He who Bends Time-Chapter 50 - arena crystal

"A wormhole," said Auran after recognizing the structure.

"This is my first time seeing one, but I’ve heard they’re used for traveling," said Henry from beside him.

"Are you serious? This is really the first time you two are seeing a wormhole?" Octo asked in surprise after hearing them.

Auran and Henry both looked at Octo as if the answer was obvious. Afterward, the two of them slowly took a step forward, coming closer to the eye on the pole—curious like two wild beasts discovering something new to play with.

"Take me to the renowned street—no wait, take me directly to Stray Nick’s whereabouts," said Marian to the open eye.

After a moment, a mouth suddenly appeared below the eye.

"That’ll be 250 arena crystals," said the mouth.

"I’ll do the payment after the transportation is done," said Marian.

"Unacceptable. With recent events, the option you’re referring to has been canceled. Only after full payment upfront can transportation be granted," the wormhole mouth replied.

"What?! But I’m Marian—the Bloody Queen in the arena! Can’t you make an exception for me? It’s not like I’m going to run away!" Marian exclaimed.

"It’s not the first time I’ve heard that response, and I won’t be fooled by it again," said the wormhole’s mouth flatly.

"What?! Are you saying I’m lying, you one-eyed bastard? Take a good look at me! Can’t you recognize me by my face?!" Marian shouted in irritation, beginning to lash out in front of the wormhole, which quickly attracted the attention of nearby passersby.

At that moment, Octo simply stepped away, and after looking around, he approached one of the gloomy, short figures who was carrying some items.

"Ah!"

The gloomy guy suddenly got surprised as he felt the floor beneath him vanish, and he suddenly felt like he was floating.

Looking back anxiously, he saw an inhuman guy with creepy-looking tentacles wrapping around his body, staring at him with a cruel smile.

Seeing this figure, the gloomy guy remembered the bullies that used to harass him back at the villain when he’s a kid.

"Wh... What do you want?" he said automatically.

"How much you got?" asked the tentacle man.

’I knew it... It’s just like those days again. All they want is money, and if I don’t give it, they’ll beat me up,’ the gloomy guy concluded in his mind.

His hand quickly reached for his pocket, and he took out all the money he had with him and handed it to the inhuman man.

Just as he hoped, the man dropped him back down and walked away with a smile, muttering,

"I knew I chose the right guy."

Phew!

With a sigh of relief, the gloomy guy quickly gathered up his goods and walked away.

In truth, he hadn’t given away all his money—he still had a few crystals stashed in his backpack for himself.

"Wow, that’s one way to earn free money. Let me try that!"

After seeing what Octo did, Nimuk was truly impressed and walked toward the sidewalk with confidence.

"What, you’re still not believing me?!"

Marian’s rage was still ongoing in front of the wormhole. At that moment, a pouche landed in her hand.

Looking back, she saw it was Octo. After taking the pouche and looking inside, she saw that it was actually arena crystals—the common currency used in the city.

"Here, take it—just as asked, 250 in arena crystals," Marian carefully handed over the exact amount the wormhole requested.

After swallowing the crystals, the wormhole took a second to process the payment.

"Correct amount confirmed. Now, please wait until the pathway is created," it said, and afterward, it fell silent. Marian waited patiently in front of it.

"The wormhole is actually one massive entity—or more specifically, one massive worm with a specialized digestive system," she explained to the two curious guys who looked ready to dive into the wormhole if possible.

"It can choose whether to absorb or transport whatever it eats through its mouth. Because of this ability—and since it’s fast and can stretch up to unimaginable distances—it’s considered a very reliable means of transport.

The only problem is the delay time until it places its mouth at the other end of the destination, so it can spit us out. But compared to other transportation methods, this is the most efficient one. Although... it seems the price has gone up a bit," she added with a small sigh.

In the street, Nimuk looked right and left until he saw a familiar type of guy he was looking for—a short man with a gloomy-looking face carrying a few items in his hands. Upon seeing him, Nimuk quickly made his way toward the man and placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Looks like you’re carrying something valuable," Nimuk said like a thug. He also curved his mouth into the creepiest smile he could manage, trying to imitate Octo’s grin.

"You don’t want those goods to be damaged, right?" he added, picking up one of the boxes the short man was holding. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t lift it—it was too heavy.

"Uh-oh..." Nimuk realized something was wrong. At that moment, the short man placed the rest of the boxes on the ground, and Nimuk saw that he wasn’t just a short human, but actually an inhuman creature whose body was merely small in comparison to humans.

"So you’re gonna damage my goods, huh?" the inhuman growled, clenching his fists.

"It’s finished!" the wormhole’s mouth suddenly called out, and a small hole with sharp fangs around it appeared on the floor in front of the sign.

"Let’s go, everyone," said Marian, looking back at the others. That was when she saw Nimuk just coming back to the group from the sidewalk.

"Whoa, what happened to your eye?" she asked, noticing that one of Nimuk’s eyes was blackened.

"Huh? Oh, this... I, uh... slipped. Yeah, just slipped on the sidewalk," Nimuk muttered, holding his injured eye in pain.

"That looks painful," Henry said. Afterward, at Henry’s request, Auran cast a basic healing spell on him, but it wasn’t very effective—only numbing the area slightly.

"Hurry up, the portal isn’t going to stay open forever!" urged the wormhole again.

Afterward, the group jumped into the wormhole one by one, and after the last person had entered, the wormhole closed its mouth and vanished from the street.

This chapter is updated by freew(e)bnovel.(c)om