Chapter 964: No. 87: Bewilderment

No. 87: Bewilderment

Ms. Baoduo Zhi Jiang is naturally a fairly easy‑going elder, while Yuta and Neihai's parents merely need to spend a little more time convincing them that their son staying out overnight is not dangerous and that he is not involved in any risky activities.

What would that mean, then?

It means a kind of intangible interrogation.

"Are you all not having class tomorrow?"

At the hour when this good child ought to be sound asleep, he sat under the dim light with his fingers interlaced, facing several gazes, and inevitably felt something.

It seemed as if someone would soon bring over a plate of pork chop rice.

In fact, there was nothing of the sort.

A lively dinner ate up the house's food stores, and the boys here lacked that sense of ceremony.

Yes, the boys.

Although they had obtained permission to stay out overnight, in this already‑late hour they had no chance to muster their full strength.

The girls were together; although they didn't need to look after any drunks, the time was already quite late.

Their love of beauty prevented them from staying up too late, whereas the boys embraced a carefree, no‑holds‑barred attitude.

If needed, they could stay up until morning—but obviously there was no need to do so.

After all, having lost the female side's top commander, Nan Mengya—this elite fighting force—the gossip‑mongers' offensive could only be described as feeble.

Attempting to launch a frontal assault on Aomo would only result in being repulsed and routed.

After all, this allied force has two major flaws.

One is Neihai, who is still in a clandestine romance with his classmate; the other is Xiang Yuta, who believes he has hidden his feelings very well.

He laughed, still thinking he hid it well—actually, aside from the newcomer Jia Qiguang, everyone knows he likes Liu Hua.

By contrast, everyone had originally suspected that Aomo and Qian were involved in something unclear, but after actually meeting Qian they discovered the truth: Xin Tiao Qian made no effort to conceal her advance, while Aomo was constantly on the defensive—defending smoothly and naturally, without provoking anyone.

For Neihai, who once secretly loved Xin Tiao Qian, and for Yuta, who had heard Neihai describe her, this phenomenon was largely hard to understand.

Meanwhile, Peng Ya and her spouse, who had heard Aomo talk about his hometown scenery and customs, only then truly believed his words, realizing to some extent that this was a rather troublesome situation.

Where exactly does the trouble lie?

The trouble lies in Aomo choosing work over love, and having once directly admitted he wasn't prepared.

And in everyone's eyes over the past six months, Aomo Lindun is precisely someone who always seems prepared, as if victory is always in his grasp.

From his words and deeds it's easy to see his composure, which rests on caution—caution being his outlook on life.

Getting such a person to accept a confession isn't necessarily hard, as long as you can prove you won't interfere with his work and habits—right now, Nan Mengya is together with Qian Lai, Liu Hua, and even an interested princess, each poking half a head out from under their blankets, conducting an analytical lesson.

Beside them, Xin Tiao Qian slept soundly, oblivious to it all.

And there was the creature uttering the only dream‑talk designated for Uma Musume.

The analytical lesson could perhaps continue, but the lesson on feelings would grind to a halt, for once the analysis reached this point everyone would realize there was an insoluble obstacle.

For someone like him to produce proof that would convince him is inherently difficult, because such people are actually quite suspicious.

But even harder is getting such a person to let go of his emotional restraint and truly like someone—wait, is this some kind of shojo manga trial?!

Among a group of women ranging in age, some over five thousand years old, the only one who has clarified a relationship and is walking the path of love as a senior, Nan Mengya boasts high attack power (and we won't mention whether her defense is paper‑thin).

But after trying to analyze Aomo Lindun with my own understanding, I was astonished to discover that Xin Tiao Qian is walking a rather rocky road.

That guy simply isn't within the normal psychological range of a college student.

Compared to that guy's personality, Peng Dao is completely harmless, like an ordinary high‑school boy.

Can Aomo Lindun really be breached?

Yes, it must be a breach.

Because he isn't someone who just parrots others—in fact, one could say his temperament is extremely steadfast; after hearing his talk about the very nature of monster‑card paraphernalia, no one would doubt the strength of his spirit.

But that very strength also becomes an obstacle to continuing this discussion.

His personality and way of life are blocking the progress of the love‑talk, like the ice‑like character designed in a shojo manga; Nan Mengya also realizes this analogy isn't quite accurate, because some of his behavior isn't cold—it's merely as immovable as a towering mountain.

And if one could change his current emotional state, it shouldn't be mere liking; it ought to fall under the realm of "love," right?

But to link Aomo Lindun with such fervent, deep‑seated feeling called "love"……

Nan Mengya can't imagine it.

She feels that putting "Aomo Lindun" together with "love" makes it impossible to endure the doubt and shock that seem to arise naturally in the throat.

Perhaps it's because she still doesn't know that man well enough, so she thinks that way……

She hopes the fact is indeed so; otherwise……

She turned her head to look not far away, where Xin Tiao Qian, wrapped up like a caterpillar, lay in a peaceful sleep as if having a pleasant dream.

She truly worries about how rocky the path she's embarked on is, and wonders whether she has any awareness of it.

——

"So Yuta, when do you plan to confess?"

"Eh?!"

Compared to the girls' stalled topic, the boys' surrounding attack collapsed early, only to be co‑opted by evil spirits who turned on their former comrades.

Athlete Xiang Yuta thus faced the Evil King's blade‑like interrogation, and the whole lot fell into a dazed stupor.

"Why……"

"You don't think anyone could fail to notice, do you? Even Sai Luo and Shima can spot it at a glance!"

"How dare you say I'm slow‑witted!" The fearless‑to‑earth‑alcohol mimicking superman, Iga Li = Sai Luo San, is also an energy creature that doesn't care about staying up.

As long as the solar‑metal plate on his chest works normally, he doesn't need sleep at all.

By contrast, Shima/Rex—who at first fumbled about trying to help tidy up, then promptly passed out the moment he touched the blanket (from FORTISCOMBINATIONDYNAREX/Combined Strong Dragon Dyna Rex, with the suffix REX serving as the designation for a new‑century middle‑schooler)—is now in a state where he can't be woken up.

"Exactly, I think Li Sang is even more likely to have missed it!"

Without a doubt, it was the classmate of Sai Luo's supporter, Neihai, who immediately attacked the other single senior in the team.

"Uh, even I can tell, right?"

Not getting angry is a habit of being looked down upon, and retorting immediately is also because he absolutely does not want to be looked down upon in this regard; Shanzhong Li, caught up in a subtle competitive spirit, truly also has a boy's heart.

And his behavior displaying a boy's heart and an adult's insight also deeply hurt the delicate heart of the young Yuta.

"Ugh..."

Just as if he had discovered how humiliating Shanzhong Li's reaction was, Yuta widened his eyes, as if struck by a bolt from the blue, yet in the next second he couldn't help but cover his eyes and want to cry.

"No, I just could tell as well; why do this, am I supposed not to see it?" Having said that, the mushroom‑headed senior who had intended to comfort the boy instead fell into despondency himself.

"Why are they like this?" Chen, standing beside Apeng (Monster), asked him.

He accepted Aomo's advice, tried to enter their social circle, and even was willing to participate in a KTV team‑building event, yet he felt his own problems were more numerous than before.

So he had no shame in asking, and directly turned to his companion beside him.

"What do you want to ask…? You might as well ask him."

Also being single, the monster user Machongpeng, who had no impression of either classmate Jinshi or Miss Nanmengya, directly threw the pot at the driver of the Electric Light Machine King, Machongpeng.

"Huh?"

It is clear that even having a girlfriend cannot help with the explanation of shame culture.