Re:Library

Chapter 760: Epilogue (6)

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

“No, the situation then was too shocking to allow that. Against such a massive foe, we did not even think that escaping was possible…” Despite how cowardly he must have sounded when saying that, Ouyang Huiren dutifully reported the details as he experienced them. “My head went blank. I was worried it was going to flatten me like a pancake… It was even in the process of raising its hands when it suddenly stopped…”

“Hmm… I see… The three of you can head back first, leave this area to me.” Seeing as he had already given me all the information he had, I decided now was the time to have them return first. “Sima Junmo is busy gathering up the survivors, but given how the monsters have been acting up recently, I’m worried he can’t handle them. I need you all to help him.”

“But how do you plan on dealing with that giant? We can at least assist you while we are here.”

“There’s no need for that. There’s nothing you can do against a massive opponent like that.”

Even though it was a little hurtful of me to say that, I knew Ouyang Huiren wasn’t one to give up so easily unless I did so.

Faced with the harsh reality of his own helplessness, he fell silent, but still took my advice in the end.

“I got it… we will head back first then… but be careful,” he turned around one last time to say. “If the situation is looking bad, just run.”

“Mhm.” I nodded. “I will.”

Having sent away the trio, I flew off towards the giant skeleton.

Because of my bloodline, my night vision was exceptional, allowing me to spot a distant figure standing atop the giant.

Don’t tell that hoodlum is alive again? But the size doesn’t fit.

The night winds blew past the lone figure atop the giant. From the scant few glimpses, I could tell that this person was skinny, to the point of being bony.

In order to uncover the truth behind this conundrum, I accelerated my flight.

The giant seemed to have noticed my approach as well. It sped up, its thunderous footsteps now shaking the very land it trod on. A great number of zombies ended up being squashed by the giant; even the surrounding buildings were not spared from its destructive influence.

With each step it took, a small pit would be left in its wake. One could only imagine the force behind its steps!

But why does it seem like it’s trying to avoid me?

I couldn’t figure out why the giant would act in such a manner, thus I did the only thing I could do: speed up like a flash of purple!

At the end of the day, that giant wasn’t made for speed. No matter how much it tried to flee, the distance between continued to grow smaller. Our little game of catch continued for another twenty seconds or so before the other party finally realised that they couldn’t shake my pursuit. Thus, they just decided to stop.

I took this opportunity to circle around to the front of the giant, floating at the same level as that figure on top of the giant’s head.

With just ten meters separating the two of us, I could now see… a skeleton? A skeleton wearing a black robe!

“I never expected for us to meet under such circumstances…” The skeleton’s jaws cracked open, and despite there not being any vocal chords to be seen, it started talking.

How unscientific! But very fantasy-esque!

Given that even angel bloodlines were being sold now, I naturally wasn’t too shocked by a talking, black-robed skeleton. However, its familiarity with me struck me as odd -did it know me?

My brows knitted together in alarm. “Who are you?”

I had no recollection whatsoever of this skeleton. Perhaps it was someone I knew before losing my memory?

“You don’t recognise me?” The skeleton seemed shocked by my reaction.

“Should I? I don’t remember you at all. Are you part of that mysterious cult who kidnapped me for human experimentation?”

“… even though I have no idea what you just said, I think I know what’s happened to you.” The black-robed skeleton smiled strangely. “Heheheh… you’ve lost your memories, haven’t you?”

“…”

Was I that obvious?

“While I doubt you’ve been kidnapped for experimentation, losing your memory is very possible. After all, you forced your way through those dimensional barriers -paying a price is only to be expected.” It eyed me from top to bottom for a good while, then in a sudden burst of vigor, declared, “Since you’ve lost your memory, I can see why your aura has weakened as well. In that case, this can’t be a trap and it’s time for some payback! For every ounce of suffering you’ve inflicted on me, including the recently deceased Verni, I will return them to you twofold!”

From its words alone, I managed to glean a fair amount of information. Assuming everything it said was true, of course…

It knew me before I lost my memory. I had crossed something known as a “dimensional barrier”, resulting in me losing my memories as a price.

It mentioned, “Verni”, that should be the name of that lady ghost who the girls destroyed. In that case, it must have sensed her death and rushed here to exact revenge.

Before it could do so, it sensed my presence, and assumed this was some sort of trap, so it rode away on that giant skeleton.

But if it was truly afraid of me, why didn’t it just run away? I doubt I would have noticed it. Why activate that giant skeleton?

The most logical explanation would be that it was planning to destroy the inn with that skeleton, and that was when it noticed me…

Judging from its attitude, I must have given it a good thrashing… meaning the “me” who still had memories…

What an awkward reunion…

But it still could have just abandoned the giant skeleton and ran. I wouldn’t have noticed it.

Well… if there’s something you don’t know, you just gotta ask -that’s how I’ve always been.

“You must have noticed me after activating that giant skeleton. But if you’ve already decided to flee, why didn’t you just abandon the skeleton and run off?”

Hearing that, the skeleton was visibly stunned. Even without any flesh, I could tell it was hiding a sense of awkwardness. “I’ve… forgotten…”

“…”

And here I was… assuming that this skeleton dressed in an ominously black set of robes actually had a grand conspiracy…

Shameless Self-promotion

I hate this novel.

Chapter 759: Epilogue (5)

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

“Don’t you guys find that ghost a little strange? She seemed highly intelligent -almost human. And she seemed to have a clear motive for coming here.”

Normal ghosts did not possess much intelligence. They couldn’t even string together a sentence, and their faces were highly distorted.

That lady ghost was not only smart, she was pretty as well. Meaning… she was a unique specimen? And she was sent here as a messenger? Perhaps the mastermind of Southern Plains had something to do with her visit?

“No worries, the more the merrier!” Blessed with a four-digit point income for once, Qiaoqiao waved her little hands about in excitement. Then, with an almost dismissive tone, she said, “Qiaoqiao is just begging for more of them to come!”

“Yes. Worth a lot of points… easy to kill… a very amiable sort of ghost.” Bitong seemed to be in agreement as well, judging by her waving those stacks of talismans about. “I don’t mind another one, too.”

“Bag of points, that’s what she is.”

Hey! Don’t objectify the boss like that!

To be honest, I wasn’t afraid of that lady ghost either. I was more concerned about the master she served. Taking care of that human, or ghost, soon would be for the better. However, my opinion was that an ordinary person couldn’t be the master of a boss-like ghost. Was he or she the mastermind?

Just when that thought crossed my mind, an incident occured…

First, a massive earthquake engulfed the ground, as if something was clawing its way through the earth right this instant. Then came a booming sensation, as if a giant was lumbering towards us.

Gaia itself seemed to quake in the wake of this frightening turn of events. The girls immediately sought shelter beneath any fixed table or chair they could find.

The shaking continued for a while more, yet with each tremor, their strength seemed to subside. Even the booming was getting softer.

This couldn’t be a natural earthquake!

Ten seconds later, I couldn’t resist checking the outside of our room. A notification popped up from Floater. “I’m outside, are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine, I’ll get the door.” I looked around as I said that, the girls nodded back in response, at which point I ran over to open the door.

There she was, in her customised exosuit, yet she did not seem to want to step in.

“Floater, do you know what happened just now?”

Given that she was in her exosuit, she was most likely on patrol duty, thus she probably had more information than us.

“That giant fellow started moving, but it headed outwards instead.”

“Which giant?” I immediately realised who she was referring to the moment I said that. “You mean that giant skeleton?”

“That’s right, it just suddenly started moving on its own.” Floater stated coolly. “Ouyang Huiren is on site handling that monster as we speak. Sima Junmo was on his break, but I’m sure he saw it…”

“Lady Mo Ke, are you alright? Don’t worry, I’m here to protect you!” Speaking of the devil, Sima Junmo’s anxious voice came racing through my comms channel at that moment. “You guys, gather the survivors, get ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.”

Not long after, Sima Junmo rode up to our room in his exosuit. By that point, Floater and I had already agreed upon a plan.

She would look after the girls on my behalf while I hunted down that undead creature.

“I’m fine…” For some reason or another, I couldn’t help but get exasperated whenever I saw that man. “I’m going to have a look outside the inn. Sima, I need you to stay behind to take command. Have everyone gathered up, we might have to leave this place.”

“But, lady Mo Ke, your safety…”

“Is something you need not be concerned about. Just look after the others, you’re the only one I can rely on to do this now.”

In order to shake off this little burden, I had no choice but to prop him up a little. Even so, I wasn’t exactly lying when I said that. After all, Floater was too silent. Bitong and the girls were just ordinary girls with no experience of command. Sima Junmo was, at the very least, an officer in the army. He was actually the most suited here.

“Absolutely, leave this to me!” My offhand praise seemed to have worked unexpectedly well. He slapped his chest, and gave me a goosebump-worthy smile.

“… then I’ll leave everyone to you.”

With the command structure settled, I wasted no time in taking to the air, just in time to catch the distant silhouette of that giant’s back. I could vaguely make out three exosuits stuck on its back.

I did not hesitate in diving towards the target. Hopefully, the mystery of why it was reanimated would reveal itself.

Behind me, I could hear Sima barking out orders. “You three, go gather the survivors over there. We need to get this done as soon as possible… I want the supplies packed up as well…”

At my full speed, I quickly caught up to the giant. The identity of those three exosuits turned out to be Ouyang Huiren and his two subordinates. They were currently on the ground, battling a bunch of undead monsters, most of whom were zombies, some skeletal scorpids thrown in the mix from time to time, as they continued tailing the giant.

The monsters in Southern Plains had grown more varied. Even the ordinary zombies started to evolve, becoming sturdier and stronger. Thankfully, they were still dense as bricks.

Landing atop a giant tree, I pulled out my Flame Whip and lashed at a swathe of those monsters. Like a hot knife through butter, I easily bifurcated a group of them. Their wounds even caught fire in the process, turning them into ashes within seconds.

A few lashes later, the zombies were finally cleaned out in a twenty meter radius. Even those scorpids did not escape a fiery demise.

One of the benefits of my newly expanded SP pool was that every spell I used was now more powerful. Even my normal Fireballs could raze a building.

In a heated battle with an evolved zombie a mere second ago, Ouyang Huiren still hadn’t come around to the fact that his opponents were all cut in half.

“Lady Mo Ke, I knew you would come.”

“With all this ruckus, I had to.”

I turned to look at the giant who was still lumbering forward. Its true height came up to a staggering 50 meters. Despite that, I did not feel a shred of fear. “Did it try to attack you guys? Or rather, did you guys try to attack it?”

Shameless Self-promotion

I hate this novel.

Chapter 758: Epilogue (4)

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

Having finished putting on the robes for Karlston, the wraith, Verni sank to one knee, lowering her beautiful but ethereal head. “Congratulations on completing your seclusion, master.”

Karlston nodded his head in satisfaction at the wraith’s subservience. “What is the situation outside?” He asked casually.

“A number of mutated humans have begun appearing, armed with a variety of strange powers. The strongest amongst them have even managed to slay a skeletal coatl.” Verni recounted some of the events of Southern Plains in a nonchalant manner. “If the Master wishes, I will personally capture her and offer up her soul to you, master.”

Even though Karlston was nothing but bones, Verni could still pick up the slight trace of interest her master expressed when she mentioned that human. His eye flames flickered. “Do it, but I want her alive. She has caught my attention. Not just her, I want all the mutated humans brought to me, I plan on doing some research.”

“Understood, master.”

Verni answered before immediately leaving the underground room. Karlston whipped around, and with a wave of his hands, summoned forth a bony throne, right out of the pool of blood.

Seated atop his throne, bony hands tapping on an equally bony armrest, he seemed to ponder in silence, or perhaps he was merely killing time. “Survivors of a world’s distortion… how amusing… click click click…”

In his current state, Karlston was merely at the peak of the Overlord realm. As for why he hadn’t returned to his former realm, yet, that was because a demigod wasn’t just a state of power. It was an evolution of life itself. For an undead, they had to strengthen their being.

A demigod was, in the crudest of definitions, a divinity that hadn’t obtained the authority of a god, but still possessed the body of one. The most basic requirement for such a body was to be immortal.

Technically, demigods weren’t actually immortal, but they had no issue living for thousands of years. For an undead like Karlston, his bony body was severely lacking in fortitude.

The base of his current body was a former human researcher. Naturally, such an ordinary body did not possess the potential to ascend to godhood. In order to truly return to his former glory, Karlston still had a long way to go.

In order to regain his power in the shortest time possible, Karlston’s first command was for Verni to capture those mutated humans. They were the fortunate souls who had survived the distortion of the world’s laws. Blessed with superhuman strength, they were the perfect nutrients for his body!

Unfortunately for the loyal Verni, she ended up picking Mo Ke as her first target, all in a bid to impress her master…

—————Change of scene—————

The time was eleven in the night. I was in the midst of a heated discussion with the system about this upcoming war of worlds. That was when one of the talismans on the wall suddenly lit up in flames.

Stuck in a state of bored reverie, Qiaoqiao was the first to notice the blazing flames on the wall. “Big brother!” She yelled while pointing at the talisman, “There’s a monster trying to enter through the walls!”

These talismans reacted whenever any ethereal creature entered its range. They were both a defensive tool, and a means of warning.

However, the situation facing us now was different than before. A slender, pearly white arm pierced through the wall, then with an almost seductive grace, peeled off the lit talisman, before tossing it on the floor with casual disregard.

A ghost that wasn’t afraid of fire?! That has to be a boss!

“Come with me, my master wishes to see you.”

A beautiful lady ghost, dressed in a typical secretary garb, passed through the wall. In her hand was a predominantly grey umbrella that seemed to waver between the corporeal and incorporeal state. She coolly sashayed towards us.

However, Lixiang did not even give her the chance to speak further before tossing out a bunch of talismans at her. These talismans were known as the Holy Light talismans. They were specifically made to counter the undead, but they were significantly more expensive; 30 points a pop. Lixiang tossed out ten such talismans in one go.

Against their sacred energies, ordinary spirits stood no chance at all. But this ghost was no ordinary spirit. To her, such attacks were nothing but parlor tricks. She slowly held out her umbrella to swat the ball of talismans… then tragedy struck. Like a hot knife through butter, the talismans burned through her umbrella, slamming right into her ethereal arm. Her wails filled the room as her arm began to dissipate…

Hah, that’s what you get for trying to show off, you silly ghost!

A little late to the party, Bitong and Qiaoqiao threw out their own wad of talismans as well.

The ghostly secretary still hadn’t recovered from the damage of the first wad when the next two came slamming into her as well…

“Ahhhh…” The lady wailed horrifically, as if she was undergoing the cruelest of tortures. For a ghost, being bathed in holy light was the equivalent of using medieval Manchurian torture techniques on a human.

What’s Manchurian, anyway?

I quickly shook my head free of that strange term, only to find that the ghostly secretary was already rolling on the ground helplessly, bound together by a bunch of talismans.

Man… that’s at least 1000 points stuck on her right now. A consumable at that price range has to be scary, especially when it’s made to counter you.

The ghostly secretary desperately tried to shake off the talismans on her… but she failed, and that was the end of her…

In a mere dozen seconds, she had turned to ethereal dust in the air. All she had accomplished was to utter the words, “Come with me, my master wishes to see you.”

I almost feel sorry for this boss. How should I put this… her death feels almost empty.

“I got 1000 points from that, what about you?” Bitong said as she blinked her eyes in surprise.

“1000,” Lixiang replied.

“Qiaoqiao got 1000 as well. I think she’s a boss, let’s find more of her in the future.”

Looking at her reveling in the I-struck-it-rich mood, I suddenly felt the need to remind them of one thing: overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

Shameless Self-promotion

I hate this novel.

Chapter 757: Epilogue (3)

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

Thanks to the backpacker’s vigorous shaking, Jeerah managed to wake up prematurely. Her dimension crossing had impacted her consciousness somewhat, slowing it down along with her reflexes.

Seeing her awaken, the backpacker breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re awake. Miss, what are you doing cosplaying in the middle of the mountains? Where are your companions?”

“Human, who gave you the permission to lay your filthy hands on me? Remove it, right this instant! (Devil)” Always a stickler about her own cleanliness, Jeerah flew into a rage when she found an unknown human’s hand on her shoulders. Her first thought was to burn the human, but the crossing had caused her magic to fail. It was at that point that Jeerah noticed the fundamental differences between the two worlds.

Unable to punish the man, she could only swallow her boiling anger as she stared daggers at him. “Despicable human, remove your hands!”

“Miss? What language are you using? My translator can’t seem to match it.”

Electronic AIs all came with their own translators built-in. However, Jeerah’s Devil language clearly wasn’t going to appear in the databases of Gaia. And even if it did, it wouldn’t be available to the ordinary citizen.

“Damn, it’s still not working? Forget it, I’ll just find somewhere safe first, maybe I can get more clues on Master’s whereabouts there.” Jeerah’s only concern was to locate Mo Ke and bring him back to Purgatory, then if possible, have him teach that brat, Mo Na, a lesson. Definitely wasn’t going to happen, but a devil could dream, couldn’t she?

She looked intently into the backpacker’s eyes, before mysteriously stating, “It’s about time.”

“Miss? You can speak our language now? Hmm… what an enchanting aroma… it’s getting stronger too…” The backpacker took a big whiff of the fragrance coming off Jeerah. His eyes started to glaze over, and his speech began to slur. “You’re… so beautiful…”

Even though Jeerah couldn’t understand what he was saying, his intentions were clear. Reaching into his mind, she commanded him, “From now on, I’m your master. Your mission is to bring me somewhere safe. I need time to acclimatise to this strange environment.”

“Understood, master.”

—————Change of scene—————–

At the same time as Mo Ke was explaining to his squabbling harem about otherworldly invaders, countless cracks began to form above the skies of Gaia. However, not every one of them exhibited some strange phenomenon. From a third of these rifts, a foreboding pillar of bone appeared. They did not descend, but rather, they merely popped into existence.

Each of these pillars were several hundreds of meters tall, with a width of over a hundred meters. From a distance, they seemed like cylinders connecting Gaia and the heavens. The surface of these cylinders were marked with strange carvings, but upon closer inspection, they were actually made of bones, ghostly faces, and all manner of unholy constructs.

When the Federation discovered these unknown cylinders, the Federation, having just suffered a massive loss of face from a string of recent hiccups, mobilised with an alacrity most other planets could only dream of. Within thirty minutes, an investigation team was already on-site.

These cylindrical bone pillars were actually a totem created by the Undead just for this dimensional war. Its functions were many, more importantly, it acted as a beacon for their dimensional travel, almost like a GPS.

Unlike a GPS, however, these bone pillars were also dimensional gates. Furthermore, they came built-in with defenses of their own. After all, this was an invasion they were planning. They couldn’t very well send a bunch of defenseless gates over and expect their opponents not to attack.

Yet to transport these pillars over was no easy task. Had it not been for the undead demigod, Karlston, stirring up a storm in Southern Plains, distorting the laws of this world in the process, there was no way these bone totems in the shape of a pillar could even traverse the dimensions.

Twice, the Undead had tried to send pillars over, and both ended in failure. And even during this attempt, only 365 of the 1000 they sent over even made it across. But when compared to the utter failure of the previous two attempts, this was a miraculous result.

Since Karlston began converting Southern Plains into an undead city, the worlds of the law were slowly changing. These were fundamental changes that weren’t as simple as two dimensions being joined together. The environment of the Western Human Realms operated on magic and elements in the air. When this collided with the world of Gaia, this mix of magic and spiritual energy (SP) started to fuse with each other, in the same way a chemical reaction would.

Being at the epicenter of this change, a number of otherwise normal humans began to develop abilities, like that hoodlum and Yamabe Takuma.

This new invasion by the Undead could be said to have torn apart the last dimensional barrier of this world. The two worlds were now colliding at full force, and what was next would be… rebirth…

One beneficiary of this momentous change was Karlston himself. Still in seclusion, his progress had sped up significantly. Being able to alter the laws of the world now, he began absorbing the magic within the blood pool at speeds even he did not anticipate.

Not long after, a human-shaped form slowly rose from the blood pool. When Karlston finally stepped out of the crimson liquid, he had discarded any semblance of his human self. His body had transformed into a skeleton, one with a power infinitely close to a demigod’s!

For someone like Karlston, who was more used to being an undead, a human body was an unforgivable weakness. It had to eat three meals a day, go to the toilet, and what was even worse, it had to sleep!

The loss of a third of a day was practically a waste of life! Absolutely unforgivable!

He could have been doing all sorts of productive research. Magical tools. Necromancy. More research… Essentially, the human body was weak.

As if taking a leisurely stroll on the beach, he sauntered on the bloody surface, at which point the wraith, Verni, came up and laid a black robe on him.

Now, with black robe equipped, he was finally distinguishable from an ordinary skeleton.

Shameless Self-promotion

I hate this novel.

Chapter 756: Epilogue (2)

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

“Wow, that’s really practical!” Qiaoqiao blinked her eyes in wonder, before spurting another question. “Big brother, how much does that crystal cost?”

“Together with that purification feature, 55000 points.” I scratched my head a little. “Pricey, but it’s worth every point spent.”

“55000? That’s five top-grade bloodlines!” Qiaoqiao stuck out her tongue, clearly agreeing that it was a pricey purchase.

“Well, that’s how good things are.” I shrugged my shoulders in resignation. “Honestly, it’s not that bad. After all, it’s going to form the defenses for our entire base. I’m actually relieved that it’s so expensive.”

“I guess you’re right…” Qiaoqiao gave it some thought before agreeing as well. “Cheap goods are never quality goods.”

“Exactly. Oh and why are Lixiang and Sis so quiet all of a sudden?” Having had an amicable chat with Qiaoqiao for some time now, I suddenly realised that the room seemed oddly quiet.

Hearing me ask that, the two girls in question immediately glared at me ruefully. “Wasn’t it Ke who told us to shut up?”

“…ah… I did, didn’t I?” It was then that I finally remembered what I did, especially under Bitong’s withering glare.

Oops…

“Even though your Highness is always right, this one feels your Highness went overboard just now.”

Even Lixiang is taking pot shots at me now… yikes…

“I’m sorry… I just wanted to stop you two from fighting with each other…” I was just about to apologise when I suddenly heard a ding in my head.

“Be advised, valued host, the system has just detected a large number of foreign incursions into Gaia from another world. The war of worlds has officially started, and the laws of this universe will only get more distorted as this collision worsens. A fusion will occur in the future… in the meantime, please focus on increasing your strength as much as possible, otherwise Gaia will become a hunting ground for these otherworldly invaders.”

“What did you say?!” I blurted out. “What do you mean a war of worlds?”

“Ke? What war of worlds?”

“Your Highness, do you mean to say that there will be more monsters invading from other dimensions?”

“Big brother… don’t shout into Qiaoqiao’s ears…”

My sudden outburst greatly startled the girls, who were anxiously seeking an answer from me. Even though Lixiang had always been a little delusional, it was precisely such settings where she seemed unusually calm and accepting. Just from that name alone, she managed to guess the rough situation.

“War of the worlds…” I scratched my head out of frustration, turning my otherwise flowing head of purple hair into a messy bush. “Simply put, Gaia is being invaded by creatures from another dimension. If we do not chase them away in time… let alone Gaia, the entire system might be in danger…”

An apocalypse facing the entire human species…

Prepared as they were, even the girls weren’t ready to accept a conflict at the scale of an entire species. Stunned silence filled the room.

“Only our valued host can save this world now. Survive, then become the saviour of the entire human race. Become strong, only then can you save this planet!”

I know what I have to do… but I’m still too weak… System, do you have an idea of how many monsters are invading our world?

The monsters in Southern Plains were already problematic enough. If every invader had the ability to recreate another ‘Southern Plains’, then we were just done for.

“Don’t worry, this first batch is a scouting team. Even without our valued host, the Federation army should be able to handle them. However, this team is nothing but a precursor to the larger invasion. Hopefully, our valued host will be able to leave Southern Plains before that happens.”

I want to leave as well, but we still need to rescue the survivors, and find out who the mastermind is.

“This distortion is on the level of the entire planet, the mastermind behind Southern Plains should come out soon.”

I hope so… I just pray that I have the strength to fight them…

——————–Change of scene——————

Ever since she was shoved into the dimensional array by Mo Na, and after a period of deep sleep, that might or might not have been an instant, Jeerah finally awoke.

Back when Mo Ke and the undead demigod Karlston came through the dimensional rift into Gaia, their descent sent shockwaves through the area, to say the least. The mighty Devil King Idol was rendered inoperational, while Karlston was left with nothing but a shred of his soul…

In comparison, Jeerah was hale and hearty… completely fine, as if she was the main protagonist of this story…

That was the difference between a properly prepared ritual and a haphazard one. At the very least, a dimensional array would guarantee the safety of its occupants… most of the time…

Right this very instant, Jeerah was laying on her back, breathing in and out deeply, her voluminous jugs rising and falling against a backdrop of equally tall mountains. Her beautiful, slender legs were on full display. Her innate Lust Demon fragrance wafted through the air, attracting all manner of lifeforms to her… Even if her red skin identified as something entirely non-human, that did not stop her from looking absolutely stunning.

A backpacking man just so happened to be passing by the prone devil, and he quickly noticed her unconscious form. Not very difficult, given her bright red skin.

“Cosplay? Even the skin’s red… Now that’s dedication.” The backpacker carefully walked up to her and shook her shoulders. “Lady? Lady? Are you all right?”

The young man’s first impression of Jeerah was that she was just some ordinary lady. Beautiful, but ordinary. She was probably roleplaying some character. After all, modern technology allowed one to change their skin color easily. Tacking on a horn and some wings weren’t rare either. That was why his first thought was that she was cosplaying, and not some invader from another world.

Thanks to the outside stimulus, Jeerah quickly regained consciousness. “Hmm… have I arrived at last? Human?” (Devil)

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 755: Epilogue (1)

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

Honestly, all that pomp about a medal ceremony and giving me a Colonel rank were clearly just means to butter me up. The rank was useless in Southern Plains, and that medal wasn’t even edible. Still… for a normal civilian to be elevated to a Colonel within two days was… quite a feat.

Pomp aside, my most pressing mission now was to find a more permanent base, that would be where I housed the survivors. And while all that was happening, I still had to uncover the mastermind behind this zombie hellscape. Regardless of whether it was some evil cult, or some maniacal mad scientist, they would pay!

The hot spring inn wasn’t actually a bad base, but it was located in the 11th District, one of the outskirts of the city.

Transportation was cripplied right now. If we were to find any survivors in the first few districts, bringing them back on the same day would be difficult. And even if it wasn’t, every extra minute spent escorting them only created more risk.

The best location for a base would have to be in the 5th or 8th District; definitely not the 11th District.

In short, it was now time to move. But that new base had to have a functioning water system, a functioning electrical system, and sufficient housing; food wasn’t too much of an issue. Not with our current level of strength. Also, with 90% of the population dead, all we had to do was raid one of the many giant emergency food storages in the city and we could feed those survivors for a decade.

As a side note, modern storage technology allowed for perishables to stay fresh, even after decades. The Federation had the idea then to prepare a ready supply of food for emergencies or natural disasters.

However, a nagging question kept bothering me. If Committee Member Li was even able to traffick in arms… was there any guarantee that those emergency food storages were still there?

Before sleeping, me and the girls had a quick meeting on the bed about how we were to handle this matter of the base.

“Qiaoqiao wants another hot spring inn, Qiaoqiao wants to keep soaking in the springs!” Ever the energetic one, she immediately leapt at the chance to start first, pointing at a certain building between the 5th and 8th District. “That’s the city’s famous Hoary Spa Resort, Qiaoqiao wants to stay there!”

“But that’s in the center of the city. The zombie count would be immense…” The more prudent one of the group, Bitong immediately noticed the issue. Brows furrowed, she stated, “Even if we clear up the zombies, the stench of their rotting corpses would linger and only grow stronger. We might be fine here, but the city center would be full of rotting zombies…”

“Well, since his Highness is the one who suggested this, I’m sure, in his infinite wisdom, he already has a solution in mind. Don’t forget, the Marketplace has a wondrous selection of magical tools which can solve any problem. This one has no doubt and will always support his Highness.”

“Do you even have anything other than Ke in your brain?”

“Mortal, dost thou think to mock the dignity of a Primal Angel?”

“Hah! You think you’re all that because of your bloodline? Don’t forget I have one too! We’re the same rank!”

“Hmph, it just so happens that this one was looking for an opponent to sharpen her unsealed powers against. Since the mortal foolishly thinks she can win, I hope she has already prepared herself for eventual defeat!”

“I see your delusions have gotten worse again! Time someone brought you back to reality!”

“Wooo, fight, fight, fight! Qiaoqiao wants to know who is stronger!”

“Of course, it’s me!”

“Hmph, mortal.”

“Hey, no fighting!” Realising that the situation was escalating out of control, I anxiously stepped. “I’m trying to get your opinions here, not start a fight!”

“Your Highness, the mortal started it first.”

“Enough with the mortal this, mortal that! Aren’t you a mortal yourself? Even your delusions have to have a limit!”

“Don’t think that just because you managed to obtain the Elemental Angel bloodline by sheer luck you are somehow worthy of being an angel. You’re still lacking.”

“Sheer luck? If that’s the case, aren’t you the same!?”

“This one is different. His Highness definitely helped to unseal this one’s bloodlines, but this one was already a noble primal angel from birth, not at all a mortal like you.”

“That’s enough with the mortal name-calling! I dare you to fight me! I’ll show you how strong a ‘mortal’ can be!”

“Alright, then this one is more than happy to see the strength of an elemental angel.”

“I said, that’s enough!” I finally lost my temper and yelled, “Both of you, be quiet! I don’t care if either of you have any opinions!”

“Big brother is scary…”

“Now be quiet and listen to what I have to say.” I glared at the little girl calling me scary, all the while peeking mischievously at me through the gaps of her fingers. Then, I turned my icy stare towards the two frozen girls. My outburst had shocked them both so greatly that none of them were even considering slapping me. Seeing that, I continued with relative ease. “Personally, I prefer Hoary Spa Resort. There’s ample food there. The resort itself should have electricity and water. As long as we have a means to remove the stench, that’s a good candidate.”

The two older girls were silent. Being the architect of this plan, Qiaoqiao peered at the two girls, and upon confirming that none of them dared to object, finally asked, “Big brother has a way of removing the stench? Qiaoqiao likes a hot bath, but Qiaoqiao hates stinky corpses more.”

“The system has recently refreshed the Marketplace with a new product known as the Bastion Crystal. This item can create a zone of protection to protect anyone under its dome from any attack below the Ninth level…” I paused for a second. “According to the system, by adding on another 5000 points, I can activate the purification system within the crystal. With that system active, any stench from those rotting corpses won’t be an issue. Even the infected can be healed while under its protective dome. Assuming they haven’t turned.”

Shameless Self-promotion

I hate this novel.

Chapter 754: An Uproar on the Web

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

By the time we brought in the new batch of survivors, which came out to about 200 hundred or so, it was already night. It was also at this time that I got a notification on my electronic AI about another video call from aunty Xinqing -I had just taken my first bite of dinner too…

Even without answering, I could already tell that this call would have something to do with Zuoqiu Xinqing. As expected, I was immediately bombarded by aunty Xinqing half-screaming at me through the holographic display once it turned on.

“Ke! Big news! The whole Gaia is ablaze right now!” Her hands flailed about in a display of unfettered excitement. “That video you sent me this afternoon exploded on the web like a nuke! Committee Member Li’s ship has already sunk, and the other malefactors aboard his ship weren’t spared either… I even heard that the committee member got invited to have a friendly chat with some investigators. That dishonest merchant, Xue Guode… apparently he put on some weight to avoid being recognised, but too bad for him, even an insignificant person like him got tracked down by the investigators…”

Aunty Xinqing continued on like a machine gun, finally pulling out a couple of screenshots for me to peruse. “Ke, look, here are some of the comments from watching Zuoqiu Shanming getting beaten up… I knew it would blow up, but not this much!”

The picture showed an entire hornet’s nest worth of comments flying across the screen. If one did not turn off the comments, nothing could be seen underneath at all. It just so happened that these comments were what I was actually here for.

“All I can say is that I deeply sympathise, and am greatly angered at the same time, by Zuoqiu Shanming’s treatment. Not only did they kill him, they even stuffed him in a food processor… how do you expect me to eat my minced meat buns in the future?!”

“You can’t un-see that! Geez!”

“How cruel, why won’t these bad people just die!?”

“I feel that reporter was asking for it. This clearly wasn’t his fight, and yet he had to stick his nose into it. Well, look at him now: dead.”

“Ah, that person who said Zuoqiu Shanming deserved it was my son. I’m sorry for letting him out of his cage by accident. I should have chained his legs to prevent him from biting others.”

“Oh, he’s your son? Well, why don’t you stuff him into a meat processor? What are you still raising such a stupid son for? To show off at New Year’s?”

“Thumbs up for the food processor.”

“Food processor +2.”

“+10086!”

“Bring that evildoer to justice! Make sure to go through every scrap of his finances!”

“A moment of silence for our hero!”

The comments were mostly in support of the poor reporter, and even if there were commenters who were paid off by the committee member, they were quickly drowned out by a wave of support.

And this wave of support wasn’t going away till the man got his just desserts!

“Li was one of the candidates for chairman. I’m sure even the aliens have their eyes on this case. If mishandled, this might end up being the stick they were looking for to club the Federation.”

If I was being honest right now, exposing that scoundrel Li right now probably wasn’t a great idea, if the goal was avoid having the Federation look bad. After all, Southern Plains just had an actual zombie apocalypse, that’s another stick as well.

Now, there was another scandal involving its most popular chairman candidate turning out to be an accomplice to murder, and arms trafficking…

Regardless, this rogue committee member’s misbehavior was now a matter that affected the entire planet, and not just the council!

And while we were being honest, releasing this video was definitely detrimental to aunty Xinqing. On the surface, she was the upstanding whistleblower… but those connected to Li Shengjin were all the elite of Gaia. Most would have some dirty dealings with the man, and his exposure would undoubtedly implicate them as well. Pull out the carrot, pull out the soil as well. These shady figures would have to protect Li Shengjin, at the very least, for their own self-preservation. Being the culprit for all this, aunty Xinqing was a prime target.

Had it not been for the video blowing up so spectacularly, Li Shengjin would have actually gotten away with it. Unfortunately for him, we acted quickly by just releasing the video to the web.

However, this act could also be seen as detrimental to the council as well. After all, if someone as prominent as Li Shengjin was involved in murder and arms trafficking, how dirty would the entire Federation have to be?

But that wasn’t a question we had to worry about. Our actions weren’t completely a negative either. At the very least, there were some higher-ups in the army who expressed their gratitude to us. Li Shengjin’s trafficking was a threat against their very well-being after all.

With their help, aunty Xinqing was probably going to be fine.

Before ending the video call, aunty Xinqing left behind a mysterious note, telling me to look out for good news in the future. A little puzzled, I closed the video feed and picked up my chopsticks. Yet the moment I did so, a notification from the general rudely interrupted me.

I guess dinner will have to wait…

The holographic display popped up once more, nearly blinding me with a flash from the general’s sparkly bald head. As always, he had on that silly grin.

Because of that whole fiasco with the weapons factory, my impression of him couldn’t be any worse. He himself knew that his little slip up ended up being unpleasant for me. Thanks to that, he was even sillier than usual as he fumbled with an apology, nearly causing me to chortle in the process.

By that point, I couldn’t bring myself to be angry. I wasn’t even that angry to begin with, seeing as he was the reason I stumbled into Zuoqiu Shanming. The fact that we managed to give the poor reporter some comfort, and take out an evildoer in the process, was to be celebrated.

His reason for contacting me was simple: thanks to my exemplary performance, the military was making an exemption by granting me the rank of Colonel, and a medal of bravery.

The rank was immediate, but the medal was… Well, they couldn’t just mail it to me now. In other words, I had to wait till later to receive the commendation and attend a ceremony.

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 753: Connecting the Dots

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

Roughly ten seconds later, the lights disappeared entirely. I could feel the SP around me rise, but only ever so slightly. A mere second later, it vanished, as if those lights never existed.

Zuoqiu Shanming’s soul had vanished, scattered to the winds, as some would say… And how easygoing can that fellow get? I thought he would at least wait till I got revenge for him before leaving…

Meh. Time to put aside that reporter for now. I can just send the video evidence to aunty Xinqing when I have more time. Once that’s done, that committee member is doomed.

Now was a rather extraordinary time for Southern Plains; the entire world’s eyes, and perhaps a few other planets as well, were focused on this single city. As long as I released that video to the public, that scoundrel Li would find himself hard-pressed to cover up such a scandal.

Even if the other committee members did not wish to blow this matter up, the other planets would be more than happy to use this opportunity to weaken the Federation’s position. Regardless of whether it was for their own interests or the planet’s, those fat cats on the committee had to kick out this scoundrel.

With that little saga over and done with, I led Lixiang and Floater on another search throughout the warehouse of the factory. We ended up finding quite a few useful materials in the end.

Our next task was to find a more reliable base to house the survivors. The defensive systems itself weren’t an issue, seeing as the system just unlocked a new trump card for me.

The system underwent its usual routine maintenance, then, as expected, new, foreign products were introduced to the Marketplace. Of note was a 50000 point item that could guard against any monster invasion -perfect for building a base.

Bastion Crystal:
With this bastion crystal as the core, a single region could be designated as a protected zone. Within this area, any attack under Nine-star will be nullified.

Pricy, to be sure, but since it could be employed multiple times, this was definitely a bargain.

While points might be hard to earn, Southern Plains, as it was now, was a heaven for point farming… Sorry, dead people of the city, but it’s true… For my current self, 50000 wasn’t that tall of an order anymore. Just strengthening one of the girls’ bloodlines would set me back 100000.

Points? They aren’t even an issue for your big brother over here.

Now that the underground factory was swept clean, I summoned my inferno lioness to burn that food processor down to ashes, after which I had them buried.

Even though his ghost was no longer present, which made this series of actions rather unnecessary, but I still wished for his remains to at least receive some measure of dignity. Even if the result was austere, at best…

Having done all that, I was now ready to contact aunty Xinqing.

“Yo~ Ke, my dearest, what news do you have for me today? It hasn’t been that long since you last contacted your aunty, do you miss her that much already?”

The moment the holographic screen popped up, the bubbly figure of my aunty Xinqing stood ready to tease me. Although, using bubbly to describe a middle-aged lady like her seemed odd…

“Aunty Xinqing, we’ve reached the factory General Rodenas told us about. Like he said, it’s abandoned, and common sense would dictate that abandoned factories would be empty, am I right?”

“Ahaha, so it’s empty then? Sorry about that, Ke, you had to make a trip for nothing… Don’t worry, someone is going to pay for this transgression. Anyway, it’s General Rodenas who suggested that you visit the factory, Ke. If you have any complaints, you should take it up with the general. I’m sure he would be more than happy to entertain you. After all, the general is no match for our Ke’s beauty.”

“Aunty… enough with the teasing… let’s get back to business for a second… The factory wasn’t completely empty…” My face immediately darkened at the thought of Zuoqiu Shanming’s tragedy. “Or maybe it would have been better if the factory was empty…”

Realising that my expression had turned grim, aunty Xinqing reined in her usual flippant attitude as well. “What happened on your side, Ke?”

My knuckles turned white from clenching. “Something very serious… Aunty, I’m sure you’ve heard of Zuoqiu Shanming.”

“Zuoqiu Shanming? Is that some celebrity?” Being a professional shut-in, as known as a researcher, aunty Xinqing did not seem to know of the reporter. Thus, she had to pull up the data herself to have a quick look. “Zuoqiu Shanming… reporter for the FBS, reported missing five years ago… Ke, are you referring to this person?”

“Yup, that’s him. He didn’t actually go missing at all.” My eyes narrowed. “He was murdered.”

“Murdered? Who was it?”

“The details are in the video I’m sending to you, all the answers are in there as well.” I tapped on the screen to upload the video to her, then continued, “Once you’re done watching the video, I hope that you can upload the video to the web. I’m sure there will be opposition, but I want the story of Zuoqiu Shanming to be known to the world.”

“Oh? Seems like this Zuoqiu Shanming person offended someone powerful.”

“Quite powerful, he’s the most popular running candidate for Chairman.” I looked at the holographic image of aunty Xinqing with concern. “If this video is released, he should be finished… right? I mean, he won’t try anything crazy in a fit of desperation?”

“It will be fine!” Aunty Xinqing, however, did not seem to share my apprehension. I could practically hear her leaping for joy on my end as she said, “Who would’ve thought that it would be a scandal regarding Committee Member Li. Good, I’m sure this video would cause an uproar in the public. This is a great gain for our bureau’s reputation!”

“You have no idea how tense things have been at the bureau, what with the eyes of the entire world on us. Everyone is scared stiff of making a single mistake. Well, now we have Committee Member Li to share the burden with us. Let alone stop it, I want him to suffer more. And besides, our bureau is definitely in a safe spot right now. Even if that worm wants to do anything, he can’t…”

“On that front, you don’t have to worry, aunty Xinqing. There’s more than enough evidence to convict him.” Had it not been for society harping on proof and all that nonsense, I would have already sliced the scumbag into eight pieces.

Naturally, that was just an expression. Not to be taken literally. I couldn’t even fly out of Southern Plains right now. Until the safety of the girls had been confirmed, there was no way I would ever take the risk of abandoning them to danger!

Now that I was done reporting to aunty Xinqing, it was time for us to return to the surface. Our mission was over, and what was left was to escort the survivors to the hot springs inn.

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 752: Conversation with Zuoqiu Shanming

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

I never would have figured Zuoqiu Shanming to be the kind of guy who cracked a lot of jokes, especially how he seemed fond of using his own death to do so.

“You shouldn’t make light of your own death, and you know what I’m trying to say.”

“Okay, okay. But I really don’t remember, I just woke up in this state.”

Unsure of whether or not he was trying to be coy again, I got a little irate. “What I’m trying to ask is, how did you end up as a ghost…”

“I don’t know that either, I just woke up in this state… Are you telling me it’s not the norm to turn into a ghost when you die?” Zuoqiu Shanming replied in an unsure tone.

“Well, if you take into account of Southern Plains’s current situation, turning into a ghost is the norm.” At that point, I decided that regardless of whether or not the man was being serious, there were some matters that had to be said. “But you’ve already been dead for five years. And five years ago, it’s not common for ghosts to appear like that. And just because there are ghosts appearing in Southern Plains now, doesn’t mean the same phenomenon is happening in other parts of Gaia.”

“Five years…ago? I’ve been dead for five years?” Zuoqiu Shanming’s voice turned a little shrill as he forced those words out.

“That’s right, you’ve been dead for five years, or at least that’s what the information I’ve been given says.”

“Five years… five years, and it only felt like an instant for me…” Zuoqiu Shanming murmured despondently. “Then what has happened to Xue Guode? And Committee Member Li… I wish to know what has happened to him.”

“I’m not sure about Xue Guode, but if it’s about Committee Member Li… he seems to be making preparations to become the chairman of the Federation Council.” I opened up a holographic screen. Within was a mature but handsome looking man, black-haired with a short and neat hairstyle, along with a well-pressed tuxedo. “I’m assuming the committee member you are referring to is Li Shengjin.”

“That’s right, that’s him! I would recognise him even if he turned to ashes!” Faced with a photo of his nemesis, I could even feel the rage emanating from him, despite not seeing his face at all. “What is a ******* like him running for chairman for?! How could he be so shameless?!”

I’m sure the man has a skin thicker than a brick wall…

Li Shengjin was the most popular candidate for the next chairman, and from the looks of things, he probably spent a great deal of money to achieve this. So where did his money come from? Apparently, through some very shady means…

But Zuoqiu Shanming wasn’t the only one angered and devastated by this news. Even a bystander like me was shocked by this revelation. Putting aside the murder of a reporter, the fact that someone so unscrupulous could even have a chance of becoming chairman was just chilling. Who knows what would happen to the Federation if a reprobate like him ever became the leader.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to pass on these documents to the relevant department, I’m sure Committee Member Li won’t be smiling for very long.”

“But that scoundrel Li has a wide network of contacts, you can’t touch him. Even the military isn’t safe from his tendrils.”

“It’s all right, I have my own ways. I’m sure Li Shengjin can’t touch me, as well-connected as he might be. Besides, I can just leak all the evidence onto the web, I doubt even his vast resources are vast enough to cover that up, once it blows up.”

“In that case, I’m relieved… While you’re at it, could you take care of Xue Guode as well?”

“Okay, I promise he won’t get away scot-free. Assuming he’s still alive.”

I solemnly swore to the poor food processor, and this was no empty oath either. After all, even if nothing worked out, everything I’ve seen today had all been recorded. As long as I passed this on to aunty Xinqing, there was no way that scumbag could get away unscathed.

Yes… so what if the masses are easily lied to? Not on my watch! Once this video gets exposed, those two dogs aren’t going anywhere.

“Other than that, do you have anything else I can help you with?”

I was just as sincere when I made that offer. For a brave man like Zuoqiu Shanming, I was more than happy to help him any way I could.

“No, that’s enough. As long as I have lady Mo Ke’s assurance, I’m satisfied.”

Hmm? Why does it sound like he’s leaving his last words behind?

Honestly, I was still shocked at how clean his soul was after that horrific torture he went through.. The fact that he hadn’t turned into a vengeful wraith was astonishing.

“Then… Do you have anyone you wish to see? Or perhaps some unfulfilled desire?”

“None.” He answered without hesitation. “My parents died when I was young, so I have no kin to speak of. And I know myself, there’s no way I can give up on the pursuit of justice. That’s why I chose not to find a partner either… Now that I’ve mentioned it, it’s kinda pitiful that I haven’t dated a girl in all my years, nor have I even held a girl’s hand.”

“Not even a girlfriend?”

According to his data, he would be 35 years old at the time of his death. Now if we were to add in his years as a food processor ghost… he definitely qualified for a job change from Wizard to Sage…

But why do I feel this strange sense of kinship with him? And what is this faint sadness I feel in myself?

Hold on here, I’m still 16! I may not have done it yet, but I have at least had experience with being forced to sign an engagement with another girl! She might be a little too young for me to lay my hands on her, and also because I can’t get it up myself… but still! Why must I feel like I’m in the same boat as this virgin food processor!

Zuoqiu Shanming seemed to have picked up on my sadness as well. And true to his character, he couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t tell me lady Mo Ke hasn’t had a boyfriend yet? What a coincidence. How about I be lady Mo Ke’s boyfriend?”

“HUH?!”

“Absolutely not!” Before I could even recover from my shock, Lixiang had already answered for me. In fact, she barely held herself back from tossing a talisman his way, right there and then.
“Lowly ghost, how dare you set your filthy eyes on his Highness! Unforgivable!”

“Hahaha, I was just joking… Don’t worry, I’ll make my exit now…” As he said that, motes of light started rising out of the food processor. And as the crystalline particles of light grew in number, his voice grew noticeably weaker. Finally, I could make out his last words.

“A dead person shouldn’t worry so much… Am I right… That’s what being dead means… But a wonderful girl like lady Mo Ke… if only I was still alive, I would court you to the ends of the earth… pity… such a pity… how good it must be to be alive… work hard… and live well…”

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 751: Soul and Gender

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

The video ended at that point, bringing to a close a sordid tale of betrayal and murder…

“Now do you remember something?” I turned to the giant food processor and said.

“Is that me… the person who got burned…” The voice quivered in disbelief. “How did I end up like this then?”

“How you ended up like that, huh…”

I don’t really have an answer to that, do I? Other than the fact that you got stuffed into a giant food processor, of course…

“This one has dug up some information on this Zuoqiu Shanming. Your Highness, would you like to have a look?” Lixiang dragged before me a 20 inch holographic screen, her pearly white fingers tapping on the upper left corner as she said, “This is his background, below that is information about his disappearance, along with some of the comments and ridicule from his detractors…”

I briefly scanned through the information, gaining a rough idea of what kind of man he was.

Zuoqiu Shanming was undoubtedly a man of righteousness. He had exposed multiple evildoers, rescuing countless people in the process. Because of that, he also offended a great deal of underworld figures, and people who were less than scrupulous with their means.

Naturally, that fellow within the video, known as Xue Guode, was one of those less than scrupulous people. He had bribed a bunch of officials into allowing a batch of unhygienic meat into the market, poisoning thousands of people, of which thirteen never recovered.

After this incident came to light, he thought he could buy his way out of the problem through his connections, yet who would have thought that Zuoqiu Shanming managed to obtain proof of his bribery and even exposed it to the world…

Xue Guode was only one of Zuoqiu Shanming’s many triumphs. There countless other shady businessmen and corrupt officials brought down by the man.

This was precisely why it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he had enemies in every city on Gaia. There was not a day that went by that these evildoers did not wish to rub him out.

Yet he had also built up a great deal of popularity in his fight against the darkness of society. But he did not let his newfound fame get to his head, doubling down instead on his efforts to root out evil.

This continued till a few years back when he received a certain tip about an illegal arms dealer colluding with some high-ranking official in the Federation. He immediately set about investigating the matter and… the rest was history.

Many people viewed him as a hero to be admired, but just as many people viewed him as foolish. When news spread about his disappearance, a great number of commenters were more than happy to make fun of the man for overestimating his own abilities, for trying to reach for the sun. That was just how society was, jaded and numbed to the darkness permeating within it.

Those ********! I’m getting angry just looking at those comments myself! What are you even doing, making fun of the guy who tried to help you! Geez, you would think those evildoers paid them off…

I took a deep breath, calmed myself down, then asked, “So your name is Zuoqiu Shanming?”

“I guess so…” He hesitated for a second. But a mere moment later, his voice rose in elation. “That’s right, I’m Zuoqiu Shanming! I remember now!”

“Greetings, mister Zuoqiu, my name is Mo Ke.”

“And to you, too, lady Mo Ke. I’m Zuoqiu Shanming, a reporter… or at least, I used to be.”

Zuoqiu Shanming’s spirit seemed to have gained back some of its clarity, now that its memory was returning.

Why did he call me “lady”, though? I only told him my name, so why is he assuming my gender?

“Ermm… I’m a guy, so please don’t call me lady. I don’t like it when someone mixes up my gender.”

“A guy? Impossible.” The spirit of Zuoqiu Shanming flatly stated. “I can clearly see lady Mo Ke’s soul, and that soul is definitely that of a girl’s.”

“And how do you even differentiate between two, aren’t you just a spirit?!”

I will admit, I’m starting to lose my mind a little, right now. I get it if a bunch of commoners aren’t able to see past my appearance with their mortal eyes, but why is a ghost mistaking my gender as well?”

“Distinguishing the gender of a soul is very simple: you look at the aura.” Then, in a complimenting voice, he said, “Lady Mo Ke’s soul is practically brimming with energy, and that aura is clearly feminine. Whether in terms of appearance or the soul, I’m sure lady Mo Ke is an absolute beauty!”

“So you’re saying, even if I die, I can get by in the underworld just on my looks?”

“Even though I’m not sure why lady Mo Ke has chosen such an expression, but that is correct.”

“Do you know what I want to do now?”

“Nope.”

“I want to open up your head and see if there’s a brain in there, or is it just tofu!”

Faced with my sudden outburst, he instead chuckled self-deprecatingly. “It’s a brain, trust me.”

“… Sorry…”

When he said to trust him, I immediately regretted my words. Other than “sorry”, I did not know what else to say at that point.

“It’s all right. There’s no need to apologise. Even though I may not know why lady Mo Ke has chosen to disguise herself as a man, but I’m sure the reason is a good one.”

“I just said I’m a man!” I snapped back out of sheer force of habit. However, it was clear that this reporter fellow was the same as the others;no amount of insisting was going to convince them otherwise.

“So, mister Zuoqiu, could you tell us how you ended up in this strange state?”

“They tossed me into the machine and pressed a button, then I became like this.”

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 750: Zuoqiu Shanming

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

In front of us right now was a gigantic food processor that was producing a decidedly human voice. And this human voice said it forgot who it was…

Combining that with the fact that Floater found evidence of people being dragged here… it was clear to anyone with a brain what this machine was actually meant for…

What a horrific way to murder a person… assuming the above was correct…

“No…”

Lixiang quickly picked up on this possibility as well. She covered her mouth and gasped in horror, eyes filled with disbelief. “The way humans treat each other is truly the worst!”

“Do you recognise this item?” I opened up my palms to reveal the USB stick. “Did you drop this?”

“That… looks familiar… but I can’t remember…” The mysterious voice seemed to be able to perceive the outside world through some unknown means. His voice almost quivered as he said with a pause, “I feel I should know it… but I just can’t remember…”

“Should I open it up?”

“Please… please do…”

“Alright, I’ll open the USB.”

By employing my electronic AI, I didn’t even need to insert the USB before opening up its data storage.

Within it was a lone video file, which I played on my holographic display.

Like an old cinema, a video of an average-looking youth in casual clothing appeared on screen.

“Greetings everyone, I’m your reporter for the Federation Broadcasting Station (FBS), Zuoqiu Shanming. Behind me is the underground munitions factory and storage facility, hidden within an abandoned warehouse, which I mentioned before. Do not be fooled by its decrepit exterior, but here in the most remote regions of the 12th District, where no one frequents without reason, lies a den of criminal activity…”

“Zuoqiu Shanming?!” Floater barely held a gasp back as she stared at the reporter on screen. “You’re THE Zuoqiu Shanming?”

“Who is Zuoqiu Shanming?”

Based on her reaction, Floater clearly knew the man, or at least she knew the name.

“You know him?” Is he some celebrity? Or is there another reason why he’s famous?

“You can say that.” Floater answered with a dark look on her face. “Zuoqiu Shanming is known for being a brave reporter who has dedicated his entire life to chasing the truth and righting the wrongs in society. Unfortunately, he disappeared a few years back, without a trace…”

“Zuoqiu Shanming… another familiar sounding name…”

“Still can’t remember?”

“I can’t… but why do I feel pain when I look at him… even though I’m already dead…”

Already dead… so he is at least aware of his own state.

Despite the voice in that machine and the voice in that video sounding different, my gut instincts told me that this mysterious voice was most likely the voice of the deceased Zuoqiu Shanming. Why else would he react to that USB?

The video continued, Zuoqiu Shanming put on some makeup, a fake wig, and a fake beard. Even his voice was changed using a device.

Disguised as a buyer, Zuoqiu Shanming stepped into the warehouse, and after exchanging the secret codes, he successfully infiltrated the underground munitions factory. Yet the moment he stepped out of the elevator, he was pinned down by two burly, bald men…

“What the heck are you doing? Is this how you treat your guests? I’m here to make a purchase, you can’t treat me like this…”

He tried to talk his way out of his predicament, but little did he know that he had already fallen into someone else’s scheme.

“Your acting is… commendable.”

A round of clapping preceded an ominous set of footsteps, set against a deafening silence. A weaselly looking man, sporting a oily center parting, and dressed in a tuxedo walked up to Zuoqiu Shanming.

Hands on his hips, the man bent down to look at Shanming. He then reached out and tugged off the wig and fake beard on his head. Smiling, he straightened his back and threw a disdainful look at his prey. “If you can’t figure out what’s going on by now, you truly deserve to die for your stupidity, mister great reporter.”

The man clearly had some history with Shanming.

“Xue Guode!”

“That’s right, it’s me. I bet you never expected that this day would arrive when you exposed me, did you?”

“You psychopathic scumbag merchant! Why are you still alive? Weren’t you already…”

Xue Guode kicked the reporter’s side before he could even finish his sentence, cutting him off right at the crucial moment.

“Cough, cough…” Zuoqiu Shanming tried to double over in pain, however the burly men’s hands kept him pinned down.

“I bet you still don’t know that it was Committee Member Li who saved me right at the last moment. Or should I call him, cousin-in-law?” His smile grew even wider at that point. “I knew you won’t give up after exposing me like that, but just when I was considering whether or not to escape to another planet, my good old cousin got hitched to Committee Member Li… what a fortuitous turn of events, even the heavens are protecting me!”

“Committee Member Li?”

“That’s right, Committee Member Li.”

“Impossible… how can it be him… he clearly…” Zuoqiu Shanming shook his head in disbelief, completely unable to accept the reality of the situation.

“Why not? He was the one who gave you the address. Even the secret codes were given by him. Yet here you are, pinned to the ground. Isn’t that proof enough?”

“…”

Zuoqiu Shanming was left speechless by the momentous betrayal.

“Really, how old do you have to be before you grow out of your little justice make-believe?” Xue Guode smiled derisively. “Anyway, I need to check on the surprise I prepared for you. Wouldn’t want it to mess up at the best moment. You two, teach him a lesson first, then burn him… but don’t burn him to death, I want him to be barely alive for the last part. I did swear to rip you to shreds and turn you into mincemeat. I might not be the best person ever, but I keep my promises.”

Barely a second after the man left, the two burly men started beating up the poor reporter. And as instructed, they set him on fire.

Wreathed in flames, Zuoqiu Shanming desperately tried to put out the flames by tossing and turning. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to cut it at all…

From that point, the video proceeded as expected. Severely injured but still alive, the two burly men put out the fire before dragging the half-dead Zuoqiu Shanming towards the kitchen…

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 749: Something’s Off

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

Sometimes, looks can be deceiving: a lesson I learned when I truly entered the munitions factory…

The moment we stepped out of the barely lit elevator, hidden within an unassuming above-ground warehouse, we were all stunned. All it took was a single glance of the factory’s insides to take our breath away.

According to the bald general, there should still be a ton of munitions and weapons left here. There might be some in disrepair due to the lack of maintenance, but they should still be here… or at least, that was what the intelligence would lead us to believe. When we stepped out of the dimly-lit elevator, we found… absolutely nothing!

“Your Highness, are you sure this is the right place?” Lixiang looked at me in confusion, but the moment she found that my face was indisputably black, she immediately shut her mouth.

“The coordinates are definitely correct.” As a seasoned soldier, Floater was more than experienced with navigation, thus her opinions were definitely trustworthy. “This is the underground munitions factory. Or at least it was a munitions factory.”

“But there aren’t any weapons here, not even their parts.” Lixiang finally couldn’t hold herself back.

My face cramped up …

Yes, we all can see that the fabled underground weapons factory which was supposed to be filled to the brim with weapons is, in fact, not filled to the brim with weapons… Thanks, Lixiang.

Didn’t baldie promise us weapons? Why is it empty now? Did that bald general receive the wrong information, or have the weapons been moved away?

“Check the area for any clues.”

There’s no way there’s nothing here, I refuse to believe we came all the way here for nothing! This underground factory alone has several blocks, one of them has to have a hidden door or sorts.

The three of us stuck together as we searched through the emptied factory storage floor.

A while later, Lixiang actually found something significant. “Your Highness, there’s a storage device here.”

A storage device? I thought to myself in surprise as I rushed over to her side.

Perhaps the girl truly had some sort of talent in searching, but there was actually a storage device hidden in a corner, as she said.

The so-called storage device she found was an old USB-style device used to store data. Because our electronic AIs came with a wide variety of functions, including data storage, such devices had now become obsolete.

In fact, I probably would not have even recognised it, if not for a game I used to play mentioning such a device.

As I held the black, thumb-sized device, I had this strange feeling that this little thing was the key to unlocking this mystery.

“Where did you find it?”

“Over here.” Lixiang rode her standardised exosuit to a corner. A conspicuous black mark stained the ground; clearly someone had tried to burn something here.

“Those are remains.” After observing the area for a while, Floater stated, “A person was probably burnt to death here.”

“How do you know that?”

Her words were so sure, I could have sworn she saw the deed herself.

“There are drag marks here.” Floater had two of her detachable bits scan the ground, after which she quickly came to a conclusion, despite Lixiang and I still being completely in the dark. “This way.”

Lixiang and I exchanged a glance with each other, a look of resignation present in both of us.

I guess we have no choice but to follow…

I shrugged my shoulders then followed Floater. Lixiang made the same choice as well.

We soon found ourselves outside of the storage floor, but Floater did not seem to be slowing down in the slightest, not till we reached a kitchen of sorts.

The kitchen wasn’t large, but there were a bunch of scattered odds and ends inside, of which there was a giant food processor shaped like a vat. An entire hog could probably fit in its massive opening in one go…

Given how small this kitchen was, it wouldn’t make sense to have an industrial-scale machine like this here. Something was clearly off, and it all stemmed from that machine.

Floater stopped in front of the processor. She did not make any motion at all, merely standing silently.

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

I pulled out the virus detection pearl from my pocket and found that its white pearly exterior was starting to turn black. There was something unclean nearby…

“This one agrees.” Lixiang agreed with me, perhaps on purpose, or perhaps genuinely.

Floater leaned forward a little in an attempt to open the food processor. At the side, I watched with bated breath. For some reason, I couldn’t help but feel that something was going to happen, but I couldn’t exactly find a reason to stop her either.

The moment her hand was about to touch the lid, a voice suddenly spoke up.

“Please… don’t open it.”

It was a young man’s voice; a little feminine, or maybe just afraid.

“Who’s there? Who’s speaking?” Even though she had already plastered a bunch of talismans in her exosuit, Lixiang still shivered a little. “Who was that just now? Your Highness? No… that wasn’t his Highness’s voice…”

“It’s not me.” I swallowed out of anxiety. This entire situation was just too creepy, so I kept quiet while I continued watching.

However, this sudden newcomer did nothing to deter Floater whose hand had already touched the giant machine.

“Don’t look at me!”

A shrill scream pierced the air around us, reverberating painfully in our ears to the point where Lixiang nearly jumped.

“Please… don’t look at me… weeping noises… don’t look at me…”

What’s going on? Look at who? Where is he even hiding?

Perhaps the mysterious voice’s pleading had finally worked, but Floater seemed to have stopped, though her hand was still on the lid of the machine, ready to open it at a moment’s notice.

Realising that the other party was scared, Lixiang seemed to have regained some of her composure.

She breathed in deeply, then asked, “Who are you… where are you?”

“Who am I… I… don’t remember…”

Don’t remember? Is this the legendary potato brain?

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 748: The Underground Factory

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

In the past, we were forced out of the weapons factory due to our weakness. Faced with an unending wave of skeletal beasts and undead, retreat was unavoidable. However, now that I came upon that little windfall in the underground theme park, our overall combat power had risen multiple fold. My max SP had increased from 60 to 700, and I had even attained a powerful summon in the form of that inferno lion. Now was the time to reclaim that bio-exosuit.

However, by the time we reached the factory floor, we found the room an entire mess, and the bio-exosuit nowhere to be found.

Equipment had been strewn around in wrecked piles of metal, but there were no signs of that bio-exosuit anywhere. The most likely explanation would be that those monsters transported it elsewhere, or perhaps it had just been destroyed so completely… Regardless, there were no traces of it.

I swiftly slaughtered my way through its infested hallways, scouring them for any hints of where the bio-exosuit could be. However, there was still nothing, as if it had completely vanished from the face of Gaia.

“Not here either…”

“Don’t tell me it awoke some kind of consciousness and walked out by itself?” As always, our resident middle-schooler was more than ready to fill in the gaps with her crazy theories. The worst part was that she actually made sense… It was a bio-exosuit, what if it had some kind of soul inside it… or consciousness… Anyway, the fact is that it’s gone.

I guess there’s no reason to stay here then, we don’t have that much time to begin with, what with the chaos enveloping the city. Ghosts, skeletons, zombies, superhumans… At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if a vampire started popping up; nothing would surprise me anymore.

Maybe a magical girl will suddenly round the corner and say hi.. Or not. But there’s a giant zombie at least. That giant zombie is jumping towards me right now.

With the force of a lumbering mammoth, the giant zombie leapt right at me, causing the ceiling to shake a little from the sheer force. No matter what manner of creature it was that stood in its way, the giant zombie simply barrelled through them like a bowling ball.

“Your Highness, we’re under attack!”

“Floaters!”

Lixiang and Floater were the first to discover the nearly five-meter tall, rampaging hulk of a zombie. Just based on its size alone, I would say it was at least a level five or six. Even the strongest of exosuits wouldn’t be able to take a hit from that and come out unscathed.

The two girls were clearly alarmed by this newcomer as well. They immediately took up a combat stance, but this would soon prove to be unnecessary.

“I’ll take care of it! Taste my sword!”

I pulled out Icy Inferno, and with another firm step forward, drew it in a wide, lunging slash.

A wave of overbearing sword energy, formed of an impossible combination of fire and ice, swept right through the zombie, slicing it in half…

Bam…

Black ichor splattered about in a rain of crushed bones and severed limbs.

“Only your Highness can strike a monster down like that in one swing!”

Lixiang stared adoringly at me, which I returned with a slight smile.

Floater, on the other hand, did not react much, but she was staring at me for some reason or another.

Yet barely a second later after that lumbering giant collapsed, the hallways reverberated with the sounds of more undead creatures. These skeletal beasts did not even consider the difference in our powers before they pounced at me, their empty eye sockets somehow burning with a tenacity only matched by their lack of intelligence.

“Let’s leave, there’s no reason for us to linger.”

Because of the cramped interior of the factory, I dared not summon my inferno lion or fire elementals, lest their overwhelming attacks cause the ceiling to collapse.

Thankfully, Icy Inferno was a powerful weapon in its own right. No monster could survive a swing of its elemental blade!

We quickly left the underground factory and proceeded to our next destination: the 12th District. However, there were a few survivor camps we had to drop by on the way. These were all locations marked out on my map by aunty Xinqing. Each had their own defenders, whether it was a group of soldiers armed with exosuits, or perhaps ability users.

Because the Federation had already announced that help was on the way, and also because only three days had passed so far, there was still some semblance of order amongst the survivors. Barring the truly incorrigible, most of these survivor camps were actually waiting for the Federation’s promised rescue. Battered in spirit they might be, but they still clung to the old order of society.

That tri-colored hoodlum and Yamabe Takuma were clearly exceptions. In some sense, what was truly terrifying wasn’t the physical change that befallen the city, but rather the psychological warping.

Take an apple, for example. The outside could be all red and shiny, but one bite later, you discover that it’s rotten. But it’s already too late, because there’s a half-eaten worm sticking out of the flesh…

As for those ugly apples… Thanks, but no thanks! I value appearances, very much so! Anyway, physical changes: not scary. Psychological changes: scary. Because you can’t tell until it’s too late.

After arranging to bring the survivors back to the inn at night, the three of us continued our journey, quickly arriving at the abandoned munitions factory hidden within the 12th District.

The entrance to the factory was stashed away in an abandoned warehouse. The 12th District itself could be said to be the tail-end of Southern Plains. And this abandoned warehouse was at the outskirts of this outskirt. Basically, no one came here. In fact, no one came here since it was sealed up. I could tell… because the tape labelling the warehouse as sealed hadn’t been touched.

As for why we were still using such an ancient method… who knows…

Because this place was so remote, there were not many zombies around either.

Lixiang had already sliced apart the nearby zombies in a fit of excited point-farming rage. As she basked in the afterglow of the points, I could tell she was still hungering for more.

Honestly, she did not have to work so hard, I could easily earn enough to feed our family… I mean, feed her… I mean… Never mind.

“Let’s have a look inside… According to General Rodenas, this place was sealed up years ago. He doesn’t know the exact reason, but according to the records, there should be some abandoned munitions we can use here.”

Given Southern Plains’s current situation, procuring these arms would help any future survivors stay alive. Or at the very least, arming them would allow them to fend off any ordinary zombie.

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 747: Return to the Alchemical Factory

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

Because Floater did not have to participate in the night patrols, she was at peak condition, unlike the others. “When are we leaving?”

“I need to report to aunty Xinqing first about today’s mission, if there are no issues on her side, we will leave immediately.”

With practised ease, I activated the video link with aunty Xinqing… only to be greeted by a giant aunty Xinqing?

Her face had taken up the entirety of the holographic feed like she had her face stuck to the camera itself.

“Yahoo~ Morning Ke, the video you sent me last night has already been uploaded. As expected, it was a smash hit!” Aunty Xinqing immediately rattled on about a bunch of idle chatter. Finally, she took out a blown-up picture and showed it to the camera. “Look at this picture, your aunty took it last night. Isn’t it amusing? Hahahaha… this little commenter is absolutely adorable!”

The picture was a screenshot of the general. His bald-headed bear face smiling at me gently as we talked through the video feed. His eyes shining with an uncharacteristic softness that sent shivers down my spine…

My eyes!

The picture was a snapshot taken from the video itself, and had it not been for the majority of the floating comments being filtered out, his face would have probably been drowned.

As for what those comments were… they were mostly yelling at the general. Comments about why that old bear was staring at their Goddess to digging his eyes out for even daring to do so. In short, they hated him…

As if to make things worse, there were thinly veiled comments about the old bear cheating… to which I had this sudden urge to say: don’t blame the girl!

After that little comedy skit, I had to straighten my face a little before telling aunty Xinqing about our plan for today. She did not hesitate before plotting out a route for us on my map, marking any potential survivor clusters at the same time.

Upon ending the call with aunty Xinqing, I immediately set off with Lixiang and Floater.

Our first destination was that underground factory that had been overrun by skeletons. If that bio-exosuit was still there, I would definitely take it back with me. Otherwise, I could at least verify what happened to it.

Honestly, the odds of that exosuit still being there were high. After all, while it was a bio-exosuit, it wasn’t actually alive, so those skeletal monsters shouldn’t show any interest in it.

“Your Highness, leave it to me to clear the path ahead.”

The moment we stepped out of the inn, Lixiang immediately drove her exosuit to the front, her desire to prove herself stronger than before. Had this been the past, I would have chalked that up to her middle-schooler syndrome acting up again. But she had awakened her Primal Angel bloodline just last night, so technically, she was actually an angel of light and darkness…

Every one of the girls had gotten their own unique angel bloodlines, and every one of those bloodlines were all unfathomably powerful.

Now that Lixiang was a primal angel, her affinity with Light and Darkness had reached a frightening level. In just one night alone, she mastered countless spells, while her constitution was soaring through the roof.

To be exact, her very life essence was being improved!

An improvement in her constitution would be limited by her own genes, but an improvement in her life essence was almost an evolution of sorts.

Her body was going beyond a human’s, towards the supernatural even…

Basically, her species was on the verge of changing. As she swept the road ahead of us of monsters and undead, the irony was that she went even further along the path of inhumanity.

Given the limitations of an exosuit, ordinary pilots would never be able to pull off complex maneuvers. Yet as she was now, movements normally reserved for ace pilots only were easy for Lixiang.

“That delusional girl seems a little different than before.” With how Lixiang was throwing out the acrobatics left and right, Floater, sharp as she was, quickly realised that something had changed in the girl. “There’s no way she could move like that yesterday…”

Well, Of course. All that talk about being a primal angel of light and darkness in the past was just a joke. Now however… She was almost a divine entity.

Regardless of the fact that she had only managed to attain the most basic level of the Primal Angel bloodline, and despite her less-than-perfect physical condition, she was still able to attain a body that was beyond a normal human’s, whether it was her strength or her reflexes.

Noting my silence, she quickly came to the conclusion that this development probably had to do with me as well. “You know something?”
“She just awakened, that’s all.” I hastily found an excuse to brush off her piercing gaze. “Isn’t it normal for people to just awaken all of a sudden now?”

“Maybe.” She had no counter to that. After all, Lixiang was a registered ability user with the Bureau.

The skeletal beasts like the skeletal scorpids we encountered in the past were nothing more than trash mobs now to the empowered LIxiang. It didn’t take long before we reached the location of the underground factory. However, this wasn’t the actual exit of the factory, but rather the hole we escaped from previously.

“Your Highness, this one has found the entrance to the alchemical factory.” Lixiang pointed at the overrun rift in the ground. “This one had this location marked on her map, it should be correct.”

“In that case, let’s proceed.”

“Understood.” She took out her standard-issue laser saber and rushed into the monsters…

Shameless Self-promotion

Chapter 746: I’ll Take it All!

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

“Two shifts, it is. I’ll have to trouble you all to work a little harder in the meantime. I’ll handle the exploration during the day. And as much as possible, I will bring back more survivors and soldiers.” I turned to Floater to see if she had anything else to add. Seeing that she was silent, I gave the table a light slap and said, “I’m planning to visit the alchemical factory tomorrow… I mean, the underground weapons factory. There’s something there which interests me.”

“Your Highness,” Lixiang immediately perked up upon hearing the words alchemical factory. “Are you perhaps referring to that organic magical construct?”

“Exactly, that organic magical contrast… I mean, that unusual exosuit…”

I swear she’s starting to infect me as well…

“Sigh…” Watching my little clown act from the side, Floater couldn’t help but give me a haughty look as she sighed. Even if she was still silent, I could feel the piercing scorn in her eyes. The kind you had when looking at a fool…

Just as our discussion was about to wrap up, Qiaoqiao came prancing in to inform us that dinner was ready.

Thanks to the wealth of supplies we scavenged, today’s meal was decent even by non-apocalypse standards. Bitong was especially insistent about preparing a wider spread to accommodate the newcomers.

The lavish meal helped to somewhat dampen their scarred souls, and for the most part, the dinner went smoothly, with a couple of smiles here and there.

The night patrols were handled jointly by Ouyang Huiren and Sima Junmo. Over thirty soldiers were further split into two groups, one handling the earlier half of the night, led by Ouyang Huiren.

The girls bought a stack of talisman and handed them to the two men, after which they went around sticking the remainder on the walls of the survivors’ rooms.

Now that our defenses were up and running, me and the girls finally retired for some well-earned rest. In the same room…

Upon entering the room, I contacted aunty Xinqing. After the usual teasing, and a round of mother and daughter quarreling, I finished giving her my routine report, along with the footage I captured today.

With that out of the way, it was now time for a little… shopping!

Thanks to all the farming I did in that theme park of an instance, plus the actual mission reward itself, I was now sitting on a small fortune of over 90000 points.

With fat stacks in my wallet, I began purchasing some of the bloodlines the girls had been eyeing.

Bitong chose the Elemental Angel, capable of controlling all four elements of Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. Qiaoqiao chose the unique bloodline of a Blazing Angel. As for Lixiang, she naturally chose the Primal Angel bloodline.

Other than the bloodlines, I also picked up some of the skills and tools the girls were interested in. Next, I bought some enhancement cards to increase their max SP. Overall, it was a fun-filled night of revelry for everyone.

Even though my reserves were now empty, I still felt happy. The girls were excitedly testing out their newfound powers, and no one had to fight or feel left out from this shopping spree.

However, even with their bloodlines purchases, the effect wouldn’t be visible till their individual bloodlines were activated.

As for why mine activated immediately, apparently, mine was a special case since I was the system host, or so the system claimed.

Nothing much to say there…

Our revelry lasted till midnight, at which point everyone was feeling a little sleepy.

For the most part, the night was a peaceful one. Sima Junmo did end up bumping into some ghosts, but they were all low-levelled trash mobs. With those talismans protecting their exosuits, there was no danger to be had.

It was now the third day of the zombie outbreak. The cooks did their best to prepare a simple breakfast, served in the main lobby. Seated together with the officers and my companions, we began another round of discussions.

“Good work on patrolling last night. Especially Sima, I heard some ghosts appeared, but you guys handled them before I even needed to step in.”

“Not at all, the talismans lady Mo Ke gave us had an immense effect against those monsters.” Sima Junmo laughed in embarrassment, though I could still see the wide grin on his face.

Ouyang Huiren was a lot more nonchalant, but he was just as appreciative of the compliment.

“I just hope you can address me as MISTER Mo Ke instead.”

“Hahaha… Lady Mo Ke loves her jokes…”

I stared glumly at his bright smile… I just knew it would end up like this…

“Continue with the guard duties as usual, for the rest of the day, just in case some monsters decide to target the inn. I plan to visit that factory I mentioned yesterday. Hopefully there will be results from that. And if time allows, I will also check out an abandoned munitions factory in the 12th District. If there are survivors, I will do my best to bring them back.” I summarised the plan in a business-like fashion. “Right, any questions?”

“Qiaoqiao wants to go along as well!”

“This one wants to visit the alchemical factory.”

“I… Maybe I’ll just stay behind…”

Qiaoqiao was dead set on following me, while Lixiang had her reasons for visiting the underground factory. Bitong knew one of us had to stay behind to look after our base, temporary as it was. Being the freest, she was the best choice.

After some deliberation, I made my own decision as well. “Qiaoqiao, I need you to stay behind with your sister Bitong. Lixiang, you can come with me?”

“Why? Qiaoqiao wants to go out with big brother! Why does Lixiang get to go out, but Qiaoqiao can’t?!”

“That’s because I will need your sister Lixiang’s knowledge later when I head to the weapons factory. She does have expertise in that area, after all.”

This was a decision I came to after considering both my destinations. They were all locations that held exosuits and exosuit-related weaponry. Given that I know absolutely nothing on that front, expert help was needed.

“Your Highness, those are alchemical factories.”

And my expert has an acute case of middle-schooler syndrome…

“You’re heading to the abandoned munitions factory? Then count me in as well.” Floater quickly finished the bread in her hand, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and said, “There might be some useful parts there, I can repair the damages my suit sustained in the past few days.”

“Alright, then Lixiang and Floater.”

Shameless Self-promotion