Chapter 712 Dynomair

Chapter 701: Dynomair

Derek continued to look in the direction where he had left Sheen. It was very hard for him not to go back and try to help, but he knew that instead of helping, going back would hinder the old man. In the end, he could only clench his fist and turn away.

“What?” Silvi asked from his shoulder.

“Oh,” Derek replied, realizing that Silvi didn’t know about anything that had been going on lately. “There’s an old man who was escorting me. He’s a nice guy. You would like him. Two really strong people ambushed us, and he’s fighting them while I head on to the city.”

“Nice guy? Has ingredients?” Silvi asked.

“He just may,” Derek replied with a chuckle.

“Let’s help!”

“We can’t,” Derek replied, shaking his head. “We are way too weak. These people could squish us with a finger.”

“Oh...” Silvi replied. “He strong?”

“He’s really strong,” Derek said.

“Then he will be fine. We’re strong. We’re always fine. He will be, too,” Silvi explained.

“I like the way you think,” Derek replied. “And you’re right. He will be fine. He’s the second or third strongest person I’ve ever met.”

“Who is stronger?”

“I think his patriarch may have been stronger,” Derek replied. “And Dave is for sure.”

“The tasty elf?” Silvi asked.

“Yes,” Derek replied. “Dave is very, very strong.”

“He does have the best desserts,” Silvi replied, nodding. “Must be strong.”

“Anyway,” Derek said. “Did you collect the storage items?”

“I did,” Silvi replied. “Haven’t looked inside yet.”

“What do we do about the remainder of the bodies? Leave them here? Or store them and find a better place?” Derek asked. He wasn’t entirely sure what the best protocol in his current situation would be.

“Burn them,” Silvi said. “No bodies after. Problem solved.”

“That...” Derek muttered, then shrugged. “Go ahead.”

Not long after, all that remained was ash blowing in the wind. Silvi reappeared on his shoulder. “Done!”

“Good job,” Derek replied. “Now, I’m going to need you to go back inside the Time Prison for a little while longer. It’s a lot harder for you to hide your void with the way you look. I can apparently pull off being a different species, but I doubt there are any horned rabbits with void-purple features out there.”

“Aw... okay...” Silvi replied.

“I promise it won’t be too long,” Derek said. “And since you are my beast companion, you won’t have to register when we enter Origin City, so I can just let you out once we’re there and safe.”

“Kay...” Silvi replied.

“Okay,” Derek said. “I’ll see you soon.” He then opened a small space to his Time Prison, and Silvi hopped back inside. He didn’t bother bringing Alex back out or any of his other friends, as the people he’d just fought made it pretty clear that they didn’t actually know who he was or much about him. They were really only looking for Alex.

If that were the case, then just not having him tag along would likely make the traveling safer for Derek alone. At least, he hoped that would be the case. As long as the Grimshaw Clan doesn’t send more people, or if they do, they aren’t able to tell that I just fought and defeated a bunch of their own people.

Surely that’s all of them, though, right? Derek wondered as he finally started back in the direction he was told to go by Sheen. Hopefully, he would be able to get to the city without too many more problems.

Though he was being very cautious, Derek still made great time. He didn’t figure anyone would be behind him with Sheen fighting them, but because of how serious Sheen was, he still moved quickly—only stopping for brief pauses to check his surroundings before using his movement skill again.

Soon enough, Derek was able to see the outline of a city. That has to be it, he thought as he slowed his approach. Now... I need to bring out everyone so it doesn’t look like I’m trying to smuggle people through entrances and teleporters.

Derek stopped using his movement skills and switched to a fast walk. Once it looked like he was close enough that anyone would be hesitant to attack so close to a city connected to Origin Planet, he moved off to the side, then opened his Time Prison.

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With the space open, he pushed the door and stuck his head inside. Instantly, he was met with Alex and Edgar.

“Is everything okay?” Alex asked while fidgeting. “Silvi said she took care of everything, but she didn’t explain what that meant. She said she had too much to do and didn’t have time to explain it all to me...”

“Then she started cooking,” Edgar finished with a chuckle.

“Yes,” Derek said. “Everything is fine. The Grimshaw people that were sent after you are all ash now—other than the ones that Ancestor Sheen was fighting. I don’t know how any of them are doing right now.”

“Oh...” Alex let out a long sigh. “That’s a relief. I’ve heard plenty of stories about Ancestor Sheen. I’m sure he can take care of himself, or at least escape if he needs to.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Derek said.

“Now what?” Alex asked.

“Now? Now that we are close to the city. I’m going to need everyone who isn’t a beast companion to come out of the space now,” Derek explained.

“Already?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” Derek replied. “I thought it would be easier for me to just finish moving here on my own, and it was.” After that, he looked past the two at all the other people, then looked back at Edgar. “Edgar.”

“Yeah?” the former prince replied.

“Could you gather everyone other than our beast companions and have them get ready? They can leave most of their stuff in here if they want to. In fact, it may be best to leave all but a few mostly empty storage devices in here just to be on the safe side. It will already look odd—seeing how only three of us have bracelets, and mine doesn’t even work,” Derek explained.

“Silvi brought in a few of those bracelets,” Edgar replied.

“Yes, but they were tied to other people that we killed,” Derek said. “I don’t know how that works in this system yet, so I would rather they stay here where nobody can come looking for them.”

“I see,” Edgar replied with a nod. “In that case, give me a minute and I’ll have everyone ready.”

Derek nodded, then he and Alex walked back outside.

“Was the fight easy?” Alex asked.

“It was easier than fighting Nikolai,” Derek replied. “But that’s because I had some new cards to play. If I had had that trump card against Nikolai, that fight might not have ended up being so dicey.”

“The flame?” Alex asked.

“Yeah,” Derek replied. “It’s... interesting, to say the least.”

“What did it do?”

“Not entirely sure,” Derek replied. “We’ll leave it at the fact that it let me win pretty easily once I used it.”

“I see...” Alex replied. As he opened his mouth to ask another question, Malorie stuck her head outside the Time Prison.

“Are you sure it’s safe for all of us?” the woman asked.

“Not entirely,” Derek replied truthfully. “But to go any further, we all have to be there. Otherwise, it could put us in a bad situation that I don’t think any of us would want to deal with.”

“Oh,” Malorie said as she stepped the rest of the way through.

Next, Stella came out with Brandi and Thomas, then Marrick and Amelia, then Bones and Ogre, and finally, Edgar brought Roman and Nivara out. With everyone out of the Time Prison other than Silvi and Blitz, Derek looked inside one last time, then closed the space.

“Okay,” he said. “We can’t take our time getting to the city from here. We need to move, and quickly. Once we get through with the teleportation to a planet called Karnis, we should be relatively safe from anything inside the city we end up in.”

Everyone nodded and kept any questions—which most clearly had—to themselves. “Good,” Derek said once he saw everyone understood everything. “Now, let’s go.” With that, Derek took the lead, and Marrick and Amelia fell in behind the rest of the group. This way—barring someone extremely strong—the lower-level people and children in the middle would be safe during the short trek.

Derek was tense the entire time—as this time, everyone he cared about who was with him was in danger. Luckily, the worst didn’t happen, and they soon all found themselves close to the entrance to the city. As they approached the entrance, a guard spotted them and waved them over.

“Resident, guest, or just passing through?” the guard asked as soon as they stopped.

“Just passing through,” Derek replied. “We’re here to use the teleporter,” he explained.

“Very well,” the guard said as he looked everyone up and down. “I take it you would prefer physical passes since it doesn’t look like all of your group has communication bracelets.”

“That would be great,” Derek replied.

“That would be 1,000 Origin System Credits each, and a 100-credit charge each for physical passes,” the guard said. “Are you paying for the group? Or is everyone separate?”

“Sounds good,” Derek replied. “And I’ll be paying for everyone.”

The guard nodded, then held his wrist out, and Derek received a prompt.

...

14,300 Origin System Credits have been requested by Dynomair City for [Entrance into City]

Accept?

...

Derek looked over the notification, then mentally agreed to the charge. The credits were instantly taken out.

...

14,300 Origin System Store Credits have been removed from your account.

Origin System Store Credits: 1,935,700

...

Well, at least the cost for entry isn’t nearly as bad as the cost to teleport is going to be, Derek thought as he saw his new balance. In front of him, the guard pulled out and counted 13 passes, then handed them to Derek’s group, one by one.

“Please inject your mana into the passes to activate the time. This will set a five-hour timer. At the end of the timer, you will be escorted from the city if you still remain. Do you understand?” the guard said mechanically, like it was something he’d said thousands of times—which was likely.

“I understand,” Derek said as he injected his mana into the pass. Everyone else nodded and did the same. Soon, all the passes were lit up with a blue glow.

“As the time remaining on your passes counts down, the glow will disappear from the top down. Once the entire badge is no longer glowing, your time is up,” the guard said, then stepped to the side. “Please enjoy your time in Dynomair City. If you would like to extend your stay, please find your nearest Visitor Registration Office.”

“Thank you,” Derek replied with a nod as he led the group past the guard and into the city. Dynomair City wasn’t much different from the city they’d been in briefly after their last teleportation. It was a city with a mix of classic buildings and advanced technology. It wasn’t much different from House Loomis’s city that he’d stayed in with Alex.

“Okay, everyone,” Derek said. “Let’s go look for the teleportation building, or whatever it is called in this city.”

“And why didn’t you just ask the guard where the building was?” Stella asked with a smirk.

“Because I was more worried about getting us all inside,” Derek replied. “And besides,” he said as he pointed in front of them, “I see a bunch of people who could point us in the right direction.”

And he wasn’t wrong. The first guard they saw on patrol pointed them to the ‘Transit Station,’ which was, as usual, close to the city center. As soon as they got directions, they were off. Derek didn’t want to spend any more time than was necessary in the city when there were possibly still people out there looking for Alex.