Chapter 220 (2/2)

She had a special linguistic skill where she learned foreign languages by utilizing magic to read the superficial thoughts of intelligent creatures around her. The more crowded the place, the faster she learned. But, this magic was not as powerful as the translation system Hao Ren was using. She would be tongue-tied when she pronounced rare and special foreign words.

“COS is a subculture on Earth. We’re at the right place at the right time but, you don’t have to understand it,” said Hao Ren happily. His unusual tenants could now roam around freely—undisguised thanks to the cosplay festival that was going on. Vivian and Lily could let out their wings and tail respectively for some fresh air while Nangong Wuyue could find water facilities such as indoor swimming pools like fish to water. The only one who found it hard to blend in was Y’zaks. He was a six-meter lava monster. It was something you could not make up with props or special effects. Anyway, Y’zaks was already a real-life cosplayer in his human form. His face was too postmodern. So much so that you could not just explain it away with hereditary and genetic development reasons except with make-up.

His thought spun for a moment before he dragged Hilda towards a nearby mall. He kept reminding her as they walked, “If someone asks, just say you’re into cosplay… but, it’d be better if no one asks.”

Hilda nodded cluelessly. After all, she was just tagging along. The queen suddenly let out a silent scream when they walked past a fountain.

Hao Ren was shocked. “What’s wrong?”

“The water…the energy that’s making the water spray out…” Hilda pointed at the fountain in disbelief. “What is it for?”

“For…for show.” A little stunned by her strange question, Hao Ren said, “It’s a fountain. Don’t you have fountains in your place?”

“I know this thing.” Hilda frowned as she found it hard to swallow what she had seen. “But, only in the eco-dome, much smaller but just as powerful, used to sustain the ecosystem in the botanical garden. You guys put the fountain in the open just for show?”

Hao Ren could only respond by nodding. Soon, Hilda discovered something more which she found hard to believe. “What’s that giant display on the building? Isn’t it a notice board or something? Why do I feel like it just keeps repeating the same meaningless thing?”

“Err…that’s also for show. An advertisement.”

“What about that balloon in the air? The fabrics beneath it, couldn’t they be used to make clothes or something?” Why are they painted in different colours and hung in the air?”

“For show too.”

As Hilda’s marvel slowly died down, she began to be engrossed in the finer details of the world. She continued to find more and more incredible things. While The Plane of Dreams was a land of plenty, she found the earth to be so much more abundant that people were living an excessive lifestyle. As they finally crossed the square to the mall, she no longer held back her emotions. “You people are simply… wasteful.”

Hao Ren looked at her cluelessly.

“So many resources… water, energy and all kinds of materials; they are so precious and yet, you people are using them in a wasteful way.” Hilda looked down at the thing in her hand. It was a snack Hao Ren bought for her from a stall in the square. “The packaging is meaningless. It seems like this flexible material is just for a one-off use. In our world, all of this is unimaginable. We haven’t had a surplus in a long time.”

Hao Ren suddenly became interested in the world Hilda came from such as how it looked like for instance. It seemed like her world was experiencing a much more severe case of resource depletion than he had thought.