Chapter 1367: Chapter 1218: Dead End and Chicken Feathers (Part 2)

Leon reached out and patted Starling Crow on the shoulder, reinforced the restraints on him, and said with a serious expression:

"Starling Crow, we Four Pillar Gods are one, if we’re safe, you’re naturally safe too, right?"

What a load of crap!

Watching as Omnia Cicada’s face grew more troubled with each word he spoke, Starling Crow urgently and angrily shouted:

"Don’t mess around! You have no idea what you’re up against!

Listen to me! Let’s go! You... we need to get out of here! Don’t even think about going to the present world to find number 3! That’s surely a dead end! Certain death!"

"A dead end is still a road!"

Faced with Starling Crow’s dissuasion, Omnia Cicada insisted:

"The Food God merely took a turn on the Old Soil, and swallowed three major roots unimpeded, even seemingly reaching some kind of collaboration with the Astral Sovereign, and all this, by Old Soil’s time, took less than nine months!

During these more than nine months, the [Father]’s digestion of the roots has barely passed the halfway mark! If we don’t do something, by the time [Father] absorbs all the roots, the Food God might have unified the Old Soil!

So give up your delusions! Whether you want to or not, you’re going to the present world!"

...

Good heavens... where did I end up going?

Unaware of the conflicts happening after his departure, upon traversing the drastically transformed streets of the king’s capital and arriving at the former site of Bliss Apartments, Leon couldn’t help but be taken aback.

As part of the old town of the capital, the location of Bliss Apartments, though decent and indeed a reputable school district, still showed its age; even the small garden paving stones by the street were ancient pieces over a hundred years old.

The main part of the building itself boasted a history of two to three hundred years, and despite the frequent repairs by the muscle-bound old man acting as the janitor, an aura of antiquity still emanated from the entire building.

Now everything had drastically changed, not only had the Charitable Asylum, under construction at the back, been completed following his departure, but even the entire Bliss Apartments had undergone a large-scale renovation.

The originally dull-colored exterior had been freshly painted, the building had even been widened to some extent, the small garden originally near the road had been moved to the rear side, and the space originally occupied had been extended for use by the residents.

The street-facing windows of his sixth-floor home had been extended seven or eight meters forward during the renovation, effectively adding the area of an extra bedroom... Hopefully, they won’t raise the rent?

With strange thoughts and great anticipation, Leon stepped toward the home he had been away from for nearly three years.

With the garden near the street leveled, the muscular old man didn’t emerge bare-chested and sinister as before from behind the fence, but instead blocked Leon at the entrance in a spiffy security uniform, holding a garden hedge shear over a meter long.

"Uncle John, long time no see."

Giving the muscular old man a firm hug, and taking note of the current state of [Bliss Apartments], Leon remarked in surprise:

"You and Aunt Mary’s Contamination Value has increased several fold since I left? And this place has been entirely assigned as a staff dormitory for the rookie bureau? So many changes over these years?"

"..."

After hearing Leon’s words, although he remained silent, the muscular old man’s gaze became noticeably more spirited, revealing a ferocious grin and nodding slightly.

"That’s truly great!"

After carefully checking the muscular old man’s condition, Leon found that with the increase of the Contamination Value, his soul was now almost indistinguishable from that of a normal person. He stayed silent not because he couldn’t speak, but because he didn’t like speaking; genuinely happy for him, Leon remarked:

"With the current soul strength of you and Aunt Mary, you can exist independently without relying on the apartments, your range of activity is significantly larger! Even temporarily leaving the capital shouldn’t be a problem, never having to be confined here again!"

Upon hearing this, the muscular old man shook his head, then pointed behind him toward the direction of the Charitable Asylum, held up his calloused thumb, and smiled fiercely again.

"You weren’t exactly trapped before? Staying here’s quite nice? You’ve been living happily?"

Nod.

"Haha, alright!"

"Oh my!!!"

As Leon and the muscular old man were "catching up" one-sidedly, the white-haired old lady from the first-floor manager’s room glanced over, then set aside her half-made scarf, and walked out, her eyes brimming with surprise.

"Leon?! Are you back from your trip?"

"Yes, yes!"

While snatching a handful of feathers off the Pure White Holy Mother’s wings, amid her indignant clucks, Leon handed over a bunch of her pure white feathers with a laugh:

"I just returned this morning, here’s a little gift for you; don’t mind it; these feathers are..."

"Alright, alright!"

Taking the Holy Mother’s feathers Leon handed over, and tossing them casually into the small satchel at her waist, the white-haired lady shooshed him away:

"You haven’t been home in almost three years, and you’re still dawdling with an old lady like me? And you!"

Placing a hand on the muscle-bound old man’s side and giving a twist to his stone-hard muscles, the white-haired lady chided:

"It’s been so long since he’s been home, Anna and the others must have really missed him, and here you are still rambling on with him about pointless things? Aren’t you too old to be acting so senseless?"

"..."

"No, no, no, it’s me who pulled Uncle John into the chat."

Noticing the muscle-bound old man’s eyes starting to well up with aggrieved tears, Leon hurriedly explained and then sheepishly said:

"Aunt Mary, I’ll just..."

"Go ahead, go ahead! You, child, are wonderful in every aspect, just too courteous!"

Waving a hand to urge Leon to quickly return home, watching his eager figure climb the stairs, the white-haired old lady couldn’t help but smile and then reached out and gave the muscular old man another pinch.

"?"

"Old man, didn’t you have some leftover metal sheets from when you fixed the pipes before?"

Pleased with her inspection of the feathers from her satchel, the white-haired lady thoughtfully said:

"The length is just perfect... Get those leftover sheets and cut me some round discs with holes; I’ll make a shuttlecock for the kids in the building!"

Damn it! Those are my noble wings! You dare use them to make shuttlecocks?!

Upon hearing the conversation below, the Pure White Holy Mother in Leon’s grip couldn’t help but be filled with rage, desperate to wave her wings and unleash a Holy Light powerful enough to obliterate everything, turning those two desecrators into nothingness.

Alas, after being rubbed down with Leon’s badge, the current Pure White Holy Mother was really nothing more than a regular old hen, all her once sky-piercing "cultivation" locked inside her chicken body; no matter how she flapped her wings, she could only muster a double-yolked egg instead of the Holy Light.

Damn that Food God! I, the Pure White Holy Mother, will remember this humiliation!

Closing her eyes filled with grief and anger, the Pure White Holy Chicken clamped down her imaginary teeth, obediently lowered her head, and continued to maintain her previously docile demeanor.

Now’s not the time to confront the Food God! I need to survive! Only by surviving can I have a chance for revenge!

"Brother!"

As Leon held the patient Pure White Holy Chicken by his side and climbed to the sixth floor, in a familiar scene, before he could even knock, the door he hadn’t approached in three years swung open, revealing the elated, slender girl behind it.

"You’re back!"

"Hmm..."

In a voice slightly trembling, Leon took a deep breath, forcefully calming his agitated Heart Lake, then asked as calmly as he could:

"Veronica and the child..."

"Your wife’s waiting for you inside, and Melanie and the others are here too."

As she had done countless times before, she took Leon’s coat and the items he was carrying, then inspected the dejected Pure White Holy Chicken, giving her plump chicken leg a squeeze, and couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction.

"This chicken looks good... Brother, go see your wife and nephew first, I’ll clean it up in the kitchen and stew it for you guys tonight!"

Σ(oﾟдﾟoﾉ)?!!!