The Great Worm Lich

Working in an office that could hear the rustling sound of the wave and see the rippling blue waters of the sea if one walked to the window when one was tired was a very relaxing and pleasant thing. Mainly if the room was spacious enough and had a clean and straightforward decent décor, comfortable solid wood furniture, and plenty of sunlight.

“Captain Alansol, I’m always full of envy every time I walk into your office. Even the President does not have such a comfortable office environment.”

Besides the bright floor-to-ceiling windows, under the delicate fringed silk curtains, a medium-sized, slightly chubby, black old man who appeared to be amiable if not for the three silver stars on his shoulder that elicited reverence from other people, sat on a soft leather sofa. He then said jokingly, “Of course. Apart from the office, there are two more enviable things about you. After all, you can maintain perfect body shape and the same youthful look as a young man. Yesterday, I even dreamt of becoming a guy like you harvesting wheat in the fields of Minnesota. Oh, come to think of it, the wheat field in Minnesota is something that happened to me more than 30 years ago.”

Sitting opposite the black old man was a young Atlantean man with a youthful look who had a pearl of worldly wisdom that one would only have if one had lived for long. Casually, he replied with American humor, “More than 30 years ago? You must be joking, General Joss. You look like you are in your twenties at most.”

When Alansol was speaking, the door to the office was knocked a few times before it was pushed open. Alison strode in before standing upright to salute, “General Joss, Captain Alansol!”

Zhang Lisheng, who was following her, looked around and smiled with a nod, “Ladies and gentlemen, good morning.”

They then saw somebody from the military intelligence bureau and a billionaire cum biologist who had a mysterious past and a significant role in the Shrimp World No. 2 exploration mission. Both of them were entering the office together; thus, many people put on a scrutinizing look. However, Joss and Alansol, the two highest-ranking people from Atlantis and Earth acted as usual

“Lieutenant Alison, I’m the commander of the New York military base and an amiable commander. I’m not like your direct commanding officer and those ‘Iron Face’ generals from the United States Defense Intelligence Agency. They don’t even know how to smile, so just make yourself at home.” The Earthling general stood up and greeted Alison in gently before walking eagerly to Zhang Lisheng to shake his hands with a firm grip. “You must be Dr. Zhang. As a soldier who guards the country as a vocation, I thank you for everything you’ve done for the country, Doctor. I’m honored to meet you.”

“Thank you for your compliment, General Joss. Just this praise alone is worthy for me to serve the country again. I’m also very honored to meet you.” Zhang Lisheng replied Joss humorously. Without warning, he looked at Someril, who was by the side and put on an apologetic expression. “However, Sir General, even though I’d like to have a few more chats with you, I must first apologize to Sergeant Major Someril. I’m very sorry, madam. I’ve lost the ‘recorder’ that you lent me.”

“What? That is the ancient heirloom of Dame Someril! Do you know what a ‘handed-down antique’ means to the Atlanteans…” Upon hearing this, Someril’s lovely face was stunned, as a pained expression crept upon her face. Beside her, Guteali, who had been forced to offer his ‘light stone’ to the young man as an apology, could not help but howl in wrath.

However, before he could finish his words, Someril immediately interrupted him as she snapped back to reality. “Guteali, Mr. Lisheng did not mean to lose my family’s ‘recorder.’ Stop saying anything else, I choose to forgive him.”

“Thank you for your understanding, beautiful madam. Still, it’s tough for me to forgive my carelessness.” Zhang Lisheng guiltily pulled out a beautifully carved wooden box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a beautiful round diamond. “I know that there are natural diamonds in the universe that can form a planet, so to a civilization that can sail freely in the galaxy, this small stone is not as precious. However, the craftsmanship of a top diamond cutting master on Earth is one-of-a-kind. Since you like light and stone, I’m sure you’ll like it too.”

While the young man was speaking, he held the wooden box to Someril with both hands. “According to the Atlantis custom, I’m offering you a gift to express my apologies. Please accept it, Madam Someril.”

The beautiful stone in Zhang Lisheng’s hands attracted everyone’s attention. Still, the Earthlings gasped in shock because of the big-spending of the LS Group’s owner. The Atlanteans, on the other hand, were surprised over another reason.

“Mr. Lisheng, I want to tell you, the planet formed by the so-called natural diamond only exists in theory. In Atlantis, such a natural diamond is also previous. However, it’s not that your gift is not sincere that I’m not willing to accept it.” Someril opened her mouth and said with hesitation with a bizarre expression. “But, but… Diamonds represent an eternal promise to stay together with each other in our civilization, so I have no choice but to refuse.”

“An eternal promise to stay together with each other…” Zhang Lisheng opened his mouth and suddenly understood the meaning implied by the Atlantean woman. Awkward, he shrugged, “Oh, it also has the same meaning on Earth, but only when it’s embedded in a ring. Ah, erm, I should be the one saying sorry instead…”

He hastily put the diamond away and ransacking his body for a while before finally letting out a long sigh. With a wry smile, he opened his hands full, “I don’t have any other gift that can show sincerity on me, so I can only make it up to you next time, Madam Someril.”

“You don’t have to, Mr. Lisheng, I said I forgive you.” Someril once again said magnanimously.

Zhang Lisheng smiled and said nothing more. Although his gift of apology was not given now that such an episode took place, his sincerity was still expressed. This reversed the impression he had on most Atlanteans in the room.

“Dr. Zhang, a ‘handed-down antique’ indeed holds a great significance to an Atlantean family. Still, since Sergeant Someril has chosen to forgive you, it must mean that she wholehearted understood. You don’t have to feel so guilty. To us, Atlanteans, the most precious ‘foreign item’ is still not as valuable as a sincere friendship, particularly a friendship that spans across the vast galaxy.” Alansol, who had stayed silent since the young man entered the office, smiled amiably and said, “Oh yeah, I’ve forgotten to introduce myself. I’m Alansol, a stellar-level captain in the Atlantis fleet. I’m also the leader for Atlantis in the exploration mission of the World 30009.”

Zhang Lisheng has recently studied some Atlantean military general knowledge. Thus, he knew that to the Atlanteans, who categorized the three interplanetary armed forces of a navy, army, and air force into interstellar armed forces, the supreme commanding officer of the fleet was roughly equivalent to the general on Earth.

As for the stellar-level captain ranked second in the four ranks of captain—moon, planet, stellar, nebula—it was roughly equivalent to a three-star general in the US, with a considerably well-matched position.

The young man’s expression turned solemn as he said with respect, “I’m honored to meet you, Sir Alansol.”

Alansol saw that the yellow-skinned young man in front of him was not as eccentric and unreasonable as rumored but was polite and respectful instead. With his, his smile grew even gentler. He then proceeded to go right into the topic. “I’m equally honored to meet you, Doctor. Please allow me to introduce you to your Atlantean partners, who will go with you to World 30009 to carry out the exploration mission. The leader is Madam Someril who has already established a friendship with you. After breaking away from the guarding of machinery, the powerful light and heat that she masters will be the key to accomplishing the task.”

“I can imagine that, Sir Alansol.” Zhang Lisheng nodded and said in a positive tone, “The World 30009 that you mentioned, which we called the Shrimp World No. 2, is a place filled with unknown danger. The importance of a guardian who masters supernatural power is self-evident.”

“No, Doctor, there won’t be one guardian, but four instead.” Alansol pointed at Guteali and two other Atlanteans who looked exactly identical. One would not have been able to identify them if it was not for the fact that they were of different genders, a man and a woman. “Guteali, even though he’s only a magma sergeant, he can exert a planet-level light and heat if he goes all out. The siblings, Kazanoerki and Kazanona, are planet sergeants. When they activate their power of light stone, they can easily gasify a rock.

“Just listening to your introduction alone has already increased my confidence in completing this mission,” Zhang Lisheng gasped in admiration. “I believe now that you’ve finished introducing your guard force. It’s time for you to introduce the Atlantean scientists who will become my colleagues, right, Sir Alansol?”

“Looks like you’re a master in guessing, Doctor.” Alansol complimented the young man in reply to his praise. He then pointed at the remaining four Atlanteans, two men and two women. “Lutweiss and Makadia, are experts in language and writing. They are familiar with the general rules of change between languages ​​and texts. Using a simple portable collection analyzer, they can quickly crack a strange language and allow it to be translated by the translating device. Sweltman is an anthropologist and a philosopher who can look through the fog behind history through books to pursue valuable truths. Alice, on the other hand, is like you, she’s a biologist.”

“Four guardian warriors, two experts in deciphering languages, a biologist, and a philosopher. What a perfect combo, Sir Alansol!” In the rare sunshine of the winter, Zhang Lisheng smiled and turned his head to Joss. “Sir General, how about Earth then? Other than a large number of intelligence officials, who else will go to the foreign world?”