Chapter 73

After a few stops, Aomo, who had just parted with Bi Ze, did not go home right away but went to the nearby market for a walk, and while there he also contacted the property management to handle the procedures for owning a parking space, then he carried several bags of groceries plus two bags of duck blood back home.

Bi Ze's recent declaration of being an empty-nest elder seemed to have fallen on him, and the pitch darkness he saw upon opening the door also swallowed his unconscious greeting.

He seemed to be able to feel a hint of loneliness?

Just as he had that thought, a voice utterly natural shouted:

"Oh! I'm home! Then I'm going to my machine! Don't call me to eat!"

The terminal light screen that had just been activated and ejected retracted again as the speaker walked away; Aomo, who had flicked the light switch by the entryway, felt a bit fatigued and wanted to punch his former self from a second ago.

Loneliness, fuck it, or is fatigue eternal?

"It wasn't prepared for you!"

Aomo slipped on his slippers and walked indoors, not forgetting to shout a sentence toward Mori's room, and immediately he heard the other's voice again coming from the terminal light screen:

"Then who did you buy the duck blood for?"

Mori still remembered that this kid could accept blood curd, but he didn't exactly love eating it.

And the kid was complaining that this vampire was really getting more and more used to the electronic life form.

Just based on the speed of transferring from the terminal to the computer in his room and then back to his own terminal, it's incredibly fast, almost unbelievable.

"It's prepared for the neighbor next door—how so? Can't he accept duck blood either?"

Aomo still remembered that next door lived Vlad III; he hadn't paid much attention before, but now with another memory he realized the other might not be too receptive to vampire-related things.

"You'd better just make something normal; his condition is special, he doesn't rely on blood."

Mori's words surprised Aomo a little; it was unexpected that his foster father knew this, suggesting that his earlier claim of instant rapport might not be mere bragging.

"If the situation is special, are there any other taboos?" Aomo, feigning ignorance, continued toward the kitchen with the groceries, and meanwhile stuffed the duck blood into the fridge.

They said to prepare to receive the delivery notice, but there was no movement yet, so he prepared to wash the vegetables and get the dinner prep done.

"Don't mention vampires; just think of it as a holy knight who was turned into a vampire, someone who cares deeply about his lineage! Yes, exactly that kind of person!"

Seeing Mori's ear‑scratching, head‑rubbing look, one could say it was a case of desperation breeding ingenuity; Aomo also figured Mori really had a rough idea of Vlad III's condition, so he also shook the still‑damp vegetable basket in his hand:

"Got it, later you come with me; I was actually planning to tell him about your condition."

After not seeing each other for a few days, the neighbor suddenly kicked the bucket and turned into an electronic ghost; precisely because of this possibility Aomo thought of paying a visit.

During the day, going out sees no one, so we'll wait until it gets darker.

While preparing dinner with that thought in mind, he first waited for the terminal communication to ring.

"Mm, yes, I'll be there to receive it shortly!"

He hung up, quickly cleared the scene, and without even greeting Mori's empty apartment rushed downstairs; Aomo's longing for the genuine toy was so sincere that several couriers, unexpectedly coming to receive this important package, turned out to be such a cheerful young man.

This made Mori realize he'd probably suffer a big loss, after all, chances to see Aomo wear such a sincere smile are few, let alone to be thanked with that expression—Mori himself had experienced it only once, and he couldn't even recall when.

As for Aomo, holding the new toy—uh, new weapon—he pondered whether to press the switch, then he examined the heavy motorcycle with its black‑and‑silver paint job accented by a bit of dark red, and after a while he moved on to test‑riding it, which was another matter altogether.

As for where to park the vehicle… do you still remember the side‑contact we made while grocery shopping at the start?

He parked and locked the vehicle, then, taking advantage of the night, he carried the dangerous weapon that made other residents in the community wary back home, and only then did he finally put down the genuine toy that had been troubling him.

He really wanted to press it, he really wanted to press it.

That familiar spot, that familiar red button—although it has an anti‑mis‑touch mechanism, who would get a genuine special‑effects toy and not want to press the button straight away?

But once pressed, he could inherit the Heaven Gate City and then brush off the achievement of the Boundary Gate area.

The Frontier Lighthouse folks can guarantee he's compatible with this; when the time comes, whether he becomes a giant Aomo or a giant synthetic beast, he'll have enough qualifications to grab headlines and fiercely snipe a Jidong derby.

In order not to offend a possible future superior, he should still find a chance to book a space‑specialized room at the training ground.

If it's just about transforming, demonization is already enough; when idle he can sharpen his claws with his tail, using a freshly honed blade to kill time.

Then he came to his senses, and the sky was completely dark.

This had already exceeded the scheduled time… Aomo, deeply feeling that his playful mind had dragged him into the 'Fallen Abyss,' painfully resolved to carefully place the Beta Demon Blade into the matching case gifted by the Frontier Lighthouse.

It contains a spatial compression magic array, can be used purely as a briefcase, and inside there is a magnetized holder custom‑made for the Beta Demon Blade.

It's said to be like a card case, able to shield the Beta Demon Blade's essence as a 'switch transmitter' from emitting waves and to block all detection, but Aomo, feeling that inexplicable pull, deemed this another bunch of nonsense.

At least during their experiments they seemed not to have considered his particular case at all.

Whether it's monster cards or the Beta Demon Blade, he currently feels some inexplicable pull; even with the Frontier Lighthouse's vaunted isolation device in between, this sensation might count as a kind of qualification proof, right?

Aomo isn't overly worried, but he also considered writing it into that agreement's annual 'Product Usage Report.'

It does count as an anomaly of sorts; completely ignoring it would be inappropriate.

In any case, things have come to this… let's just cook!

Aomo re‑entered the kitchen; although he no longer needed to worry about making a portion for Mori, thinking of visiting the neighbor, he, who had some confidence in his cooking, decided to continue making a meal for two.

Carefully packing it up, after putting away the reluctant departure from the 'battlefield,' and having summoned Mori—who seemed to have built a deep friendship with someone called BRAVO Captain—he set off on the road to visit Dracula——

——said like that, but in reality it's just go out, close the door, walk two steps, knock, and speak.

Then the door opened.

It was that beard‑stubbled face that left a deep impression on Aomo, a white‑haired uncle with a melancholy gaze; his looks aren't bad, in fact they're rather good, but the impression is subtle because his 'empty‑nest elder' score feels a notch higher.

Especially after he explained his purpose and showed Mori on the light screen, the other's reaction——

——the gaze that landed on his face and then shifted to Mori was full of the dullness and roughness of not having seen people for a long time.

He really was an empty‑nest elder!

But fortunately, actual interaction wasn't hard to get along with.

Although the main reason is that Aomo simply hadn't brought up the vampire topic, and he mainly used Mori as a 'conversation opener' to take the lead.

Secondly, the gifts and food he brought helped to dilute the awkwardness.

Although Aomo spoke little, just watching them chat, the atmosphere was pretty good.

By the way, he also inquired that the Clock Tower side seemed to have no new heroic spirits registering for a long time, let alone other Romania‑related heroic spirits, which is why he himself isn't given much weight here.

Hearing this, Aomo understood, and in his heart he kept shouting, 'Matched! Matched!'

The Terra Federation's Clock Tower, though at first merely borrowing a famous name, actually mixed in many odd magicians, dead followers, elves, heroic spirits and other fellow worldly acquaintances.

Even many members from the Wandering Sea and Atlas Institute are present, so it really can't be simply viewed as the pathetic organization from memory.

But now it seems, because the members are indeed mixed, there is hidden internal strife, and personnel arrangements are indeed pathetic.

Other aspects are still unclear; I recall the dean saying the Clock Tower would cooperate with the Source Energy Engineering Institute on teaching, so maybe we could learn... uh, I got kicked, never mind.

Aomo, feeling uneasy, watched the two adults chat, silently pulled out his terminal, and opened the class chat room.

He originally wanted to contact classmates who had applied to the Source Energy Science Institute to see if they could keep an eye out for him, but he unexpectedly found a pile of unread messages in the chat room, and even new messages were being sent.

This puzzled him greatly.

After all, class chat rooms are unnecessary social accessories; besides truly socially adept people like Bi Ze, usually no one speaks in them.

Everyone has their own small circles, let alone some class groups secretly mixing in a homeroom teacher or similar.

Aomo's class chat room, although no teachers mixed in, the position of the college‑prep rocket class destined that its students were all study‑obsessed grind kings, and they usually didn't like to idle chat here.

So what were they chatting about?

Aomo, surprised, dragged the progress bar, but at the very top was a short video; without even opening it he could see the familiar outline of a giant beast that almost made his hand shake.

He shouldn't... shouldn't... this bunch shouldn't be so gossipy; Aomo glanced at the avatar that posted the video.

Tama's! It's Bi Ze!

Filled with the anger of being backstabbed by a brother, Aomo continued scrolling, only to find it was just some text chat.

【/Use13

/castsequencereset=3Flame Strike, Phoenix Flame, Heat Haze Ray, Fire Blast, Scorch, Phoenix Flame, Bahamut's Wrath, Death Cycle, Heavenly Light Cycle, Crimson Lotus, Scorch, Detonating Heat Ray

Damn, this burst macro is stronger than my manual operation.

Crap, I can't even play fire magic anymore】

How come someone still practices fire magic, and even mixed summoning skills into your damn fire magic.

Don't yell, Death Reincarnation and Light Reincarnation also count as fire now; this was still an update released by the Mage Association last week.

No, don't argue about this; the point is I need to recall how mages used to be— the incantations, finger gestures, pronunciation?

Should I warm up my voice first? After the written exam I slept for days straight and feel like I've forgotten everything】

One-key Magic Net Macro. jpg

One-key Magic Net Macro. jpg

One-key Magic Net Macro. jpg

Exactly, bro! This completely matches my conception and imagination of a mage!

No, would anyone really practice fire magic without earth? Are you planning to rub a trillion‑degree fireball or go to the kitchen to help strike a fire?

What the hell... Aomo frowned all the way through, seeing the topic wasn't ending, he immediately typed and jumped into the conversation.

Tama's, what the hell is this macro writing? reset=3 is there, even if there's no skill haste at all, this isn't giving others 0.5s?

Can the burn wind‑up and Phoenix Flame be used together?

The casting delay is so obvious; I see your spell menu, it's the beast version of the Xingheng Industrial Magic Staff system, right?

【Suggest switching to Terraria Magic Staff System re-recording, Xingheng's magic net construction macro can't achieve 0.5 seconds, only whole seconds—using the macro is just worse than humans!】

【Wow, there are still experts! How come there's still someone in class researching different companies' Magic Staff system (half annoyed)】

【No problem! I remember we're in the liberal arts class, but we also teach science!】

【But Lin Dun isn't from the Martial Arts department, right? I remember he got a martial arts scholarship】

【He has received many scholarships; he also participated in the magic architecture competition, but only got a consolation prize】

【Can you guys not talk about this in front of the person involved?】

【Eh, it's fine, everyone knows how cutthroat the magic architecture competition is; losing isn't embarrassing, getting a consolation prize is already not bad】

【It's Lin Dun! Lin Dun popped up! Lin Dun, how about you help me sign a name!】

【Yeah, seems like a bunch of people also want Lin Dun's info, Lin Dun, what can you conveniently reveal? Like hobbies, weight, relationship status?】

【……You guys chat, I'm going lurking】

【Rushing to leave the chat room interface before more guys popped up to cause a commotion, Aomo looked up again and saw Uncle Vlad and Morrison both staring at him, somewhat embarrassedly shrinking his neck:】

「Did I make any sound? 」

Although I don't recall, I'll still ask.

「No, 」 the one who answered first with understanding was actually the opposite side, Vlad Tepes stood up and walked toward the bedroom, 「Just now Morrison said we should leave, I heard you still have things to do. 」.

When he came back, the old man with notoriety like Dracula handed over a small tote bag: 「This is a return gift. 」.

「Take it well, then go attend to your business! 」 Morrison on screen was full of vigor, making Aomo doubt whether his years of singleness were due to a problem with his sexual orientation.

「I could actually chat more with Old Brother Vlad. 」.

「... Thanks, then let me take my leave first. 」.

「No need to feel pressured, I'm just a neighbor after all, 」 the duke smiled faintly, raising his hand—his nails trimmed, unexpectedly clean pale palm—「If you have any problems, feel free to ask me for help. 」.

Sounding like it's already a decent face‑familiarity, Aomo nodded, carrying the tote bag toward the door.

「You didn't even say hello to me, looking at this brat, old brother you can't adopt such a rude little devil. 」 Morrison was still fuming.

Hearing the sound of the front door closing, Vlad still smiled and asked: 「But you aren't hoping I'd look after him a little, right? Although I think it's unnecessary. 」.

He shook his head.

「Although in this life he is a heroic spirit, his spiritual sense remains keen, I can sense that the child faintly shows some threat, his strength is already not weak. 」.

「But he's still a young person, so I'll inevitably worry a bit. 」.

On the screen, a full‑form manifestation appeared instead of the chibi version always seen in Aomo's eyes; Morrison smiled helplessly.

「Those who don't understand fear cannot realize the danger of Shen yuan, in this form I feel nothing. 」.

「But since you, old brother, think he's strong, I indeed should worry less. 」.

On the other side, Aomo, who had turned his head and gone home, opened his tote bag and pulled out... a sweater?

」？

After unfolding the sweater to compare arm span and build, Aomo, who was thinking about when Molisen had told the neighbors his build, fell silent for a moment.

"Fine, it's just a bit early."

He smiled and put the sweater away.

It's only the end of June.

The temperature forecast for tomorrow is even 31°, and we need to rely on the Boundary Gate District's intercity temperature control system to aid, in order to save the lives of the people on the street outside the gate.