Chapter 193 The Athenian Night

Vivian had indeed found out some important news regarding the Day of Return, though this news was vague.

"Important ruins?" Hao Ren showed a great deal of interest upon hearing Vivian's words. "What kind? Related to the Gate?"

"Not sure," Vivian spread her hands. "Whether there's even such a 'Gate' is up for debate; a lot of things are just speculation. I only heard from an old friend that a group of vampires discovered a holy artifact that can open a 'secret realm' hidden behind a portion of the Greek temples, but what exactly this secret realm is like, I have no idea. That family is guarding it very closely; they're worried about the news leaking to demon hunters. But I heard that those vampires found 'primordial power preserved to this day' in the secret realm. Combining that with our guesses… the primordial power is most likely related to the Dream Plane."

Hao Ren nodded thoughtfully. He had previously had multiple discussions with everyone about the Dream Plane, making many reliable guesses. One important speculation was that the large-scale decline of the Other was related to the environment on Earth: these strange creatures from the Dream Plane were not adapted to Earth's low-energy environment; their connection with the Dream Plane was severed, and they could not get suitable power replenishment on Earth, which is why they weakened generation after generation. The biggest attraction of the "Day of Return" to these Others was that they could regain their strength from it—this should refer to the process of reconnecting with the Dream Plane.

If someone really found "primordial power" on Earth, then this "primordial power" was most likely leaked from the Dream Plane. Could there really be a loophole that is still open to this day?

The more Hao Ren thought about it, the more he felt this was possible, so he immediately decided, "Then let's go! I'm free anyway—what about the rest of you?"

After asking around, everyone was free. Even Becky, who had been busy going to the TV station the past few days to join in the fun, decisively decided to throw that aside and go with Hao Ren to see the world in even more remote places: the mercenary girl was still completely in tourist mode, and any new thing she hadn't seen before could attract her attention. Thinking about it, these people could really go on a trip whenever they wanted to, no matter the time. Apart from Lily, who barely had a formal job, and Hao Ren, whose job was to travel on business, who else usually had anything serious to do?

After confirming that the whole family was going, Hao Ren scratched his chin and chuckled. "This is really… I haven't even been home for a few days and I'm going out again. I really couldn't have imagined this before. I feel like I've suddenly become a workaholic?"

Lily looked happy. "The capable are always busy!"

"But speaking of which, this is important information. Vivian, you should have said it earlier," Hao Ren looked at the vampire girl, but found that her interest didn't seem high. "Why did you put this last… and you don't seem very happy?"

"It's just that there are some troublesome guys over there," the smile on Vivian's face was a little stiff. "It's not that they're enemies, it's just that meeting them will be very troublesome… Sigh, never mind, you're going anyway, so I'll go with you."

Hao Ren gave the vampire girl a strange look. He didn't know how Vivian, who had always been amiable and lived a low-key life, could have conflicts with people. This "troublesome guy" was definitely not a werewolf; werewolves and Vivian were enemies, and meeting them couldn't be described with just the word "troublesome." Judging from Vivian's tone, she was referring to acquaintances, even friends—he just didn't know what the conflict was.

But seeing that Vivian didn't want to discuss this topic too much, he didn't continue to press, but instead finished his meal in a few bites, and then reported to his superiors to apply for group plane tickets and visas for a large group of unregistered people for the next two days.

Actually, he originally had a more convenient plan for going abroad: pack the Data Terminal and send it to the Greek peninsula by international express, let it record the coordinates there, and then teleport everyone over, or even save the international express fee and let the Data Terminal fly over by itself. Anyway, that thing's flight speed was definitely faster than any man-made means of transportation. What a great plan that was.

Unfortunately, this idea ultimately failed: the Data Terminal threatened to die, announcing that if Hao Ren didn't value its dignity as a PDA, it would immediately download two hundred episodes of recent cliché dramas and play them on a loop—it called this taking poison to commit suicide, but Hao Ren felt that it was actually poisoning…

But the Terminal's lack of cooperation didn't have much impact anyway. This wasn't an urgent matter, and he wasn't going to refuse free first-class tickets. And Becky hadn't been on a plane before, so it was good to take this opportunity to let the mercenary girl see the world. If she could forget about her hometown in excitement, that would be even better.

These people were no longer the cautious newbies who were at a loss wherever they went when they first went abroad. In Hao Ren's words, they had even been to other worlds, so what was moving a few time zones on Earth? The Petrified Turtle could go more than two or three Earth-Moon distances with one stomp of the accelerator. Now, they were familiar with going abroad for tourism, so it was easy and pleasant. The group rested at home for a few days, and after the plane tickets and visas were processed, they boarded a plane to Athens.

Then they got lost in Athens' intricate new buildings and winding old streets from noon until dusk before finally finding the hotel they had booked.

The fact proved that going to another world had absolutely nothing to do with being able to find your way on Earth. They were completely different talent trees!

Hao Ren and his group had a global translator, and thanks to this ability, they didn't encounter any more trouble while getting lost. The group arrived at the hotel exhausted, and after settling their luggage, it was almost dark. Just like last time, the plan to travel in foreign streets was ruined from the start, and Lily, as always, couldn't get over the jet lag—she fell asleep in the hotel lobby, and was finally led to the room by Hao Ren with a piece of pork floss bread in front of her…

Outside the window, night was gradually falling. Hao Ren stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the hotel suite, looking at this city where ancient and modern intertwined. The exotic customs of a foreign land made him a little dazed. After watching for a while, he turned around. "Sooner or later, I'll have to get used to these sudden business trips thousands of miles away… No, it's not even sooner or later. I already feel like I don't have to worry about jet lag no matter where I go."

The funds provided by Raven 12345 were still particularly abundant this time. The place where everyone was staying was a high-end hotel at the intersection of Athens' new and old districts. It had relatively private suites, which were perfect for a group of strange non-human creatures to hide in.

Now, Lily had gone back to her room to sleep because she couldn't get over the jet lag, while Becky excitedly dragged Nangong Wuyue out for shopping: even the arrival of night could not stop the overly energetic mercenary girl's interest in sightseeing. Since seeing the nightlife of Earthlings, she realized that in this world, the setting of the sun did not mean the end of the day. The only thing that could stop playing and messing around was a person's physical strength, and she always had good physical strength, so she decided to go out and have fun.

It was just hard on the siren girl who was accompanying her.

Now, Hao Ren only had Vivian and Izhaks by his side, who could be considered somewhat reliable. The three of them gathered in the living room of the suite to discuss the next day's itinerary. Vivian's gaze passed through the deep night sky outside the window and looked in the direction of the old city. "Tomorrow, I'll take you to see someone. Like me, she also survived from the age of mythology… She's a bit of an eccentric, but still easy to get along with."

"She's the one who provided the information?" Hao Ren remembered what Vivian had said before departure.

Vivian nodded lightly. "Yeah, I haven't seen her in a hundred years. Among the group of old guys I found this time, she's the one I've been out of contact with for the longest. But she's a very strange person. She's unwilling to move even in the most critical situations, which is how I managed to contact her."

"What kind of person is she?" Izhaks asked with great interest.

"You'll know when you meet her," Vivian smiled mysteriously, and then remembered something else. "By the way, there are several vampire families stationed here. Our actions should attract their attention, so if you encounter other vampires, don't overreact when they greet you, but don't pay too much attention to them either: there are some very troublesome guys in there. Once they get close to you… well, the consequences are endless."

Vivian's expression was particularly strange. Hao Ren finally understood what she meant by "troublesome guys" before. They were actually her own kind!

What kind of social circle did this bizarre vampire have?

Just then, a signal came from Hao Ren's dimensional pocket. He then remembered that he almost forgot something important. "Eh, I haven't taken Doudou out yet!"

That's right, he brought the fish with him this time.