Chapter 1061 - 507: Brand New Blue Ocean

Gauss took a moment to organize his thoughts, describing the concept of worlds to the indigenous girl, You, in the simplest way possible. However, even after he finished his explanation, she still wore a bewildered look on her face. It was hard to tell if she had understood anything at all.

"So, you guys are from a faraway tribe, right? That’s why you look different from us," You said, slapping her forehead.

"Uh, you could say that," Gauss nodded.

"Then what are you doing here?" You asked, her face full of curiosity.

From Gauss’s description, he came from a much livelier world where vegetation wasn’t nearly as sparse as it was here. His generosity with food was proof enough of that.

"Exploring and killing monsters." Gauss didn’t see any need to hide his true purpose.

The very nature of this Subspace meant it couldn’t be mined and developed by humanity long-term like a Maze. They could only take advantage of the relatively stable connection with the Main Material Realm to explore and secure temporary, short-term gains.

"Oh? How strange. You came all this way just to kill monsters?" You couldn’t wrap her head around it.

She and her tribesmen hunted monsters for food and survival resources. These people clearly didn’t lack either, so what was their motive? Despite her curiosity, she didn’t pry any further.

THUD!

A fish-like monster was lured out from beneath the river of sand by a clay construct, leaping high into the air. Just as it reached the apex of its jump, the waiting Bigby’s Hand swooped down and snatched the sand-fish in midair.

BANG!

As Bigby’s Hand squeezed with tremendous force, the monster in its palm could not bear the pressure and exploded spectacularly. The bindings on the gravel broke, turning the creature back into fine sand that slipped through the giant fingers.

"Elite Level monster killed: Sand Devourer x1."

Gauss looked at the growing list of monster species in his Monster Atlas, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. In the short time since they had entered this place, he had already killed over a dozen new Ordinary Monsters and several Elite Level monsters.

Travel truly was essential for an Adventurer. If he had stayed back at the front lines, heaven knew how long it would have taken to gather these new entries for his Monster Atlas.

"It’s time to head back," Gauss announced.

Even though there seemed to be no distinction between day and night in this place, Gauss’s Perception told him that several hours had already passed. Outside, dawn should just be breaking. If they didn’t leave soon, the others would wake up to find them missing, which could cause a panic and bring unnecessary trouble.

"Haaah—" Albena let out a loud yawn.

"By the way, You, are you still going to follow us?" Gauss looked at the indigenous girl who had been trailing them the entire way.

He had asked if she needed help returning to her tribe, or any other assistance, but she had refused every offer. Perhaps she still lacked sufficient trust in them, which Gauss completely understood. If he were in her shoes, he wouldn’t hastily lead a group of strangers—whose appearances and clothes were so wildly different from his own—back to his tribe either.

Gauss knew he harbored no ill intentions, but one could never truly read another’s heart. A single moment of carelessness could bring absolute disaster to her people. She had to be cautious, especially since Gauss and his companions were clearly much stronger than she was. Because of this, he hadn’t taken offense when she rejected his proposal.

So, You just followed them like a curious child, observing everything along the way. Whenever she saw Gauss flush out monsters hidden in the sand or earth and effortlessly dispatch them, her mouth would part in awe and surprise.

"May I?" You asked, clearly intrigued by the prospect.

She had lived in this monotonous, yellowish-brown world her entire life. Ever since hearing Gauss’s description of his world, she had been captivated, which was why she insisted on following him around, reluctant to leave.

"If you want to." Gauss shrugged. To him, this was a trivial matter; he just treated it as a cultural exchange between different worlds.

"Thank you so much."

Their return journey was much faster than their initial exploration. Before long, Gauss led the group back to the entrance of the pocket world marked on their map. Seeing You’s slightly fearful expression, he took the lead and stepped right through the writhing rock wall.

Passing through the barrier, they returned to the underground space beneath the fissure. Gauss immediately felt refreshed by the sudden change in environment; both his body and mind felt several pounds lighter.

As expected, "home" was always more comfortable.

"We’re back. I’m so tired." Albena stretched lazily.

She had put in quite a bit of effort in that world. Aside from killing monsters, Gauss and the others had also collected a number of unique ores. They had relentlessly hammered away at all sorts of strange, never-before-seen rocks and minerals with a steady CLINK CLANK. Fortunately, Gauss had enough storage space, so her hard work as a makeshift miner hadn’t gone to waste.

You was the last to emerge. She barely took two steps before her legs suddenly gave out. Ying, who was closest to her, quickly reached out to support her, saving her from a face-to-face encounter with the rocky ground.

COUGH COUGH!

Her face flushed bright red, as if she were choking. Just as Gauss was about to ask Serdur to step forward and examine her, she took a deep breath, fighting to steady her suddenly ragged breathing.

"I’m fine... I’m fine now." She waved a hand dismissively.

The abrupt change to a new environment was indeed incredibly hard for her to adapt to. It felt as if every cell in her body were protesting, urging her to return to the familiar surroundings of her home.

However, Gauss had already warned her about this in advance.