Chapter 20 – The Journey to the Sea – 6
After giving Eye a lesson, Du Sixian returned to the lounge, silently standing behind Jumeng and alongside Mengmeng, her gaze subtly drifting towards Luxianbei, who was disguised as Lan Yi.
In the minute that she left the staff lounge, Luxianbei had already completed telling Jumeng everything about the “Calamity of d*ath.”
Interrupted by Du Sixian’s entrance and exit, Luxianbei paused slightly and smoothly shifted the topic to collaboration with Jumeng.
“Actually, the irresponsible calamity fright company can have a long-term cooperation with Peach Source! We can take the red face here, and Peach Source can take the white face; it’s a win-win situation!”
She knew very well that while she was acting under the identity of “Golden Toad Boy,” if she wanted Jumeng to help oversee Huacheng, preventing another incident like the one triggered by the God of Hydrocarbons that led to the Hundred Demons Walk, there needed to be a reason acceptable to the citizens of Peach Source.
“What do you mean by that?” Jumeng tilted her head, her expression becoming serious.
She had only temporarily come to Huacheng to help because Peach Source’s scenic spots were entering the off-season and her workload decreased significantly. If there wasn’t a special reason, she would have to rush back to Peach Source once the busy season arrived in a month or two; there was no way she could stay until Luxianbei returned from across the ocean.
But if there was a “business” cooperation between Peach Source and the irresponsible calamity fright company, the situation would be different. Even if she had to shuttle back and forth, Yuan Ye and the others probably wouldn’t complain.
“For example, let the little urban legends in Huacheng create some scares, and then inadvertently reveal that to ensure safety, one must go to the temple in the Peach Source scenic area for blessings…” Luxianbei explained.
When she spoke, she deliberately emphasized the words “inadvertently.”
After hearing her plan, Jumeng frowned, “You little rascal! I am at least a proper deity; how could I engage in such extortion activities?”
If there were no benefits, then no one could date; it felt like a protection fee demanded by the mafia.
“How could it be extortion?” Luxianbei shrugged expressionlessly, “We’re not going to scare just anyone, right? We can specifically target those who play games with others’ feelings and exploit them! You must not have a good impression of those guys either, right?”
“As the only serious god of marriage in Z Country, isn’t it reasonable to impose divine punishment on those who exploit feelings?”
“Of course!” Jumeng angrily waved her fist in agreement.
For a deity who protects the beautiful loves of the world, what those who toy with others’ feelings and turn them into tools for profit do is a direct provocation.
If it weren’t for the workforce shortage in Peach Source, she would have sent someone to impose “divine punishment” on those guys long ago.
True love is one of the most precious things in this world and must not be desecrated!
“Oh right, and those fools who are seriously love-brained and entrust their feelings to the wrong people!” Luxianbei slapped her forehead and continued.
“If they can decisively escape their suffering after being scared, that would also be a kind of salvation. But if they still go to Peach Source to spend big bucks on blessings after being frightened… well, then they are truly beyond saving!”
“If they are already beyond saving, then rather than letting them be emptied out by sc*m, it’s better to offer it to you, don’t you think? And online romance scams, I’m not sure if that counts, but for that, we will need to cooperate with the Urban Legends Chat Group to effectively act.”
“Um…” Jumeng pouted, pondering for a moment before nodding, “That does make some sense, but whether it will work or not, I still need to go back and discuss it with Yuan Ye and them.”
After a pause, she looked at Luxianbei and, with a reluctant tone, asked, “So when are you leaving? You can’t stay in Huacheng for too long, right?”
While she wanted to spend more time with Luxianbei and didn’t wish for her to leave with that invisible fiancée, the previous unnamed assassin group members had already come once. If Luxianbei stayed in Huacheng, how would she explain it if they saw her when they came to support?
Would she say she had watched a sixty-second advertisement and revived the calamity?
If the Assassins organization spread the fake d*ath news about the calamity, and then other spirit energy organization members were drawn in, things would get messy, and there would be no way to escape.
“Tomorrow morning!” Luxianbei replied, pouting. “I have to set off early tomorrow to meet with the Wordless Book senior, and then take the flight she arranged to Queen’s City.”
“Ah!” Jumeng let out a sigh of relief, patting her chest, “Isn’t that still early? Play a game with me before you go!”
What is this! Just playing a game? The secretly observing Nanling Yaohua tilted her head.
She had thought this powerful and sharp-tongued girl would make more outrageous demands.
For instance, an all-night battle to create new life or something like that?
If that were the case, being forced to watch from the sidelines would indeed be too much for her to bear.
But if it was just playing a game, even if there was a bit of intimate contact in the process, it seemed acceptable?
After all, she might not see Luxianbei for a long time now, Nanling Yaohua thought.
Luxianbei stole a glance at Nanling Yaohua, seeing her somehow strolling off to the distance, whistling and looking around, pretending to know nothing, she nodded vigorously.
“We have to stay up all night!” Jumeng added.
“No problem!” Luxianbei blurted out.
“You must let me win at least one night.”
“Dream on! I’m going to crush you all night!”
That Stinky Sister’s terrible skills would be torture if she deliberately lost to her all night long… Why should she suffer when she could torture Stinky Sister instead? Luxianbei thought.
“This is what you brought upon yourself; being a cripple, you still want to win against me?”
“…”
Watching Jumeng and Luxianbei bickering, seemingly heated, Nanling Yaohua silently sighed and quietly returned to the dark chaos of the world beyond.
Observing for a whole night as an outsider, that was purely self-inflicted suffering.
“Do you want to go back?”
Just as she had just stepped away from the real world, an unidentifiable voice resounded again.
“I can help you! Help you go back, grant you power…”
“…”
With a cold gaze, she scanned the area in the darkness, directly ignoring the allure of that voice, closing her eyes.
————
Before leaving Happy Neighborhood, Luxianbei sought out Du Sixian alone and, in front of her, opened the wooden box containing the alchemical prosthetic.
Though this was custom-made through underground channels, while the quality was relatively assured, relying on those eccentric lone spirit ability users or urban legends to consistently provide detailed manuals isn’t very realistic.
Having Du Sixian, who had interacted with the creator, explain the specific details would save time compared to figuring it out on her own.
“Creek!”
With the sealing spell on the wooden box lifted, the lid gradually opened, emitting a faint sound.
After rummaging through the straw, the alchemical prosthetic made of silver metal inscribed with complex spells appeared before her eyes.
Three light golden spiritual circuits ran alongside the muscle lines of the arm, connecting various spells to form a complete and intricate alchemical circuit.
At each joint, connected by some unknown deep red spherical crystals, those crystals emitted faint spiritual energy fluctuations, seemingly made from the essence of some urban legend’s core.
Du Sixian carefully took the alchemical prosthetic out of the box, approached Luxianbei, and looked at her missing arm, momentarily lost in thought.
In her mind, the “high person” had always been omnipotent; she never expected them to be so severely injured, stirring feelings in her that she couldn’t decide if they should be called worry or pity.
“How do you operate this? Please help me install it, Miss Du.” Luxianbei said, her voice tinged with excitement.
Although the size of this alchemical prosthetic seemed slightly off, being a whole circle larger than her other complete arm…
But this was a prosthetic!
Crafted from special metal through alchemical techniques, this spirit energy item-grade prosthetic!
It was like a giant robot or a uniquely shaped branch, something similar to a mechanical prosthetic, always having an irresistible allure for most boys.
What’s the problem with the size? As long as it’s cool, that’s all that matters!
Hearing Luxianbei’s words, Du Sixian snapped back to reality, nodded, and then carefully attached it to the place where Luxianbei’s right arm had been severed.
The connection felt comfortable, wrapped in softened leather and lined with thick fleece.
“Miss Lan Yi, please try to pour a little spirit energy into the alchemical prosthetic? The creator of the prosthetic mentioned that this work has a function to automatically adapt to the user’s body proportions.”
Upon hearing this, Luxianbei nodded, followed Du Sixian’s guidance, and channeled a wisp of spirit energy into the alchemical prosthetic.
As the spirit energy was infused, the spells and energy circuits on the prosthetic lit up instantly, glowing red, and the silver metal body began to vibrate at high frequency, with scale-like patterns rolling across the surface.
After two or three breaths, the adjusted alchemical prosthetic was already the same size as her other complete arm.
Then, the connection tightened suddenly, securely fastening it to Luxianbei’s severed arm.
However, at that moment, the alchemical prosthetic still felt heavy, like some sort of decorative item, completely lacking the fluidity that Jiang Li’s alchemical prosthetic exhibited.
Was there some special procedure that hadn’t been completed?
Like bl**d binding ownership, or inputting a password, or starting an AI, perhaps? Luxianbei pondered.
The next moment, before she could inquire further about how to use this alchemical prosthetic, Du Sixian’s voice echoed in her ear, “Miss Lan Yi, it might hurt a little next, please bear with it.”
Hurt? Why would it hurt?
Just as Luxianbei was confused, she suddenly felt the thick fleece wrapping her severed arm start to writhe violently.
Countless soft fibers swept across her skin, bringing waves of tingling sensation, then all the fibers suddenly stiffened and sharpened, piercing through her flesh, extending toward the interior along the nerves and muscles.
It felt as if thousands of steel needles were barbarically piercing back and forth in her flesh, penetrating the entire arm and carving grooves into her bones for attachment…
Luxianbei’s complexion shifted between shades of green and white, with a few cold sweats appearing on her forehead.
“…”
This alchemical technology is something else, where exactly did Du Sixian order this from?
Did the alchemical prosthetic of the leader have this kind of thing too?
Could it be that she had always been enduring this sort of pain? Luxianbei thought.
As she pondered, accompanied by the intense pain, she reconnected with her “own” arm, feeling as if it had never been severed; the sensation was clear and intimate and, beyond that, she sensed something strange.
It felt as though some organs had grown on her arm, which she could control freely with her thoughts, reminiscent of the tentacles that had grew on her body when she accidentally turned into an “ancient god” in Dream City.
After a moment, as the alchemical prosthetic completed its connection and seeing Luxianbei slightly dazed and silent, Du Sixian softly asked, “Miss Lan Yi, are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine, I’m fine.” Luxianbei regained her focus and nodded, “I was just thinking, could the principle of this thing be applied to making instruments of torture? It’s really too painful.”
In fact, until now, the slight pain was still lingering; those “fibers” that had pierced into her body continued to release currents, directly stimulating her brain along the nerves.
Du Sixian, “….” As expected of a high person, that line of thought is indeed beyond what ordinary people can reach.
After completing the connection of the alchemical prosthetic, Du Sixian spent more than ten minutes explaining in detail the several functions this alchemical prosthetic came with.
After listening, Luxianbei fell silent.
The functions attached to the alchemical prosthetic looked flashy, but there were hardly any practical ones!
Spell fivefold amplification… useless.
Her spirit patterns ability already enhanced spells; 0.01 amplification fivefold didn’t change much at all, and 50-fold amplification would be too much for the alchemical prosthetic to handle.
Storage and firing of alchemical ammunition… useless.
Carrying a prototype of the God Realm and a large amount of alchemical dirty bombs and Zhipianxian inside, who needed an alchemical prosthetic?
Defense mode? Even more useless!
Currently known spirit energy items, are there any with stronger defensive capabilities than “Ling Tai Purification”?
In short, all the spirit energy-related functions seemed useless; accounting them up, the simple, practical basics like grappling hooks, strong flashlights, and party mode were a little more reliable.
However, this isn’t worth nine hundred grams of gold plus ten portions of Primordial Spirit!
Luxianbei glanced sideways at Du Sixian, maintaining a straight face, “Du Sixian, why do I feel… like you’ve been scammed?”
Du Sixian looked down like a child who’d made a mistake and quietly said, “I’m sorry…”
In a daze, she remembered a pile she had bought on a whim, looking good but ultimately useless and outrageously expensive junk.
Though she was adept at managing and investing in these money-making things, she was also quite extravagant; having gotten used to spending freely since childhood, as soon as something caught her eye, she would swipe her card without asking for a price, a habit that would take time to change.
Seeing Du Sixian’s aggrieved expression, Luxianbei quickly reassured her, “It’s okay, it’s okay, as long as it can be used. Even if there are some random functions, they’re still pretty convenient for me to hide my identity…”
“Really? Did it really help you?”
“Really!” Luxianbei nodded.
However, Du Sixian had just introduced eight functions, but why did I sense nine trigger mechanisms?
What is that ninth mechanism for? When asking Du Sixian, she also didn’t know; trying to trigger it with spirit energy also yielded no response…
Could it just have accidentally been an extra? Luxianbei thought in confusion.
————
The next day, at six thirty in the morning.
Around Huacheng University City, Jingyi Apartment, Building 3, Room 901.
Nanling Yaohua woke up from her slumber, preparing to check on the status of Luxianbei and Jumeng after battling all night, just as she stepped away from that dark environment and before she could clearly see her surroundings, a torrent of resentful curses reached her ears.
“I’m done! I’m mad! You really aren’t going to let anything slide, are you? Do you even have a conscience?!”
Following the sound, she saw Jumeng forcefully toss the game controller onto the sofa, her arms folded across her chest, glaring angrily at Luxianbei, muttering, “You go, get lost! I don’t want to see you for a second!”
As she spoke, she yanked Luxianbei up and aggressively pushed her towards the door.
It had been a long time since her last game match with Luxianbei, and during that time, she had really honed her gaming skills, expecting to crush Luxianbei into submission and have her begging for mercy.
However, reality is always merciless, just like Luxianbei’s combos in the game.
The entire night, from fighting games to racing games, to RTS games, card games, and even asymmetric competitive games, as well as playing Dou Di Zhu and switching to Mahjong…
Jumeng’s record against Luxianbei was 1 win, 3 ties, and 67 losses.
Losing wasn’t so terrifying, nor did it make her feel frustrated or angry, but losing to someone who, while playing games, had become familiar with alchemical prosthetic operations was utterly demoralizing.
It felt akin to studying diligently for an entire semester only to find that the top student, despite skipping an exam, still finished with an overall score of 100, and that student happened to be your boyfriend who never thought to let you win…
She was both anxious and furious; had her opponent been anyone other than Luxianbei, she might have even thought about “buying her way” to victory!
“Hey, hey, Stinky Sister, don’t go too far!” Luxianbei protested loudly, “This seems to be my home, right?”
“I don’t care, I don’t want to see you right now!” Jumeng insisted fiercely.
Haha! Seeing this scene, Nanling Yaohua couldn’t help but smirk inwardly.
Playing a game, over something so trivial, can even break their relationship; it seemed their bond wasn’t so solid after all!
However, the next scene made her realize she might be celebrating too early.
After pushing Luxianbei to the door, Jumeng’s earlier fierce expression suddenly softened; after fidgeting for a bit, she pulled out a core of an urban legend from her pocket and handed it to Luxianbei, “Here, don’t say I’m not caring about you; take this for the journey.”
“Although I rushed to Huacheng without bringing anything good, at least this is an A+ grade urban legend core! It should be pretty valuable…”
She understood the principle of being poor on the road, and it was necessary to symbolically prepare some travel funds for Luxianbei.
Luxianbei took the coal-like urban legend core that Jumeng handed over, glanced at it and frowned, “It looks pretty nice, but why is there a big chunk missing? Did you eat it?”
“You rascal, you’re talking nonsense!” Jumeng’s eyes widened, “Would I eat something so disgusting? This urban legend core was missing a chunk when I took it out from that hydrocarbon god’s body!”
As she spoke, Jumeng appeared eager to clear her name, quickly recounting how she discovered this urban legend core with the strange crystal and metal ring.
After listening, Luxianbei fell silent for a few seconds, pocketed the urban legend core, and then ruffled Jumeng’s hair, “Got it, thank you! Next time… when I come back, let’s play games together again? Just not competitive ones, I’ll take you to torment others!”
Jumeng paused, a sweet smile blossoming on her face, “Sure, it’s a deal!”
Nanling Yaohua, “…”
Could you tone it down a little? You don’t think I’ve returned, do you?
d*mn, why do I have to witness this?
I should have come back later!
