Chapter 12: I Declare the First Holy Grail War of Linyi Gate

Chapter 12: I Declare the First Holy Grail War of Linyi Gate

“Last night, Ye Shiyu came to the door, meow.”

In the morning, hearing Meow-chan’s voice made Yan Huan pause a little while brushing his teeth.

He stared wide-eyed, toothpaste foaming in his mouth, and turned to look at the dignified little cat sitting in the bedroom, asking in surprise,

“When?”

“After you fell asleep yesterday, it was really late.”

Meow-chan looked towards the door while standing on her hind legs, moving her front paws and little head up and down as if describing the situation at the time,

“The doorknob suddenly moved, but she couldn’t pull it open since you locked the door.”

“…”

A person suddenly trying to pull the doorknob while you’re asleep at night—what do you think she was planning to do once she got in?

No way, sis, that’s just too terrifying!

Yan Huan opened his mouth, fell silent for a moment, then turned to spit out the foam, rinsed his mouth with clear water, and splashed his face.

He was about to put on a fresh shirt, but the shirt he had already worn for two days felt sticky since he had been out all day yesterday; he just didn’t want to wear it after showering.

If only he had waited for Aunt Chen to dry his clothes yesterday before showering and sleeping—now, he could only go downstairs to grab what was already dried.

“…”

He glanced at his phone, it was 5:50—earlier than usual.

He pushed open the door, finding the outside eerily quiet, with the morning light so weak it barely seeped through the living room’s sheer curtains.

It seemed everyone was still asleep.

With that, he felt relieved and, shirtless, carried the empty cup he had used for milk downstairs to the laundry room to find something to wear.

The laundry room faced the kitchen, and the water purifier was right at the kitchen door. He rinsed out his cup, then filled it with water to drink.

Downing a cup of warm water in the morning really made him feel more alive.

After finishing his water, he washed the cup and set it aside in the dish rack, turning to head into the laundry room.

Where did the dried clothes go?

He looked up, scanning the hung clothes, searching for the beige shirt he had just bought yesterday.

At that moment, a figure holding a cup of water walked up to the water purifier.

Hearing the stirring sounds from the laundry room, Ye Shiyu, who was ready to fill her cup, instinctively turned her head.

In the cool morning light, she watched Yan Huan searching for clothes in the laundry room, his bare back making her eyes widen in surprise.

Her phone suddenly lit up in her hand.

Found it.

Yan Huan picked out a soft beige shirt he had just bought yesterday and prepared to change into it.

Putting on the clean clothes, he was still considering whether to take his dirty clothes down for washing too, but thought it was a waste to start the washing machine for just one shirt, so he gave up on that and intended to leave.

Turning around, he caught sight of Ye Shiyu at the doorway, holding her cup like a ghost, standing there without him even noticing.

What the?!

His expression instantly changed. He was about to let out a string of expletives, but he quickly activated his perfect expression management skills.

Yan Huan awkwardly chuckled and greeted Ye Shiyu,

“Sister Shiyu, you’re up early today too, huh?”

“Hmm-hmm.”

Ye Shiyu’s expression slowly returned to normal, but her reply was oddly stiff,

Last night, after watching that weird video, she drank lots of water and had to wake early to deal with it.

Even so, she felt dry and hot all over, struggling to even sleep well.

Now, just as she was coming down to fetch water, she happened to run into Yan Huan, who was changing clothes.

Her hands trembled slightly, and she unconsciously took a sip of water.

Her gaze flitted over his beige shirt, perhaps drawn to something interesting she had seen when it was still off his body.

Yan Huan smiled slightly and stepped out of the laundry room, asking Ye Shiyu,

“Want me to make breakfast? I can whip something up.”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Okay, then I’ll be stepping out, I’ll be back before noon.”

“Mm.”

He initially planned to cook something if she wanted to eat, but since she didn’t, he would just grab something outside.

Changing into his shoes at the door, in order to avoid being alone with her and getting hypnotized, Yan Huan quickly left with his phone in hand.

Ye Shiyu watched him leave, finishing up the water in her cup.

In the cool morning air of early spring, Yan Huan took a deep breath and jogged outside the community.

“Where are you going? Morning exercise?”

Behind him, a black cat, which had mysteriously appeared, followed his pace.

Yan Huan didn’t turn his head, adjusting his breathing as he shook his head,

“Heading to the Ocean Mansion. I’m going to buy breakfast first and then take the bus there. The first bus leaves at six-thirty.”

He scanned around, finding no early breakfast stalls open in this upscale community, eventually heading further out.

Using a map app to navigate the bus routes, he soon found a place selling Dragon Kingdom breakfast outside the community.

In Linyi Gate, only establishments run by Dragon Kingdom residents opened this early.

While eating meat buns and pumpkin porridge, the shop gradually filled up with more customers.

Meow-chan licked her paws beside Yan Huan and asked,

“What are you going to the Ocean Mansion for?”

“Looking for tools to help deal with modifiers, like some Mickey Mouse tools.”

“?”

After finishing breakfast, Yan Huan and Meow-chan boarded the bus. Linyi’s public transport had strict rules about animals getting on, typically requiring a cage or carrier.

However, Meow-chan was no ordinary cat; she became invisible to everyone else as she boarded, so they made it on smoothly.

The first bus was sparsely populated, and Yan Huan found a vacant seat, putting on his Bluetooth earphones and leaning against the window to pet Meow-chan.

After a rocky thirty minutes, he opened his eyes when he heard the announcement to get off.

Removing his Bluetooth earphones, the bus’s speaker blared,

“Ocean Mansion stop, here we are.”

Looking around, he found quite a few people had gotten on board, and just then locked eyes with an unfamiliar girl who was blushing, staring at her phone.

“!”

Yan Huan blinked and said,

“Excuse me, could you let me through?”

“Sure.”

It was barely seven, but the shopping center, which had been bustling yesterday, looked especially deserted; it wouldn’t open until ten.

However, the Ocean Mansion opened its doors at eight, so arriving early wasn’t too bad, especially since he had his little helper with him.

After getting off the bus, Yan Huan turned to Meow-chan and asked,

“Meow-chan, can you smell Ye Shiyu’s lost item?”

Meow-chan looked up at him with a “Are you serious?” expression.

“You’re a cat, right? I heard that if your cat goes missing, you can get a stray cat to sniff its toys to help find it.”

“…”

Meow-chan sighed, then lifted her nose to sniff, quickly darting toward the shopping center.

“There’s still a trail of her scent over here.”

Shopping center?

Didn’t she lose it at the Ocean Mansion?

Yan Huan jogged after Meow-chan to the plaza that bordered the shopping center and Ocean Mansion.

This spot was conveniently located at the Ocean Mansion’s exit, and from here, one could also see the gift shop where Ye Shiyu bought the keychain yesterday.

Meow-chan paused to sniff at the edge of some bushes, then suddenly turned to Yan Huan and meowed.

“Here?”

Yan Huan raised an eyebrow and walked over to part the bushes.

Strangely, a blue crystal jellyfish pendant lay inside, entangled in the damp grass.

A tag that read “Ye Shiyu” confirmed it was the keychain she had dropped yesterday.

“…No way! How did it end up here? She definitely didn’t come close to this area yesterday!”

As Yan Huan picked up the keychain, something even stranger happened.

In that instant, the pendant, free from the grass, trembled slightly towards a certain direction, as if indicating it wanted to move closer there.

“What the heck?”

Yan Huan’s eyes widened as he turned to Meow-chan, who sniffed the keychain and said,

“Ye Shiyu’s scent has faded, but another woman’s scent is quite strong.”

“Another woman?”

“This keychain is starting to take on that woman’s shape.”

“?”

Yan Huan furrowed his brow. The keychain in his hand gradually calmed down, ultimately ceasing to shake.

At that moment, Meow-chan looked up and said,

“The scent of that woman has completely dissipated.”

“…”

Feeling the supernatural phenomenon in his hand, Yan Huan exchanged glances with Meow-chan and suddenly asked,

“Modifier?”

“Did you guys meet someone yesterday?”

Someone?

Just then, a scene of a blonde girl with a mischievous smile popped into his mind.

No way…

Yan Huan opened his mouth, quickly firing off a question to Meow-chan,

“Does the effect of a modifier work on another modifier’s host?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but it seems that it might.”

“…”

Realizing that there really wasn’t any factional distinction between modifiers, and that they could intertwine with each other, Yan Huan’s expression grew serious.

Because he keenly sensed that not only would it not result in a ‘drive the tiger away from the wolf’ situation, but it could also complicate the situation in dealing with the modifiers.

“Getting them to willingly abandon their modifiers” was the requirement for solving the problem with modifiers.

But if you know others also have cheat abilities, would you give it up just because they didn’t?

So what could have been tackled one by one now required Yan Huan to make them simultaneously abandon their modifiers!

Similarly, even if he incited conflict among the hosts, it would lead to an alarming acceleration of the growth of modifiers.

If a bug-level modifier requires only ten percent of power to resolve real-world issues, then battles among modifiers would likely require all their power or even more.

This would also result in the originally slow consumption of desires running rampant, and Yan Huan didn’t need Meow-chan to point that out.

“Competitiveness,” “desire for victory,” “exclusivity.”

Don’t those words scare you?

Holy moly, is this going to be a Holy Grail War at Linyi Gate?!

Those overwhelmingly powerful modifiers are basically the heroic spirits, while the hosts are the masters!

And the worst part is that Yan Huan is very likely the Holy Grail itself!!

Damn!

I declare the first Holy Grail War of Linyi Gate, commence!

Yan Huan looked at Meow-chan with a face full of despair, then rubbed her head, sighing,

“Saber Meow-chan, let’s hide and live together in peace.”

“?”

Holding the icy jellyfish keychain that had spent the night outside, his heart felt just as chilled.

“Dear guests, welcome to the Ocean Mansion at Linyi Gate. Our establishment showcases a variety of marine life through professional marine ecological simulations…”

The announcement at the Ocean Mansion blared, and Yan Huan stood up, noticing that it seemed it would open soon.

The gift shop that opened yesterday was also being cleaned as the staff raised the rolling door.

Yan Huan squeezed the jellyfish pendant, thought for a moment, then walked toward that direction.

“Welcome, guest!”

Surprised that someone had arrived so early—after all, even the Ocean Mansion wasn’t open yet—the staff’s welcome sounded a bit rushed.

Yan Huan nodded, casually glancing around the shop, and then, he seemed to spot a small gift box.

The box had the word “Jellyfish” faintly visible.

Yan Huan blinked, considered for a moment, then took that gift box and grabbed another jellyfish-shaped toy.

“I’ll take these, could you please put them in a bag for me?”

“Of course! Cash, card, or…?”

“Plane.”

Yan Huan, the Holy Grail, raised his phone, making the first transaction after the Holy Grail War of Linyi Gate began.

“Are you saying you hear voices in your head like you’re hallucinating?”

In a high-rise apartment in Jinghe District, on a sunny morning in a spacious living room, a woman in a slightly thin knitted jacket raised an eyebrow.

She looked at the blonde girl lifting dumbbells by the window—the very same Aria Spencer who had conflicted with Ye Shiyu yesterday.

Spencer nodded, seemingly struggling with the weight of the dumbbells, clearly challenging for her with each lift.

Breathless, Spencer said,

“Ah, and they often say such weird things too.”

Listening intently, the woman blinked and quietly wrote a note in her notebook,

“Suspected to be engrossed in viewing inappropriate material.”

She then asked,

“Besides that, do you feel any discomfort? Did you sleep well? Is your appetite affected? Do you feel agitated?”

Spencer put down her dumbbells, thinking as she rubbed her chin, then replied,

“Well, about my appetite, it has been affected a bit; I’ve been eating less lately, but my sleep has been okay.”

The woman raised an eyebrow, glancing at the many snack bags strewn across the coffee table—various expensive chips, chocolate, and more, scattered everywhere.

Asking was unnecessary.

The woman noted in her book,

“Good appetite, often exercises, normal sleep.”

“When do you hear these voices the most? At certain times or while doing certain things?”

“Hmm, when do I…?”

Just as Spencer contemplated, a phantom interface abruptly surged into her mind.

【Plunder Mode effect has disappeared, this time’s harvest: Plunder Energy +0.1】

【Current Plunder Energy: 0.1】

【Gather Plunder Energy to obtain the Power of Plunder. As you accumulate more energy, you will receive the following boosts:】

【Your attractiveness to the plundered target increases gradually.】

【The victim’s resistance will gradually weaken.】

【Your physique, resistance, and charm will gradually enhance.】

Spencer’s mouth opened in disbelief. Just as she was about to loudly exclaim to the visiting psychologist,

“Right now! I hear that voice!”

But at that moment, the previously heavy dumbbells in her hands suddenly felt a little lighter.

She froze for a moment, thinking it was an illusion, and tried again to lift the dumbbells.

But it wasn’t an illusion; she genuinely felt slightly stronger, as if her power had increased in an instant.

This…

Spencer stared at the virtual text in front of her as the twisted letters solidified into a sentence,

【Feel free to use it without restraint.】

Watching the text, her previous dazed expression morphed into excitement.

“Miss Spencer?”

Just as the psychologist voiced her confusion, Spencer tossed the dumbbells to the ground, causing them to thud loudly.

The psychologist flinched at the heavy noise, looking down, about to speak, but Spencer coldly sneered and said,

“No need to check; this whole building belongs to my mom, and no one lives below.”

“Yes, I know. I just wanted to ask—”

“No need to ask; I’m fine.”

“Miss Spencer…”

Spencer’s expression suddenly turned cold as she looked at the psychologist and said,

“I said I’m fine. Just go ahead and update my mom. I’ll go back to school normally afterwards; that’s your job, isn’t it?”

The psychologist opened her mouth, sighed, and closed the notebook in her hand.

Slowly, she stood up and bowed to Spencer, saying,

“Alright, I understand. Then I’ll take my leave now. If Miss Spencer has any other issues, please feel free to contact me at any time.”

“Mm-mm, I got it.”

Spencer didn’t even look back, turning to gaze outside the floor-to-ceiling window at the city awakening in the morning light.

At the Ocean Mansion.

In her high-rise apartment, Spencer could even see the distant, faint outline of the ocean.

Her eyes shone with increasing excitement, as though some strange flame was igniting within her.

“Click.”

The door behind her closed—the psychologist had already left.

Finally unable to hold back, Spencer balled her fists and jumped up.

“Hehe…”

“BANG!”

However, while jumping, she forgot to place the dumbbells back and accidentally kicked one with her bare foot.

“AHH!!”

Wincing in pain, she grimaced and crumpled to the floor, clutching her injured toe.

“Ouch… ouch!”

She hugged herself and rolled around on the ground, tears brimming from the pain.

Meanwhile, outside, the bright sunlight soared past the horizon, flooding her spacious room.

It illuminated the coffee table behind her, where a letter casually sprawled among snacks and controllers.

It read,

“Admission Notice from Far Moon International High School.”

“Dear Aria Spencer, after careful consideration by the school committee and the Academic Affairs Office, we are pleased to inform you that you have been approved for admission in the upcoming spring semester.”