"Ugh—"
Lu Chen patted Fenger's back, turning away in disgust as Fenger continued to output into the dormitory toilet.
Having participated in the dice game earlier, Fenger had been in high spirits until Lu Chen left, after which it seemed like bad luck shifted onto Fenger, who ended up being over-indulged.
"Senior, your alcohol tolerance is a bit lacking," Lu Chen remarked.
"Ugh—Senior, not everyone has a bottomless pit for a stomach like you, drinking like a... ugh—like a barrel," Fenger retorted between retches, clearly regretting his decisions from earlier.
...
"Sigh, boring."
Lu Chen tossed aside the controller, feeling that life at the academy was becoming monotonous. Apart from the mandatory classes taught by the principal, he rarely attended other lessons, preferring to prepare himself for earning credits through missions.
So, his daily routine consisted of playing games and watching shows with Fenger in their dorm. However, the games were no longer challenging for Lu Chen, especially after his match against the gamer who went by the nickname "Eri," rendering subsequent matches uninteresting.
His mentor had advised him to take a break from the Execution Department activities for the sake of his mental and physical well-being, but Lu Chen felt that if he didn't get out and run missions soon, his mental and physical health would deteriorate.
Staying cooped up in the dorm all day, playing games, was starting to take its toll. Even Chu Zihang, upon seeing him, would jokingly remark, "Brother Lu, if you're really that free, why not come and approve some documents for the Lionheart Society?"
Lu Chen politely declined, feeling overwhelmed by the sight of those documents.
Chu Zihang had been relieved of some of his workload lately, thanks to the help of Su Si and others. Lu Chen's habit of staying in the dorm and playing games was unknown to anyone but Chu Zihang. In the eyes of the Lionheart Society members, their S-rank president was an absolute elite.
Not attending classes was simply because those courses were too easy for him, and he'd heard that the president was once an oriental martial artist, now devoted to intense training behind closed doors. That's what they believed!
Indeed, Lu Chen was immersed in intense training. Besides gaming, he was refining his bloodline in stages, and finally, his Bloodline of the Gods had ascended.
He received a boost of 3 points each in Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity, and 2 points in Spirit.
At first glance, the increase in attributes didn't seem significant compared to his original stats. For instance, his Strength had increased from 39 to 46 points, a total increase of only 7 points.
However, the attribute increase wasn't evenly distributed. His current Strength was now more than 30% stronger than his initial strength, representing a significant leap in power. This made him increasingly excited about the contents of the path to godhood.
As if in response to his complaints, just after finishing the latest episode of his favorite show, his phone rang, and he received an urgent email from Norma.
He had been urgently summoned!
...
Namaqualand, Northwest Province, Republic of South Africa.
Local time: 21:39.
This land, which should have been dry and barren, was now covered in orange, pink, white, and yellow wildflowers.
These were various types of daisies, violets, geraniums, marigolds... a sea of flowers.
As the evening breeze swept through, the flower sea undulated like waves, countless flower branches colliding and producing a sound akin to the tide. At the tips of the petals, there was a faint glow, making this sight resemble a dreamlike kingdom.
However, this was unusual. The Namakwa Sands Desert was indeed a rare and magical place in the world. Every year from mid-August to mid-September, "spring" would arrive, covering the desert with a magnificent flower sea, a spectacle to behold. The rest of the time, it was a dry desert, making it a world wonder.
But now, nearing the end of January, winter had arrived, and the "spring" of Namakwa had long passed. Yet here it was, a flower sea instead of a desert. Not to mention the abnormal fluorescence of the flower sea; this was not a normal natural phenomenon.
The local Nama people held a belief in the spirituality of all things, worshiping the forces of nature and their ancestors. They were not alarmed by this phenomenon; they saw it as a gift from the gods of nature.
In previous years, at this time, they would have had to travel with donkey carts, herding sheep, and carrying children, leaving Namakwa to find new grazing grounds. But the situation was different now; cattle and sheep still had grass to eat, and children frolicked among the flower sea at night, like dark elves.
However, the local villagers were met with a group of "uninvited guests" who sought to drive them away. These Americans were dressed in luxurious shirts, black windbreakers adorned with silver badges of the partially decaying World Tree.
The Nama people were very angry, believing that the gift of the gods of nature had been discovered by these outsiders. They had heard that Americans loved to plunder and take everything good for themselves, and they disagreed!
But in the end, the Nama people compromised because the Americans bought all their cattle and sheep—at three times the price.
In the past few days, the Nama people were packing their belongings, preparing to start migrating tomorrow. However, many children were unwilling to leave, unwilling to part with this beautiful place.
Nearby, helicopters landed and took off every day, bringing in a large number of exploration instruments to survey the land. Although the Nama people were preparing to migrate, they still felt disdain in their hearts.
The power of nature, how could it be understood by simple technology?
Sara was a local little girl, a Khoikhoi (the Nama people being the largest group within the Khoikhoi). Although outsiders referred to them as Hottentots, they disliked this term.
Because it was an insulting name given to them by Dutch colonizers when they first arrived in Africa, they had always been the Khoikhoi people.
At this moment, she was running in the flower sea, enjoying the beautiful scenery under the moonlight. She would leave tomorrow, but she couldn't resist sneaking out to play tonight.
"Uncle, what are you doing?"
She stopped, looking curiously at the man in the fancy clothes. This uncle was now holding a "big iron block" on the ground, operating it non-stop.
Bob, the execution department commissioner called for this mission because he knew the local language, Khoikhoi. This was a newly created phonetic alphabet based on Latin letters, a very niche language.
"Little girl, it's so late, why are you still playing outside? Hurry back to the tribe, or terrible monsters will come out and eat you."
Bob threatened, feeling somewhat dissatisfied; there should have been commissioners blocking outside.
But it couldn't really be blamed on the commissioners for being negligent. On the one hand, although there were many people on this exploration, the area was too vast to cover everything. On the other hand, little girls had a racial advantage, coupled with the fact that it was dark, making it really hard to spot the girl among the tall flowers.
"Sara doesn't believe it! There are no monsters around here."
The little girl pursed her lips.
At that moment, a gust of wind swept through, causing the flower sea to sway, and the fluorescence shimmered, giving it a somewhat eerie beauty.