When Chen Luo passed by the bar this time, he specifically glanced inside to make sure no one had starved to death before returning home through the bar.
Mona had truly given Chen Luo a scare.
Just imagine, as a bar owner, you return to your bar only to find someone nearly starved to death inside. Tell me, wouldn't you panic?
This was a living person! And besides, Mona at least had a skill like astrology, yet she could still nearly starve to death? That's truly beyond belief.
Before, Mona at least had money to eat some fruit and vegetable salad to fill her stomach. Now, she dared to not leave a single Mora behind.
Who knows if Mona was just too happy overspending or if she trusted Chen Luo too much.
When he pushed open the bar door and returned to his living room, Chen Luo suddenly felt all his motivation drain away.
"What should I do now?" Chen Luo looked utterly bewildered.
According to his previous habits, Chen Luo should be wandering around the neighborhood looking for people who needed help to increase his commission requests, or going to the hospital to work as a nursing aide or something.
"Wait, the hospital!" Chen Luo instinctively took out his phone and glanced at it.
"Today's Saturday, right? Normally, I should go see Yun Lian'er, but..." Chen Luo looked up at the gradually darkening sky and slumped back onto the sofa.
He usually visited Yun Lian'er around 10 a.m., but now it was already 6 p.m.
But after suddenly having free time, Chen Luo felt an extremely strong sense of guilt.
Because during the 7-day event, aside from eating, sleeping, and running the bar, Chen Luo hadn't rested at all. So, this kind of idle time felt like a huge waste.
He really wanted to go to the bar, but there were no customers there.
Chen Luo was considering whether to keep the bar open all day in the future. But thinking carefully, if the bar was open all day, what would he do if he got a commission during the daytime?
"Right, I should call Mom and the others, to report being safe and sound."
Chen Luo had been killing zombies in another world for 7 days and even became a lackey for destroying the world. This kind of experience was something Chen Luo could never have imagined before.
"It's been exactly half a month since I unlocked my talent, right? The experiences in the past half month have been truly magical." Chen Luo sighed and started dialing the number.
The phone rang for quite a while before it was answered.
Chen Luo wasn't surprised by this. After all, they were at the South Pole or North Pole, right? Poor signal was normal. In fact, it would be a surprise if the call went through.
"Hello, Mom, are you there?" Chen Luo was calling his mother, not his father.
Because Chen Luo hadn't figured out how to face his dad yet.
After all, he had given one of the three collected sets to that scummy snake.
Before becoming a Puppeteer, he didn't think it was a big deal. Now that he was a Puppeteer and had awakened a collecting obsession, he felt this behavior was really excessive.
Maybe he should make a set himself later. With his Puppeteer talent, creating something like that should be able to pass as genuine, right?
"My dear son! What made you think of calling Mom? Do you miss me?" Even through the phone, Chen Luo could hear the sense of joy on the other end.
After all, Chen Luo really used to call his parents only once every half month, rarely after just 7 days.
"Let's go with that." Chen Luo couldn't be bothered to argue about this with his mom. After all, reporting his safety couldn't involve telling them the truth.
And besides, who would believe that he went to another world to kill zombies for 7 days?
"Aiya, the child has grown up and even knows how to be shy now. How was the trip? Smooth?" Chen Luo's mother asked concernedly.
"It was quite smooth. But I came home after 7 days of traveling. Traveling is really tiring." Chen Luo said with deep feeling.
"I don't understand how you can keep traveling, only returning home once a month."
Chen Luo was this tired after just 7 days fighting zombies outside. Although archaeology isn't the same as fighting zombies, it should be quite tiring too, right?
"Ah, this is the worry of adults. We need to earn money to support the family. Besides, the reason you feel tired is probably because you don't have a companion with you. So, how about finding a girlfriend? Although I'm very reluctant to see my little Luo taken by other people, it really is about time at your age." Chen Luo's mother teased.
"Seriously? I'm only 17! Isn't dating now considered puppy love?" Chen Luo never expected to be urged to get married at 17. Are these normal parents?
"I just want you to pay attention. During your travels, see if there's anyone you click with, and seize the opportunity quickly. Early romance isn't important; anyway, even if you can't get into university, the family can support you. Just don't delay the girl's studies." Chen Luo's mother chattered on.
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about me. Are you still at the North Pole? What about the photo with the penguin I asked for?" Chen Luo instantly changed the subject.
Just kidding, asking me to find a partner at 17 is asking too much, isn't it?
What kind of human suffering is this?
And does this mean I need to find a mother for the Herrscher of Sentience already?
Wouldn't the Herrscher of Sentience and that person end up fighting?
Wait, no...
"The penguin photo? Sorry, we didn't have time to go to the South Pole, my treasure. How about a photo with a polar bear instead?" Chen Luo's mother said somewhat apologetically.
"Fine, just send it to me later. By the way, where's Dad?"
"Your dad? He's talking with the local guide right now."
"Guide? There are guides at the North Pole?" Chen Luo was taken aback.
"Ah, no, we're not at the North Pole anymore. We've gone to another place for archaeology now."
"Is that so? By the way, let me ask, Mom, do you have any age requirements for your son's girlfriend?" Chen Luo asked.
Mom, you might not believe this, but my child already has a mother.
It's just that the age is a bit... high.
Over 50,000 years old.
"Age? Not really a big requirement, but it can't be too unreasonable. Don't even think about marrying a rich older woman for money. Our family isn't short of money. Let me tell you, you can't handle a 'Suger Mamal'."
"...What are you thinking about?" Chen Luo held back for a long time before managing to say that.
"Someone younger is even worse! That could start at three years in prison and go up to the death penalty!" Chen Luo's mother said nervously.
"Stop, stop, stop! Let's not discuss this anymore. Where are you traveling now?" Chen Luo regretted even bringing up the topic.
And why does his mom know more about these things than he does?
"Where are we traveling? The Severn Valley... Have you heard of it, treasure?"
"Severn Valley? You mean the River Severn?" Chen Luo asked, puzzled.
"So the River Severn has a valley too? Learned something new."
"Ahem, well, that's not important. In short, we'll be doing archaeology here for a while recently. We're not sure when we'll be back this summer vacation."
"Alright, fine. You're always like this during summer and winter vacations; I'm used to it. Oh, and remember to stay safe." Chen Luo instructed.
"Don't worry, we will."
After talking with his mom for a while and asking her to say hello to his dad, who was speaking with the guide, Chen Luo hung up the phone.
Chen Luo ultimately didn't mention the hidden world. Although he felt the archaeology profession was quite dangerous, his parents had been doing it for years without any incidents, which suggested they weren't involved with the hidden world. Since that was the case, it was best not to drag them into it.
According to the information Yun Xia gave him, once you become aware of the hidden world's existence, those things from the hidden world are more likely to find you.
If you remain ignorant, while you might be less knowledgeable, you are also safer.
This was practically a rule in itself.
For instance, over all these years, the existence of the hidden world had been well protected, precisely because they feared greater casualties if the general public learned about these things.
Another example was Chen Luo himself; throughout his 17 years, he had never encountered anything abnormal.
But right after awakening his talent, Chen Luo encountered an heart demon.
Because of this, Chen Luo thought that at least until he had the ability to protect his entire family, he wasn't planning to tell his parents.
But Chen Luo figured it wouldn't be long now.
There were still over 40 days until summer vacation ended. No big deal.
Chen Luo managed to slaughter his way through all of Nagazora City in just 7 days. Given another 40 days, Chen Luo could (not really) single-handedly defeat the Honkai.
"If I have nothing to do tomorrow, maybe I should visit Yun Lian'er, and thank her for that Basic Elemental Magic book while I'm at it."
"And to be honest, I really should reveal some of my capabilities. Not necessarily raw power, but perhaps minor skills."
Chen Luo began to ponder.
Because the secret of his ability to travel to other worlds absolutely could not be exposed. So, to cover up this secret, he needed to reveal some other impressive abilities, but without making others wary or fearful.
After all, "a tree that stands out in the forest will be blown down by the wind."
Also, he needed an excuse for why he returned home suddenly from his trip.
Chen Luo couldn't just never come home, right?
"So... the Teleport Waypoint is a good option, but the complete Teleport Waypoint is too buggy. It needs some nerfing."
"When using the Teleport Waypoint, you need to remain stationary for 8 seconds and cannot take any damage. After 8 seconds, you can teleport home, and only home. This could explain how I can return home. I could use this reason to come home openly in the future."
Of course, Chen Luo definitely wouldn't take the initiative to say this. He would only bring it up for explanation when necessary.
Actively revealing it would instead arouse suspicion; after all, proactively talking about such a life-saving ability seems abnormal no matter how you think about it.
So, whether to visit Yun Lian'er tomorrow also needed consideration.
Thud!
While thinking about how to deceive those with ill intentions, Chen Luo suddenly detected a distorted anomaly and a sound.
The sound wasn't loud, but Chen Luo's hearing had become sharper after his strength increased.
And especially that sense of distortion felt somewhat familiar to Chen Luo.
So, almost the moment that distortion and sound occurred, Chen Luo rushed straight towards the source.
"Huh?" Chen Luo stood in the backyard vegetable patch, looking up at the gradually calming spatial ripples, utterly bewildered.
"Is this... a space-time turbulence?" Chen Luo was vaguely uncertain.
But this sense of temporal distortion felt somewhat similar to Sin's ability, so it probably had time attributes.
And with Chen Luo's excellent associative ability, he naturally remembered the space-time turbulence from the Herrscher of Sentience incident.
Could his backyard vegetable patch be some kind of space-timel channel?
This reminded Chen Luo of similar knowledge from the books Yun Xia gave him.
Dimensional Overlap Portal.
When two dimensions become extremely close, due to certain special reasons, things might be thrown through the overlapping point. It could be garbage, food, objects, or even a shell.
This phenomenon isn't common, but it's not unheard of either.
Data proves that once a dimensional overlap portal appears somewhere, the probability of otherworldly items appearing in the same location again increases dramatically.
Generally, there's a 99% chance that something else will be thrown through the same overlap portal.
Because the spatial structure of that overlap portal is no longer stable.
It's like a place that was injured before; even after healing, it's prone to reopening under significant pressure differences.
Is that why pilots can't have deep scars?
Simply put, "first time strangers, second time friends."
Of course, it could also be due to reasons Chen Luo wasn't aware of.
"You've got to be kidding me. Did an interdimensional portal open above my backyard vegetable patch? I could accept it throwing the Herrscher of Sentience here, but what if it throws something else next time?" Chen Luo muttered, looking at the sky which had completely calmed down and showed no signs of the anomaly.
Chen Luo didn't want something else to be thrown over when he wasn't home, only for the hidden world to discover it and end up fighting, destroying his house in the process.
Or, "man sits at home, nuclear bomb comes from another dimension."
If that happened, Chen Luo would be the ultimate unlucky guy.
"But... what got thrown over this time?" Looking at the space that showed no flaws, Chen Luo instinctively looked towards the deep pit.
That pit was really deep. Just now, standing beside it, Chen Luo couldn't see what was inside.
This pit was originally made when the Herrscher of Sentience crashed down. Later, because Chen Luo needed to bury that blond guy, he dug it even deeper.
After digging, Chen Luo never filled it back in, so whatever came out of the space-time turbulence should have fallen into this pit.
"Could it be that this time it's an object and not a person? Well, yeah, it's unlikely for people to fall through twice in a row from the same turbulence." Thinking this, Chen Luo crouched down and reached into the pit.
"I hope it's a Herrscher core. Preferably the Herrscher of Finality's core. If not, the Herrscher of Binding's core would do. If even that's not possible, I could accept the Herrscher of Reason's core." Chen Luo was fantasizing about some unrealistic things.
And then, Chen Luo touched something furry.
A plush toy?
"Ah..." Chen Luo sighed.
He had originally thought that since it came from the same space-time turbulence, it should also be something from the Honkai Impact 3rd world.
Now it seemed his dream of becoming the Herrscher of Finality was shattered.