Book 4: Chapter 55: Esmira

“Lord Sas, Lady Cora, I kept you waiting!” Upon entering the Teleportation Hall, Qin Lun spotted his two “teammates” from afar.

“You’re the one who’s late!” The tall man addressed as Sas merely glanced coldly down at Qin Lun before turning back to whisper with his wife Cora, ignoring Qin Lun completely.

Qin Lun remained utterly calm in the face of Sas’s dismissive attitude, showing no trace of anger on his face. His smile actually became a touch gentler.

Sas and Cora were a married couple. They were also human, but not from Earth’s parallel dimensions. They were from Esmira Star.

The people of Esmira were physically large. Men averaged over 2.2 meters tall, and women averaged over 2 meters. Their facial features closely resembled Earth humans, and their internal organs functioned similarly. However, their skin was a deep sea-blue, they could breathe underwater, and they were capable of photosynthesis.

Over 90% of Esmira Star’s surface was ocean. The Esmirans were viviparous creatures who lived underwater. They built enormous underwater cities on the peaceful seabed, with technological levels comparable to Qin Lun’s Earth Federation.

However, Esmirans were ahead of Earth humans in individual evolution. Males possessed extremely formidable physical strength, while females had exceptional mental powers. Their skin could perform photosynthesis, largely replacing the “barbaric” method of eating through the mouth.

In Esmiran civilization, magic and technology coexisted. Many leaders of their city-states belonged to the legendary tiers. In fact, Esmira Star’s overall environment approached the standard of a Mid-Magic World. Devil’s Horn had many Esmirans, as well as Apostles and Apostle teams from its parallel dimensions.

Although one’s original race became less important after becoming an Apostle, Esmirans always carried an inexplicable sense of superiority over Earth humans, refusing to see them as equals. Many Esmirans unconsciously displayed racial discrimination when encountering fellow Earth humans.

If Hill hadn’t used an anonymous listing when selling the team’s temporary spot at the Auction House, this Esmiran couple would never have considered buying a temporary position on this team.

Sas and Cora had already survived five Quest Worlds within the Shattered Starry Sky. Both had successfully undergone their Class Change in the last one, yet their Apostle rank was still only Grade One, Level Three.

This strange situation arose because the combat classes Sas and Cora changed into had not been formally recognized by the Shattered Starry Sky. Instead, their class names had the prefix “Trainee”. A “Trainee” class meant their abilities met the combat class standard, but their Contribution Points still hadn’t reached the required level.

Naturally, a “Trainee” prefix class still granted all the enhanced attributes. It received no formal recognition from the Shattered Starry Sky, but its combat power was identical to a Professional Apostle.

Before entering the Shattered Starry Sky, Sas had been a city-state patrol officer on Esmira Star, and his wife Cora was his colleague. Esmirans were naturally gifted, and Sas and Cora had undergone rigorous military magic training. That’s why they managed to change their class within just five Quest Worlds; their Law Bodies essentially inherited their original combat abilities.

However, in the eyes of the Sapient Races and High-Rank Apostles at Devil’s Horn, Sas and Cora’s Apostle aptitude was nothing remarkable. The Esmiran racial superiority complex, aside from the Esmirans themselves, seemed utterly baffling to the wise races and high-level Apostles. Regarding racial talents, how could Esmirans possibly compare to the might of the Demon Clan?

The Shattered Starry Sky gave all Junior Apostles similar difficulty levels for tasks in the first few Quest Worlds. Considering the Sas couple’s physical foundation and combat ability, reaching only Grade One, Level Three after five worlds was simply average, nothing special.

Moreover, Sas and Cora had a Quest interval time of only a week and a half, which barely counted as medium level. If it had stretched to two months, they would essentially have been poverty-stricken Apostles struggling just to survive.

Sas and Cora bought temporary spots in the Black Iron Team precisely to reduce their Quest interval time, aiming to reach Grade Two ranks as quickly as possible. Grade Two Apostle rank was essentially the standard entry requirement for most mid-level Apostle teams.

Originally, Hill and Hansen had not planned to recruit anyone else, as they were only a day or two away from entering their next Quest World. But the old fox, Hill, after hearing Qin Lun relay the information, instantly sensed that there might be Apostles with extended Quest intervals desperate to use their temporary spot to shorten that time.

So, he tried posting the info at the Mercenary Guild. Surprisingly, it attracted quite a few prospective buyers.

Sas and Cora were specifically chosen by Hill from all the buyers. Officially, it was because Sas was a Constitution-based Main Tank and Cora was a long-range Magician, filling gaps in the team. Their true motives were only clear to Hill and Hansen.

Sas and Cora initially disliked joining an Earthling Black Iron Team. However, after Hill and Hansen dangled certain incentives, they finally held their noses and agreed to cooperate with three Earth humans for one Quest World.

Thanks to Sas and Cora joining, the three Serial Killers, who had already felt the pressure of spacetime rejection, unexpectedly gained an extra week to prepare. Hill and Hansen were naturally overjoyed by this and intensified their “hunting activities”.

By the time the next Quest was imminent again, the pair had surprisingly managed to significantly ease their resource crunch. They prepared recovery items worth over a hundred thousand Shattered Crystals and even generously prepared a bundle for Qin Lun.

Looking at these recovery items, Qin Lun could only sigh silently. Probably half of these one hundred thousand’s worth came from the duo’s own resources; the rest likely bore the ghosts of many unfortunate souls.

Naturally, Qin Lun understood this was their way of ensuring he didn’t back out. He accepted the goods without a second thought, only subtly hinting that they should “slow down the pace” and avoid drawing too much attention.

The Shepherd and The Disciple, needing his cooperation, humbly accepted this advice immediately. They even started earnestly debating how often they could “relax” without causing issues, making Qin Lun inwardly shake his head.

“Qin Lun, we’re here!” Just as Qin Lun was pondering this, Hill and Hansen arrived together.

“Hmph, Earthlings simply have no concept of time!” Sas rolled his golden pupils and deliberately muttered loudly.

“Come now, Sas, don’t fuss over it!” Cora tugged her husband’s sleeve, trying to smooth things over. Yet her tone was thick with unmistakable arrogance. She clearly felt that their agreement to remain in this Black Iron Team was already equivalent to helping these three Earthlings complete their Quest.

“My apologies, you two. Shall we head inside?” Hill’s smile remained unchanged as he offered a sincere apology. Even Hansen, whose temper was usually explosive, seemed disinclined to argue with Sas. He forced a stiff, apologetic-looking grin.

Qin Lun sighed quietly beside them. There really was no point arguing with the dead.

He truly couldn’t grasp how the Sas couple had survived five Quest Worlds. Hill he understood – most people indeed failed to see through the Shepherd’s sanctimonious faith. But Hansen? Anyone with eyes could tell he wasn’t a kind soul. Why would anyone agree to team up with such a person?

Buying a temporary spot to shorten the Quest interval was a good strategy, but it absolutely didn’t necessitate actually entering the Quest World with that team. They could have easily left the team once they felt the spacetime pressure lift and entered different Quest Worlds on their own.

“How did you trick them into entering the same Quest World?” Qin Lun couldn’t help asking Hansen beside him, thinking this.

“Tell you once we’re inside the Quest World!” Hansen sneered, looking at the backs of Sas and Cora, and deliberately turning away. “Don’t scare them off. Pigs like them are hard to find these days!”

Because Hansen was poor at diplomacy and Qin Lun’s style was lax, the nominal Team Leader of this group was Shepherd Hill. However, Hill wisely relinquished management rights. He divided the Team Warehouse into two parts: one shared by the three Serial Killers, the other used exclusively by the Sas couple.

As for member management permissions, no members could be changed before the next Quest World, and anyone could freely quit. Of course, Sas and Cora had a contract stipulating their membership lasted only one Quest World.

“Apostle Soul Mark has entered Boundary Dimension. Shattered Laws commencing…”

“Detected Apostle possesses formal team code. Commencing assessment of integrated team strength. Automatically matching relevant Quest World…”

“Assessment complete. Reconstructing Apostle Law Body based on relevant Quest World’s Sapient Race biological system…”

“Commencing synchronization of Law Body with this world’s laws data… Apostle gear items fully compliant with World Law…”

“Notice: World technology is undergoing its Third Industrial Revolution. Magic level is at Magic Web proliferation stage. Apart from Apostle Soul Mark, Shattered Starry Sky will not mask most Apostle equipment and skills!”

“Notice: Execution time for this world set to one week. Apostles must complete the Guidance Mission to gain additional stay time. Otherwise, removal by mandatory teleportation. Observe confidentiality rules. Ensure teleportation occurs outside combat status and surveillance range, otherwise all consequences fall upon the Apostle.”

…

World Setting: Kill Mode

Kill Difficulty: Volatility extreme, unable to assess

Pain Reduction: 50%

Law Body Enhancement: 120%. (Additional 5000 Shattered Crystal fee for attribute adjustments. Account settled upon return to Shattered Starry Sky)

Current World Exploration Degree: 5.26%

World Essence Plunder: None

Addendum: This world is a Prime Material World. Apostles dying here will drop random equipment items upon death.

Time remaining until world entry: Thirty seconds.

Countdown commencing: 30, 29, 28…