“It’s you?” Fluttering Baldie noticed Firework in Zu An’s arm and stiffened up.
“What happened to you, baldie?” Firework eyed the gaping hole in Fluttering Baldie’s chest.
“Fire Knight assaulted me.” Fluttering Baldie sighed. “I was dumb. I gloated when I heard Fire Knight was assembling his comrades to deal with this fellow over here. Little did I know he said those words aloud to make me lower my guard. His goal was the spaceship and all of us from the start. I realized that too late.”
Zu An sighed. Had the guests on the spaceship cooperated with the Universal Conglomerate, Fire Knight and his comrades wouldn’t have stood a chance. It was a pity they'd been divided, so Fire Knight took them down one by one.
“What happened, Miss Firework?” Fluttering Baldie finally noticed something was amiss with Firework. It doesn’t look like they're embracing to flaunt their love.
“I fell for an octopus demoness’ poison.” Firework’s eyes blazed with animosity. I wouldn’t have ended up in this embarrassing situation if not for that!
“Ah. Their poison is colorless and odorless; it’s hard to guard against it. It robs you of your strength and renders you incapable of circulating your ki. However, there’s nothing to worry, as the poison clears within a day,” Fluttering Baldie said, tapping into his vast knowledge reserve.
“What’s the point of saying that now? We’ll all be dead by then!” Firework rolled her eyes. He was aware of Fire Knight’s movements but didn’t warn us about the octopus demoness’ poison. He probably doesn’t have good intentions in mind.
Zu An interjected, “Fire Knight is still chasing us. Brother Baldie, I’ll take you with me.”
He held Firework with one hand and lifted Fluttering Baldie with the other.
Firework pouted. It’s doubtful whether we’ll be able to outrun Fire Knight by ourselves, so why are we picking up more baggage? That said, given how he had wanted to save the Conglomerate’s staff members earlier, she knew it was unlikely Zu An would give up on the baldie.
Zu An flitted across the spaceship following Employee 9527’s directions. He even found a hidden passageway, to the others' surprise.
Soon, they arrived at the dock where the escape pods were kept. Zu An first placed Firework into an escape pod before proceeding to move Fluttering Baldie.
But Fluttering Baldie shook his head and said, “I won’t be able to make it. You go ahead...”
Firework retorted, “You should have said so earlier then! Why are you only saying that now?”
“All beings are primed with survival instincts, and I’m no exception,” Fluttering Baldie replied with a bitter smile. “I was clutching onto a sliver of hope earlier, trying my best to recover, but my life force has been severed. Unless I can get a legendary immortal medicine, there’s no hope for me.”
Zu An fell silent. He didn’t have any immortal medicine on him, and he wasn’t so naively compassionate as to use it on a mere acquaintance.
Fluttering Baldie bowed to Zu An and said, “I’m in awe of your magnanimity in putting aside our misgivings to save me.”
He retrieved a cluster of blue light from his head. Despite not having a corporeal form, it looked as beautiful as a gemstone.
“I've devoted myself to studying languages across the Myriad Worlds, and I have accomplished a fair bit.” Fluttering Baldie smiled in glee, proud of his work. “You disguised yourself as Miss Firework to learn the languages of the Myriad Worlds. I have no other way of repaying you, so I’ll give you everything I've learned lest my many years of research go to waste.”
Zu An was astonished. “You know about that?”
Fluttering Baldie sighed. “I am a Deity of Knowledge worshiper. I would be a fool if I couldn’t even see through that afterward.”
That Firework he had met in his room had been overly friendly, and there were some differences in their speech patterns and gestures, too. It was just that lust had gotten the better of him, so he hadn't thought too much into it.
Now that he met the real Firework once more and saw how cold the latter was, he'd connected the dots and realized that the Firework he had met in his room was fake.
“My apologies...”
Fluttering Baldie interjected, “You don’t need to apologize. It was a good move to deal with Deity of Knowledge worshipers like me. I admire your street smarts. If you truly want to do something for me, please complete my thesis, place my name on it, and present it before the academics of the Myriad Worlds...”
His voice grew increasingly weaker before finally fading away entirely.
The blue light floated up to Zu An.
“That’s a valuable treasure. It’s the crystallization of the knowledge he's accrued in his lifetime. He devoted his life to studying the Myriad Worlds’ languages; there’s no one who knows languages better than him. With that, you can become proficient in countless languages right away,” Firework said.
“How do I use it?” Zu An asked.
“Place it on your forehead, and it’ll fuse into your mind,” Firework explained. “You have to do it quickly. Once it’s out of the body, it’ll dissipate quickly. It’ll be a huge pity if that happens.”
It would help Zu An tremendously if he grasped more languages before arriving at Dreamland, so he placed the blue light on his forehead. A cooling sensation seeped into his forehead, and he felt a trove of knowledge flowing into his mind.
“AH!”
Zu An clutched his head in pain. The sheer amount of knowledge appeared to have dealt a heavy blow to his consciousness, putting him in a groggy state. The next second, he found himself standing in the middle of a vast space, with knowledge of different languages surging around like a rapid river.
He felt as if needles were pricking his head. He had no choice but to calm his mind and quietly accept the inflow of knowledge.
All of a sudden, however, the river parted, and a transparent light figure emerged.
Sensing the foreign presence, Zu An opened his eyes and called out, “Fluttering Baldie?”
It was indeed Fluttering Baldie, but his body was even fainter, as if he was just a soul entity.
“It’s been a long time since I felt this young. Your cultivation might be weak, but your body is astoundingly powerful. It harnesses untold potential. More importantly, Miss Firework fancies you,” Fluttering Baldie said with a smile.
Zu An was alarmed. Fluttering Baldie had turned from a weak, dying victim into a sinister, triumphant villain. He swiftly figured out what was going on and asked, “You’re trying to possess me?”
“You aren’t too dumb. It’s too bad you let your greed get the better of you. You wouldn’t have fallen for such a simple trick if you didn’t covet my knowledge,” Fluttering Baldie replied gleefully. He'd thought he would die, but the tides had turned faster than he thought.