Ball of Nothing

The first place that Truen and Jermine went to was the palace dungeons. They left Zero alone to drive Raju insane with questions and explored the ruined castle. Most things were still intact and Truen noticed that these gnomes were even more advanced than the dwarves when it involved crafting. No wonder Dorgon needed the help of a gnome.

Gnaway wasn't a very big kingdom but they had a very good armoury and research lab.

Lined against the cracked walls were rows of broken golems and weird machinery. Truen recognised the crossbow but was confused at the odd barrel on the device. Jermine took the chance to scan the area but found nothing much of importance. Being blind, she was only able to carry things over when Truen requested for them.

"Stand aside," the archer warned as he approached a rotting crate.

The lid was flung open and Truen quickly backed away in case there was a trap waiting. Thankfully, nothing happened and he went closer to inspect the contents once the dust settled.

"What is it?" Jermine asked. Truen picked out a metal capsule and examined it.

"I don't really know," he admitted. "But these are heavy. I'm guessing they are used as some kind of ammunition because of the crates. Could you borrow Zero's sling bag? I want you to start stuffing all the ammunition in this section into the inventory."

Not needing to be told twice, Jermine started digging away. Truen watched the mole girl cover up her hole behind her and nodded in approval. With some training, she might be a good scout to work with mitchnew as a messenger. If he didn't see her dig a hole and tunnel away, he would not have suspected that there was anyone here previously.

Now that he sent the child away, Truen got down to serious business. There were too many instruments of mass destruction in this room, including the golems that were unfinished. The repair dock must be further up because Truen could only see spare parts in some of the crates. The more dangerous toys were lined against the wall. Gnomes were smaller in size and shorter than dwarves so their mechanical suits were made to elevate them to three meters tall. This should be the tool that they made for Dorgon to work on bigger projects.

The archer stuffed them into his inventory and texted Mii to sort them out. There were at least a few hundred weapons in this room and it was only the first room. He hadn't checked out the hangar that he knew was above this level or the research labs in the next hallway. He would get to them eventually.

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"What do gnomes like to eat or drink?"

Raju wanted to cry. How was this related to finding the gnomes who escaped? Yet, he couldn't stop himself from answering Zero's question because of the archer's spell in that arrow.

"Potatoes, mushrooms, berries and honey... anything that doesn't involve meat. They do enjoy a good beer from time to time that the dwarves send them. The distiller for alcohol was invented by the gnomes but they could never make it taste the same as the dwarven stout. It is one of their biggest regrets."

Zero wrote that down and almost jumped out of his vessel when Jermine appeared from the ground beside him. The doctor screamed when a pink claw appeared from the dirt.

"Goodness me! Jermine, are you trying to scare me to the afterlife?"

Jermine apologised and ignored the djinn. "Truen sent me to borrow your sling bag. We're starting with the armoury. They have a lot of good machinery and ammunition so we're taking all of them."

Raju's eyes bulged when he heard that. "Are you crazy? Do you know how many tons of metal that is going to add up to? You should also be wary of the explosives! One mishandle and half of the city will go boom!"

Zero deadpanned and passed his sling bag to Jermine who looked nervous. "Don't worry about it," he told the girl. "That bag is enchanted with blast protection charms. None of us will die but maybe Raju will be slightly rattled if that happens. Also, can you tell Truen that I want him to help me find the flying machines? Raju told me that the gnomes designed some of it that worked. They should be in the hangar."

Jermine nodded but became quickly overwhelmed when Zero started to pile things onto the list. It took Zero three minutes to realise that there might be too many items that he wanted for Jermine to remember. With an apologetic smile, he laughed and told the mole beast girl to forget everything.

"I'll just send him a text, there might be more things after I finish my interrogation. Oh, don't forget to visit the treasury. There should be many pretty things that you might like. Take as many as you want. Anything that you don't like we can auction it later."

Swallowing, Jermine nodded and left quickly. She didn't understand what Zero was doing but he seemed to know a lot more than they did about the palace and Gnaway's treasures. The doctor certainly had his intimidating moments and Jermine was very glad that she wasn't Raju.

"So tell me more about that portal and underground passage that the gnomes escape by. We need to find some gnomes, where can we find them?"

Raju groaned. "There are six hideouts that Gnaway built in such emergencies. The portal takes a lot of energy to activate and leads to a small base at Rocket Mountain but it should be long destroyed because I couldn't activate it. The loadstone has been destroyed. In the past, gnomes and dwarves used it to send items and visit each other. The portal gate opens once a month and only remains open for an hour each time."

Zero took note of that but didn't think it was too important. His magic circle teleportation was a lot more efficient to use. He wasn't going to ride sand walkers all the way back to Half Moon Village after he accomplished his mission in the desert. Why walk when you can teleport one step away?

"The other five?"

"One base is up in the sky that can only be accessed by the hang gliders but Sand Ravagers destroyed it. They can fly as well so no gnomes who left for the shelter would have survived. The other four bases can be found following the four underground passages. Many passages had been destroyed by fleeing gnomes to stop the Sand Ravagers from following them as ordered by King Gregory but if you manage to restore them, you should find some bases."

Zero nodded. "Got it. What about the desert poppy? I'm looking for that flower. As a djinn, you must have heard about it. Has the gnomes ever come across it?"

Raju raised a brow. "That legendary flower? The gnomes have mining drills and dug deep down in this town but even if they found caves with plenty of mana crystals for powering their gadgets, nobody has ever found underground flowers. We tried but failed. Sure, there might be a few times someone thought they found it but it turned out to be a hoax. The gnome miners were eaten by beasts who tried to replicate these flowers, it's a dangerous mission and a lost cause."

Zero sighed. "Alright, I think that is all the questions I have for you. Thank you for your cooperation. I think you can say that our magic contract deal is now complete, you're free from the soul binding. As for this pagoda cage and truth arrow spell, you'll have to wait for Truen."

The doctor got up and prepared to leave when Raju panicked and stopped him.

"Before you go, could you please tell me more about the half gnome and half djinn called Raj?"

Zero blinked. "What do you want to know?"

Raju hesitated before asking in a soft voice. "How is he doing? Is he coping well with his lack of magical powers?"

Zero had a feeling that this was a personal question. The more he looked at Raju, the more he saw similarities and smiled. Maybe, just maybe... Raju was actually Raj's family.

"Do you want to see him in person?"

Raju was surprised. "Can I?"

Zero smirked. "Only if you tell me what your relation to him is. As the village leader that Raj is in, it is my duty to make sure there are no threats to the villagers under my care."

Raju bowed his head in shame. "Nevermind then. If he's happy where he is and safe, it is good enough for me."

Zero nodded. "If that is how you want it to be then so be it. Raj has found friends who share the same love for mad science and invention. He might have trouble with self-esteem because of his lack of magic but there is also a pixie who prefers science to magic who constantly bickers with him. There is a human inventor who hates humans and works with them to create creative machines with the help of a dwarf who refuses to be a blacksmith for weapons."

Raju smiled. "Good... that's good to know. He has friends now, thank goodness. Thank you, Zero. This is all I need to know. Please tell Truen that the real treasure of Gnaway is going to be Phoenix's Pearl. The one on King Gregory might be a fake but the story on the wall that I wrote isn't a complete lie. The gnomes have indeed a stone that can open spaces to different dimensions. They tried to control it but the stone is too mysterious and powerful so it was sealed away in a safe within the treasury. Nobody knew where this stone came from but everyone watched it fall from the sky into a pit of fire a few hundred miles away from Gnaway. We kept it despite the danger because it was a gift from the Gods."

Zero blinked. "I see. Thank you for telling me this. I promise to take good care of it and not let it fall into the wrong hands."

Raju nodded and watched Zero leave. Feeling very tired now that all the secrets he had to guard were finally out in the open with that elf, the djinn closed his eyes. He was tired, very tired. Perhaps it was time for him to finally rest just like King Gregory.

Raj was doing well and that was good enough for Raju. His wife must be happy from the heavens to know that their son was doing well. King Gregory would have been a very proud uncle to know that his nephew took after them more than Raju and his magic. Too bad Gnaway was no more. Otherwise, the missing prince could come back to claim his rightful seat to the throne of the proud gnome kingdom.

Slowly but surely, warm light enveloped the tired djinn and consumed him entirely. The pagoda cage radiated warmly as if bidding him a final farewell before Raju returned to the cycle of life.