CHAPTER 553: CHAPTER 488: HAY FEVER AND THE IRONSTONE RUBIK’S CUBE

"Achoo!!!"

After rubbing his recently itchy nose, Leon, dressed in a dark tailcoat, raised his hand to close the carriage window and started complaining to the female reporter opposite him:

"I really don’t know what the road planning department of the Royal Capital is thinking, why plant so many winter cypresses along the road? They’re... Achoo! In full bloom these days, and after a gust of wind, the pollen can cover half the street. It’s such a hassle!"

"Just try to bear with it."

Handing over a handkerchief, the female reporter, also in formal dress, began to console him:

"The sky clipper to the Crolock Kingdom is already arranged. Once you’re onboard, there won’t be so much pollen."

"Let’s hope so..."

Looking at the roadside winter cypress, with buds full of pale red little balls due to the warming climate, Leon couldn’t help but sigh in frustration.

Although he and his siblings aren’t blood-related, they all sneeze terribly when exposed to pollen.

And because their residence is street-facing, the past few days when the Royal Capital’s winter cypress started releasing pollen, the Ryan Family’s sneezing didn’t stop from morning till night. Except for Anna who’s somewhat adapted, he and the two little rascals constantly had red noses, truly putting them through the wringer.

Somehow it seems a bit odd...

The female reporter watched as Leon took the handkerchief to cover his nose, looking a little better, and couldn’t help but blink, a hint of doubt appearing in her eyes.

The winter cypresses planted along the kingdom’s roads should be the ball-flower cypress of Kingdom of Orleson, a very common city plant, widely found across the Western Nine Nations including Black Forest, Molna, and Orleson, with a cultivation history of almost a thousand years.

Having coexisted with this plant for over a millennium, most people in the Western Nine Nations have become accustomed to its pollen. Usually, only the people from the Three Eastern Nations across the sea, unfamiliar with the plant, sneeze uncontrollably upon encountering its pollen.

"Leon."

With a vague guess in her mind, glancing at Leon’s black hair and eyes, the female reporter couldn’t help but ask:

"Are you...?"

"Toot..."

Just as the female reporter was about to say something, the carriage they were in began to slow down gradually, the melodious steam whistle covering her voice completely.

"What happened?"

After the steam carriage came to a complete stop and the whistle ceased, Leon, still covering his nose with the handkerchief, asked somewhat puzzled:

"Were you about to ask me something?"

"..."

"It’s nothing..."

Upon hearing Leon’s inquiry, the female reporter hesitated briefly, then shook her head and said:

"I just wanted to tell you, there’s no winter cypress in the Crolock Kingdom, hardly any plants even, so you won’t have to worry about hay fever there."

Perhaps it’s better not to mention it yet, as his reaction to winter cypress pollen and his black hair and eyes do resemble those of people from that country, yet there are also people in the kingdom with these traits. It might be a bit hasty to deduce his origins based solely on hair color and pollen allergies.

According to my understanding, due to experiments by the Aquarius Director, Leon not only lost his original life, but also his memories, a pain that’s likely to be permanent in his heart.

If these two traits could help me uncover Leon’s original background and find his lost life, it would be a joyous event.

However, if my assumptions are incorrect, or even if somewhat accurate but unable to confirm his true identity, it would be like tearing open a healed wound, bringing him false hope and additional pain, which indeed seems quite hurtful.

"Is that so? That would be wonderful."

Not aware that the female reporter was contemplating helping him find his roots, nor imagining that a pollen allergy caused such musings, Leon breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing there would be no pollen in the Crolock Kingdom.

Subsequently, he disembarked with a look of relief, joining the delegation heading into the Boarding Tower, while curiously asking in a low voice:

"Nicole, since the Crolock Kingdom doesn’t allow many outsiders in, and the kingdom’s records on it aren’t thorough, could you tell me what it’s like there?"

The Crolock Kingdom?

Following Leon, the female reporter tried to recall and then spoke with slightly furrowed brows:

"I’m not too sure how to describe it. Although Crolock looks round from outside, it’s not a fixed shape. If I must compare, it’s like a huge Rubik’s Cube made entirely of steel and earth.

Oh right, a Rubik’s Cube is a toy with six sides, each with nine small squares of different colors that can be twisted around. Crolock children play with these from a young age."

"Uh... I’ve seen a Rubik’s Cube before."

Leon blinked upon hearing this, then continued to ask:

"I recall you mentioned that the core buildings there are separate hive-like blocks, connected by slides and docking rails, capable of moving up and down using hover crystals.

So, where is the royal palace of Crolock Kingdom? In the center of this hexagonal hive Rubik’s Cube? And what about Atifei-01? In which block is it located?"

"Hard to say."

The female reporter shook her head and said:

"There are no ’parallel’ relationships between the blocks in Crolock Kingdom; they can stack up and down. These regions are broadly categorized as residential, research, habitation, production, administration, and military zones.

Without major relocation, these hexagonal zones spread throughout the kingdom like clock hands, with six of each type per ’timezone’.

With the upper city always stationed above due to hover crystals, in the opposite direction of the lower half, the entire Crolock Kingdom consists of 36 districts multiplied by 24 timezones, totaling 864 movable blocks.

The Crolock Palace and the area housing the Atifei-01 body are likely among those 144 ’administrative’ blocks and 144 ’research’ blocks."

"..."

So it’s a one out of 144 choice, and you have to do it twice... How am I supposed to find a bazaar here?

After hearing the incredibly complicated district arrangement of Crolock Kingdom, Leon couldn’t help but rub his temples, muttering speechlessly as he boarded the sky clipper:

"Whoever designed this must be crazy—over 800 districts, and they occasionally change positions. How do people in Crolock Kingdom find their way?"

"What’s so hard about that?"

Glancing at Leon oddly, the female reporter replied:

"Each block has a number. For instance, where the Gemini Branch is located is Administrative District No. 38, whereas I lived in Residential District No. 19.

Each day when going to work, I only needed to enter my desired district number into the directional machine and follow the guidance all the way there."

"..."