I, holding a long sword in my hand, only know one move

The girl who was sobbing intermittently in front of him as if grasping a life-saving straw made Cheng Rang feel even more tortured.

Cheng Rang had already asked when the pet function would be enabled, but all he got was a reply from the system [Stay tuned].

And the system also explained for itself that the pet function does not come with space for storing living animals like a pet backpack. All pets that have signed a contract are either with you or kept in a specific environment.

It is impossible to throw a fish on the land or carry it on your body and jump around.

Moreover, even if he could take Ai Xueer away, he could not bring her back to the settlement.

The identity of the sea-dwelling species cannot be concealed as easily as Hubie, and her unconscious charm ability is also a disaster for the men in the settlement.

What's more, the [Battle] outside and the black rain and black gray are too dangerous for her.

Leaving it in this dark cave where no one can find it is the best option.

So Cheng Rang could only act cruelly and grab Ai Xueer's hand that was holding the hem of his clothes away.

"Sorry, Ai Xue'er, it's not that I don't want to take you away, but the outside of this cave is too dangerous for you."

The girl opened her eyes wide, looked at herself with a sad expression, and was speechless.

His chest hurt from being stabbed by such eyes. Cheng Rang held her hand tightly and promised: "But it doesn't matter. I will come see you from time to time. I don't mean to leave you forever."

Cheng Rang put the purple ball of light in Ai Xueer's hand.

"I'll leave this for you. I'll come back every few days to bring you some food and talk to you..."

"You will no longer be alone in the future. After I leave, I will also help you find the whereabouts of other clan members, and I will ask them to pick you up when the time comes."

"You are...a person destined to return to the sea. Listen to your mother and live well!"

The beautiful light in the purple light ball illuminated Ai Xueer's pear-shaped face. She held it tightly in her chest and said uneasily: "Cheng, won't you lie to Ai Xueer? You...must... return....."

"I will definitely come back to see you again. If you lie, I will swallow a thousand needles."

Cheng Rang stretched out his thumb, and under Ai Xueer's confused gaze, he took her hand and made the same gesture, gently hooking it together.

"This is a contract with magical power. If we do this, the other party will not break his promise. How about it?"

"Magic...contract?"

Ai Xueer stared closely at the two little fingers hooked together, and finally nodded slightly.

"Well, Ai Xue'er believes that Cheng... will wait for Cheng to come back!"

"So in order to abide by this contract, both of us must live well! If I come back and find you are not here, I will be very sad."

The girl shook her head repeatedly: "Ai Xue'er won't run around, Ai Xue'er will definitely wait for Cheng to come back, because it's been agreed!"

"That's good, you have to be good. Also, save some food. This is actually enough for you to eat for three or four days."

Before leaving, Cheng Rang reminded the girl of various precautions over and over again as if he was worried, and the girl kept them all in mind and nodded in agreement.

"If you miss your mother, just call her name softly, and she will definitely hear it."

"Can the other party hear me when I call my name?"

"Yes, as long as you miss her strongly enough, she will appear in your dream."

Ai Xueer held the glowing purple ball of light and watched Cheng Rang suddenly disappear in front of her eyes, her eyes still full of reluctance.

She was looking forward to the moment when she would meet him again. If she called his name softly - no matter how far away the other party was, he would definitely be able to hear her.

With this thought in mind, the sea-dwelling girl nimbly turned over in the water, swam deeper, and hid the glowing purple ball of light in the huge shell.

The warm light illuminated the surrounding darkness for her in the darkness, making her quietly close her eyes and wait for the next reunion.

The girl who fell into deep sleep murmured from her moving lips:

"....Mother...."

"Ai Xueer's chest feels very warm...is it because she met..."

"...Where is the one I love?"

Chapter 35 Return to the settlement

As the light flickered, Cheng Rang stood up from the ground and returned to the top pass of the cave. After looking back for a moment, he placed a small teleportation beacon here again.

Pulling off the hood, Cheng Rang couldn't help but smile bitterly as the mask and goggles on his face were intact.

As a result, from the beginning to the end, he never revealed the information that he was a human being to Ai Xueer. She even didn't even see clearly what he looked like, so she easily gave her all her trust and made such an agreement. .

Even though he was the one who wanted to hurt her before, Ai Xueer didn't seem to care about this.

She only remembers those good things. He gave her food to keep her full, and she would be happy to be praised for helping her solve problems.

Such a simple girl, let alone a sea-dwelling species, even though Cheng Rang has experienced three whole worlds, she has nothing to do with it.

Having seen such a person, even Isabella would get angry and blame herself for some things...

"Like a fool..."

Ai Xueer, this little idiot, must not let the bad guys deceive her.

Thinking like this, Cheng Rang couldn't help but smile. He walked out of the cave step by step, passed through the narrow and curved tunnel, and came to the entrance of the cave.

".....Eh?"

But after seeing the scenery outside the cave entrance, Cheng Rang couldn't help but take off the goggles covering his eyes, let the earthy wind blow on his face, and made an unexpected sound.

"The rain has stopped..."

The black rain that had been falling continuously for two weeks finally stopped. The rocky ground as far as the eye could see was stained with ghost skeletons that shone with blue fluorescence. The pool was also illuminated by the glow, like a dreamlike scene in a fairy tale. .

Gorgeous...but also deadly and full of poison.

"It's time to go back."

A figure jumped out from the hole on the mountainside, moved away at a speed that ordinary people could not catch with the naked eye, and disappeared at the end of the mountain range in the blink of an eye.

...

He left in the morning and didn't return to the settlement until the sun set and rose again.

The first person to greet Cheng Rang, who returned with a dusty face, was Rick.

After seeing Cheng Rang again, Rick seemed to be relieved and said, "I'm finally back, you guy."

"Why, are Sir Rick worried about me?" Cheng Rang smiled and lifted up his cloak and pulled the mask off his face.

Rick shrugged helplessly and said, "It's Kelon. After she found out that you were sent out on a mission by me, she kept chanting your name all the time. It was annoying her to death."

"Hahaha... Is that so? It seems she is very worried about me~"

"Do you have any information?"

"Information? What information?"

Seeing Cheng Rang pretending to be stupid, Rick couldn't help but slap his forehead: "You won't forget what you are going to do all the way this time, right?!"

"How is that possible? Didn't you already tell me you'll have good news for me?" Cheng Rang slapped Rick on the shoulder carelessly.

"Hmm... So is there any good news? Should I tell you the bad news first?" Rick rubbed his sore shoulder and asked with a grin: "If it's that kind of mixed news again, I'll still It’s better to just hear the bad news.”

"solved."

"What?"

Seemingly not understanding the meaning of the words Cheng Rang, Rick confirmed again.

"I said, it's all solved. I've re-opened the water veins... Well, let me calculate, it should be almost done now."

"Li~~~gram~~~!"

Not long after Cheng Rang finished speaking, Ke Long's fussy screams came from far away and he entered with a bang on the door.

"The water source...the water source has been restored!...Eh! Cheng? You are back!"

"Yo! I'm back, Kelon, and I'm worrying you."

Rick pointed his thumb at Cheng Rang behind him, and said to Ke Long, who was running over: "Well, that's probably this guy's mission for this trip. It seems he has completed it."

I saw Ke Long suddenly jumping in front of Cheng Rang, circling him and looking at him several times. After discovering that he had no arms or legs and that he was really back safely, he breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest repeatedly and said, "That's great. It's...you're fine."

"Of course nothing will happen to me! You have to hope for me, okay?"

"Sorry, sorry~~ Hehe, just hope you are back safely and the water source has been restored. Thank you very much!"

Ke Long grabbed Cheng Rang's hand and shook it up and down. At the same time, he smiled at Rick and said, "The black rain outside has also stopped. The good news is really coming one after another, Rick!"

"Um."

.......

Then at Ke Long's urging, Cheng Rang, who had his cloak and equipment stripped off, was driven into the bathroom.

"After taking a shower, the meal will be ready. Thank you for your hard work!"

Saying such words, Kelong's bouncing voice gradually faded away outside the door, and the faint humming sound undoubtedly showed that she was in a very bright mood at this time.

Steam rose in spurts from the hot stones.

This may be the small happiness that human beings can get from living in this world. Cheng Rang sat on a stool and wiped his body with an old towel.

Just having fresh water available again and the cessation of the continuous black rain can make the people in the settlement high-spirited for a while. The somewhat depressing atmosphere has also become active, and laughter can once again be heard in the square.

This is what Cheng Rang was able to experience and witness firsthand.

Oh, by the way, there is also the sea-dwelling girl waiting to meet her again in the shell.

————————————

Rick returned to his narrow room, and Hubie still knelt down in front of the half-down chessboard and waited quietly.

"Rick...Welcome back..." The girl said something similar to a wife waiting for her husband to come home.

"There's no need to say that if you're just going out for a short while!" Rick rubbed his shoulders awkwardly and sat down.

The game continues.

The sound of chess pieces falling on the chessboard was intermittent. At this time Hubi said: "The water source problem...has it been solved?"

"Yeah, that guy Cheng solved it by himself, and it only took a day to go back and forth."

If you are riding a horse, use your full strength

It took six days to travel back and forth, and Cheng Rang only spent one day including the time to solve the problem.

Amazingly powerful in terms of speed and efficiency.

"The black rain has stopped, and things will get better in the coming days."

"....Rick, are you feeling a little more relaxed?"

"Yeah, I feel a little more relaxed. I'll have to find a chance to thank Cheng properly later." Rick propped up his chin on his arm.

"...but...Rick was the first person to greet Cheng...didn't he thank him in person?"

"Uh, I didn't have time."

"..." There was a sound of mechanical focus in Hubi's eyes, and later she said: "Rick is lying...are you shy?"

"Huh? Do you still understand what shyness is? Not at all!"

"....That's it, tsundere?"

From Hubie's mouth came words that made Rick's jaw drop.

"You can't be the same with these things..."

Hubi nodded and admitted generously: "Everything was taught to Hubi by Cheng... Hubi felt that he had some adoptable opinions on various aspects of the 'heart', so he recorded it."

"Don't learn these things from that guy in the future."

Rick's tone was a little dissatisfied, and he dropped the chess pieces hard, making a loud bang on the chessboard.

Hubie stared at Rick's reaction. After being silent for a while, he slowly confirmed in a questioning tone:

"....Rick....are you jealous?"

"So, how many strange things did that guy say to you?"

"....CheckMate...."