It took us three more days of travel to return. Two to pass the canyon, and one of venturing through the goblin territory.

We killed few more orcs on the way back, but I decided to let others take the crystals since I still felt bad about leaving them.

On the third day, after night fell upon us, we reached the city. The view of the still mostly blocked gate brought a smile to my face. It was really like our little monument. I started to wonder if eventually, we will have somewhere in the city a statue of it. Memorial to the beginnings of our story in this strange new world.

After some more time, we reached finally the city center, and I saw few messengers taking off, to spread the news.

Space had the usual population density of those who couldn't or didn't want to spend their evening in Velvet Lotus but still wanted to hand aground with different people. We immediately grabbed their attention with our carts filled with crystals, to the points they started to point at us.

- It's nice to have fans - said Will with a grin.

- Since when the word 'fans' is used towards people who would rob you of everything if they only could? - asked Boris.

- Details...

He laughed at him, after that.

We made our way closer and sold the score one by one. I left myself two crystals. I stopped doing that since I wasn't really trading with anybody or anything, but it seemed like a good idea to have one or two, just in case. Then Hatta approached us.

- Good to see you guys. I heard you had a good harvest.

- Pretty nice one! - replied Martin. - Never had this many before. I'm gonna get so big, that I won't be able to fit inside dors!

Boris couldn't take his words and just started laughing. I'm not gonna lie, It also caught me off guard and I snorted before stopping myself from bursting into lough.

- You are a funny guy Martin - stated Hatta. - Really funny guy. The rest of you, boring bastards, how about you come with me to my office, and I'll bring you up to speed?

- Did something happened? - asked Nobuo.

- In my office, we can talk without all those ears around us, so how about we do that, instead of... Not doing it?

- I'm gonna call it a night - said Hailwic. - You do whatever you want.

- How about we grab few drinks in Velvet Lotus? - proposed Martin, looking at her.

She had a hard time not smiling, she nodded and turned around to hide the blush.

We did our best to not show any emotion, and support our big boy. Will just nodded slowly looking at Martin with a stone-cold face. I patted him on the shoulder as he was passing next to me, pulling his cart behind.

- Are we done? - asked Hatta.

He seemed to be the only one unmoved by what just happened.

- Yeah. Let's go - I said, and just started walking.

Others followed. We left our carts in front of the building and went inside. Amit was already waiting, resting on the couch with a glass of water in front of him. He greeted us briefly, as we were sitting around the table.

- I have some information. Potentially dangerous. It's hard to tell yet. First of all, Blue can turn into a werewolf. It's been confirmed by few independent resources, Aisha included.

- We knew that already - said Will.

- Rumors and confirmed informations are two different things - said Amit.

- Let's not argue about semantics. It's confirmed now - commented Hatta. - The problem lies a bit deeper though because we have been informed that some of Blue's people, on occasion, have yellow eyes with vertical pupils. I took my time to confirm it, and it's also true. When they get angry, their eyes change.

- What does that mean? - asked Boris.

- We don't know yet. Maybe they all can turn into monsters, although we have no information on Blue's eyes changing. Maybe they do when he turns, but it hasn't been confirmed yet.

- How many? - I asked.

- At least a dozen.

- They all cant have the werewolf class. It's impossible.

- I agree - said Will. - They couldn't be able to accumulate enough points, even during two months.

- Then what is going on? - asked Amit.

- Maybe it's a skill Blue has? - said Midnight. - Wasnt it like if you are bitten by a werewolf, you also turn into one, or something?

- If he is creating an army of werewolves we might have a problem - Will pointed out. - Especially if they are all at least in range of the strength the boss has.

- We should check that. I have an idea - proposed Nil. - I'll go and pick a fight with one of them. Then we will see. It would be nice to have a backup though.

- I'll go with you - said Amit.

- I'll go as well, but not today - Will immediately joined. - We need some rest. Let's do that tomorrow.

- Just keep it low profile. We don't need to stir up a conflict - said Boris.

- It'll be fine. I'll pretend I'm drunk, bump into somebody, and then talk some trash. It should work, and also be easy to cover up later. If something goes wrong, they will help me.

- Ok. Let's go with that - Hatta agreed. - That's all I have for you. Go rest. You deserve it.

- Good work - I stood up and went closer to pat him on the shoulder as the rest was leaving.

He nodded.

- Can you tell me where is Nadia?historical

- She is in the barracks. I've been using her a bit to help me with managing some of our resources. I'm not gonna lie, she is a very hardworking person, and helped a lot, but still... Keep your guard up, Peter. She might be sleeping now, though.

- Thank you. I'll look for her tomorrow. Good night, Hatta.

- Good night, Peter.

With that I also left, heading to my little room provided by Wuxia, to finally get some good sleep in a proper bed. I already decided to spend all of tomorrow with her. Talk, and have a bit of fun, to rebuild what we both destroyed. Even with my doubts of it being real, this love was not something I could easily give up on.

The day came to an end with 3 070 521 points remaining on my account.