Re:Library

Chapter 705: So We’re Not Fighting?

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

“A31, you say?” I rummaged through a messy cabinet of bottles to finally find the vial labelled ‘A31’ and passed it to Lixiang. “Here you go.”

“Thanks. As I’d expect of someone as highly intelligent as His Highness. Being able to accurately pinpoint the correct ingredients, without any heed for his own safety whatsoever as well. Such a perfect person… No – a Deity!”

“Lixiang… can you not do that… you’re making me embarrassed here…”

“Your Highness is too modest. But since Your Highness does not like it, then this one will be more careful in the future.” Lixiang answered while continuing to work on her little project. “By the way, this one seems to remember seeing Qiaoqiao running out of the room while crying. Did something happen, Your Highness?”

“Oh. Errr…” I smiled sheepishly. “You can say a lot happened…”

“Your Highness, a girl’s feelings are very delicate. If this matter with Qiaoqiao ends up dragging on, it won’t be good. Your Highness should go have a look, it’s Your Highness’s harem after all.”

“Cough… what do you mean harem…” I quietly eyed Floater from the corner of my eye and found, to my relief, that she did not even bat an eye.

Perhaps she didn’t hear our little exchange… Speaking of which, I recall Lixiang being pretty close with Qiaoqiao, seeing as Bitong is their common enemy… Well, enemy in a loose sense anyway…

Giving it a little thought, I found that Lixiang’s advice was reasonable, thus I quickly gave Floater an excuse before running after Qiaoqiao.

At the entrance of the lab, Qiaoqiao was still huddled up in Bitong’s arms, drying her eyes as Bitong comforted her. The storm seemed to be over from the looks of things.

However, the moment Qiaoqiao discovered my presence, she immediately went red in the cheeks as she glared at me. “Big brother, you meanie!”

“I…” Honestly speaking, being treated like an enemy by Qiaoqiao was like having a dagger through my heart.

Was I really that bad?

“Big brother bullied me! Qiaoqiao doesn’t like you anymore! Go away! Qiaoqiao doesn’t want you here!” As she started yelling, her tears started to flow again. This time, the crying was extra piercing.

Sigh… our little Qiaoqiao really has a way with words. That was like having a second dagger in my heart… Now I feel like crying as well… Crap, I think she’s really angry with me…

Bitong leaned and whispered into the girl’s ears, after which she looked away from me with a huff.

“Ke, come over here for a second.” Bitong said after whispering into Qiaoqiao.

I immediately ran over, not daring to waste a second more.

Qiaoqiao did not push me away, but she kept looking away as before. Was this what they meant by “see no evil?”

“Sis…” Just as I stopped before the two girls, Bitong nimbly stepped behind me, then gave me a gentle shove.

Normally, I did not have my guard up against the girls, so when she shoved me, my body just fell forward without resistance.

I stumbled a couple of steps forward, falling coincidentally onto Qiaoqiao…

Naturally, I wasn’t about to hurt the little girl, so I quickly spread my arms open in an impromptu hug…

“Ah… Big brother, what do you think you’re doing…” I was quickly assaulted by Qiaoqiao’s distinctive fragrance. Her delicate little body seized up for a second but quickly relaxed herself after recovering from the surprise. She closed her eyes gently and leaned on my chest, ears and cheeks blushing a little.

“Hmph. Don’t think Qiaoqiao has forgiven you so easily…”

Eh? So I don’t have to apologise for suddenly hugging her? And she’s not going to slap me for being lecherous? And how did this turn into a question of forgiveness? She seems to have forgiven me too.

Eh? Meh. At least she’s quietened down.

“Qiaoqiao, it’s not that I wanted to raise my voice at you… I just hope that you can be more accommodating of Floater.”

“Okay… Qiaoqiao will listen to big brother.”

That’s it? So all I had to do was give her a hug?

I gingerly asked, “And you promise you won’t throw a tantrum again?”

“Mhm.”

“Then…”

“If big brother keeps pushing his luck, Qiaoqiao will get angry…”

“…”

I guess she’s still the same old Qiaoqiao, almost thought I had it there.

By the time I was done placating Qiaoqiao, fifteen minutes had passed. When I returned to the lab, I stumbled upon a scene that I would have never thought possible had I not seen it with my own two eyes.

Bitong and Lixiang were currently in the midst of a discussion. The two weren’t quarrelling for once. In fact, they seemed to be hitting it off…

Is the world about to implode on itself? What happened to a leopard never changes its spots?

“Huh? When did big sister Bitong and big sister Lixiang get along so well?” Even Qiaoqiao was caught off-guard by the sudden development. “But if they are together now… what about Qiaoqiao?”

What is that supposed to mean?

Once I got close to the pair, I overheard a Bitong talking about a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo.

“Bio-exosuits are a lot harder than the flesh of their Primal beast sources, thanks to the metal infused into them. But they shouldn’t be stronger than our strongest alloy, the Hagridite alloy. Their strongest point would be that they can regenerate. Maybe… we can even add on a skeletal carapace of sorts, but the process might be complicated…”

“This one has considered that option before. For now, the practical solution would be to use this nutrient solution as a replacement. A carapace isn’t something we can complete in the short term. Our defenses are already good enough as is – we can put that matter aside for later.” Lixiang answered confidently. “Hmm. For a mortal, the girl knows a lot.”

“I am a hacker. I sometimes stumble across information normal people wouldn’t see.”

“Actually, this one has been researching this matter in her home for the past year. But for a variety of reasons, this one hasn’t started the experimentation phase yet. Who would have thought that this one would suddenly stumble upon such an opportunity.”

As we got closer to the petri dish-like vat, we discovered, to our astonishment, that the unfinished exosuit had undergone radical changes in our absence.

Fifteen minutes ago, the exosuit was still missing a leg and an arm. Right now, it seemed like that arm was there from the very beginning. However, its leg was still missing.

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.

Chapter 704: An Unexpected Fight

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

Faced with a dead body at her feet, she coldly stooped down and grabbed its head to check its identity. Having done that, she withdrew her hand, letting the lifeless face slam back down onto the ground.

Oof… she definitely has a grudge against that person in life…

“That corpse was Kang Dazhi, one of the persons I was supposed to protect. One of his hobbies used to be groping, but now he can’t.”

Yup. A grudge…

Other than that corpse, there were two other researchers lying not too far away from the first. Perhaps they were all rushing for the same exit when the ghosts struck.

Stepping over those corpses, Floater entered a smaller room that looked to be a workshop of sorts, roughly 300 square meters in size. As long as it was an exosuit part, it was displayed neatly on a shelf in a corner. Nearer to the center of the room was a giant petri dish-like structure that held a vat of colorless fluid. Not being very technically inclined, I couldn’t even begin to guess what this fluid was. But based on the fact that there was a half-finished exosuit soaking inside of it, the fluid most likely was used in the creation of exosuits.

Why a petri dish though? Shouldn’t these exosuits be made on assembly lines?

“This is the new variant of exosuit being researched by Kang Dazhi and those two researchers. The terrorists were the ones who came up with the prototype. The three of them were fascinated by the possibilities so they stayed behind to research the topic and write up a report.” Floater explained in a single breath as she walked up to the petri dish. The machine was still lacking a hand and a leg, but was otherwise complete. “Seems like they were at the last stage too. Pity. They would have easily become a professor had they submitted a thesis on this.”

The three of them probably worked day and night to rush out these exosuits. As luck would have it, they suffered a ghost attack right at the very end…

As I continued looking at the half-finished exosuit, I couldn’t shake off this strange feeling in me. Something was up, but I couldn’t just pinpoint where.

“Are there no other exosuits here? And why is that exosuit soaking in a petri dish? It’s not even a biological project.” As Bitong eyed the machine brows furrowed, she continued asking, “With how big this workshop is, it can’t be the only machine left.”

“All the complete prototypes would be shipped out of the facility. The only ones left behind would be…” Floater thought about it for a second then said, “Haven’t you seen them already?”

“The two at the entrance?” Bitong gasped in surprise, but that quickly changed to annoyance.

Yet before she could even say a word, Qiaoqiao started protesting, “Qiaoqiao doesn’t want to touch something a dead man used!”

Bitong followed up, “And those two machines still have a corpse rotting inside of them.”

“This is war – you don’t get to pick and choose.” Floater coolly stated in the face of their accusatory tone. “ “In war, it’s to be expected that you would end up sleeping and eating where a corpse used to be. What’s riding a used exosuit compared to that?”

Clearly, Floater felt these two girls were just being picky. After all, who hasn’t touched an object used by a dead person? Antiques were all used by dead persons – was there anything wrong with touching them? Nope!

Naturally, these exosuits weren’t antiques, but the logic was the same. At least, it was so for Floater. If a person was going to be such a clean freak, they shouldn’t even bother entering the battlefield.

“Well, Qiaoqiao is not touching them! If you like those corpses so much, why don’t you just…”

“Qiaoqiao!” I quickly interrupted the girl before she went overboard with her comments. At the end of the day, it was through the sacrifice of soldiers like Floater that we enjoyed the peace we had. They certainly did not deserve being insulted like that.

However, Qiaoqiao was still just eleven years old. Being caught in this whole crisis was already asking a lot of her. Even I was reticent about handling corpses in the beginning.

“I hope you don’t mind, Floater. Qiaoqiao is still just a kid. She doesn’t think too much before speaking…”

“When has Qiaoqiao spoken without thinking?”

“Just now.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “So you won’t listen to your big brother anymore?”

“I… okay…” Qiaoqiao was about to say something when she noticed the look on my face. Realising that I was furious, she hurriedly lowered her head and pouted.

“You do? If you do listen to me, apologise to your big sister Floater, right this instant.”

“…”

“Apologise!” Seeing her stubbornly refuse to apologise, I raised my voice further. “Well?!”

“weep… Qiaoqiao… Qiaoqiao is sorry… Sister Floater… Sorry… Big brother is the worst!” Having just finished her forced apology, she ran off crying.

“I’ll go find her!” Bitong immediately chased after the girl, having realised how difficult this situation had just gotten.

“Sorry about that, Floater. Qiaoqiao was just being willful.” I sincerely apologised to Floater. “I hope you can forgive her, she’s just a kid.”

“Mhm.” Floater coolly replied, not at all bothered by that little dispute.

Regardless, that was inappropriate of Qiaoqiao to act like that. Even if she was always close to me, I couldn’t let it slide this time. However, it seemed I had gone overboard with my scolding…

Floater wasn’t wrong in what she said. Using those exosuits was the equivalent of looting corpses in the past for usable supplies. The difference being that an exosuit was a lot more personal than just swords or arrows. Seen in that light, it was only to be expected that the girls wouldn’t be eager to start riding these used exosuits.

Honestly, I wasn’t all too willing as well. But with finished exosuits available, there wasn’t much choice left to us…

What a conundrum…

“Your Highness, could you pass me a vial of A31 from the cabinet on the left?” It was at that point that our resident middle-schooler syndrome girl spoke up. She seemed to be asking for that vial over there?

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 703: The Weapons Factory

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

“The factory’s down below.”

Having swept the first floor’s lobby clean of zombies, Floater led us to one of its rooms, at which point she pointed at an unassuming wall and pressed down on it. A second later, a rumbling could be heard as the wall split open, revealing an elevator large enough to fit an exosuit. Given its width, it could easily fit all five of us and our exosuits.

“I wonder what we will find down there? Unfinished suits? Or maybe even finished ones?” Qiaoqiao muttered to herself in anticipation. “Is there anyone still alive down there?”

“I doubt so.” As I said that, I eyed Floater. If there were really people alive, she would have already contacted them. The fact that she hadn’t warned us meant that they were probably all dead.

In no time at all, the elevator descended over two hundred meters. Floater stood before the elevator door, silently awaiting the door’s opening. Her guns stood ready to fire, as if she was already expecting something to leap at us the moment they opened up.

However, the door slowly slid apart and nothing happened. That wasn’t technically true, as there were two downed exosuits lying motionlessly on the floor near the elevator’s entrance. From the looks of things, they were the sentries tasked with guarding this exit.

They were dead now. Given that there were no visible marks on the exosuit, this was most likely the handiwork of those ghosts.

“I knew something must have happened to them. Everyone, stay back, I will have the detachable bits scout ahead.”

Not even bothering to touch the two fallen exosuits, Floater immediately sent out the detachable bits on her back. At the same time, she pulled out a holographic screen for everyone. Basically, whatever she saw, we saw.

The underground factory was deathly silent. There were no zombies, but everyone had a look of abject terror on their faces as they died. Through her view feed, we saw a workman, dressed in blue overalls, eyes wide and mouth hanging open as if he wanted to scream but couldn’t do so. Without a doubt, his last moments were horrific.

However, the truly concerning issue was that he had a gaping gash on his neck…

“There’s something strange going on here -beware, everyone.” Looking at the way they died, my first thoughts were that, and nothing else, really. “Purification Talismans ready?”

“Yup, already did so!” Qiaoqiao’s image appeared on screen, showing a piece of talisman stuck on her forehead, just like one of those zombies you see in old Chinese movies… But there’s no way those zombies were as cute as our Qiaoqiao!

With those talismans applied, we could at least be safe against any sudden ghost intrusions. No matter what, this factory had to be surveyed.

“Nothing out of the ordinary, for now.” Floater came to that conclusion after scouting the entirety of the factory.

“But we should still be careful. I will take the lead. Your detachable bits can show us the way.” No longer in an exosuit, I retrieved Icy Inferno from my inventory. As it appeared, a stream of red and white light particles flowed through the air, like a scene straight out of a fairy tale. A fairy tale about death.

“Ke, be careful.”

“Big brother…”

“His Highness will be alright.”

“I’ll be fine, mere ghosts couldn’t possibly hurt me.” Under the leadership of those detachable bits, I took point while the girls followed closely behind. Floater was our rearguard.

Our main goal was to locate a set of powerful exosuits; who was to say that the monsters wouldn’t get stronger with the coming days. Just relying on the system to grow stronger was too slow. We were better off banging on something more concrete like a custom exosuit.

In fact, a mobile armor would be nice. That way, I could just trample over all the monsters in this city, but that wasn’t really realistic…

Along the way, we found a number of blue-overalled corpses. None of them showed any signs of turning into zombies, but their wounds were strange, to say the least.

On some of the workers’ corpses, there were bite marks, scratch marks -all bloody and disturbing.

Previously, we had only seen these corpses through a video feed so they weren’t so shockingly gruesome. By my estimations, these scratch marks were all the rough size of a human’s finger…

But I thought the ghosts only attacked your soul? When did they start using physical attacks? Wait. That isn’t entirely true either. The only real encounter I had with one was last night, and that one died in an instant.

Questions left unanswered, we pressed forward towards what looked like an assembly line. So far, there were no enemies -did they all leave after massacring the workers?

“It’s safe to come out now. Just make sure to have your Purification Talismans on before doing so.”

After an inspection of the giant assembly line and finding no enemies in sight, I finally felt safe enough to let the girls dismount from their exosuits.

“Uwah! Look at all the exosuit parts! Wow! Look at that exosuit, it’s so cool… That one is so pretty…”

From the moment Qiaoqiao stepped out of her exosuit, she immediately sprang into action, running about like a kid in a candy store before finally stopping in front of a black, half-finished exosuit. She gingerly reached out for the suit, stopping halfway as if she was afraid touching it would destroy it.

Bitong’s was first act was to hook up with the factory’s internal systems. She was probably planning to search through last night’s surveillance footage.

Lixiang was more reserved in her approach. She merely stuck to my side like an attendant. Wherever I went, she went.

I waved at Qiaoqiao, beckoning for her to return. I gave the area one last look before turning towards Floater, currently resting cross-legged not too far away with her eyes closed. “Floater, you mentioned they were developing a special exosuit? Do you have any idea where it is now?”

“Behind you, there’s a room containing what you’re looking for. But I can’t guarantee what state it is in.” Floater stood up and walked towards us, arms folded across her chest. Using her chin, she pointed in the direction of the room. There stood a door marked with the typical ‘No Unauthorised Entry’ sign.

Naturally, there was no need to worry about that. The dead couldn’t very well be unauthorised personnel.

Floater walked up to the door to open it. Yet the moment she did so, the corpse of a middle-aged man dressed in a white lab coat came tumbling down, landing right in front of Floater.

Sudden as it might have been, the tumbling corpse did not even startle the seasoned soldier. In fact, she did not even bat an eye at it.

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 702: To the Weapons Factory

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

“…”It took some time for me to process the slew of revelations Floater just dumped on me. “So what you’re saying is that there are exosuits ready to go? And even custom exosuits normally reserved for ace pilots?”

“I can’t say for sure if they are ‘ready to go’, given that when I left, they were still discussing something important…”

I immediately had a bad feeling about the idea. What if… and that was probably a big ‘if’ -but still an if- we were to go there and discover a bunch of half-finished goods instead?

“Regardless, I think we should still have a look.” Bitong pulled up a chair for herself next to the table before tapping said table lightly. “If we don’t take the chance, we will never know if what we need is there.”

“Qiaoqiao feels we should check it out too.” Qiaoqiao enthusiastically stuck her hands up and waved it about like a kid answering a question. “It’s not like we have anywhere else to go.”

“Roads are meant to be paved by men.” Lixiang nodded her head.

Looks like everyone’s on board then. I guess we’re heading there.

With our course set, we left our room, suited up, then left in the direction of the factory, roughly ten kilometers away.

Floater was our rearguard this time. As a precautionary tactic, she had six of her detachable bits to act as scouts. Should they spot a lone skeletal beast, she would deploy the rest of the bits to attack it.

For the most part however, there weren’t many targets for her to deploy her bits. The road ended up being a relatively smooth one.

Ironically, the girls weren’t all too happy about that. Because of Floater’s efficiency, they ended up losing the opportunity to farm points. To outsiders, this probably looked like mere sulking.

“Ah… she stole the kill again…” Qiaoqiao griped into the comms channel, which Floater wasn’t a part of… Well, at least she had the sense to do so discreetly.

Throughout this entire trip, Qiaoqiao could only sit back and watch Floater continuously snipe down any enemy that popped up like an unfeeling machine. Just when she spotted the rare zombie rearing its ugly head from a corner, a beam of laser would suddenly pierce its brains, even before she even got the chance to move a limb…

Infuriating! For them, anyway. I was nonchalant about this entire affair, mostly thanks to the small fortune the system gave me after completing that mission of slaying those skeletal Coatls.

The mission reward was sizable enough to clear my previous debt, and with spare to boot. In fact, I was even given a strange bracelet. But due to its feminine design, I ended up stowing in my inventory instead.

Alright… I lied: that wasn’t the only reason. And it wasn’t because it was ugly either. It was crafted from one large and three small red gemstones, weaved together with silvery chains. The three small gems formed a triangular pattern in which the large gem rested in the center… Strange, but still nice.

I had initially intended to give the bracelet to Bitong, but apparently this was a bound piece of gear. Seeing as I couldn’t give it away, I decided to store it for now.

On a side note, it had a decent name as well. Lion’s Majesty, it was called.

Unfortunately, this bracelet was in a sealed state; that was the main reason why I kept it stowed for now. Its use wasn’t large till I could farm enough points to unlock its true potential.

According to the system, the bracelet, at its peak, could easily wipe out all the undead in the city in one day. Assuming, of course, I had the energy to power it.

I will half-believe her for now… can’t really put too much stock into that unreliable system’s words…

As I was busy fiddling with my new gear, Qiaoqiao was slowly descending into madness. “Qiaoqiao… wants… to… kill… something… Points… Qiaoqiao wants her bloodline… Qiaoqiao wants…”

Unfortunately, Floater was just too strong. Any monster who dared approach us were slain in seconds. All that was thanks to the overwhelming power of her exosuit, and her own strong will.

To her, companions riding in entertainment exosuits weren’t really suited for the battlefield at all. After all, toys were toys, not actual weapons fit for war.

To us, however, she was just wasting our precious points. She hadn’t signed a pact with me, so no points were being generated from her killing.

“Okay, okay. Floater is just trying to be nice. Just relax, Qiaoqiao.” By this point, Qiaoqiao’s whining was all I could hear on the comms channel. It was getting to the point where I finally had to placate her myself before proceeding. “Once we get some new suits, I’m sure Floater won’t be so zealous in protecting us.”

“Okay…”

Qiaoqiao finally settled down, albeit unwillingly.

Even if she quietened down, that did not mean she was about to sit still either. At times, I would spot her breaking off from the group to do some side-hunting. Thankfully, any Scorpids were already cleared up by Floater, so the rest were just free points for Qiaoqiao.

“Sis, look after Qiaoqiao for me, just make sure she doesn’t overdo it.”

To begin with, Qiaoqiao wasn’t one to sit still, so I couldn’t keep her locked up forever. With that in mind, I could only have Bitong look after her.

“Got it.” Bitong understood Qiaoqiao’s nature as well, thus she accepted the request without saying much. “We will reach the factory soon anyway, just let her have some fun.”

A few minutes later, we arrived in front of a towering building.

“Follow me.”

Floater led the way through the doors. A few zombies tried to stop her from entering, but they were summarily sniped in the head by her detachable bits.

Upon entering the building, we were greeted by a bunch of zombies who were immediately alerted to our presence and leapt at us. They were all low-level undead, so they didn’t stand a chance to begin it.

Strangely enough, she did not employ her laser guns this time. Instead, she pulled out a pair of daggers from her exosuit.

This was the first time I had seen her engage in melee -she wasn’t bad, to be honest. She executed a set of swings and slashes with practised ease, easily slicing apart any zombie head that came within range.

Naturally, these weren’t special daggers or anything, merely sidearms at the level of a normal shortsword. Still, they did well against small targets like these. Against that Coatl, they weren’t even a consideration. Which was fine -Floater’s exosuit was meant to be a long-ranged unit. In close combat, these daggers weren’t even worthy of being toothpicks.

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 701: Floater

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

“I know that the whole process of forming this organization must have seemed silly to you, but from today onwards, we are all colleagues. Let’s have a good working relationship, got it?”

After ending the holographic call with Duanmu Xinqing, I led the girls back to the hotel we stayed in for a quick meeting.

Upon entering the familiar setting room 301, Floater disembarked from her battered exosuit… then everything got a little awkward.

Floater was a girl with silver hair that flowed down to her shoulders. Her head sported a pair of funnel-shaped detachable bits accessories, similar to a pair of cat ears. She looked to be eighteen years of age, slender, and roughly 170 cm tall. She was beautiful, but her face was mostly deadpan, and she mostly kept quiet unless necessary.

If I had to describe her, she had a natural aura of charisma, like an icy beauty that drew eyes wherever she went.

Her dressing was that of a pilot’s suit – blueish-white and form fitting… I think that’s at least a 35C. Maybe even 35D!

Her figure was perfect, to say the least. Her legs were slender and long. She was thin where it mattered, and fat where it should be. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that even a tiny bit either way would have taken away from the harmony that was her body!

It was precisely this perfection that had me ogling when she first stepped out of that exosuit. After all, there weren’t any girls around me with a figure like hers… Aunty Xinqing and Aunty Qiao weren’t that bad themselves, but they were more mature ladies… Ahem… Scientifically speaking, of course. All this was just in the name of science! I swear on my character!

However, because of that tiny bit of staring, Bitong was already glaring daggers into me. And once Bitong acted up, even the temperature in the room began to drop rapidly…

But I haven’t done anything yet… yikes…

The two girls immediately glared at each other, both staying deathly silent as they did so. As the seconds ticked by, it only seemed more likely that an all-out fight was about to erupt. In that case, I could only sacrifice little old me to divert the topic.

“We’re colleagues here, let’s not start a fight right away…”

I still had no idea how Aunty Xinqing ended up becoming the Bureau Chief of the Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability User, but she decided to register Bitong, Lixiang and Qiaoqiao at the same time as she registered me. The whole reason was because the girls had been caught on camera firing off Flame Arrows. Since the Bureau was meant to counter any potential violent ability users, those who possessed such abilities had to register with the Bureau.

At least, this was so on Gaia…

Other than the girls, Aunty Xinqing also dragged Floater into the Bureau. Of the five of us, she was the only one who did not fit into either category of the Bureau. However, as an ace pilot of an exosuit, her own combat prowess was nothing to scoff at either. Furthermore, she was a seasoned soldier, she would undoubtedly prove useful for guiding me. Thus, she ended up getting special approval to join the Bureau.

As a benefit, her rank was bumped up half a notch.

“Hmph, I wasn’t trying to start anything. It’s just my way of saying hi is different from others.” Bitong eyed me intently then continued, “Ke, what’s our next plan of action?”

“Our plan, huh…”

Honestly speaking, I was having a little trouble with that question. Aunty Xinqing gave me the task of investigating this whole crisis while preventing it from worsening any further.

Because of the ghosts guarding the exits, we had no way of exiting the city, so investigating the crisis was unavoidable to begin with.

Yet what truly had me concerned was whether or not we even had the power to finish this task. After all, Aunty Xinqing took the liberty of showing us more footage of the undead, and that included a powerful-looking bony monster hiding beneath the city.

From an initial glance, this monster seemed to be made up of countless bones patched together, kind of like an Abomination from certain games. That was to say, if that certain Abomination was made of bones, rather than flesh.

Simply put, we now had to deal with the fact that there might be a giant monster lurking beneath us at any time.

“I think, gearing up first is always going to be correct. The entertainment exosuits aren’t going to cut it in future battles. We have to find better equipment for ourselves.”

I already had my Purple-winged Fallen Angel Bloodline so I was good for the time being, but Bitong and the girls were different. They were still normal humans, who just so happened to be able to fire off Flame Arrows.

Without a bloodline, their combat prowess was, at best, suitable to bully a zombie.

Honestly, a zombie was basically free food. In a one-on-one, even a moderately healthy human would be able to take on a zombie with a stick.

Hearing that I was going to search for more equipment, the girls immediately got excited. They unanimously turned towards the icy beauty lounging on the sofa with her legs over each other.

Her breasts are really big, I gotta say…

“Not too far away from here, there’s a weapons factory filled with unfinished exosuits.” Elegantly, Floater opened up a holographic map of Southern Plains and tapped on the location with her slender fingers. Immediately, a green circle appeared to mark the area. “It’s roughly ten kilometers from here.”

“What’s a weapons factory doing in the city?” Looking at where the circle was, Bitong immediately found something odd with the situation. “Wouldn’t such facilities be normally built in remote areas. It is a weapons factory, after all…”

“That used to be a hidden factory used by terrorists. We took care of them not too long ago.” Floater coolly explained. “Because there were some interesting prototypes found there, some of the researchers requested clearance to study the machines before leaving. And I coincidentally became their guard… Who would’ve thought…”

Who would’ve thought that this would happen so… suddenly…

Hearing that there could be unique exosuits there, Qiaoqiao immediately perked up. “Then what’s the factory like now? There are custom exosuits in there, right?”

“I have no idea.” Floater blinked her almost gem-like silver eyes. “I was supposed to be guarding that factory, but I was preoccupied with fighting monsters since receiving that mission yesterday. I didn’t have the chance to return last night. But the researchers seemed to have cut off communications this morning. I fear they’ve most likely been compromised.”

Shameless Self-promotion

Volume 15

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Chapter 700: Epilogue (8)

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

Nicole sought power, and her teacher, Aques Lumen, was who she deemed able to help her in this quest.

As his student, she had access to all the Demon Hunters’ records and tomes. And somehow, she managed to flip her way to the whereabouts of Infernus. Having confirmed her determination at least three times already, he had no choice but to bring her to the resting place of this fabled sword.

At the very least, this suicidal quest had a one-in-a-million chance of her surviving, should she manage to successfully communicate with that sword. If he were to let her continue stewing in her own negative emotions, she might just do something irreparable…

Infernus was said to be a Divine-grade longsword. According to legends, this was once the weapon of the Goddess of Life. In a fight with Lucifer, it was subsequently lost in the mortal realm.

In actuality, this sword wasn’t even the Goddess’s weapon at all. It was actually a feather that fell off her wings. As a weapon that contained the primal essence of a deity, a person without divinity had no chance of wielding it.

Life was a domain that governed over many aspects of the world. As a feather of the Goddess of Life, Infernus gave its wielder powers mere mortals couldn’t even imagine. However, it had been tens of thousands of years since Infernus fell into the mortal realm – it had never met a suitable owner yet.

Anyone foolish enough to seek out this sword was met with a one-way trip…

As time passed by, the location of Infernus became forbidden knowledge. Regardless of their alignment, and regardless of whether they were dead or alive, none dared approach this sword.

“Teacher, you may return first, if you wish. The Branch can’t do without you.” Nicole did not immediately try to enter the cave, instead she tried to persuade her teacher to leave. At the end of the day, the man held an executive position in Azure City’s Demon Hunters’ Branch. His authority was unquestionable and his duties many.

“That’s true, I can’t wait here for you. Seeing as…”

He left it hanging there. After all, there was no point in trying to dissuade her any further. This plan was basically just a step removed from the worst case scenario, but he had no choice -he couldn’t very well keep her under constant surveillance, just to stop her from killing herself…

“Don’t worry, Neneth will be here to keep Sis Nicole company.” Neneth slung her giant backpack onto the ground as she said that. Satisfied, she gave her hands a clap before saying, “Sis Nicole has to spend some time in there, right? Even though Neneth can’t go in to help her, Neneth can take the time to build a hut outside. As long as Sis Nicole is still inside, Neneth will stand watch outside, till Sis Nicole returns.”

Neither Nicole nor Aques Lumen told the girl a very key piece of information. It was that Nicole had chosen a road that led to death nine out of ten times.

Looking at the innocent smile on the girl’s face, Nicole couldn’t help but feel the despair in her heart lessen.

“I’ll be back soon.” She rubbed the girl’s head before steadfastly walking into the dark depths ahead.

“See you soon~~~” Neneth excitedly waved her hands while hopping on her toes. “Neneth will be waiting for you outside!”

Hearing that, Nicole didn’t turn around but instead waved her hand back at the girl as a form of farewell.

“Sis is just the coolest!”

As Aques Lumen watched his student’s silhouette vanish into the darkness so suavely, even he couldn’t help marvel to himself, “I’ve really gotten more indecisive with age. Sigh…” Aques Lumen laughed at himself. “Neneth, I’m counting on you to watch this area. I will have people send you food periodically.”

“Tell them to bring more meat buns, please!” The moment the topic turned to food, the girl immediately beamed. “Oh, don’t forget to refrigerate them, Neneth doesn’t like rotten food!”

“Hmph, glutton.”

“Neneth isn’t a glutton, Neneth just likes eating, that’s all!”

“Then make sure to guard this area. Hopefully, your devil’s luck will rub off on Nicole.”

“Devil’s luck?”

“Nothing. Just don’t leave this area.”

“Got it, Neneth will keep this area safe. But Neneth doesn’t know how to build a hut…

An Aques Lumen who was about to suavely leave as well: …

Puppy dog-eyed Nenth: …

“Fine, fine. Can you at least chop some wood?”

“Yup! Neneth can do that. She might not know much, but Neneth is strong!”

“Then get to it!”

“Kay~~”

————–Change of Scene————-

Purgatory – Sable Radiance

“Bring that good-for-nothing pair of boobs over here!”

A short while later, a pair of lust demons escorted Jeerah up to Mo Na. Even though Jeerah wasn’t bound, she was unable to resist in the slightest before the little devil.

Arms folded around her chest, Mo Na, the ever-adorable little scamp, stared at the not too distant magical array and said, “See that array? That’s a dimensional array. Mo Na had it checked already; Mama disappeared at that very spot. Mo Na believes it’s a tunnel connecting to another dimension.”

While it was true that Jeerah was inferior to the little girl, both in authority and prowess, that didn’t mean she had to take such treatment lying down.

Thus, she resisted, in the only way she could. “Hey, flat chest, what’s the point of telling me all that?”

Strangely, Mo Na did not immediately retort. “Mama has gone missing, and Mo Na wants you to find Mama.”

“I am just as upset as you are about Master’s disappearance, but I know that Master is doing fine. I have a soul pact with the Master. If something were to ever happen to the Master, I would immediately feel it.” Hearing that this was about her master, Jeerah relaxed her hostility significantly.

She and Mo Na had always been at loggerheads, mostly because Jeerah wanted Mo Ke for herself. Mo Na just so happened to have this goal as well.

Naturally, there was only one Mo Ke, so the two were natural foes.

“Then Mo Na won’t waste anymore words. Get in.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve signed a soul pact with Mama, that means you can sense Mama as well.” Arms still folded, Mo Na stared down the visibly confused devil. “Understand?”

“Understand what?” Asked a genuinely confused Jeerah.

“Shove her in!” With nothing left to say, Mo Na casually waved her hands, after which the two lust demons pushed Jeerah into the array.

“This array was crafted by an Overlord nightmare steed, so you don’t have to worry about the formulation causing any accidents. Don’t worry, the worst that can happen is you get transported to some strange dimension. You won’t die… so… goodbye forever… I mean, remember to bring Mama back with you!”

“Wait, you’re serious… Mo Na you bit–”

Before Jeerah could finish that last bit, she entered the array. The moment she crossed the circular boundary, the array lit up like a light show, whisking her away in an instant.

“Even though Mo Na hates you, Mo Na still hopes you can bring Mama back… If you succeed, maybe Mo Na will share Mama with you… or not…”

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 699: Epilogue (7)

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

Duanmu Xinqing’s last words were clearly meant for the dumbstruck Bear standing next to her. Faced with that question, the bald general nodded his head without even thinking. “Yes, yes. Whatever Lady Mo Ke says.”

Even though Southern Plains did not have many soldiers or policemen left, being awarded an official military status was a proposition that held zero demerits. For example, he could have access to those military-grade exosuits.

These military-grade exosuits were not like the entertainment exosuits at all; they required a corresponding identity in order to use them. In other words, without this officially-recognised status, Mo Ke couldn’t have used those exosuits even if he managed to obtain one.

“Oh, right. Aren’t you curious at all as to how I’m suddenly able to transform?”

“Well, the whole crisis has led to a slew of strange events in the city. Just like how it’s a once-in-a-thousand-years disaster, it’s also an opportunity for some. As a heads up, Southern Plains has seen a few cases of ability users already…” As Duanmu Xinqing said that, she opened up another holographic screen. “Have a look.”

The screen showed footage that looked to have been taken last evening. A man, roughly thirty years of age, stood in the middle of a ruined building, shouting into the air. Behind him, an ethereal looking silhouette, clad in pitch-black armor, appeared wielding a gigantic greatsword. The silhouette came in at over five meters tall, and easily swept away the ghosts swarming towards the man.

As the man stepped forward, the black silhouette behind him would follow suit as well, all the while cleaving through the ghosts that came their way. Yet just when it looked like the man would be able to cross the border, the ghosts flying in the clouds suddenly descended upon him, taking advantage of the fact that his silhouette was occupied to overwhelm the man.

Even if the man had been blessed with a strange ability, he was still a normal human being. Under their furious clawing, the man’s soul was ripped to shreds in two seconds…

With his death, the black silhouette dissipated within a few seconds like it had never existed to begin with…

However, that wasn’t the end of the footage either. More than one ability user had been caught on camera that night. In the span of just one day, Southern Plains seemed to have gained a bunch of ability users, resulting in the Federation having to create the Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users.

Even so, their numbers were nothing compared to the undead…

The last person in the footage was a man dressed in a suspicious-looking mask that was painted ostentatiously with flowers. With that mask on, the only information that could be gleaned about him was that he was a male.

His speed was fast; more akin to a gale force than anything else. However, this man was a psychopath. He enjoyed killing people, tossing them into a pile of zombies while laughing maniacally.

“How many of them are there?” Mo Ke’s eyes went icy cold when he saw that last bit. “And where is that madman?”

“Not many. But each of them has a power that can’t be underestimated. Should they decide to do evil, an ordinary person could never hope to stop them. This is one of the main reasons why we decided to create this bureau.” Duanmu Xinqing answered in a solemn voice. “There’s no guarantee that these ability users are only limited to Southern Plains, so founding this bureau is a necessity. As for that psychopath, I can give you the coordinates later. But Ke… you will join the Bureau then?”

“I will.” Said Mo Ke, all the while trying to restrain the anger he felt. “It’s one thing to kill for the sake of survival, but to misuse your powers like that is unforgivable!”

“Good. Then, I hereby announce the creation of the Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users. The first member will be Mo Ke, with the ability to transform into an angel…” As Duanmu Xinqing spoke, a young secretary-like female officer was rapidly taking down notes. Xinqing eyed the girl for a second before continuing, “The first Bureau Chief will be held by me, Duanmu Xinqing. As for Ke’s callsign…”

“The Goddess of Hope!” The General suddenly spoke up after a long while. “Lady Mo Ke is like a ray of light in the darkness, leading us mortals towards hope… Lady Mo Ke is the most perfect girl I’ve ever seen. There is no one else more suited for this title than her! I suggest the Goddess of Hope as her callsign!”

“Goddess of Hope? Pfft…” Duanmu Xinqing had to choke back a laugh when she heard that. After all, she was one of the few that knew of Mo Ke’s actual gender.

Seeing her chortle, the General scratched his non-existent hair. “Is there something wrong with that name?”

“No… not at all… I just suddenly felt a little ticklish…” Duanmu Xinqing’s eyes were watering at this point from the effort it took to hold back. Smiling from ear to ear, she turned back to Mo Ke who was on the verge of a mental breakdownt. “Since the General has personally come up with a callsign for you, then Goddess of Hope it is.”

“No way! I don’t want to be called a Goddess of whatever! I’m a man! A man!”

“Ke, are you trying to talk back to your mum?”

“Big brother, Qiaoqiao thinks the name is good too.”

“Your Highness… this one finds the name adorable…”

“You traitors!”

——–Change of Scene——-

“We’ve reached the resting place of Infernus… Are you sure about this?” Standing before an endless cave of darkness, and despite knowing that the person he was asking had already hardened her heart, Aques Lumen still felt he should try to dissuade his pupil one last time. “There are many other ways as well…”

“It’s fine. Thank you, teacher.”

Having finally walked out from the shadow of harming Mo Ke with her own two hands, Nicole stood placidly before the cave system ahead, ready to face whatever monsters that lurked within. Her blade of fire and ice had been stolen by Ferti’nier; it was this loss that fully showed her how large the gap was between her and the disembodied soul residing in Mo Ke.

In Nicole’s eyes, Ferti’nier had stolen control of Mo Ke’s body from him, and it was her responsibility for causing this.

In order to allow her to wrestle this control back from the she-devil, or perhaps just as a form of penitence, she had embarked on this drastic course of action, all in a bid to gain strength.

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 698: Epilogue (6)

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

The piercing glare he felt on his back right now belonged to Duan Bitong. This was her way of silently protesting someone’s pack of lies. After all, how could a beautiful girl like her ever make a mistake?!

In response to that, Mo Ke’s expression could only be described as hilarious.

“Lady Mo Ke?” Even if the old general wasn’t too familiar with negotiations, the expression on Mo Ke’s face was too obvious not to notice. “Is there something wrong, Lady Mo Ke?”

“If you didn’t bring up my gender, we could have had a productive conversation.” Even though Mo Ke was still sore from having his gender wrongly filled out, he had no way of voicing that displeasure out loud. Smile crooked as broken glass, he said, “Sometimes, what our eyes see can be deceiving.”

Yet what was supposed to be a pointed reminder at how annoyed he was right now ended up having an unexpected result. As the bald general was slowly drawn in by Mo Ke’s smile, his eyes suddenly glazed over as a single thought overwhelmed him.

Perhaps what we see could be deceiving, but what did it matter when she was this beautiful? Rather than face the harsh realities, why not drown in this sweet dream. A dream where a girl called Mo Ke existed. Beautiful, charming, confident and powerful…

As his head began to distort the meaning of that smile, his heart started pounding furiously. He was in love again… with a young girl, no less!

If Mo Ke knew what this bald old man was thinking right now, he would have undoubtedly called him crazy! Or perhaps just told him to go kill himself. Three times!

Never in Mo Ke’s wildest dreams did he expect some old general to have such improper thoughts about him. But as the saying went, reality was a lot stranger than fiction. Either way, the general was now infatuated with him.

“I understand, I will respect your wishes, Lady Mo Ke.” The Raging Bear had now turned into the Stupid Bear…

“I said I’m not a lady! I’m a guy. 100%, a male!”

“Alright, I got it, Lady Mo Ke.”

“…”

“Hahaha…”

Qiaoqiao and Bitong burst out laughing, clearly amused by Mo Ke’s misery. Only Lixiang was as expressionless as before. But given how her lips were already trembling, she was probably dying to laugh as well. Honestly, she should just laugh. Holding it in for too long would only cause an injury.

Realising that any talk about his gender was now pointless, Mo Ke could only let go of this issue for now. It wasn’t like this was his first time being mistaken for a girl.

“Let’s just start with what kind of benefits I get by joining this new bureau of yours.”

Seeing that Mo Ke had acquiesced, Rodenas silently breathed a sigh of relief.

The bald man cleared his throat, then immediately went into PR mode. “Lady Mo Ke, by joining the Bureau of Enhanced Human and Supernatural Ability Users, you will immediately be granted the rank of Major, and will have the resources of the entire Federation at your disposal…”

“But as long as I am unable to leave this city, even the rank of General is useless, let alone that Major rank of yours.” Now that the talk had finally turned serious, Duanmu Bitong couldn’t help but intervene on Mo Ke’s behalf, all in a bid to get more benefits for him. “As for the Federation’s help… I don’t think that’s useful either… You guys aren’t even able to enter the city! These are clearly empty promises!”

Bitong’s words were forceful and firm, as if she already had something in mind.

Rodenas was left speechless by the girl. In truth, Bitong had cut straight to the crux of the problem: they were empty promises. If it was possible, he would have liked nothing more than to help out his goddess. But his army couldn’t even enter the city…

Until they could take care of those ghosts, or that skeletal monster lurking beneath the ground, there was no way for any outside reinforcements to enter. Not unless they were willing to take drastic measures! However, that wasn’t possible, especially not after he laid eyes on Mo Ke himself. The old Raging Bear would have probably taken to the battlefield himself, if he could…

Looking at the old man’s bloodshot eyes, Bitong had her own guesses. “The masses must be really giving you a hard time, huh?”

“…”

Rodenas’s pained expression proved that she was right on the mark once more.

In that case, there was no reason for her not to state more conditions.

Yet just when it looked like victory was at hand, the bald man finally broke into a defeated smile. “Seems like I’m truly bad at negotiating. How about I let the professionals take over instead…”

Having said that, the General adjusted the monitor, turning it towards a green-haired female researcher in white robes.

“Mum?”

“Auntie Xinqing?”
“Auntie Xinqing?”

“Who is that old hag?”

Just like that, Duanmu Xinqing had finally made her entrance amidst a wave of gasping.

Straight to the point, she said, “Ke, listen to your aunty, enter the Bureau.”

“Auntie Xinqing…”

“There’s no need to hesitate, your aunty would never hurt you.” She immediately played the family card before Mo Ke could consider any further. “Your aunty has been so worried these few days. Even if the soldiers outside can’t enter the city, by entering the Bureau, you will have the authority to deploy the remaining soldiers and policemen in the city. Am I right, General?”

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 697: Epilogue (5)

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

The reason why Rodenas would seek out Mo Ke was very simple, or complicated, depending on how you looked at it. Southern Plains was basically a city of over four million dead at this point -the very definition of a disaster. Humans, being social creatures, naturally had ties all over the planet. With a death count in the millions, that four million dead wasn’t just a number anymore. Especially when communications were cut off for the ordinary folk.

To make matters worse, the Federation wasn’t able to provide timely aid in this whole affair. In fact, they still had problems entering. By now, almost ninety percent of the population was estimated to be dead. This was news on a scale that couldn’t be covered up anymore.

In the face of the Federation’s apparent inaptitude, the other planets were more than happy to make their opinions known. The ordinary civilians already had their pitchforks and torches out in protest. This was an existential crisis for the Federation. And the cause of it was Southern Plains!

They had to give the masses an answer, and quickly. And that’s where the army had a brilliant idea: if they couldn’t enter, maybe they could get someone on the inside to help instead?

That was the background for how a certain strategist in the command room had the idea to recruit Mo Ke as a distraction. General Rodenas immediately began hashing out this plan with the others, no matter how ridiculous this plan would have sounded under ordinary circumstances…

But seeing as everyone agreed to it, maybe it wasn’t so ridiculous…

After hearing that whole chunk of backstory, Mo Ke had a bemused expression. “So you’re looking to recruit me then?”

“Not recruit.” Through the holographic display, Rodenas’s expression was serious, even for his standards. “Lady Mo Ke, you are one of the members of our Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users!”

He said it as if this was a known fact. And ordinary folk would have probably believed him too… Unfortunately, Mo Ke wasn’t so gullible.

“Huh? What the heck are you even talking about?” Mo Ke still couldn’t wrap his head around the assertion the general just made. “When have I ever joined this so-called Bureau of yours?”

“The Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users.:

“Too long. Can’t remember.” Mo Ke rolled his eyes.

Rodenas could only flash a resigned smile to that flat-out refusal. “It has already been two yeas since you’ve joined the Bureau of Enhanced Humans and Supernatural Ability Users. The Bureau was a secret ops division in the past, and you were one of its elders. An ace of the Bureau!”

“Two years?” Mo Ke eyes went wide with realization, after which he raised his voice at the holographic screen. “So you were the ones who captured me for experimentation and wiped my memories!”

“It’s not us…” Seeing Mo Ke suddenly lose his temper like that, Rodenas was stunned. Feeling that things were about to go awry quickly, he immediately explained, “That’s just an official cover story… Mrs Duanmu Xinqing has already given her consent.”

“Oh, so it’s fake….”

Duanmu Xinqing was Bitong’s mother, and was currently working as a researcher with the Federation. Seeing as Mo Ke’s name and basic information were already known, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that the other party knew of the Duanmus as well. That was why when Rodenas suddenly brought up Bitong’s mother, he wasn’t all that surprised. It even lent credence to the General’s words.

Mo Ke wordlessly stared at the General’s wrinkled face. “Well why didn’t you say so earlier! You already know I went missing, don’t say something so misleading, geez!”

“Regarding that matter, the Federation will investigate thoroughly. We promise to bring that criminal to justice!”

“But it’s precisely because of Lady Mo Ke’s disappearance that we decided to use that cover story. That period can be written off as a training period. Rest assured, the Federation only has the best intentions in this matter. Lady Mo Ke, joining us is for the best.”

“Before that, General, there’s something I need to tell you.”

The moment Rodenas heard that Mo Ke said that, his eyes lit up. It sounded like Mo Ke was going to give his terms. And if someone was willing to give an offer, that meant there was hope.

“Please, go ahead.”

“I’m a guy. Stop calling me lady!”

“…”

Looking at that expression of absolute seriousness as he stated his gender, Rodenas was taken aback once more. However, being the battle-hardened bear that he was, he quickly recovered, pulling up a holographic profile in the process.

Within that profile was a purple haired girl dressed in a white dress. That girl was Mo Ke. Beside that picture were several rows of words. Naturally, that was the profile of Mo Ke the Federation had. And on that profile was the word ‘female’.

Having confirmed that, a strange smile crossed his lips. “But Lady Mo Ke, maybe it’s just my eyes playing tricks on me, but your profile does state ‘female’.”

“…”

“Then it’s wrong! I’m clearly a male!”

Staring at that incensed look on Mo Ke’s face, Rodenas couldn’t help but find him adorable all of a sudden. Smiling, he continued, “I don’t think the person filling out this form would be so careless as to put down the wrong gender.”

“That person clearly was so careless!”

However, the moment he said that, he felt a piercing stare sweep over his back…

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 696: Epilogue (4)

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

“Alright, alright. Let’s not embarrass ourselves in front of others any further.” Mo Ke interceded before their little quibble got any bigger.

“Hmph. For the sake of His Highness, this one will leave it be.”

“Qiaoqiao will listen to big brother too!”

“Ke, just make sure not to worry us like that again!”

Just like that, that potential bomb was defused.

Now that his little harem was taken care of, Mo Ke sheepishly turned to Floater, “Sorry you had to see something so shameful.”

“Oh not at all, why would a winner in life ever find that shameful?”

The moment that term ‘winner in life’ came out, Mo Ke couldn’t help but feel that the other party was trying to insinuate something.

“Do you have a problem with me?”

“I hate such improper relationships! And I especially hate it when there are enough improper relationships to form a harem!”

Floater’s attitude had definitely crossed the line of being rude, but just based on what she said, she was probably a woman with some story to tell. It just so happened that Mo Ke was also someone with a story… just a man…

Mo Ke immediately realised that the other party had misunderstood his gender. A fact which he couldn’t help but find strange -why did so many people mistake him for a girl when he clearly had an appendage dangling down there?

“I think there’s been some misunderstanding here. I’m a guy, so my relationship, if any, is definitely a proper one.”

“Misunderstanding? Do you think I’m blind or something? Are you saying I can’t even tell the difference between a man and a woman?”

“No, no, no… I wasn’t saying you were blind…”

“So you’re saying that I can’t even see despite having eyes that are working?”

“I did not… really…” Mo Ke sulked a little at that point. Why did such a professional exosuit pilot have to be so difficult to communicate with?

“Foolish mortal, do you not speak human anymore?” As Mo Ke’s number one believer, Lixiang wasn’t going to stand for that lady’s insolence anymore. “I guess it’s too much to expect such lowly creatures to understand His Highness’s greatness!”

“That girl with delusions of grandeur over there is your lover?” Floater turned around to eye the girl who seemed a lot easier to target than Mo Ke. “She suits you.”

“Lover… suits… hmph! So the mortal’s eyes are working then…” Bribed by what was supposed to be an insult, Lixiang was beaming with pride as she continued, “Seeing as you’re such a discerning mortal, this one will graciously bestow upon you the opportunity to apologize. Treasure it well, mortal.”

Anyone who had known Lixiang long enough would know that this obnoxious display of arrogance was actually proof that she had successfully been bribed.

Even little Qiaoqiao was on the verge of mocking the girl for being so useless, but before she could even get the opportunity to do so, Mo Ke received a message request from an unknown line…

“A message? I thought all the civilian channels are no longer working?” A confused Mo Ke muttered to himself as he looked at his electronic AI’s notification.

“The civilian ones, maybe. But the military and police channels are still functional.” Duanmu Bitong immediately understood the meaning behind this message request. “The sender should be from the military, and he or she should be quite high up.”

Hearing that, Mo Ke came to the decision to accept the call. Regardless of what motive this person might have, facing it head on was for the best. After all, it couldn’t get worse than being stuck in Southern Plains.

The channel connected through in an instant, revealing a man in a military suit. However, the most striking feature of this man wasn’t his crisp, decorated uniform, but rather his shining bald head. And also those bloodshot, predator-looking eyes. With just those eyes alone, he could easily score a leading villain role in a movie…

“Greetings, it’s an honor to finally be able to talk face-to-face.” The bald man flashed a smile that was honestly more terrifying than his stern look. “Let me introduce myself first. I am Rodenas, a lieutenant-general of the Federation, tasked with handling the situation in Southern Plains…”

By using the military’s network, General Rodenas was able to reach Mo Ke, and as a sign of respect, he even gave Mo Ke the option to choose to reject the call. Although technically speaking, this really wasn’t an option at all. Seeing as Rodenas would have just badgered him constantly with calls until he accepted it.

“General, sir, to what do I owe this pleasure of meeting such an esteemed person? I’m just an ordinary civilian.”

With regards to the military, Mo Ke couldn’t really say that he had fond memories of the organization. As a civilian, he not only did not benefit much from their protection, they even sealed off the exits. Mo Ke’s outlook on them was rock bottom.

“Ordinary? Not at all.” Rodenas revealed a rare second smile of the day. “Lady Mo Ke, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that you’re now the pillar of support for the world.”

“Pillar of support?”

What the heck is that? Mo Ke thought to himself. Either way, I’m not supporting some random dude I just met…

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, the military is unable to enter Southern Plains… Our researchers are working day and night to figure out a solution… but this is an unprecedented enemy…” The general started explaining with a hint of bitterness on his lips.

Having listened to the whole explanation, Mo Ke finally understood what the man was here for.

It turned out that Southern Plains had really been cut off from the outside world. Normal communication was impossible, but military and police channels were still available. Meaning, Southern Plains had only been cut off from their side. Through the various surveillance tools the military possessed, the outside world could still see what was going on in the city.

And it just so happened that Mo Ke’s heroics yesterday had been captured and spread all over the internet. Because of his stunning appearance and impressive skills, he had successfully captured the hearts and minds of the citizens in the world. Using an entertainment industry analogy, he was the kind of idol who not only looked good, but also worked hard to boot!

Shameless Self-promotion

Devil Evolution Catalogue Chapters 687 to 695

August 1, 2021 CatatoPatch Leave a comment

687 to 695 are out!

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» Chapter 689 «

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» Chapter 691 «

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» Chapter 692 «

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» Chapter 693 «

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» Chapter 694 «

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» Chapter 695 «

Chapter 695: Epilogue (3)

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

The first day of the Southern Plains Crisis was spent mostly in a fit of anger for General Rodenas. Whether it was the first hour of the crisis, or the last for that day, he was constantly in an explosive state. By the end of day one, the command room was almost destroyed…

Naturally, that last part was an exaggeration. But it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that those who were unfortunate enough to be there that day, worked under the bloodshot eyes of a predator, filling them with fear of when this raging bear would suddenly turn his sights on them.

The man wasn’t called the Raging Bear without reason. But there was reason for his madness; Southern Plains was now overrun by ghosts in the dead of night.

Compared to the mindless zombies in the day, these stealthy nightmares were natural-born assassins. With no corporeal form, they could pass through walls, appearing when you’d least expect them. Just that trait alone afforded them a special place amongst the undead.

This immaterial nature was unusual to Gaia, due to the environment actively destroying such entities. Yet through some unknown means, the perpetrator of Southern Plains was able to bring in such otherworldly invaders. Thanks to that, the laws of the world itself were in disarray. Slowly but surely, the spiritual energy particles in the air were starting to mutate due to the clashing of the two worlds.

For the time being however, these ghosts could only act within the confines of Southern Plains. This aberration in the laws of the world was only limited to Southern Plains. And even though the scientists of this world could not make heads or tails of the occult, they quickly realised that the ghosts couldn’t leave Southern Plains.

Thank the stars for that as well. Had this not been the case, General Rodenas would have already ordered the firing of Heavensrail at the city.

But just because they escaped an untimely death by orbital laser, that did not mean the citizens of Southern Plains were in the clear either. All through the night, these ghosts would relentlessly hunt down any living human being, of whom the soldiers and policemen formed no small part. While the two forces might possess the required weapons to harm the ghosts, their ability to pass through walls was difficult to guard against.

Perhaps one might be relieving oneself when a ghostly hand suddenly reached out from the toilet bowl. Or perhaps one might be taking a dump when a pair of hands suddenly passed through the cubicle doors to claw at you. Either way, a decent chunk of people died in ambushes during the night.

Barring the General who was beside himself when he learnt of these ghosts, anyone who even knew a shred of what was happening in Southern Plains wouldn’t be able to sleep well that night.

If there had to be one silver lining amidst the stream of bad news, it would be that girl, who was slowly being known as the Goddess of War…

In the morning of the second day, one of the ace exosuit pilots of the Federation, codenamed Floater, encountered a new titan of a foe: a reanimated, skeletal Coatl!

In life, the Coatl was of the Disaster-class, possessing immeasurable strength. In death, it was now free from the constraints of the flesh, turning it into the perfect weapon of war. During their initial exchanges, Floater found herself at a severe disadvantage.

However, that was mostly due to her being unfamiliar with the tactics of this new opponent. Now that she had figured out its attack patterns, she could employ her signature detachable bits, from which her codename was derived, to turn the tables instantly.

A normal soldier piloting an exosuit was roughly at the level of a Four-star. An elite soldier would reach Five-stars. As for ace pilots… they had their own customised exosuits, so they could even be as powerful as a Six-star!

Unfortunately, all that was predicated on machinery. In a world of science, humans had naturally grown reliant on external tools to fight. Which meant that should an enemy appear that their tools weren’t built to fight, it would be difficult for humans to adapt right away. By that time, they might have already lost, despite the enemy being weaker.

Strictly speaking, the skeletal Coatl was merely a Five-star. However, Floater’s exosuit was more specialised for long-range fire support. Her own piloting skills were tailored to that end, resulting in her melee skills being nearly non-existent.

Thanks to that mismatch in skills, the skeletal Coatl was able to perform much better than it normally would have. Thankfully, every ace pilot had their own killer technique they could rely on in a pinch. Combined with the fact that she was still a whole tier stronger than the Coatl, she managed to scrape a victory in the end.

Had Floater been a melee specialist, the Coatl would have been defeated in seconds.

But that wasn’t the reason why the battle with that Coatl was important. The main reason why the Coatl was even a topic worth mentioning was because it so happened to be fighting where Mo Ke was…

Barely a second after the first Coatl was taken down, a second and third Coatl popped up…

The second Coatl went after Floater, but the third seemed to be eyeing Mo Ke…

———Change of Scene———

Ever since he witnessed the Goddess of War’s fight, Stuart had been looking forward to every crumb of new footage. Even in his dreams, he imagined he was some sort of superhuman, fighting alongside the Goddess in a city of dead.

As the saying went, good things come to those who wait. Barely a minute into noon, a video of the Goddess was uploaded.

Unlike yesterday, the Goddess was a little different, in that she suddenly sprouted a pair of regal purple wings!

If the Goddess of yesterday could still be said to have some semblance to a mortal, then the Goddess of today was just that, a goddess!

Her flowing purple hair danced in the raging winds around her. Her eyes, a cold calmness that tolerated no blasphemy.

From the start of the battle, the Goddess freed herself from her toy of an exosuit. She wielded that same fire and ice weapon as she took to the skies in a flourish.

Her opponent was a horrific bony creature with a body of a serpent that had wings. This monster foolishly tried to attack the Goddess, but her speed was beyond the comprehension of a mere undead monster.

The Goddess accelerated in a flash, dodging its attack before appearing atop the monster. She then raised her sword up high and brought it down in a burst of fire and ice energies, perfectly splitting the creature in half…

The video came to an abrupt end there. But even though he was still yearning for more, Stuart couldn’t help but chant as he knelt reverently before the screen, “Long live the Goddess!”

It was then that Stuart’s mom worked out of the kitchen with a plate of freshly fried vegetables. Just like before, she found her son in an almost comical posture, yelling into the empty air.

She was just about to ask when her son started explaining, “Mom, I know what you’re wondering why I’m kneeling, but do not ask anything, just watch this video with me and I promise you will join me as well…”

The same scene was played out across multiple different households: family members yelling “Long live the Goddess” before pulling the uninitiated amongst them to watch the video as well…

——Change of Scene——

Having turned into a Fallen Angel, Mo Ke slew a skeletal Coatl in one fell strike.

He had now confirmed his newfound strength, and was more than ready to use it. Ignoring the exosuit pilot, he dove straight for the remaining skeletal Coatl, swinging at it with Icy Inferno, splitting its head open before the creature could even react!

Without its soul flame to animate it, the massive skeleton immediately fell apart in mid-air, and what was supposed to be a bitter, drawn-out battle was over in a flash.

Still in the midst of enacting a counterplan, Floater now had the dubious honor of having to cancel her maneuvers, tumbling awkwardly to the side, having done nothing at all.

“Are you alright?” Asked a genuinely concerned Mo Ke as he stood before the white exosuit. That Coatl did not manage to inflict any further damage on the exosuit, but the tumble seemed to have -given how the pilot hadn’t tried to stand up even after a few seconds.

“I’m fine”, was the response he got. Judging by the pilot’s slightly cool voice, she was probably a young lady, most likely in her early twenties.

“You’re the one who helped out with the Scorpids yesterday, weren’t you? You have my thanks for that.”

“Even without me, you would have been fine.”

“At the very least your intervention reduced the number of casualties.”

“And if I had known this was your true strength, I probably wouldn’t have been such a busybody.”

“That’s not true at all, I definitely wasn’t as strong yesterday as I am today.”

“Right.”

“No, really.”

“And I said right…”

“…”

The two continued conversely in such a manner, exchanging one reply for another, all the while maintaining a distinct distance between each other. Mo Ke was hoping to obtain more information from the pilot, while Floater was busy being awed by Mo Ke’s astonishing strength. For a single person to destroy two gigantic monsters like that was simply unprecedented. World changing!

Both of them chatted till Bitong and the girls arrived on scene as well.

“Big brother, that was amazing!!” Qiaoqiao spread her robotic arms wide open as she dove for Mo Ke.

Wingless, Mo Ke easily side-stepped her excited hug. He definitely did not want to experience being hugged by an exosuit….

“Congratulations on Your Highness finally breaking the seal..”

“Lixiang, about that seal you keep talking about…”

“There’s no need to be modest, Your Highness, with your prowess…”

“Ke! Do you know how worried I was?!” Bitong cut off Lixiang before she could continue with her delusional middle schooler act. “You mustn’t do such a dangerous thing in the future!”

“What do you mean dangerous? Did you not see how amazing big brother was? It was that monster who was in danger!”

“His Highness is invincible!”

With Mo Ke’s near-impossible slaying of the two Coatls in seconds, Qiaoqiao and Lixiang had now fully converted into being Mo Ke fangirls.

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 694: Epilogue (2)

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

The logic behind the Federation’s mass showing of edited surveillance footage was to reduce the psychological impact of the tragedy. They had to let everyone know that, amidst the darkness, there was still a brave girl fighting in that city. Even if this was but one tiny ray of light in a sea of darkness, it was enough to pull them all back from the brink.

Only in the darkness did the light shine the brightest! And Mo Ke was now that unwavering candle flame lighting the way ahead.

Naturally, one single person’s heroics wasn’t enough to wipe away the entire loss of so many lives. But at this point, the Federation did not have much less to lose by releasing the footage. At the very least, it showed that there was still that one person alive in a city of dead.

Fortunately for them, Mo Ke’s fighting style was just the sort of distraction they needed; it was flashy and heroic, all at the same time. Adding on his natural air of mystery and beauty, he became a perfect idol for the Federation around which the masses could rally around, rather than take to the streets and riot…

At the end of the day, the Federation’s army was in a rather precarious situation. Thanks to the ghosts blockading the entrances, the soldiers could not enter the city to clear out the undead. It wouldn’t take long before they would be labelled ‘useless’, unless there was a mysterious superhuman heroine from which the undead could be contrasted against.

After all, it’s not our fault for being useless if the enemies are fighting on a different plane.

———Change of Scene——–

The command room of the Federation’s armed forces was a veritable fish market of shouting right now.

The man known as the Raging Bear of the Federation, General Rodenas was currently staring coldly at a holographic screen, eyes bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept a wink since trying to find a way into Southern Plains.

Unfortunately for him, the perpetrator’s seal on the city was airtight, foiling whatever plan he had tried to enact with the soldiers.

Initially, he had sent in a detachment of mobile armors and exosuits to try and break into the city, but that attempt was summarily taken care of by the ghosts. Losses numbering in the thousands of mobile armors, the general had to give up on that plan quickly.

Following that, one of the HQ’s strategists suggested bombarding the ghosts from afar -perhaps that would prove effective against these new enemies.

That attempt was met with failure as well. While the ghosts might be dead, that did not mean they were brainless and couldn’t dodge. Their lack of weight, or an actual physical body for that matter, gave the ghosts an extreme advantage in speed, and allowed them to twist and turn in ways they couldn’t even imagine.

Just like that, their risk-free plan of artillery bombardment had failed.

Aerial bombings had been suggested at some point, but the ghosts quickly took care of the soldier who piloted that doomed flight…

At this point, even talks of bringing in ‘external experts’ began to surface. All the while, the HQ officers continued flipping through whatever materials they could find on this matter.

As for who these ‘experts’ were, they were experts on the occult, of course. Meaning… they were fiction writers…

When that was first suggested, Rodena almost grabbed the strategist who suggested that by his collar.

In actuality, those ‘experts’ were never brought in. Instead, they got several researchers to try and develop a prototype energy defense system. This system was originally meant for use on mobile armors, so just modifying it for the exosuits required hours.

The first prototype was quickly delivered by night to those stationed outside of Southern Plains. Soon after, an elite soldier was outfitted with the device and piloting his custom exosuit into Southern Plains.

The energy defense system was a simple device shaped like tiles. These small tiles would then be stuck onto the limbs of the exosuit, the back and the head. With how patched together this solution seemed, it would be understatement to say that the soldier wasn’t feeling very safe right now. But he was a soldier, and soldiers followed orders. Since he was the chosen one, he had to comply.

Gingerly, he stepped across the dreaded border, as if any sudden movement would trigger off a trap. By the time he came into sight of the ghosts, they had noticed him as well. They immediately swarmed towards him. He instinctively reached for his button to fire, causing the black exosuit to trigger its weapons system and fire off a salvo of lasers at the incoming ghosts.

Faced with what should have been an attack with perfect accuracy, the ghosts somehow managed to distort their bodies in impossible angles, finally twisting up into a braid… The lasers basically missed…

But just when it looked like his exosuit was going to be invaded, the armor of his exosuit miraculously discharged a powerful electrical wave outwards! Noticing that energy signature, the ghosts halted their attacks and started retreating.

From the looks of things, the ghosts were afraid of electricity.

The soldier was saved, and humanity discovered a weakness of their mysterious new foe.

At this rate, the Federation would only have to reproduce this defense system en masse and march their troops in. However, were things ever so simple?

Having just survived a brush with death, the soldier was fully ready to return to his squad now that he had completed his mission. But the moment he turned around, the earth suddenly split apart…

A gigantic bony white hand, formed out of countless bones, grabbed the soldier’s exosuit. Then like a cat who had a tiny mouse in its paws, easily dragged the soldier down into the abyss…

The moment the hand disappeared into the ground, the earth closed back up, as if nothing had ever happened… At least it would have been, had it not been for the jagged cracks in the road…

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 693: Epilogue (1)

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

Change of POV:

Chunks the size of a fist began raining down like meteors, some even reaching up to the size of a human’s head. Mo Ke and the girls were currently in the midst of a frantic escape, weaving through a veritable bullet-hell as they sprinted blindly ahead. Every step they took was a gamble whether or not a stray piece of rubble would suddenly crash into them. All around them, the massive craters left behind by the falling rubble only served to remind them of the fate they narrowly avoided by a hair’s breadth.

Even with the exosuit’s defenses, stone chunks falling from such a height could still prove fatal. At the end of the day, these exosuits were, at best, at the level of a Three-star. These suits were built for entertainment, so there wasn’t a need to make them too sturdy, given that the weapons they would face were all sealed up. Maintenance standards wouldn’t be as stringent as military operations either.

The rain of stones continued unabated, leaving the group with a visceral sense of helplessness. Other than dodge, there really wasn’t much they could do. With how fast these stones were, there wasn’t even that much time to react.

Thankfully, none of the chunks had hit them so far. Ever the dependable girl, Duanmu Bitong was able to remotely control her two unmanned exosuits, turning them into mobile shields to cover for them, even as she was frantically running away. In fact, this was the sole reason why they hadn’t suffered any injuries yet.

However, that meant that the two exosuits were finally done for; a price had to be paid for their safety. The good news was that these were unmanned exosuits that got crushed by the rubble.

High above, the culprit of this rock storm finally ceased its destructive actions, but that was only the beginning of the ensuing nightmare.

A giant shadow zipped across the horizon. The culprit of this mini-disaster had finally revealed itself -it was another massive skeletal Coatl, and it was currently charging right at that white exosuit…

There’s another?! Mo Ke thought to himself, but he soon found out otherwise. There were two of them!

Before Mo Ke and the girls could celebrate the fact that they had somehow avoided this crisis, another shadow blotted the skies… Under their disbelieving eyes, the third skeletal Coatl reared its sinister head…

By this time, the second Coatl had already reached the exhausted white exosuit. It still seemed to be in fighting condition, but whether or not it could take on another Coatl was a different story. Mo Ke and the pilot exchanged a quick glance, as if to say, you take care of that one, I’ll take care of this one.

It seemed however, that this was unnecessary. The third Coatl had already set its sights on Mo Ke.

“ROARRR!!!”

This monster, which was also responsible for one of the buildings being destroyed, let forth a deafening roar -a sign of its aggression, and perhaps its claim of ownership as well?

Through its massive eye holes, glimpses of a dancing Soul Flame could be seen, as if it was excited about something.

“Out of the way! Quick! I’ll take care of it!”

Realising that battle was no longer avoidable, Mo Ke chose to meet his new foe head on. He first shed away the entertainment exosuit which he deemed as being useless against the skeletal Coatl. At the same time as he peeled himself out of the cockpit, he launched himself into the air, a pair of purple wings bursting to life behind him in a beautiful flourish!

Wings fully extended, Mo Ke felt for the first time that he was in his element, as if flying with these wings was a part of himself.

“Big brother!”

“Your Highness!”

“Ke…”

A few powerful flaps of his wings later, Mo Ke was fully airborne. Suddenly, a mighty gust of wind blew over the scene as the air itself began to tremble. Mo Ke began flapping his wings once more, but this time, each flap brought it with a hail of feather-shaped energy projectiles, as if he was some sort of divine being passing judgement on the monster below. A goddess had descended!

Even though Mo Ke was actually a guy, and he was even in men’s clothing…

Icy Inferno gripped tightly in his hands, Mo Ke bravely dove at the skeletal monster below him. Because he knew more than anyone else right now – the moment that monster discovered them, there was no running away. Even if he couldn’t defeat it, he had to at least buy time for the girls to escape!

His newfound bloodline was his biggest advantage in this fight, even if he himself wasn’t aware of how strong he had gotten because of it. This bloodline was originally his, but his memories had been sealed up. In spite of that, every fiber of his being was telling him right now: he could do it! In this time of danger, his instincts were telling him that the monster wasn’t a match for him.

Ever since Mo Ke was awarded a feather from Lucifer, he gained the Original Sin of Pride. He had turned into a being ingrained with divinity. The moment Lucifer infused his feather into him, Mo Ke gained an express ticket to the Demigod-tier.

For such a being, killing a monster slightly above his grade was no problem at all. Even if he wasn’t consciously aware of it due to his artificial amnesia, his body remembered how to judge an enemy’s strength.

There was no need to hesitate at all! Rather, in a fight to the death, a single moment could decide one’s life.

A set of terrifying fangs closed in on him, filling his eyesight in an instant, but he easily evaded the jaw attack with an elegant twist of his body. Then with another flap of his wings, he abruptly changed directions and climbed atop the Coatl’s head. The forces generated by such a violet move struck him like a hammer, but he paid them no heed as he steadied himself once more.

To begin with, a purple-winged Fallen Angel’s flight ability wasn’t something that could be described with mere words. And as Mo Ke raised Icy Inferno up high for the most powerful attack he knew so far, the Coatl was about to experience its mistake firsthand…

——– Change of Scene ———

Ever since Southern Plains was transformed into a veritable hellscape overnight, the eyes of the world were glued to this once-famous tourist city. Whether they were the tabloids, or the CMMs/LYNX news of the world, there were no media companies who weren’t furiously covering this city right now. No amount of celebrity marriages and subsequent divorices could dethrone this topic from its frontpage spot.

That was because this single city was all the people had on their minds right now; the death of over 4 million people had imparted a palpable sense of danger into every human being, regardless of whether they were on Gaia, or had already migrated to another planet.

However, this crisis wasn’t completely a disaster. At least for some, the destruction within the city had also proved to be a platform of sorts…

Aged 21, Stuart was your everyday shut-in. His favourite, and probably only, hobby involved simping over streamer girls. Naturally, he wasn’t all that bothered by the tragedy unfolding in Southern Plains. After all, what did he care if a few people, or maybe a few million died? As long as it did not spread to his city, he was perfectly fine.

And even if it did, that was just an opportunity for him to suddenly be granted some sort of cheat-like system and begin his adventure slaughtering zombies in an apocalyptic world. In the process, he would recruit a bunch of lackeys, start his own faction, marry a beautiful, rich girl, then become the ultimate winner in life!

Self-centered, delusional people like Stuart weren’t as uncommon as one would hope. But all that changed when the Federation suddenly released an edited version of its footage within Southern Plains…

Countless zombies dotted the streets of a city that once boasted immaculate roads. In place of tediously-maintained pristineness was dried blood, torn limbs, half-eaten corpses and heads with their eyes staring lifelessly ahead… All that served only to tell the world that this tourist city was now forever consigned to the history books…

From now on, there would be no vacationing here. The moment one brought up the city, Southern Plains, images of death and a sinister virus would be all that were conjured. As long as the human race persevered, this city would forever be marked as a city of death…

However, this video wasn’t only a bringer of bad news and death. There was also disbelief -a questioning of whether or not this was even the world they knew anymore…

Within the video aired by the Federation was a beautiful girl, dressed in a typical man’s white shirt and pants, and graced with a head of flowing purple hair that almost seemed like silk. It was this same girl that also wielded a blade-like sword as she hacked a bunch of skeletal Scorpids to death.

These skeletal Scorpids possessed unimaginable agility and ambush tactics that caught even seasoned veterans off-guard. They acted more like a pack than an actual pack of wolves, and wherever they hunted, they brought death along with them.

Even the elite exosuit pilots amongst the police did not dare say that they could fight these monsters and come out unscathed. Yet it was that girl, not even armed with an exosuit, who single handedly faced off against these monsters, all the while wielding a weapon straight out of the medieval age.

It was that girl, with a harmless face that would endear her to any guy who saw her, who slew those Scorpids without taking a single hit!

Her battle tactics had everyone on the edge of their seats, but whenever it looked like she was about to get hit, she would always dodge in a manner most unexpected to pull a counterattack.

Beautiful; exhilarating; intoxicating…

No matter how many times Stuart watched this video, he would always feel a surge of adrenaline that would push him to smack the floor constantly just to release that pent up desire to fight.

It was at that point that Stuart’s mom returned home.

This thirty-odd looking lady stared at her son in disbelief.

“Son, why are you kneeling while watching a video?”

Hearing his mom’s voice, Stuart turned around to look at the mature lady, then after a long silence, turned back to watch the video.

Finally, after another long pause in which his mom probably thought he was out of his mind, Stuart suddenly spoke up, “Mom, I think I’ve found my religion…”

This same scene played out across multiple households… or were in the midst of playing out…

The girl in question was naturally Mo Ke. The Federation’s satellites had captured the situation of Southern Plains in detail. In particular, they made sure to capture Mo Ke’s every action when possible.

Shameless Self-promotion