Love, Gun, Cupid

Beginner: An upgraded version that is significantly stronger than ordinary people in all aspects. Most of them possess level three or four magic/witchcraft in the system, are in the stage of almost understanding extraordinary knowledge, and use equipment that has been eliminated by the times.

Intermediate: Possesses systematic level 3 magic/witchcraft, as well as some incomplete level 2 magic/witchcraft. They have a plan for their own path, but resources are scarce. It is very difficult to gather the equipment, spells, connections, and intelligence gathering required for advancement, making them more dependent on external forces compared to other job levels.

Therefore, this group is the easiest to win over and the easiest to attach themselves to. Furthermore, since they only plan but don't implement their own path, those who invest in them still have the leeway to change and control them.

Lin Jiade thought for a moment and said, "The apprentice level has no value in raising beginners, while the advanced level and above have their own ideas and are already half-finished products. So if you want to raise them, the intermediate level is better?"

"Thank me, some of the celestial residents who came here have taken a liking to Kapok, so I told them that she is already taken."

"Thank you, thank you."

"I only look at your actions."

"Leaving aside my actions, how could I not have followed your instructions? What about your thesis?" Lin Jiade asked.

"I created a new folder."

"Uh-huh."

"I have prepared all kinds of materials that may be cited in the paper, and I have also looked up how to write similar papers."

"Good."

"I have created a new document and plan to keep the paper to around 10000 words."

"So, which part exactly has it been written up to?"

Du Juan awkwardly looked away: "I'm writing, I'm writing."

"What was the date of the first draft of the paper?"

"According to the calendar here, it will be February 8th next year."

Lin Jiade thought for a moment: "69 days... that should be enough, but I really doubt Miss Dujuan's progress. Miss Dujuan, you can't keep urging me while you're being a deadbeat."

Du Juan made an excuse and slipped away. Lin Jiade shook his head. When he learned that Du Juan was still touching him, he was relieved, because this way she could stay here a little longer.

"Hello?"

Lin Jiade looked up and saw Du Juan's brother. The FN Company's representative from the 18th region brought over two glasses of drinks. He took them, clinked glasses with the other person, and choked after taking a sip.

The glass contained bourbon barrel whiskey. For Lin Jiade, enjoying such a strong liquor was still premature. The other person reached out and said, "Kane."

"I am Lin..."

“There’s no need to give your real name. You’re a magic researcher, while I’m just a mortal,” Kane said.

"Emperor Lin," Lin Jiade changed his address.

Kane was around thirty years old, with a beard and a slicked-back hairstyle that revealed his broad forehead. He looked friendly, but Lin Jiade knew that you could never judge a person by their appearance if they were in this place.

“It’s a bit presumptuous of me to suddenly approach you, but I’ve come to give you a heads-up. You and my sister… Miss Kapok are very close, and as she goes further and further away, the attention from Brilliant City will only become more and more intense,” Kane said.

"Uh, thank you, I'll be careful. But you..."

"I serve Mr. Southgate, acting as his advocate to make the stubborn Miss Cotton understand her father's love... I don't understand your world here, Mr. Southgate said my magical talent is just a flash in the pan."

So, a question has always bothered me: Was Mr. Southgate's affection for Kapok... truly fatherly love?

“I don’t know,” Lin Jiade said. “I don’t think so, but I lack knowledge about this world, and my opinion… may not be correct.”

“I understand. From my perspective, I’ll try to persuade her. Every victory she wins only makes the couple more eager. If she wants to break free, this is her last chance.”

"You mean... withdraw from the competition?" Lin Jiade asked.

"This is just my personal opinion. Have a nice evening."

Kane left, and after returning to the stage, he was quickly assimilated by the people above him. Lin Jiade didn't want to watch anymore, so he left the team alone and went back to the hotel to sleep. Four hours later, the alarm clock rang, and Lin Jiade rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"Do you have anyone there?" he sent a message.

"without?"

"Are you going there now?"

"Okay, stay safe."

Lin Jiade got up and secretly went to find Kapok in the middle of the night, which gave him a strange sense of excitement. But the moment he opened the door and saw Hehuan standing at his door wearing thermal underwear, his heart almost stopped.

"Hehuan...senior?"

Hehuan stared blankly, then turned and walked out, muttering to herself. Lin Jiade followed her, both frightened and curious. He watched as Hehuan took out her room card, swiped it a few times, but couldn't get the card to the correct position.

The hotel had heating, but it was still cooler than indoors. Seeing that Hehuan was dressed lightly, Lin Jiade thought it best to take her back to her room as soon as possible. He carefully held her hand, swiped the room card, watched her go into the room, closed the door, and then went to find Mumian.

Chapter Forty-Three: Testing the Sword

Upon entering the Kapok room, Lin Jiade asked, "What happened here?"

“Hehuan has sleepwalking disorder and sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night, so I sent you a message to be careful,” Mumian said.

"Didn't she see a doctor?"

"This is a side effect of researching magic."

"?!"

"I learned magic from Diao that erased my gender; Jasmine's Dragon Gate ritual failed, and her dragon body was destroyed; Korobochka became a paranoid while mastering witchcraft; Hehuan always unconsciously spied on other people's fates, and her mind and body were affected..."

So you're lucky. The power of your weak magic system was just for fun, but it didn't change your personality or bring you any negative effects..."

“Yes,” Lin Jiade raised his hand to interrupt Mu Mian, “my appetite has increased, and the allowance my parents originally gave me is no longer enough.”

"Your words... are really infuriating. So many people want such a simple price to pay, but can't get it."

"So, if I continue to grow stronger and learn more powerful magic, I'll also suffer the side effects of magic just like you?"

"You're already experiencing the side effects."

Mu Mian reached out and touched the buttons on Lin Jiade's clothes, unbuttoning them one by one. Soon, the trench coat she had taken off was tossed onto the bed. Then, her hands moved on to his sweater and shirt, folding them over the trench coat. When Mu Mian's hands touched his skin directly, the cool and indescribably comfortable sensation made him let out a soft "Ah."

"This is the price we pay. We are each other's sword and its wielder, and the desire torments us doubly."

Kapok's hand slid to the silver sword-shaped pattern on Lin Jiade's belly. The moment she touched it, she made a cute sound. Then, Lin Jiade saw a silver light penetrate the confusion spell in a similar spot on her body, illuminating the air between them.

“Your reaction was milder than I expected… Yes, you went through a contract with Gladiolus, and you and she once longed for each other.”

With a trembling voice, Kapok asked, "Between me and her, who inspires a stronger longing?"

Gladiolus, of course, it's him. Gladiolus possesses an exciting appearance, a gentle yet mature temperament, a persistent desire for a child, and the occasional teasing. If he had met Gladiolus first instead of Jasmine, he'd probably be consuming a whole bottle of "Pair of Hearts" every month.

As for Kapok, Lin Jiade didn't know what she would be like after regaining her female identity, but for now, her exotic appearance outweighed her sexual appeal... His style in this regard was the same as on the football field; he liked to face the opponent head-on, break through obstacles, and when he felt the time was right near the penalty area, he would send the football into the opponent's goal with a powerful shot.

But the truth must never be spoken. Lin Jiade looked up at the ceiling and replied, "The Gladiolus is not the tallest."

"Really? I'm nothing to you, you don't have to be two-faced."

"Really, Gladiolus isn't the tallest... I just didn't want to compare the two of you, so I was being tactful."

This is true, because beyond the gladiolus, his longing for the cuckoo runs deeper. Cupid has teased him more often, intentionally or unintentionally, than Jasmine and gladiolus combined. He can find partial satisfaction in Jasmine and gladiolus, but with the cuckoo, he only gets things that are ambiguous.

That's why his longing for her was so deep.

Kapok seemed to sense something, but she ended with a soft hum. Her hand stroked Lin Jiade's muscles as she said, "You've been subjected to all sorts of things."

"Ah."

"But please remember, I arrived first. I came earlier than them. In front of me, they can only consider themselves juniors."

Do we really have to argue about who's first in this? My body isn't some map for you to conquer!

Kapok pressed her hand against the lines on Lin Jiade's lower abdomen, chanting incantations, and a sapphire blue light enveloped both of them. In the blink of an eye, Lin Jiade's vision shifted, and he became a sword, held in Kapok's hand, a fact he was acutely aware of.

"Damn, this feeling is so weird."

Lin Jiade couldn't make a sound, but his thoughts flowed into Mu Mian's mind, and he shared Mu Mian's vision. Now he looked like this: a transparent counterweight, a royal blue hilt, orange dragon claw decorations, a pink gauntlet, and a blade divided into blue and gray.

This was just the initial version; the colors on the sword continued to change. Finally, when it stabilized, the hilt, dragon claw, and half of the blade were replaced with pink.

"Look at this color scheme...you shameless scumbag," Mu Mian said unhappily.

"Why am I being criticized because of the color scheme?!"

Lin Jiade felt somewhat wronged, but when Mu Mian tried to swing it, a liberating feeling, like running naked in the warm spring, swept through Lin Jiade's senses. He tried to hold back, but the slight trembling of the sword betrayed his true feelings.

"abnormal!"

Kapok gripped the sword hilt even tighter, and Lin Jiade felt himself being held. In his perception, it transformed into a warm spring day, with Kapok holding his hand as they ran naked together through undisturbed woodlands, butterflies and birds fluttering around them—it was so joyful…

“If you feel uncomfortable, just say so,” Kapok said. “I’m going to start exploring your energy adaptability.”

"?"

Kapok answered Lin Jiade's question with her actions. She pressed her palm against the transparent counterweight ball at the end of the sword hilt and channeled energy into it, but found that it did not react. Then, she moved her hand to the sword hilt, and with both hands holding it and channeling energy into it, Lin Jiade felt that he and Kapok were merging in body and mind.

He could understand Kapok's thoughts and make Kapok understand his own thoughts. When Kapok conveyed the word "fly" and let go of her hands, he immediately took off, circled her once, and then landed back in her hands.

The cotton tree infused energy into the orange dragon claw decoration, and flames appeared on the edge of the grayish-brown tip of the blade. The weapon was enveloped by both a coercive aura that intimidated enemies and a spirit that inspired its own dominance.

The kapok tree pressed its tip against the sword, channeling energy into it. The pale blue hue subsided, while the gray parts responded, spreading a chilling sensation. Frost condensed on the windows, and the air became dry, with all the lost moisture turning into glittering particles on the floor.

Finally, she reached out and touched the pink area, which covered most of Lin Jiade's body. However, when Kapok channeled energy into it, only a small portion of it responded. Chains surged out, clinging to and wrapping around the weapon that Lin Jiade had transformed into, climbing up the sword and onto Kapok's arm.

Is this a warning or a threat?

Mu Mian hurriedly moved her fingers away, and the surging chains retracted, restoring the sword's surface to its calm state. All night, Mu Mian held Lin Jiade, conducting various tests on him, only releasing him at dawn.

Chapter Forty-Four: Admitting Mistakes

The next day, Lin Jiade and Mu Mian, both exhausted, took the high-speed train back home. He yawned and naturally leaned on Mu Mian's shoulder, squinting his eyes. Mu Mian accepted him just as naturally, without reacting, as if it were her true nature.

The mimosa and the reed warbler glanced back at the same time, then turned to look at each other, finding each other's expressions filled with disbelief.

“They seem to have better chemistry now,” Du Juan said. “What happened last night?”

“That’s fine,” Hehuan said, “even though I don’t know anything about it.”

"Hmph, let's just go down this path with her," Wei Ying said unhappily.

At noon, they arrived at the train station and dispersed on the spot. Lin Jiade went to eat and drink with his friends. After taking a few steps, he noticed that Du Juan had her hands behind her back and was following closely behind.

"Uh, is something the matter?" he asked.

"What did you do last night that you regret?"

"No."

Du Juan smiled and said, "You're getting bolder and bolder at lying. From 2 a.m. to 6:45 a.m., a strange energy continuously flowed into your body and invaded the contracts placed inside you."