Angel asked quizzically, "What is it?"
Dangross was both somewhat pleased and slightly disappointed to see that Angel had actually forgotten. Pleased because Angel’s demeanor suggested he didn’t expect anything in return; disappointed because, in Angel’s heart, Dangross seemed to carry little weight.
Well, if he carries little weight, so be it; Dangross has never really cared much for Angel... it thought to itself, trying to shake off these thoughts, but not only did they persist, the sense of disappointment started to grow.
Angel noticed Dangross hanging its head in silence, displaying an unhappy demeanor, which filled his mind with questions.
The incident at Malaya Ice Mountain? What happened anyway?
Angel quickly reviewed all the events following his arrival at Malaya Ice Mountain and seemed to recall something: "Do you mean what happened at Meina Glacier?"
Upon hearing Angel’s voice, Dangross quickly looked up, its eyes slightly brightened: "You remembered?"
Angel nodded, "If you mean the incident with Troysha, then yes, I remembered."
"Your memory is even worse than my little brother’s," Dangross remarked, with a slightly curved smile, but the words it spoke carried a hint of complaint: "I just wanted to thank you for not handing me over to Troysha, that big demon, otherwise I might as well..."
Angel: "In fact, you don’t need to thank me for this, even if you were handed over to Troysha, it wouldn’t do anything to you. Didn’t it say it just wanted to see if you were qualified to inherit the name of Kalomchis."
Dangross sneered, "Do you believe its reasoning?"
Angel nodded, "I believe it."
Dangross skeptically eyed Angel, "Anyway, I don’t believe it; if it took me away, it would definitely lock me in a dark ice prison and constantly drip icy water to wear down my flames... It would sneer as it tied me to an ice column, whip me with a spike-covered ice whip, and relentlessly torture my tender body..."
The more Dangross imagined that scenario, the greater its trembles became.
Angel: "..."
Angel: "I think you might be overthinking it? Paranoid delusions?"
"I am not overthinking; Troysha is a big demon, all ice system creatures are demons!"
"But Troysha is a water system creature."
"... As long as they’re elemental creatures from Malaya Ice Mountain, whether they’re ice system creatures or water system creatures, they’re big demons, big villains," Dangross said hatefully.
Angel saw Dangross’s expression both filled with resentment and showing some relief from surviving a previous ordeal. He understood that this was indeed Dangross’s genuine belief.
Essentially, it stemmed from the historical legacy between the Region of Fire and Malaya Ice Mountain.
He recalled that when he first arrived at the Region of Fire, Earl Mi had only exhibited ice system powers, and Dangross had unhesitatingly engaged him in battle. Clearly, to Dangross, ice system creatures are its lifelong foes.
However, Mr. Magu didn’t show such resentment when discussing Malaya Ice Mountain; why has Dangross become such a staunch ice adversary?
Angel shook his head, not knowing what to say about this.
From his standpoint, the elemental creatures at Malaya Ice Mountain generally weren’t bad, which was precisely why he was willing to believe that Troysha didn’t intend to harm Dangross.
But from the standpoint of fire element creatures, Dangross’s caution seemed reasonable, after all, ice and fire are incompatible, it’s just that Dangross’s reaction is somewhat excessive.
"Alright then, I accept your reasoning. There’s no need to thank me, since Mr. Magu entrusted you to my care, I couldn’t possibly let you come to harm, that’s simply what I should do," Angel said with a smiling face, gently patting Dangross’s hand.
The affectionate gesture made Dangross slightly bashful, but quickly, it regained its composure, with a slightly disappointed expression: "Only because of Mr. Magu?"
Looking at Dangross’s disappointed face, Angel gently laughed: "Of course not, even without Mr. Magu’s instructions, I wouldn’t have handed you over."
Dangross was momentarily stunned, no longer asking why, but lowering its eyebrows and murmuring: "Nevertheless, I still want to thank you..."
After a pause, Dangross lifted its head again: "Of course, I’m only thanking you for not handing me over to Troysha, I won’t thank you for pushing me down!"
With that, Dangross turned its head awkwardly, pretending to look at the scenery outside.
Angel leaned forward: "So, earlier when you were silent, you were pondering how to thank me?"
Dangross continued pretending to gaze at the scenery, almost to the point of reciting poetry.
Angel understood this brat was surely feeling embarrassed and decided not to probe any further about the thanks, instead changing the subject: "By the way, the Region of Fire and Malaya..."
Angel abruptly paused, stopping his words, looking around in puzzlement.
The surroundings were a bright blue sky, with only occasional gentle breezes, nothing else, not even clouds close by.
Angel’s sudden pause and alert expression also caught the attention of Lobal beside him.
Lobal said, "Lord, is something wrong?"
Angel pondered for a moment, "Did you sense anything unusual around us?"
"Unusual?" Lobal shook his head, "I’ve been vigilant, but haven’t noticed anything."
After Lobal spoke, he also checked with Speedy, who likewise provided a negative answer.
Lobal and Speedy’s answer didn’t surprise Angel, because he had already covertly contacted Earl Mi before asking Lobal. Earl Mi’s answer was also negative.
Earl Mi’s answer practically confirmed it.
It’s important to know that Earl Mi is genuinely a working machine; once assigned reconnaissance and alert duties, it never relaxed. Coupled with its strong power and higher danger perception ability than Lobal and Speedy, it hadn’t sensed anything, others certainly would not be able to sense anything.
Hence, Angel trusted Earl Mi’s judgement.
But this time, Angel harbored slight uncertainty. While speaking with Dangross earlier, his spiritual sense slightly stirred, vaguely sensing a feeling of being watched, and the sense of observation wasn’t distant, as if right beside him. Yet when he regained awareness, the feeling vanished.
"Could it really be my illusion?"
Angel pondered for a moment but couldn’t figure out what was happening, so he chose to remain silent for now, looking up at Lobal: "Where are we now? How much further to the destination coast?"
Lobal: "We’ve already left Malaya Ice Mountain’s area, currently at the midsection of Gentle Wave Sea. The nearby coast is past Flashing Mountains, and further along the coast is Black Thunder Pool."