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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Everyone, prepare for combat.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That’s a giant Sirenidae skeleton!”

Floater immediately recognised the monster for what it was.

“Ding! Mission update…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“HAH!”

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

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

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

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

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

“Taste my wrath!”

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

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

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

And when did I become this strong?!

“Woooah! Big brother won!”

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE

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

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

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

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

Expressionless… I guess that’s Floater…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Got it.”

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

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

“I do.”

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

“Is it safe?”

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

“…”

“Let’s gooo!”

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

“Fine.”

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

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

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Was I really that bad?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Okay… Qiaoqiao will listen to big brother.”

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

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

“Mhm.”

“Then…”

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

“…”

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

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

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

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

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

What is that supposed to mean?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE

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

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

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

Yup. A grudge…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“When has Qiaoqiao spoken without thinking?”

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

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

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

“…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What a conundrum…

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

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE

Leave a comment

“The factory’s down below.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ke, be careful.”

“Big brother…”

“His Highness will be alright.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Okay…”

Qiaoqiao finally settled down, albeit unwillingly.

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

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

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

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

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

“Follow me.”

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

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

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

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

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

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But I haven’t done anything yet… yikes…

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

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

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

At least, this was so on Gaia…

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

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

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

“Our plan, huh…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Her breasts are really big, I gotta say…

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE

• Chapter 701: Floater
• Chapter 702: To the Weapons Factory
• Chapter 703: The Weapons Factory
• Chapter 704: An Unexpected Fight
• Chapter 705: So We're Not Fighting?
• Chapter 706: Bio-exosuits
• Chapter 707: They Came from Beneath Us
• Chapter 708: So I Can Do as I Wish?
• Chapter 709: Ambush!
• Chapter 710: Defensive Battle
• Chapter 711: Escape
• Chapter 712: Rescue Mission(1)
• Chapter 713: Rescue Mission (3)
• Chapter 714: Rescue Mission(3)
• Chapter 715: Shadow Demon
• Chapter 716: Searching for More Survivors
• Chapter 717: More Survivors
• Chapter 718: Sima Junmo
• Chapter 719: Are the Zombies Evolving?
• Chapter 720: Infections Amongst the Survivors
• Chapter 721: The Hidden Infection
• Chapter 722: A Zombie Appears
• Chapter 723: Attempting a Cure
• Chapter 724: Right to Purchase
• Chapter 725: Are You Done?!
• Chapter 726: Invitation to the Park
• Chapter 727: The True Power of an Epic Accessory
• Chapter 728: Attack of the Evolved Zombies
• Chapter 729: Yamabe Takuma
• Chapter 730: Starry Infatuation
• Chapter 731: A Sit Down with a Boy
• Chapter 732: I Have a Bold Idea
• Chapter 733: The Tragedy of Yamabe Takuma
• Chapter 734: Vocal Psychokinesis
• Chapter 735: A Bowl of Tea
• Chapter 736: Human Taming
• Chapter 737: Ouyang Huiren
• Chapter 738: Preparing to Leave
• Chapter 739: Coming Clean
• Chapter 740: Break Down
• Chapter 741: Why Do We Always End Up Fighting?
• Chapter 742: Bloodline Awakening
• Chapter 743: I'll Cover the Rear
• Chapter 744: Lion's Majesty
• Chapter 745: Return to the Hot Springs
• Chapter 746: I'll Take it All!
• Chapter 747: Return to the Alchemical Factory
• Chapter 748: The Underground Factory
• Chapter 749: Something's Off
• Chapter 750: Zuoqiu Shanming
• Chapter 751: Soul and Gender
• Chapter 752: Conversation with Zuoqiu Shanming
• Chapter 753: Connecting the Dots
• Chapter 754: An Uproar on the Web
• Chapter 755: Epilogue (1)
• Chapter 756: Epilogue (2)
• Chapter 757: Epilogue (3)
• Chapter 758: Epilogue (4)
• Chapter 759: Epilogue (5)
• Chapter 760: Epilogue (6)
• Chapter 761: Epilogue (7)
• Chapter 762: Epilogue (8)
• Chapter 763: Epilogue (9)
• Chapter 764: Epilogue (10)
• Chapter 765: Epilogue (11)
• Chapter 766: Epilogue (12)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Sis is just the coolest!”

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

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

“Hmph, glutton.”

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

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

“Devil’s luck?”

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

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

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

Puppy dog-eyed Nenth: …

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

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

“Then get to it!”

“Kay~~”

————–Change of Scene————-

Purgatory – Sable Radiance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Huh?”

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

“Understand what?” Asked a genuinely confused Jeerah.

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

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

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

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

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

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You traitors!”

——–Change of Scene——-

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

“It’s fine. Thank you, teacher.”

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

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

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

Shameless Self-promotion

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

LINK HERE