Love, Gun, Cupid

Chapter 10 Rafaam (Bonus Chapter)

Wei Ying let out an "oh," and Lin Jiade, unable to discern her thoughts, lay down on the bed. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he felt his trouser leg being tugged. He opened his eyes, and dazzling blond hair came into view.

He slowly sat up: "What is it?"

The warbler pointed out the window, and Lin Jiade went over and found the cuckoo chatting and laughing with the kapok tree—it was just the cuckoo chatting and laughing.

“Your sister and your girlfriend don’t get along,” Wei Ying said confidently. “When she laughs like that, it’s never a good thing.”

"I hope nothing goes wrong."

"It's nothing serious. Once the two of them start fighting, it'll be over in an instant. Your girlfriend is interesting but not strong enough. She's more like a weapon than a person, a confused and not-sharp weapon. She's waiting for a swordsman."

With the air of a professional, Wei Ying looked Lin Jiade up and down, and Lin Jiade couldn't help but say, "If it's a bad review, then there's no need to say it."

"Oh." Wei Ying nodded, then closed her lips and said nothing more.

Lin Jiade smiled. Wei Ying's harsh attitude towards him stemmed from jealousy; she was jealous of Du Juan's attention to him. As a mature adult, he certainly wouldn't argue with a child whose mental age was only 14 or 15.

So when Dujuan came back, Lin Jiade massaged her shoulders and legs. Seeing Weiying's displeased and helpless expression, he felt as happy as if he had a can of ice-cold sugar-free cola on a hot day.

"What did you talk about with Kapok?" Lin Jiade asked.

“When I came back from my business, I found Kapok and told her what you were thinking. Lin Jiade, if you don’t speak up, there are some things she will never know. It’s hard to get gratitude from others for your silent dedication.”

“You and the reed warbler both refer to the kapok tree as ‘she’,” Lin Jiade said.

"If your senior, Kapok, wanted to, she could transform into the kind of woman you imagine at any time, quite a lot. But she has her own ideas, so she is not... To achieve great things, one must make choices, and Kapok's choices are the happiness of being a woman."

"So, what was her answer?"

Du Juan replied, "'I understand,' that's what she said, her emotions unwavering, as cold as a sword."

“She was a sword all along,” Lin Jiade said.

At 20 PM, the golden hour in the human world, Lin Jiade confirmed that he was neither hungry nor thirsty, nor did he want to go to the toilet. Following Du Juan's instructions, he lay down on the bed, and she helped him put on a device that looked like an eye therapy device.

Unable to bear the ambiguous atmosphere, Wei Ying snatched the device from her sister's hand and expressionlessly put it on Lin Jiade. Then she lay down in the middle, separating her sister and Lin Jiade.

Her arm and shoulder were a fist's distance from Lin Jiade's. Lin Jiade's heat washed over her, leaving a slightly itchy feeling on her skin, which made her lean closer to Du Juan, and finally calm down.

At 20:10 PM, Lin Jiade felt his body sway slightly. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a golden private room. Golden silk slipped through his arms, and he couldn't help but touch it, finding the texture incredibly smooth, but...

He looked towards the source of the golden silk, where Wei Ying was staring at him with a cold gaze. He awkwardly withdrew his hand. Wei Ying tugged at her hair, the touch of strands slipping through his arm like a lover's caress... This wasn't just wishful thinking; Jasmine had felt something similar when she pulled away from his embrace.

"Where am I?" He looked around. "And how did we get here?"

While combing her hair, Wei Ying answered, "Civilian equipment from the Celestial Realm allows the wearer to be immersed in an alternate dimension called virtual space, select a stage to watch the live broadcast, and interact with the contestants in real time when permitted by the organizers."

After all, this is a competition to select the best in your empire, not a contest to kill the best. Therefore, all participants must wear the same device and fight in virtual space. Even if a contestant dies here, their consciousness will only return to reality, and they will feel unwell for a few days.

Lin Jiade's heart sank halfway down. The worst outcome was that Kapok would be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and then go home to lie in bed for a few days, instead of the bloody B-movie scene he had imagined.

"Hmph, do you think this is humanitarianism?" Wei Ying rewound the ends of her hair. "A soldier's honor is equal to his life. In the public eye, a victor can leave with his head held high, while a loser will lose his honor and leave a deep scar in the soldier's heart."

Your human tendency to admire the strong is fully displayed in these kinds of competitions, and the extreme of this admiration is that the winner takes all. Therefore, this is a battle where defeat is not an option, and the loser suffers more than if they lose their life.

You'll soon find out that everything I've said is true.

“I don’t think you’d stoop to lying to me about this kind of thing,” Lin Jiade said quietly. “Nevertheless, it’s great that the contestants survived. Living is what keeps life going. When you die… nothing is left.”

Wei Ying had heard some of Lin Jiade's experiences in the Mirror Realm from her sister, and she agreed with her sister's opinion. Lin Jiade was not suited for life-or-death battles, although he could squeeze out his physical abilities to fight to the death when he got really fierce.

She thought of Du Juan, and Du Juan returned, bringing three drinks: sugar-free cola, milk tea, and champagne. The champagne belonged to Du Juan. Lin Jiade looked at the milk tea in Wei Ying's hand, and Wei Ying looked at the sugar-free cola in Lin Jiade's hand, confirming once again that they were incompatible.

"The Kapok match is scheduled as the first one," Du Juan said. "Cheer up, this means it's a match with a huge disparity in strength, used to warm up the later matches. Given Kapok's strength and the opponent's information, it's unlikely that they will be the loser."

Who is the kapok tree's opponent?

Du Juan took out a document and read aloud: "Rafaam, intermediate magic researcher, 24 years old, 156cm tall, appearance score 94 (out of 100), sexual orientation male, a cheerful and talkative person..."

"Stop, stop, stop," Lin Jiade hurriedly interrupted Du Juan, "I'm not interested in this gossip, just tell me how strong Rafaam is?"

"It's no fun if you spoil it beforehand."

At this point, the host began the program, introducing the basic information of both sides and randomly setting the venue for the competition as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Immediately afterwards, a cloud of yellow sand swept over Lin Jiade's eyes. As the sandstorm subsided, the sun cast a majestic light on the pyramids and the Sphinx.

Kapok and Rafaam appeared at the same time. The bodysuit-clad monster wrapped himself in powerful confusion magic as always, while Rafaam wore a gothic lolita outfit that was obviously not suitable for fighting, holding a staff-like weapon, and looked at her opponent with trepidation.

England 1-0 Croatia, so here's an extra chapter.

On June 16th, in the European Championship group stage match between France and Germany, cast your vote for either a France win, a draw, or a Germany win. The vote with the most votes will represent the book lovers' choice.

Chapter Eleven Play-off Round 1

As we all know, in the live broadcast of competitive matches, the director will not miss any opportunity to stir things up. Therefore, the director specially gave a series of close-up shots, contrasting Kapok's perseverance, silence and shrewdness with Rafaam's weakness, rambling and uselessness.

“There wasn’t even any betting on this match,” Du Juan said, scrolling through her phone. “It seems even the bookmakers think this match is a foregone conclusion, and opening betting would be tantamount to doing charity.”

"Isn't their main profit from the commission they collect?" Lin Jiade asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Obviously, this is different from gambling in the everyday world because there are supernatural powers here. Therefore, gambling here has also introduced a more complex system of rules. Do you want to hear it? I can probably explain it to you in about ten thousand words."

Upon hearing that it would be 10,000 words, Lin Jiade's head started spinning. If Du Juan were to use 10,000 words to explain the technical and tactical aspects of the football field to him, he would be very interested. As for gambling... he wasn't a gambler, and on the contrary, because of his own stance, he really disliked gamblers.

His attention returned to the live broadcast, following the director's camera as the two contestants, who were warming up (the host was reading out the names of sponsors and partners), quickly drew their weapons the moment the host's voice faded and the whistle blew.

Kapok started with her usual submachine gun, but this time, her magazine glowed with magical light. Rafaam was not to be outdone; she tapped her staff on the ground, her sleeves billowing to form a wall, and then the Lolita-style girl advanced through Kapok's barrage.

"The Kapok magazine is equipped with two spells: Reserve Ammunition and Power Shot. The former increases the amount of ammunition stored, while the latter increases the damage to the enemy. Originally, these two spells were used in artillery, but after several improvements in modern times, they have finally been used in small guns," Du Juan said.

"And what about Rafaam?"

"There's nothing much to see... Oh, but her appearance is incredibly appealing to loli lovers," Wei Ying interjected.

Just as Du Juan gave her a 94 rating for looks, Rafaan was indeed very beautiful, like a girl who stepped out of a virtual work. Lin Jiade was immediately captivated by her appearance, his gaze lingering on her hair, her belt, and her calves wrapped in white stockings under her skirt.

Ultimately, he was more concerned about Mumian, so he quickly looked at her. When he saw Rafaam approaching with his shield, Mumian detonated all the bullets she had fired, and smoke enveloped her body.

"Damn it, the 'no harm in smoke' rule has been broken," Lin Jiade muttered.

Kapok ran to her opponent's location in the smoke, slashed through the smoke with her sword, and slid across the wall formed by Rafaam's arms, feeling as if she had been bounced off some kind of smooth, gelatinous object.

Kapok retracted her arm, raised it, and pulled the trigger while slashing vertically. The bullet's energy was channeled into the blade, giving it a red glow. Together with the recoil, the blade propelled Rafaam's arm, slicing a deep wound.

"Hmph, you deliberately separated your arms at the last second," said Wei Ying.

The Celestial Observer was right. The instant Kapok exerted her power, Rafaam deliberately separated her fused arms, causing Kapok's attack to miss. But all of this was still within Kapok's control; she pulled the trigger again, and silver threads flew from the tip of the sword.

Lin Jiade remembered this spell; it could put the target to sleep. Rafaam's act of actively disarming herself allowed her to dodge the first wave of Kapok's ferocious attacks, but it also meant she couldn't handle Kapok's seamless second wave.

Won!

He stood up excitedly, ready to celebrate the victory of the kapok tree, but Du Juan said, "I understand your feelings, but it's still early."

"Ok?"

Lin Jiade looked again and, thanks to the advanced filming equipment, he saw a hair detach from Rafaam's head, taking the blow of the spell for the main body. However, this did not change the fact that Rafaam's middle defenses were wide open, so Mumian raised her sword and stabbed towards Rafaam's heart.

Rafaam tried to bring her arms back together to form a wall, but she was too slow. The tip of the sword, Mumu, had already pierced her chest. But just like when it first slashed at her arm, Mumu pierced Rafaam's chest, but the tip of the sword was deflected to one side.

To avoid being caught by Rafaam, Kapok released her weapon and kicked the sword at her own head. At that moment, Rafaam switched from defense to offense. Her walls contracted into her arms again, and the staff that had been carried under her ribs slid to her left hand and stabbed Kapok in the ribs.

Kapok reached out and grabbed the sword hilt, then slashed down to block the incoming staff. The smooth, gelatinous texture of the staff made her realize something, but it was too late.

Rafaam's staff merged with her arm, the tip of the staff turning into a hand that grabbed Kapok's waist and tossed her into the sky before she could react.

Seeing this, Lin Jiade asked in surprise, "What is this thing?"

“Shapeshifters are a type of alien life form that can change their bodies at will without altering their size. It’s worth noting that they have fixed genders; male shapeshifters can only transform into men, and female shapeshifters can only transform into women,” Du Juan replied.

"Could that shapeshifter transform into an immigrant woman who identifies as male, is gay, and is also a religious minority, vegetarian, environmentalist, animal rights activist, and staunch feminist?"

Du Juan patted Lin Jiade: "Shapeshifters don't stack buffs, they only transform into men and women. They are the native inhabitants of the current Colony 4 planet, and were later relocated to the Empire's mainland. Most of the qualified ones became Empire spies."

"So, whether it's her appearance and clothing that appeal to all lolicon, the weapon in her hand, the arm that transforms into a wall, or the hair that she can detach on her own, they are all just part of her body's transformation?" Lin Jiade asked.

"Yes, the shapeshifter's ability to deceive is so high that ordinary detection spells cannot distinguish it. In optical, infrared, and energy vision, Kapok only sees humans, which is why she let her guard down and was captured by it."

Reed Warbler added, "The shapeshifter has high physical resistance—thanks to its body surface being able to deflect physical attacks, so Rafaam didn't even bother to defend against Cotton's several normal attacks."

"Rafaam was cautious about the magical attack from the cotton tree, which means that the magical attack could hurt Rafaam's main body?"

"Well, I think your girlfriend figured that out when she was thrown into the air."

Kapok is not my girlfriend... Lin Jiade didn't know why Wei Ying had such a misunderstanding, but he had to admit that the word "girlfriend" made him have expectations.

Chapter Twelve: The Unsung Heroes

Kapok used magic to slow her descent to the ground, giving her more time to adjust in the air. Rafaam, meanwhile, moved closer to the pyramid, worried that Kapok might use her aerial advantage to launch spells.

“Rafaam shouldn’t have the ability to transform her body into sharp objects,” Du Juan said. “So far, her shapeshifting wall, staff, and palms are not sharp objects.”

"Perhaps it's a deception tactic?"

Wei Ying shook her head: "The probability is not high. When Mu Mian caught her staff with her sword just now, if she had turned it into a sharp weapon, there was a possibility of winning the battle in one blow, but she didn't use it."

In other words, if she wasn't overly cautious, then she genuinely lacked the ability to turn her body into a sharp weapon.

At this moment, Kapok landed and fired her submachine gun at Rafaam. Rafaam used the terrain to dodge and used her body to roll up nearby rocks to block the shots. She also threw rocks while Kapok was changing magazines.

The stones were split in two by the cotton tree in mid-air, but this bought Rafaam time to escape to a more distant place, while the cotton tree continued to pursue her, repeating the previous battle.

Kapok was wary of Rafaam's transformation ability; more accurately, it was wary of the undiscovered extended applications of Rafaam's transformation ability. Therefore, it dared not pursue it too deeply and only used firearms to test and deplete its resources.

Rafaam was also wary of Mumian. She judged that Mumian's physical attributes were far superior to hers. The reason why the battle did not end within five minutes was that Mumian's body happened to have physical resistance, while Mumian mainly dealt physical damage, so she had a slight advantage in the matchup.

However, the kapok tree also has the ability to enchant the blade. Based on this premise, Rafaam figured that his fate in close combat would probably be no better than a dried ham encountering a Zwilling cleaver. What's the point of fighting then? Just thinking about it made him laugh.

Kapok gradually closed the distance—until Rafaam's attack, which had thrown her into the sky, established the attack range. She lingered within that range for a while, while Rafaam concealed his transformation abilities and remained unresponsive.

"Whether it's luring the enemy in deep or being powerless to stop them depends on how Kapok assesses its opponent. We saw Rafaam's panic and weakness from God's perspective, but Kapok may not have been able to observe it in such detail," said Azalea.

"The kapok tree has moved; the outcome will be decided in the next instant," said the reed warbler.

After several attempts, Mu Mian bent her legs, exerted her strength, and pushed herself forward, skimming along the ground to Rafaam. Her sword, enveloped in crimson energy, went straight for Rafaam's neck.

Rafaam deliberately severed her own neck, her head leaping over the horizontal slash of the sword. Kapok, with her free hand clenched into a fist, delivered a powerful punch to Rafaam's head, sending her crashing into a nearby rock.

"go to hell!"

Rafaam's headless body was fixed to the joints of the cotton tree. The shapeshifter's physical characteristics made it difficult for the cotton tree to break free in its haste. The remaining part of Rafaam was launched into the air, shattering the weak point of the protruding rock above its head. The rocks above fell and gathered above the cotton tree's head, accompanied by dark clouds.

The boulder fell, stirring up yellow sand, and through the gaps in the dust, golden light seeped out, revealing the kapok tree unharmed in everyone's sight.

"Overtime magic..." Lin Jiade's eyes widened. "Did Kapok learn this from the dead overtime workers?"

No one answered him. Relying on the brief invincibility period of the Overtime Magic, Kapok broke through Rafaam's restraints and finished off her opponent. As her opponent's projection disappeared into the virtual space, Kapok's Overtime Magic automatically dissipated, and she barely managed to maintain her standing posture by leaning on her sword.