Chapter 371 - 7: Messenger

Chapter 371: Chapter 7: Messenger

When Lin Yu awoke, he looked toward the border of his territory. The spatial barrier between his continent and those of the other races had vanished.

However, no enemy attacked.

Looking down from on high, he could see indistinct shapes moving in the forests of the enemy continents. It seemed the enemy was still massing its forces.

Since the battle he expected didn’t break out, Lin Yu withdrew from his state of fusion with the World Tree.

’A visitor?’ Shifting his attention back to the area around the World Tree, Lin Yu’s gaze penetrated the Lord’s Mansion and focused on the Government Affairs Center.

Inside the Government Affairs Center, a human was sitting in the lounge of the never-before-used reception area for foreign dignitaries.

Lin Yu’s consciousness took a whiff. ’The familiar scent of Sword Qi!!!’

"Bring the guest over! I’m awake! And I slept great!!"

Lin Yu’s voice echoed in Chenxi’s ears. She looked toward the Lord’s Mansion, pleasantly surprised.

When Lin Yu had first returned, Chenxi had sensed a comforting familiarity from him, much like the World Tree, and he faintly emanated a powerful aura.

Whenever she looked at Lin Yu, she felt as if she were gazing upon a divine tree, but this did not make Chenxi happy.

As the World Tree grew, the newly born elves and sprites gradually developed male and female distinctions. Then, learning from the animals, they began to pair up and procreate within their own kind.

And Chenxi, knowing from her conversations with the Lord that he didn’t have a partner, harbored a flicker of hope in her heart.

Therefore, even as she watched her brothers and sisters start families one after another, Chenxi herself remained unattached.

But then, when her lord reappeared, although his appearance was unchanged and he was even more easygoing with everyone, she had heard a certain distance in his voice. It wasn’t until his words just now, transmitted directly into her ear, that she noticed his tone had lost some of its divinity and gained a little more humanity.

This let her know that her lord was back to normal.

Her intuition was correct. After merging with his clone, Lin Yu hadn’t fully adapted. The vast difference between his clone’s four years of experience and his own single month had affected his cognition, causing rationality to completely take over.

This was also why he had ignored Li Hua’s private message. In his state at the time, he had judged Li Hua to be of too little value to be worth the effort of befriending.

Now, after his slumber within the World Tree and his deep fusion with it, he had digested the clone’s years of experience and was no longer under its influence.

...

Then, Chenxi led the visitor from the reception lounge to the Lord’s Mansion. ℯℯ𝑙.

As soon as she entered, she saw Lin Yu watching her with a gentle gaze, radiating the same warmth she’d felt when she first saw him during the second phase.

Just like a father looking at his daughter...

’No, wait... why is the Lord looking at me like I’m his daughter?’

’I’ve heard humans don’t inbreed. I have to find a way to change the Lord’s view of me. I’ll go to the Wisdom Library later and look for some books on how humans court and reproduce...’

As these thoughts ran through her mind, Chenxi led the guest into the reception hall.

"My Lord, this is the messenger sent by Lord Li!"

’A messenger? Why would Li Hua send a messenger? Couldn’t he just have sent a private message if he needed something?’

"My sincerest greetings, Lord Lin. My master said he sent you a message, but you didn’t reply, so he dispatched me to deliver this letter."

"Oh, right, I think that did happen! By the way, how did you find your way here?"

Lin Yu knew his territory was by no means small; the core was at least 3,400 kilometers from the border.

Whether by going in the wrong direction or getting lost along the way, it was entirely possible for someone to become lost within his territory.

For this messenger to have actually found his way here was quite impressive.

The messenger gave a wry smile upon hearing Lin Yu’s question.

"My Lord, I..."

Seeing him hesitate, looking as though he didn’t want to speak, Lin Yu was puzzled.

From the side, Chenxi covered her mouth and chuckled. "My Lord, he didn’t exactly find his own way here."

"Oh?"

"My Lord, he was blundering about the territory when a patrol team discovered him. A conflict broke out, and then Yuan Xiaobo, who was just passing by, captured him and brought him back."

"After interrogation, he explained where he came from, and he’s been in the reception lounge ever since."

"I see. You’ve really been through a lot, haven’t you!"

"My Lord, your territory is simply too vast! I never imagined a territory could be this large. You must be the strongest lord there is right now!"

"Hahaha, you flatter me! Now, where is the letter Li Hua had you bring?"

The messenger took a letter written by Li Hua from his coat, accidentally revealing a camera he was carrying.

Lin Yu took the letter and asked, "You were recording your journey here?"

"Ye... Yes, my Lord. I’ll destroy it at once."

"Forget it. You can take it back with you." Lin Yu’s consciousness swept over the camera and read its contents. He found no sensitive material. There was only a brief shot of adjustments being made to the defense perimeter at the beginning, but he wasn’t worried. Others wouldn’t know he was doing it manually; they would simply assume it was due to a special building or a unique territorial trait.

Then he scanned his entire territory again, discovering more than one weak signal from a non-resident.

Upon closer inspection, he realized they were all scouts sent by other lords of his own race. It seemed the commotion from adjusting the defense perimeter had been too great and had aroused their curiosity.

On top of that, someone was organizing a project to map the terrain of all the lords’ territories. Once every lord except for him submitted their maps, his true scale would be exposed. Fortunately, he no longer needed to hide.