Chapter 79 – Lists and More Lists (Patreon)

When we got to the airport, Alfonsen saw the landings and take-offs and said, “I have significant reservations regarding this mode of conveyance.”

“Sorry, Alfonsen, but flying is the only way to reach China, and you already flew once and saw it's not that bad. Besides, flying is the safest way of travel in this world.” I said.

Lis spoke in my mind, “Not with the rising mana levels.”

I kicked his leg and glared at him, and Mahya was making choking sounds again. She was having too much fun.

On the flight, Rue wanted to flop on me again, but I told him, “Forget about it, buddy. This flight is twelve hours long. I’m not going to be squished and melting all this time.”

“John! Bad! Friend!”

“You can sit on the floor and put your head on my lap or sit on your seat. Your choice.” I was excelling at this assertive thing.

He sat on his seat, hung his head like a sad child, and sighed deeply, audibly, and mentally. I had no idea how he even managed that. After thirty minutes, I said, “Fine, you can lay on my lap. But if my legs fall asleep, I’m kicking you off.”

He thumped me with his tail and flopped on me. I’m a total pushover. I sighed deeply, too.

_____

After we rested from the flight, we rented a car, and the first thing we did was drive to the Gate 4 hours away. A big surprise awaited me.

___________

Travelers Gate #1152948532

Destination: Earth/Gaia/Terra

Status: Integrated

Mana level: 27

Threat level: Moderate-low.

___________

“I don’t understand.” Said Mahya.

“Parallel world.” Me and Lis answered her together.

Hay, look at me! I know stuff!

“How do You know?” She asked me.

“Read about it in the Archive.”

“Ugh! I hate opening the Archive; it’s such a mess.”

“Yeah, but you can find good stuff there, too.”

She didn’t look convinced and had a disgusted look on her face.

"The Archive is appalling. My family's private archive is significantly superior.” Chimed in Alfonsen. All of us looked at him, surprised. That was the first time he spoke without demanding or complaining.

“Do you have copies with you?” I asked him.

“Regrettably, this is not the case.”

“You know you can just say ‘no,’ and it will convey the same idea, right?” I asked him.

He looked embarrassed and nodded.

“Want to travel it?” Mahya asked me.

“No, not really. It can be nice to be familiar with the lay of the land, but we have the Travelers’ Map for that. I prefer to see something new.”

“Aren’t you curious to see the differences?”

“Yes, a little. But I traveled only one world except Earth, so I want to see the rest of the universe.”

“You traveled only one world?” asked Alfonsen. “But you are so strong.”

“John is talented, although he thinks that he’s hopeless.” Said Lis.

My face reddened, and Mahya laughed and said, “Those blushes are so cute!”

I just cast Invisibility and crossed the Gate. I checked the mana level on the other side, and it was still six; that's good.

When we returned to the hotel, I opened the map and the computer to plan our route. I had every intention of touring China and seeing all the exciting things this country had to offer. The map had thirteen gates, and it confused me because I remembered a different number. I checked my list, and indeed, there were twelve listed.

"Lis, how many gates do you have in China?"

"Twelve."

"Now there are thirteen. You think another Traveler crossed over to Earth?"

“Probably. If gates change their destination, more Travelers will come here."

I made a list of all the exciting things I wanted to see in China and marked their proximity to the Gates, and for the next two hours, we negotiated what to see and which route to take.

In the end, our route looked like this:

1.      The Forbidden City, The Great Wall of China, The Summer Palace Beijing – Gate Done

2.      The Mausoleum of Light, The Northern Imperial Tomb, Shenyang

3.      The Terracotta Army, Xi’an

4.      Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan

5.      Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Sichuan

6.      Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan

7.      Cruising the Li River, Guilin

8.      The Yangtze River and the Three Gorges

9.      The Classical Gardens of Suzhou, Jiangsu

10. Hangzhou’s Historic West Lake

11. Shanghai’s Promenade: The Bund

12. The Potala Palace, Tibet – 2 Gates in Tibet

I also made a list of all the things I either wanted to buy or discovered that I needed based on my notes:

1.      Copper coins – find a wholesaler and clean them out

2.      Tools - all types; check with Lis if he can change some of them into Magitech

3.      DIY equipment

4.      Fabric, yarn, sewing equipment – check about manual sewing machines

5.      Medical supplies - even things I don't think I'll need, including a large supply of saline solution

6.      Massage beds for treatments

7.      Coolers of all sizes – a lot of them, a best seller

8.      Takeaway containers – all sizes

9.      Folded cardboard boxes

10. Shoes + laces + socks

11. Sunglasses

12. Detergents + cleaning equipment

13. Girl stuff, including makeup, hair brushes, perfumes, etc.

14. Cheap costume jewelry

15. Office supplies

16. Painting and art supplies – especially a large inventory of brushes for rituals

17. Crafts supplies – consult Mahya

18. Dog & cat food - just in case

19. Games and toys for children

20. Toiletries of all kinds

21. Backpacks in different sizes

22. More Bows, arrows, crossbows and bolts

23. Baby food

24. Cheap decorations and art

25. Towels

26. Bedding: Linen, blankets and pillows

27. Metal kitchen utensils

28. Metal cooking equipment

29. Fire lighting equipment - large matches and kitchen lighters

30. Spare furniture

31. A bigger boat with sails, the smallest that Rue will agree to board – find sailing classes to learn to sail it.

I checked how much money I had left, and I had over two hundred fifty thousand euros from my sales and the two hundred thousand from Mahya.

I saw Sotheby's in Beijing and conjured papers for all the jewelry I bought in Shimoor. It showed my ownership and insurance. And each piece had a separate certificate that detailed the metal and gems, and when and where such techniques were used on Earth. The papers didn’t state that it’s from Earth, only when and where such techniques were used on Earth.

Very sneaky of you.

I felt amusement. I think I finally raised my strength stat enough – I didn’t even react.

I visited Sotheby's Beijing and put the jewelry on sale. I was already familiar with the process, so I knew it would take at least 45 days.

After a negotiation with Lis that China will have workshops not available anywhere else, I also booked some workshops. During the whole negotiation, Alfonsen looked at Lis and me every time we talked, and he had an amazed expression. He looked like he was watching a tennis match, with his head turning this way and that.

Finally, he couldn’t contain himself anymore and asked Lis, "You possess a substantial amount of power in comparison to him. For what reason do you refrain from telling him what to do?”

“He is my friend, not my subordinate, so we decide things together. That’s how friendship works.”

Alfonsen looked thoughtful. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

Beijing Private Tai Chi Class
Chinese Calligraphy Class for Small Group
Cooking Class Beijing Dumplings and Cuisine
Badminton Class
Tea Ceremony Workshop
Learn to make sugar painting
Life Awakening: Finding Your True Self
Feng Shui Consulting and Study Class
Traditional Chinese Philosophy
Acting Class
Mahjong Class

All of us, even Alfonsen, enjoyed the tours in the Forbidden City and the palace, but they couldn’t understand what was so special about a wall. I even read them the history from my tablet, and it didn’t help.

Lis said, “A wall is a wall. Whether you saw one or a hundred, it doesn’t matter; it’s still a wall.”

Mahya and Alfonsen were nodding along when he spoke in total agreement.

“Aliens are no fun!”

“You’ll be one soon, too,” Mahya said, laughing at my expression.

We started with the workshops, and Lis liked the Tai Chi class. He kept the skill and even bought more books on the subject, most of them in Chinese.

Alfonsen got into the tea ceremony and began bemoaning the need to give up the ability point. We told him to keep it, and he looked so surprised that I thought his eyes would fall out; they were that wide. I couldn’t understand him; his way of thinking was weird.

In the sugar painting class, Mahya kept eating the art supplies until the instructor got upset. So, she started eating mine.

For some inexplicable reason, the system disagreed that Finding Your True Self and Chinese Philosophy were skills and refused to give us the points. I even argued with it out loud – it didn’t work.

The four of us liked the Mahjong class but decided not to keep the skill point – we could play it without a skill, and we all bought a mahjong set. I added the item “Games for adults” to my shopping list.

I haven’t received the money from Sotheby’s yet, so we went sightseeing and visited the Temple of Heaven, the Yonghe Temple, the Beijing Temple of Confucius, and the National Museum of China.

Before the museum visit, I told them that even if half the exhibits are old stuff that somebody dug out of the ground, I don’t want to hear about it. Lis and Mahya pouted at me and still had a lot of things to say about the archeological exhibits.

Finally, all my items sold, and I was richer by a little over 200 thousand dollars. Not bad, not bad at all.

Mahya and I visited the Pearl Market and bought a lot of jewelry with freshwater pearls, and the Five-Star Merchandise Wholesale Market, and bought many things on my list. Mahya thought that my list was great and copied it for herself. Alfonsen followed the two of us during all our shopping and listened to everything we said, but didn’t have an opinion.

I asked him if he needed help converting his money to the local currency so he could shop and stock up on merchandise to sell.

He scoffed, saying, "A prince should not behave like a commoner."

At least he used everyday English and didn’t sound like a thesaurus. You need to learn to appreciate the little things.