When the water becomes clear; Get past the Sea beasts

That evening was one of the most peaceful ones he had since the whole ordeal and Xiao Ji wanted to enjoy every last minute of it.

The fireplace was crackling as usual and the invisible boy sat on the chair, the two younger fire-wielding boys at his feet, listening eagerly to his stories. Xiao Ji tuned in for some time, though there was nothing but sorrow to be felt.

The boy had turned invisible sometime so long ago that even he couldn't remember himself and he'd been through all the adventures already.

 At first, it was exhilarating and for a long time, he was living carefree and happy, running away from law enforcement and climbing towers so that he could watch the sunset from them but soon, it ended when he realized that it wasn't likely anytime soon that he would be able to be seen again and that hit the hardest.

That meant no physical intimacy, for one thing, but another overall, unless there was some invisible girl he could somehow connect with, according to himself, the prospects of finding love would be more difficult. One of the boys, "Firecrack" began tearing up so the invisible boy, Envis, talked of a happier subject: The time he stole 4 spaceships in a row and had to live on a tropical island with talking fish until Song rescued him.

Xiao Ji sighed and looked out the window but froze.

The quiet older boy who always stayed with the cat had now transformed. Rather than a head, a miniature bookshelf had taken place and the boy was busy placing large books in it.

Song turned a corner and laughed when he saw Xiao Ji gawking. "Oh don't worry, that's Paige haha. His nerdy system allows him to memorize all the information from the books he puts in there. It's really fascinating if you ask me. I'm surprised that his brain doesn't burn out." Song's voice lowered, "Oh, and just treat him normally.

Where he's from, education is banned." Xiao Ji suddenly felt immensely sorry for this boy who probably had to endure far more than he had.

By the fireplace, Anya and the origami girl were making little origami flowers to blossom and bloom, a bunch of colors from the various papers that the girl had used countless times already to create origamis.

Song and Older sister Xing were upstairs, discussing the events of tomorrow privately. Song had let the man go after verifying the authenticity of the Oak Kingdom identification paper. Pahara was trying to tell Xiao Ji something but he had long been absorbed in deep thought.

The Oak Kingdom wasn't something that was touched upon much. Anya had brought the topic up a few times though it was quite a while ago.

From what Xiao Ji could remember, the Oak Kingdom was once a vast prosperous land filled with beautiful nature and a growing industrial economy.

Not that long ago, a revolution had taken place within the Oak Kingdom, eventually leading to the once industrializing nation back into an agrarian society.

The causes of this were deeply rooted in the farming culture of the Oak Kingdom and now, with the conflict in the Oak Kingdom, Xiao Ji could only guess that old sparks were being ignited.

Xiao Ji snapped out of his trance;

"Hey! Little Chicken!"

"What!?"

"We're really going to the Oak Kingdom… I'm going to miss this place."

...

"Pahara, how long have you been here?"

"Almost a whole year; Older sister Xing brought us here after she heard Song was relocated here. Before that, we were…"

Xiao Ji wanted to tell Pahara to let go of her feelings though he realized that he had no right to criticize. Pahara and the other children had been on the run possibly their whole lives and had no place to stay and call home.

Xiao Ji felt that he would feel the same if he left the place that he had sheltered in for a year. The door upstairs opened and Song came out with Liu Xing.

They looked at each other then back at the kids, Song whispered "We'll tell them later, let's make dinner first" Older sister Xing agreed and together, they went to the kitchen, a fleeting glance of sadness towards the kids.

The rowdy boys seemed to have forgotten about the danger they had just been in and decided to run around outside again, though Older sister Xing protested this heavily.

The smell of delicious food wafted from the kitchen, not long after Song and Older sister Xing had started and all the kids, including Paige were drooling.

"Someone should get the boys back in before they cry about missing out on the dinner!"

The mood was temporarily lightened and Xiao Ji and Pahara decided to go for a fly. The sun had nearly set on the city now and as Pahara held onto Xiao Ji, they looked down, the air blowing through them, at the countless lights below, gleaming like fallen stars, beginning a new life below the sky.

They finally landed back near the apartment and Xiao Ji could hear the clinking of utensils and chatting from inside.

A low voice suddenly spoke from the dark corner of the street, "Hey you two, go inside for dinner." Since no one could be spotted, it must have been the invisible boy, alone in the darkness outside.

The door opened for them after Pahara sang a short tune and Song opened it, smiling when he saw Xiao Ji. Around the table, the kids were busy stuffing loads of braised meats and well done vegetables and the man who had helped them earlier was there too.

Anya scooped some smaller cut up veggies onto Xiao Ji's plate and even though he was a chicken, the food burst flavors on his tongue!

The man looked a bit embarrassed and surprised at the amount of system children though it seemed he was finally getting more comfortable in the house. Eventually, the happy banter turned serious.

The man began speaking, "Tomorrow, there will be a submarine in the port; That is the only vessel of the Oak Kingdom that we have here and you will need it to bypass the sea beasts that surround the Mid Realm.

From there, it will take around 2 days to cross the strait. I have arranged a group of Loyalists to bring you directly to the kingdom; this will take at most a day.

After that, you will be with King Oak. I wish you all the best. Oh, and just in case, take this." The man handed Song a large red crystal, nearly the size of Pahara's body.

"In the case that the submarine is damaged and you have to use the fishing boat, throw this into the water once it starts becoming clear.

Sir, you have to remember this. If the submarine sinks and you take the boat, the beasts will not let anything pass unless they have some form of identification and whatever you do, don't let this get in the hands of anyone, not even the others who will be joining you."

Song nodded and looked at Older Sister Xing who nodded back then looked down. Hopefully, they would be reunited once the coast was clear.