Chapter 53 Taking a Step Back

On May 5th, the Republic of Kang Ke Jinde, teetering on the brink of life and death, replaced its "leader." Mr. Cato was appointed to take office in a time of crisis.

But to be honest, the people of Kang Ke Jinde didn't react much to this. For a country that had been at war for a long time, people didn't even know if they would see the sun tomorrow. They cared about life and death, about their next meal. As for the distant leadership, it didn't matter anymore.

Comparatively speaking, the people of Kang Ke Jinde were more concerned about the soldiers guarding them, worried if they would suddenly leave and stop providing aid and relief.

What really brought Mr. Cato into the public eye was not his ascent to power, but his actions after taking office.

Kang Ke Jinde had long been allied with Hua Xia, but after he came to power, the alliance deepened to a terrifying extent.

Entrusting one's fate to others was obviously very irrational, but these were special times and required special measures.

When a person has nothing left to lose, it's hard to imagine what they might do.

The same is true for a country.

Comprehensive and large-scale requests for aid, applications for a large number of Hua Xia troops to be stationed and assist, were almost equivalent to opening the country's doors wide.

Of course, this was just stating the matter explicitly. In fact, Kang Ke Jinde had always been doing this, and Kang Ke Jinde's doors had always been open, truly wide open...

This small country should feel fortunate that its neighbor was Hua Xia. Since the last century, after Hua Xia slowly struggled to stand up from the mire, it had always faced its neighboring weak countries with a friendly and supportive attitude.

If Kang Ke Jinde still had any capital to eke out an existence, there would definitely be dissenting voices. But now, the vast majority of voices in Kang Ke Jinde, from top to bottom, were filled with gratitude, grateful for Mr. Cato's courage and Hua Xia's consistency.

This showed how far Kang Ke Jinde had fallen.

Ultimately, everything came down to people.

People wanted to live, that was all.

In the past two days, Er Wei had filled the position of Hou Mingming in the Great Saint Squad, and had seized the captain's position from Sun Dasheng, leading the Shadow Crow Squad and the Great Saint Squad to jointly destroy that mysterious assassination organization.

A total of 36 members, none of them escaped. These assassination members were still undergoing further interrogation, and it was unknown what kind of secrets would be revealed.

Jiang Xiao didn't have much interest in things that were too far away, even if the person he was protecting was Bei Yu·Cato.

In the past two days, Di Lian and her team of Hua Xia experts had conducted further data testing and research on the Black and White Candle Bear.

Unfortunately, the expert team did not make any breakthrough progress. The Black and White Candle Flame did not attach itself to another creature; it seemed to have become dependent on the bamboo bear.

But this did not mean that the Black and White Candle Flame did not have the ability to rely on other creatures; it only meant that the little guy was very uncooperative, or that it particularly loved this bamboo bear.

What was more interesting was that, in the Ancestral Body state, there was not much difference in the data between the growing Black and White Candle Bear and the adult bamboo bear, which allowed the Hua Xia expert team to see some differences.

With Jiang Xiao's consent, Di Lian left the Black and White Candle Bear behind and planned to stay at the Cato Mansion for a while longer, waiting for Jiang Xiao to return.

Because Jiang Xiao had other tasks, he had to return to his country.

No one knew what Jiang Xiao was going to do, but Jiang Xiao himself knew that although Er Wei was sending him to recruit Zhao Wenlong, in reality, it was to have him convey information about the Other World.

Fu Hei replaced Jiang Xiao's position, guarding the Cato Mansion and protecting Bei Yu·Cato together with Hou Mingming.

And Jiang Xiao boarded a military plane and returned to the Imperial Capital.

...

May 6, 2018, Imperial Capital, sunny.

A park in the Dongyang District.

At 9:00 AM, the park was bustling with activity. Groups of elderly men sat by the stone tables playing chess, chatting and joking. In a small stadium not far away, a group of 7-8 year old children were playing soccer on the small green field.

Compared to the war-torn Kang Ke Jinde, everything here was so peaceful.

Peace, perhaps, was the greatest happiness in the world, but it was so commonplace in Hua Xia that some people seemed to have forgotten its preciousness.

"Uncle!" A little girl squeezed through the not-so-crowded crowd and came to the edge of the green field, standing behind a man in a suit and leather shoes, and called out timidly.

In fact, when the little girl squeezed past, some people in the crowd had already become vigilant.

"Hmm?" The middle-aged man turned around, slightly curious. He looked down at the little girl eating a lollipop, and then showed a kind smile. He squatted down, "What's wrong?"

Beside him, a middle-aged woman's eyes were locked on the green field, watching one of the boys playing soccer. Reluctantly, she moved her gaze away, turned her head, and looked at her husband.

"That... that..." The little girl was obviously a little shy, twirling the lollipop in her hand, seemingly wanting to say something.

"What's wrong, child?" The woman also squatted down, gently rubbing her head, and said, "Where are your mom and dad? Are you lost?"

"No." The little girl kept shaking her head, finally gathering her courage, and said, "There's an old grandpa over there, he wants you to go over."

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, and said, "Me?"

The little girl nodded, "Guan Chi."

The middle-aged man named Guan Chi frowned slightly and looked into the distance, but with the intermingling of figures, he couldn't see any old grandpa over there.

The little girl said seriously, "Star Warrior Association Uncle Guan Chi."

Guan Chi nodded lightly and said, "Where is he? Can you take me there?"

The little girl hesitated for a moment, then took the lollipop and ran away directly.

Guan Chi stood up, nodded in a certain direction in the crowd, then gently patted the arm of the woman beside him and said, "I'll be right back."

The woman's face showed a hint of worry: "You..."

Guan Chi: "Keep an eye on the child."

With that, he stepped out of the crowd. Not far away, a bodyguard in a suit and leather shoes also walked out of the crowd, his eyes searching around. Soon, his gaze settled on an elderly man with white hair.

This was a park, also a place for parents to bring their children to play. Most of the people around were ordinary people and wouldn't have any special behavior.

But there was an old man, sitting alone at the edge of the stone table, away from everyone, and he was staring at Guan Chi, his gaze fixed on Guan Chi for a long time, which was enough to explain the problem.

Under normal circumstances, there shouldn't be no one beside the old man. These old men and women were idle people who came to chat and pass the time, but the elderly group was staying away from this old man, which could explain even more.

After Guan Chi squeezed out of the crowd, he also noticed the old man at the first moment.

The old man smiled slightly, extending his old hand with age spots, and gestured towards the stone table in front of him.

Guan Chi exchanged a glance with the bodyguard and walked over.

Guan Chi walked past the stone slab path on the lawn, came to the edge of the park, stood in front of the stone table, and said in a good manner: "Old sir, hello."

"Young man, sit." The old man gestured again towards the stone bench opposite, placing the chess pieces on the table one by one.

Guan Chi hesitated for a moment, then sat down, his eyes secretly looking at the bodyguard.

But the bodyguard shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Guan Chi had enough tacit understanding with his bodyguard. This subtle movement let Guan Chi know that this old man was not a Star Warrior.

"Old sir, what do you need me for? My child is still playing soccer, it's an important match for him." Guan Chi said with a smile.

The old man nodded slightly, and raised his hand to launch a central cannon in Chinese chess: "Deputy Chairman of the Hua Xia Star Warrior Association, young friend, you have a bright future. It's quite difficult to meet you."

Guan Chi hesitated for a moment, moved his horse two steps forward, and quietly looked at the old man opposite.

Unexpectedly, this old man was really irritable, launching the central cannon directly, not even wanting the cannon, just to capture a pawn.

Guan Chi: "..."

The old man opened his mouth and said, "I have an old comrade-in-arms who has passed on some information to me through various means."

The old man gestured towards the launched cannon, then gestured towards the soldier behind, and then pointed to the soldier on the line next to it, drawing a triangle.

Guan Chi didn't move, somewhat puzzled.

The old man pointed to his cannon launched on the fifth rank, and said, "Earth."

Guan Chi: "Oh?"

The old man drew a vertical line backwards: "Dimensional Space Gate."

Guan Chi's brow furrowed slightly.

The old man followed the sliding vertical line and pointed to his soldier on the fifth rank: "Lower Dimension Dimensional Space."

As soon as the words "Lower Dimension" came out, Guan Chi seemed to realize where this topic was going.

The old man's finger moved horizontally, sliding towards the soldier on the third rank, indicating this horizontal line: "Sacred Ruins, also known as the Space-Time Tunnel."

The old man's finger pointed at the soldier on the third rank, and said, "Upper Dimension Dimensional Space."

Saying that, the old man's finger drew a diagonal line, sliding towards the opponent's cannon on the fifth rank, indicating this diagonal line: "Another Sacred Ruins."

Finally, the finger pointed to the cannon that originally represented Earth, and said again, "Other Dimensional World, in a sense, another Earth, I call it Other World."

Guan Chi: !!!

The old man said softly, "All the dimensional spaces on Earth, as long as you go up, eventually, everything, everything, will converge in Other World."

"Other World, a planet that is exactly the same as Earth, overlapping with Earth on different dimensions. All the dimensional creatures on Earth have their main bodies there." The old man said softly, while pushing the chess pieces on the stone table away, leaving only two soldiers and one cannon, only leaving that one triangle.

"Many soldiers who have strayed into the upper dimensions eventually converge in Other World, and are struggling and surviving there. Other World seems to have a tendency to merge with Earth, and the direct opening of the Sacred Ruins seems to confirm this..." The old man pondered for a long time, and said, "Let me say it quickly. Your child is playing soccer well. After I finish telling you this story, maybe you can still catch his second half."

...

Twenty minutes later, the old man's story slowly came to an end, but without waiting for Guan Chi to ask, he continued: "Do what you think is right. I've told you everything, as for whether it's true or false, right or wrong, it's up to you to judge."

Saying that, the old man's body flashed and disappeared without a trace.

Guan Chi: ???

He hadn't even recovered from this story, and the old man in front of him disappeared abruptly?

Guan Chi hurriedly looked up at the bodyguard, and said, "Didn't you say he wasn't a Star Warrior?"

The bodyguard had a look of astonishment, his mouth slightly open. After a long while, he barely replied, "I'm sure, there wasn't a trace of Star Power fluctuation on him, not a single bit!"

Guan Chi only felt his scalp tingling. What... what was going on?

"Uncle Guan Chi."

Behind him, suddenly came the voice of the little girl.

Guan Chi turned his head, but saw the little girl take out a lollipop from her pocket, reluctantly handing it to Guan Chi, and said, "The old grandpa said: I wish you and me good luck."

Guan Chi foolishly took the lollipop. Beside him, came a female voice: "Hey? Niu Niu, where did you get the candy? Who is he?"

Saying that, the woman looked at Guan Chi in a suit and leather shoes with a wary look, hurriedly picked up her daughter, and looked at Guan Chi with an unfriendly expression.

Guan Chi: "..."