed the Elven Race had encountered trouble and were gathering their forces. However, he wasn’t concerned with the troubles of the Elven Race. If Moonlight Forest was gone, he could at most find another Floating City as a resting place.

The Serial Killer was concerned about the other three Apostles who were performing Otherworld Missions around the same time as him. Moonlight Forest had a total of over a hundred Apostles. Besides a small number of Formal Apostles, the vast majority were Probationary Apostles.

It wasn’t impossible for someone to be performing an Otherworld Mission at the same time as him, but the probability was very small. After all, the time spent on one Otherworld Mission was only equivalent to about an hour in the Shattered Starry Sky.

This way, the information Adeline unintentionally revealed most likely referred to the other Serial Killers performing Otherworld Missions. After all, they had entered the Shattered Starry Sky at the same time as Qin Lun, so the timing matched perfectly.

“Heh, the shorter the interval between Otherworld Missions, the greater the potential of the Apostle.” A strange light flickered in Qin Lun’s eyes as he lowered his head and murmured, “How interesting. I just wonder which one among the five fell behind!”

“What?” Adeline turned her head and asked strangely.

“Nothing!” Qin Lun slightly narrowed his eyes and showed a charming smile.

He had a feeling that the other three, besides himself, should also be from among the five great Serial Killers. (Disciple Hansen, Shepherd Hill, Clown Grant, Firecracker Rand, Dissector Joey)

Half an hour later, they saw the huge Moonlight Forest. Qin Lun handed the motorcycle over to the elven guards. Motorcycles were not allowed inside Moonlight Forest; they could only be stored with the Elves.

Returning to the small wooden building in Moonlight Town, Qin Lun found that the little Goblin Didi was not in the room. So he moved upstairs and immersed his consciousness into the Death Notice.

As the Shattered Starry Sky opened up more and more content, the initially modified Death Notice was slowly becoming inadequate. He needed to check more content and, combining this information, continue to modify the Death Notice.