Love, Gun, Cupid

“We come here once a month on the night of the full moon, fight from midnight to four o’clock, then go home and come back the following month.”

As the ice cave continued talking, it became a little embarrassed. Everyone needed a guardian of the holy land who knew the situation to understand the intelligence here, but apart from Henrietta, all the other guardians of the holy land were just temporary workers who only knew the situation in their own defense zone.

"However, I do have a special connection with this place..."

Before she could finish speaking, in the distance, in the city of Fuxing, beyond the reach of the light—the dark side of the Holy Land—a dazzling light suddenly burst forth, vanishing in an instant before returning to darkness.

Lin Jiade said to Mu Mian, "It seems we don't need to worry about where to go anymore."

"That might be a trap."

"Even if we know it's a trap, we still have to go there and find out."

Eleven people set off in three cars. Lin Chia-te carried an extra backpack containing a flashlight, batteries, bullets, rations, water, and special bullets for sending signals.

The ice cave finally came in handy. She blessed the vehicles and everyone's weapons and shields. In the sanctuary, her energy slowly but sustainably regenerated, allowing her to do as she pleased.

An hour later, the small convoy drove into the darkness. The city of Fuxing, on the dark side of the holy land, was not completely dark. The waning moon in the sky provided a faint light, and in the interplay of light and shadow, the ambiguous outlines of the city's buildings appeared even more menacing.

Kapok drives, with Ice Cave in the passenger seat. She stretches her arms out, and energy passes through the glass, condensing into a floating ball of light in front of the convoy, illuminating the road ahead and the faces of Lin Jiade and Jianlan in the back seat.

“Lin Jiade,” the tall woman leaned against Lin Jiade, “your smell is a bit strange. What did you do before?”

"Strange smell, what do you mean?"

Jianlan placed her hand on Lin Jiade's thigh: "You understand."

“I recharged the ice cave again,” Lin Jiade replied softly. “If I had known that the ice cave could recharge in the Holy Land, I wouldn’t have done it.”

"Was it made for you by the ice cave?"

Lin Jiade became even more uncomfortable, turning his head to one side: "Um, I don't know, I was covered with a bath towel, and I felt... like Jasmine. Not that I was trying to escape or persecute her, but it really felt like Jasmine was doing it for me."

“If Jasmine knew, she’d probably slap you across the face with her tail,” Jianlan said. “As far as I know, Jasmine has been staying in the hospital and hasn’t gone back.”

“So, it can’t be Jasmine,” Lin Jiade replied.

But it wasn't an ice cave either, Korobochka thought. The energy in ice caves didn't have such a pure quality. Could it be the cuckoo? No, the cuckoo preferred to toy with Lin Jiade rather than put it into practice. So, only…

Korobochka quickly identified the suspect, but instead of pointing out the culprit without understanding her feelings, she closed her eyes and drew warmth from her chosen husband. In contrast, the cold seeped into Lin Jiade's thick clothes, giving him goosebumps all over.

“About what happened before…” he began.

“I’ve talked to Jasmine and I roughly know what happened. It’s a pity that things turned out this way.”

"About Yang Xuemeng..."

You doubt me?

Gladiolus opened her mouth and bit his earlobe: "That's a bit heartless of you. You didn't even find anything in the ice cave, which is more familiar with the power of the Holy Land. You expect me to?"

Besides, I probably spend less time at home than you and your teacher do. And when I get home, I can't possibly use detective magic to thoroughly scan everyone, since I trust everyone who can enter our house.

If I bear any responsibility in this matter, it's that if I could have locked her room and prevented her from wandering around, perhaps we could have worked together to find a solution for her.

“No,” Lin Jiade closed his eyes, “I’m sorry, my head is a bit of a mess. It’s like yesterday we were all normal people playing football together with our arms around each other, but today when we were eating together, someone claimed to be a time traveler, someone claimed to be from a parallel dimension, and someone took off their human skin and said they were an alien. I was left as an ordinary person with nothing to say, and I was dumbfounded.”

"You're just an ordinary person, huh?"

"That's just how I described it. Jasmine is very likely the offspring of the White Dragon, but she doesn't acknowledge it and is fighting with her brothers. She might even have to deal with her biological father in the future..."

Even if we take care of this, how am I supposed to face her when I get back, about my involvement in her father's murder? And how will she feel about her boyfriend killing her father?

“At least verbally, Jasmine doesn’t care about this,” Gladiolus replied.

Lin Jiade smiled wryly: "You know it's all talk. She's as stubborn as a duck, but what she really thinks depends on her actual performance... That's the first thing."

The second thing is the ice cave…you've probably already figured it out, haven't you, about the true nature of the ice cave.”

Jianlan smiled and said, "It's very interesting. There are spells in witchcraft, oracle and magic that can change gender, but those spells are irreversible. If a man becomes a woman, he will be a woman for the rest of his life."

But the ice cave is different. Once she runs out of energy, she'll revert to her male form. I see she's very happy as a girl, so I guess she doesn't plan to change back.

"Yes, he has completely fallen into depravity. I'm not being narcissistic, but she can't live without me now. How far our relationship goes depends entirely on my self-control."

Lin Jiade scratched his cheek: "If your boyfriend hung out with people like that, wouldn't you... be disgusted?"

"I'm fine with it, after all, I've seen many more extreme and outrageous ways of doing things, but I don't know what Jasmine and Kapok think," Jianlan said. "But you, how can you accept this situation?"

"First, she's useful; second, she's beautiful; third, she only does this for me."

Lin Jiade said, "Moreover, I am not exactly a gentleman. The ice cave is a minefield. After she walked through the minefield, she looked pitiful and barely clothed, which aroused my protective instincts."

It's quite ironic. You, Jasmine, and Kapok sometimes act cute and affectionate towards me, but the one who's the most affectionate, crying her eyes out in front of me with such a pitiful and fragile look, is actually... a gender-swapped man.

Jianlan pinched Lin Jiade's waist. No woman could remain calm after being told that she was not as good as a man.

Lin Jiade said, "The landmines in the ice cave have all been detonated. She has survived the most difficult time and now she is looking for her future path."

The third issue was also resolved: the way Kapok punished her sisters by manipulating them more than controlling them. She herself was injured, and one of her sisters died and the other was injured. I think she should reflect on how she controlled her sisters and avoid similar incidents in the future.

The fourth thing is Senior Sister Hehuan. I am very grateful for her help, but why did she use the ability that Miss Dujuan gave me? Because this matter is a low priority, I haven't had time to ask yet.

The fifth one is Teacher Yang. I thought she was an ordinary person, but she came to our world in a way that I didn't want to see... before I met her.

She was replaced by a monster when she was 22, seven years ago. I was only 13 then, an age when I dreamed of becoming famous overnight. There was nothing I could do to save her.

I was just thinking, given what happened with Korobochka, is it possible for me to separate Teacher Yang's personality from that monster's body, give the monster a fair trial, and let Teacher Yang live, just like you, Jianlan, are doing now..."

Seeing Jianlan's unhappy expression, Lin Jiade made an apologetic gesture: "I'm sorry, I forgot to consider your feelings."

"Korobochka...that's all in the past, I don't care about her anymore. People can't grow up if they just dwell on the past. Memories are for old people, but I'm still young, and I always feel full of energy when I'm with my little husband."

"What, is there something else?"

Seeing Lin Jiade's hesitant expression, Jianlan slipped her fingers inside his clothes, leaving a cool, trembling touch on his chest.

“Gallan, answer me a question,” Lin Jiade asked. “Are you the Gladiolus I know now, or Korobochka?”

Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Abandoned

Gladiolus paused for a moment, then looked up at him strangely: "So you have this kind of fetish? You want me to dress up as Korobochka so you can retrieve the defeated CGs?"

Lin Jiade was very interested in the gameplay of attacking enemies. He was originally an FPS player, but at the moment he was not in the mood for it. He said seriously, "Don't interrupt me, I'm serious."

"In front of outsiders, I am Korobocka, both in appearance and behavior, as you know. Perhaps I overacted and became tainted by Korobocka's aura?"

Jianlan grabbed Lin Jiade's hand and shook it: "You know, I and Korobochka are of the same origin. Now it seems that I have caused you to misunderstand. So after this matter is over, I will find a way to completely cut ties with Korobochka, so that my little husband will not be suspicious and unable to sleep at night."

Gladiolan's frank attitude made Lin Jiade hesitate again. He scratched his head and said, "I just hope you don't get addicted to Korobochka's power and become a second Korobochka."

I love you, not because you have the power of Korobochka, but because you are Gladiolus.

“Ling Jiade, you’re being a bit hypocritical here. You told Jasmine that you could accept her whether she was a red dragon or a white dragon, but I’m a bit like Korobochka, which makes you suspicious.”

"It's a bit of a double standard. It's probably because Jasmine never harmed me, while Korobochka almost killed me. If she comes back, who knows what kind of disaster she will bring and what harm she will cause to me and the people around me."

I used to have Miss Cuckoo as a support, but now… of course she'll save me, but what do I need to give her in return?

"What's going on between you and Dujuan?" Jianlan asked. "Weren't you two always so inseparable? Suddenly, she's changed like this."

"I've just come to terms with some realities. Before January 1st of this year, I always thought that if someone was unconditionally good to me, or if someone's love for me was pure, innocent, and beautiful, it was a rare but reasonable thing."

But that was just a childish thought. Miss Dujuan was nice to me because I was of use to her. She was so arrogant and malicious that even if I listened to her, I could never win her love.

Miss Du Juan is a bad woman. When the situation is in her favor, she wins twice herself. When the situation is against her, she pretends to be generous and lets each side win once.

She has feelings and knows what love is, but she always prioritizes calculations of the situation and her own interests, so simply trying to please her won't win her love.

To win her love, I must defeat her head-on, shatter all her other options with brute force, make her repent for her mistakes, forcefully reshape her values ​​with my own, and watch the usually shrewd and arrogant her cry beneath me...

Is what I'm doing love? Or not? Perhaps it's a mix of love and hate, like my feelings for the kapok tree. I don't know, but I yearn to do it.

Lin Jiade looked at Jianlan: "You're not willing to let her toy with your fate either, are you? Only if we unite can we have any hope of defeating her."

"A group of mortals uniting... to defeat a god?"

“The celestial observers are the gods in human mythology, but the cuckoo is not; she is just an immature Cupid in the heavens.”

Sword Orchid chuckled: "If you're talking about Reed Warbler, then I believe you. After all, those two sisters share one brain, and the younger sister is completely brainless. I even think if you were a bit of a scoundrel, you could trick her into having a child with you."

But Du Juan is different, Lin Jiade. You can't use the power she gave you to fight her. Think carefully, what other power do you have besides that?

Lin Jiade instinctively looked out the window. A waning crescent moon hung in the sky above the holy land, but gradually, the lost moon regained its light and became a full moon in his eyes.

There is only one moon in the Holy Land, but different people may see different moons. After retreating to the headquarters of the Greek organization with the injured dolphin, Yang Xuemeng, also known as Iphigenia, sat on the steps of the church in a daze.

“Orthodox Greeks don’t have churches…” she muttered.

"There are no more orthodox Greeks in the world, so it is not surprising that organizations that claim to be Greek set up their headquarters in churches."

Iphigenia turned around and saw a corpse standing there. She covered her mouth and nose to avoid the stench of death.

“It’s strange,” Ragnar’s voice emerged from the corpse, “you’ve killed dozens of humans, and the number of humans who died because of you is in the double digits, yet you can’t stand this smell?”

“Because I’m not just a monster, that human named Yang Xuemeng influences my thinking,” she said.

"The pure Yang Xuemeng and the pure Iphigenia are both dead. Perhaps I should erect a tombstone for Iphigenia."

"Speaking of which, why did you act like this?"

"Because this corpse harbors the power of the Holy Land, with her, I can walk openly within the Holy Land and avoid unnecessary risks. At the same time, Ragnar is currently appearing at a charity gala. He is a good citizen of the Empire, so how could he be colluding with a cult?"

Iphigenia said "Oh," and hugged her knees as she asked, "If there's someone you love, but you know they don't love you and are obsessed with killing you, would you confront them or run away?"

“I will fight back. If the person I love wants to kill me, I will kill her first, because my own life comes first… But I think this may not be the answer you can find in books, because you don’t have the same strong sense of purpose as me, and therefore you don’t have the same strong will to survive.”

"Even if the person who wants to kill you is your daughter?" Iphigenia asked.

"The dolphin has already told me that my daughter is still determined to stand on the side of the red dragon and fight me to the death for a human. I have to say, it's a pathetic joke."

To put it lightly, all that's needed before the gates of the Holy Land truly open is the sacrifice of five more souls.

Once I open the Holy Land and obtain the power of the Oracle's protector, I can create more high-quality, long-lived offspring. I can have daughters... many daughters and sons. Our multiplying family will lie dormant in the Holy Land until the empire itself makes a mistake.

This grand plan is about to take its first step, and compared to its foreseeable bright future, the daughter is no longer important. Since she wants to be Jasmine, let her be.

However, I will find her one day, dismantle her family, and only when she cries and begs for my forgiveness will I bring her back to my kingdom to become my most beloved princess.

Iphigenia could distinguish the smell of blood from the stench of corpses. She turned around and saw dark blood gushing from the Greek church, dripping onto the steps.

Because both Manchester City and Napoli won, there were two bonus chapters. Today, I'll add one more chapter, but I still owe one.

Chapter 100 The Road to the Holy Land (2) (Bonus Chapter Combining Two Chapters)

In mythology, Iphigenia was a priestess of the moon goddess and witnessed the Greeks being used in bloody rituals to sacrifice to the moon goddess. Now, she witnessed the Greeks bleeding profusely, also for the purpose of sacrificing to the moon goddess, as if the myth was being reenacted in reality.

Iphigenia is both human and monster. The indifference of humans towards strangers and the indifference of monsters towards life and death make her feel little about the destruction of the organization that nurtured her and whom she previously inhabited.