"Ten minutes have passed!"
...
"Huh!?"Xiao Ping exclaimed in surprise, looking at Sticky sleeping on the round table in front of him.
"Yes, as I said before, Sticky is my emotional support animal!" James moved his hand over Sticky's body, petting him slowly.
'Huh, do emotional support animals exist in this world too?! But this doesn't seem convincing. To get a cat that has a silver thread like the one I saw earlier... it doesn't seem normal!' Xiao Ping thought to himself before saying: "I understand, but didn't you forget something!?" Xiao Ping moved his hand, took the hunting cap off the table, and revealed the white bottle of liquor underneath!
"What do you mean?! Is it about how to sell it!?" James looked at the bottle in front of him and asked, his eyes on Xiao Ping's face.
"You could say that! But that's not really what I meant!" Xiao Ping replied, standing up and reaching into the back pocket of his pants to pull out the watch from the side compartment of his pocket.
Xiao Ping took out that golden watch, turned it towards James Beyond, and said: "Do you see what time it is now!?" Even though Xiao Ping seemed serious in his words, he couldn't understand a single letter of what was written on the watch!
"It's 10:40. What about it?" James looked at Xiao Ping's surprised expression. Then he suddenly shouted, "Ah! I remember now that I promised to buy you clothes!"
'Is he playing dumb, or is he a real fool?' Xiao Ping cursed inwardly and continued: "I don't mean that, James. I mean our first mission! Don't tell me you don't remember!?" Xiao Ping was already showing annoyance at James's unserious behavior.
"Ah, you mean that! I'm sorry, but it seems I read the date we were supposed to attend, and it turns out it's tomorrow!" Saying that, James raised his hand and rubbed the top of his hat.
'Huh? Was he giving me information about the case all this time, but then he read the date for the case investigation?! Is he joking with me or what?' Xiao Ping sighed and said: "Then what should I do now!?" Xiao Ping snorted in disappointment.
Suddenly, his stomach made a sound like a roar that echoed in the large room, causing the people to turn towards the table in the dimly lit corner, looking at Xiao Ping!
Xiao Ping felt embarrassed by those stares, so he held his stomach and looked down. James looked back at the people staring at him and Xiao Ping with warning looks.
Soon, the people looked elsewhere when they saw James's aggressive, murderous gaze!
'Damn it, the entity's power effect is gone now, and the feeling of hunger that was twisting my stomach yesterday has returned. This is not a good feeling at all!' Xiao Ping cursed to himself before raising his head towards James and Sticky, who had woken up from his nap startled, and said in an embarrassed voice: "I'm sorry, but I haven't eaten in a while, so forgive me."
James looked at Xiao Ping's embarrassed expression before saying: "Don't worry, Peng, I understand this well. So, we'll go eat a meal before we buy you clothes and sell your bottle for a suitable price!" James chuckled lightly, before picking up Sticky on his right shoulder and rising from the table. But at that moment, Xiao Ping spoke.
"Ouch, I didn't mean that." Xiao Ping denied James's words before continuing: "But by the way, James, where are your glasses!?" Xiao Ping asked the question to James, who was trying to get up, causing him to stop for a second.
"Oh, it seems I got rid of them during the fight!" James replied modestly, looking at Xiao Ping, who was also getting up, and added: "Don't worry, I'll go buy prescription glasses next Sunday." Saying that, James moved towards where the waiter was.
"Ah! I see." Xiao Ping nodded after getting up from the table, took the bottle, put the hunting cap on his head covering his black hair with golden strands at the front, before following James's steps towards where the waiter stood.
...
With every step James and Xiao Ping took,the gazes of all the people in the room followed them as they moved. Their eyes held looks of caution and fear. How could they not be afraid? James Beyond had beaten up three people and also frozen their blood on the walls and floor of the room! However, the looks directed at Xiao Ping were lighter. Even though he posed a danger to them, he wasn't as strong as James, so they only glanced at him briefly.
...
James and Xiao Ping stopped upon reaching the circular chairs in front of the long table,in front of the shelf holding various precious bottles and cups. And there, standing before them, was the waiter cleaning a glass in his hand in a circular motion.
"Hello, Pasco!" James greeted the waiter before continuing. "We want to leave, so will you allow us!?"
Saying that, James looked at the cold expression of the middle-aged waiter, who gave no reaction. But after a few moments, he heard his cold voice say: "Of course you may! But you must pay!" That waiter with brown hair full of gray strands looked at James before also looking at Xiao Ping.
James sighed and said, "Alright! Here." James Beyond threw four bronze liras towards that waiter, who caught them and gestured for them to turn around the chairs and the long table, and stand in front of the shelf of bottles and cups.
Xiao Ping turned to his left to look at that waiter standing there, stepping back. His light brown eyes were also looking at Xiao Ping.
"Young man, be careful not to sell it too cheaply!" At that moment, that middle-aged waiter spoke, looking at the bottle in Xiao Ping's hand.
"I'll be careful about that!" Xiao Ping replied, looking at that waiter before saying, "Thank you, old man!" Even though this old man had tried to manipulate him and falsely accused him, he had apologized and given him a high-quality bottle of liquor, so Xiao Ping was no longer upset with him.
The old man moved his glasses, which were hanging around his neck, and put them on his eyes before saying: "So, until our next meeting, you must stay alive!" His words carried coldness, but at their core, they hinted at something.
'So, something is going to happen to me soon! Is it related to the three people who left before us?!' Xiao Ping thought to himself and said: "I hope so too."
After Xiao Ping finished speaking, that waiter moved his hand.
Click... click. The sound of metal wheels knocking on a wooden board was heard.
Xiao Ping couldn't see the silver energy threads this time because his ability was under suppression for an unknown period, so he acted normally. As for James Beyond, his expression was natural, indicating that he had experienced this thing many times. A few seconds hadn't passed before the shelf split into two halves.
James slowly passed through the divided shelf, and Xiao Ping slowly stepped behind James, before a bright white glow enveloped his vision, suddenly shining so brightly that Xiao Ping covered his eyes.
The last thing Xiao Ping saw before being swallowed by that bright light was the smile James showed him.
After a few moments, that intense glow of light disappeared, so Xiao Ping slowly opened his bright green eyes to look ahead. But he was surprised to see Victorian-style houses of different sizes and colors appearing in his vision, built on the left and right sides of the street. There was a sidewalk on each side with lampposts every four steps, but their design was different from Monarako Street.
There weren't lanterns inside metal cages; instead, they resembled lotus flowers in design, with a metal net rotating around them. But on each lamppost, there were three to four glowing lotus flowers.
There were no trees on the sidewalk; instead, there were plants with beautiful pink flowers, placed in dedicated spots on the sidewalk. Even this street was one-way and also quite narrow.
Xiao Ping looked at the street floor and saw that yesterday's rainwater had formed small puddles on the surface of that street and was slowly sliding towards the drainage holes at the edges of the sidewalk.
Xiao Ping was still admiring the beautiful view of this street, but he didn't see any horse-drawn carriages passing by, which made him wonder why none had passed yet?
But suddenly, he heard a voice that pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Excuse me, sir, but would you allow us to pass?!.."
Xiao Ping turned around and saw a few ladies wearing elegant Victorian-style robes. They also wore white hats on their heads and carried umbrellas of different colors.
"Ah, sorry!" Xiao Ping moved to the left side to allow those ladies to pass on the sidewalk.
Those ladies looked at Xiao Ping with friendly expressions. Two of their faces and well-proportioned bodies were very beautiful.
But Xiao Ping didn't pay attention to that and just kept watching them as they walked gracefully on the sidewalk. However, his gaze was very cold.
"Don't tell me you've fallen in love!"
"WHAT!!!!!" A voice came out of nowhere, causing Xiao Ping to stumble. He would have fallen onto the street into one of the puddles if James hadn't grabbed him by the hand and restored his balance before saying: "Man, women won't choose a man who gets scared by a colleague's voice!" James Beyond laughed at Xiao Ping's foolish behavior.
'So this is the act of the fool, but why didn't I feel him near me? Is it because my power is under a suppression period?' Xiao Ping wanted to ask: "By the way, James, where are we!?"
Xiao Ping looked at James's shoulder and saw that Sticky was still asleep on it and hadn't woken up.
'What? This boy doesn't even know the street names in the city? Is he from outside the city? But judging by his clothes, I don't think so.' James felt strange inside, but he bore it and said: "We are now within the limits of another street; we are no longer on Monarako Street!"
Xiao Ping nodded in understanding, even though he didn't know the name of the street he was on, he would find out soon from James. But instead, he said: "Then what are we doing here!?"
"There's a café and eatery at the end of this street that serves delicious food, and I always eat from here!" James replied.
'Delicious food? He's just lying. He's trying to avoid expensive things, but that's not my concern as long as I'm eating for free. I don't care even if the food is cheap or something similar.' Xiao Ping spoke to himself coldly before saying: "Lead the way."
Upon hearing that, James turned around and began advancing with calm steps on the sidewalk while holding Sticky's fur and petting him carefully.
Xiao Ping watched the scene before a devilish smile appeared on his lips. 'Even though I don't have conclusive evidence, that person is strong, intelligent, and dangerous at the same time! Hahaha, then this is great.. why not take advantage of him to learn about the geographical map of this world? And also to extract information from him about levels and powers! This will fill my biggest weakness after power and endurance, but it certainly won't be easy!' Xiao Ping thought to himself before a voice interrupted him and pulled him out of his thoughts.
"Peng, come on, let's hurry! I want to go to other places after this." James called out, waving his hand to Xiao Ping.
"I'm coming!" Xiao Ping replied and caught up with James.
And so began the partnership between the lost Xiao Ping and the mysterious James.
End of Chapter ~ To be continued