Love, Gun, Cupid

“Well, it’s getting a bit late,” Di Tao pointed to the bow. “When I was fighting her just now, one of my weapons went into the hull, and the energy it released accidentally affected the ship, penetrating the watertight compartments. And… its engine room will explode.”

"madman!"

In this situation, no one dared to go back into the ship to look for clues about how to deal with the King of the Forest. Instead, they went to find the lifeboats. Qi Yanli and Yi Lu Tingfeng each took one, while Di Tao and Mu Mian continued to activate flight mode, fighting as they traveled.

"Idiots, just keep dragging this out like this," Lu Tingfeng muttered.

Sure enough, the ship behind them exploded. The four contestants trudged on and finally arrived at the fishing village at dusk. The NPCs warmly welcomed the four exhausted contestants with soft, toasted bread, homemade raspberry jam, lettuce with olive oil, lettuce salad, smoked meat, and unlimited fish soup. There were also hot springs nearby to help them relax.

Anyone would be wary of such a warm welcome from strangers, but the village chief said, "There's no need to be so nervous. This is a task given to us by the great moon goddess. She has given us her protection, and we will be welcoming the guests who visit her."

Even the madman Di Tao didn't choose to make a move at this time, but the contestants unanimously refused the villagers' kindness—except for houses to shelter them from the wind and rain and necessary cooking utensils.

Although it may only take a few minutes in real time, the contestants "realistically" felt as if they had spent several hours in the virtual space, and the free fall and shipwrecked escape made them urgently need energy replenishment.

Clearly, the shrewd sponsors had anticipated this situation, so the footage of the contestants preparing their own dinners appeared frequently in the eyes of the spectators, and the food packaging labels were imprinted in their memories.

Lin Jiade did not dispel his avatar. He lay in the sword sheath, relying on the energy stored in the Amanda Stone embedded in the sheath to recover. From Lin Jiade's perspective, it seemed as if the Kapok had prepared a pool of mutton soup for him, and he sat by the pool, sipping it spoonful by spoonful.

Kapok communicated telepathically: "We'll take turns keeping watch. I'll keep watch for the first half of the night, and you keep watch for the second half. Tomorrow morning, I'll go to Raven Town to gather information."

"it is good."

How are you doing?

"It can be sustained."

The chain attached to Du Juan prevented Lin Jiade from rekindling his old feelings for Mu Mian, which was a prerequisite for any normal conversation between them. Lin Jiade was still unaware of the specific reasons for his change, but he guessed it was related to Mu Mian and Du Juan.

The contestants went to sleep, and the audience initially hoped that villagers, other contestants, or the King of the Forest would launch a night raid to make the scene more lively. However, it was clear that nothing happened tonight, and the night was sped up to a mere minute in reality.

If it goes any longer, the ratings for this final episode will be ruined. Viewers buy tickets to see fights and the contestants bickering. They're not interested in anything else.

"Ugh, a bunch of cowards."

Wei Ying rested her legs on the sofa armrest, tilting her body to watch the makeup artist changing her face in the camera. She sucked on a jelly, and as her cheeks slightly sunken in, she sucked out the white lychee-flavored jelly, swallowed it, and ruthlessly threw it away when the plastic bag became deflated.

She played the role of Lin Jiade for three days, and tonight she used the excuse of hanging out with Jasmine to finally watch a match that she "didn't care about" but that she cared about more than anyone else. She turned into a keyboard warrior, shouting and yelling, wishing she could go up and play for someone else.

Gladiolus sat on the other side, while Jasmine sat on a single sofa, glancing down at her essay—which had scored 45 points—during boring moments of the competition, like right now. It was a fairly average score. But Jasmine wasn't satisfied.

However, she was not good at multitasking. While her eyes were on the essay, her mind was preoccupied with Lin Jiade, which resulted in her making no progress in the essay and wasting a lot of time.

As for Du Juan, she was socializing with others at the competition, promoting her family's Celestial Sparkling Wine. Indeed, running a winery is one of the most popular industries among the elite middle class in Celestial Realm.

The Celestial Wines that Du Juan had previously sampled for Lin Jiade and Jasmine were all from her own winery. These wineries likely faced tens of thousands of competitors in the Celestial Realm, so Du Juan, ever resourceful, planned to market her wines to the Empire.

The Empire has an instinctive yearning for the Celestial Realm. For all Celestial Realm products, from baby formula to electronic products, those who can afford them will never use products from the Empire, in order to satisfy the vanity of those poor but wealthy people who want to flaunt their wealth and taste.

True celestial wine is equivalent to a time-limited divine oracle. Humans who drink it can enjoy the effects of the oracle for a certain period of time. However, the celestial wine from the Dujuan family only has a superior taste compared to the wine produced by the Empire, without any divine oracle effects.

After the most expensive feature in the Celestial Realm's liquor was removed, Du Juan's liquor could naturally be sold for a low price of 10,000 dinars per bottle. She was confident that the low-end version of the liquor would win over the hearts of the Empire's middle class, especially since Region 18 was a relatively late-developed area with more easy targets during its economic boom, making it a worthwhile place to scam.

What do you Celestials need the Empire's dinars for?

Jasmine had been wanting to ask, but she figured Wei Ying wouldn't be able to answer either, because the other party was a complete fool. If it weren't for the fact that military force was sufficient in the empire, Wei Ying, with her intelligence and emotional intelligence, would probably have been tricked into becoming someone's wife in a remote mountain village.

A minute later, the TV screen lit up again, and dawn broke in the virtual space. Mu Mian got up at 6:30, made breakfast with self-heating food, destroyed any traces she left behind after eating, and set off at 7:00.

As soon as she stepped out, she saw Yi Lu Tingfeng walking ahead of her. Before she caught up, she learned that Yi Lu Tingfeng was going to Raven Town, and that Qi Yanli had set off half an hour earlier. Before Qi Yanli, Di Tao was an hour ahead.

“Sorry, mine,” Lin Jiade said. “I kept watch for the rest of the night, but I didn’t hear a thing.”

"It's alright, we're not in a rush for an hour or two anyway, let them scout ahead. There shouldn't be any fighting during this time, you can get some sleep."

"it is good."

"Lin Jiade" fell silent. Mu Mian reached out and touched him, biting her lip to stop the regret from spreading. She forcibly bound herself to Yi Lu Tingfeng and went to Raven Town with him.

Chapter 101 The Final (3) (19→18)

After the Earth Peach destroyed the ship, along with the clues about the King of the Forest, it became clear that the contestants would head to Raven Town.

Without any warning, no one dared to venture into the bushes to challenge the King of the Forest, Sala, as that would only benefit the other three competitors.

"An alliance?" Kapok suggested. "Peach is a madwoman. If Peach finds the clues first, she will memorize them and then destroy them without hesitation."

“Yes, what you’re describing is very likely to happen, and we have to work together to stop her,” Yi Lu Ting Feng replied.

"Then, let's use the magic of oath-keeping..."

"No, no, no, forget about it." Yi Lu Ting Feng waved his hand. "I don't trust you because Di Tao is your sister."

"Even if we are sisters, we are fighting for our lives."

"Thanks to your auspicious surnames, who knows if you two are putting on an act?"

There was one more thing that Yi Lu Ting Feng didn't say: even if the two sisters, Di Tao Mian and Di Tao Mian, really loved and hated each other, she could still eliminate one of them early. This was because, in addition to the qualification to advance, everyone also had to compete for the ranking. The qualification to challenge the King of the Forest (in reality) first could be resold for between 60 and 80 dinars.

It can be said that as long as you get first place, you can recoup your investment in one go, which will give you more freedom after you are promoted to a senior professional title... Otherwise, you can only repay the expenses paid by the sponsor by selling your freedom.

Nobody wants to be a dog of a big company. Everyone works hard to become someone important. However, in reality, in order to appear important, people can only be dogs of big companies. They may be glamorous in front of the camera, but when they go back behind the scenes and face their backers, their true colors will be revealed.

The battle between Kapok and Peach has already shown Yi Lu Ting Feng that whoever finishes off the other first will undoubtedly take first place.

The individual skill gap between the contestants wasn't that large, but when external factors such as equipment, logistics, and tactical analysis were added, the gap widened between the two daughters of officials and the other two commoner girls.

Therefore, the most advantageous situation for Yi Lu Tingfeng is to maintain the balance of power among the Hart sisters, let them fight each other endlessly, and let him find an opportunity to reap the benefits.

Qi Yanli must have the same thought, so for Yi Lu Tingfeng, that diamond elf was the best ally and a potential rival.

Mu Mian wasn't stupid. Within minutes, she understood why the other party was resisting her. She couldn't help but sigh. She had gained power because of her surname, but she was also dragged down by it.

She originally wanted Lin Jiade to sleep a little longer, but soon after, an arrow seemed to emerge from the clouds and pierced almost straight into the ground at the foot of the kapok tree, its feathers still trembling.

Lin Jiade woke up and responded to the unseen threat by drawing his sword. He listened to the wind and kept a distance, adopting a posture that was both wary of the archer and wary of the kapok tree.

A voice came from afar: "This is the land watched over and blessed by the great moon goddess. Outsiders, the moon goddess must not be desecrated."

"Diana the Virgin?" Kapok tried to ask.

"That's what you call us outside."

“But we’ve been behaving ourselves, we haven’t done anything wrong,” said Yi Lu Ting Feng. “Could it be that the two people walking in front of us did something?”

Diana the Virgin replied, "No, they scanned a QR code, paid, and went in."

Yi Lu Ting Feng paused for a moment: "Uh, I won't even comment on how incongruous it is for people like you who are still using bows and arrows to make others scan QR codes."

You're just complaining! Lin Jiade thought.

"Why can they get through, but we can't?"

The Virgin Diana replied, "Men may pass through, women may pass through, but no one other than men and women may pass through."

In a moment of quick thinking, Yi Lu Ting Feng exclaimed, "Ah, this is discrimination against LGBTQIA people!"

"Unfortunately, the moon goddess only blesses men and women. She is happy to see men and women reproduce and thrive in accordance with their biological nature and morality. Others are unwelcome groups."

Good heavens, it seems the Moon Goddess discriminates against single people; no wonder she hasn't gained widespread faith in modern society. Lin Jiade thought.

Mu Mian and Yi Ju Ting Feng exchanged a glance. One was a sword spirit, and the other was a living doll. Being excommunicated by the Diana Temple's guardian militia and blocked at the entrance seemed ridiculously absurd.

Kapok could choose to break through with force, but she would have to bear the risk of being eliminated prematurely. She looked at Lin Jiade in her hand, and Lin Jiade responded with a tremor. Then, in the light, he returned to his original form.

"Oh, this!"

The scene of the sudden appearance of a living person was very shocking, as were the audience. After several minutes of dullness, there was finally a climax. The commentator Lei Huang also cheered and explained that it did not violate the competition rules for Mu Mian to bring Lin Jiade into the arena.

"Speaking of which, Lin Jiade broke his contract with Kapok, so why does he still retain the ability to turn into a sword?" Jasmine asked.

The warbler's expression was uncertain: "Ah, well, it might be because of me."

"When I was performing the Yi Jin Jing on Lin Jiade, a small accident happened, which turned him back into an unclaimed sword that anyone could wield."

Are you sure this was an accident?

"Really! I originally wanted to turn him into... ah."

Knowing she'd unwittingly done something like this with a carbon-based being, Wei Ying was too ashamed to admit it, so she just mumbled and laughed it off. Jasmine temporarily suppressed her cuckolding instincts, because she was more concerned about Lin Jiade.

In the virtual space, Yi Lu Ting Feng looked Lin Jiade up and down: "At most, you have the strength of an intermediate goalkeeper. You have one more person than him who can kill through the Diana Vestal?"

Kapok gave her a strange look, and then she transformed into the sword in Lin Jiade's hand. Lin Jiade led her swaggering toward Diana's Virgin defenses, and the mysterious archers did not fire a single arrow.

"This works?!"

He followed along, but was shot back by an arrow from Diana, the Virgin of the Sands. She said to Lin Jiade's retreating figure, "Help me, and I'll agree to an alliance with you."

Lin Jiade glanced back at her: "Someone like me, at most a mid-level goalkeeper?"

Yi Lu Tingfeng adopted a very humble attitude: "I apologize to you."

After discussing it with Mu Mian for a few seconds, Lin Jiade said, "I can take you in the car. Mu Mian can transform into my sword and be taken along. What about you?"

Yi Lu Tingfeng paused for a moment, then said unwillingly, "A doll, it should be normal for a man to buy a doll and take it out occasionally, right?"

"Normal my foot!" Lin Jiade thought. Buying a female dolphin's sex toy was the limit for a normal person.

However, the organizers did not intend to make this stage too difficult for the participants, so Lin Jiade held the kapok in his left hand and carried Yi Lu Tingfeng on his shoulder with his right hand, heading towards Raven Town under the watchful eyes of the Diana Maidens.

Chapter 102 The Final (3)

Lin Chia-te's reason for bringing along the Wind Listener was also to try to maintain the balance of power. The King of the Forest is not a contestant that the four contestants can deal with individually. They may have to put aside their disputes and work together to compete with him.

If it weren't for that madman Di Tao interfering, they should have reached an agreement on the ship and found clues to defeat the King of the Forest.

However, no amount of complaining could change reality. Lin Jiade could only show his sincerity and gain the trust of the other contestants to see if there was any possibility of them joining forces.

The architectural style of Raventown lies at the intersection of modern and contemporary styles. On the one hand, most of the town’s residences are apartments no more than three stories high, while on the other hand, some landmark high-rise buildings (relative to those three-story apartments) have been built.

This small town has no minerals, no oil or gas, and is not a popular tourist destination. Fishing and forestry are insufficient to support the town's economy, so the construction of the luxury hotel, the beautiful square, and the commercial street along the square is surprising.

After Lin Jiade came in, he bought some food with dinars and started chatting with the shopkeeper while he was cooking.

"Everyone is doing all this, naturally, for Lady Diana."

The shopkeeper said, "Sometimes, Lady Diana would wander the streets late at night when no one was around, and the patrolling virgins would sometimes catch a glimpse of her fleeting figure."

Therefore, they used the temple's funds to hire locals to build these things, both to serve Lady Diana and to those who challenged the King of the Forest.

Lin Jiade almost forgot that in reality, someone who goes to challenge the King of the Forest can't be alone. A well-funded team can eat and drink in town and casually throw money around, which is enough to bring the townspeople a generous return... once a year, year after year.

Considering that the King of the Forest has remained unchanged for the past decade, the warriors who challenge the King of the Forest each year are more like crops... no, even simpler than crops. They only need to take care of these outsiders for a while to reap a substantial reward.

Lin Jiade packed up his food but didn't start eating. The shopkeeper glanced at the large doll he was carrying on his back but didn't say anything. These outsiders who crossed the sea were all strange and varied, but they all met their end in death. Some of the wealth they brought would be lost in the woods, collected by the Virgin Maiden, and then transformed into funds to sustain the villages and towns.

The young man dared not eat the food there, so he wanted to give it to the beggars, but there wasn't a single beggar in Raven Town. The disabled and the destitute were sent to welfare homes, where they were cared for by volunteers and single people who did not wish to marry.