Chapter 446 - 444: What to Do with the Thumb-Sized Person?
Chapter 446: Chapter 444: What to Do with the Thumb-Sized Person?
Faye Yardley gave them a look, signaling that everything was fine and they just had to wait patiently.
As for why Lucy White, who was normally a chatterbox, was now pouting and silent, Faye didn’t ask. In any case, as soon as they made it back to Nightfall Citadel safely, she planned on returning to the sea.
Smoke People boarded the train, inspecting everyone one by one. Faye had no idea what kind of machine they were using, but it could clearly sense all the loot from The Frigid World hidden in everyone’s Storage Ring. No one could hope to get away with it.
Faye Yardley had to hand over 5 of the 11 Ice Crystals in her Storage Ring. As for the furniture and appliances she had also collected, the Smoke Person gave her a strange look, made her pay 1 silver coin, and didn’t ask any further questions.
Cole Kensington and Lucy White had been in the thick of the fighting. While they’d killed their fair share of Frost Beasts, their actual haul was small—just two or three crystals each.
The Smoke People left their car and moved on to the next.
Just as Cole Kensington and Lucy White were about to breathe a sigh of relief, a Smoke Person returned and stopped by their row.
Faye Yardley asked in surprise, "Excuse me...?"
The machine scanned them back and forth again. The Smoke Person even passed right through their bodies before drifting away.
After another ten minutes or so, the train finally departed.
Ever since the Smoke People had subjected them to a second inspection, Faye Yardley had worn a grim expression. The other passengers didn’t look too happy either, as some of them had also been singled out for a double-check.
They had all been trying their best to be polite, but Nightfall Citadel’s Smoke People were being completely unreasonable.
So, the entire car fell into a rare silence. If one or two people happened to speak, they were ignored.
The Smoke People patrolling the train didn’t seem to care at all about the passengers’ sour expressions. In fact, they seemed to prefer them quiet like this.
Their faces grim, they got off the train. To their surprise, they weren’t allowed to leave freely after disembarking; everyone had to pass through another security gate.
It wasn’t just one or two people protesting; foul expressions were everywhere. Faye Yardley and her two companions really didn’t stand out in the slightest.
Faye Yardley took Lucy White’s hand and gave it a squeeze, signaling for her not to be nervous.
’Although she didn’t know what Kingston and Lucy White had obtained over there, it was obvious they’d returned with a huge prize.’
’Besides, Lucy White’s continued silence was just too strange. There was no way Faye could ignore it.’
’Good thing no one around here was familiar with them.’
’Thankfully, none of the security measures detected anything unusual.’
Faye Yardley knew better than to ask any questions there.
Once they passed the inspection, she led the two of them directly out of Nightfall Citadel. She didn’t ask a thing as they went to the pier and boarded her raft. Instead, she simply told the system to begin the return journey.
[Dear player, you have stayed in Nightfall Citadel for 3 days, 9 hours, and 27 minutes on this trip. As you used a Rare Island Entry Order, leaving now will preserve your remaining landing time of 6 days, 14 hours, and 33 minutes.]
Faye Yardley didn’t start to relax until the raft had left the Nightfall Citadel pier and entered the familiar white mist.
Meanwhile, Cole Kensington kept his hand clamped over Lucy White’s mouth, stopping her from speaking.
Willow Yardley’s initial surprise at seeing them quickly turned to concern when she sensed something was off. She ushered them inside without asking any questions.
Not until they had left The White Mist Zone and returned to The Ocean World did Cole Kensington finally let go. With a cry, Lucy White spat a tiny, translucent person out of her mouth.
Faye Yardley’s mind went blank. "What is that?"
Lucy White gently patted her own cheeks as Cole Kensington explained, "She must have brought it out from inside that Frost Beast Behemoth."
Lucy White nodded eagerly, rubbing her cheeks vigorously. It took her a moment before she could speak properly. "Yeah. I found it in the Behemoth’s abdomen. This little person seemed to still be gestating. I saw a lot of Frost Beasts rushing for it, and it looked like all the Behemoth’s final energy was being channeled into it. Before that guy, Logan Langdon, could discover it, I acted first and swallowed it whole. I was intangible at the time, and I never expected that by holding it in my mouth, it would become intangible with me... The rest, well, you know what happened. I’ve been holding it in until now."
It was a thumb-sized person. Though its body was tiny, the energy contained within was clearly, unimaginably immense.
’The question is, what are we supposed to do with a tiny person like this?’
It was so translucent you could clearly see its internal organs, right down to its eyelashes.
’Even if it’s a being made of energy, it’s not like an Ice Crystal. You can’t just eat it.’
The group gathered around the coffee table, staring at the tiny person. It appeared to be a little girl. Faye Yardley gently poked it.
"It’ll probably take her a long time to grow up," Faye said. "We need to find a comfortable little bed for her. A Pet Sofa like Blackwood’s would be way too big, but I bet it’s comfortable." As she spoke, she bought the smallest available round Pet Sofa from the marketplace.
She gently picked up the little person, placed her inside, and covered her with a handkerchief.
Willow Yardley asked, "She doesn’t need to eat, does she?"
"I have no idea," Faye replied. "Whether she lives or not is up to her now."
Meeeow~
Blackwood leaped down from the mantelpiece. Staring at the tiny person on the coffee table, he suddenly felt like a mighty predator.
He extended a paw, but before he could do anything else, Faye snatched it. "Blackwood, you behave. A little thing like her can’t handle one of your swipes."
"Mrow~"
"Okay, okay, I know you didn’t mean to hurt her," Faye said, looking at the tiny person with a worried frown. "But she’s just so small right now, and we have no idea how to raise her."
Willow Yardley suggested, "Faye, why don’t you take her to your room? It doesn’t look like she needs to eat or drink anything."
Lucy White nodded eagerly. She had brought it back on a complete whim, without a single thought about what to do with it afterward.
’After all, her only thought at the time was that she couldn’t let the bad guys get it.’
’And to her, Logan Langdon, who had blocked them from leaving early, was the biggest bad guy of all.’
Faye Yardley: "..."
"Alright, alright. You two go get cleaned up. Willow will make us something good to eat later. We really haven’t eaten a thing all day."
Even though they weren’t hungry, old habits didn’t just disappear just because they’d grown stronger.
Picking up the pink Pet Sofa, she bounded up the stairs to her room on the second floor.
After a moment’s thought, she placed it on her nightstand.
’Come to think of it,’ she mused, ’the Star Feather Flower I planted a while ago still hasn’t bloomed.’
She took a vase and pulled out the white peonies Eamon had grown, which she’d cut and put into storage, and arranged them in it.
"What should I call you, little one?" she murmured. "Crystal? Crysta?"
With that, Faye straightened up and walked out onto the small balcony. She wanted to see if her Jade had hatched yet.
When she got to the small balcony, she saw that a large hole had been broken in the top of the eggshell. A beak was still relentlessly pecking at it from the inside.
She walked over, leaned down for a closer look, and burst out laughing. "Jade, so you’re a little yellow chick after all!"
Cecilia Yardley: "..."
CHEEP CHEEP~ CHEEP CHEEP~
’You’re the little yellow chick! Your whole family is full of little yellow chicks!’
"Tsk, tsk. Such foul language."
Despite her words, Faye was actually quite happy to see the chick.
Then she turned her head to look at the nearby vines, which were growing ever thicker and more vibrant, and the smile on her face deepened.