"The princess may still be alive!"
The demoness knew what was in Y'zaks' heart. When she broke the news, no one was as shocked as Y'zaks. After a long while, Y'zaks stood up slowly. "Is it true?"
Seeing this, Vivian knew there was more than meets the eye. She poked Hao Ren on the arm and asked, "What's going on?"
"Biggie had a daughter," Hao Ren answered. Although he was just as shocked, he managed to recover and explained to the others. "Supposedly, when Biggie lost the war, his daughter fell into a spatial dimensional gap..."
"The princess may still be alive... maybe." Noticing that Y'zaks' eyes were exuding a strange emotion, Lanina instantly became timid. "When I was looking for you, I heard news of the princess. It was said that the forces of the Holy See were searching for something in the Obsidian Plains. The Royal City is the only valuable thing in the Obsidian Plains, but the entire Royal City had been swallowed by the gap, so..."
"So, the Holy See may have been looking for Y'lisabet?" Y'zaks' face was radiating with emotion—it was an excitement no one had ever seen before. He jumped to his feet and rubbed his hands in anticipation, like he was waiting for a lottery draw. "Very likely, very likely indeed. As the Obsidian Plains are in a demonic dimension, the only reason the various races of the Holy See would linger in that space was to look for someone of importance... They had to be looking for Y'lisabet!"
Lanina quickly played down the speculation. "It's just a possibility. They may be looking for the princess, or they may also be looking for the energy source of the Royal City. You and I know that it was a thing of interest to them..."
"No, no, no! They must be looking for Y'lisabet." Y'zaks' pupils were suddenly dilated and a heat wave radiated from him. He looked scary as hell. "They must be looking for Y'lisabet!"
So, Hao Ren finally knew the name of Y'zaks' daughter, which was strikingly similar to the name Lil Pea had. It was Y'zaks who gave Lil Pea her name. "I see, you named Lil Pea 'Elizabeth' in remembrance of your daughter."
Y'zaks did not seem to be bothered by what the others were saying as the news of his daughter's survival had totally occupied him. He walked in circles anxiously before grabbing Hao Ren's shoulder. "I'm going back! I'm going to get my daughter!"
Then, he turned around and walked off. Hao Ren remained stunned for a while before he came to his senses. "Hey, stop! Where are you going?"
Y'zaks, who was already at the doorway looked back, and to everyone's bewilderment, he said , "Back to my hometown!"
"Are you planning to walk back to your hometown just like that?" Hao Ren stared at Y'zaks, who appeared lost. "Your daughter is in another world! You think you can go home like you're going to buy soy sauce in the supermarket across the street?"
"Umm... you're right." Y'zaks finally came to his senses. He turned back and came up to Hao Ren, grabbing him by the shoulders again. "You're an inspector, you can get me past the World Gate. Send me home..."
Hao Ren looked down at his own shoulders. His Steel Membrane Shield was rippling with a faint glow and its capacity bar was falling. He tried frantically to get away from the Y'zaks' massive grip. "Stop it! Sit down! With your current state of mind, I wouldn't dare get you a World Gate pass!"
Y'zaks stepped back obediently and placed his butt back on the sofa—it was the first time he had ever heard Hao Ren speaking in such a loud voice. Lanina's jaw almost dropped to the floor; she had never seen her boss so submissive to a human. She was even more fearful of Hao Ren. But whatever it was in her mind, she was definitely mistaken.
Hao Ren stared at Y'zaks, who was sitting on the sofa and rubbing his hands anxiously. He patted Y'zaks' on the shoulder twice with all his might, trying to get him to come his senses. He then twisted his mouth and said, "I know what you're thinking. I'm happy to hear that your daughter may still be alive too. But, do you have a rescue plan?"
Y'zaks took a few deep breaths and finally calmed down somewhat. "I don't know. It's been a year. Even Lanina's left the place for months. I can't imagine what has become of my home town. If Y'lisabet could survive in the spatial dimensional gap, she should be alive. The child is smart, and good at hiding. As for the rescue plan, I'll have to get back there first, and then figure it out. I don't have a clue on the situation there, or whether the forces of the Holy See are still in the Obsidian Plains.
"If what Lanina said is true, they must still be there. They won't leave before they find what they want." Hao Ren looked at Y'zaks. "So, you plan to go in just like that? Or, do you plan on hanging missing person notices all over the world, telling everyone that you're looking for your daughter? By then, even your 'own kind' would come after you, what more the Holy See."
Lily began to catch up with what they were talking about. She muttered, "Then you'd be hung up and beaten again..."
That was of course, unacceptable to Lanina. She glowered and banged the table. "My king is invincible!"
Hao Ren wanted to stop her, but it was too late. He just managed to mutter, "Oh my... tea table..."
The tea table broke in half. Lily stuck her tongue out and said, "This time, it's not my fault."
"Never mind. I will just make a claim from the operating budget." It appeared to have become a norm, as Hao Ren did not harp on about it. Y'zaks on the other, did not appear to have a negative opinion about what Lily had said. "Lily's right, I'm too emotional now. I'll screw things up if I go in blindly."
"I'll go with you." Hao Ren exhaled. "You won't have peace if you can't go back to take a look. Two is better than one, at least you'll have someone to watch over your shoulder."
"I'll go too!" Lily jumped to her feet excitedly. "Maybe I can find some good food there!"
Vivian smiled warmly. "Biggie's a good man. I would've been dead in Athens without him, so count me in."
Nangong Wuyue shrugged and said, "Well, I'm a nanny, so I'll just tag along."
Having a bunch of true friends in his time of need, Y'zaks was almost tearful. He could not thank them enough. Hao Ren gave him a pat on his back and said, "Don't mention it. So can you please lower your body heat now? The sofa's going up in flame..."
Feeling embarrassed, Y'zaks kept his heat under control. He then looked at the broken tea table, and forced a smile. "I still have some treasures back home. I can retrieve them and bring them back here, you know, at least it'll be enough to pay the rental..."
Lanina looked on, flabbergasted. She could not fathom what had happened during the past one year between her boss and these strange "humans". Nonetheless, she still knew what she needed to do; she got to her feet and bowed before them at once. "Thank you for your help. I—"
"Don't say the T word." Hao Ren waved her off. "Everyone here could not care less about your past. As long as we stay under one roof, we always help each other out."
Lanina stood still. Hao Ren glanced at the demoness and finally figured out what was wrong with her this entire time. "Can you get that towel off your horns?"
It was only then that Lanina realised, a damp towel had been wrapped around her horns for God knows how long. She pulled it down at once. Lily scratched her face and muttered, "Why do I have a feeling that this demoness is from Shanxi?"
Hao Ren took the MDT out. "Compile what happened here today and send the report to Raven 12345. I guess she has to know what happened."
Even before they departed, Hao Ren had already anticipated that this operation was not going to be just another adventure. They would probably be dragged into the conflict between the demons and the Holy See. Hence, he had to prepare for the worst.
One thing was obvious—if you were to bring Napoleon back to France in 1816, would anyone believe that you were just helping him look for his family?