Chapter 277: I’m gonna be rich!

Lee didn’t know whether the place he arrived to once had been Hong Kong, Guangzhou or Macao.To get to a seaside took less than two days and on the way he did see ruins resembling something that once could’ve been buildings. The further east he went, the warmer it became and the less snow there was. It was replaced with pools of wet dirt and after stepping in one of those Lee got heavy chemical burns on his leg.

The sea or the ocean, whatever it was, didn’t look much different than a regular puddle of dirt. The thick, corrupted liquid that once was water, was so heavy, the piercing wind had hard time to raise any waves.

The sight might’ve caused a depression if Lee didn’t see a strange phenomenon further to the north, alongside the coastline.

There was a dark gray vortex formed by heavy clouds, slowly rotating at barely visible speed. Like an oversized whirlpool, it was many miles in diameter, but apart from the form there were no other irregularities – no thunder or lightning, nor stronger wind.

’Alright! Sightseeing it is!’ Lee laughed to himself, and ran over to take a look.

This was where he saw the first signs of life. Rats.

Unsurprisingly, these were the creatures that managed to survive. The moment Lee arrived at the border of the vortex, below it, a palm-sized creature’s squeak called over the whole colony. It was too late when Lee noticed he had stepped on one, when a swarm of rats flooded at him either for revenge or simply to have him for dinner. He didn’t even have a chance to retreat – they came in large numbers from all directions.

Fortunately, while there were many of them, they were weak. Lee didn’t even need to use any elemental skills and dealt with the swarm the regular way. Hacking and slashing, he moved towards the center of the vortex, until the remaining rats reluctantly fell back.

This was where Lee found out how the little beasts had survived. There was another life form. Cockroaches.

Lee had no clue what these things ate, but clearly the black thumb-sized insects where the primary food source for the rats. And there weren’t that many – one had to search for them to find one under the rubble.

Indeed, he finally came across something that resembled a long fallen civilization, except it was overrun with cockroaches and rats. Lee probably would’ve started to ponder about existential questions, if not for the silvery pulsating light another mile or so further to the north.

The light shone directly beneath the center of the vortex, and from afar Lee had already guessed what it was. He arrived next to the death spark with mixed feelings, and if his skin hadn’t suddenly start to melt, he might’ve appreciated the rare and unique plum-sized wonder before him.

It hung in the air around four feet above the ground, radiating light as if it was a newly born star. The ground below it was black and hard, but at the same time scorching hot, probably because of radiation or some kind of toxicity.

Without a second thought, Lee placed the spark in a wooden box, and then hid it in his ring, burning the flesh off his left thumb and index finger in the process.

’You evil witch!’ He inwardly screamed in pain, cursing the overlord’s idea that he had to somehow swallow it.

Lee had no clue how exactly it was formed, but from his understanding millions of people have payed their lives for it. And if it was a concentrated energy of deaths of millions ...

’Wait! But there were almost seven billion people in the world when I lived here!’ Lee realized, ’And that means ... I’m gonna be rich!’

He had few more days time, and likely he was in the region that was once the most populated. And he could heal up when he was back in the Droskar Dominion! He did need to solve his spark problem, but that didn’t mean he had to do it in poverty! And death sparks ... had to be expensive!

Over the next few days Lee rushed northeast, and later north, searching for the peculiar vortexes in the sky. He didn’t find any, but then stumbled across two, located almost next to each other. His guess was that he was somewhere near former Shanghai.

After boxing the two sparks, he ran further north, to where Beijing once lie. He knew he should’ve turned back, but the idea of getting another priceless treasure forced him to increase his speed, and in the opposite direction at that.

***

"I’m not opening a rift for you ever again!" Simone Lamart gravely said when Lee stumbled into his throne room.

His clothing was almost gone, and his skin had blackened completely – except for the patches where flesh still clung, which made up most of his body. His left hand was nearly all charred bones, and his lips had melted away, exposing darkened teeth in a grimace.

There was only one part that seemed fine, although dirty – his right hand. But when in it appeared a pencil and a piece of paper, Simone guessed it had to be result of a crafted treasure.

Strangely enough, Lee’s eyes seemed to sparkle. Despite the agony he had to be in, before passing out, he wrote a short sentence: I think I found a way to fix your son!

If not for this message, Simone would’ve began to reconsider his strange friendship with the suicidal young man. His message was confusing, but at the same time brought a ray of hope, and only because of that Simone decided to allow Lee to recover in peace.

It took three months until Lee opened his eyes again. He still couldn’t consciously heal himself, and had to spend most of the time balancing the pressure between elemental particles within. He didn’t even have the chance to advance his comprehension or think about anything, but he did jump to his feet full of energy the moment he was sure he had fully recovered.

Later that evening, at the dinner table, where besides him and Simone Lamart, there was Daniel, Gerard and Donk present, Lee said, "I strongly suggest you never disclose those coordinates to anyone. According to my understanding, there’s a high chance to find a couple more of these things."

Then he took out one of the wooden boxes with a death spark, passed it to Simone, and said, "Don’t open it before we’re done – you saw what it did to me. But the thing inside is incredibly valuable, and can be traded for the time and effort of an expert water elemental lord who can help your son. You surely have to have better connections than I do and can think of something, right?"

"What is it?" Simone asked, and everyone except Donk warily glanced at the wooden box.

"A death spark." Lee said with a grin, "Your share of the loot. You didn’t think I’m going to abuse your kind heart and take all the riches?"

"You’re nuts!" Simone stated.

"Mhm." Lee agreed, "But I almost overdid it. Before I’m capable of pinpointing the exact locations of the rest of the sparks, I’m not going back."

"How many are there left?" Simone asked, hiding the box in his spatial treasure.

"No idea. Maybe ten, maybe none." Lee said with a shrug, "But it’s better we keep it to ourselves. And be careful, people might ask questions where you got the thing. After all, millions have to die for something like that to be born."

"I assume you held one for yourself, right?" Simone said, "You want my help to sell that too?"

"Nah, I’m good." Lee said.

He wasn’t going to tell he had four of the death sparks hidden in his glove. The destruction of a whole world and deaths of billions of people had spawned a number of those – that’s why Lee considered Earth to be his private treasure trove. But since Simone acted like a doorkeeper, the best way was to share with him.

"What I need your help with is to find another world called Verdaria Prime." Lee said, "Don’t worry, I’m done with the suicidal stuff!"

"As if anyone would believe you!" Simone said, shaking his head.

From the day Lee arrived he he had done one reckless thing after another. On the other hand, if an overlord was backing him, maybe it was a calculated risk.