And just like that, summer vacation began. This was the moment Loren had been looking forward to for a very long time.
Back when he first discovered that this world was similar to the Earth from his previous life, there had always been one thought lodged in his heart:
"Do whatever it takes to go back to China, back to the place where I was born, have a look… and, if possible, do something. Don't let the people of this world repeat the same mistakes as the ones from before."
But he'd been far too young then. He simply hadn't had the power to do anything about it.
Later, he obtained the System and realised that this world was nowhere near as simple as it looked on the surface. Threats lurked everywhere. So there was only one thing he could do: lie low and grow. Wait until he had enough strength—then talk.
The first thing Loren needed now was a visa. The Muggle-side visa was easy enough; he just had to get his parents to go straight to the embassy and handle it.
The magical side, however, was a lot more troublesome. From what Loren had learned from Mr Arthur Weasley, China seemed to be in a state of magical isolation: no Ministry of Magic, no signature on the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.
In the wider magical world, China was almost a mythical land. Apart from a handful of Chinese-descent wizards overseas, almost no one had ever seen a wizard who actually came from China.
What was more, according to Mr Arthur, the methods used by Chinese wizards were very different from those of the rest of the world. Rumour had it they didn't use wands at all. Each of them was incredibly strong physically, highly resistant to magic—and it seemed no two of them used the same kind of sorcery.
At that thought, an idea popped into Loren's head almost of its own accord.
Could China actually be the world of "The Outcast"?
After a bit of analysis, Loren felt it was actually quite possible. The "strangers" in that world were all beings refined through cultivation, mostly inheriting their arts through master–disciple lineages. Every sect's techniques were wildly different—nothing like the wizarding world, where everyone operated under one unified magical system.
In all those respects, the "strangers" matched Mr Arthur's description of Chinese wizards perfectly. As for their high resistance to magic, Loren suspected it came from the constant body-tempering inherent in their cultivation, just like his own magic-body refinement.
Of course, it was all just speculation. He would only know what kind of world it really was after he went there himself.
For the moment, though, what Loren was thinking was: why not make a trip to the British Museum first and bring a few "gifts" back to China?
The British Museum, as one of the world's great museums, had a history stretching back centuries and a collection of more than eight million artefacts.
The vast majority of those artefacts had entered its collection during the British Empire's colonial expansion. To call it a "museum" was generous. It would be more accurate to describe it as a display hall for stolen goods.
In Loren's memories from his previous life, there was a saying:
"No Chinese person can walk out of the British Museum with a smile."
Even though his body now was that of a British boy, in spirit he still firmly considered himself Chinese.
And Loren believed that, with his current abilities, he could absolutely walk out of the British Museum smiling.
Hermione found Loren's suggestion very strange. The British Museum was right there in London. Back when they had wandered the streets of London "treasure hunting," they'd passed it several times.
She had wanted to go in for a look, but Loren had seemed oddly resistant to the place, so she'd dropped the idea. She never expected that he'd be the one to suggest going to visit now.
The explanation Loren offered, however, persuaded her easily:
"We're planning to travel to China during the holidays, but there's almost no information about China in the wizarding world. We can only learn about it on the Muggle side. And I've heard the British Museum has artefacts from all over the world—it's a perfect chance to learn about China in advance."
To better "visit" the British Museum, Loren barely slept that night. Instead, he stayed up late crafting all kinds of ornate display shelves from his memories, ready to give the Chinese artefacts a warm home inside his small world.
At ten o'clock the next morning, Loren and Hermione arrived hand-in-hand at the doors of the British Museum, ready to buy tickets and go in.
As they queued, Loren's mind was working furiously, pondering how he could remove all the Chinese artefacts without alerting the Ministry.
But when Loren actually reached the China gallery, he simply couldn't suppress the anger in his heart.
Most of the Chinese artefacts were crammed together on display, with no names of their own—just numbers. Many pieces were simply left out in the open.
At that moment, Loren wanted nothing more than to start grabbing things on the spot. But his heightened senses picked up fluctuations of magic. There were wizards guarding the British Museum, and not just one or two. In the brief time they'd been there, a handful of wizards had already passed right by them.
Loren also noticed that the magic these wizards used was slightly different from the mainstream magic of the current wizarding world. He guessed they were probably witches and wizards secretly trained by the British government.
Hermione, with her own sensitivity, picked up on the change in Loren's mood. She didn't fully understand the reason, but she still tugged him away at a brisk pace, pulling him out of the British Museum.
After all, this was central London. If Loren lost control of his emotions, the result would probably be a live performance of "Loren versus Ministry Aurors," right in the middle of the city.
Daytime wasn't the right moment.
But tonight, he was definitely going to "walk out of the British Museum with a smile."
Returning to the museum doors late that night, Loren closed his eyes and carefully extended his senses. He discovered that at night, all the patrolling guards inside were ordinary people; there wasn't a single wizard among them.
However, around the outside of the museum there was a peculiar barrier. After studying it for a while, Loren realised it was a kind of magic-detection system.
Anything crossing it that contained magic—whether a person or some other object—would trigger an alarm.
Looking at the barrier in front of him, Loren suddenly had a very particular idea.
This time, he wouldn't rely on overt magic. He would infiltrate directly.
With that thought, he lightly tapped the clothes on his body. His outfit rippled and transformed into a white hooded robe—the classic garb of an Assassin from Assassin's Creed.
In the next instant, Loren activated his concealment. His presence vanished, and he dashed straight into the British Museum.
Every guard he met along the way was quietly knocked out and tossed into the small world.
To avoid anyone noticing that the patrols had gone missing, Loren even spent some extra time carefully dealing with every single security guard.
Once his infiltration was perfect, Loren began "touring" the British Museum in earnest.
This time, he didn't just take a hurried glance like he had during the day. He examined every display case one by one, touring and silently praising the culture of his ancestors.
As for those artefacts whose mysterious power mysteriously disappeared after Loren had "appreciated" them—well, Loren's attitude was very simple: if you accuse me of stealing, you'd better have evidence. Otherwise, don't slander me.
After he finished touring the more than two thousand Chinese artefacts on display, Loren's enthusiasm had only grown. Remembering that the British Museum's underground storage rooms still held many more Chinese treasures, he decided to enjoy himself properly—just once.
On the way down to the underground collection, he also "visited" a few exhibits from other countries. Loren wasn't exactly a rabid nationalist; he wasn't going to pretend other cultures' artefacts didn't exist.
Two hours later, Loren walked out of the British Museum with a smile, just as he'd promised himself, and along the way he tossed all the guards he'd stored in the small world back where they belonged.
The next day, Loren even made a special trip back to the British Museum and found it closed. The reason given to the public was that the museum was undergoing renovation.
On his way home from the museum, Loren was intercepted by Hermione, who immediately asked,
"Loren, did you rob the British Museum last night?"
Her question left Loren full of question marks. He was sure he'd been very discreet.
But Hermione had been by his side for years now and knew him far too well. One look at his expression and she could tell exactly who had done it.
Since it was Loren's doing, Hermione felt no need to worry. She just dropped a, "Go check the school forum yourself," and turned back to continue her daily study plan.
Still muttering to himself as to what might have happened, Loren pulled out his Magic Notebook.
The moment he opened the school forum, he almost spat blood.
Pinned at the very top by Dumbledore was a massive announcement:
"(Very Important) 'Muggle Museum Robbed—Over One Hundred Thousand Artefacts Stolen, Believed To Be The Work Of Dark Wizard. All Students, Please Take Care Over the Summer.'"
Loren clearly remembered that he'd only "borrowed" the Chinese artefacts and a few things from various collections along the way. Even counting everything together, he hadn't "toured" more than fifty thousand pieces.
How had that suddenly turned into a hundred thousand? What kind of black pot was this, being dropped on his head for no reason?
Loren sighed inwardly about "crows being black the world over," and at the same time sent a mental order to Peter.
Peter was to take some people and carefully sort and catalogue all the artefacts brought into the small world, storing them properly. Then, just to be thorough, he was to go back to the British Museum and actually steal a full hundred thousand artefacts.
He also told Peter to teach a lesson to those people who twisted black and white. He had only walked the British Museum with a smile—how had that turned him into a "dark wizard"? That was pure slander.
Once everything was arranged, Loren sat down next to Hermione and began scrolling through the school forum, reading the posts where other young wizards showed off their daily lives and complained about their teachers.
Even though the school forum allowed anonymous posting, all the professors could access their students' online behaviour directly through the Magic Notebooks.
Watching the number of anonymous posts complaining about Professor McGonagall and the other teachers climbing higher and higher, and seeing that not a single professor came out to say anything in response, Loren knew very well:
Those kids were not going to have an easy summer.
TN: The next chapter will be the last. The next arc, with a lot of chapters, is entirely about the trip through China, and as you know, that's not exactly what readers are asking for.
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