Ning slowly came back to consciousness as he heard the back half of the system's response. A second ago, he had gone to sleep while there were still two of them, yet now, that should have changed.
'You there?' he asked knowing there would be no one, yet when an answer didn't arrive, he felt kinda melancholic about it.
'Who am I?' he thought. 'Am I Ning A or Ning B?' he tried to think. It didn't take him very long to come up with the answer. He was neither, and he was both.
The two halves were originally he himself, so when returned back, it would still just be him. Thanks to his brain multitasking, it didn't take him very long to realize that.
'So I got Simultaneous Thinking?' he wondered. While he could tell he was thinking fast, he still wanted visual proof. 'Status'.
[Status
Name: Ning Ruogong
Energy: 468
Skills: Simultaneous Thinking
It was there. 'So, it's considered a skill as well, huh?' he thought. He looked around the fish to see if it was still going. The fish hadn't stopped at all. 'Hey, System. How long was I asleep this time around?' he asked.
<You were unconscious for 13 days, 11 hours, and 21 minutes>
'Oh! That's not as long as I thought it would be. Alright then, time to do the thing I merged back together for. Let me come up with some things to buy from the shop.'
'Hmm… I certainly want to fly and do the various things a cultivator does, but I need to think of escaping from here first. Let's see what ways are there to get out of the sea…'
Ning started to brainstorm things he could buy from the shop to escape from the deep trenches of the ocean.
'Hmm… how about controlling the fish? That could certainly work' he thought. 'Ah, but there is that same problem of what to do once I control it. I can't go back to the land this way. Still, let's see how much it costs.'
'Hey, system. What is the cost of controlling this fish?' he asked.
<Controlling the fish will cost 2000 Energy per minute>
'Huh? Per-minute? You sell in minutes too? Do I get a wholesale discount then?' he asked jokingly.
<Permanent unlocking of 'Fish Control' will cost you 26,700,000 Energy>
'What? Why so expensive?' he was stunned. That was about 13,000 minutes worth of controlling the fish. He didn't need that many minutes to reach the land and leave.
'Why is it so expensive? Is it because it's permanent?' he asked.
<Permanent Unlocks come with increased costs>
<Fish Control allows you to control all fishes you see>
'Oh. That's quite a good ability then. Should I use the temporary version?' he started wondering. However, instead of thinking about what the temporary version did, he started thinking about what he would do once he had it.
'Where would I even go? I don't know the map or the directions of the sea. Controlling the fish is not a very good idea then,' he thought.
'Hmm… map… Hey, system. Can I get a map of the planet?' he asked.
<Maps come in 5 types>
<Basic: Costs 150,000 energy>
<Beginner: 1,500,000 energy>
<Intermediate: 15,000,000 energy>
<Advanced: 150,000,000 energy>
<Omniscient: 1,500,000,000 energy>
'Woah! That's a lot. Why are they in 5 different types?' asked Ning.
<Maps belongs to the Knowledge category>
<Products in Knowledge category are sold based on the amount of information they provide>
'I see. Oh god, even intermediate costs more than I have ever made. I think I will have to start with the basic map. Add the basic map to the Auto Buy List,' he ordered the system.
<Confirmed. 'Basic Map' added to Auto Buy List>
<Would you like the set the order of the list?>
'Ask me that only when there is more than a single item on that list,' Ning said as he got a little annoyed.
<Confirmed>
'Let's see what else can I use to get out of here… hmm' he thought for a few moments. Controlling the fish was now out of question. Jumping from one fish to another was a very nonefficient method as well.
'Can I make a human body? Can I get away with that? No right? It would be destroyed in the water. I should keep that idea for once I get off of here.' He thought.
'Flying… is a bad idea,' he felt like he was in a slump. He wasn't the most creative with skills and abilities. Little of what he knew was from the random shows that they would show in the orphanage. He didn't get to read that many books or watch the different movies and cartoons like the non-orphan kids did.
'Well, if I wasn't an orphan, then many things would've been different. I would've had parents for one. I wouldn't have to have such a mediocre childhood. Maybe I would have had a group of friends that never left me. Maybe I wouldn't have to work in that stupid zoo just to live at 18 years of age. If that never happened, I would've probably never died and would never have been teleported he— ' he suddenly stopped.
'Teleport. That's it!! Teleport. I should teleport out of here. That way I won't have to think about how to get there and can just go there,' he thought.
'Hey, system. How much does it cost me to teleport to a land,' he asked.
<Teleporting will cost you energy depending on the distance and target of your teleport>
'Uhh… I should probably just teleport to the shortest distance where there is a land. Where is the shortest distance?'
<Shortest distance is 1247 Km and 324m away, and moving>
'Moving? Ah, that's right. The fish is moving. Will be hard to guess depending on that. How much will it cost to teleport 1500 km away?'
<For the fish, it will cost you 12,000,000 energy>
'What do you mean, for the fish?' he asked.
<You can only teleport by teleporting the object you inhabit as the target of teleport>
'Urghh… I will have to come up with something then, this fish might take too much energy to teleport.'