Immediately, Demiurge reported a string of coordinates to Fu Zhu. However, this string of coordinates was in constant, frantic flux—clearly the handiwork of Lygus. He had mentioned before that he would continuously alter the coordinates of Amphoreus to limit the use of Fu Zhu's Yamato.
But Lygus was overconfident.
The moment Fu Zhu saw the string of coordinates, he immediately switched to spectator mode. In his hand, the Demiurge suddenly lost its support and began to fall.
Time stop!
Time froze in an instant. Fu Zhu drew his Yamato and immediately opened a spatial passage according to the now-fixed coordinates.
Although he couldn't attack in spectator mode, performing other actions was still possible.
After the spatial passage was established, Fu Zhu resumed the flow of time, exited spectator mode, and casually caught the falling Demiurge.
"Let's go."
Fu Zhu clutched the Demiurge, muttered to himself, and then stepped into the spatial passage.
After emerging from the passage, Fu Zhu found himself in a small village nestled within a field of brilliant golden wheat. A breeze rustled through the stalks, making them sway under the sunlight. From time to time, the sound of children's laughter could be heard from the village.
Just as Fu Zhu was about to step forward, a thought struck him. He paused, took the Mask of Folly from his inventory, and put it on, slightly altering his physical appearance.
The Cyrene that Demiurge spoke of, who had died countless times in that place, was certainly no Chrysos Heir, but she was definitely no ordinary person either.
And in this world of Amphoreus, such special groups of people were surely designed by Lygus, and he would definitely check on their status from time to time.
He might run into Cyrene next. To prevent Lygus from discovering that he had broken out of jail, it was better to change his appearance.
After his makeover, Fu Zhu followed a small path through the fields toward the village.
A group of children passing by saw Fu Zhu, a stranger wearing a mask who looked like a 'middle-aged man,' and stopped in their tracks, curious.
"Uncle, are you from outside the village?"
Fu Zhu found it a little amusing. If he wasn't from outside the village, was he supposed to be from inside it?
"Me? I fell from the sky."
Fu Zhu replied with a cheerful, nonsensical line. As a result, the children's eyes all lit up as they looked at him.
"Wow! Then you must be able to fly, uncle! Otherwise, you'd definitely get hurt falling from so high up!"
"That's where you're wrong, little friend."
Fu Zhu wagged his finger, correcting the children. "You don't necessarily have to fly to fall from the sky. Have you heard of landing in water without taking damage? Besides, you don't get hurt when you fall, you just die once, that's all."
"That's so amazing!"
Fu Zhu chuckled and ruffled the children's hair, then took out a few bottles of soda he had brought from Penacony and handed them over.
"Thank you, uncle!"
Seeing the colorful, unfamiliar sodas, the children's faces lit up with joy. One by one, they thanked him and took the bottles from his hands.
Just as the children were opening the caps to take a sip, Fu Zhu added in a low, ominous voice, "Kids shouldn't just drink things given to them by strangers when they're outside. What if I'm a bad guy?"
The children, heads tilted back and ready to drink, were so startled they froze. They quickly lowered the bottles, looking at Fu Zhu with unease.
Fu Zhu looked at their expressions and nodded with satisfaction.
A little scare was good; it would teach them to be more cautious.
'Master. Bad.'
Fu Zhu rolled his eyes. He was doing this for the children's own good. If they got kidnapped, think how heartbroken their families would be.
The children held the sodas, not drinking but not putting them down either, just staring at Fu Zhu anxiously.
Seeing these little gluttons who refused to let go, Fu Zhu smiled and gestured with his chin towards the village.
"If you want to drink them that badly, go back to the village and have an adult check them first. I happen to be heading into the village myself, so these sodas can be your payment for being my guides."
"Okay!"
Hearing this, the children cheered and immediately swarmed around Fu Zhu, heading towards the village.
As they entered the village, an uncle smoking a pipe at the entrance saw the children leading a strange middle-aged man back. He frowned and immediately walked over.
"You kids, why did you run outside to play again? Don't you know it's been dangerous out there lately?"
The uncle started by lecturing the children, who had been cheerful just a moment ago. They immediately lowered their heads and didn't dare to make a sound.
The uncle harrumphed, then turned his attention to Fu Zhu, asking with a frown, "Who are you?"
"Zhu Fu. I'm looking for someone and have been wandering all over. I saw the scenery here was nice, so I thought I'd come in for a look."
"Just passing by by chance?"
The uncle didn't believe a word of it. The Black Tide was rampant outside. Anyone who dared to wander around so casually was no ordinary person.
But he didn't dare call him out on it. He was just an ordinary farmer. If things turned ugly and the man attacked, he wouldn't be able to protect the children present.
Thinking this, a kind smile appeared on the uncle's face.
"Then you've come to the right place! Everyone knows our Aedes Elysiae is second to none!"
"Indeed." Fu Zhu nodded in agreement. If he had to choose a place without an internet connection to retire, he would seriously consider Aedes Elysiae.
Of course, a place with internet was still better.
The uncle took out his pipe from his pocket, took a couple of puffs until the embers glowed again, and then looked at Fu Zhu.
"Brother, since you're here, why not join our village's Wheat Autumn Festival?"
"Wheat Autumn Festival?" Fu Zhu turned his head to look at the endless golden wheat fields outside the village. "Is it a festival for harvesting wheat?"
"That's the one." The uncle nodded, affirming Fu Zhu's guess.
He couldn't let someone who was obviously not a good person wander around the village freely. It was better to lead him to the village chief. The chief was a Priest of [Time], one of the few capable people in their village.
He figured that with the village chief present, even if this Brother Zhu Fu was a bad guy, the chief could suppress him in an instant.
"Alright, then." Fu Zhu thought for a moment and agreed.
The uncle nodded, turned around, and smacked one of the little boys on the back of the head. "Let's go, you little rascals! Stop running outside all day!"
The boy giggled, then raised his arm to his friends, and the group cheered as they ran into the village.
The uncle turned back to Fu Zhu and smiled apologetically. "These kids are too naughty. Thank you for bringing them back, brother."
Fu Zhu waved his hand dismissively. "No thanks needed. It was on my way."
The uncle nodded, then asked, "By the way, brother, you said you were looking for someone? Who is it?"
Fu Zhu had already used his minimap at the village entrance to get a rough look at the names of everyone inside. Unfortunately, he hadn't found any girl named Cyrene.
However, he worried that "Cyrene" might just be a pseudonym that wouldn't show up on the map. To be safe, it was better to ask a local.
"Cyrene. Is there anyone in the village with that name?"