Mission in another world with my transformed best friend

Zhang Lan waved her small hands, her expression returning to that innocent girlish smile, and refused.

"Thank you for your discerning eye. Actually, I'm not good at anything, except for having a slightly ahead-of-its-time imagination... I was just in high spirits and rambled on for so long. So, I have to reluctantly decline Uncle Doolittle's invitation, since I don't know how to lead troops into battle and have no interest in politics. And now it's a 'peaceful era,' right? Please don't take my rambling, even slightly sensitive, remarks to heart; just consider them casual chatter."

After hearing this, Duli sighed and nodded.

"Alright, I won't go against Miss Lan's wishes. As for tonight, my brothers and I will definitely keep it to ourselves tomorrow morning... However, if any of the hypothetical scenarios you mentioned actually happen in the future, even if there's only the slightest hint of them, I'm sorry, but I will definitely recommend you to my superiors immediately."

"talk later!"

Zhang Lan stood up, stretched, yawned, glanced at Wang Kai, looked around, and then smiled.

"It's getting late. Thank you all for escorting me all day. I'd like to get some rest now. Goodnight."

After saying that, Zhang Lan reached out and pulled the still somewhat bewildered Wang Kai back to the tent. Before entering the tent, she almost bumped into Masha, who was eavesdropping from inside...

"Hey Martha, you're still up? It's so late..."

"Ah!" Martha hesitated for a moment, "I was just worried about you and Brother Kai..."

Zhang Lan patted Masha's head: "What are you worried about? After all, they are soldiers protecting us and even the country's security..."

"That's true, but they're all men..."

Zhang Lan was stunned for a moment before she understood, but she didn't continue the topic. Instead, she pointed behind her and said, "..."

"What's so scary about men? There's always a man behind you. The three of us are even sleeping in one tent tonight. Aren't you afraid?"

“Brother Kai is different. You and Sister Lan are both my saviors. From now on, I’d be willing to be your servant even if it meant staying by your side…”

Zhang Lan winked at Wang Kai beside her, signaling him to also say a few words to the child. Wang Kai, understanding the signal, smiled and said softly.

"Look at what you're saying. Didn't I already say that I would treat Martha as a partner? We're not some wealthy family going on a trip. We can't afford to hire servants even if we wanted to."

"But!"

Martha looked up at the two of them.

"Aren't you afraid? I've heard people in the village say that soldiers in the city are supposed to be protecting the country, but in peacetime, they all go out and have a good time every night... Also, Sister Lan, you weren't very discreet just now, which made Brother Kai a little unhappy, after all, you two made a 'lifelong partner contract'!"

Wang Kai was stunned for a moment. This girl was straightforward and outspoken, saying both what she should and shouldn't have said. It was too late to stop her.

Zhang Lan was taken aback for a moment, and then asked.

"What 'lifelong partnership contract'?"

"Huh? Sister Lan, you're playing dumb with them. Don't let my age fool you; I saw it with my own eyes..."

Wang Kai felt that now was not the time to discuss this matter, so as to avoid unnecessary embarrassment, and interrupted Masha.

"Alright, alright! Martha, I know what you're trying to say, but after talking to those soldiers for a while, I realized they're all good people... And your Sister Lan is quite something; her endless praise brought those grown men's minds back from their lower bodies to their heads. They went from calling her 'Little Sister Lan' to the respectful title 'Miss Lan.' Some even recommended she 'join the army and go into politics'..."

Martha paused, staring intently at Zhang Lan, her eyes seemingly asking if this was true...

Zhang Lan just gave a few wry smiles, scratched her hair, and tried to brush it off. Seeing this, Martha didn't want to say anything more. Suddenly, she glared at Zhang Lan's hand, grabbed it, and said something.

"Sister Lan, you're the same. Your hands are covered in soot when you scratch your hair. Look, there's so much stuff stuck to your hair. I'll go get you some water to wash your hair..."

Watching Masha dash out of the tent, Wang Kai sighed, walked to a makeshift bed on the ground, lay down, and muttered to himself.

"Servants? It feels more like hiring an old mother..."

"yes……"

Zhang Lan raised the hand that had just held the fire poker, looked at the pitch-black blackness in his palm, and fell into deep thought.

Wang Kai's mind didn't stop; he continued to steer the conversation away from the main topic.

"Hey, what are you daydreaming about? While Martha's not around, you'd better confess... were those things you just said made up, or were they something else? Also, since you're such a braggart, why don't you just accept the recommendation to join the army or go into politics? With our original education, we could at least get a minor official position by just referring to a bit of 'The Art of War' or something..."

"Yo?"

Zhang Lan snapped out of her daze, stared at Wang Kai's face for a few seconds, and then gave a mischievous laugh.

"Transmigrating to another world and starting as a lowly soldier to become an emperor—that's a good idea, but the author of this book doesn't have the skill to write such a story. To be honest, I bet you're not very interested in this kind of plot development, right? After all, once you enter politics, things will change..."

"Restrictions! Right? Whether I was studying, working, or venturing into society, even if I was lucky enough to become a minor official, I was always under 'restrictions.' There were leaders above me constantly suppressing me, and the laws of society binding me. Even if you became a boss, there were even bigger 'bosses' to restrict you. I was just asking casually... Since I'm here, my true desire is still to pursue great power, even if it means being worlds apart from those brave warriors, I'm willing to give it my all..."

"Your thinking is just like that group of soldiers from earlier... Never mind, let's not discuss that for now. Hey, I just discovered a few shortcuts to speed up the so-called 'main quest'?"

"Ah? Tell me quickly..."

Zhang Lan glanced at Wang Kai out of the corner of her eye, rubbed the black ash in her palm, and smiled slightly crookedly.

"Keep it a secret for now! Get some rest, you'll be on a carriage ride for most of tomorrow, if you keep throwing up I'll have to gag you!"

"You... fine, I'm going to sleep!"

……

After another long day of bumpy carriage rides on the second day, the group finally arrived in "Merck Town".

Although it is only a city at the level of a "town", the entire outer perimeter is surrounded by a huge circle of city walls several meters high. Looking out, the city walls seem to have no end, and there is a long moat attached to them.

The increasing number of carriages and pedestrians on the road elevated the town's scale and grandeur several notches.

When Wang Kai saw a Western city that he had only ever seen in movies and TV shows for the first time in such a three-dimensional way, he temporarily suppressed the discomfort caused by motion sickness and kept his eyes open, not wanting to miss any detail in front of him.

The thought of using this as a backdrop to make a name for myself is quite exciting.

Zhang Lan didn't react much, quietly rubbing her sore bottom from the bumpy ride, her gaze mostly fixed on the vicinity of the carriage.

Her expression seemed to reveal a certain excitement; after briefly forgetting her fatigue, she even chatted with the soldier beside her about some unrelated topics...

After passing through the city gate, Duli led the three to a military camp by the city wall. After resting for a while, someone who looked like a military civilian came and repeated the previous procedure, asking them one by one about "Tara Village" and recording their questions.

After all the official procedures were completed, Doolittle informed the three that the results of the follow-up investigation would not be available until the next day, so they found an ordinary hotel to stay in temporarily...

After Wang Kai entered the hotel room feeling like his bones were falling apart, he collapsed face down onto the bed.

As far as I can remember, this was the first time I had ever slept on a real bed with soft bedding since arriving in this other world. The sheets and blankets were fragrant and soft. In addition, after two days of "torture from the carriage journey", my body was covered with debuffs.

So Wang Kai's eyelids had barely closed when he fell asleep. Before his consciousness faded, only a nonsensical thought flashed through his mind...

"This long journey is really tiring. Where are the teleportation points in the game...?"

After an unknown amount of time, Wang Kai was awakened by the rumbling in his stomach. He wanted to go back to sleep, but a faint fragrance wafted into his nostrils.

Unable to resist opening his eyes, he saw some bread and cheese on a small table by the window. To quell the protests of the roundworms in his stomach, he could only sit up. He took a bite of the dry bread, and his throat choked, almost causing him to meet his great-grandmother...

"Before going a long time without eating, it's best to drink some milk first. Otherwise, if you, this 'chosen one,' choke on a small piece of bread and go to meet your maker, wouldn't that be too embarrassing if word got out..."