The Trembling World
chapter-447-30041322

TL: LifeisaJourney

Moving closer, Liu Gan used brute strength to push apart the two rocks. Then he reached in the mud between the rocks, with one sweep of his hand, grabbed onto a round object. This made Liu Gan very happy!

Liu Gan wanted to take a closer look at the object he had grabbed hold of, but danger approached. Yet another Crocodile had been quietly swimming over toward him. It got the first attack on Liu Gan, clamping down on Liu Gan’s arm. Liu Gan reacted by punching the creature repeatedly.

Even while Liu Gan was beating down the Crocodile, he didn’t lose his grip on the watch still in his captured hand, not daring to let it go. There was no way for him to win an underwater battle against the Crocodile in its territory. Liu Gan had to lure the Crocodile onto land to have a chance at winning!

The Crocodile’s habits and order of attack haven’t changed at all. Liu Gan practically had it down as muscle memory now. He could predict some of the Crocodile’s movements, which made the fight progress faster. When the Crocodile died its first death, Liu Gan finally got to look at what he had in his hand.

It was just a rounded pebble! Not the watch that he had wanted. Furiated, Liu Gan tossed the pebble back. That Crocodile comes at the most inappropriate times! It had distracted Liu Gan, which caused him to grab hold of the wrong item.

Liu Gan realized that it was pointless to rush, he had to kill the Crocodile several more times before he could continue searching the lakebed. Liu Gan spent another half an hour fighting against the Crocodile before it was enraged. This time, the reward was given over to Liu Kang.

After every Crocodile kill, the corpse would dissipate as black fog, but it would also leave behind a foreign coin. What could this token be used for? It will probably be useful later on, Liu Gan thought, so he stashed it in his dimensional storage.

With the threat removed, Liu Gan ventured back into the ice-cold lakebed. He had broken apart the rocks as a collateral damage during their fight.

The aftermath in the underwater was a lot worse than it seemed, as the fight had broken up the lakebed. This made it harder for Liu Gan to find the original spot where he suspected the watch was. Every place he looked seemed like it was the right one. Unable to find it after a few attempts, Liu Gan opted to wait for the next time the watch sang again.

***

When it came time for the watch to strike twelve, Liu Gan was submerged and ready for the song to ring out. When it did sing, it wasn’t located too far from Liu Gan. Liu Gan swam toward the source several meters away. He finally found the spot where he initially encountered the Crocodile.

While the song was still playing, Liu Gan shifted his hands through the mud and rocks. This time he didn’t have any interference so he took his time. Finally, he was able to grab hold of the wrist watch while it was still singing.

Liu Gan was surprised it was found so quickly! He held the watch tightly as he swam back toward shore. Once on land, he ran toward the elder.

“Here is your watch! See if this is the one you wanted?” Liu Gan shouted at the elder. Except, the elder was nonresponsive toward him.

The quest wielder was Cai Hao Chen, so naturally, to turn in the quest had to be Cai Hao Chen himself. Through an exchange of hands, it was eventually turned over to the senior and the quest was completed!

The senior accepted the watch with gratitude. He pressed a button and the song was played. Once he heard the song, he realized how much he missed his wife. Tears started streaming down his cheeks as he thought about his younger days.

Cai Hao Chen waltzed around the senior a few times to get his attention. When it was ineffective, he forced a cough.

“Ah thank you, young man. This watch holds a lot of meaning for me,” the teary-eyed senior replied.

“My surname is Thunder. It is something righteous that we ought to do,” Cai Hao Chen kindly responded. He shouldn’t have rushed the old-timer for the reward, in case he got angry over something trivial, then their efforts would’ve been for naught.

“Oh right, young man. This is my way of thanking you for your hard work.” The old man took out the puzzle box and handed over to Cai Hao Chen.

Cai Hao Chen opened up the box to confirm there was a puzzle piece. Now Liu Gan had half the puzzle map! However, it was still hard to tell what the map was for...

Nevertheless, this was a good start. As long as they continued their search, then the other two pieces would complete the puzzle. Liu Gan knew for sure that the quest difficulty would increase significantly. As for how he could get the last two pieces, it was still a mystery. One thing was certain, he didn’t want to leave the instance.

“If you are tired of playing in the Theme Park, you can walk in that direction, and past the bridge there will be a rock garden. Walking past the rock garden will be a path that leads to the Theme Park’s exit. You can leave through the exit anytime,” the old man said to Cai Hao Chen afterward. Then, he dissipated into black fog.

Now that they had reached this stage of the quest, if they didn’t continue then they could leave anytime. Both NPC’s had matching statements, even the direction they pointed to matched the same destination - the exit!

“Are there any of you that want to leave the instance first?” Liu Gan asked the players around him.

“I will accompany Lord Liu to the end!” Cai Hao Chen immediately shouted.

“Of course, I will accompany Lord Liu!” Ana expressed her loyalty.

“I, Stratos, pledge my services to you. I will do my best to protect you… Ana, stop kicking my butt! I’m warning you… Ouch!” Stratos continued acting out.

***

While their groups were looking for Wan’er or helping the senior look for his watch, the other teams weren’t slacking off. Even if they didn’t encounter any trouble with the Crocodile, they didn’t have any progress to show for it.

『You are my tiny little red apple』

『Just like the beautiful clouds near horizon』

『Spring is coming for flowers on mountain slope』

『Plant the seed of hope and you will harvest』

Johnny Fei and Song Jiu haven’t found anyone in the meantime, but they heard a song, a familiar song called ‘Little Apple’ that seemed to have been popular on the radio in the real world.

The two players heard the song and raised their eyebrows. This song couldn’t be playing suddenly for no reason. It must be a clue, leading to a new quest!