Chapter 612: The Dating Operation

My name is Zhou Mingrui, a killer devoid of emotion; put more elegantly, I'm an assassin.

I'm currently on a task from the Cycle Space, staying at the Continental Hotel while participating in the Holy Grail War in the Marvel Universe.

Logically, I should have completed the mission through countless life-or-death crises, barely surviving, then returned to the Cycle Space without leaving so much as a wisp of cloud behind.

But reality differs somewhat from imagination.

There are no treacherous teammates—only a veteran with thighs thicker than an explosion, and a cheerful new girl I get along with.

I haven't encountered a single dangerous incident; even at night walking down the street, I see neither Servants nor any 0-yuan purchases.

Even working as a hotel server, trying to earn some dollars to bring back to the real world, I still run into something like this.

"Hmmm~ hmmm hmmm~"

Splash—!

From the bathroom comes humming and the sound of running water; whether it's a rose-scented shower gel or shampoo, the fragrance drifts through the half-open door, mingling with the steam into the room.

"Miss Nai, I've bought your clean clothes."

Zhou Mingrui stares fixedly at the wall, covered in exquisite silk wallpaper adorned with delicate floral patterns.

Using his assassin's ability, he makes his body as light as a feather, swiftly and silently approaching the only place to place items—a finely carved coffee table—and sets down the shopping bag.

Throughout, he avoids looking at the damp women's undergarments carelessly piled beside the deep red velvet curtains, soaked by water.

It's not shyness—just propriety demands not to look.

"I've placed your clothes here."

Zhou Mingrui calls out: "If you need anything else, contact the front desk."

He had just turned around when his sharp hearing caught the click of a valve shutting; a figure wrapped in a towel stepped out of the bathroom.

"Zhou, wait a moment." Naiyazi stepped out of the bathroom, her long hair dripping wet.

Miss, I really am not that kind of guy.

At this moment, Zhou Mingrui mentally braced himself, ready to firmly and politely reject this girl who was inexplicably warm and openly forward toward him.

It's not out of any noble principle—just a mismatch in values.

"Lu Xiaofei." Naiyazi pulled out a ten-dollar bill from her wallet.

"."

Zhou Mingrui stared at the bill, his toes involuntarily curling inside his shoes, yet he still offered a sincere thank-you.

I must've been influenced by that Nidhogg Group Crown Prince who keeps sending me suggestive pics in our work WeChat group.

"Disappointed?" Naiyazi grinned mischievously, as if she could see straight into his soul: "I'm not just any casual girl, you know."

"But if you want to stay tonight, Zhou…"

Naiyazi glanced at the single bed and said, with a voice as sweet as melting sugar and an utterly unguarded smile: "Sure~."

"You've misunderstood. Thank you for the tip."

Zhou Mingrui quickly snatched the ten-dollar bill, strode toward the door with wide steps, and made sure to shut the door behind him as he left.

Is this the foreign style?

Although his previous company had many foreigners, Zhou Mingrui had never encountered such an outright, unambiguous "hint" before.

The kicker? She's not some Qiao Biluo—she's a real, flesh-and-blood beauty.

This is too advanced for a salaryman about to turn thirty and automatically reclass as a mage.

"Whew—" Zhou Mingrui exhaled deeply, happily slipped the tip into his pocket, and turned toward the food respawn point: the "kitchen."

Huai Shi should be…

Huai Shi

"What did he mean by that?"

Zhou Mingrui suddenly stopped: "He's a she, right?"

Back at the Heaven Hotel, I personally saw Huai Shi enter the men's restroom—how could such a cute boy be a girl?

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

Even if she were a girl, why tell me that?

Zhou Mingrui suddenly felt exhausted today; maybe returning to his room and sleeping soundly on his Simmons mattress would be the better idea.

Having reached the kitchen door, he followed some inexplicable intuition and chose to skip a meal.

But as he turned, a girl with faintly bluish hair cascading from her shoulders sat on the chair at the front desk, appearing as if out of nowhere.

Her white skirt trailed from the chair's edge, revealing lace-up shoes and Bai Xi's ankles.

Familiar to…

As if he'd met her before.

"Zhou Ge." The girl looked up weakly toward the stairs: "She's a bad woman."

No, sister.

Just wait a moment.

Tap

A pair of hands gently rested on Zhou Mingrui's shoulders; a threat, like that of a top predator or natural enemy, came from behind.

In absolute silence, a face of sacred solemnity, eyes lowered, whispered beside Zhou Mingrui's ear:

"My friend, you have a new task."

Moments later.

Zhou Mingrui, having accepted the task—"Make that Outer God blush," then seal her power via a kiss—walked back to his room in a daze.

On Huai Shi's shoulder, the shadow of a crow solidified into form.

Huai Shi, utterly defeated, raised his hand and asked: "Why do I have to get involved like this?"

"What if he's blinded by lust and falls for a beauty trap?" Su Lin sighed helplessly: "I'm counting on you to watch him, Huai Shi."

"Isn't it more appealing than some mysterious, overly eager woman?" The crow lifted Huai Shi's chin with its wing.

"It's all for saving the world."

Huai Shi stared at the solemn man and bird before him, suddenly feeling as if he were the only human left in the entire hotel.

"Really?"

Of course it's for fun, little dummy.

Amid roars like those of a great beast, time raced by; a magical light brighter than lava flowed silently across the matrices scattered throughout Shi Shi.

Only when the things that terrify life were once again fused into one did Shi Shi return to stillness.

"Shi Difen, are you alright?" Kliya stepped forward to support Shi Difen, who had just been a horde of sinister beasts.

"Hah… ha, I'm fine. I'm okay." Shi Difen gasped heavily; his eyes, nearly glowing red, closed for a moment and then returned to normal: "I'm fine, it's over. This spell really did bend the rules a little."

He raised one index finger, waved it twice, then shook his head violently, clearing the lingering fog in his mind.

Several of the Reincarnators twitched their eyelids.

To explore the origin of the universe and trace the history of spacetime requires a spell that releases all monsters—calling that "a little violation" is absurd.

This Strange is truly too humorous.

"Sorry, Kliya. You—" Shi Difen looked at Kliya, pressed against him, wanting to warn her but not knowing how to begin.

"Let go of me. Don't worry so much—I'm just a dead wraith, not the Strange you know."

"Sorry," Kliya realized she'd overreacted, including her current behavior.

"But I always mistake you for him. You're nearly identical. Sorry."

She said another apology, then rubbed her forehead, trying to stop her runaway emotions from interfering with her reason.

"I understand, but I'm nowhere near as good as he was." Shi Difen retracted his hand, half-raised to comfort her on the shoulder, and turned toward the group with curious eyes:

"Let me state the conclusion first. To get this answer, I called in a few favors."

The four Reincarnators, including Nanayoshi Shigeki, fixed their gazes on Shi Difen.

"Across all dimensions and spacetimes of the multiverse, including all history known to the Observers."

"The Holy Grail War."

"It's never been an outside intrusion—it has been ongoing since the universe's birth, even before this cycle of the universe began."

Shi Difen stepped before Nanayoshi Shigeki, removed his black-rimmed glasses, and said:

"The history of the Holy Grail War has never been altered, Nanayoshi. And this universe? It might be your true home."

Nanayoshi Shigeki's eyelid twitched violently.

He never imagined that after they had honestly revealed everything—including reopening their wounds and disclosing their origins to seek deeper cooperation—

This black Strange would reach such a conclusion.

Shi Difen: "Nanayoshi, are you listening?"

I'm listening, but have you heard what you're saying?

"The Pocket Universe Federation, composed of elite teams, sent us a beacon."

Lou Baiyu stepped beside them and interrupted:

"They're inviting all teams to unite and end the Holy Grail War—and they've revealed the spacetime beacon of the 616 Prime Universe, preparing to hunt the Iron God."

"They also mentioned a force disguised as Reincarnators has infiltrated the Holy Grail War."

"It's probably targeting you, Strange. Our strength isn't enough to draw their attention."

"Heh. As long as some powerful Servants refuse to end it," Shi Difen smirked.

"Alright, whether your 'Multiverse Devourer' is real or not, I'm now more curious about something else."

"Why does your Reincarnation Space care so little about secrecy?"

Seeing the others baffled, Shi Difen, his dark circles heavy, began drawing circles in the air; dozens of different scenes appeared.

They showed constant battles erupting across New York City—each time a Servant or Master was eliminated, a new entity stepped in to replace them.

"Noticed anything?" Shi Difen asked.

"You haven't slowed the Holy Grail War. Quite the opposite—because Reincarnators leaked information across parallel universes, seeking allies."

"More and more people now know about this ritual."

Shi Difen waved his hand, closing all the mirrors, then retracted the artifact that allowed him unrestricted spellcasting—a zero-dimensional space formed by the collapse of a dying universe.

"The Reincarnation Space has always been like this—never caring whether Reincarnators keep secrets," Nanayoshi Shigeki said.

Shi Difen shook his head. "This time is different. All the wraiths across the multiverse have been drawn in."

"Cherish life. Don't waste it."

In a dark cave, smoke hung thick; footsteps echoed outside. The man lying in his own blood—Stark would never forget him.

Ishan, the man who saved him twice.

Once on the operating table, and once when he activated Mark I—alone, he picked up a weapon and went out to buy Stark time.

"I will."

Su Su Tuoni Stark murmured:

"I will cherish life, of course."

Surrounded by flowers, honors, and applause, as a superhero, the smartest scientist, he had never wasted a single second of the life he'd won back.

For world peace, for human happiness, for Earth's safety—I thought more than anyone else.

Nick Fury?

He's too ordinary. His vision is too narrow.

Steve Rogers?

His whole approach is too outdated—not just obsolete, but lacking wisdom.

As for other super heroes, whether he had met them or not.

Heh, as long as you don't cause trouble like in comics or movies, that's already thanks to heaven.

"Fools like to stir up trouble, and I, I solve their problems."

A white steel armor sat on the sofa, holding a wine glass, saying: "In a certain sense, I am God."

Damn it, what are you talking about, you madman?

Su Su Tuoni blinked, but then heard the same familiar voice coming from the other side.

"More accurately, I'm merely playing the role of a human, helping humanity toward a better future."

Himself, without the armor, only wearing sunglasses, stood on the podium, spreading his arms in an exaggerated, proud pose:

"Isn't that right? Su Su Tuoni Stark has the ability, while other super heroes, nations, and militaries only make things worse."

No, Stark just wanted to finish some tasks and go home for dinner—if that dinner was cooked by the Immortal Chef Wei Gong, even better.

He really wanted to retort to the man on the podium like that, but

"Eisen, sometimes I feel I shouldn't be alive unless I have some purpose."

A version of himself in a white shirt sat in the workshop, fiddling with a weapon in his hands: "Like maintaining the stable order of the world."

The previous statement was too extreme, but the latter one—you're right.

Su Su Tuoni Stark felt a faint resonance within him; at least this version of himself seemed a bit more normal.

"So."

The white-shirted Su Su Tuoni looked up, suddenly staring at him: "You're just watching like this?"

What?

"You have the smartest mind in the entire universe, yet now you hand over everything to others—to gods you don't even fully trust?"

I still trust him more.

"Really?"

The white-shirted Su Su Tuoni stood up, walked to his side, and asked: "But this is your world—what right do they have to steal your mission?"

They're my friends.

"These things were supposed to be done by me," the white-shirted Su Su Tuoni pointed to a nearby workbench, saying:

"If they complete the tasks and just leave, I could still handle everything later, right?!"

Following the direction he pointed, Su Su Tuoni Stark finally saw a stack of design blueprints.

They were weapons and technologies he had stored in other worlds but never brought back.

He hadn't fully devoted himself to learning magic or immortal techniques; instead, he treated various spells—from micro to macro scales—as components, combining their principles with wild imagination, resulting in a flood of new inventions.

"You shouldn't just sit here and do nothing."

As Su Su Tuoni Stark stared at those objects, he didn't notice that figures composed of black particles were standing behind him.

The nearest black shadow, blurred and ethereal, transformed into the white steel armor and extended a hand toward him.

"Bro."

"Shi Dake"

"Su Su Tuoni Stark!"

As if someone was calling him, Su Su Tuoni turned around to look behind him—everything vanished abruptly in a flash of Bai Guang.

"Are you okay?" Ge Xiaolun asked.

"I'm fine…" Su Su Tuoni rubbed his eyes, shook his head, and asked: "Did I fall asleep?"