The Dawn of the New World

"I'm not sure whether or not he's already here."

But Hao Xuan already knew he was, Nidhora had confirmed it. What he didn't know was whether or not to tell Jin Wang about it just yet.

"Why is he so important?" Hao Xuan inquired. Surely it had something more to it than it meets the eye.

But Jin Wang gave a goofy smile, patting him on the back.

"Don't worry about why, it's personal. All you have to do is see if he is there or not. He can't change his appearance so he will look exactly like the image you saw. It's pretty simple. Will...you do it?"

Hao Xuan saw that sincere look of urgency in Jin Wang's eyes and nodded back without even realizing it. This was the first real favor he had asked of him so of course Hao Xuan would do it.

"Thanks."

"Ey, what are friends for."

"Haha, yeah, you're right. So you ready to leave yet? This lady here will send you directly to the surface. You will still have to go on foot for a few hours but it won't be too far," Jin Wang finished by pointing towards the Grand Priestess who gave a ceremonial bow in return, which came off as a little sarcastic combined with her words.

"At your service, my lord."

Hao Xuan nodded, "Yeah but I will need a few things when I get back."

He handed over the list of elements Baracus had asked for to Jin Wang who passed it to the grand priestess after taking a quick look. He explained some of the elements to her in her native language.

She crossed off a few things swiftly once she knew what they were, "I can gather these three without a problem but the others you will have to find yourself."

The ones she crossed off were oxygen, phosphorous, and six tons of radiated materials, which was quite a surprise to Hao Xuan since he was expecting those to be the hardest ones to find.

"Are you sure?" he asked skeptically. Maybe she was just trying to show off or didn't understand what exactly they were.

The grand priestess smiled knowingly as if she was expecting him to question her.

"You saw the lights in and around Argham?"

Hao Xuan recalled the thousands upon thousands of bright crystals and stones that were embedded all around the city and the entire area in general. They were the main source of light in this eternally dark place.

"Yeah."

"Those are all 'radiated' or whatever you call them. People can't stay near them for too long otherwise they get sick and die within a few years at most. Some get burns on their skin and other start catching small diseases that normally wouldn't be too bad."

"Although they illuminate the city, we have to be very careful with them..."

All the symptoms that she described were of radiation poisoning and exposure to extreme radiation, which was a piece of good news for him.

"Alright, that will do. Any idea where I can get the rest?"

The three elements still left were unrefined carbon, iron, and sodium. Usually, they could be found commonly in many places, but finding their unrefined reserves in that large a quantity was not going to be easy, especially for sodium which was extremely reactive by nature.

The grand priestess shook her head, "We can get everything we need from mother nature. She provides for us so we have no need to go looking elsewhere. The barbarians used to dig underground in the past but that was many many years ago. Maybe the humans could still help be of some help?"

Hao Xuan sighed dispiritedly, "I'll see about it when I get back then I guess. What will you do in the meantime?" he asked Jin Wang who pointed towards a certain direction.

"I'll be going into the maze of structures underground. There is something down there that I need to reach."

"Something down there? In the prison? That's the only thing down there and it is not safe," Hao Xuan warned but Jin Wang casually waved his hands.

"Nah, it will be fine, trust me. I just need to find a way to the heart of the structure and locate the place which controls everything. It will be quick and I'll be back even before you return."

Hao Xuan still didn't really believe Jin Wang but if anyone could, it would be him. Plus Hao Xuan needed to get to the control room anyway so if Jin Wang could find it before him it would save him a lot of time.

"Alright, be careful then."

When they were finished talking the grand priestess led both of them through the misty forest until they exited through a thicket of fruiting bushes. There was someone waiting for them there.

"You're late," Princess Ceni coldly remarked, looking towards Jin Wang rather than Hao Xuan.