Absolute Gate

Chapter 67 Saint Martin's World Tree
The air quality in this city is terrible.

The city is located on the riverbank, and what you smell is not just a simple fishy smell, but a much stronger mixture of fishy, ​​pungent, and foul odors.

Like a thick blanket soaked in foul water, the kind of pungent, unpleasant feeling after being continuously baked by the sun in humid air...

The steam carried the earthy smell of riverbed silt, the stench of decaying plants, and the grease and sweat washed off the bodies of countless bathers.

Once you step onto the street, the experience becomes even more profound.

"Holy crap, this place in India is ridiculous!"

"I heard it online and thought it was an exaggeration, but I found out it's even more exaggerated when I got here."

Wu Zhong's face turned green, truly green.

Cow dung was everywhere on the streets, and people were even seen burning corpses. The eerie smell of burning, the stench of animal dung baked by the heat, and the sour smell of fermented body odor from the dense crowd were all mixed together.

Keep in mind that he had been in the high-altitude area with fresh air, and there were oxygen generators in the tunnels afterwards.

Suddenly finding himself in India, the instantaneous change in air almost drove him to despair.

Most importantly... he has physical abilities twenty times that of an average person!
The senses are greatly enhanced, and every detail can be smelled, which is not a good thing here.

Looking at Yangchunsha, the situation was the same, and even Xia Heng frowned.

Only Jordan and Lowry remained calm.

"Can't you smell it?" Wu Zhong asked him.

Jordan shook his head: "I have the art of turtle breathing."

"..." Wu Zhong was speechless. He really wished he could learn the Longevity Technique right now!

Luo Yi, wrapped in a blanket, chuckled and said, "So, how about we spend the night here?"

"No, no, no! Let's go! Let's go!" Wu Zhong shook his head hurriedly.

"I can't take it anymore... I really can't!"

Wu felt dizzy and extremely uncomfortable.

Even in this environment, there were still many roadside stalls surrounded by people.

The pungent, spicy smell of the masala spices, combined with the putrid stench overflowing from the overburdened sewers, made Wu question the meaning of life.

He could withstand illusions and mental shocks, but he couldn't withstand the air in this city.

Xia Heng covered his nose and said, "We'll split into two groups. I'll take 'Wu Dong' to meet up with the local mercenaries, and you guys will take a plane directly to 'San Martin'."

Luo Yi patted the blanket wrapped around his neck: "How am I supposed to fly?"

Everyone almost forgot that he still had a tube inserted in his neck.

"You guys go your own way, it's time for us to part ways," Luo Yi said with a smile, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Wu Zhong was taken aback. Luo Yi had come to help, and now that they had escaped, they should all go back to their own homes. They couldn't possibly stay with them forever; they also had their own things to do.

Xia Heng nodded: "Alright."

Wu Zhong said, "Brother Luo, won't you join us for a meal?"

Luo Yi waved his hand: "A farewell banquet? No need, we might meet again soon."

"Let's go, let's go. Just don't forget about that matter, Lao Xia."

Xia Heng nodded: "I promise you I will definitely do it. I will let you know once I have everything arranged on my end."

"Alright, everyone, I'm leaving now. Call me if you need anything." Luo Yi left gracefully.

Watching him swagger away, Wu finally felt grateful to have such a friend in his life.

When a friend is in trouble, I rush over from afar; once the matter is resolved, I leave gracefully.

However, after Luo Yi left, Wu Zhong dared not take a plane.

He wouldn't be able to handle it if it fell.

So Wu Zhong and Yang Chunsha experienced the local 'sardine train'.

That brought a unique feeling to my heart.

Yang Chunsha speaks multiple languages ​​and handles everything herself. After changing various modes of transportation, they finally left India by ship.

After a series of twists and turns over half a month, we finally arrived in St. Martin-in-the-West, Austria.

Nothing happened for the past two weeks.

This was the first time Wu had felt so at ease since the life-altering events that had occurred.

There were no pursuers, nor any ghosts or spirits to disturb them.

There were many opportunities along the way, such as that train that seemed destined to have an accident, but the ghosts and spirits just didn't appear.

This delighted Wu Zhong, because he was certain that the way the ghosts and spirits found him was by sleeping.

Ever since being attacked by the Night Wanderer on the grassland, Wu Zhong has not slept again.

When he was in too much pain and exhausted, he would absorb a wave of Yangchun Sand. The powerful life force of the treatment directly eliminated the fatigue and the loss caused by not sleeping for a long time!

I didn't sleep for twenty-five days straight, and no ghosts or spirits appeared.

"Oh my god, I should have just flown!"

Wu Zhong shook his head bitterly. He had been traveling for a long time and was exhausted. If he had known that if he didn't sleep, the ghosts and gods wouldn't be able to find him, he wouldn't have had to be so worried. Wouldn't it have been better to fly? He had never flown before.

Yang Chunsha held up a map: "Come on, follow me. Brother Xia has already booked rooms at the mercenary club's base and is waiting for us."

Wu finished at the end and followed along the entire way.

He had never traveled far from home, and he didn't speak the language. He didn't know how to handle anything along the way, so Yang Chunsha took care of everything.

This woman was the complete opposite; she was very capable.

All I can say is that she promoted herself back then, saying that if you had any freelance work, you could definitely find a job by contacting her, and that was indeed the case. She basically knew everything about what was going on in society.

"Thanks to you, Debiao, how do you know so many languages? I think you know four languages?"

As Yang Chunsha led the way, she smiled and said, "To be precise, there are five. You can buy instant coffee for each language. It costs 500,000 to become fluent in one language, which is very cheap."

"Language instant coffee? Wow, they even have that? I can't wait to browse the mercenary platform's shop." Wu Zhong was excited.

The two walked out of the city center and arrived at a quiet monastery.

Strictly speaking, this is a members-only hotel converted from a monastery, called 'Monastil'.

The meaning of this word is 'the dwelling place of a practitioner'.

The area boasts beautiful scenery, encompassing vast meadows and vineyards, with its main features being a 900-year-old medieval castle and monastery.

The hotel is nestled in a lakeside forest, far from the main road. It is accessible via an inconspicuous private driveway, which leads to a quaint and solemn building with stone walls, archways, and only a few windows that let in a faint, warm light.

There are no signs because there's no need to solicit business here.

Yang Chunsha rang the bronze doorbell outside the stone wall. The doorbell was extremely heavy, and the sound it made was deep and resonant.

A short while later, an elderly man came out to greet them.

He was dressed in a well-tailored dark uniform, with an elegant posture, neatly trimmed hair and beard, and calm yet sharp eyes; his demeanor was more like that of a museum curator.

"It is an honor to welcome you both here. You may call me Erwin. I am one of the hotel's private butlers."

Wu Zhong stared at him with his eyes wide open, because he couldn't understand a word he was saying.

Yang Chunsha understood and said, "My friend booked room number four. Um, do I need to verify my identity?"

The butler, Erwin, smiled and spoke in fluent Mandarin: "I am the private butler of Room 4. I am here to wait for you two. Please follow me."

He led the two through a magnificent Baroque church and a tranquil courtyard garden, where the air carried a faint scent of ancient wood.

As they passed through the courtyard, they saw Wu Zhong looking on with curiosity.

Erwin took the initiative to introduce the well, pointing to one side: "The stone well on our right still has sweet water. In the fourteenth century, it nourished the entire monastery."

"The most amazing thing is that it improves a person's appearance and temperament, eliminates scars and blemishes, and makes the skin smooth and clean."

Yang Chunsha suddenly realized: "Oh, this is the 'Beauty Spring'?"

Erwin nodded: "Of course, but guests should not drink it secretly. Only water drawn by the nuns in the monastery is effective from this well."

"The water drawn by others has no effect."

After listening to the translation, Wu Zhong murmured in surprise, "Are these calamity-causing objects just left here like this? A beauty filter? What's the price for that?"

Yang Chunsha shrugged: "This well has been here for hundreds of years, so what does it matter?"

"The price is not to drink too much. As far as I know, three cups is the limit. If you drink more than three cups, your whole person will be distorted to the point of being unreal. Four cups and your whole face will look like it has a built-in beauty filter. Five cups and you'll end up with albinism. I've heard that some people have even drunk themselves into the shape of a cartoon character and lost their noses."

"In short, the more you drink, the more terrifying it becomes. Beauty filters eventually turn into disfigurement, and it's irreversible."

Wu nodded, "Too much of a good thing is bad; this is a fairly normal price to pay."

It's much gentler than any of those "eternal thirst plums," which are a complete mess.

They chatted and laughed, and along the way Wu Zhong saw Baroque murals and domes with magnificent light and shadow effects, which were truly exquisite.

There's also a library with countless books, a wine cellar, an art gallery, and even a gym and spa...

Wu also saw a young man walking by wearing inappropriate beach shorts with his hands in his pockets.

The two exchanged a glance and then passed each other.

Wu guessed that these must be other customers, as there were employees dressed in similarly dark suits standing behind them. In other words, each suite here is equipped with a dedicated service team.

Room number four should be the room Xia Heng booked.

Upon arriving at the room door, Erwin did not hand over the room key, but instead gave Yang Chunsha a historically significant keepsake: a handcrafted brass key.

The two entered the suite, which was very spacious and extremely luxurious.

Xia Heng was making tea at the coffee table when he looked up at the two of them and said, "You're so slow. I booked this room a week ago."

Wu finally sat down: "The language barrier caused a delay of a few days..."

Xia Heng smiled, took out a packet of coffee, brewed it, and pushed the cup over.

Wu Zhong's eyes lit up: "This is instant language coffee?"

"Drink up, there are several more packets here. Use them as you see fit. If you need anything else later, just go buy it yourself." Xia Heng took out a dozen or so coffee packets and tossed them over.

Wu immediately drank heavily, but felt nothing at all.

His heart skipped a beat: "I don't feel like I've learned any foreign languages. Could it be that my mental defenses are preventing me from learning any?"

Xia Heng chuckled: "Who told you you've truly learned it? You've essentially taken a translator, an extra language library, which you can automatically recall with a single thought when you need that foreign language."

"But in reality, you haven't really learned it; your language sense and way of thinking are still from your native language family."

"Therefore, you may be insensitive to the connotations of foreign languages ​​and related ways of thinking."

"These languages ​​are simple, so that's fine. But some mercenaries who use Chinese are really in trouble. Although the languages ​​seem to be mutually intelligible, they can't actually decipher the true context and riddles of Chinese."

"Some people have taken advantage of this, communicating in a very abstract, implicit way, so that the person secretly listening could understand every word, but didn't really understand it..."

Wu finally understood, meaning that even if someone speaks out of order, a native speaker can still understand it if they think about it a couple of times.

However, those who use language packs, because they haven't truly learned them and lack the relevant thought process, will remain confused.

"What did Jordan say?" Wu Zhong tried speaking in a foreign language and found it surprisingly fluent, which surprised him.

Xia Heng shrugged: "I'm on vacation in Tasmania. I rode a whale to Australia with two silver-level experts from India."

"After the mission was completed, they received their payment and immediately leaked my information about Australia. So I fought with the local mercenaries and escaped to the southernmost tip of Australia with Jordan."

"Right now, all the mercenary community knows is that he and I are still in Australia, but no one knows exactly where. He just needs to stay hidden for now, and I'll be back soon."

Wu nodded, and everything was going smoothly on Jordan's end.

As for how long they can hide, it's hard to say, after all, there are countless capable people in the world.

However, even if Jordan is found, it's actually a good thing. As long as he insists that he is Wu Dong, and there's no supernatural help, it might clear up the misunderstanding in the mercenary world.

Wu then recounted how there had been no ghostly disturbances for the past two weeks.

Xia Heng smirked: "Oh? So you're planning to never sleep for the rest of your life?"

Wu Zhong pondered, "I won't sleep for now. This is the best situation. Anyway, it's fine if I don't sleep. I can just take a couple of breaths."

Xia Heng nodded and said, "You can stay here. This hotel is very safe."

"I've booked this suite for a whole year; you can stay wherever you like."

"However, this only applies to the regular suites outside. If you want to stay inside the World Tree, you have to be a mercenary."

Wu Zhong asked in surprise, "The World Tree?"

Xia Heng chuckled: "Saint Martin is one of the nine strongholds of the Free Mercenary Club. There is a branch of the World Tree there, which is a space of its own and a true gathering place for mercenaries."

"However, to enter, you must register with a plant name, unlike the suites outside, where ordinary people can stay if there is a member guarantee."

Wu nodded: "So you need to register as a mercenary first, right? That's exactly what I was thinking."

Xia Heng stood up: "Well, don't reveal your special characteristics, just register as a member of the Mad Blood Clan."

"I'm not entirely sure about the registration process or the benefits. You should ask Erwin outside. He's the private butler for this suite; you can contact him for anything."

"There are some other things you can ask Yang Chunsha; she should know the answers too."

Yang Chunsha nodded; after all, she was a seven-year veteran mercenary...

Wu finally saw through the situation: "Brother Xia, are you leaving?"

Xia Heng nodded: "Of course, I have my own things to do and can't be with you forever."

"After registering as a mercenary, you can decide what you want to do."

"I'll have Yangchunsha tell me the name of the plant later. If there's anything, we'll contact each other through the plant department."

After saying that, Xia Heng vanished in an instant.

Wu sighed, realizing that after not seeing him for half a month, he never expected that he would leave again after only a few minutes.

He truly comes and goes without a trace; it seems that from now on, Debiao will be my only long-term companion.

He longed to become an enlightened being, and for the Diverse Academy's social admissions, without the recommendation of other forces, one had to be at least a Gold Mercenary.

Without a doubt, he needs to rebuild his identity and gradually advance from Iron to Gold.

So Wu took a shower and couldn't wait to go to Erwin and ask to register as a mercenary.

Erwin inquired, "Sir, are you aware of the requirements to become a free mercenary?"

"Do you possess any apocalyptic artifacts, or are you infected with some kind of effect?"

Wu Zhong took a deep breath and calmly said, "Of course, I've long been considered a member of the Disaster Circle, I just haven't worked as a mercenary."

Erwin nodded: "Understood, then please follow me."

He led the two to the manor behind the castle, where many exotic flowers and plants grew, and an old nun was watering a potted plant.

Erwin first bowed to the old nun, then walked to the potted plants in the center of the garden, where a tree was planted in a large earthen pot.

It looks like a large banyan tree, with gnarled roots, a thick trunk, and lush foliage like a canopy.

Erwin smiled and said, "This tree is our St. Martin's branch's miniature World Tree."

"Its name is St. Martin's World Tree. Contact it using the Plants ID to apply for entry."

Clearly, the best way to verify identity is through plant communication, which is absolutely linked to a mercenary's identity.

Yang Chunsha nodded and took out a cucumber, calling it by that name.

Before long, a thin branch extended out, with three leaves pointing towards Yangchunsha.

After receiving confirmation, Erwin smiled and said, "Welcome, Silver Mercenary, please come in."

Wu Zhong was taken aback. Wasn't Yangchunsha bronze?

Oh, right, she completed Xia Heng's escort evacuation mission and leveled up to Silver.

"Sir, you can simply shake my hand."

He pulled Wu Zhong along, grasped the branch, and Yang Chunsha also touched it.

Suddenly, the three of them felt a pulling force.

Wu Zhong felt as if the potted tree in front of him suddenly grew larger!

Suddenly, it blocked his entire view; it was exceptionally magnificent and astonishing.

"This……"

Even though he was mentally prepared, Wu Zhong still couldn't quite contain his shock.

He looked around, feeling as if he were inside the bonsai, his feet on the soil, but the old stone walls and arched ceilings were nowhere to be seen, and the edges were all pure white.

So much so that it resembles a vast, pure white hall, without lights, yet everything is bright, like an independent space.

The most eye-catching feature is the magnificent tree towering in the center.

The magnificent branches form a canopy, shading the entire sky, with starlight flowing through the leaves, creating a magnificent tree-like sky dome.

Its roots did not penetrate the soil. Perhaps because the soil layer was too shallow, thick roots were exposed on the surface and had already spread to various places, forming all sorts of strange treehouses.

Various treehouses or secluded areas shaded by vines and wood are suspended all around, and everything blends well with the modern home.

Wu finally saw modern streets and infrastructure here.

Inside some treehouses sat all sorts of people, operating something; some were shouting and gesticulating wildly, but no sound came out of the windows, as if they were all private cubicles.

Wu Zhong thought to himself, "No wonder it's called the World Tree... it really does have its own independent space."

"Am I currently inside that potted plant?"

Yang Chunsha clearly noticed his confusion and explained, "There are only nine such World Tree spaces in total, and I have only entered them once, at a mercenary base in Japan."

"The bonsai tree you just saw contains such a place. Most of the mercenaries who come to the stronghold choose to live inside the bonsai tree."

"If anything happens, the club's operations staff can just carry the potted plants and move them; it's like taking everyone with them..."

"As for the buildings outside, they can be abandoned. As long as the potted plants are preserved, the club can rebuild a new base at any time."

Wu nodded, indicating that the real stronghold was wherever the bonsai was located.

No wonder the castle hotel area outside is so quiet, with hardly any mercenaries in sight.

It turns out that everyone is concentrated here. This place is secluded, well-equipped, and it's unlikely that any ordinary people can get in.

……

(End of this chapter)