The base’s day has begun in a big commotion. Ben’s remodeling his body hits everyone with a shock.

While counterfeiting identity isn’t something surprising, but doing it in a way that will pass every inspection holds quite the novelty.

Such a technique holds the high ground because this world bureaucracy is too granular, and the institutions have no universal identity preservation system, like back on Earth.

People coming and going with very little identification is an ordinary event. The top echelon holds the importance of spiritual energy scanning much higher than the information in some random paper.

The security system is based on the very fact that everyone who can threaten their position is like lighthouses in the darkness, and their cultivation is the best identity card they can investigate. So the fact that Ben’s transformation doesn’t involve any camouflage or illusion went against everyone’s expectations.

People like Ginn can still read the fact his soul holds strange particularities, but this can’t match when they can read and store someone’s cultivation pattern, as the later is that much easier.

Ginn feels shivers going down his spine when considering the situation.

< ‘How can someone mutate their own body while alive… He achieved genetic manipulation to such extent that I can’t even sense any uniqueness in his body, and my sensory skills are way above average. At least I can still feel the presence of his big old soul, but if he ever finds a way to hide that, then even I’ll be completely bamboozled. By that point, I will only be able to identify him by dissecting his deepest secres, which is not a realistic option.’ >

< ‘Ah, I see why this feels so wrong, his cultivation has no presence, so this is way more shocking than it should be. Still, this has its limitations, not like he can counterfeit someone’s else cultivation and be a spy. People can still judge him based on his objectives, if he tries to infiltrate.’ >

< ‘A mortal or low-level spy can only impact so much. However, this is quite effective for his situation. People wouldn’t find him if they weren’t looking for, and even if someone finds him, tracing back his other identities will be particularly impossible if he experienced no big events on them. Using his uniqueness to such extent…’ >

[sign] “You age shows… Oh, wise senior. You made me question ‘who’ you are, Dyn? Leo? You surely are something else.” Gin then throws the little gold statue towards the new Leo Moon.

“A name can only hold importance when some sentiment is attached. Anyway, I could easily read your thoughts, but you should get better at hiding such things. Those measures should still hold even in extreme cases like a considerable shock.” Gin preach the young guy about his temporary lack of composure.

After catching the artifact thrown his way, Ben takes a piece of paper from his pockets and hands it over to Ginn.

‘This is only shocking because their expectations are too rigid. How magical is this world? But everything is painted in a way, that when immersed, makes it hard to question things. Unfortunately, my state is the only reliable proof I have, and I ain’t explaining that to them.’

“Ginn…” Matt speaks with an inquiring expression.

Ginn then answers: “I will explain it to you later.”

“Will we be leaving now?” Ben asks, ignoring the fact they were planing on gossiping about him.

“Soon.” Ginn nods, but then he keeps going.

“But before that, while this specific item was quite straight forward and the list and money will be too, I ain’t so sure about the vague auction item. So, to make things easier, I will be reserving a spot for you in our partnered auction house. And anything you buy as my guest will be paid by me. Is that alright with you?”

“Sure, I have no issue.” Ben agrees.

Ginn then looks at Grim, and she nods, acknowledging the task given to her.

“Alright, since everything is ready, let’s move on!” Ginn yells the order, and everyone begins to move around, preparing to leave.

—

Finally, when 6 am was approaching, Ben found himself before a carriage.

‘That is the only issue with having so many people, everything takes so much coordination.’

Looking at the scale of everything, Ben couldn’t but call this set a caravan. So many carriages, some as big as buses and others as small as cars. The one before him is on the tinier side, such they asked if he wanted to travel alone, and he said yes.

‘Most people don’t even know where this caravan is going. Does he fear the existence of a spy? If so, he is doing the right thing, as one can never be too cautious, even if this makes me uncomfortable. Because who knows when his wife would be a target again.’

“[…] if you have any issue, you can use that to call us. While food is inside, we will still be making a few stops, and the itinerary will be communicated directly to you while inside the carriage via the device I mentioned before. I think this is all, do you have any question?” a black-haired man, looking to be in his thirties with earth like western model appearance, explains to Ben how the traveling will proceed.

“No question. Thank you for your time.” Ben slightly nods towards the man with a small smile.

Having been finally introduced to his temporary home, Ben doesn’t hold back and already goes in.

Ginn should be somewhere, retrieving the protective array from this base since they will not be coming back here later.

After a few more minutes, Ben finally hears from the communication device that they are departing.

—

Ben spent most of his time in the first leg of the trip studying the golden statue he received.

He studied its origin, and if the directions given to him about how to use it were correct.

He was very cautious about the ripples that he may cause, but after much work, he was finally able to implant a small rune into the artifact. Thus, by the time they finally arrived in their first pit-stop, Ben was finally ready to use the statue when needed.

Now, the issue if he will be able to pull it off or not will depend on his wits at the moment of danger.

—

In a big dining hall, Ben and Ginn are facing each other again.

They are using a table alone, as the only thing accompanying them is food.

However, many tables are occupied in their surroundings, as Ginn’s people are also eating to their heart content, at least while they aren’t looking with a frown towards the new identity Leo Moon.

From time to time, some of them would even look in sync towards Ben. They all wearing similar expressions, a frown, shaken eyes, and a slight bite in their lips.

< “They could make this is a comedic act with little effort. Your people aren’t trying hard enough!” >

< “Please, don’t mind them. I think explaining made it worse.” >

< “Certain things can’t be easily understood. The concept of genetic engineering is as abstract to people here, as quantum physics was for people back on Earth.” >

< “Your timing was too much too, couldn’t you have waited a bit?” >

< “Nope.” > Disagreeing, Ben shakes his head. < “The one you want to make a deal with wasn’t Dyn anyway. Better do it sooner than too late. I would prefer you to mention I am someone different, that way the eyes on you will be even more confused than those around us right now. You haven’t met Dyn, forget about him. For all purposes, I am simply an unknown existence that answered your call for help, and we made a deal.” >

< “Was the whole reason you went to catch the package that you wanted me to know why you wanted to hide?” >

< “Yes, I would rather not handle crazy people digging too much. That identity holds nothing special, so why must we see blood spilled due to their crazy stunts? Let’s move on. I can play my role well enough for people not to link me to the event a few months ago, and you only need to control yourself and your people.” >

[sign] < “Alright, not like many people knew of your existence anyway. I will even make people keep their watch back on Aurora Town, and then make them set some deception. I will tell them to report Dyn wasn’t the one we were looking for, and then let’s leave your disappearance later speak for itself. Once Eloise is cured, I will then tell them to retreat since keeping the watch for a dead man wouldn’t be needed anymore. Good enough for you?” >

< “Sure. Thank you. That would help a lot.” > ‘I’ll be leaving the details to you, not like I would be able to do much better, as I only know how to run and hide.’

< “No worries, I understand your intention after I have cleared my mind the last few days. Since I am responsible for potentially putting you in the limelight, I will do the corresponding follow up. I am grateful that you accepted the job of treating my wife, despite its potential risks. Ah, please do tell me if you have any issue, was the spatial key what you wanted? Do you need me to prepare anything in advance?” >

< “I will never understand why people call it key. But yeah, I was thinking about those little things, since they are quite common for high-level powerhouses. I wonder who begun it all, as the one-time use runaway once the shit hits the fan is such a nice present they left us. We should thank them since the copycat chain hasn’t stopped until now. Did you have it for safety, or were you planning on trying the so-called lottery?” >

Teleportation is a skill too complicated to dwell on deeply. Most specialists in that area are within remarkably large organizations, be it Empires, Sects, or Clans, since it is a costly trait to train even when compared to other cultivation fields

Besides, most of the worth of such skill only emerges, in the cases, when dealing with it brings an unimaginable amount of wealth, or when it makes conquering some land easier.

Unfortunately, exploiting such a phenomenon never reached a point where common folk would be using it, even after millions of years of history.

Spatial keys are the only thing available for a random individual to use, because of its portability, but those aren’t exactly cheap either. If someone wants one of them, those are artifacts often left behind in ruins.

They are in all shapes and forms and have a one-time use. A key generally connects to an origin-structure that is protected by many restrictions. Getting too close to it will trigger both the key and the structure destruction. Using the key to trace the origin back will trigger the same. Using it once will also subsequently make the artifact powerless.

Their core use was for people in power as one of their last resorts. The strict restrictions are a reflex of its objective: be activated once when in danger and their home wouldn’t be safe either.

Those restrictions are what makes such treasure have an actual price. Otherwise, it would also be out of most people’s reach. Because, while people can still use the key, they don’t know where they will be going and if their safety is guaranteed.

Most keys are kept as a last resort, even if they changed hands over the river of time. However, rumored tales about some key leading somewhere with riches or legacies also exist. Because of that, some people are courageous enough to use it as a lottery ticket, even if their price is astronomic.

< “I got it because I am interested in the field. I wouldn’t use it while leaving the people I care behind, neither I would send them to who knows where. Aren’t those who keep such a thing of unknown origin also playing the lottery when hopeless enough to give it a try?” >

< “Yes, looking at it from this point of view, then the only difference is their state of mind when tearing the ticket. This one seems to have Myriac Ruins patterns, is this from there?” >

< “Nope, but also I found it similar to their pattern. However, I bought it privately, and its origin is the Tritecnic Clan. Also, I heard that their upper echelon was using those, and quite a few of them were found not long after the clan destruction. The only guess I can make is that Tritecnic was linked somehow to the fallen Myriac Empire.” >

The Myriacs Ruins are located in the cold areas on the peaks of the Myriac Mountains range, really far to the north. Their story ended around one hundred thousand years ago, but they are quite famous because of their unique location and style. While the Tritecnic Clan is much newer, having fallen only around two hundred years ago, and they were the last fallen powerhouse of this region.

< “Interesting, that explains why you gave me one so fast. I thought it would take you a while to retrieve one from somewhere.” >

< “If you ever find a key, I can pay you for the opportunity to study it. My interest is quite high, so the deal can even include me giving it back to you after a few weeks or months.” >

< “Sure, I will keep that in mind. About this trip tho, can you tell me how long it will take?” >

< “Sorry for being so cautious. It should take slightly less than two weeks if we keep our pace.” >

Ben nods, accepting how it is.

They then kept their little talk while eating, approaching the field Ginn is so interested in, then, talking about Ben’s expertise on ruins exploration and history. Unfortunately, their lack of trust for each other hold them back, so they only approached the subjects superficially.

Recharging was still successful, as everyone rested and ate.

Their time spent on this place not only helped them keep their sanity but also helped them adjust their mentality for the trip to come.

Ginn spent most of his time making sure the follow-ups about the Dyn and Leo issue developed accordingly.

He also began to deploy some preparations Ben had listed to him at the end of their last meal. His mood increasingly better, knowing that such little jobs involve the cure of his wife.

Such jobs range from gathering resources to selecting capable people.

—

The caravan is back moving, leaving the cozy comfort of a big building after half a day of resting and preparing. The following section of this trip will take almost five days of constant traveling.

For that while, everyone can only hold their boredom inside those claustrophobic carriages.

To keep their sanity, some read books, some slept more than they should, while others played games, many kept their mouth running, and some even tried to cultivate.

Unfortunately, the last one was more rage-inducing than calming, since meditating in such condition is too rash.

Their speed was too high, and the interference aura emitted from those carriages, that can be considered artifacts themselves, is too annoying to the point that going deeply into meditation is dangerous.

Even Ben himself was suffering through such limitation, as he worked on stabilizing his body condition, that has fired up a few days after the transformation. An issue that wouldn’t even need a day has taken him a couple of days to solve it.

‘Even with numbing my sense of pain, this feels terrible. I wasn’t expecting a high-level carriage to accentuate the side effects so much.’

Ben slowly opened his eyes. They should be only a few hours away from the next stop. However, he doesn’t dare to sleep. Even with his exhausted expression, he holds his attention at a high level.

His new gained complexion constructed a few days ago, that while still old wasn’t that of a dying man, has become unsightly again, but he holds on.

He then looks towards his bag and thinks about the package he retrieved.

‘Better to not work on it while in this carriage.’