Seeing Duncan temporarily unoccupied, Angel swiftly contacted Duncan via the tree cluster, explaining the situation.
Duncan: "Understood, I’ll return to check in reality."
Such a trivial matter, Duncan naturally couldn’t refuse Angel. After agreeing, he went offline.
After a while, Duncan came back online and said to Angel, "Lord Rhein has already left, and currently, the site is guarded by the Ironclad Granny."
Duncan asked the Ironclad Granny about Rhein’s whereabouts. She also wasn’t sure; she only said that Rhein left through the Plane Corridor, mentioning before he left that he was going to visit a friend.
"Visit a friend?" Angel looked confused. Wasn’t he supposed to come to the Tidal World soon? Why is he suddenly visiting a friend?
Moreover, he left using the Plane Corridor. This implies that Rhein’s friend isn’t on the Pamiji Plateau.
Leaving in such a hurry, did something happen?
Angel pondered for a while but couldn’t figure it out, so he just went offline for the time being.
When Angel told Sanders about Rhein’s situation, Sanders was also unsure of what happened, guessing: "Maybe Lord Rhein is meeting a friend because of the Tidal World."
Based on Sanders’ understanding of Rhein, no matter how significant an event, it wouldn’t surpass the importance of the Tidal World right now.
Therefore, this conjecture was made. But what kind of friend could be related to the Tidal World?
While they were thinking, Angel suddenly felt the Authority Tree in his Mind Space sway, and a piece of information was passed through the Authority of the Gate of Dreams.
Angel: "Lord Rhein has entered the Wilderness of Dreams!"
After saying this, Angel, without any hesitation, used the Dream Entering Technique on himself and entered the Wilderness of Dreams.
Once in the Wilderness of Dreams, before Angel could talk to Rhein, he first received a message from Rhein—a location of a Spatial Beacon.
Rhein sent this coordinate and then went offline, clearly indicating that this location was the other end where the Plane Corridor is about to connect.
Angel conveyed this Path Mark to Sanders.
Upon receiving the Spatial Beacon, Sanders closed his eyes and simulated it in his mind for a moment, saying: "This Path Mark is located in the heartland of Saint Lawrence... If it’s here, then Lord Rhein should have gone to the Magic Flute Monastery."
Magic Flute Monastery? Angel didn’t have a deep impression of this Witcher Organization; the only contact he had was with a fellow Research and Development Institute member, the "Alchemist" Matthew.
Even with Matthew, Angel had only seen him once during the deliberation meeting when entering the Research and Development Institute. He was an elder dressed in a robe of divine service, exuding an aura of holiness and solemnity.
Aside from this, the only thing known was a wizard named Perciwal Graves because this wizard had explicitly stated that he had entered the Nightmare Realm before.
"Does Lord Rhein know someone at the Magic Flute Monastery?" Angel asked.
Sanders shrugged, indicating that he didn’t know Rhein’s circle of friends. However, having presided over the Barbarian Cave for many years, Rhein’s network is broad enough to surpass this world, reaching into the Pan-Dimensional Plane. Even with hostile organizations, he might know people.
Thus, guessing who Rhein’s friend might be is tough.
"If you’re really curious, you can ask Lord Rhein directly later." Sanders said as he stood up from the cloud sofa: "I’m about to start."
Sanders moved aside and took out the casting materials for the Plane Corridor that Angel had prepared.
The reason for using the materials Angel prepared is that Angel could get reimbursement for them. Although Sanders didn’t care about these Magic Crystals, saving where possible was preferable.
Sanders’ method of opening the Plane Corridor was evidently more elegant and effortless than Angel’s.
He may be more adept at using the Nightmare Light Crystal to open a pathway of light and shadow, but using an Illusory Gemstone to open a Tunnel of Falsehood posed no challenge for him either.
And the speed was so fast that it left Angel dumbfounded.
Almost instantly, the Plane Corridor was successfully opened, with a breath of illusion emanating from a giant whirlpool.
This whirlpool was the Tunnel of Falsehood. The size of the whirlpool far exceeded the Profound Abyss that Angel had set up.
Using cheaper primary materials, Sanders crafted a superior Plane Corridor compared to the Profound Abyss that Angel had created. This was the difference between Angel and Sanders.
Of course, the root cause of this gap was that Sanders had encountered lethal dangers countless times more than Angel has, making it instinctual for him to forcibly open a Plane Corridor during a crisis.
In a certain sense, Angel was fortunate for this.
Not long after the whirlpool appeared, Rhein followed the void’s exit and emerged from the other side.
After Rhein came out, Angel curiously looked behind him.
Since Rhein went to see a friend, would he bring his friend along?
However, he didn’t.
Rhein, like Sanders before him, made closing the Plane Corridor the first thing he did after leaving, conveniently helping Sanders close it.
With the Plane Corridor closed, naturally, no one else followed.
"Why are you looking behind me?" Rhein asked Angel in confusion. Upon coming out, the first thing he did was perceive the atmosphere of this world, and the second was to focus on Angel. As a result, he found Angel persistently craning his neck to look behind him, leaving him utterly puzzled.
"I thought, Lord Rhein might have brought a friend along." Angel replied quietly.
"A friend?"
After some exchange, Rhein finally understood Angel’s meaning. He smiled wryly, shaking his head: "No, I haven’t even disclosed the situation of the Tidal World within the Barbarian Cave. How could I mention it to the outside world, not even to a friend."
"Huh?" Angel asked: "Didn’t Lord Rhein go to meet a friend for the Tidal World?"
"It was for the Tidal World, but my visit wasn’t to inform them of the Tidal World’s existence, which is a bit different from what you think." Rhein frankly admitted.
"What parts are different?"
"Well... you’ll find out soon enough." Rhein teased, looking around: "Is this the Salt Lake? It’s quite beautiful."
Angel briefly introduced the area, emphasizing that it was a nameless place, distinct from an Elemental Territory.
"A nameless place?" Rhein’s eyes showed a hint of appreciation: "Even as a nameless place, the Elemental Power here is already comparable to the Mirror World."
Of course, Rhein’s mention of Elemental Power excluded the power of nature. Because of the Tree Spirit in the Mirror World, the natural power within was incredibly rich.
"If the Elemental Power here has already reached this level, I really want to know what the real Elemental Territory would look like."