Chapter 642: Museum and Medlin

This was clearly half of an open room in a white spire palace.

The walls were pure white.

Wildly minimalist paintings, framed and displayed, showcased artifacts unearthed from various racial styles.

Below them, every label claimed these were ancestral tools of the Star Spirits.

It was somewhat like a museum.

Why would a major base be built to look like a museum?

“It’s not as exaggerated as you say—it’s just an entry-migration technique mastered by the Star Spirits.”

Haley smiled.

Her face carried pride and triumph:

“Perhaps you don’t know, but Star Spirit history stretches back tens of thousands of years—even the First Epoch left traces of us. The very magic of maze manipulation, like the secrets held by the elves of Bicuiting and the sprites, originated with us.”

“.”

“Look at this clay tablet with its curved hollows—don’t you see clear traces of [Dragon’s Breath] impact? The magical friction, the ripples from the dragon’s exhalation.”

“Hmm.”

“Exactly! This artifact was excavated from Star Spirit ancestral ruins, proving that [Dragon’s Breath], a spell borrowing dragon breath ability, was created by us—not by those dragon-blooded sorcerers the textbooks claim.”

“.”

You say so, fine—it’s your territory anyway.

There may not have been humans in the First Epoch at all.

The accepted theory is that Star Spirits appeared in the Fourth Epoch, the early stage of the current era.

As rulers of the Third Epoch, the long-lived elves left behind vast magical systems, especially in maze technology.

If you claim elf techniques came from Star Spirits,

that’s a bit backwards.

But Star Spirits stealing culture isn’t uncommon on this continent.

Luo De was a gentleman—he wouldn’t expose such things in someone else’s domain.

Just smile, nod, and gasp in awe.

The Star Spirit girl was very pleased with Luo De’s reaction and began showing him around the museum she claimed surpassed the palace of the Bright Light City governor.

It certainly didn’t surpass it.

Bright Light City, as the capital of Aitheron, was unimaginably prosperous and luxurious.

Star Spirits weren’t weak, but they were few—a minority group.

Not even the old Aitheron could have crushed them easily, let alone the current one.

Luo De didn’t care much about the museum’s exhibits.

They were just cleverly twisted proofs of a nonexistent history—and they actually believed them, each one bursting with confidence.

Luo De was not only courteous, he was tolerant.

He just didn’t care.

More importantly, he wanted to check how far the Star Spirits had progressed in studying the transmission pathways of the Beastification Disease.

Haley, thrilled, was eager to answer every question.

After several probes and inquiries, she honestly revealed their progress on the Beastification Disease.

Unfortunately.

Their current direction was still blood transmission.

And their main method was regulating their own state—not creating a more infectious strain.

Dream transmission, a ludicrous idea, was even less considered.

Haley was so careless she even took Luo De to their lab to confirm it firsthand.

“Then the question is—”

If it wasn’t man-made,

did the Beastification Disease evolve on its own?

Luo De was baffled.

He gave up thinking about it and followed Haley to a restaurant for a meal.

Star Dust Crisps, Grilled Star Beast Spine Meat, Orbital Salad, Starry Slime Gelatin.

All emphasized nostalgia and formalism, each tied to their imagined starry homeland.

As for taste—

It was fine, if only Haley hadn’t kept explaining that the crisps, grilled meat, salad, and gelatin all originated from the Star Spirits.

I mean, what’s so special about stealing grilled meat?

Isn’t it just meat and fire?

“Oh? Isn’t this Haley, Second Squad Leader of the Security Department? Finally figured out to bring a man along?”

They were deep in conversation in the restaurant’s private booth.

An unwelcome guest burst in, rudely and without invitation.

So unwelcome that just hearing the voice told you this was a villain.

Luo De looked up.

A female Star Spirit, roughly Haley’s age—or younger.

Her face was lovely, her upward-slanting blue-white eyebrows radiating aggression.

She wore a mage robe of white with dark blue star-grass trim.

The slit reached her thigh, fitting tighter than Haley’s loose robe.

The neckline was lower too; though petite, her chest strained the fabric high, exposing half her breast to the air—provocative.

Luo De’s sharp eyes instantly recognized the padding.

This wasn’t a mage robe—it was a lavish outfit suitable for a banquet.

Come to think of it,

mages in this world constantly redesign their robes.

Like the witch Dimia—Luo De had seen her wear at least twenty different styles.

Also,

behind this Star Spirit stood a motionless girl.

Dressed in a dark green velvet corseted gown, her joints glowed with silver-steel spherical joints, her skin bore wood-grain textures, her eyes were lifeless multifaceted crystal.

It was a remarkably lifelike automaton.

“Medlin.”

Haley frowned slightly, a flicker of annoyance crossing her face.

“I have no interest in bickering with you.”

“Oh? For someone who’s never won, losing interest might be inevitable.”

“Hmph. Boring.”

Medlin sneered, lifting her lips.

“What? No courage to retort? It seems the rumors are true—if you still can’t pass this trial, you’ll lose your squad leader position, and your father’s medical aid will be cut off.”

Haley bit her lip, silent.

Medlin pressed further, leaning close to her ear and smiling: “When your father lost to my mother, he looked exactly like this.”

“Enough!”

“Oh my~”

Medlin stepped back lightly, her skirt swirling, and without notice, she was across the table—

beside Luo De.

She draped her arm over his shoulder, casting him a sultry glance.

Her expression turned strange.

“I mean, when you pick a man, can’t you pick someone better? At least someone like in those romance comics? This one’s so rough, bearded… pfft—”

Hmm.

Currently, Luo De had used Disguise Shu and Concealment Field to alter his appearance for propriety.

Luo De grunted in correction:

“I’m Haley’s vanguard.”

“Vanguard? A human?”

Medlin’s eyes widened in shock as she turned back to Haley. “Are you serious? You’re risking your father’s life with a human vanguard! Don’t you know what the trial entails?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“I thought you’d spent two or three months in seclusion finding a decent path to become my rival and entertain me—but this? Disappointing.”

She turned again to Luo De.

Her arm pressed against his neck, back straight, her chest straining the fabric so high it nearly brushed his face.

“Sweetheart, she’s sending you to die. The trial isn’t something a human can survive. Abandon her—join my unit. I’ll lift that enslavement spell for you~”

Medlin hoped Luo De would be swayed.

After all, he’d been staring straight at her chest since the start.

Hmph! My close-range Little Fragrance move has never failed!

"1, 2, 3"

Huh? Why is this human counting?

"10, 11, 12"

The man burst out laughing:

"Haley, this guy has stacked at least twelve layers."

(End of Chapter)