Chapter 932: Chapter 805: The Five-Colored Markrada

But this leaf, after all, is a piece of Equipment without a fixed slot, you can hang it wherever you want.

Plus, judging from its description, it’s a rare collectible.

After thinking for a bit, Kane hung it inside his inner lining, letting the Mist Badge rest right over it.

"A gift for saving the world, huh? That’s pretty interesting."

Kreya looked at the leaf in her hand; just from its shape, it really did look like a top-tier work of art.

Even though their efforts today weren’t for the sake of a reward, having something to show for it still put people in a good mood.

Not to mention the description on it was quite enlightening. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"So how are we supposed to mark this world now?" Longbei suddenly patted his own head and asked.

Hearing Longbei’s question, Kane turned his head, giving him a strange look: "Mark what? Just leave it here as is. When the time comes, the Mist will naturally drag it away."

As long as a useful World Fragment is left in place, it’ll be reclaimed naturally after a certain time.

That’s not something Kane and the others needed to worry about.

Kreya looked at this newborn World Fragment. "What a pity. Even if it’s come back to life, in the end it’s still just a fragment with very little life on it. To the Mist, it’s probably just a bit of expanded territory."

It’s just like the World Ring. At the joints where fragments of the World Ring meet, there are many World Fragments like this, used as fusing agents in some connecting sections.

They’re useful, but not that useful.

It might not even qualify to become a Dungeon.

"Young lady, now that’s where you’re wrong."

An aged voice drifted down from midair.

The unfamiliar voice instantly put Kane and the others on alert; in a heartbeat they slipped into battle mode.

They all jumped back a few steps, turning to face the direction the voice came from.

The source of the voice was an old man in simple white training clothes, with snow‑white cropped hair and a somewhat scruffy white beard.

He slowly floated down from midair just like that, stopping in front of the group.

"Five‑color, be careful."

The old man looked at the wary Kane and the others, somewhat puzzled, scratching the back of his head as if he didn’t quite understand why they were so on guard.

"Hey now, what are you young people being so jumpy for?"

Then, as if something occurred to him, he made a fist and smacked it into his other palm. "Oh, I get it. This is your first time outside the Mist, isn’t it? You only just stepped into three‑color?"

But seeing how wary Kane’s group was, he didn’t seem in any hurry to have his question answered.

Fair enough—if it were him, he’d probably be just as cautious.

"No need to be so tense, youngsters. I’m an Explorer too. I just sensed some strange fluctuations from this space a moment ago, so I came over to take a look."

"Right, let me introduce myself. I’m the Lion of Misu Lahe, the Fist that Shatters Mountains, Marklada."

As he spoke, he even showed off a couple of punches and kicks in front of Kane and the others.

Declare your origins first; that way it’s easier to show friendly intent.

Hearing this, Kreya seemed to recall something and slightly lowered her guard.

"Back when we were in Misu Lahe, I did hear about this person. Supposedly the most famous one to ever come out of there, but he disappeared about two hundred years ago."

Hearing Kreya’s words, the old man across from them immediately laughed and nodded. "Hahaha, that’s right, that’s me. Didn’t think you’ve actually been to Misu Lahe. Nice place, isn’t it?"

After Kreya spoke, the others also eased up a little, though they still kept a bit of vigilance.

The main thing was, this old man had appeared behind them without a sound—clearly his power far outstripped theirs.

At that moment just now, a sneak attack would have been the best option if he’d had any hostile intent.

"No need to be that wary. Our strengths might differ, but we’re all Explorers walking beyond the Mist. Unless there’s some deep blood feud between us, why would we be hostile to each other?"

The old man was still smiling as he explained to Kane and the rest, arms folded across his chest, not making any move to step closer.

Even after hearing him out, Kane had no intention of completely relaxing. Instead, he thought for a moment and asked, "What did you mean by what you said just now?"

"You mean the fluctuations? That’s the pulse this World Fragment is sending out. It can travel very far. I sensed it from a long distance away, so I came to take a look—it’s the jubilation of something newly born."

Listening to Marklada, Kane really wanted to cut him off and tell him that what he wanted to ask about was the first thing he said.

But on second thought, he let it go and let the old man keep talking.

"You youngsters who just got in here probably don’t understand what a newborn world like this really means. Truth is, most people who’ve never seen one don’t get it either."

The old man clearly had no intention of hiding anything, explaining patiently.

"A newborn World Fragment means this place can nurture new life, instead of being like other World Fragments that just carry over the lucky survivors of some already‑existing world."

Having explained that much, Marklada didn’t go into further detail.

But it was enough for Kane to roughly grasp some possibilities.

This kind of newborn World Fragment is essentially a brand‑new world.

It can give rise to new life, which might make it a very important resource in the eyes of the Mist.

In other words, Kane and the others had picked up a treasure.

This was not going to be an ordinary World Fragment.

After he finished, Marklada sighed with some emotion. "You really are a lucky bunch of youngsters. First trip beyond the Mist and you’ve already scored something incredible."

As he spoke, Marklada suddenly found himself a bit curious about Kane and his companions.

"Out there, the World Ring should’ve only just opened, right? How come you chose to advance to three‑color at a time like this? Isn’t that a huge loss?"

"The World Sea has been open for almost four years now," Kane corrected him.

Marklada blinked in confusion. "Is there a difference?"

Hearing this, Kane opened his mouth, but for the moment he had no idea how to explain.

As expected, for people like them, their sense of time was no longer the same as his.

After all, once you reached Three-Color rank you were no different from a god, and natural death would no longer come.

"But you’re four people—did you just quietly bump into each other outside the Mist? That’d be some coincidence. Or did you arrange to come in through the Wall of Mist together?"

Kane and the others relaxed a little and sat down as well. Markrada also sat not far from them, and they chatted idly.

There was nothing to hide about this, so Kane said directly, "We all came in through the Wall of Mist together."

"You agreed to all break through inside the World Ring together? You really are a fated bunch of youngsters—your strength is about the same, and you even know each other."

Markrada sounded a bit moved.

At his words, Longbei waved his hand to cut him off. "No, no, no, I think you’ve misunderstood. We’ve been teammates all the way up from the same rank."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Hearing Longbei’s words, Markrada burst out laughing, even slapping the turf as he laughed, as if he’d just heard some great joke.

"Ha, you Dwarves just love to brag, and you’ve got such a good sense of humor too, haha..."

He clearly didn’t believe Longbei and thought Longbei was just telling him some joke.

"This isn’t a joke. We really are teammates who climbed all the way up from Copper rank."

Kane tilted his head, looking at the laughing Markrada who was patting the lawn, and said mildly.

Of course he knew this was something worth being shocked about—it was also something they had always been proud of.

No one had truly fallen behind along the way.

"Really?!"

Hearing Kane’s words, he jumped straight up.

He started circling around Kane and the others, as if scrutinizing them.

He kept muttering, "For real? You’re not messing with an old man like me, are you? I’ve lived this long and never heard something this outrageous."

"But you really are five people, and your lineup actually does look like a proper team."

As he spoke, he noticed the lantern emblem printed on the patches of exposed skin on them.

"You even have the same mark—don’t tell me you really are one team? Like you said, you came all the way up from Copper rank?"

"What’s so shocking about that?" Longbei’s voice was full of puzzlement.

"Huh? You’re asking me what’s so shocking about it?"

This Dwarf really had him going.

Markrada cupped his hands into circles and placed them over his eye sockets, then gave them a little twist.

Then he just froze on the spot.

"They really are one team! They really did rise all the way from Copper! And it’s been less than ten years!!!"

For a moment he felt like his vision was playing tricks on him, so he rubbed his eyes and repeated the trick.

Kane could sense that the man in front of him seemed to be using some kind of detection Skills, yet it also felt like he wasn’t detecting them directly.

Some strange rule-based perception?

"Good lord, I’ve only been away from the Mist World for just over two hundred years, and things have already gotten this absurd?"

As he spoke, he hurriedly sat down beside Kane and the others.

"Why’s this guy jumping at every little thing?" Lilulu, sitting on Kreya’s shoulder, asked in displeasure.

Kreya more or less understood why he was so astonished, and she smiled as she patted Lilulu’s head.

Kane and the others chatted with him for a while, satisfying some of his curiosity.

This old man actually seemed pretty interesting.

They also took the chance to ask Markrada about some fun things in the Mist World, as well as more details they didn’t know.

Five-Color rank, having spent two hundred years outside the Mist—he was bound to know a lot and have plenty of experience.

Markrada looked at Kane and the others. "You really are an incredible bunch of youngsters. You’re definitely going to achieve great things in the future."

He paused after saying that. "No, that’s wrong. You’ve already achieved something great."

After his sigh, he reached into the air and produced a card, handing it to Kane.

"Take this card. Pour in Magic Power and you can instantly open a Teleportation Gate to the nearest marked point—it’ll get you there very quickly.

Next time you can just gather there and go in together."

From his chat with Kane and the others just now, he’d also learned about some of their recent bad luck, so he’d decided to give them a hand.

This group of youngsters in front of him were absolutely worth befriending.

Then he took out a Crystal Stone and handed it to Kane. "This is the coordinate of my territory outside the Mist. If you happen to pass by in the future, you can come in and sit for a bit—and you can restore Synesthesia there too. I’ll give you a proper welcome when the time comes."

With that, Markrada waved his hand.

His whole body shot straight up into the sky and vanished.

Kane looked at the card in his hand and waved toward where Markrada had already disappeared.

"We’ve picked up a few more interesting bits of knowledge."

"So that’s what ’Mist Lord’ really means, huh." Kreya said with some emotion.

Mistwalkers at Three-Color and above could move outside the Mist, but the amount of time they could spend there was limited by the strength of their Synesthesia.

Mist Lords at Five-Color and above could remain outside the Mist permanently, and could even build their own territories beyond the Mist.