Category Archives: Devil’s Evolution Catalog

Chapter 718: Sima Junmo

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

“Look closer, this is an official appointment letter from the Federation. There’s even the President’s seal and signature… are you seriously telling me you don’t recognise it?!”

“I already told you, I don’t. Stop being so persistent. Just because you’re pretty doesn’t mean you can do as you like!”

“Are you calling me a woman? You must be illiterate. That’s right, otherwise why can’t you read the letter? Ugh… nothing is worse than dealing with the illiterate, especially when they are blind as well!”

“Who are you calling illiterate? Who’s blind? Just because you’re hot, doesn’t mean you can get away with insulting others! It doesn’t matter how good looking you are if you go around treating others like morons – no one will like you, especially not me!”

“Why the heck should I care if you like me or not? Wait! When did I even say that I’m a girl? I am a man!”

“Hah! You think you can just change your gender just because you’re beautiful? What are you if not a girl? Geez, get your gender right before leaving the house, why don’t you!”

“That’s it. I can’t take it anymore! Where’s your superior? You can’t be the only survivor in this building. Bring him out, I have something important to discuss with him.” At this point, I was beyond exasperation and did not want to waste anymore time dealing with a coward hiding behind the anonymity of his exosuit.

“There’s no need for that. I’m already here.” A door not too far behind the police sentry I was arguing with opened up. An equally battered and bloodied exosuit stepped through a second later and addressed me. While he still did not reveal his face, I could tell from the voice that he was a middle-aged, mature officer. “You mentioned you are from the Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users?”

“That’s right. Here’s my appointment letter, I hope at least you are able to read.” I enlarged the holographic letter so that even a short-sighted person could see it, let alone a pilot whose sight would be auto-corrected by his exosuit.

“There’s no need for that, I know you.” The mature officer’s voice almost quivered at that last word. “I just received a notification from the brass mentioning that we will be temporarily placed under your command should we encounter you. Till the danger in Southern Plains is resolved… I couldn’t believe the notification at first, but I understand why now… you’re so… outstanding… to oversimplify things with my limited vocabulary…”

“Huh? Could you just get to the point in one sentence? It’s annoying trying to piece together what you’re saying when you speak in fragments.” I curtly cut him off, slightly creeped out the longer he spoke. Somehow, I was getting a bad feeling from him.

“Right. Right. Initially, I thought that you were chosen just because of your looks, but, oh, how wrong I was.” His holographic display turned on, revealing a tanned man in his thirties with a squarish face. His gaze shifted slightly as he smiled shyly. “I’m saying I accept your authority.”

“Oh, then you have my thanks.” Even though having a mature man smile at me like that made my butt cheeks clench a little, his ready acknowledgement of my command made me feel a lot better. “Start by introducing yourself, then we can talk about your situation. How many combatants do you have? Are there any survivors under your care? Lastly… have you guys noticed anybody who has awakened supernatural abilities?”

“My name is Sima Junmo, I’m a commander of a Special Assault Tactics (SAT) squad. As of right now, there are five members in my squad, including me. They are all capable subordinates…”

Sima Junmo began explaining his situation next. Apparently, they were suddenly attacked by those skeletal beasts last night. Coupled with those ghosts ambushing them, their losses were heavy. That was how their squad size was reduced to five. However, these five were all seasoned veterans, seeing they actually survived an attack from those incorporeal monsters. This sudden increase in the undead’s power led to Sima Junmo making the decision to hole up in this position.

In actuality, there was one more reason why he had to do so. That was because he also had fifty civilians to guard. As policemen under the Federation, Sima Junmo and his men were all fiercely loyal to their duty. While they still drew breath, they would never abandon their charges. Unfortunately, this hampered their movements significantly. In light of that, they could only take up a defensive position while hopefully waiting out this entire undead crisis.

Roughly ten minutes ago, Sima Junmo received a message from a representative of General Rodenas, informing him that the Federation had noticed something was amiss in Southern Plains before the zombie apocalypse. In order to investigate this abnormality, they even created a new but secretive bureau.

Naturally, the seasoned Federation policeman that he was immediately realised that this was just the Federation’s version of bullcrap.

But regardless of whether or not the citizens actually bought this story, the civil servants of the Federation were basically convinced, seeing as the General even went so far as to pull that Goddess of Hope into the mix. When he first saw the photo of said girl, he was quick to throw shade at the general. Perhaps this girl was just the old bear’s niece, or maybe something more?

The moment I heard him say that, I almost wanted to roast him alive in his bloody tincan. But I soon gave up on that idea as trouble soon reared its ugly head once more…

“But I understand now, you got to where you are by sheer ability.” He then stared at me with the intensity of the sun. “Only a girl as perfect as you could be considered a goddess…”

“I’m sorry, but let me interrupt for a second…”

“I know, I know. You’re going to say that you’re a man and all that.” Sima Junmo briskly cut me off. “I understand completely. It’s not easy travelling out and about as a girl. Especially for a goddess such as yourself. But that’s not an issue anymore. I hereby swear on my life that I will protect you!”



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 717: More Survivors

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

A cacophony of explosions and thuds filled the air as the now headless zombies slid to the floor. The large presence of zombies on the rooftop clearly indicated that there were no survivors here, meaning it was time to descend.

Several meters away from the exit, I broke into a running jump kick to bust open the locked door. Despite being over a couple hundred kilograms, the heavy metal door easily buckled like wood, flipping over noisily in the cavernous stairwell as it bashed into an unfortunate zombie who was mostly minding its own business behind the door.

However, the force of my kick had exceeded my own expectations. Even now the metal door was still tumbling down the stairwell, smashing into several zombies without ever slowing down until it hit flat ground. Even so, the zombies waiting at the lower floor immediately swarmed into the empty stairwell, replenishing those few zombies cleared by the door.

It was at that point that I realised something: these zombies could climb stairs? Is this building full of the elite students of the zombie world? They are even using their legs and hands normally.

Given how many zombies were now in the stairwell, I knew I had no choice but to fight my way down.

Bottle of SP Recovery Potion in hand, I summoned Shadow Demon again. This time, I was more than prepared for the long slog ahead.

Just like that, I slaughtered my way down the floors, chugging those potions whenever I ran out of SP. Finally, at the twentieth floor, I discovered traces of survivors.

Stepping over the bloodbath left by my Shadow Demon, I found myself facing a walled-off zone barricaded with beds and tables. Naturally, such a hastily constructed barrier wouldn’t stop a living person, but against those brainless zombies, they were the perfect defense. It was fortunate that those Scorpids did not invade this building, else this barrier would become a hindrance instead.

Naturally, only a human would think of stacking a barrier like this. And a normal person would never be able to gather up the materials to do so while being attacked by so many zombies. Thus, the people here couldn’t be civilians at all.

Wings still extended, I bypassed the barrier easily while stepping on thin air. From my vantage point, I could already see a bloodied white exosuit taking cover in a corner behind another barrier. It was clear that this exosuit had undergone countless gruelling battles, and this same exosuit was now aiming its gun right at me.

“Halt! Identify yourself.” A young man’s voice rang out from the battered exosuit. It was firm, but there was an undeniable sense of fatigue in it. “Don’t come any closer or I will shoot!”
“Relax, I’m on your side. I’m here to find you guys.” I immediately stopped at where I was. “Shadow Demon, return to me; the battle is over.”

Upon receiving the command, my Shadow Demon dissipated in a puff of smoke, returning once more as my shadow.

Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a show of goodwill ended up spooking the fragile young exosuit pilot. “What was that just now? Why did it disappear? And why are you floating in the air? Are you a ghost or a human?”

“I’m a human. Just trust me, I won’t harm you.” I popped open another SP Recovery Potion and downed it like beer.

“As if I’m going to do that… what are you plotting here?”

“I’m just trying to find you guys, that’s all.” As I said that, I casually tossed the empty potion bottle at an approaching zombie, cracking open its head in the process.

“Gulp…” The pilot audibly swallowed for a second, clearly startled by that attack I just performed. Unlike the Shadow Demon, I was a very real and very present threat. After all, not just anybody could kill a zombie with a bottle toss like that. At the end of the day, Gaia was still a world of science, not a world of swords and magic. Even the evolving situation in Southern Plains couldn’t change this ingrained mindset.

“You-you-you… are you some sort of demon?” At this point, even his exosuit was starting to shake -exactly how scared of me was he?

“Of course, I’m a human. Do I look evil to you?”

“Then how do you explain those wings on your back? Why are you floating in the air?”

“Oh right, I have a way to prove my identity.” I opened up a holographic screen without answering him, then tossed out an official-looking appointment letter his way. “You look like a policeman. As you can see, I’m from the Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users. I’ve been granted the authority to mobilise all the forces within Southern Plains right now. Regardless of whether you are a policeman or a soldier, you have to listen to my command based on this appointment letter. If you refuse, the Federation has also given me the authority to execute you on the crime of betraying humanity.”

“The Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users?!”

Hearing his surprised gasp, I couldn’t help but raise my chin a little. “That’s right. I have the rank of Major. My mission here is to gather up all the remaining forces…”

“Sorry, but I’ve never heard of such a shady-sounding bureau.” Having said that, the pilot focused his gun on me once more. “Now, stay away, or you will have to answer to my lasers.”

“…”

No way… Aunty Xinqing, didn’t you say I have the authority to mobilise all the forces in Southern Plains? How did I fail already in my first attempt at looking cool? Why has no one heard of this bureau with an inordinately long name?



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 716: Searching for More Survivors

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

Everyone had their own roles in the aftermath of this rescue mission. Floater, being not very sociable, was tasked with guarding the perimeter against any fleeing hoodlum.

Back when I first charged into the inn, a number of hoodlums tried to flee during the chaos while some chose to hide themselves. Regardless of what they chose, they were all killed, either by Floater’s detachable bits, or by me. Naturally, that tri-colored hoodlum wasn’t the last hostage situation I encountered while cleaning out the inn, but these dastardly fools all met their fate at the hands of my Shadow Demon.

Of the survivors we managed to rescue, the majority were young women, with a small minority being men. However, these men all shared one common trait in that they looked slender and submissive. The kind that would never raise a sound even if you hit them. And as if to prove that point, we found bruise marks all over them.

Amongst the survivors, we found a dozen or so students, some male and some female, all in bad shape. The female students were what the hoodlums considered “fresh goods”, while the more attractive looking male students weren’t spared as well…

Once we were done settling in the survivors, Bitong left Qiaoqiao behind to guard them, while she herself came up to me.

“Ke, we can’t keep them here forever, they have no way of defending themselves. We don’t have enough people to guarantee their safety either. And this inn is hard to defend as a shelter.”

Bitong continued, “The only reason those hoodlums chose this area was because of the luxurious setting. Their leader is able to control the undead, so no matter where they picked, they would be just as safe. But we don’t have that ability. Once the undead assault this inn, we can’t hold this inn. We need a plan soon.”

“I know we can’t stay here long. But finding a location to relocate to will take some time.” I fell silent for a long while. “How about we lead some of the surviving soldiers or policemen here first? We can find a new shelter once we’ve done that.”

Bitong thought about it as well. “Hmmm… that should work. It’s not like we have the numbers to safely escort them elsewhere anyway. But Ke… are you sure about that… thing?”

As she said that, she glanced in the direction of the bony giant the size of a hill. Even though the tri-colored hoodlum was dead, his little abomination was still there. Because of its grotesque appearance, it gave the entire courtyard a haunted look.

“It’s fine, I’ve already checked it for a Soul Flame.”

Despite what I said, I was a little perplexed by the giant as well. Why hadn’t it collapsed yet? Why didn’t the system give me a notification to slay it? Neither was there some notification to say that I had slain it. Even so, based on my observations, it was most likely dead.

“I see… Anyway, that giant gives me the creeps, I still think we should get out as soon as possible,” said Bitong.

“Mhm, I agree.” I nodded in agreement. “Floater.” I opened up the comms channel to contact Floater who had just left for the entrance to chase down an undead she spotted. “I’ll leave the safety of this area to you. I’m planning to gather up the nearby policemen and soldiers.”

“Roger.” She answered while still firing at the undead.

“I have the coordinates given to me by Aunty Xinqing, that should be enough to find them… I’m off then.”

“Be safe, and come back quickly.” Bitong waved her hands as if she was bidding farewell to her husband leaving for work. “We’ll be waiting for you right here.”

“I won’t be long.” Looking at that longing look in her eyes, I flashed a quick smile before taking to the skies with a flap of my wings. “Don’t forget to prepare some food and water for those survivors. I’ll leave them in your care…”

With that done, I flew off towards the west. According to the map, the closest group of Federation combatants were ten kilometers away from me. Not a far distance, even with Southern Plains in its current state.

As I continued flying along the shortest path to the survivors, I continuously observed the surroundings beneath me. Zombies filled every corner of the streets, peppered with some skeletal beasts. Due to their sheer size, they would often bump into the mindlessly wandering zombies, but they had no particular reason to avoid them, so they just squashed them.

By now, most of the four million or so residents in the city were all dead, so the streets weren’t filled with screams of terror like yesterday. Neither were there any calls for help. Those who were still alive at this point, either had some sort of ability, or were protected themselves.

A short while later, I arrived at my destination: a towering building that was at least a couple dozen stories high. Before the crisis, it was known as Shamanta Trade Center, a giant supermarket that sold everything. Maybe not slaves… but in all honesty, Shamanta Trade Center was a famous supermarket that had branches spanning Gaia.

The Federation combatants I was searching for were located somewhere in that building. A logical choice, given how much supplies were in that single building. Yet with how high the human traffic must have been, especially since the virus struck in the day, the majority of customers probably never left the building at all…

I nosedived towards the rooftop, ignoring the screaming winds around me as I made a solid touch down. But before I had even stabilised myself, dozens of zombies came swarming towards me, eyes ravenous and teeth glistening.

Hmph. Mindless trash.

I beat my wings, launching a wave of energy feathers at the lowly monsters who dared to attack me. Each feather managed to pierce a zombie’s head before exploding in a flashy burst of blood and light.



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 715: Shadow Demon

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

“Now. Let’s talk about our little game… What Uzel has below its palm is the suite I stayed in last night. There are three women inside who were… entertaining me. However, those harlots are nothing compared to you. And since you’re now here, their existence no longer matters.” Having said that, the tri-colored hoodlum lowered the giant skeleton’s hand, as if he actually wanted to smash the building.

“Wait!” I shouted reflexively out of panic. The moment I did so, the giant’s palm halted in mid-air, pausing a few feet away from the roof of the building in a pose like it was ready to deal the final blow at any moment.

Crap… he’s doing this on purpose. He’s just waiting for me to call out… he knows they are my weakness.

“Why? Do you have something to say to me?” The tri-colored hoodlum lifted his head to look at me, revealing a sickeningly wide grin on his face. “Don’t worry, that was just a demonstration. But if you do not want to play the game, maybe it won’t just be a simple demonstration anymore. I wonder how many will die if I smash the building now.”

“Wait. You want to play a game right? Alright, how do we play?” At this point, there wasn’t really much less I could say to this scumbag. I knew he was more than capable of following through with what he said, so I dared not move a single muscle more.

“Simple, really. You take off one piece of clothing, I’ll smash one less room.”

“Huh?” My clothes? Are you kidding me?

“Was I not clear enough? Fine.” The tri-colored hoodlum looked at my confused expression and smiled even wider. “For every piece of clothing you take off and throw at me, I will let the survivors of a single room go. You have ten seconds to consider, if I don’t see any clothes being taken off after ten seconds, SMASH!”

There’s so many rooms in the inn, how am I supposed to know which room even has survivors, and which do not? I don’t think I even have enough articles of clothing for every single room… Hold on… why am I even following his orders to strip?

How dare that scumbag try and humiliate me like that?! I’m going to kill him!

“Hah. Grinding your teeth isn’t going to do anything. So are you saving them, or not? If you don’t want to, I will just flatten them now. I take no responsibility for their deaths at that point. Because you were the one that judged them unworthy of even stripping.”

Looking at that smug expression on his face, I only wanted to beat him up and grind him into a pulp more!

“One… Two… Three… “ The tri-colored hoodlum nonchalantly started counting down, seemingly ready to kill those survivors at a moment’s notice. However, me stripping was never going to happen. But the survivors also had to be saved…

In that case, it’s time to go all in. There’s one more trump card I haven’t shown him yet, so there’s still hope…

Shadow Demon!

I activated the skill which I had gained after becoming a Fallen Angel. It was a terrifying skill which summoned a shadowy elemental being able to operate independently even after leaving my side.

Even though this was the first time I was activating this skill, I had this strange feeling that this skill was powerful; it was more than capable of killing that hoodlum in one strike.

“Eight… Nine… Ten… Since you won’t strip, then I guess I will have to bear with the thought of having to smash up those rooms. Even though they were truly enjoyable last night, it’s their fault for not being as beautiful as you are. Let’s hope their deaths won’t affect you too much. Don’t re–”

That last regret would never leave his lips, because the second he started speaking it, my shadow miraculously appeared behind him, bearing that same winged silhouette I had. Its arm transformed into a sickle shape immediately, then silently stabbed right through the back of his head…

Uzel’s arm was already raised up high but was now stuck there frozen awkwardly. Without that dead man’s command, that palm would never come crashing down. Even so, I did not feel secure enough. “Cut off his head!” I gave the command -no matter how much of a cockroach he was, there was no surviving a decapitation.

Shadow Demon obediently swung its sickle as I had commanded, easily slicing through the hoodlum’s meaty neck in an instant. Even as his head rolled off his shoulders, his eyes stared blankly ahead, completely unaware of what it was that killed him. Finally, it landed on the ground with a thud, rolling ominously for a few more meters, as if it hadn’t come to terms with its untimely demise yet…

“Next time, try not to act so overconfident in front of me, idiot. But I guess there won’t be a next time.” I spat in the direction of his corpse. “Shadow Demon, return to me.”

Shadow Demon’s existence was a constant drain on my SP. In my current state, I could at most maintain it for ten seconds, after which my SP pool would be emptied.

At the same time as I recalled Shadow Demon, I gulped down a small bottle of SP Recovery Potion. It was an expensive skill, to be sure, but it was well worth its cost. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the flexibility and unpredictability it brought to my arsenal was more than enough to turn me into an expert assassin. If only my SP could support it for longer periods…

With the threat neutralised, I casually flew up to the giant’s cave of an eye socket to have a look. To astonishment, there was no Soul Flame inside. That could only mean one thing…

It’s not an undead? And why hasn’t it fallen apart even after that hoodlum’s death? Strange… there’s just so many unanswered questions today… but at least those survivors are safe.

Now that the hoodlum was confirmed dead, I flew back onto the ground, my mind only focused on the women he claimed were inside that suite. They were the only survivors he mentioned, and it only made sense to start from them. Yet the moment I stepped into the room, I realised how naive I had been…

I should have realised from the start how strange the whole atmosphere of the inn was from the moment I stepped in.

In a room filled with the smell of death, I found three pristine female corpses lying on a huge bed…

So it wouldn’t have made a difference if that giant had smashed the room or not…

“I’m sorry for not being able to rescue you three… But don’t worry, I’ve already taken revenge for you, so rest in peace…” With regret in my heart, I solemnly backed out of the room and closed it.

It was half an hour later that we finished saving the over hundred survivors in the inn. The girls and I had them gathered in one of the garden-esque public springs while Lixiang was in charge of reporting the mission details to Aunty Xinqing. Even if Lixiang wasn’t particularly comfortable talking to her, basic communication was still possible.



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 714: Rescue Mission(3)

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

As the ground tore asunder, a gigantic hand of bones clawed out from the void, each of its fingers measuring up to an astonishing two meters in width!

Caught off-guard, I barely managed to block one of its fingers with Icy Inferno, hacking off a sizable chunk of its bones in the process. However, the monster was just too huge, and the gap between me and the tri-colored hoodlum only grew wider. Unless I could fully slice apart the hand, there was no way I was going to reach that hoodlum.

The bony hand grabbed down on me, paying no heed at all to the damage I did to it. Not daring to take on that frightful force, I could only beat a hasty retreat. Barely a second later, the hand came crashing down with a deafening boom and crunch.

Once more, the ground tore apart from the force. The creature beneath continued clawing its way upwards, revealing more of its unholy visage to the world. At this point, over half of its upper body had been revealed, coming in at a staggering twenty meters tall. Just like its hand, its body was composed of countless smaller bones, arranged in a way that only the deepest, darkest depths of hell could have produced!

Even now, I couldn’t tell whether this monster was made up of human bones or animal bones. But one thing was certain – he was blocking my way!

The appearance of such a massive creature instantly made the courtyard of the inn a lot cramper. Its size sent boulders flying all over as it cast an ominous shadow over the whole building. Had it been anyone else right now, they would have probably buckled from the sheer pressure it exuded.

“Uzel, capture her!”

The instant he gave that command, the gigantic bone monster swept his right hand across the courtyard with terrific force. Thanks to its sheer size, I was forced into the air by the lack of space. Yet the moment I did so, the skies above turned dark.

Another hand was closing down on me from above…

“CRASH!”

The bony palm slammed down onto a pavilion as I eked out a last minute dodge using Revolution Slice. As I swerved to the side, missing its bony exterior by mere inches, I counterattacked with a powerful slash.

Unfortunately, even that wasn’t enough to stop the massive titan that it was. In the grand scheme of things, the mere length of Icy Inferno’s blade wasn’t much when compared to a monstrously thick hand like that.

I ducked behind the giant in the meantime. My aim, to slay that hoodlum in one decisive strike. But the scumbag was nowhere to be seen… Crap, did he hide himself already?

“Hahahaha. You think you can harm me? My Uzel is invincible! ****, why aren’t you wearing a skirt?”

Beneath me!

I immediately thought to look down, yet the moment I did so, I felt a tingling sensation at the back of my neck. Something was wrong, my instincts told me.

Without wasting even a second further to look at him, I flew higher into the sky. Wings beating furiously, I ascended over a dozen meters in an explosive burst of speed.

A plume of dust blew up from beneath me. The hoodlum’s surefire three-strike combo had failed to defeat me, and that left the scumbag a little deflated as he called out, “Aren’t you quick at running away. I dare you to stay up there forever then!’

I continued hovering in the air as I gazed down at him. From this vantage point, I was even more awed by the sheer size of that hoodlum’s monster. Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that I was amazed by his sheer luck.

Suddenly, the hoodlum walked up to the giant, and in a manner I definitely did not expect, he climbed up to the top of the creature’s skull. However, he did so by melding into its back as a parasite would, then wiggled his way up to its head…

It’s almost as if they were one and the same…

“So, why have you come before me?” Having finished that strange ascent, the hoodlum craned his neck upwards as he asked, “Are you here to kill? But even if you are here to kill me, how did you know I would be here?”

I stared at the scumbag mutely. His abilities were a huge unknown factor facing me. I couldn’t figure out a plan of attack right away, so I decided to observe for the time being. Perhaps his words would reveal some information.

“Not going to answer?” The hoodlum smirked. “Well, how about we do a little thinking. Exactly what do I have that’s worth your attention? My life, perhaps. But you probably thought I was dead. Honestly, I can’t even believe I’m alive… In that case, the only logical answer would be those survivors.”

“…”

Crap. This guy is smarter than I thought -he actually figured that out in an instant.

Seeing me silent, the tri-colored hoodlum continued monologuing. “I remember you saying “so it is you” when you first saw me, correct? You must have gotten information about me from somewhere. And I bet your motive is to rescue those survivors. You are the kind to indulge in these sort of self-righteous games, after all. I could tell since the moment I first met you yesterday.”

“You’ve grown smarter.” I finally answered through gritted teeth.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve always been smart.” The hoodlum smiled triumphantly. “I almost thought you were never going to speak. Since you’re finally in the mood for talking, how about we play a game?”

This time, I did not give him time to finish speaking before tossing a Fireball at him. Yet even when faced with a hurtling mass of fire, the hoodlum merely smiled. The giant lifted its left hand and smacked the skill away easily. The moment the fiery mass came into contact with the massive bony hand, it dissipated harmlessly.

“The game hasn’t started yet, don’t be so hasty.”

Having said that, the hoodlum shifted the same left hand of that giant over to the roof of one of the suites. Even with two stories, this detached suite looked almost like a doll’s house compared to the massive titan. But what was more astonishing was how he moved that giant’s hand. Rather than moving, it reformed itself above the suite.

That’s right. That hand is made up of countless bones to begin with. Even that hand shape is nothing but a facade. As long as he so desires, that scumbag can probably maneuver the entire giant in any direction he wants.

“What are you planning?!”

That *******… don’t tell me he’s actually mad enough to smash that suite… there could still be people living there…

“What am I planning?” The hoodlum laughed maniacally. “Hahaha… you should be asking what I plan to do with you!”

“…”

That degenerate… Does he plan on laying his hands on a guy as well?! I swear I’m going to stab him right in the heart!



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Devil Evolution Catalogue Chapters 708 to 713

708 to 713 are out!

Click the Link to Start Reading:
» Chapter 708 | Chapter 709 | Chapter 710 «
» Chapter 711 | Chapter 712 | Chapter 713 «

Chapter 713: Rescue Mission (3)

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

From high above, on the roof of a neighbouring office building, we looked down upon the hot springs inn. Even from where we stood, we could feel the despair and terror oozing from its once-idyllic walls. Faint groans of women, coupled with the tortured cries of the men, filled the hellscape beneath us.

Based on Aunty Xinqing’s information, that tri-colored hoodlum somehow managed to scrounge up a few dozen lackeys to follow his bidding. Since yesterday, he had begun searching for food, and had accumulated quite a stockpile for himself. A fair bit of that food came from robbing the survivors, of whom some of the men even joined his ranks. As for those who couldn’t bring themselves to do so, their fates were naturally sealed.

After all, for a scumbag like him, he did not really need the men. He only wanted women. Young, beautiful women. Whether it was for his own relief or as a reward for his lackeys, women filled the perfect role.

“Look after Lixiang for me, I’ll take care of them myself.”

“Good luck, big brother, make sure to **** them up good!” Qiaoqiao’s interest was immediately piqued when she heard I was about to charge in alone.

“Qiaoqiao! A girl shouldn’t use such language!” Bitong chided the little girl.

“Okay…”

Honestly, I would love to **** them up real good too. But I definitely wasn’t going to say that out loud -that would ruin my image.

“Punishing those evildoers is a way of protecting the innocents. I will make sure that none of them escape.” The words were different, but the meaning was ultimately the same.

I turned towards Floater. “Floater, I need you to surround the inn with your detachable bits. If you see any of the bad guys try to escape, kill them.”

“But what if some innocent survivors get killed by accident?” Qiaoqiao suddenly asked, not at all affected by her earlier scolding. “Once big brother starts fighting, I’m sure the survivors will try to escape during the chaos.”

“Those lackeys are quite easy to spot, I’m sure no one here will make a mistake.” I pointed at one of the balconies where a lackey stood watch. “See that, their hairstyles should all be as garish as that hoodlum. Probably with earrings and some form of outlandish dressing. Clearly, not a decent person.”

“Yeah. Those bad people look so stupid.” Qiaoqiao nodded in agreement. “They don’t seem to have any exosuits either. If we all go down, we can block the exits together.”

“No. Lixiang still doesn’t have an exosuit. I need you all to guard her, in case of an emergency. Those undead are getting stronger by the second. Some can fly, and some can even tunnel through the earth. Who knows what other tricks they have up their sleeves. I’ll take care of those underlings in the inn. Sending too many people might even alarm them unnecessarily. Wouldn’t want them to start using the hostages in a fit of desperation.”

I climbed atop the ledge, back faced towards the girls. “Floater, I’ll leave the perimeter to you. Don’t let a single one escape.”

Having said that, I jumped off the roof. The winds around me roared as I plunged downwards. All around me, the scenery changed faster than even my eyes could register.

Ten meters above ground, I suddenly spread open my wings, soaring towards the lobby of the inn.

“BANG!!!”

A deafening explosion later, I was officially in the inn. The wooden walls of this traditional inn were no hindrance for me at all as I rammed right through. The fragments rained down amidst a cloud of dust that blanketed the room. Had I been none the wiser, I would have thought that a bomb had just gone off.

“Who’s there!”

The lobby was guarded by three underlings, each armed with a gun that was most likely stolen from a policeman. These weapons were definitely a threat, but only if they were able to hit me in the first place.

I did not answer them. With the dust and fragments still obscuring their vision, I swung Icy Inferno at them in a mighty arc of ice and fire. Before they could even point their guns at me, their heads had already left their shoulders. They did not even have the time to scream or feel pain.

“Justice has been served…” I coldly spat at their corpses before advancing further into the inn.

According to Aunty Xinqing’s data, these three were guilty of holding captive over a dozen women. Had it not been for this unprecedented crisis, such scum would have already been brought to justice.

Unfortunately, the crisis had proved to be a fortuitous turn of events for evildoers like them. While everyone was suffering, they seemed to have been living an even better life than before. An existence like that could only be described as twisted, just like Southern Plains in its current state…

I quickened my pace as I strode through the inn. From time to time, a gun-wielding lackey would try to stop me, but they were all met with the steely justice of Icy Inferno.

Icy Inferno’s edge was so sharp it could kill without drawing blood. Coupled with my long-ranged magical abilities and unearthly speed, none of them even got a good look at me before they died.

“Magnificent.”

Just as the last of the lackeys were taken care of, a steady clapping suddenly rang out from behind me.

The source was a man with greyish pupils, hair dyed in red, yellow, and orange. He was dressed in a pair of boxer shorts and an open shirt that revealed his bare chest fully as he stood before one of the suite rooms in the inn.

He smirked as he slowly clapped his hands. All the while, his eyes never left my body – hateful, how I wish I could lop his head right this instant!

Yet even though I had already prepared myself for this, when I finally got a close look at his face, I couldn’t help but be surprised anyway. “So it is you.”

“Hah, I bet you never expected me to survive, did you?” As he said that, his eyes travelled along to my wings. “So… you have been chosen by the new world as well, I see. Rather, that is only to be expected. Still, I have to admit that you’re strong. Decisive. Ruthless. I like that.”

“Disgusting.” Every second he laid his eyes on me, I could feel my body getting defiled. Finally I could take it no longer. “Die!”

“Protect me!”

At the same time as I swung Icy Inferno, the tri-colored hoodlum beat a well-prepared retreat. A second later, a giant silhouette burst out of the ground. It was a human-shaped hand formed out of countless bones…



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 712: Rescue Mission(1)

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

“Pfft. Qiaoqiao would rather die…”

As always, Qiaoqiao’s little raspberries and spots of mischief were cute and endearing. While she might have seemed like a ball of perpetual energy, she always made sure to get the necessary amount of sleep.

“Mum, the factory we were in was just attacked. There was no way to collate the data, and I’m afraid that bio-exosuit was also…” Bitong began explaining the events of the factory.

“An attack?” However, it seemed like Aunty Xinqing’s mind wasn’t on the lost data at all. “Did you guys get hurt anywhere?”

“We’re fine.” Bitong shook her head. “Ke was so awesome back there. There were too many monsters for him to finish killing, but he easily escorted us out of the factory.”

“As long as everyone is fine.” Aunty Xinqing finished the rest of her coffee at that point. “Right, I’ve just had my assistant tally all the available forces in Southern Plains. This includes policemen, soldiers, and special forces. However, it would be difficult for them to locate you, so you would have to figure out that part on your own. After all, not everyone can be as strong as our little Ke.”

Southern Plains had definitely gotten much more dangerous overnight. Yesterday, the worst we had to worry about were zombies. Halfway through the day, skeletal beasts started popping up. Then, in the middle of the night, countless ghosts started roaming the city as well. Had if not been for the system giving me that top tier bloodline, I would have probably kicked the bucket by now…

If even someone as powerful as me was having difficulties, the rest of the normal civilians must have had it way worse.

I had no hopes of those forces Aunty Xinqing mentioned meeting up with us. I just hoped that they could stay alive till we found them.

“We will start with rescuing those survivors first. That hoodlum is not exactly known for being kind.”

In fact, that tri-colored hoodlum was violent, lustful, and more importantly, dangerous. I was very much concerned about the wellbeing of the survivors…

Even though this might have sounded rich coming from someone who had abandoned a group of survivors just yesterday. Those survivors were at least armed with entertainment exosuits. It was my opinion then that they could make it out safely. Furthermore, their cowardly antics did not sit well with all of us… and cowardly was being generous. Some would consider what they did treacherous.

The survivors under the rule of that tri-colored hoodlum were different. They lived under constant tyranny, especially the women, who no doubt had suffered unspeakable treatment.

Absolutely abhorrent… there was no way I could stand for such cruelty to women!

However, there was still one nagging bit of information that bothered me.

The last time we left that tri-colored hoodlum, he was stuck in an elevator with his lackeys that had turned into zombies. That hoodlum had even drunk the so-called Gene Enhancement Serum, and was beginning to show signs of zombifying himself.

No matter how I looked at it, he did not seem like the type who could pull off a miraculous escape… unless he did not zombify at all! Instead, he awakened some sort of supernatural ability…

That had to be it!

The evil really do prosper! Well, if the heavens won’t deal with this scumbag, I will!

“It’s a shame about the data, but what matters is that you are all safe. Even so, I need you all to understand that this mission isn’t like the previous encounters you’ve had. This is a rescue mission. The incident has to be handled well if the Federation is to regain some semblance of trust back from the masses.”

“I understand, Aunty Xinqing. Don’t worry, those hoodlums won’t stand a chance.” The moment I recalled those scenes of him forcing himself on the women, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of anger well up in me. My face darkened as my voice grew low. “I will show him that the rule of law still exists. And if they wish to perpetrate evil in Southern Plains… I will make them understand that even if the law can’t touch them, I can!”

“Very good, Ke. Your aunty caught all of that on camera. She will upload it onto the web later on. That way, everyone will know how righteous the Goddess of Hope is.”

“Eh?! Did I just accidentally ham it up?”

“Not at all, that was just you being honest with your feelings.” Aunty Xinqing gave me a cheeky wink. “Alright, do your job well, your aunty is rooting for you.”

Regardless of whether or not those were my honest feelings, Aunty Xinqing was a lady who went through with what she said.

Honestly, this wasn’t a bad arrangement for me. Uploading that video would probably increase my follower count. And I really wasn’t lying either. I did believe myself to be just! More believers meant more points for me -definitely a good thing.

Long story short, saving those survivors was now a mission I had to accomplish flawlessly, whether it was for my sake or for the Federation’s.

“Let’s go, time to rescue those survivors.”

“Got it.”

“Your Highness is too generous with mere mortals.”

“Big brother is the coolest!”

“Roger.”

With that little debrief over and done with, we followed the map’s directions to the hot springs inn. Thanks to our exosuits, the travelling time wasn’t as long as before.

Wings spread wide open and Icy Inferno in hand, I took the role of vanguard, while Floater guarded our rear with her detachable bits. Since Lixiang had no exosuit of her own, Qiaoqiao ended up carrying her while Bitong guarded the front.

Compared to yesterday, we not only encountered zombies along the way, we bumped into a number of reanimated beast skeletons as well. Had it not been for this crisis, I would have never expected so many beast corpses to be present in Southern Plains. An unfortunate discovery for us, seeing as those beasts were even more ferocious in death than they were in life.

Roughly half an hour later, we safely reached our destination. Along the way, we took care of a number of skeletal beasts, including one skeletal Coatl. However, with Icy Inferno in hand, even a massive foe like that was taken care of in a couple of swings. In under ten seconds, that menacing monster was nothing more than a fat wad of 500 points.



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 711: Escape

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

Lixiang commanded an army of insect drones from the safety of the sidelines, constantly ferrying those lightning talismans to the battlefield. At ten points a talisman, a single talisman was able to easily finish off one of those skeletal monsters, efficiently turning a quick profit for Lixiang.

Even so, the seemingly endless stream of monsters slowly but surely cornered us into an ever-shrinking space. No matter how many we destroyed, their numbers just kept growing.

“We can’t keep this up forever… there’s too many of them…” Qiaoqiao barely managed to catch her breath as she dumped her third laser gun on the floor, completely spent on ammo. She grabbed another gun off the rack they had prepared beforehand and immediately began firing at the monsters.

Back at the frontlines, I swung Icy Inferno in a wide arc, carving a glaring crescent of light through the sea of bones before me, destroying five of those monsters in the process…

“Bitong, how is the report coming along?”

“There’s too much data, I need another ten minutes minimum… That bio-exosuit hasn’t been fully grown and tuned as well. The data won’t be accurate…”

Bitong had already given up on defending and was focused entirely on collating the data, but even that wasn’t enough to speed the process along.

“Should we wait till the bio-exosuit is done?” I gulped down another SP recovery potion; the all-too-familiar sensation of emptiness quickly abated. However, my face was still a sickly white. Even with the potions, my hands were beginning to feel increasingly more like lead with every swing of Icy Inferno. Without time to rest, these symptoms of fatigue would only get worse…

“One more hour, minimum. This one would have to closely monitor the bio-exosuit throughout that process as well.” Lixiang was the one who answered me in an anxious tone, rather than Bitong, owing to the fact that she was more familiar with the process. “Your Highness, this one doesn’t think we can hold this position any longer. We need to evacuate quickly. Our enemies seemed to have brought an endless horde to bear against us…”

“Alright.”

An hour was clearly too much right now. We would probably be the ones who needed regrowing by the end of one hour, not just that exosuit.

I guess we are evacuating then…

I swung Icy Inferno once more, clearing out a large swathe of the monsters before turning around to face the girls. “Let’s give up on this factory. Sis, I need you to lead Lixiang and Qiaoqiao to the elevator and wait for us there. Floater, you’re with me in covering their rear.”

“Got it.” Upon hearing my orders, Floater did not hesitate in redirecting her detachable bits to focus entirely on clearing a path.

“Qiaoqiao, let’s go. Both of us will escort Lixiang out.” Bitong was equally as decisive, leading the little girl to the elevator right as she finished saying that.

At this point, we were all in full evacuation mode. Compared to some fancy data on bio-exosuits, the safety and well-being of the girls was infinitely more important.

A moment later, the girls were safely out of the way, leaving just me and Floater. A thought occurred to me then. I instantly bought 500 Inferno Talismans off the marketplace, then tossed them all over the floor. Because they were all self-activating, the talismans immediately self-immolated, forming a roaring wall of flames, separating us from the monsters.

A number of the skeletal monsters tried to ram their way through the wall, but that clearly wasn’t going to work, seeing as fire was the bane of all undead…

With some of their comrades acting as the proverbial canary in the mines, the remaining skeletal monsters knew not to try their luck any further. They merely waited before the wall, as if they already knew that this wall would run out eventually. A pity… really. If they had all rushed into the wall, I would have easily doubled, maybe even tripled my investment into those talismans. After all, a single monster was more than enough to cover the cost of a talisman. But there was no way such a cheat-like farming method would exist in real life…

“Let’s get out of here, those talismans won’t last for long.” I turned around and ran towards the elevator after saying that, not at all caring if my points were increasing or not.

Floater followed close behind me, her detachable bits circling around us as a protective barrier. In case of an emergency, they could at least act as a last-ditch shield.

“Big brother, over here! Over here!” Qiaoqiao waved at us on the tips of her toes. The girls had already gathered within the elevator, waiting for us to board it.

Hearing her familiar and pleasant childlike voice through that clobbered-together exosuit, I couldn’t help but feel a little comforted. The unimpressive nature of that exosuit only made her hand waving that much more amusing to watch.

“Everyone, get in, it’s time to say goodbye to this factory.”

A while later, we safely arrived back on the surface. The ride upwards was admittedly not a very relaxing one. My greatest fear was that those monsters would suddenly attack our carriage as it ascended the elevator shaft. Given how small the carriage was, fighting would have been a nightmare.

Thankfully, those fears never came to pass.

“So, where are we off to next? The inn?” Qiaoqiao did not waste any time in asking.

“We will head to the inn first to rescue those survivors. Once that’s done, we can use that area as a gathering point for the nearby policemen and soldiers.” I laid out the plan I had thought of previously. It was a rough plan, but it provided definite direction. “We will also need to find a safe haven for the survivors. Lastly, our end goal is to uncover the mastermind behind this tragedy.”

“Kay~. But Qiaoqiao has to report in with Aunty Xinqing first. And hand in the combat footage at the same time.” Without waiting for me to even say a word, Qiaoqiao had already opened up a comms channel with Aunty Xinqing.

“Qiao? That was quick – there’s something you need your Aunty Xinqing for already?”

On the other end of the holographic feed, Aunty Xinqing was lazily sipping a cup of coffee.

“Ehh? Aunty Xinqing is so lucky. Qiaoqiao wants to have a coffee break too!”

“Hah, jealous?” Aunty Xinqing lowered her cup of coffee then pointed at her prominent eye bags. “I haven’t slept since last night. If it wasn’t for this cup of coffee, I wouldn’t be able to function at all. How about Qiaoqiao try to stay up for a night as well? It won’t be pleasant, I assure you. Late nights are a girl’s worst enemy, after all!”



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 710: Defensive Battle

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

Thanks to the talismans, we were actually less afraid of the dreaded ghosts as compared to other monsters. Their vaunted ability to pass through objects was nothing before our self-activating talismans.

Bitong quickly got into one of the newly-assembled exosuits while Lixiang remained in her work exosuit, seeing as the last exosuit wasn’t done yet. Perhaps that might even have been a blessing for the girl. Without the constraints of a mechanical suit, she could deploy our talismans even faster.

In that case, only the skeletal monsters were left -time for me to enter the stage.

“Take cover, everyone.” I spread my wings wide open, and as they started flapping with a mighty gust, countless purple energy feathers shot out like a barrage of missiles at the monsters.

This was the Flying Feathers skill I had just learnt from the system. It was an area-of-effect skill that I still had no inkling as to what its damage would be like, given that this was my first time using it. However, this simple activation was enough to drain my entire body of SP, to the point where I almost couldn’t retract my wings.

As I felt the hollow sensation overcome my body, I quickly took out an SP recovery potion from my inventory and gulped it.

Geez… this is the one last time I’m using that skill so recklessly…

However, I was soon interrupted by the wonderful sound of the system notifying me that I had just earned 200 points for myself…

Countless energy feathers peppered the lounge area, exploding upon contact with the first skeletal monster it hit. Even if these feathers weren’t particularly deadly, their sheer numbers led to an unending chain of explosions that swiftly snuffed out the Soul Flames of the undead…

Well, at least the skill works… but I really need to be careful the next time I use it.

At this point, I was convinced it would be much easier for me to just wade into the undead, Icy Inferno in hand. Like a whirlwind of death, I hacked away in every direction. Wherever Icy Inferno swung, a swathe of undead would obliterated, leaving nothing but a pile of inanimate bones.

Back at the girls, the battle was proceedingly smoothly thanks to Floater’s twelve detachable bits. These funnel-shaped contraptions were all equipped with laser cannons that easily destroyed any ordinary ghost that stood in their way, thanks to the nature of their energy beams.

With Bitong and Qiaoqiao covering the flanks while Lixiang played the role of talisman artillery, the ghosts stood no chance at all.

While their new exosuits looked rather underwhelming, these new suits had all been equipped with laser guns and swords. Coupled with their skillful piloting and talismans, the ghosts were nothing more than points to be harvested. And speaking of talismans, Floater also had talismans on her, but those were all provided by me, seeing as she couldn’t access the Marketplace.

Even now, Floater did not know that these talismans all came from a mysterious system. Rather, she just assumed that this was one more manifestation of the weirdness that spawned after the zombie crisis.

All good things had to come to an end eventually. Even the undead did not possess enough ghosts to sustain the girls’ constant farming. Soon, the room was cleared of them.

However, the same couldn’t be said for the skeletal monsters. Despite my best efforts, they were still pouring out of that hole with tireless ferocity.

My points kept climbing at rates I had never seen before, but I wasn’t a machine and soon I would have to rest. No amount of SP recovery potions could help me recover from the fatigue of fighting for so long.

“Step aside.”

Just when I thought I was about to falter, Floater’s voice called out to me from behind. I ducked aside without hesitation. While I might not know what it was exactly that I was dodging, I trusted her -so I dodged.

Barely a moment later, a barrage of lasers shot past me, hitting three of the skeletal monsters that were about to overwhelm me before blasting the rest of the undead monsters. Such was the strength of Floater’s twelve laser cannons that I could feel the hairs on my arms being singed a little despite dodging the beams.

“Are you trying to get big brother killed?!” Qiaoqiao snapped at the soldier. “Do you know how close you were to hurting him!”

Floater remained stoically silent, electing instead to focus on controlling her detachable bits.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me, you bad woman!”

“Qiaoqiao!” Bitong hurriedly held the girl back. “We’re still in the middle of a fight, we can discuss this later.”

“But that bad lady…”

“The mortal is a detestable one, for sure. But Bitong is right, now’s not the time for internal fighting.” As she said that, Lixiang scattered a dozen or so talismans which had a simple lightning drawn on them. Like a bunch of intelligent projectiles, they homed in on a skeletal monster despite there being tens of meters between her and the undead.

The talismans transformed into a bolt of lightning upon contact, zapping the skeleton and obliterating the Soul Flame within in one single powerful strike.

“Woah! Those talismans are amazing! They can even seek out targets!” Ever the capricious girl, Qiaoqiao had already forgotten about her argument after being dazzled by Lixiang’s attack.

“Those aren’t just simple talismans.” Bitong was quick to answer. “Lixiang managed to dig up some tiny surprises during her spare time. Look there, don’t you see something flying back right now?”

Looking in the direction of Bitong’s fingers, Qiaoqiao spotted a bunch of bee-like objects flying out from the lounge area.

“Insect drones? Qiaoqiao has seen them before!”

“That’s right, those are insect drones. This is a factory, after all. Having some insect drones lying around is to be expected.” Bitong continued with her explanation. “These mechanical bugs can see what the eyes can’t. And with their impressive strength to size ratio, they make perfect little workhorses.”



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 709: Ambush!

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

“Ahem… So, I have a mission for you all.” The conversation suddenly turned serious as Aunty Xinqing finished ogling. “We found a group of survivors hiding out in a hot springs inn. However, the leader of this group has awakened his own supernatural abilities, and has begun leading his lackeys on a crime spree. We hope that you can take care of them as elegantly as always, then save the survivors.”

“Hot springs?” The moment those two words came to mind, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity.

“The inn is located in the 11th district, coincidentally where you guys are at right now.” Aunty Xinqing looked at Floater through the holographic screen. “Floater, open up your map, I’ll have the coordinates marked on it.”

“Understood.”

Floater opened up the map as instructed, laying out a holographic 3d layout of the area before us. The map itself had all twelve districts on it -we were currently located in the southern quadron of the city. I quickly noticed the blue arrow head floating above one of the buildings. The inn in question already had a yellow circle around it, marking it as our next objective.

With a tap of her fingers, Floater enlarged that particular area, bringing up a detailed holographic image of the inn’s structure. As the image grew ever larger, we could almost see through the doors of the inn.

“Hey, that inn looks sort of familiar.”

Now that I had the chance to look at the building, that sense of familiarity only grew stronger. I knew I had seen it before, I just couldn’t remember where.

“Ah!” Qiaoqiao suddenly smacked her hands in revelation. “Big brother, isn’t that the inn we stayed in? That’s the road we took to Joyworks Game City too. Qiaoqiao still remembers the giant tree in that inn. Look, big brother, it’s right there! Qiaoqiao even buried a pretty stone under that tree.”

“Here is a photo of the survivors’ leader, have a look.”

Aunty Xinqing transferred the image over with a flick of her fingers. Yet the moment Qiaoqiao opened up the file, the little girl nearly jumped back in horror.

“Ah… why is it that bad man again… wasn’t he dead?”

The image showed a man with hair dyed in a garish mix of yellow, green and red. I immediately knew it was that worthless hoodlum we met before. Ironically, it was such a person that ended up controlling the fate of a group of survivors.
I guess evildoers really do prosper, huh? I sighed to myself mentally.

“You know this person? Well, he’s not a good person, I can tell you that much. Have a look at this photo we took of them…”

Aunty Xinqing promptly sent over another image.

This time, the photo was a collage of images depicting how the garish hoodlum and his lackeys mistreated the survivors under them. According to the timestamp, these photos were taken this morning. Within were photos of them beating up the men and abusing the women, the latter having an ominous mosaic already placed over them.

“These photos were taken this morning. That fellow seems to have the ability to control the zombies. And from the mostly unharmed state of the survivors around him, the ghosts probably weren’t an issue for them as well.” Aunty Xinqing’s face grew dark. “If only he wasn’t so heartless.”

“Once sis and Lixiang finish assembling the two exosuits, we will start the rescue mission.”

I knew full well what kind of character that tri-colored hoodlum was; even without being able to see the women in that photo, I could tell they must have gone through hell… Mercy is wasted on scumbags like him!

“Make sure to rescue them elegantly. And if possible, I want the footage to be as complete.” Aunty Xinqing nodded with a smile when she saw that I had accepted the mission. “The Federation is counting on you now, Ke! Oh. There’s something else too. Once they’re done, I need Bitong and Lixiang to submit a report on those bio-exosuits -our department needs it… Okay. Your Aunty is off now. Good luck, Ke!”

Just like that, the screen abruptly went dark. However, not before Aunty Xinqing sent me a flying kiss.

“The mother too?” While I did not actually accept that kiss, Floater seemed to have gotten the wrong idea anyway. “Scum.”

Wait… what do you mean ‘the mother too?’… Someone explain to me what’s going on here…

“Your Highness, the second set of magical armor is ready.”

Barely a second later, Lixiang and Bitong finished work on the second bio-exosuit.

“Good work, everyone.” I smiled at the girls. “Aunty Xinqing just told me that she needs a report as well. Could you girls prepare the necessary information?”

Dressed in a simple work exosuit, Lixiang lifted her arm up high. “Leave the third magical armor to this one.” She declared confidently.

“In that case, I will write up the report for the bio-exosuits -it wouldn’t be good to keep my mum waiting too long. I’ll come back to help once I’m done.”

Bitong and Lixiang split up the work without much fuss. Should everything proceed as planned, we should have a fully armed squad in another one to two hours.

Unfortunately, life always liked to throw us a curveball when things were starting to look good.

Just as Bitong was about to start work on the report, something happened next door in the lounge area.

Several skeletal Scorpids started crawling out from the giant hole left behind by that Sirenidae. Not only that, a host of skeletal beasts began to crawl out as well. Some looked like spiders except with four legs. Each limb was curved into a deadly blade that was reminiscent of a scythe. Then there were these lizard-like skeletons that were clad in armor. And there were just some I did not recognise at all.

In barely any time at all, the factory was swarmed by skeletal monsters. Soon after, ghosts started filling in from the walls, clearly formed from the vengeful spirits of the former inhabitants of this factory.

“Big brother, we’re under attack!”

“Get behind me, I’ll handle them.” With no time to lose, I quickly gave out a set of orders. “I’ll hold them off, you guys get to safety. Ready your talismans too!”



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 708: So I Can Do as I Wish?

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

So I’ve already become this strong… hah…

“A monster… a monster wearing a human’s skin…”

Amidst my stunned wonderment, a cold voice immediately rained on my parade, paired with an expressionless face of someone whom you would have thought the entire world owed her money.

What do you mean ‘a monster wearing a human’s skin’… the nerve of some people!

“A monster? The mortal needs to watch her tongue – do not sully His Highness’s divinity!” Ever my loyal self-proclaimed retainer, Lixiang, did not take any disrespect towards me lightly. “The seal on His Highness’s powers are about to come undone. When that day comes, His Highness will have the power to wipe out this planet with naught but a wave of his hands. Offending His Highness now is not a wise decision at all. The mortal had best beg for His Highness’s forgiveness now while she still can, lest something worse happens in the future. Do not say that this one did not warn you!”

“You…” Having listened to all of Lixiang’s drivel, Floater looked calmly at the girl who was a little red from her long speech.

But Floater didn’t seem like the type to take such provocation lying down. Just because she was silent most of the time did not mean that she was meek; Her military background gave her a natural aggressive streak.

Under our watchful eyes, Floater slowly lifted up her left hand and stuck out a finger… Is she trying to challenge Lixiang? Or maybe she’s giving the signal to her detachable bits?

Crap, I need to stop Floater before she does something rash!

However, before I could even make a move, the situation changed.

Her finger did not point at Lixiang as we had expected. Rather, she pointed it at her own head and asked in that same stoic voice, “Are you off your rocker?”

“Pfft…”

The moment she said that, Bitong and Qiaoqiao couldn’t help but let slip a laugh despite not even daring to breathe just mere moments ago. Gone was that nail-biting tenseness, replaced by an atmosphere more common in a clown fest…

Well… it’s not like Lixiang’s delusions are a secret at this point… any random passerby can tell she’s delusional from a mile away.

“Alright, alright, no more laughing… There’s still two more exosuits that need assembling, and our location has already been found out by the enemy. We don’t know how long before the next wave of enemies will appear so time is of the essence. As the leader of this team, I need you all to get back to work right away. Floater, you will be in charge of guarding everyone.”

Lixiang was positively fuming at this point, but she had no way of venting that anger now that I had spoken. Time wasn’t something we could afford to waste right now. Those two exosuits had to be completed as soon as possible. After all, no one knew where that giant skeleton even came from. How did it find us? Was it just coincidence, or something more sinister?

Under my direction, Lixiang and Bitong got to work on the exosuits. Floater, instead, continued staring at her custom exosuit. However, her detachable bits were all deployed and ready to intercept any possible threat.

As for Qiaoqiao…”

“Aunty Xinqing, here’s big brother’s newest combat footage.” Before we knew it, Qiaoqiao was somehow in contact with Aunty Xinqing.

The mature holographic figure of Aunty Xinqing popped up before Qiaoqiao. She pinched her fingers together and said in a tender voice, “Hand over the video, quickly. Qiaoqiao, my dear girl, you know your aunty Xinqing loves nothing more than to watch your big brother heroically slay monsters! There’s no sight more beautiful in this world!!”

Hmmm? Shouldn’t it be dashing? Why is it beautiful?!

“Big brother was so cool just now. There was this giant skeleton snake, but big brother chopped it up in a couple of hacks!” Qiaoqiao swung her hands wide open as if to emphasize how big the monster was.

Why not just show her a picture… it’s so much easier…

“Big brother trashed that monster good! Qiaoqiao’s in love with big brother all over again. Once Qiaoqiao grows older, Qiaoqiao is going to marry big brother!! At that time, big brother will welcome Qiaoqiao with open arms and open wings…”

Qiaoqiao started off with how my battle went, but as the talk turned to talks of marriage, the look Floater gave me turned to disgust.

“So our team leader likes them small. What a… unique taste.”

Me, sweating profusely: No… it’s not what you’re thinking… I’m innocent…

“So you like them innocent as well?”

“No… I’m really innocent…” Not wishing to be seen as a pervert, I tried one last time to explain myself. “What if I told you I am a female? Will you believe me?”

“I will.” Floater eyed me from top to toe before nodding. “A flat-chested pervert then.”

“…”

Why the ‘flat-chested’ part… Ah… there’s no hope… I’m better off dying to prove my innocence…

Maybe I should just stay away from her from now on. Doesn’t matter how beautiful she is, talking to her is causing my lifespan to shorten…

“Aunty Xinqing, is there a reason why you are uploading this footage onto the web?” Qiaoqiao asked.

From their brief exchange, I surmised that Qiaoqiao must have gotten her own mission of filming my battles. Normally, there would be cameras on the ground or the satellites above to capture such footage. But in an underground factory, Qiaoqiao’s filming was necessary.

“That’s a difficult question with many different answers…”

“In order to avoid heavy casualties, the military won’t send its forces in for now. But the Federation doesn’t want to seem impotent. I’m sure you all know that it’s not the government that won’t act, but it’s that they can’t act. Doing so would lead to losses that even they can’t handle…”

Simply put, they did not want to have to answer to the masses on why they weren’t sending in the troops. And that was where my little battles came in. Even if I was a normal civilian in the past, as long as they registered me into one of their bureaus, then I was technically a civil servant.

In that case, these combat footages were basically glorified ads for the Federation, showing that the government wasn’t impotent. In fact, my presence was proof that the Federation had even noticed something was amiss before the crisis happened. Unfortunately, the mastermind had proven too cruel and cunning in the end…

“So big brother is like an idol for the Federation?” Qiaoqiao clapped her hands excitedly. “Big brother is just too amazing!”

“There are actually a number of reasons why Ke was chosen for this position. For example, my government position, Ke’s immense strength, General Rodenas’s favouritism… But the most important reason has to be…” Aunty Xinqing beamed at that point. “Ke’s is just too beautiful! With looks like that, Ke can do whatever Ke wants!”



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Devil Evolution Catalogue Chapters 696 to 707

696 to 707 are out!

Click the Link to Start Reading:
» Chapter 696 | Chapter 697 | Chapter 698 «
» Chapter 699 | Chapter 700 | Chapter 701 «
» Chapter 702 | Chapter 703 | Chapter 704 «
» Chapter 705 | Chapter 706 | Chapter 707 «

Chapter 707: They Came from Beneath Us

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

By my fifth round of losing horribly to the point where I began to question my own sanity, a strange rumbling suddenly caught my attention, as if there was stirring beneath us.

“Do you hear that?” I turned off the holographic screen in front of me, gripped the table and got up to have a look. “I hear something strange and it’s getting closer by the second…”

“Big brother, you can’t just change the topic like that, Qiaoqiao knows you’re about to lose!” The moment I pulled the holographic equivalent of flipping the table, Qiaoqiao immediately glared at me. “You promised you would draw a funny face on yourself if you lose this time! Big brother, you can’t just back out like that!”

While it might be true that my impending loss was going to be an embarrassing one, but…

“Qiaoqiao, your big brother wasn’t trying to back out at the last minute, he really heard something.”

“Hmph, Qiaoqiao is not going to be fooled that easily!” Qiaoqiao reacted by pouting. “If there’s really an enemy nearby, those Inferno Talisman should have activated by now…”

Yet before she could even finish speaking, the ground shook violently, forcing her to lurch forward with a quick yelp into my arms. She grabbed onto me tightly, her hands shaking and her face white with terror. “Earthquake? We’re not going to be buried alive, are we?”

A loud rumble later, the earth started shaking even more violently.

Still in the midst of working on the second exosuit, Bitong and Lixiang stopped working at the same time. The two exchanged a confused look before scanning the room for the source of the quakes.

“Everyone, prepare for combat.”

Being a seasoned ace pilot, Floater was the first amongst us to take up arms. She sent a signal to her suit, causing it to immediately open up as if to welcome its pilot back. Upon entering the suit, all twelve of her detachable bits shot out of her back and started scouting the vicinity.

“Qiaoqiao!” Bitong yelled. Upon seeing the little girl shivering in my arms, Bitong pointed at one of the exosuits that had just been finished and said, “Get on.”

“But there’s only one completed exosuit, if Qiaoqiao boards it, what about sister Bitong and Lixiang?”

Despite there being only one completed exosuit that was coated in blue and looked suspiciously like a foot soldier’s equipment – which wasn’t actually important right now – Qiaoqiao riding on that exosuit would mean that Bitong and Lixiang would have to fight naked. Which, on second thought, might not be particularly apt to describe a pair of girls, but it was accurate enough in this situation.

Before Bitong could answer, our enemy reared its ugly head. This time, the enemy did not pass through the walls to strike at us. Instead, it came from beneath us…

Roughly ten meters away within an employee’s lounge which happened to have a glass window to look through, a gigantic hole suddenly appeared from beneath. The hole was a massive one, measuring seven to eight meters in diameter, and could probably cause an entire cafe to disappear in its gaping maw…

From within that endless abyss, a gigantic skeletal monster stuck its head out…

The creature had a serpentine appearance. Through its skull, its Soul Flames could be seen lighting up the surroundings in an eerie green glow, made only worse by its rows of sinister-looking teeth…

“That’s a giant Sirenidae skeleton!”

Floater immediately recognised the monster for what it was.

“Ding! Mission update…”

Mission: The Invader from Underground
Requirements: Slay the giant Sirenidae skeleton.
Rewards: 2000 points and the Flying Feathers skill
Comments: The monster is strong, but not as strong as you.

What the heck is Flying Feathers? Actually, who cares about that – 2000 points is nothing to scoff at. I’ll take this mission!

“Floater, Qiaoqiao, I need you two to guard the others. I can’t be sure if there are any more hiding in the shadows, but leave this monster to me.”

For the time being, this giant Sirenidae had my entire attention.

Without waiting for the giant skeleton to make its first move, I drew out Icy Inferno from my inventory. There were roughly ten meters and a door separating us and the monster. But there was no time for niceties now. I rammed right through the glass window and into the lounge, opening up right away with a mighty chop of fire and ice!

The blade of Icy Inferno was so sharp, I doubt there was anything in this world that could possibly take a full on attack from it. Yet the moment I swung my sword down, the ground beneath started to act up.

The ground tore apart as a gigantic bone hand reached forth and tried to grab me…

Because of the sheer abruptness of this attack, I was nearly caught and ended up missing my attack in the process. Thankfully, I still had a high mobility skill in Revolution Slice. I immediately activated it when I felt the ground beneath shift. Throwing my body around in an almost impossible angle, I did a furious rotation, appearing a second later five meters to the left.

However, that wasn’t the end of my troubles either. Barely a moment after I touched down, the ground tore apart once more and another giant bone hand tried to grab me.

Steeped in the heat of battle, I quickly realised that this was the monster from before, using both its hands to try and ambush me. I had fallen for its clever ploy and was now stuck fast in its grip…

I felt my body lurch upwards as the bony cage around me soared. In spite of that, I wasn’t flustered in the slightest. The thick-as-pillars fingers that trapped me threatened to close in on me, but I knew that remaining calm was the only right answer now.

“HAH!”

With no time to lose, I spread my purple wings open with a flare. In the process, I diverted all the SP I had into Icy Inferno to launch another spinning attack. This was my fastest attack, and as it spun around like a deadly wheel of fire and ice that threatened to engulf the entire world, I sliced through my bony prison in an instant!

Free, I promptly kicked off the bony palm using the tip of my toes, launching myself onto the head of the skeletal Sirenidae with a boost from my wings. The time was nigh. I was ready to draw the curtains on this sudden battle with a decisive blow.

The giant Sirenidae skeleton tried one last time to shake me off, doing its best to toss me into its mouth in the process. Unfortunately for it, ever since learning Revolution Slice, I was able to control my body movements mid-air.

A flap of my wings later, I was up in the air once more, and with a quick C-shaped swerve, I easily dodged its bite.

By the time the monster realised it had failed to bite me, I was already diving into its eye sockets, Icy Inferno aimed straight at the eerie mass of green flames before me!

“Taste my wrath!”

The moment Icy Inferno stabbed into the ghostly flames, a bright flash of light engulfed the scene, culminating in an explosion of sparks, only to dissipate before ever touching the ground.

“Ding. Mission complete. Rewards have been dispatched, please confirm…”

I won? Wait. That’s it? Shouldn’t this giant Sirenidae skeleton be a mini-boss of sorts? What kind of mini-boss just dies in a couple of hits?

And when did I become this strong?!

“Woooah! Big brother won!”



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE

 

Chapter 706: Bio-exosuits

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Author: The Sole Survivor Original Source: SFACG
Translator: CatatoPatch English Source: Re:Library

Still oblivious to the fact that Qiaoqiao and I were back, Bitong stared at the missing right leg before asking, “The ingredients required for it are different than the arm’s?”

“Yes. The source Primal beast is different for each part of the exosuit, resulting in each part requiring its own ingredients as well.” Lixiang answered calmly. “They were trying to replicate the various attributes of the Primal beasts used during the design phase. Unfortunately, that failed. For the time being, the leg requires some adjustments… but for a single exosuit to be so complicated seems quite extreme. Perhaps it was the terrorist group who made that decision, not the researchers…”

“Hmm… wouldn’t using so many different source beasts cause rejection amongst the various parts?” Bitong asked.

“That’s precisely why those three mortals weren’t able to fabricate an arm and a leg for this exosuit, even up till the time of their death.” Then in an unprecedentedly serious tone, she said, “I think it’s impressive that this exosuit hasn’t collapsed yet… this thing… isn’t made for a person to be used. Even after it’s complete, it would require your mortal prowess of remote control to pilot it. Amongst us, perhaps only that expressionless woman can ride this machine well.”

Expressionless… I guess that’s Floater…”

“Don’t tell me this machine is alive?” Having just listened to their entire exchange, I couldn’t help but interrupt. “No matter how I look at it, an exosuit steeping in a petri dish of fluids doesn’t seem very mechanical. Once it’s finished, how are we even going to control it? Would it have some weird emotions system?”

“Its brain already has a control chip implanted. All I have to do is replicate the controls for that in another chip.” Lixiang confidently replied. “As for emotions… Your Highness’s concern is unnecessary. Thanks to that incident, there’s no way a machine would be allowed to have emotions…”

“Oh. That’s true. Having emotions in a machine is taboo.” Thanks to a certain mechanical emperor in the past, humanity as a whole had stopped all research into androids.

Strictly speaking, the robots during the time of the Mechanical Emperor were more akin to an entirely new race. A highly genocidal race that wanted nothing more than to wipe out humans.

Had it not been for Youqin Zun creating the first generation of exosuits, humanity would have most likely been consigned to the history books of the machines. One that recorded the demise of an insignificant organic race…

“Either way, we only have to wait.” Lixiang stepped out of the lab and into the factory before continuing, “This one will create three more exosuits. This factory happens to have the parts required. Alone, this one might need half a day to do so.”

“Lixiang, you actually know how to assemble an exosuit?!” The fact that she could -allegedly- piece together a working exosuit was astonishing. An exosuit wasn’t just any old machine a normal person could come into contact with. It was a weapon, after all…

I guess it can’t be any clearer at this point… Lixiang is not just some ordinary girl with middle schooler delusions…

“When this one’s current incarnation was five years old, this one was already starting to learn how to maintain magical armors. But in the mortal realm, magical armors are known as exosuits.” Lixiang explained proudly. “Having gone through multiple reincarnations, there is nothing this one does not know.”

“Really?” Seeing the girl so confident, even Qiaoqiao was starting to believe her story. “Sister Lixiang was actually so amazing?!”

“Of course.” Lixiang threw her head back, revelling in Qiaoqiao’s worshipful eyes.

Little did she know, Qiaoqiao’s lips were curled into a mischievous smile. “Then does sister Lixiang know the number for the winning lottery?”

“Of course!” Lixiang immediately answered without thinking. “There’s nothing this one doesn’t know!”

“But sister Lixiang hasn’t won the lottery before, not even once.”

“…” Lixiang froze up. “That’s because this one doesn’t want to.”

“You’re lying. Qiaoqiao has even seen sister Lixiang getting angry when her lottery ticket didn’t win. Sister Lixiang even bought a hundred tickets and not a single one has won.” Qiaoqiao winked cheekily before feigning a sigh. “Has sister Lixiang forgotten already? Qiaoqiao still remembers it like it was yesterday.”

“… Has the mortal heard of the fabled eyes that can kill a person?” As she said that, Lixiang’s eyes seemed to almost glow.

“… Qiaoqiao… Qiaoqiao was wrong…” Scared by the older girl’s pointed glare, she quickly ducked behind me. “Qiaoqiao is sorry, don’t hurt Qiaoqiao…”

“Lixiang, don’t you have some exosuits to assemble? How about you start on that, I’ll help deal with Qiaoqiao.”

With regards to Qiaoqiao’s plight, all I could say was, you get what you asked for…

Even if Lixiang was still a little miffed about Qiaoqiao constantly throwing her under the bus, she respected my opinion. Seeing that I was set on helping Qiaoqiao, she stopped pressuring the girl, instead turning around to start work on the automated assembly process.

“In light of His Highness’s request, this one will forgive the mortal’s insolence for now, but pray that there won’t be another… or else.”

“I’ll help as well.” Bitong walked up to Lixiang ostentatiously in a bid to divert her attention. “Even if I don’t know how to assemble the parts, I can still use my AI to handle the controls. Hacking these machines shouldn’t be hard, and working together would improve the overall efficiency.”

“All right.” Lixiang nodded simply. “Then the mortal girl should first start by linking up the systems. Once that’s done, this one will give the instructions.”

“Got it.”

Honestly, the sight of them working together was just weird…

With nothing else to do, I turned towards Floater who was watching silently from the sidelines. “Floater, you know the rules of Poker?”

“I do.”

“Up for a game? There’s nothing to do anyway.”

“Is it safe?”

“It’s fine. I can stick some talismans around the area. Ghosts should be the only enemies we need to contend with here; a bunch of Inferno Talismans can take care of those.”

“…”

“Let’s gooo!”

With a little encouragement from me, Qiaoqiao started bugging the soldier as well.

“Fine.”

Just like that, the three of us mechanically clueless normals pulled up a chair and began playing Poker. Naturally, this was just to lighten up the mood between Qiaoqiao and Floater, not at all because I wanted to play!

Surprisingly enough, Floater not only agreed to play, she seemed pretty good at it as well…



Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE