Love, Gun, Cupid

"Based on my understanding of the Empire's laws, you and she can't get a marriage certificate, right? You Homo sapiens value this very much, so in the end you'll have to find someone you can marry who can get a marriage certificate."

Lin Jiade looked up at the ceiling: "So after I graduate, I will marry Jianlan. In name, she is Korobochka, but in reality, it will be the three of us living together: me, her, and Jasmine. We have achieved a balance."

Knowing Lin Jiade's method of achieving balance, Wei Ying kicked the cushion shyly and whispered, "Vulgar!"

Lin Jiade misunderstood her meaning: "Ah, to describe your promiscuous future in such a serious manner is not right. But, isn't it even more painful to like someone, but give up for various reasons and forget each other in the vast world?"

Rather than that, I'd rather lock all the people I love into my life, even if it's a curse on our relationships, even if in such an environment my beloved girls and I hurt each other, I wouldn't want them to escape my life... Never mind, what nonsense am I spouting?

“Your love life is an area I care about, so I won’t interfere. But the root of your pain is your lack of power. If you had power, even if the girl you like is unhappy, you could use your power to make her submit,” Wei Ying said.

"I'm talking about feelings, not unlimited fighting!"

"In my view, it's all the same. The premise of equality and harmony is that you have the power to recognize the order you create, rather than becoming a part of someone else's order. For example, if your girlfriend wants to sleep in a separate room from you, you have to listen to her, not do it your own way."

Lin Jiade argued, "I'm not a rapist. If my girlfriend doesn't want to, of course I have to respect her opinion."

"If she gets interested but you don't want to, will she respect your opinion?"

This question hit home. Lin Jiade remained silent, while Wei Ying said, "Don't misunderstand me. I'm not here to mock you, but to illustrate the importance of power."

“Now… I believe you and Du Juan are sisters; your intense desire for control is exactly the same,” Lin Jiade said.

"Ok?"

"Speaking of which, why did you make do on the sofa instead of going to find Du Juan?"

"My sister has been very busy lately, so I don't want to bother her."

"You didn't even know? Ha~" Lin Jiade yawned. "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, Reed Warbler."

"Good night."

In the darkness, Wei Ying bit her lip and quit the game. The frustration she felt from Lin Jiade was an extremely new experience in her life, new but unpleasant. Thinking of Lin Jiade's perfunctory and resistant attitude towards her teaching, and his crooked thoughts about her sister, she raised her foot, wishing she could kick him off the sofa.

But she didn't do that in the end. Instead, she slowly lowered her foot and gently kicked the cushion.

Lin Jiade was completely unaware. He slept until early morning. Wei Ying forced him to set off. He ran with his sword, sweating profusely, while she leisurely ate a discounted hamburger she bought from a fast food restaurant, making Lin Jiade drool with envy.

"Want a bite?"

Wei Ying handed Lin Jiade a half-eaten hamburger, but Lin Jiade shook his head. His stomach wasn't strong enough to digest food properly during strenuous exercise without damage.

Just then, they saw a Lexus LM drive past them, and the flag it was carrying made Reed Warbler make a "hmm" sound.

"What's wrong?" Lin Jiade asked.

"It's a commercial vehicle from FN Corporation. FN Corporation is one of the seven arms companies in the Empire that have been approved by the Celestial Realm to import some low-end technologies. Sometimes, when the Celestial Realm sells military equipment to foreign countries, in order to control prices, it will also have these arms companies' factories produce the goods. However, they only produce them, because the factory facilities and related technologies are all kept absolutely secret."

Chapter Thirty-Four: Collateral Damage

"It's strange, what would an arms giant be doing in a third-tier city like this?" Lin Jiade asked.

Wei Ying pointed at Lin Jiade's sword: "They must have something in mind, and... your energy is almost drained."

Lin Jiade shuddered, realizing he'd been distracted for a moment. He discovered his energy reserves were nearing depletion. He sat down on a roadside bench, switching to absorbing energy from his weapon, and grumbled, "Why did you have to talk to me?"

Reed Warbler sat beside her, continuing to munch on her hamburger: "I overestimated you, thinking you had enough focus. After that, I'll talk to you, touch your body, create obstacles for you, and even launch a surprise attack with my sword."

Using your favorite football analogy, your current training is just a kind of skill displayed in a non-confrontational, individual way, which looks beautiful and stylish, like Neymar on the field.

But in real matches, your opponent won't give you enough space and time. The intense physical contact and pressure will cause your beautiful moves to fall apart after only a third of their potential. Thus, the Neymar who demonstrates skill on the field becomes, under the pressure of the opponent, the "outside Neymar" in the actual game.

Lin Jiade's eyes lit up: "You like football?!"

The warbler waved its hand: "No, it's just so you can understand."

Lin Jiade's tone was full of disappointment: "Oh."

Wei Ying swung her leg and nudged his knee with her own, saying, "Listen to the important point!"

Lin Jiade certainly understood the key point. Wei Ying's attitude towards him was bad, but he had seen her earnestness when teaching him. If he were to describe his opinion of Wei Ying, it would be that if Wei Ying fell into the water and he was on the shore, he would first throw a stone at her mockingly, and then rescue her.

The energy fed back from the celestial weapon made Lin Jiade feel refreshed. As the cold winter swept by, withered yellow leaves fell onto the reed warbler's scarf. He pointed to them, and the reed warbler said, "I have my hands full, help me sweep them."

Lin Jiade pinched a fallen leaf, a few playful strands of golden hair slipping between his fingers. As he brushed the hair aside, his fingers slipped through the gap in the scarf and touched the junction of Wei Ying's chin and neck. Wei Ying turned her head, glanced at him in surprise, and then lowered her head to continue eating her hamburger.

"I'm sorry," Lin Jiade said.

"Oh."

"Tie your scarf tighter, otherwise it will let in the wind."

"It's just a decoration. My experience at minus 160 degrees Celsius is probably similar to how you Homo sapiens feel at zero degrees Celsius. The same goes for high temperatures."

Lin Jiade envied the physical constitution of the Celestial Observers, but that was a talent they were born with, one that he could not learn. So he stood up and turned the Celestial weapons into a way to input energy, in order to grasp what he could learn.

The reed warbler licked its fingers, its tongue scooping up any salad dressing that had accidentally gotten on them. Celestial observers don't need to eat, but the reed warbler has a great appetite and is the culprit behind the soaring Engel coefficient in the Lin Jiade family.

“I’m wondering if my older sister is deliberately avoiding us so that we can get along better with her. My younger sister’s bad relationship with her contractors must be a headache for her too,” Wei Ying said.

"..."

Lin Jiade was focused on resisting the suction from the sword hilt and had no time to pay attention to him. Wei Ying used various methods to distract him, so much so that when he went to class in the afternoon, his good brothers could see that he was walking unsteadily.

"It's ironic when you think about it," his good friend sighed. "Lin Huang went missing at such a young age, and Teacher Yang is twenty-eight. I heard he went on two blind dates and neither of them worked out."

“Oh,” Lin Jiade turned his head with some interest, “How did you know?”

“Someone saw her having dinner with her blind date at a restaurant.”

Lin Jiade laughed: "That's really pitiful. But female PhDs, those who know, know. The men she likes don't like her, and the men who like her don't like her. She's destined to be a golden leftover woman."

When I turned thirty, I felt a lot of pressure from my family. All my friends on social media were getting married, and I started to panic and go on blind dates. I ended up marrying a man who was just okay, without many requirements, but I still felt unsatisfied.

"A more civilized approach is to cultivate refined hobbies to distract yourself from your troubles; a more vulgar approach is to have an affair with a guy you like; and a more idiotic approach is to go on social media and engage in all sorts of mindless banter."

Lin Jiade made a boxing gesture, but no one laughed. Everyone looked at him with mournful eyes, and some were already preparing to eat. Lin Jiade turned around and saw Teacher Yang standing there, her eyes calm but ominous.

You're not a cat, how come you walk without making a sound!

Lin Jiade felt that he had been overtrained by the reed warbler and hadn't even noticed that an ordinary person had walked up behind him. Fortunately, Teacher Yang's emotions were relatively stable, otherwise he would have cosplayed the world-famous painting "The Death of Lin Huang".

The female PhD student turned around, and Lin Jiade followed behind her. In the corridor, he saw FN Company's business car drive into the campus. Could it be that what they were after was... Senior Kapok?

Because he was thinking about this, he didn't pay much attention to Ms. Yang's verbal outburst, and he dismissed her statements that "the relationships you have on campus won't work out" and "you must find a knowledgeable, older, and not too tall partner."

Just kidding. She can teach him in other areas, but when it comes to feelings, he can be Lin Huang's teacher instead.

Lin Jiade did a whole class of hard work for her and sincerely apologized before Ms. Yang finally forgave him. After leaving the house, he jumped straight out of the second-floor window and ran towards the direction where the club was located.

He saw from afar that Mu Mian was talking to a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, so he slowed his pace. They chatted for a while, shook hands, and said goodbye. Only then did Lin Jiade approach Mu Mian.

"Senior, were those people from FN Company just now?" he asked.

"He is FN Company's representative in the Eastern Province. He brought a letter of intent for sponsorship, as well as... a message."

"Ok?"

Kapok said in a trembling voice, "He is my brother."

"Um, you're not from the family... Ah!"

Lin Jiade recalled that before Mu Mian was born, the failed creations his parents made were simply given away, not disposed of. It seemed that Mu Mian's parents hadn't wasted their resources; these abandoned illegitimate children had now been found and were serving the family again.

“It’s good that your family has reunited, after all, they are your relatives… So, what message did your brother bring?” Lin Jiade asked.

“My parents… they’ve noticed you. They think you’re the reason I refuse to return to Brilliant City, so they’re trying to get rid of you.”

Mu Mian nervously grabbed Lin Jiade's arm: "These vicious people will stop at nothing. You must be careful during this time. I don't want anything to happen to you!"

The book lovers chose France to win.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Desensitization Therapy

Lin Jiade didn't have any particular feelings. After all, he had fought Korobochka for more than ten minutes. Although he was in a sorry state, he had managed to survive and reap the rewards, which was enough for him to brag about for the rest of his life.

Kapok's parents are both top-tier magic researchers, and they will remain in that position for their entire lives because they rose to their positions through scheming and maneuvering. They are more adept at forming cliques than conducting research, and they rarely actually go out into the field.

A seasoned fighter like Korobochka, with over ten years of combat experience, is probably only about 90% as good as Kapok's parents combined, and Kapok's brothers and sisters, who have failed in their careers, could not possibly be more powerful than her.

Lin Jiade himself is a weakling, but unfortunately, the powerful figures he's clinging to are all very strong, and the strongest among them is probably Wei Ying... Although he doesn't want to admit it, in terms of combat ability alone, Wei Ying's simple and honest approach of treating everyone equally under her longsword is more reassuring than Du Juan's flashy moves that seem like something out of a BDSM game.

To show that he valued Kapok's opinion, Lin Jiade pretended to be very serious, but what he was really thinking about was how much budget to allocate to bribe Wei Ying so that she would pay more attention to protecting her sister's contractor, since Jian Lan had official duties to attend to and could not protect him in real time.

"I'm sorry... I've dragged you into this again," said Kapok.

"You've helped me far more times than you've troubled me," Lin Jiade waved his hand. "When did we book the tickets?"

"On Friday night, we took the high-speed train for four hours to reach Linhai City. Before that, Hehuan had already led a group of people to Linhai City to pave the way for us," Mumian replied.

Lin Jiade said in a relaxed tone, "Linhai City is a neutral location. In terms of influence, we might have an advantage since we are in the same region."

"Just in case, the lord of District 18 in Linhai City may not be friendly to us. He might support our rivals, suppress those of us who might be promoted, and weaken our power... There is such a possibility."

The young man scratched his head: "All that's left is Karksa herself. Damn it, she's really good at keeping secrets. Three days have passed and we haven't gotten a single piece of information out of her."

"To forge iron, one must be strong oneself," said Kapok, drawing her sword. "Practice with me for a while."

Lin Jiade was naturally happy to oblige. He still needed to digest the potion, and today's practice was no different from their previous encounter. His attempt to use the rapid diffusion of energy to charm Mu Mian also failed, as Mu Mian did not react at all in front of him.

He was unaware of the trouble he had caused Mian, and instead guessed that Hehuan's special constitution was what had led her to be seduced by him. So, he stopped Mian, who was rushing to the shower room, and said, "There's one more thing."

Kapok's voice held a hint of anxiety: "Please speak."

"You know, I borrowed this celestial weapon from someone else. Maybe I can persuade her to let me lend it to you again. Using a celestial weapon to fight people will definitely increase your chances of winning."

“I… don’t care,” Kapok said.

“This is no trivial matter. If you are interested, you should start training with the sword beforehand, as it is heavier than the sword in your hand. You also need to think about what reward you can offer to Miss Weiying.”

Lin Jiade meant well, but unfortunately, he acted at the wrong time. Every second, Mu Mian felt the fire in her body burning brighter. Lin Jiade was distorted in her eyes, just as ethics and morality were distorted in her eyes.

When he anxiously held her arm, Mu Mian felt a buzzing in her head. She looked up, grabbed Lin Jiade, and dragged him into the shower.

"Wait, senior, what are you doing?!"

Lin Jiade's fierce resistance left two drag marks on the ground. He was roughly thrown into the shower room. Mu Mian touched his cheek and reached out to unbutton his clothes, but suddenly froze. A tear passed through the confusion magic and fell onto Lin Jiade's chest.

Kapok sprinted out, slammed her fist against the wall, and said, "Hurry up and go..."

Thus, Lin Jiade realized that it wasn't that his battle tactics had failed against the kapok tree... but rather that they had been a great success. The effect on the kapok tree was so strong that he suspected he had taken an aphrodisiac.

Soon, the patterns on his belly also became burning hot. Before losing his mind, Lin Jiade called out to Dujuan in his heart. His thoughts were a door, and Dujuan passed through the door and descended to his side.

"Ah, I smell thirst," she said cheerfully.

"No, no, no, Miss Dujuan, help! I can't hold on much longer!" Lin Jiade said anxiously.