Love, Gun, Cupid

“Now you’ve become in sync with the scent of the kapok,” said the reed warbler. “You’re all hopelessly depraved.”

"Say what you will, as long as we use any means necessary to achieve final victory."

Wei Ying pointed her fingers like a sword and thrust it towards Lin Jiade's chest. Lin Jiade stepped back, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her closer. She looked up at him, slightly surprised. Lin Jiade thought she was cuter now.

He looked down at the other person with a smug look: "You didn't expect that, did you? I can level up even when I become a sword. The combat memories of the Kapok tree will unconsciously flow into my mind. As a weapon, I keep the energy in my body active and balanced at all times, and I have exceeded the assignment you gave me."

With a flick of his wrist, Lin Jiade felt a tremendous force strike him. His vision shot upwards, and he found himself airborne. But he remained calm. The magic circles on either side of his waist lit up, and the air currents emanating from them helped his body regain balance and accelerate in the air. Celestial weapons materialized in his hands.

"boom!"

Lin Jiade's all-out attack hit Wei Ying with a dull thud. Wei Ying's bangs were lifted by the wind. She looked up at Lin Jiade, who was unable to move in the air, and said, "I am very pleased that you have achieved such results in the first week of advanced training."

Lin Jiade looked at his weapon, which was held between Wei Ying's two fingers, and sighed helplessly. Wei Ying gently pulled, and he uncontrollably fell into her arms. Mars Shi Diaosheng's palm was placed on his lower abdomen, and his body disappeared, transforming into the sword of Kapok.

Wei Ying threw "Lin Jiade" out, and Mu Mian caught it. She was pushed back several steps by the huge force attached to the sword. Just as she regained her balance, Wei Ying's appearance suddenly came into her view.

On Tuesday night, Mu Mian "died" seventeen times in Wei Ying's virtual space. When she finally let them go, Lin Jiade and Mu Mian hid in the martial arts classroom, locked the door, and sat in the corner, snuggling together.

This is their only rendezvous time of the day. Here, Kapok will show her true face, with sweet and cute features, completely different from the cold and aloof aura she exudes after being covered by the confusion spell.

Moonlight illuminated the floor, their shadows overlapping, accompanied by the sounds of kissing and the rustling of clothes. Finally, their faces flushed crimson, and the air itself seemed to heat up with their secret yet passionate love.

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Screening Thresholds (25→24)

“Wei Ying is really ruthless,” Lin Jiade said. “I think she really wants to destroy us.”

Kapok smiled and said, "She's jealous that I took you away, she's angry that you followed in my footsteps... I'm honored that I can evoke such emotions in a celestial observer."

"She's leaving soon, probably on Friday."

"Really? Go and say goodbye to her properly."

“I told you, she doesn’t need it.”

“That’s why you have to cut off her hopes,” Kapok said. “In a sense, Reed Warbler is me five years ago. We both came from a faraway place to meet you, and neither of us loved you back then.”

However, regret and longing can ferment feelings and transform into love. Therefore, I don't want the reed warbler to have any regrets, lest she develop any unnecessary thoughts after returning to the celestial realm.

"Okay." Lin Jiade nodded.

Just as Mu Mian was about to say something, the phone rang. Mu Mian glanced at it, sat up straight, and pressed the answer button: "Hello?"

“I checked Cui Mu Feng Lian’s background. Her sponsors and backers all came from her father’s and friends’ connections. There were no outsiders involved. In other words, it may really have been her own idea to go to your place.”

"I don't understand."

“I don’t understand either,” Tianlong said. “Cui Mu Fenglian is twenty-nine years old this year. She hasn’t been promoted to a senior professional title at this age. She’s already a waste. Those who invested in her won’t expect her to do anything.”

"So, it's about the children of the powerful descending to earth to experience the tension and joy of ordinary people?"

"Let me remind you, Miss Kapok, you are also from a powerful family. Then I investigated her relationship with the contestants, and it turns out she only has a grudge against Karsak, but Karsak has already been eliminated," Tianlong said.

"My surveillance footage shows that she just eats, drinks, and sleeps here, without any signs of contacting outsiders. She seems normal... making it hard to suspect anything. If there's any desire she's shown, it's that she longs to communicate with her idol."

"You can make contact first. Don't go yourself. Just offer her a price to keep her quiet, and then I'll dig into whether she has any other dirt on her."

The call ended there. Lin Jiade stared in disbelief as Mu Mian disassembled the phone, poured an entire bottle of beverage over it, and then crushed it into irreparable fragments with her foot.

"It's for confidentiality purposes," Kapok said.

"That's such a waste."

"If you're still upset about this, then I won't show you my expenses since I started participating in the qualifying rounds."

Lin Jiade protested, "Don't underestimate me! I've seen the world!"

"50 dinars, and if I make it to the final, I'll have to pay another 30."

This was a number that left Lin Jiade speechless. He touched his forehead, unsure of what to say. Mu Mian said, "See? I told you it was better not to look. Fortunately, only one-tenth of this came from my own pocket, another one-tenth from community crowdfunding, one-tenth from the Empire's subsidies, and the rest from corporate sponsorships."

Lin Jiade covered his forehead: "In the future, if I also participate in the qualifying rounds..."

"You have to take this blow. The huge cost is the screening threshold, forcing ordinary heroes without background to wear collars and be controlled by others. This is the reason why order can still be formed in a world where extraordinary people and extraordinary power exist. Even powerful master-level magic researchers must be checked and balanced, and must pay attention to the art of mutual compromise."

Kapok paused, then continued, "But don't worry, Jasmine, Sword Orchid, and I will chip in some money to help you maintain a certain level of independence while receiving financial assistance... You yourself should also make more friends and not spend all your time chasing after women, or you'll be considered spineless."

“If I really listened to you and went out to work hard, I’m afraid you’d feel empty and complain that I wasn’t there for you in a few years,” Lin Jiade muttered. “Being successful while also taking care of the family, where did I come from, being a domineering CEO?”

"Ok?"

"nothing."

"Now is the time for you to prove yourself. Act as my representative and talk to Cui Mu Feng Lian. Just go through the motions and deal with it casually."

"I?"

“Let me make good use of you,” Kapok leaned against Lin Jiade again. “As long as you make a move, Ms. Jianlan will do her best to help you.”

"Kapok...you're a bit like a different person than before the dispelling of the confusion spell."

"The me maintaining the confusion spell is playing myself, but the real me is revealed after the disguise, and the real me is bound to be full of all sorts of flaws. Lin Jiade, do you know why people prefer to listen to fabricated stories rather than stories based on real events? Because the truth is painful."

As Mu Mian rose, she was once again wrapped in black latex. Lin Jiade sighed regretfully. Tonight's intimacy had come to an end, and the polite distance between them would be restored to what outsiders perceived as their own.

As she reached the door, Kapok turned back and said, "The truth between us is equally painful. If you regret it now and no longer want me, I will make you happy."

"Don't joke around. How could I possibly give you up? We're bound together by a contract."

After Kapok left, Lin Jiade stayed for another five minutes to avoid suspicion, while activating a cleansing spell on his clothes to ensure he didn't smell of Kapok.

Like the jet-air spells on his waist, modeled after the Kapok tree, this was also the work of Gladiolus. Although it didn't help in battle, it was beneficial to family harmony. Thanks to this, Lin Jiade was able to hug the Kapok tree, whose body temperature was lower than his, go home and hug the Gladiolus tree, whose body temperature was much lower, for a while, and then hug the fiery Jasmine tree to sleep for the night.

On Wednesday, December 12th, Lin Jiade, who had no classes in the morning, went straight to the hotel where Cui Mu Fenglian was staying. He rehearsed his opening remarks many times on the way, from serious to unserious.

Arriving outside the room with its emerald curtains, he took a deep breath, then knocked on the door and said, "Hello, I am Lin Huang, who spoke to you on the phone before. As agreed, I have come to visit you, Miss."

The sound of slippers slapping against the floor came from inside. The door opened, and a humid, warm smell mixed with a fragrant aroma rushed into Lin Jiade's nostrils.

Cui Mufenglian seemed to have just taken a bath; she was only wrapped in a light gauze nightgown, the thin fabric of which was soaked with water droplets and became semi-transparent.

Lin Jiade didn't want to look at the other person's upper body, so he quickly looked down and saw the vibrant Lower House under the green curtains... wait, vibrant?

He looked up and sized her up with an impolite gaze. She was tall and had a larger frame than the average woman... He seemed to understand something.

Cui Mufenglian seemed indifferent as she turned and came in. Lin Jiade followed her blankly, closed the door, and all the lines he had prepared were disrupted because of Cui Mufenglian's question about gender.

No more reviews today? Oh well, I'll just post it all at once.

Chapter Seventy You are Krassus

Cui Mufeng went to change her clothes, and soon after, she appeared in a sweater and hot pants, her long white legs dazzling. Lin Jiade looked out the window, trying his best to be polite to a real transgender person.

“Water, tea, or a little white wine?” she asked.

Lin Jiade declined the drink, poured herself a glass of Chardonnay, curled up in the wicker chair, and raised the glass to the air. The wine was not intoxicating, but the beauty after her bath looked intoxicated... even though she was a futa.

"Don't you think this is a bit cunning?" she said in a coquettish tone. "Miss Kapok sent you to negotiate with me, but you went ahead and started your own secret training. I'm a little worried about your sincerity."

There was never any sincerity to be discussed to begin with. Lin Jiade thought, "Now it's just a matter of buying time to dig into your background and private matters."

Lin Jiade regarded the task that Kapok gave him as a training opportunity, so he said, "I came here for this very reason, because I know that Miss's amount is not a small sum, so we need to raise funds."

"Hey, but Fuxing City First Bank and Linhai Bank in District 18 also sponsored Miss Kapok. Is it really that difficult for you to raise funds? Just the name Kapok alone should be enough to borrow a lot of money."

"?!"

Cui Mufenglian put down her wine glass: "Since I want to sell myself for a good price, I naturally need to know how much money people are willing to pay. I asked a friend in Linhai City to take a look, and it's really something. Before participating in the qualifying competition, Miss Kapok was already very valuable."

The relationship between Kapok and the local bank is obvious to everyone, but the fact that Linhai Bank, which was a covert operation, was also exposed by Green Curtain Wind is a bit problematic.

Lin Jiade was a little flustered, but he couldn't panic. So he put on a stern face and said, "Friends are always welcome, but we can't cause them too much trouble. Miss, what price do we have to pay to gain your friendship and make us all friends?"

Cui Mufenglian didn't answer immediately. She said, "Mr. Lin, do you know how much money it takes to achieve financial freedom?"

“It depends on the person,” Lin Jiade calculated. “I think I might need… over a million?”

Mentioning this made Lin Jiade feel bitter. The cost of milk powder, education, and living expenses for the child he and Jasmine were on the same football team was at least six figures, which is why he gave a vague answer.

“Mr. Lin Huang is really frugal and restrained, but I am very greedy,” Cui Mu Feng Lian said. “I have a man I like. He first got into medical school, then dropped out because of an accident, and then retook the exam to study computer science.”

Unfortunately, the boom in computer science ended in his second year, so he switched to civil engineering and was assigned to build the pyramids on the fourth continent after graduation.

“Uh, that’s pretty bad,” Lin Jiade said.

"Yes, I want to bring him back. The penalty for breach of contract is 20 dinars. I want to buy a beautiful villa in the suburbs as our love nest. I want to travel twice a year, each trip lasting two months. I want to study vocal music and art to cultivate my mind. Every quarter, I want to change everything from cosmetics to clothes to bags to boots."

I don't work, and I don't want to spend his money, so I'll have to find a way to get it myself. If you can offer even a small helping hand for my future happiness, I'm happy to make way for Miss Kapok's happiness.

Lin Jiade's lips twitched. Although asking for an exorbitant price was part of the negotiation, this was not just an outrageous offer, but a complete collapse of the lion's jaws. According to her description, not counting the villa with its uncertain price, the other expenses of 40 dinars per year might not be enough to cover them.

Kapok's total budget for this qualifying tournament is only 80 dinars. If Kapok can afford that amount, it would be more worthwhile for her to use one-tenth of it to have Emerald Curtain die in an accident.

“We are always generous to our friends, but we must also consider our own circumstances. Only when we have enough to spare can we be generous to our friends… 10 dinars.”

At first, Cui Mufenglian didn't react. When she realized that Lin Jiade had started making an offer, she smiled and said, "It seems that this is Mr. Lin Huang's first time doing this kind of deal with someone... Fine, I won't bully you. I want 60."

“That’s way too much. Your friendship isn’t worth that much,” Lin Jiade said. “The average cost per player in the knockout stage was 53 dinars.”

"Yes, so to break even, I need to demand the amount I invested."

"But this is not the final. There are still the semi-finals and the final. Your asking price will impose a huge sunk cost on us. If the chance of advancing to the next round is 50% to 50%, then according to mathematical expectation, we have another option."

"Defeat me fair and square? Investigate me? Or are you planning to take me out beforehand? If you were that confident, you wouldn't have come looking for me... 53, average level, isn't that fair?"

"15."

Because it was essentially a pretense, Lin Jiade didn't dare to raise the price too high, fearing that Cui Mufenglian would agree to it. Cui Mufenglian, with her enormous appetite, would never agree to 15, so she said, "50. Friends shouldn't include odd amounts."

Lin Jiade felt that at this rate, he could probably reach a general conclusion with Cui Mu Feng Lian in about a day. This wouldn't do. If the other party made a final decision on a certain amount, then it would be difficult for Mu Mian to handle the situation.

So, he pretended to receive a phone call, made an apologetic gesture, and Cui Mufenglian shook her head. Lin Jiade quickly left the room, dialed Mu Mian's number in the corridor, and briefly reported what had happened.

“She seems very eager to reach an agreement with me and sell herself for a good price. According to the information I have, her thirst for money is somewhat abnormal,” Lin Jiade said. “She is the daughter of a high-ranking official, and now she is willing to haggle with me for 3 or 5. I find it a little hard to believe.”

“I’m already investigating the flow of funds in her account. Please thank Ms. Jianlan for me; Korobochka’s connections in the Special Transport Bureau have come in handy,” Kapok replied.

How can I withstand her haggling?

Kapok suggests: "Drag it out now until we have lunch together, then negotiate the price again, raising it to around 20. Generally, she won't agree. Then you can freely elaborate on the fact that the club is short of funds."

"Free rein, easy for you to say!"

“She’s not very interested in your and Jianlan’s love story. I’ll ask Jianlan to make a call, then you’ll have something to talk about.”

Lin Jiade became wary: "Wait, what price did you pay to bribe my second girlfriend?"

"You seem quite wary of our alliance?" Kapok's laughter rang out. "I, Jasmine, and Gladiolus will form a three-way alliance."