Chapter 210: Liyah

"The snake is finally gone."

The snake, long past its time, flickered repeatedly before vanishing reluctantly.

"I'll come back!!"

The snake's final shadow appeared in the sky over a corner of the city, shrinking steadily.

Even many citizens heard it, their faces filled with panic, unaware of what had happened. Li En didn't know either—was this just a joke, or was it serious?

Perhaps this utterly unpredictable state was exactly what he wanted.

"Does this guy actually hope people remember him now and then? Is he really that lonely?"

"Ah! Don't bite, don't bite! Don't touch me, man!"

Shaking off the snake shadow that had reappeared out of nowhere, Li En finally felt a tinge of parting.

But the bleeding bite mark seemed to reveal that Li En had vaguely guessed the truth.

"Do you need treatment?" A soft metallic synthesized voice sounded beside Li En.

"Never mind. Let the wound stay for a while."

Looking toward where the snake had vanished, Li En felt lost.

It wasn't that Li En was truly attached to the thing. He was the first spirit soul he'd wanted to send back on day one—but he couldn't understand the snake's choice.

He could have returned.

And he didn't seem indifferent to the world.

"But he didn't return."

The snake didn't hide his displeasure—his long slumber was caused by the Thousand-Faced Dragon's endless reincarnations, which forbade the "past Thousand-Faced Dragon" from existing.

What puzzled Li En was precisely this.

"No matter what the Thousand-Faced Dragon plans, can this reincarnation of mine—starting from zero and evolving—really generate value comparable to a snake?"

Clearly, the answer was no.

Li En understood that the "possibility" brought by the Thousand-Faced Dragon's reincarnations might be more important—but could that "possibility" really make these top-tier elders willingly fall into eternal slumber?

Precisely because he was Li Ensu, he found it even harder to understand. Li En never considered himself noble. He saw himself as an ordinary self-interested person: if contributing part of his income benefited the world, he'd pay—but if it affected his life, cost him his fortune, or his life, he'd refuse without hesitation.

What drove the Thousand-Faced Dragon to endlessly enter reincarnation?

"Forget it. Too distant to dwell on. At least, the reincarnated Dragon keeps creating new things."

Li En glanced at the "maid" beside him, already binding bandages on him, and felt deeply odd—especially since behind him, another dazed "mechanical girlfriend" was staring at him.

"Thank you."

"Do I need to buy snake venom antivenom?"

"No. He's probably non-toxic, and if he wanted to kill me, he wouldn't make it so complicated."

Watching "Liyah" fumble awkwardly with her unfamiliar metal arm, tying a clumsy bow, her expression complex, Li En's mood was equally complicated.

She was an offshoot of Ophelia, a product of the soul contract—but perhaps also the person who understood him best in this world.

"Also, in this world, they generally call it antivenom. They have something similar to snake venom serum, but no complete system for it."

"Understood. Logged."

Liyah opened her eyes wide, attentively absorbing the knowledge Li En described.

She had indeed received part of Li En's "knowledge," but was far from using it properly. On the contrary, she now seemed more like a newcomer to this world than Li En himself, radiating the confusion of someone just arrived.

"Is her race a puppet, a metal golem, or living armor? Whatever. It doesn't matter."

Her birth was the result of the snake's meticulous design—and also a bug product of the Masked Dragon Knight.

"Snake venom? Serum? Don't get it?" Ophelia tilted her head. Slightly more agile now, she couldn't comprehend the words of her other, smarter self.

At this moment, Liyah still had to explain all sorts of nonsense to Ophelia, who stood there blank-faced.

Liyah was Ophelia's second thought-line, and the Masked Dragon Knight's "two-time" creation.

"The snake really is a master at exploiting bugs—this absurd maneuver."

The first maneuver used Ophelia's existing bug profession—Masked Dragon Knight—to isolate Liyah as the second thought-line.

In a sense, the metal maid before him was the same kind of existence as Li En's Black Dragon Armor.

Ophelia used the Masked Dragon Knight's class ability, using her "life-casket arm" as the core, to construct this new "living armor."

At this stage, she possessed a second thought-line, yet was even more rigid than original Ophelia.

Then, Li En and the "living armor" simultaneously signed a pet contract and sorcerer contract, making the living armor Li En's master.

Then, Li En used the Masked Dragon Knight's contract to "summon" her again.

During this process, the snake had to absorb Li En's "needs" to adjust the power gained—effectively a second refinement—and infused massive "solar materials" into it. The final result was this "ultimate weapon."

"Ding." The metal backpack behind Liyah, resembling a solar clock, was one such outcome.

Her right hand bore several golden fingers; vast amounts of solar material became the raw substance for the second refinement, allowing her to complete her "second rebirth" according to the snake's blueprint.

In a sense, she was a manufactured "Solar God Warrior," and also an invincible solar blade.

"Is the name 'Liyah' acceptable?" Clearly different personalities and traits made Li En hesitate whether to give her a new name.

"Li Ya? Li Ya likes it (Chinese)." Her first spoken words left Li En stunned.

She was too much like an Earthling.

This was partly due to the pet contract's "awakening ability," which granted low-intelligence creatures like rats and bats some intelligence and knowledge—even the ability to understand human speech—but mostly because of the two-way soul contract, which caused her to unconsciously absorb vast amounts of "common sense."

Theoretically, she wasn't just part of Ophelia—she was more like a hybrid newborn: Ophelia tore off a piece, fused it with a piece of Li En's—but Ophelia lacked common sense and knowledge, so her foundation was naturally "Li En's common sense."

"I never expected my status as a transmigrant would be known by a metal lifeform—and that it would turn a native lifeform into an 'Earthling.'"

But this slightly clumsy, hardworking figure—he didn't dislike her. Well, mainly because he hadn't heard his homeland's language in so long.

"You've worked hard." And her birth couldn't have happened without another's sacrifice.

"It's fine, uh, it's fine."

Beside him, Sallyman lay on Li En's lap, her body burning hot.

To give a steel lifeform a more active soul and greater spirit, the most direct way was to "immerse" it in psychic energy.

Throughout the entire process, Sallyman was used as a living battery—she was probably completely drained now.

"I'll settle her first, then serve my master."

Meanwhile, Liyah, who was soothing Ophelia, communicated with Li En via telepathy. As expected, Sallyman's psychic battery had activated her own psychic abilities.

This meant she was nearly a complete psychic holder.

"But her original body is still Ophelia—more like a sub-entity. Uh, are we kind of a trinity now?"

Li En felt odd. He could sense his soul power continuously flowing into Liyah—she was indeed his pet (Li En's pet contract had been confirmed as occupied).

But he could also feel that the soul power poured into Liyah flowed through her into Ophelia.

Ophelia's first thought-line showed no change, yet was gradually healing her soul-loss through the shared soul channel. Meanwhile, Liyah, the second thought-line, received vast knowledge and memory fragments from Li En, gaining a clearer sense of self—and becoming, in a sense, an "Earth mechanical being."

"Ophelia must be protected."

Li En felt increasingly odd. If Ophelia died, the second thought-line Liyah would naturally perish—and Li En, losing his pet and master, would suffer severe damage.

But if Liyah died—destroy her body, replenish materials, summon again—the original core remained within Ophelia.

"This is a mess."

Li En couldn't untangle this relationship. He silently pressed his hand on Sallyman's head, helping ease her psychic exhaustion.

"Child. Hehe. Child."

Still burning out, she stared wide-eyed at Liyah, as if giggling foolishly.

"Really." Li En sighed. This girl was just too foolish.

Earlier, she had refused to serve as a psychic battery—until the snake said, "This will be your child," and she obediently overexerted herself.

To be fair, "Liyah" could be seen as Li En's weapon, or Ophelia's weapon, or a fragment split from both of them—even if you called her a child, how could she possibly be Sallyman's child?

He shook his head. Still, he thanked the girl for her sacrifice.

"The perfect Masked Dragon Knight?" Watching Liyah's metal body walk toward the mansion, recalling her designed function, Li En smiled.

After initial testing, he agreed with the snake's judgment—Liyah was a masterpiece in every aspect.

Perhaps, at this moment, she truly deserved the name "Masked Knight."

With her, Li En finally had some confidence he could survive Xio's threat.

"Crash!" A sudden shattering sound came from the mansion.

"Sorry, sorry! I just wanted to brew my master a cup of coffee. Looks like I'll need custom-made tableware and a new kitchen."

Wait—kitchen? What did you do to my kitchen?

The collapsing kitchen wall answered everything.

"Uh, guess I'll have to teach her more." Li En didn't want to be a teacher—he knew his limits.

"Child." Sallyman still giggled foolishly—psychic exhaustion seemed to temporarily impair her intellect.

"Lana seems to have learned well from Sallyman. Uh, her mansion still has many maids. Please take care of them, Sallyman."

"Raise a child? Okay." The still-dim girl immediately agreed, smiling contentedly.

(End of Chapter)