Chapter 367 - Chapter 367: Chapter 366: Leave this cute little girl behind
Chapter 367 of "Exploring Technology in a Wizard World" begins revealing: Darkness, a vast darkness.The darkness seemed endless, but suddenly a bundle of pale blue flames... Continue the adventure!
Darkness, a vast darkness.The darkness seemed endless, but suddenly a bundle of pale blue flames erupted, illuminating the immense space.
Bathed in the light of the pale blue flames, Pandora opened her eyes wide, surveying the strange surroundings and asked Richard, âWhere are we?â
âInside the suitcase,â Richard replied.
âThe black box we saw just now?â Pandora asked.
âYes,â Richard confirmed.
With even wider eyes, Pandora exclaimed in surprise, âThen⊠this box is really big, isnât it!â
Richard, unsure of how to explain the concept of space items to Pandora, simply patted her on the head without saying a word and pulled her towards the palace.
âTap, tap, tapâŠâ
Their footsteps echoed. As Richard stepped through the palace gate, he heard the anxious voice of the Golden Mask from within, âHey, hey, hey, kid, is that you coming back? It is you, I knew it! You would come back! Come over here, come closer, and have a chat with me!â
Pandora hesitated on hearing the Golden Maskâs voice and looked guarded.
Richard, noticing her expression, reassured her, âDonât worry, itâs just a poor, sealed soul; it poses no threat.â
Pandora relaxed a bit upon hearing this, though she didnât fully understand.
Seeing her calm down, Richard exhaled slowly, controlling the âPhosphorus Candleâ to float in mid-air, lighting up the entire hall as he walked toward the Golden Mask.
âTap, tap, tapâŠâ
Richard approached the Golden Mask, and without much ado, took out the metallic ball and asked, âWhat is this? Do you know? You said you were bored and wanted to chat, so letâs talk about this.â
âThisâŠâ the Golden Mask spoke, âI honestly donât know what this is.â Quite abruptly and directly, it stopped the conversation dead.
Richard: ââŠâ
Golden Mask: ââŠâ
After a brief silence, the Golden Mask, somewhat nervous, broke the silence and tried to explain, âYou must believe me, Iâm not lying, I⊠I really donât know what it is or what itâs for.â
âArenât you the spirit of this palace, a guardian? You donât know? This metallic ball was taken from the palace,â Richard said, not hiding his skepticism.
The Golden Mask protested, âI am indeed a guardian, the spirit of the hall, but to be completely honest, thatâs just like being a doorkeeper. Itâs like soldiers stationed outside a treasure vault; do you think a soldier would know what treasures are inside?â
âAbsolutely not!â the Golden Mask answered its own question, âSo, Iâm not deceiving you, I have no idea what the metallic ball in your hand is.â
Richard: ââŠâ
After another moment of silence, Richard turned and left without a word of courtesy.
The Golden Mask called out plaintively from behind, âHey, donât be like that, donât treat me this way! Although I donât know what that metallic ball is, we could talk about something else, like the weather. By the way, whatâs the weather like outside today? Is there a sun? Is there wind? Hey, heyâŠâ
Richard ignored the Golden Mask and kept walking away.
Approaching the door, Richard paused and turned his head to see Pandora squatting on the ground, rummaging through a row of boxes. Upon opening one and discovering it was full of shiny Gold Coins, Pandoraâs eyes lit up, and she instinctively reached for them. But then she thought of something and cautiously drew her hand back.
Her lips pursed, and her brows furrowed, Pandoraâs temptation eventually overcame her caution, and she reached out again, grabbing a Gold Coin and bringing it close to examine it. After staring intently for a while, she brought it to her mouth and bit down hard to test its authenticity.
Seeing this, Richard couldnât help shaking his head and called out to Pandora, âLetâs go.â
âOkay,â Pandora responded, but her feet didnât move an inch; her eyes sparkled as she kept bringing Gold Coins to her mouth one after another to bite them.
âClink, clink, clinkâŠâ
Real, theyâre all real, every single one!
Pandoraâs eyes widened, staring at the chest full of Gold Coins, feeling like sheâd been hit with a wave of happiness.
Richard, seeing Pandora in this state, figured it out, mostly: Was this the Dragon Clanâs inherent nature, an affection for collecting shiny things, coming to the fore?
If that was the caseâŠ
Well then!
Richard spoke up, âWhy donât you stay here for a while? Iâll go out and take care of some things, then come back for you later, how does that sound?â
Before Pandora could respond to Richardâs proposition, the Golden Mask inside the palace shouted loudly, âGood, very good, excellent, no problem at all! Hurry up and leave, just leave this adorable little girl here with me, to have a nice long chat.â
Ignoring the Golden Maskâs noisy babble, Richard looked at Pandora and, seeing her nod, he finally said, âAlright then.â
After speaking, Richard walked towards the exit of the palace, stopped after a few steps, and glanced back at Pandora and then at the Golden Mask, blinking, instinctively wanting to say something as a precaution, but the words died on his lips as he realized he didnât quite know what to warn her about.
After all, Pandora staying behind shouldnât pose any problems. The Golden Mask was harmless, and Pandora was well-behaved, so thenâŠ
Well, okay.
In the end, Richard left without saying another word.
As soon as Richard stepped out, the Golden Mask eagerly called out to Pandora, âAhem, little girl, sweet little girl, how old are you? Whatâs your name? Hey, Iâm over here, look at me, yes, here! Come over, get a little closer, talk to me.â
At this moment, the Golden Mask was like a villain luring children with candy; of course, he wasnât actually evilâhe lacked any capacity to do evil, and what he was enticing was certainly not any ordinary little girlâsomething that the Golden Mask would find out later.
Amid the incessant noise of the Golden Mask, Pandora furrowed her brows, turned her head toward it, Gold Coin in hand, and approached.
The closer she got, the louder the Golden Maskâs voice became, peppering Pandora with questions.
âLittle girl, what is your name, really? What do you like? Can you sing? YouâŠâ
Pandora did not answer any of the Golden Maskâs questions; she just continued to approach, which made the Golden Mask start to wonder.
âHmm, little girl, what are you doing?â
Then panic set in.
âHey! What are you actually trying to do?! Hey, hey!â