Chapter 240: Combat Power

Only Leicaen hadn’t realized the seriousness of the matter, and couldn’t help asking, “Lina, you… aren’t also taken by this kid, are you?”

Lina smiled, her gaze sweeping over the three of them before settling on Leicaen, her smile deepening.

She shot back sharply, “What’s wrong with that?! Huh?!”

Leicaen’s expression, rare as it was, slipped entirely—he shouted in shock, “No way! You’re serious?!”

Ye Qingfeng was also unsettled, staring at Lina in surprise.

Why did she just go straight for the jugular—and in front of everyone?!

Miss Lina, when did you become so bold?!

Lina looked no different from usual, but inside, she was far from calm.

Aaah! What do I do?!

I accidentally blurted out what I was thinking!

It’s all Leicaen’s fault! Besides…

Why does Xiao Qingfeng’s face look so utterly different when he’s asleep?

So cute! So cute! So cute!

“Lina, do you even know how old this guy is?” Leicaen pointed at Ye Qingfeng without caring about his dignity, “He’s only nineteen! And you?!”

Lina’s smile froze instantly; she cut in hastily, “Leicaen!”

Joking is one thing, but if you bring up age, I won’t let it go!

Leicaen was at a loss for words; Lina stared at him silently, as if guarding against him speaking again.

“Ahem!”

Ye Qingfeng sensed the tension and glanced at Kelin and Ailian; seeing they had no intention of stepping in, he forced himself to speak:

“Uh, shouldn’t our priority be fixing the electrical issue and moving forward? Can we set this aside for now?”

“That’s reasonable. If you don’t mind, after this mission is over, would you be willing to stay as our guest, Qingfeng GeXia?”

Leian returned to his usual demeanor, bowing gracefully, yet his words carried a faint threat.

He had originally planned to have a proper talk with Ye Qingfeng—not for any other reason than that, while outside just now, besides contacting the Rope Master, he’d also called the Mayor.

He mentioned Ye Qingfeng in passing; the Mayor on the other end fell silent for a long while, then replied that after this mission, he wanted to speak with him.

Leicaen could use this opportunity to thoroughly question Ye Qingfeng about his relationship with Ailian and Lina before he spoke to the Mayor.

But thankfully… Kelin hasn’t gone completely off the rails!

Leicaen fixed his gaze on Ye Qingfeng, radiating a subtle pressure—he had to complete the Mayor’s task, no matter what.

True, the Mayor said “invite” Ye Qingfeng for a talk, but if he’s foolish enough to resist, a little lesson wouldn’t hurt.

Besides, someone who can casually block Ailian’s blade surely isn’t ordinary.

The key is what kind of answer he’ll give.

“Fine.”

After a moment’s thought, Ye Qingfeng nodded in agreement.

Leicaen’s intention to speak with him felt just like when Zhu Yuan or Qingyi’s superior suddenly said they wanted to chat.

The common thread: there was a purpose, and secondly, he likely held no hostility—or at least none for now.

But after observing him this long, Leicaen’s strength was clearly exceptional; below the infamous-level remains, none posed him a real threat.

Roughly on par with Ailian and Qingyi.

That’s already the limit of what a normal human can achieve.

(Originally I wanted to activate the setting from the next book regarding detailed remains lore, but I’ll skip it—let me just briefly explain the combat power system from the Remnant Zero plot.)

What’s confirmed: remains have ten tiers, but no one’s exact tier is specified; likewise, agent power levels aren’t clearly defined, so we can only rate them by their in-plot performance.

Fan-made, but grounded in evidence.

So far, infamous-level remains are Tier 4; most agents can’t even fight one alone. Leicaen can’t reach Tier 4, but he’s solidly at the upper end of Tier 3.

More detailed settings will be explained in the next book.)

“Qingfeng my lord, I—”

Lina turned to Ye Qingfeng, but her words died mid-sentence.

She didn’t know what to say to him now; she bit her lip and fell silent.

Ye Qingfeng sensed her discomfort and spoke up, “Lina, after this mission ends, let’s find time to talk properly, alright?”

As he spoke, he winked.

“No problem! I’ll come visit with food I made myself!”

Lina pulled up her skirt and bowed slightly.

Qingfeng my lord is truly so considerate! This time I’ll give it my all—I hope to hear his praise with my own ears.

“Uh, I’m really looking forward to your cooking, Lina—but no need to rush. I’ll contact you in advance when the time comes.”

Ye Qingfeng’s face stiffened, forcing a strained smile.

With the fastest thinking of his life, he devised a way to avoid hurting Lina’s feelings without having to eat her food.

This excuse could later become an invitation to take her out to dinner—perfectly solving the problem of her food draining his HP.

After eating Lina’s cooking once, Ye Qingfeng developed a psychological aversion—he couldn’t even look at raw fish without feeling nauseous.

If he ate it again, he feared he’d have to say goodbye to New Elihu…

“Ahem! I’ve already explained the situation to the Rope Master,” Leicaen interrupted. “Now we split into two teams: one stays in the control room to operate, the other heads to the power room to activate the backup aether generator!”

While Leicaen spoke, Ye Qingfeng rebooted Ies’s power switch; Ling swiftly connected and took control of his body.

“Complex electrical operations in the control room require expertise—only Leicaen can handle it.”

Lina watched Ye Qingfeng’s actions, waiting until Ies’s eyes cleared before speaking slowly, “As for the generator side, the main tasks are moving the generator and transporting aether materials.”

Mm-hmm! Miss Lina explained everything so clearly!

“If it’s just carrying stuff, I can help!” Kelin jumped in.

Aah! Little Kelin is such an angel!

“Electrical ops or carrying stuff—one tires the mind, the other the body,” Ailian paused, “Tch! Hard to choose! I’ll take the power room.”

Ailian added, “Besides, being with Kelin means I don’t have to worry about my posture.”

There it is again… the kind of thing only Ailian would say…

Ye Qingfeng strongly suspected Ailian really meant: being with Kelin means I can slack off.

Of course, given Ailian’s lazy nature, posture was probably too much to ask—maybe she just wanted to avoid Leicaen.

I'm a feel-based player—like in Honor of Kings: when I'm in the zone, I get MVP every game; when I'm off, I'm just a scrub. Writing's the same.

Halfway through this chapter, my flow suddenly returned—strange, but wonderful.)