As he was contemplating, he had already left this area.
"Brother!—"
"Eren!"
"Boss!"
Then, he heard someone calling him. When he looked up, he saw them running towards him in large strides, each step almost reaching ten meters—a remarkable feat that surpassed even his own former sprinting champion record.
Comparing the two, there was an absolute disparity, an insurmountable difference.
"You're pretty fast!"
Zhao Lun, already accustomed to such things, waved casually as the group approached.
"Oh, Maria, Penelope, Nicole, Monica, Zhi Jie, it's you."
"What are you doing here? And what's with your eyes? You've got dark circles under them."
The women appeared somewhat fatigued, their eyes a peculiar shade, which immediately indicated they hadn't had proper rest the night before. However, they did not have the dark circles Zhao Lun jokingly referred to. In fact, for them to get dark circles, it would require several sleepless nights, something that rarely ever happened to them.
Seeing each other's faces, the women subconsciously checked for any signs of fatigue—none appeared!
The women: "…" They were all worried about him, yet he joked as though nothing was wrong. It was truly outrageous!
They remained silent but fixed their gazes on him, making Zhao Lun feel a little embarrassed.
"Alright, alright, I was wrong! I repent!"
The women showed no sign of letting him off the hook, continuing to stare at him.
"Ah! My heart! Please, don't hurt me with such looks! Don't you know? Your eyes have pierced through my heart!"
Zhao Lun clutched his chest, using dramatic words, causing the women to blush slightly.
"Boss! This time, it was your fault!"
"Yes, you shouldn't have taken the risk!"
"We were all worried about you. You can't just disregard the feelings of those around you for a moment of joy!"
But the women were not ordinary; they quickly recovered as though they hadn't heard a thing. More critiques followed, and Zhao Lun became even more embarrassed.
"Let's go, this isn't the place to talk. Let's head back and discuss it there."
Zhao Lun led the women, who were still reprimanding him, back toward the manor. By the time they returned, breakfast had arrived, still as exquisite as ever.
"None of you had breakfast, right? Eat first, and we'll talk afterward."
Zhao Lun gestured for the women to start eating. Nicole and the others were about to say something but stopped when they saw the two starving girls. They quietly took their seats and began eating.
Yesterday at noon, they had been too worried about him to eat properly, and their lunch had been sparse.
By dinner time, Zhao Lun had still not returned, and the meal had lost its flavor. Their appetites were poor, so they ate hastily, and then, with the break of dawn, they hadn't even finished breakfast when they came to wait for him at the 'Black Hole.' Now that Zhao Lun had returned, their worries were alleviated, and the hunger hit them hard. The delicious aroma of food made their mouths water.
Breakfast was finished quickly, and the mood had lightened. They all sat in the living room listening to Zhao Lun tell stories. At this time, two more listeners joined: Ada and Mulan.
"Ada, didn't you have work these past few days? Why are you back?"
"And Mulan, aren't you afraid of strangers anymore?"
Ada had been working more frequently lately, often taking on tasks herself, so she had been seen less frequently around the manor.
Mulan still wore the same indifferent expression as when they first met, but by now, everyone had grown familiar with her. They knew that her blank expression was just a facade, a form of self-protection. Everyone could now read her moods based on her subtle gestures.
"Nicole said the boss was being mischievous again and had Ada return."
"… Huh!" Mischievous! Was he acting like a three-year-old? Could any employee refer to their boss like that? Zhao Lun glared at Nicole, then turned to Mulan.
Mulan stared back at him: "…"
"Alright, you got me there," Zhao Lun raised his hands in surrender.
Whenever Zhao Lun asked her a question she didn't want to answer, she would use her "pressuring" gaze to make him relent until he couldn't stand it anymore.
This time, Zhao Lun surrendered not because he was pressured, but because her gaze nearly made him laugh. If he didn't give in, he might burst out laughing.
Seeing Zhao Lun give up, the corners of Mulan's mouth lifted, and she withdrew her gaze, satisfied.
Zhao Lun did his best to suppress his smile, and when he looked around, everyone was in the same boat.
"Ahem! Let's move on, take a look at the new world."
Suppressing his nearly-exploding smile, Zhao Lun opened the link, connected to the light brain, and played the video showing the world beyond the 'Black Hole.'
Majestic snow-capped mountains, castles, nobility dressed in medieval garb, farmers wielding crude knives and forks… everything felt like a dream, surreal in its essence.
This was a world both unfamiliar and familiar—unfamiliar because such an era shouldn't exist, but familiar in its language and customs, almost unchanged despite the era looking different.
"Is this another Holy City?"
The Holy City was one of the few places in this country that retained an ancient style. They were inclined to believe that this was another enclosed "Holy City."
Having witnessed many incredible things alongside Zhao Lun, they still found this hard to believe. It was beyond their imagination.
"It's not a Holy City, it's a hidden world!" Zhao Lun affirmed.
"A world? A mysterious realm?" Mulan asked, intrigued.
Her home was a mysterious realm, a place that was often strange, and if one were lucky, they might even encounter immortals—true immortals from the land!
"It doesn't feel like it. It's probably a new world, or related to one."
"Have you heard the legends of the Elf Sanctum or the Isle of Immortals? This world feels like something out of those stories!"
In this world, many legends persisted, such as the Elf Sanctum and the Eastern Isle of Immortals, which mirrored the tales of the legendary Penglai Island from Zhao Lun's world.
Though this world was different, the stories felt strikingly similar. In the world of ordinary people, such places lived on in myth.
These legends had endured, passing through generations. Although no one had visited such places in recent times, the stories lived on.
Ordinary people regarded them as mere myths, but wizards believed in their truth. Entering these worlds was extraordinarily difficult, even for them. To find a safe entrance, one would need to be extraordinarily lucky.
The Peach Blossom Spring of China was such a place, as was the Elf Sanctum. Some fortunate individuals had stumbled into these places, glimpsed a corner of the world, and upon returning, could never find the entrance again.
Though it couldn't be found again, the legend of the Elf Sanctum remained. Wizards had even interviewed these lucky individuals and recorded their accounts. Zhao Lun had come across these records at Hogwarts.
There were also dangerous places—mysterious forests, lands of miracles—where once you entered, it was almost impossible to return. Those who did return had left behind unresolved tales.
For example, some had driven cars and vanished without a trace; in other instances, an entire town's population disappeared overnight.
Such inexplicable disappearances...
Many of those who vanished had ended up in different worlds, some were fortunate enough to return and shared their tales.
Humanity's presence in these realms altered them, and Zhao Lun had confirmed some legends himself. He made them believe that other legends might be true as well. Those who doubted simply hadn't been proven yet.
There were even more dangerous and unreal worlds, like the dense forest realms, places that no one had spoken of in the Muggle world, which Zhao Lun had only read about in wizard stories.
Zhao Lun named these worlds the Legendary Realms.
"The world inside is a cursed one!"
"Dark forces run rampant, and humans suffer great calamities, living on the edge of survival."
"This time, the place I visited is exactly like this."
In the video, a woman holding a drink appeared. When the group saw her, they all glanced at Zhao Lun. The message conveyed through their gazes was hurtful.
"Vampires? Like the ones from last year?"
"And werewolves? What are those?"
The women were intrigued by these legendary creatures, but instead of asking about the woman with the drink, they turned to Zhao Lun with more questions.
"Vampires and werewolves exist in the wizarding world, and they can be found elsewhere too..."
"According to some detailed accounts, these creatures have many branches, with subtle differences depending on the region…"
"Here, there's a vampire count who's incredibly powerful. He's not afraid of silver, crosses, or holy water. Ordinary people have no way of killing him… compared to the vampire we encountered last year, this one is far stronger…"
When the discussion reached this point, Zhao Lun retired to his room to rest. Those who hadn't had a proper rest went to sleep as well. By noon, everyone had recovered their energy.
At the breakfast table, they continued their conversation while eating, discussing how to resolve the expansion issues brought about by the 'Black Hole.'
"Could it be that the evil from that world is affecting ours?"
"If we remove the evil, perhaps it will solve the problem?"
At this point, Penelope, rarely one to speak up, voiced her opinion.
As the only other wizard besides Zhao Lun, her words were always taken seriously, and everyone awaited her next statement eagerly.
"I read in a book that evil can bring a certain balance…"