Chapter 108

After Lu Mingfei "kidnapped" Hui Liyi from Genji Weight, it wasn't quite accurate to call it kidnapping—in fact, Hui Liyi recognized him by the mess he made of his hair, turning it into a bird's nest, and to encourage him to live, she gave him a small duck.

So Hui Liyi put on her usual shrine maiden's robes and pulled Lu Mingfei out to play—short for running away from home.

This girl found even vending machines fascinating; Lu Mingfei's first glance saw the spokesperson, Niyuan Jieyi, but Hui Liyi pointed to the orange juice endorsed by her.

Lu Mingfei inserted two coins and took out a drink—the orange juice was sold out, so he bought only two cans of hot coffee.

No aberrations disturbed them, because dozens of meters below, a God of War blocked the monster spawn point; the aberrations would need time to find a way out.

The red-haired girl watched the hazy night through the glass curtain wall—the city seemed draped in a light veil, towers and streets lit up, and even at this late hour, vehicles still moved along the elevated roads.

This city was magnificent yet cold.

The side profile on the glass curtain wall was breathtakingly beautiful; Hui Liyi took the coffee from Lu Mingfei's hand, unclasped the lid, and sipped the hot coffee slowly, white steam drifting before her nose.

Lu Mingfei watched silently, his heart utterly peaceful at this moment—hot coffee was the best thing here, warm in his hands, as if holding it meant owning the whole world.

Strictly speaking, this was his second time seeing Hui Liyi, but strangely, Lu Mingfei felt no jubilation, no thought of "finding the heroine and getting my own love story," nor any other distractions—except that his heart occasionally missed a beat; he felt calm.

"Utsukushii." Hui Liyi grabbed Lu Mingfei's hand and wrote characters on his palm with her finger, then pointed to the distant golden "Tokyo Skytree" for him to see.

Compared to her original fate, Lu Mingfei had arrived a few days early; it wasn't raining today, but it was still cold.

"That's the Tokyo Skytree, the world's tallest broadcast tower—you can go up it. Supposedly, the view of Tokyo from the observation deck is the most beautiful." Lu Mingfei recited what he knew—he'd never been there himself.

He looked at the girl beside him—most of her life had been spent locked behind 20-centimeter-thick alloy gates, spending her time playing games and watching anime, most familiar with doctors and nurses, and with oxygen tanks, blood filtration units, cardiac resuscitators, high-pressure injection pumps, angiographic X-ray machines, and linear accelerators—each worth millions of dollars.

It wasn't that Yuan Zhisheng abused her; rather, Hui Liyi's bloodline was too potent, requiring serum to stabilize her—if she lost control, her destructive power rivaled that of a "nuclear weapon."

Yet even so, Yuan Zhisheng did everything a brother should—taking her to top restaurants during his free time, playing games with her, watching anime.

This girl didn't even grasp gender distinctions, unaware of how attractive she was to the opposite sex—in her eyes, men were probably just flat-chested versions of herself.

"Want to go see it?" Lu Mingfei said. "I can take you there."

Hui Liyi's eyes instantly sparkled; she nodded like a chick pecking grain, looking at Lu Mingfei expectantly, then grew slightly disappointed.

She pulled out a small notebook, written in marker: "Brother will catch us."

Lu Mingfei smiled. He'd originally planned to just throw away his phone, but then thought it was still valuable, so he turned it off, ignoring Lu Mingze's arrangements—normally at this moment, an elevator would appear, followed by a helicopter arriving on the roof to take them away.

Lu Mingfei pulled out a golden greatsword; this trick of conjuring objects from thin air made Hui Liyi think he was amazing.

Fortunately, influenced by the Immortal Sword, he'd been determined to learn sword-flight, spending a full day mastering it.

Lu Mingfei stepped onto the blade's body and extended his hand to Hui Liyi:

"Let's go, Hui Liyi! Let's see the Skytree together!"

The next day

"Hui Liyi has been gone for twenty hours!" Yuan Zhisheng slowly clenched his fist. "We haven't identified those people's identities! Halt all operations! Deploy every resource! Even if we uproot every building in Tokyo, bring me back Hui Liyi!"

His subordinates looked at the anxious Yuan Zhisheng and thought: So this guy is a sister fanatic.

"Rest assured!" Yecha replied solemnly. "In this glittering Tokyo, Hui Liyi, pure and innocent, alone with an unknown man, is in danger. I swear—if anyone dares harm Hui Liyi, I will twist his neck myself!"

"I'm not worried about Hui Liyi's safety," Yuan Zhisheng shook his head, speaking softly. "If Hui Liyi wanted to, twenty hours is enough to destroy Tokyo."

"At that moment, only a god could stop her."

Yuan Zhisheng's subordinates stiffened, as if hearing something unimaginable.

"Irrelevant—I'll act." Su Lin stood atop a building kilometers away, watching through his extraordinary vision the man and woman simmering a hot pot in the hotel, an auntie-like smile unconsciously forming on his face.

"Never thought watching real-life CP could be fun—I'm starting to understand fan-couple obsession."

"Lu Mingfei really knows how to enjoy himself—beef slices, enoki mushrooms, shiitake, radish, cabbage, and green onions. Too bad it's not a red-oil pot."

"Aren't those my mountain's spirit fruits? When did he sneak away with two? Next time, make him pay."

Su Lin, feeling a bit hungry, pulled out from his historical projection a table, a gas stove, and a pot of red-oil hot pot with beef, tripe, beef tendon, meatballs.

Li Qing, a half-blood clan member, stood respectfully behind him, looking hesitant.

"But… is this really safe?"

"Relax," Su Lin pulled out a projection of himself in a Sui Xifu, making the projection serve him dipping sauce and food. "Your Supreme said to minimize bloodshed—not just from enemies, but from your own side too. Don't fight unless you have to."

"I gave you tools to survive—use them wisely."

"If you can't win, retreat—I'll step in. Guerrilla tactics, got it?" Su Lin sat down on a chair. "Join me?"

"No thanks," Li Qing shook his head, visibly overwhelmed. "The front-line battle isn't over—I'll take my leave."

He stepped into a teleportation portal.

As Su Lin was cooking the hot pot, a pigeon fluttered down, landing on the opposite chair, then transformed into a man radiating scholarly aura.

"Man, the whole Earth's in chaos, and you're still having hot pot?" Kline scanned the table. "Where's mine?"

Su Lin pulled out a bowl, chopsticks, and dipping sauce from his historical projection.

"Another fake meal?!" Kline stared in disbelief. "At least eat something real."

Still, he picked up a piece of tripe and dipped it into the pot.

"The great war isn't over—how could I truly indulge?" Su Lin said. "But you—if you were to lay down arms and surrender with courtesy—"

"Stop, stop!" Kline waved his hand. "You're getting too into character!"

"Did you retrieve Lu Mingze's true body?" Su Lin stared at the couple in the hotel across the distance, now sipping red wine.

"I originally planned to ask Yao Lao and Zhongli to act," Kline said. "But Lu Mingfei became a Damocles sword hanging over them—they're now seeking cooperation themselves. Old Lu knows this."

"Your blitzkrieg was too fast. Without Zhongli and Yao Lao, your control over this world wouldn't have taken more than a month."

"I was hoping to wrap it up before New Year's. Now it's a mess—I might as well take a vacation and go home," Su Lin murmured.

All this happened in secret. Leaving aside the Japanese half-bloods, the North American half-bloods, the Cassel Academy, the Secret Party, and countless other factions—all had recently suffered attacks of varying degrees, especially after the revival of the Bronze and Fire Dragon King Nordon, whose conquest and occupation proceeded with devastating speed.

The night before last, Zhongli and Lao Tang clashed, but Zhongli held back his strength, and Lao Tang didn't use his apocalyptic Word—after a casual exchange, Lao Tang abandoned his occupation mission.

Su Lin was occasionally called to help, mostly restoring wounded and applying survival buffs to those people.

"I should have acted myself, but I must continue gathering strength," Old Lu said. Su Lin didn't know what he was hiding.

Many resisting half-bloods were imprisoned in the floating island's dungeons.

"It seems you're truly determined to see this through with him." Kleine picked up a blanched beef tripe and dipped it in an oil sauce.

"It's not so bad—just that Lu Mingfei will have to eat more Six-Ingredient Rehmannia Pills." Su Lin said, "I can supply him with unlimited amounts."

"He won't like it, the world turned into this."

Now, apart from some defected half-breeds, the Dragon-Slaying Faction led by the Secret Party had begun cooperating with Lu Mingze, consolidating all resources and strength, preparing to march toward Tokyo—this place would soon become a battlefield.

Kleine naturally wouldn't tell Su Lin this news; though they were group members, their factions had temporarily shifted.

"If Lu Mingfei becomes the ruler, this world will be finished within ten years." Kleine followed Su Lin's gaze to Lu Mingfei, who was showing an anime on his tablet to Hui Liyi, the two of them eating and scrolling through episodes. "I mean this Lu Mingfei."

"To gain something, you must pay for it—that's what Old Lu always said." Su Lin didn't care. "For the general public, the benefits should outweigh the drawbacks."

"Actually, the two of them have no irreconcilable conflict."

"It's just that Old Lu's Wang Wei is too heavy—he needs time for Lu Mingfei to accept it." Su Lin turned to Kleine and asked, "What's Xiao Yan doing lately?"

"Secret." Kleine smiled elegantly, picked up his hat, and wiped the oil from his lips with a tissue.

Watching Kleine's magician-style exit—dissolving into a flock of white pigeons—Su Lin turned away, canceled the historical projection, and left the rooftop.

"Make sure the cleanup is done well."