Chapter 2: I am your nano assistant.

“You are our only hope, Dylan.” A sound impulse jolted his nerves, triggering them into action. “You have to do your best.”

This voice seemed to come from the depth of his soul. Though Dylan had been in a state of hibernation for ten years, the last line of cryogenic defence had kept his body well preserved.

Thump! Thump! As his heart thumped, the frozen blood started circulating slowly and his brain was activated.

This also led to a problem: the wounds that had been sealed by the ice started bleeding again. If they weren’t treated soon, Dylan’s life would come to an end.

“Damn it, Gerard!” The old man grumbled. “What have you been up to? You are reeking of blood.”

“Blood? How can there be blood?” Denver frowned and assessed himself. There was indeed a strong stench of blood and it seemed to be coming from his storage device.

“F***!” He waved his hand and took out the corpse he had placed inside. “Wasn’t this dude supposed to be dead? Why in the freaking hell is he bleeding?”

“Let me see.” The old man crouched over and then burst into a peal of maniacal laughter. “Holy Fire Goddess! I can’t believe that my luck is so good!”

“Master, what is going on?”

“I will explain later. Hurry up and stop the bleeding. We need to treat the wound as soon as possible.”

With these words, he took out a green stone and pressed it on Dylan’s chest. A fresh wave of vitality surged through his body and soon his wounds started healing.

Though Gerard was confused, he followed his master’s orders and assisted him with full might. Once the bleeding had stopped completely, he heard a familiar sound. Thump! Thump!

“Holy shit! It’s him! It’s this guy!” Gerard shouted, a mixture of panic and fear in his voice. “This guy is alive, he was always alive.”

“Stop acting like a crazy dog!” Shen Jie scolds, “Hurry and take him to your room. He is the one we have been looking for.”

‘He’s the one we have been looking for.’ It was just a sentence, but it struck harder than a thunderbolt. This boy was the one the great sage had told them about.

“I don’t know if I should call you lucky or unlucky,” Gerard murmurs as he carried the boy to his room and laid him on the bed made of green jade. “You might have escaped death after meeting us, but what waits for you is a nightmare worse than death.”

With a wave of his hand, Gerard lit up the fire lanterns in his room and activated the energy gathering array. The condensed energy formed a soft orb around Dylan, allowing his weak and haggard body to heal and reform.

Soon his complexion improved, and all the accumulated dirt and dried blood peeled off, revealing his fair skin.

“Fair skin, golden hair, red lips; you look very unusual,” Gerard continued with his monologue as he burned the grime collected by the array using magic. “I wonder what kind of eyes you have.”

As if in silent response, Dylan’s eyes fluttered.

“Seems like you are going to wake up soon,” Gerard looked at him with a mixture of sympathy and helplessness and sighs. “I want to help you, but I know that it is impossible. Master will never let you go. I will try to delay him as much as possible. Maybe you will get to enjoy a few days of freedom before you are plunged into the eighteen levels of hell.”

“Where is this? What am I doing here?” Dylan looked around in a daze and tried to get up. “Damn it! Why does it hurt so much?”

“Little guy. I think you have been frozen for too long. It’s better if you don’t try to get up for now.”

Dylan frowned, trying to assess the person in front of him. “You are?”

“I am Gerard. My master and I found you buried in an ice cave. So, we brought you here.”

“I was buried in an ice cave?” The lines on Dylan’s forehead deepened. He wanted to recall what had happened, but a splitting headache made him moan.

“I can’t seem to remember anything.”

“That’s good too. You won’t feel too dissatisfied with what is going to happen.”

“What is going to happen?”

“Nothing, I will go and inform my master that you are awake. He will be very happy.” Gerard replied in a flustered tone and left in a hurry.

“Dylan, you should be careful of that guy. He seems to be hiding something.” A voice sounded in Dylan’s head, startling him.

He looked around anxiously. “Who?”

“I am RO 15, your nano assistant.”

“What?”

There was a static buzz. “Seems like your condition is worse than expected. Never mind, just think of me as a friend who living in your head. I can help you gather information about this new world and assess all the situations in front of you.”

“Since you are living in my head, you must know about my identity as well, right? Who am I?”

“The memory section of my motherboard has been corrupted as well. It should recover automatically in about three years. For now, the only data I can access is that your name is Dylan Lemoire, and I am a nano assistant especially designed to assist you. Don’t worry, my control and assessment systems are unaffected. I should be able to connect to different streams and find out more about this world.”

Dylan merely nodded. Though he had woken up, the lethargy and inertia made him feel dizzy. As such, he was not in a state to think too much. Soon, he drifted into dreamless slumber.

****

“Gerard! Where in the freaking hell are you?” A furious voice thundered in the Shen Fire Mansion. “Where is the starry silkworm?”

Master, please don’t get angry,” Gerard rushed to explained. “Second Junior brother recently found a seven petalled spirit flower. He wanted to give you’re a surprise by helping the worm evolve. So, he took the worm to the cloudless land.”

“You….” Shen Jie glared at Gerard angrily but couldn’t said anything. After all, his disciple just wanted to give him a surprise. “Send him a message using the emergency array and ask him to return quickly. If he doesn’t return within three days, I will expel him from my mansion.”

“Master, you don’t have to worry. Second Junior brother is very responsible. He will take good care of the silkworm. We can use this time to make other preparations.”

“Alright, I will leave that little brat to you. Keep an eye on him.” Shen Jie warned. “If anything goes wrong, I will skin you alive.”

It was only when Shen Jie left that Gerard heaved a sigh of relief. “Little guy, I have won three days of freedom for you, but that is already my limit. Only a miracle can save you after three days.”

After a good night’s sleep, Dylan felt much better, and he found that he could move around without any difficulty.

“Seems like you are recovering well, little guy,” Gerard brought the breakfast personally for Dylan. “Have this vulcan porridge.”

Dylan’s nose twitched as the rich aroma wafted to his nose. It indeed seemed extraordinary.

Dylan smiled and ate a spoonful from the bowl. He instantly felt a burst of energy warming up his body. It made him so comfortable that he almost let out a moan. “What exactly is put in this soup? It is really special.”

“This soup is made from the tendons of a special type of heavenly beast called the fiery coral bird. It is highly nutritious and quite rare. Even we don’t get to savour it quite often. I had to beg master a lot before he finally agreed to let you taste it.”

“Thank you, Brother Gerard.”

“You don’t have to thank me. After all, we are a family now.”

Family? Dylan frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Did they want to keep him here?

Before he could ask anything, Gegard changed the topic is a hurry. “Would you like me to show you around the mansion after the breakfast?”

‘Agree quickly. That way I can gather more data.’ RO 15’s voice sounded in Dylan’s head.

He looked at Gerard to find that he was looking at him questioningly. He realised that only he could hear RO 15’s voice. So, he replied, “I would love to do that. You never know. I might remember something after looking around.”

“Great. You have not recovered fully yet. So, let’s not walk around. I will let you ride my pet crane.”

Gerard placed two fingers into his mouth and let out a shrill whistle. A gust of wind threw open the windows and a majestic crane came to a halt right outside the room. “This is Rosana. She is just a low level divine beast, but even a middle level divine beast can’t beat her in power.”

The crane was stunning, its feathers shimmering with iridescent hues. Dylan could feel the cool breeze as he mounted Rosana, her feathers tickling his legs. The mansion grounds stretched out before them, lush and vibrant.

The air was filled with the sweet scent of flowers and the distant sound of birds chirping. Dylan couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder as they glided through the estate, taking in the beauty of the surroundings. It was a peaceful and serene experience, one that made Dylan forget his worries, if only for a moment.

“I think we should stop here,” Gerard said as they neared a majestic waterfall. “Any further and we would reach the core area of the mansion. You might not be able to bear the temperature.”

Dylan looked around carefully. The waterfall beyond a certain level was already evaporating, gushing with clouds of steam.

It was a strange sight to behold. Water and fog gushed together at a high speed, creating a curtain of sorts that blocked the sight of people. Dylan looked this way and that, but the waterfall seemed to stretch endlessly.

‘This waterfall is manmade.’ RO 15’s voice sounded in his head before he could ask Gerard anything. ‘There is an ice and fire cave in the core area. Using it as a center, a huge array has been laid down. Half of what you see is real, and the rest is illusion. If anyone tries to enter the core area without proper guidance, they would be trapped.’

After hearing RO’s explanation, Dylan realised that it was indeed unsafe for them to go ahead. “Alright, Brother Gerard, let’s go back to the mansion. After travelling so much, I am feeling tired.”

Gerard patted the crane’s neck, changing its direction smoothly. There were a few miles away from the mansion when a pendant around Gerard’s neck started glowing with a red light.

“I need to go now. Master has summoned me.” Gerard jumped off the crane and patted its back. “Rosana will take you back to the mansion.”

By the time Dylan realised what was happening, Gerard had already disappeared from sight.

‘I think we should follow him and see what is going on.’ RO said in a grim tone. ‘The way he looked at you before leaving was quite weird. I have a feeling that the summon has something to do with you.’

Dylan didn’t know whether the crane would listen to him but he decided to give it a try. “Rosana, please drop us near that fountain. We would like to walk the rest of the way.”

Rosana turned its head to look at Dylan and titled it at a strange angle. Its eyes gleamed as if thinking of something. But it finally nodded and flew down.

“Let’s see what is going on with these fellas,” Dylan mutters as he walked in the direction Gerard had left. “It’s better to figure out everything once and for all, rather than living with uncertainty.”