Chapter 112: Lilith

Xiao Lin could not help but ask, “Then what about Dawn Academy? Were we busy fighting beastkin?”

Song Junlang sighed. “Yeah, the beastkin are a crazy race, but they are still very strong. Even though we won back then, it was at a great cost. Those wars pretty much completely set back all the progress the Dawn Academy had made in the past two hundred years. The Americans then had absolutely no large-scale conflicts for more than a hundred years after they were established. Furthermore, they entered the New World after the initial stages when everyone was figuring things out. The rest of the academies had already set many examples for them to follow. They were spared a lot of trouble, and are now among the highest in terms of overall strength.”

The secret of the stone plates were a puzzle to the public. When he thought about how Judge Academy had the confidence to invite the other academies, they probably felt that, even if they saw the stone plates, they would still not be able to decipher it. Ancient Normese was a very difficult lost language, and Xiao Lin felt it hard to believe that Professor Brown was actually at MAX-rank.

Song Junlang did not know much about Professor Brown. All he knew was that the man seemed to be a historian before he entered the academy, and had practically no interest in colonists when he entered the academy. Instead, he was extremely interested in the ancient history of Planet Norma. His own skill was not too high, and only at Silver-rank. However, when it came to history–especially the history of the Thunder Kingdom–he had quite a bit of influence.

Work for the next few days was more of the same; Xiao Lin was in charge of recording the contents of the stone plates, and the rest of them restored the stone plates. Work itself was actually not too dull, Xiao Lin got to interact with the others as he recorded, and got to ask things such as what the meaning of certain phrases was. When they met some harder questions, everyone would discuss it together.

At those times, Xiao Lin could only spectate and listen in silently. He worked hard to remember the phrases and sentences they mentioned, and slowly digested it during the night. His Ancient Normese was the lowest level there, so no one found it strange. Just the fact that a new student had any grasp of the language was enough to surprise anyone.

What made Xiao Lin happy was that the professor seemed to keep his promises. After he agreed to pay him daily, Hank handed him 400 New Dollars.

New Dollars were the same as currencies on Earth–in the form of paper notes. However, it looked a lot prettier. On the notes was a picture of planet Earth, and the two sides of the planet were reflected on the note. This was something all the academies took a long time discussing before coming to an agreement on. Anyone above Silver-rank would never be able to return to Earth, so this was like a tribute to their old world.

When he saw that it was the first time Xiao Lin touched a New Dollar, Hank explained the defensive mechanisms of the notes to him. In a magically-advanced world like that one, it was not hard to create complete imitations. In order to prevent that, the colonists utilized a lot of methods to ensure the authenticity of the notes. The materials used were very meticulous, and the finishing touch was a type of ink printed into the paper that was impossible to be replicated by magic.

Hank passed 400 dollar notes to Xiao Lin, and told Xiao Lin that, if it was inconvenient to carry it around, he could always deposit it into the New Washington bank. Xiao Lin rejected the offer politely because Song Junlang had told him even though some academies had established banks in the New World, money was still not transferable between banks.

Song Junlang did not stay idle in the inn during the day; he said he visited some old friends, but did not reveal more than that.

The first few days in New Washington went by smoothly, though Xiao Lin was still unable to make heads or tails of the contents of the stone plates. Professor Brown usually kept to himself inside the palace, and only appeared occasionally to issue orders, such as which stone plates to prioritize.

Xiao Lin had been lectured a few times for not performing up the standards, but it was not too strict and he never had his salary deducted. The professor probably knew he was a new student and did not have a high level in Ancient Normese.

Xiao Lin had his own thoughts as well. He had already been in New Washington for four days. On top of the time he stopped at Earth, which equaled one day on Norma, five days had passed. That meant he was two days away from being able to use his replication skill. He had already decided on using the skill on Professor Brown’s Ancient Normese in order to properly discern what was written on the stone plates.

However, on the sixth day something happened that disrupted Xiao Lin’s plans.

He was copying the stones as usual that day when the doors of the hall were pushed open. The sharp grinding of stone disturbed everyone’s concentration as all of them furrowed their eyebrows and raised their heads.

In front of the door was a tall woman with brown, curly hair. Her blue eyes surveyed the hall, as if looking for something.

“I didn’t hear anything about a newcomer.” Lolander mumbled to himself.

“Maybe it’s someone that Judge Academy invited. Our progress isn’t too fast right now,” Chloe said earnestly.

After looking around, she did not seem to find who she was looking for, so she opened her mouth to ask. Her voice was clear and loud, as she surprisingly said in Mandarin, “Where’s Xiao Lin? Which one of you is Xiao Lin from the Dawn Academy?”

The rest of them might not understand Mandarin, but they still heard the words Xiao Lin and Dawn Academy. Their bewildered gazes fell on to Xiao Lin.

The woman walked straight toward the corner with elegant footsteps, eyeing Xiao Lin with a very interested expression.

Lolander whistled as he had a teasing look on his face. He flashed his thumb to Xiao Lin as he said, “Xiao! You actually managed to land yourself such a hot babe in just a few days within New Washington. I thought they said the Chinese were more reserved, but you definitely aren’t!”

“I don’t even know who she is!” Xiao Lin quickly dispelled any misconceptions of their relationship. He had been spending every day in either the palace or the inn since he came to New Washington; he had not even managed to find any free time to go sightseeing in the city, so how could he be hitting on women. Plus, this woman was looking at him with an expression that was making him uncomfortable.

Yes, Xiao Lin had encountered this gaze before. It was the same gaze Song Junlang had on his face when he tricked Xiao Lin into eating the iron comb chicken. It was like a hunter that had found its prey!

Finally finding her target, the woman let out a beautiful and vibrant smile. “So, you’re Xiao Lin. My name is Lilith.”

Her Mandarin was very fluent, but no matter how hard Xiao Lin dug into his memories, he could not recall even meeting an American woman named Lilith.

However, when Lolander, who was all smiles earlier, heard the name Lilith, his expression changed drastically as he almost lost his voice in shock. “Lilith? My God, you…you can’t be that Lilith!”