Chapter 367: Chapter 366: Leave this cute little girl behind

Darkness, a vast darkness.

The darkness seemed endless, but suddenly a bundle of pale blue flames erupted, illuminating the immense space.

Bathed in the light of the pale blue flames, Pandora opened her eyes wide, surveying the strange surroundings and asked Richard, “Where are we?”

“Inside the suitcase,” Richard replied.

“The black box we saw just now?” Pandora asked.

“Yes,” Richard confirmed.

With even wider eyes, Pandora exclaimed in surprise, “Then… this box is really big, isn’t it!”

Richard, unsure of how to explain the concept of space items to Pandora, simply patted her on the head without saying a word and pulled her towards the palace.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

Their footsteps echoed. As Richard stepped through the palace gate, he heard the anxious voice of the Golden Mask from within, “Hey, hey, hey, kid, is that you coming back? It is you, I knew it! You would come back! Come over here, come closer, and have a chat with me!”

Pandora hesitated on hearing the Golden Mask’s voice and looked guarded.

Richard, noticing her expression, reassured her, “Don’t worry, it’s just a poor, sealed soul; it poses no threat.”

Pandora relaxed a bit upon hearing this, though she didn’t fully understand.

Seeing her calm down, Richard exhaled slowly, controlling the “Phosphorus Candle” to float in mid-air, lighting up the entire hall as he walked toward the Golden Mask.

“Tap, tap, tap…”

Richard approached the Golden Mask, and without much ado, took out the metallic ball and asked, “What is this? Do you know? You said you were bored and wanted to chat, so let’s talk about this.”

“This…” the Golden Mask spoke, “I honestly don’t know what this is.” Quite abruptly and directly, it stopped the conversation dead.

Richard: “…”

Golden Mask: “…”

After a brief silence, the Golden Mask, somewhat nervous, broke the silence and tried to explain, “You must believe me, I’m not lying, I… I really don’t know what it is or what it’s for.”

“Aren’t you the spirit of this palace, a guardian? You don’t know? This metallic ball was taken from the palace,” Richard said, not hiding his skepticism.

The Golden Mask protested, “I am indeed a guardian, the spirit of the hall, but to be completely honest, that’s just like being a doorkeeper. It’s like soldiers stationed outside a treasure vault; do you think a soldier would know what treasures are inside?”

“Absolutely not!” the Golden Mask answered its own question, “So, I’m not deceiving you, I have no idea what the metallic ball in your hand is.”

Richard: “…”

After another moment of silence, Richard turned and left without a word of courtesy.

The Golden Mask called out plaintively from behind, “Hey, don’t be like that, don’t treat me this way! Although I don’t know what that metallic ball is, we could talk about something else, like the weather. By the way, what’s the weather like outside today? Is there a sun? Is there wind? Hey, hey…”

Richard ignored the Golden Mask and kept walking away.

Approaching the door, Richard paused and turned his head to see Pandora squatting on the ground, rummaging through a row of boxes. Upon opening one and discovering it was full of shiny Gold Coins, Pandora’s eyes lit up, and she instinctively reached for them. But then she thought of something and cautiously drew her hand back.

Her lips pursed, and her brows furrowed, Pandora’s temptation eventually overcame her caution, and she reached out again, grabbing a Gold Coin and bringing it close to examine it. After staring intently for a while, she brought it to her mouth and bit down hard to test its authenticity.

Seeing this, Richard couldn’t help shaking his head and called out to Pandora, “Let’s go.”

“Okay,” Pandora responded, but her feet didn’t move an inch; her eyes sparkled as she kept bringing Gold Coins to her mouth one after another to bite them.

“Clink, clink, clink…”

Real, they’re all real, every single one!

Pandora’s eyes widened, staring at the chest full of Gold Coins, feeling like she’d been hit with a wave of happiness.

Richard, seeing Pandora in this state, figured it out, mostly: Was this the Dragon Clan’s inherent nature, an affection for collecting shiny things, coming to the fore?

If that was the case…

Well then!

Richard spoke up, “Why don’t you stay here for a while? I’ll go out and take care of some things, then come back for you later, how does that sound?”

Before Pandora could respond to Richard’s proposition, the Golden Mask inside the palace shouted loudly, “Good, very good, excellent, no problem at all! Hurry up and leave, just leave this adorable little girl here with me, to have a nice long chat.”

Ignoring the Golden Mask’s noisy babble, Richard looked at Pandora and, seeing her nod, he finally said, “Alright then.”

After speaking, Richard walked towards the exit of the palace, stopped after a few steps, and glanced back at Pandora and then at the Golden Mask, blinking, instinctively wanting to say something as a precaution, but the words died on his lips as he realized he didn’t quite know what to warn her about.

After all, Pandora staying behind shouldn’t pose any problems. The Golden Mask was harmless, and Pandora was well-behaved, so then…

Well, okay.

In the end, Richard left without saying another word.

As soon as Richard stepped out, the Golden Mask eagerly called out to Pandora, “Ahem, little girl, sweet little girl, how old are you? What’s your name? Hey, I’m over here, look at me, yes, here! Come over, get a little closer, talk to me.”

At this moment, the Golden Mask was like a villain luring children with candy; of course, he wasn’t actually evil–he lacked any capacity to do evil, and what he was enticing was certainly not any ordinary little girl–something that the Golden Mask would find out later.

Amid the incessant noise of the Golden Mask, Pandora furrowed her brows, turned her head toward it, Gold Coin in hand, and approached.

The closer she got, the louder the Golden Mask’s voice became, peppering Pandora with questions.

“Little girl, what is your name, really? What do you like? Can you sing? You…”

Pandora did not answer any of the Golden Mask’s questions; she just continued to approach, which made the Golden Mask start to wonder.

“Hmm, little girl, what are you doing?”

Then panic set in.

“Hey! What are you actually trying to do?! Hey, hey!”