"Hey, what's with that look in your eyes, don't worry, I will pay you a reward."
Prince Lieyang noticed Lin Ge's peculiar look and assumed he was after money, so he pulled out a gem from his money pouch that was even larger than the one from yesterday, his demeanor arrogant.
"This is for you."
"Take a good look at what you're holding in your hand."
"Of course, it's a top-quality red gem from the depths of the Knox Vein—how did it turn into a rock?!"
Prince Lieyang was astonished to discover that what he held in his hand was a dull, grey rock, identical in shape to the gemstone but having lost all the crystal-clear shine of a gem, indistinguishable from an ordinary stone.
Not only that, but the golden armor on his body also lost its luster and turned grey-white, and the gold-inlaid Gallama Curved Knife at his waist had even become a dried salted fish.
Lin Ge pulled Lanya's money bag from his pocket, opened it, and found that the frog inside had turned back into a cell phone.
He took out the cell phone and explained the situation to Prince Lieyang, simply relaying what Nilu had told him.
"A rejection reaction from an alternate world?"
"That's right," Lin Ge said with surprise, looking at Prince Lieyang. "Not only your possessions, but your body is also undergoing changes. Don't you feel it?"
Upon hearing this, Prince Lieyang touched his face to find that his smooth and shiny scales had vanished, replaced by smooth skin; then he felt his head, and the spikes of which he was so proud had disappeared as well.
He also turned his head to find that his thick, powerful yet nobly elegant tail had vanished, and he couldn't help but cry out, "What on earth have I become?"
Lin Ge scrutinized the Prince Lieyang standing before him, whose face had become almost indistinguishable from that of a normal human and looked quite young, younger than himself, with only slight differences in the eyes and a skin tone that was slightly darker and reddish.
Without looking closely, one might mistake him for an ordinary bald youth, even somewhat handsome.
"You've become more humanlike, which is good; this way, even if you stay here, you won't cause panic."
"My original appearance would cause panic here?"
Prince Lieyang felt somewhat displeased with Lin Ge's words, as he was known as a handsome man in the Galama Empire, causing screams from young ladies wherever he went, never panic.
"Yes, in this world, there aren't so many odd intelligent species, only humans."
It must be said that Prince Lieyang had a strong ability to cope mentally, for he quickly calmed down, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding high-rise buildings.
"Your world seems very interesting, take me around quickly."
Lin Ge shook his head, "It's late at night now. If we wander around the streets, we might be questioned by the police, especially with you dressed so oddly. You'd definitely be seen as a strange person. We should first go to my place so you can change clothes."
"Police?"
"They're the public officials here who maintain public order."
"Whom do they serve? Who is the king here?"
"I will explain all this to you when we have time."
"Fine, then take me to see where you live."
As Lin Ge led Prince Lieyang toward his residence, he shared with him the differences between the two worlds.
As the two crossed an alleyway, a woman's cry for help came from the dark alley.
Before he could react, Prince Lieyang had already drawn his Gallama dried fish knife from his waist and charged in.
Who would have guessed, this guy had quite a chivalrous heart. But was he going to be okay by himself?
Recalling Lanya's weakness after using magic yesterday, Lin Ge wondered if Prince Lieyang, who looked more like a warrior, would also be affected by this world's influence on his strength?
By the time he entered the alley, Prince Lieyang was already confronting a few hoodlums.
There were three of them in total, exhibiting a distinctive thuggish style, with one man grabbing a girl's hand. The girl was quite attractive, and walking alone on such a nighttime path, it was no wonder she attracted undesired attention.
"Let go of that beauty,"
Prince Lieyang, with a dried fish in hand, aimed its shrunken head at three hoodlums like a solitary sword-wielder.
The other party burst into laughter.
"Haha, I'm dying of laughter, where did this idiot come from, pretending to be a hero with a salted fish. Xiaoliang, show him some color."
One of the hoodlums stepped forward, holding a shiny dagger, his expression fierce.
"Watch closely, this is the real deal, if you don't want to get stabbed, get lost quickly."
Lin Ge quietly pulled out his phone, preparing to call the police, when Prince Lieyang made his move.
He charged forward with unbelievable speed, ah, no, swung fish, and the dried fish head struck Xiaoliang's knife-wielding wrist, eliciting a cry of pain, and the dagger fell to the ground.
Xiaoliang clutched his wrist, and before he could make a further move, the shriveled, lifeless fish head already smacked his face.
Slap!
The fish knife left a clear red mark on his face, both nosebleed and tears coming out in one go.
The other two rushed forward to help, each pulling out a nunchuck and brass knuckles, but both were ruthlessly whipped by the dried fish, dropping their weapons and fleeing in a sorry state.
Prince Lieyang put away the fish knife and walked leisurely towards the girl, who was already dumbfounded, and cornered her against the wall.
"Beauty, would you like to be my princess?"
The girl was stunned momentarily, then suddenly pushed him away with all her might, fleeing in another direction, faster than the thugs.
"Why did she...?"
Prince Lieyang was puzzled.
Lin Ge explained, "In the middle of the night, a red-faced bald man in strange clothes, wielding a dried fish, and saying such unclear words to her, even if you saved her, she would consider you a pervert or a madman."
"Women of this world sure are strange," Prince Lieyang shrugged.
It's you who's strange, okay? Who asks someone to be their princess right off the bat, you're not an Arabian oil prince...
Of course, Lin Ge did not voice this thought.
Prince Lieyang picked up a nunchuck that a thug had dropped, played with it for a while, and then said with a smile, "This thing is quite interesting."
He then took it as his trophy, tucking it into his belt.
Lin Ge recalled his performance in driving off the thugs and said in surprise, "I didn't expect you to be so formidable in this world too."
But Prince Lieyang shook his head in regret, "No, my strength has diminished greatly, had I still possessed my original strength, even with a fish, I would have burst their heads open. Just now, I merely relied on skill to drive them off."
Lin Ge felt a wave of relief inside his heart, thankful that his strength had decreased; otherwise, if he really had burst those thugs' heads, that girl might have been left with psychological trauma.
More importantly, those were human lives. If he had really burst their heads, it would definitely have led to police investigation, and it would spell big trouble if it led back to him.
However, this also meant that physical strength, like magic, was limited by this world, only knowledge and skills remained unaffected.
This way, luring Karina to this world and then teaching her a lesson became possible.
Leading Prince Lieyang back to the apartment where he lived, Prince Lieyang was as amazed by the elevator as Lanya had been.
"This room's mechanism is quite interesting. Once I'm king, I will also build such a tall building in the palace, as well as this 'elevator' mechanism room."
Hearing Prince Lieyang's words, Lin Ge silently prayed for the lizardmen of the Galama Empire, hoping he wouldn't become a tyrant who exhausted and hurt his people.
As he led Prince Lieyang into the apartment, his roommate Gao Wenyang happened to come out of the bathroom, and adjusted his glasses upon seeing him bring someone home again.
"Hmm? Is it a bald man today?"