Chapter 283

Page Ninety-Three

Drained by My Mother

[17:21]

[Power Generation Room]

“Let me handle it directly for you.”

Pointing at the array of spells connected to the generator within the electric grid barrier, the old lady said, “While the idea is good, the efficiency of the conversion is still not high enough. The ventilation system above is the same. If I were designing it, I could ensure long-term operation.”

“I told you not to help, and that’s final!”

Professor Shi was quite stubborn. She placed her hands on her hips and said, “Since you’ve already taught me the technology for miniaturization, I’ll figure out the rest on my own! If I rely entirely on your power, what progress would I make?”

“Oh, so this is the old man’s stubbornness?”

“It’s the dignity of an engineer!”

The old lady held her face in her hands and sighed helplessly, but then narrowed her eyes with a smile. “Alright, then I’ll take Xiao Kai and go home. My dear Xiao Wei is waiting for me at home, wearing an apron and expecting me to come back for dinner!”

Every time the old lady called me ‘big sister,’ I felt like I had touched a 220-volt power line, from my feet to my head… And it was for dinner! Not to eat mother!

“Yuzu~ we’re ready to leave!”

“Oh!”

After bidding farewell to Professor Shi, I called out to Yuzu, who was teaching Xiao Xue how to walk and behave in the Cave Plaza.

Yuzu ran over, excitedly, and asked, “Isn’t Xiao Xue coming back with us?”

“I want her to stay at the research institute. I’ve entrusted Xiao Man with providing her magical energy. It’s reasonable to have them give her a magic battery as compensation for knowledge, isn’t it?”

But first, we need to help the cat girl adapt to her human identity.

At least for a while, we need Xiao Xue to maintain her human form. This continuous consumption of magical energy is a heavy burden for the already strained Magic Research Institute. Professor Shi’s refusal to accept direct help from the old lady was also due to pride.

— “I’m home.” —

Cherry Sauce sent a message.

It seems she came back alone?

— “Yes, I came back alone. Xiao Lei went to work at a maid comic store, and Lin Hua had an urgent matter to attend to at the Huangfu family.” —

So tonight, I might actually be able to sleep well in bed?

— “Based on what I know about them, they will definitely rush back before bedtime because they don’t want to miss out on anything. Plus, I just told you to take the initiative tonight, right?” —

Cherry Sauce sounded exasperated, then brought out the Jewel.

I felt like Xiaocaiqi again, dizzy and nauseous, but with previous experience, I quickly recovered.

The old lady patted the wrinkled, dirty bed and asked, “What did you do here this afternoon? Why is my bed so messy?”

“We moved some things. We put AJ and Yi Ji’s belongings on your bed when we brought them in.”

“Hey! You even walked in with your shoes on!”

She found more footprints and frowned in displeasure.

“Because they fell on the bed first when they dropped from the sky.”

The old lady pulled off the bedsheet, saying, “I’ll wash this too… How are the three of them doing now?”

I replied, “They’re okay, and they have a new goal. But AJ chose a very difficult path… You can borrow my senses, right?”

“Yes, but focusing on you means I can’t do other things. I still have to teach this afternoon… In fact, I ended up becoming a teacher. What a hassle.”

Although she complained, she seemed to enjoy it.

“Did you hand everything over to them?”

“It’s not hard to understand, as it’s basic magical practice. But since they’re amateurs, it might take some time to master. That’s why I left Xiao Xue there, to explain the concepts.”

Yuzu, who went to say goodbye to Xiao Xue, was now inside the Jewel, nearly throwing me off the bed.

She said, “Oh? You’ve put away the sheets?”

Then there was a jolt, and the Jewel teleported us from the underground four-hundred-meter deep research institute of the low-rent apartment to our living room in the city several kilometers away… This scene change is too convenient. Do we even need any transitions?

————: Hmm?

The old lady, holding the dirty bedsheet from the Jewel, began searching for her beloved Zhan… wife.

“Xiao Wei~!”

Following the scent of cooking food, the old lady found Mother behind her.

“Wow! When did you get back?”

Mother was startled when she was hugged suddenly while cooking.

She probably just got off work, wearing an apron and bustling around in the kitchen. Cherry Sauce was helping her, like a filial and sensible daughter.

—”That’s redundant. From all angles, I am more filial than you. Who has been doing the housework recently?”—

I had no words to respond.

Little Qing Lan was lying on the sofa watching cartoons, not surprised by our sudden appearance, and even scratched her little bottom like a grown-up.

…She really is regressing, acting like a mischievous child.

She asked, “Didn’t you go to school? Where did you go today?”

I grabbed her ankle, straightened her legs hanging on the sofa, sat down next to her, and answered, “We were teaching and moving things. As for you… are you really not planning to change back?”

“I plan to talk to her about this tonight!”

“What do you want to talk about?”

She said seriously, “I plan to negotiate with her about the use of Xiao Wei’s pillow.”

“Why is it about the pillow? Such matters are trivial!”

I tapped her forehead, and my phone rang.

“Hmm? It’s a message from Miss Ke Man.”

Cherry Sauce brought a plate of sliced apples and said, “It should be because Xiao Bai He did a self-proclaimed human experiment. Now, what to do with her has become complicated.”

As she thought, Miss Ke Man sent a message asking how we planned to deal with Xiao Tianjie.

She truly is a big problem.

Bai He’s incomplete transformation spell caused Xiao Tianjie’s body age to be unstable. This wasn’t about whether she could keep it a secret; it was about her uncontrollable state making her a ticking bomb for exposing magical existence.

“What should we do?”

I sighed, and Cherry Sauce asked, “Why not bury her somewhere? Use teleportation to move far away, the police won’t catch us.”

“Are you a gangster?”

In frustration, the old lady’s voice came from the kitchen.

“I told you I can stabilize her condition… Phew… Phew…”

She held a pair of chopsticks, with juicy red-braised pork skewered on them. The meat was hot and juicy, making her breathe heavily.

I swallowed, and asked, “Can you stabilize her now? Should we go back before dinner?”

“Delicious, Xiao Wei’s cooking is getting better every day.”

After swallowing the meat, she smacked her lips, saying, “Don’t rush, I’m not a deity. I need some time to prepare tools. Xiao Ying, let me go back to the Jewel first. If I can provide some divine power, it would be great!”

The old lady turned to Cherry Sauce for help, but the latter pointed at me.

“You take Xiao Kai in. If the consumption is small, she can recover instantly, like an infinite energy source… But if the amount is too large, she’ll run out immediately. Her limit is too low.”

“It’s not infinite. I get hungry, you know!”

However, my objection was meaningless, and I was sucked into the “magic treasure” by the Cherry Queen.

“Wait there.”

The old lady patted the bed, signaling me to sit, while she searched through the mess.

“Ah! Found it!”

She took out a sealed glass box with several metal plates engraved with spell arrays inside, resembling a small fish tank.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s a magic battery, which might be easier to understand.”

“You and Master Haliluya aren’t completely different. At least, you both enjoy inventing and creating.”

I expressed my feelings, but she hit my head.

“Xiao Kai! Even if you tell me that I’m similar to that old man, it won’t make me happy!”

She carried the heavy glass box onto the bed and handed me a soft tube used for aerating fish tanks, with the other end connected to the glass box.

The old lady patted the box and explained, “This is something I made to store magic power, but I don’t produce enough magic power daily to even use it, let alone store it. So, I left it idle.”

In short, another useless thing.

I grumbled, “Really, you and Cherry Sauce treat me like a human battery… How do you use this?”

Though I held the soft tube, this thing didn’t automatically draw my divine power like the master’s measuring tape.

“This requires you to guide it yourself. Can’t you even do that?”

After all, I’m an entry-level mage who can generate electricity, so I can manage this. My divine power flowed through the tube into the sealed glass box, and the originally intangible white light rapidly condensed into liquid upon touching the metal plates.

After about ten seconds, I was drained… and hungry.

The old lady asked in surprise, “Why did you stop? Is that all?”

“That’s it.”

She tilted the box, and the liquid divine power at the bottom couldn’t fill even one ampoule.

“There’s only this much? This generation of divine apprentices is weak!”

The old lady still didn’t believe it, and patted my stomach, urging, “Try harder?”

“I really can’t… squeeze out any more…”

Although I wanted to say that, some divine power trickled out and flowed into the glass box.

I explained, “This is just recovered.”

“Even though Xiao Ying said you recover quickly, could it be this fast! With your abnormal mana recovery speed, this small box isn’t suitable for you…”

She seemed quite surprised.

I twitched my mouth and asked, “What else do you plan to do?”

“Like this, I’ll make a special tool for you later. I’ll try to collect divine power anytime, anywhere without affecting your life!”

I felt my rights being violated. Was she treating me like livestock?!

“No need to make such a thing. I don’t want to be treated like a cow, milked every day.”

“Don’t say that. Divine power is precious resources. Excess is waste!”

“Can you make a tool for Xiao Tianjie?”

I pointed at the liquid divine power in the glass box.

“Not enough. Can you squeeze out more?”

“Moo—”