The Great Worm Lich

10,000 kilofeet, the land-based unit of measurement of Shrimp World No. 2 was equivalent to about 1000 kilometers on Earth. In the Hellfire Archipelago that was teeming with danger, sailing such a long-distance voyage with the help of just a simple nautical chart was definitely not a ‘trivial matter’ to any veteran navigator.

However, at this moment, amidst the face of the powerful Wizard Li Tribal Conqueror, the old navigators did not have any qualifications to bargain at all. When the airships took them to fly slowly along the air over the Wizard Li ancestral ground to look at the sea chart, the other family members and the sailors on the merchant ships had also been taken away from the harbor. After that, Zhang Lisheng breathed a sigh of relief and voiced out his innermost feelings. “Tugra, it’s kind of impossible for all of these people to succeed. However, if seven senior navigators are trying their best to develop the sea routes, there will be at least two to three that will succeed judging from the probability of success. Even though the area of several islands closest to us are only one-third than that of Wizard Li Island, they are all adjacent to more than ten small and medium-sized islands that are about the same size. It’s an easy matter to conquer one of them as a frontier base for us to spread our force out from there and at the very least, we don’t have to worry about sailing. By the time we have finished conquering all of the islands, the tribal strength can increase by at least seven to eight times. That time, even if we suffer from any great loss when we continue to explore new routes, Wizard Li will still be able to afford it. For this reason, these navigators are our key to open up the door to glory safely and even if anything happens to them, we must take care of their family members well, understood?”

“Yes, Great Conqueror! The family members of these navigators will become the masters of the new town. I’ll never let any Wizard Li tribesman offend their dignity, wealth and rights!” the Wizard Li headman answered respectfully.

“Very good! This mainlander town must be perfect in all aspects! In that way, when Wizard Li spreads out to the mainland after being finished with conquering the entire Hellfire sea region, it’ll play a very large “catalytic” role. However, we can never let those old and cunning fellows, who have gone through many things before, know about this. Otherwise, they may choose to sacrifice their lives during sailing and purposely lead our iron ships to disaster. The hatred between civilization and race is sometimes irrational, blatantly bathed in each other’s flesh and blood,” Zhang Lisheng added.

“Your wisdom is amazing, Great Conqueror!” Tugra agreed and buried his head in the ground.

“Tugra, the fact that you can find so many good ‘words’ from the limited praise vocabulary of the Hellfire language to sing to me is more amazing! The route exploring will take quite some time and adding onto the preparatory work needed in the early stage, it’d take at least 30 to 40 days for us to get results. I don’t have the patience to wait for so many days,” Zhang Lisheng joked with the Wizard Li headman and after doing some calculations, he shifted his gaze to the Wizard Li chief craftsman. “Aruba, continue to forge more iron steamships during this period of time. This kind of maritime weapon is indispensable in the battle between islands, you know that?”

As the young man was speaking, his mouth began to crack open and his ears began to elongate while a faint layer of mist gathered around him. Seeing that the tribal Conqueror was about to rise into the air, Aruba quickly answered, “I understand, Great Conqueror! I’ll definitely build more iron ships for the tribe! However, I’ve discovered many powerful war machines from the mainlander ships that you’ve captured some time ago so I hope you can allow me to separate a small area of furnaces for me to research and imitate these weapons.”

“Powerful weapons? The mainlanders did not use any weapons that are worth mentioning at all when I transformed into the Eye Beast King. But well, you are free to do whatever research you like as long as it doesn’t hold up the serious matters. Go and do as you like. Tugra, don’t forget to urge the navigators to start as soon as possible! Charlot, who looks the thinnest among them, can be the bridge of your communication. I’ll come back when the weather gets warmer so let the Wizard Li warriors prepare for war. I have a premonition that this long-awaited ‘conquest’ would be a fierce one!” After finishing his words, Zhang Lisheng, who had already been tightly wrapped in thick fog, rose to the sky under the worship of countless Hellfire tribesmen, and flew to the world gate connecting Shrimp World No. 2 and Earth.

40 minutes after he crossed the fence between the ocean and the ‘world’, the young man silently landed on the roof of his office building on the outskirts of New York amidst the cold and strong winter wind. After transforming his wizard power from wyrmdragon to lizard, he nihilated his body and landed in his spacious office.

Routinely taking a hot bath and changing into a new set of clean clothes, Zhang Lisheng looked at the weather that had already turned into a rainstorm outside the window. He walked towards the refrigerator and took a can of iced Coke. He opened it and walked to his desk, before pulling out his mobile phone that was always on alert from the drawer.

There were more than 100 messages and missed calls. The young man swiped the screen to have a look and dialed his mother’s number first. His first sentence when the phone connected was an apology, “Mom, I’m sorry. I have been so busy in the foreign world and there’s no way for me to make contact with Earth. It was my fault for not going back, nor sending a handwritten card, or making any call during Christmas and New Year…”

“It’s fine, baby. It’s nothing. Since three years ago, I already knew that I have a son who was unlike others and I have already been prepared for this day,” Lili’s voice resonated gently from the phone. “I only wish that you take care of your health no matter how busy you are. There are other things more important than work in our lives as well, like resting, exercising…”

Listening to his mother’s usual nagging, Zhang Lisheng constantly replied ‘uh huh’ but was already turning his computer on. At the same time when the system was activated and flashed on the screen, he suddenly heard Lili change the topic of the conversation. “Where are you right now, baby?”

“The factory office on the outskirts of New York. What’s the matter, mom?”

“I do have something to talk to you in person,” Lily answered after a moment of silence.

“Oh, does it need to be in person? In that case, I’ll go back right away!” Zhang Lisheng answered and dexterously shut off the computer.

“No, no! I don’t know how the weather in the suburb is like but it’s raining heavily in New York City right now. Besides, I’m not at home right now so let’s meet at noon tomorrow, baby. I’ll make beef pie for you tomorrow so let us talk during lunch.”

“Okay.” Zhang Lisheng pondered over it and asked, “Can’t we talk over the phone?”

“Baby, this is an important thing, I want to look at your face and talk to you in person,” Lili answered solemnly.

“You rarely talk to me in this tone. Mom, I’m a bit nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous, it’s not a bad thing, just something about a choice. Hey, my phone is running out of battery so I’ll hang up first. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, mom…” Before Zhang Lisheng could finish his words, the phone was already hung up. He was stunned for a while before muttering to himself, “Something about a choice? Ha! I’ve just forced somebody to make a choice and now it’s my turn now?”

Then, he dialed his girlfriend’s phone number.

The phone was picked up after a few times of ringing. Tina’s anxious voice resonated from the other end of the phone immediately, “Baby, you finally called! You didn’t call me for more than three months and I was worried that something would happen to you…”

“What would happen to me? I’m the most powerful monster on Shrimp B1 Island you know,” Zhang Lisheng joked. “The winter holiday should be over now. Are you back in Boston?”

“No. Due to the incident of Harvard Stadium being attacked by the foreign world, the university has extended an extra month of holiday. Several psychology professors in the medical school even developed a winter vacation guidebook to help relieve negative emotions such as anxiety and fear. There’s even Walt Disney Company included inside. This is really absurd! Who would go to Disneyland in winter?”

“Oh? I heard that many people will go to Disneyland to see fireworks in the New Year… Anyways, are you alright, Tina?” The young man could tell that his girlfriend’s tone was not right so he asked in concern.

“I’m fine. It’s just that after you left, I sometimes feel so sad out of the blue while looking at the empty campus. Half of the members in our Sisters’ Association is gone, baby. Trish, Sheila and I would always have nightmares and dread of those friends who are dead. I don’t want to worry you. I want to be strong…”

“You’re being very strong now, my d-dear,” Zhang Lisheng interrupted his girlfriend’s words. “Where are you? Shall I go find you?”

“Oh, thank you baby, but it’s alright. The rain is really heavy now…”

“Do you think a rainstorm can stop me? Tell me where to find you.”

“Trish, Sheila and I are in OP-07 Restaurant in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We’re trapped here by the heavy rain!” The girl no longer insisted and it was apparent that she wished to have her lover’s shoulder to lean on during this fragile moment.

“The OP-07 Restaurant in Manhattan. I know where it is. Wait for me,” Zhang Lisheng said and hung up the phone. He took out the key to his Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG from another drawer in the office and ran out of the office building.

He ran into the car under the heavy rain, drenched in water. Then, he turned out of the factory, and drove along the road to New York City.

The rainstorm poured heavily all the way. He avoided those cars that broke down on the road and turned into the ring road successfully, relying on the high chassis and excellent performance of the top-class RV. Then, he drove for more than one hour and finally stopped his car slowly in front of OP-07 Restaurant.

When the valet hiding inside the restaurant saw that they actually had a customer in such terrible weather through the windows, he secretly cursed and rushed into the rain with a black umbrella.

However, after he received the 100 dollar bill tip from Zhang Lisheng, his anger immediately vanished. Respectfully handing over the umbrella to the young man, he continued to say in gratitude, “Thank you, Sir. You’re too generous!”

“It’s me who should thank you. It’s not good weather for parking, especially when it’s heavy rain.” Zhang Lisheng took the umbrella and smiled at the valet before stepping on the rain puddle into the restaurant.