Love, Gun, Cupid

The first person I visited was Senior Kapok. Senior Hehuan was with Senior Kapok and was peeling an apple for Senior Kapok. Even when she was hospitalized, Senior Kapok maintained the same tight-fitting clothes and helmet.

I exchanged many polite words, and my senior responded indifferently, saying that club activities would resume next week and my training would continue. It was clear that my senior was very unhappy about being defeated by a weaker tuna.

However, during our conversation, the senior never asked about the specific fate of those enemies. After Senior Sister Hehuan made a gesture, we walked out of the ward together and came to a deserted area, where she finally told us what she had found out.

The tuna's death was the first to be confirmed, followed by an internal company report of a staff member's sudden death, which was confirmed by autopsy to be due to overwork. In addition, three mercenaries, Barbary Witch, Drinking Water Guy, and Pay-to-Win Sow, are all missing.

Like Miss Dujuan, Hehuan also comforted me, saying that the matter was over. I trusted their conclusion, and my mood lightened considerably.

As if knowing what I was thinking, Senior Sister Hehuan led me to Jasmine's ward. Jasmine was looking at the scenery outside the window. My mind went blank. When I came to my senses, we hugged each other.

"Great, your left arm is still there."

Jasmine's eyes reddened, and she stroked my arm again and again. I gently stroked her back, and she trembled in my arms... I finally understood what it felt like to hold Miss Azalea in my arms.

"When your arm fell in front of me, I suddenly realized that you had become the most important person in my life. Last time, you were the one who figured out your feelings first and then confessed to me. Now I've figured out my feelings."

Jasmine pressed her lips to mine, then pulled away a few seconds later, leaned close to my ear, and clearly said "I love you."

It was just a simple sentence, yet it seemed to possess a magical power, filling me with happiness. I embraced Jasmine, showering her cheeks with kisses, and Jasmine seemed to be aroused as well; her breathing became heavy, and she returned the favor with a storm of kisses on my face.

The situation suddenly reversed; I was now in a subordinate position while Jasmine was high above me. Her vertical pupils dilated and contracted, and I didn't think it was because of gratitude. Her expression almost explicitly told me that she intended to devour me alive.

It wasn't until Hehuan, whom Jasmine and I had both forgotten about, coughed awkwardly that our inappropriate intimacy was interrupted. Jasmine got down disappointed, lay on her side in my arms, and poked my belly intermittently with her tail.

"Jasmine, I will continue to study magic so that I can become a man worthy of the red dragon's offspring in both body and mind. I will definitely make you happy."

I made a serious promise, and Jasmine understood this, so her skin, which was not covered by scales but pressed against mine, felt slightly hot.

"I am happy as I am, but I am greedy. I want to be even happier."

Jasmine looked down at her empty chest, then at the curves of Hehuan's sweater bulging out of her chest. She puffed out her cheeks and said resentfully, "I'll try my best next time... so I won't hurt your nose."

There's no point in forcing things, Jasmine. I'm not a lolicon, but because I love you, I can accept your little flaws.

But I admire Jasmine's hard work. In any case, she has already found a small goal in her future life, which is a good start.

Today marks the 22nd day since I met Jasmine. These 22 days have been filled with more ups and downs than the previous 19 years of my life, and my mind and body have been tempered by a series of events.

I will not let go, I will not regret it. Whether it is an enemy, racial barriers, cultural differences, or the pain of a lover, I will defeat them all. I will do even better than I could have done yesterday, and I will not leave regrets for the future.

This is the conclusion I've drawn from reviewing these 22 days.

Visiting time was over, and Jasmine and I parted with reluctance. But we knew that this brief separation was like just the right amount of salt, which would make the fruit of our love sweeter.

Ah, I forgot that my memory was erased when David Moyes, Jasmine's former guardian, gave me the magic book. I'll talk to Jasmine about it next time I have the chance.

As I was leaving, medical staff pushed a seriously injured person past me; judging from her disheveled appearance, she appeared to be a woman.

I stepped aside, but a strange feeling made me look at her. It seemed like my imagination, but she also glanced at me.

Our positions intersected, and then we drifted further and further apart. At that moment, Cupid's voice rang in my mind.

Insider's Review - Jasmine

On the morning of October 4th, you woke up from a dream, covered in a cold sweat.

In the dream, the young man severed his own arm with a sword, and blood spread across his face like warm plum blossoms. You trembled as you watched his sacrifice, as his pained face drew closer, roughly grabbed your collar, lifted you up, and stumbled away from the enclosed space.

After that, he lost consciousness, and blood continued to flow from his left arm; his face quickly turned pale. You want to cry so badly, but before the tears well up in your eyes, you know there are more important things to do.

You searched the belongings of the dead and seriously injured at the scene and found medical supplies to keep Lin Jiade and Mumian alive. However, you knew this was only an emergency measure, so you prepared to call for help.

Unfortunately, all mobile communication devices were damaged in the fighting, and the battleground you chose will not be visited by anyone else.

In your heart, the fear of losing Lin Jiade outweighs the unknown risk of being transformed into a white dragon. You, who are not good at expressing yourself, try to communicate with Lin Jiade: with pats, with words, with touch, with kisses.

Just then, the sound of a car entered your senses. You wiped your eyes, got up, and ran to the roadside. You fell halfway there, but quickly got up again, waving frantically despite your disheveled appearance.

When you finally saw that it was a mimosa tree, an indescribable joy filled your heart, and you cried again—more tonight than you've cried in the entire past year.

In your hazy vision, the car headlights focus on the silhouette of Hehuan, bringing an aura of holiness, and behind Hehuan, in a place she herself cannot see, you see the phantom of Cupid.

You hate the cuckoo who calls herself Cupid, and you hate the cuckoo who calls herself Cupid, but this double hostility is nothing compared to your desire to save the youth.

For him, you abandoned your dignity, knelt before the person you hated most, and pleaded in the most pitiful voice, "Please, save him, Lin Jiade is about to die..."

“I won’t let him die,” the cuckoo tells you, “but I need energy.”

You agreed without hesitation, and at this point, you would agree to any conditions Du Juan might ask of you. Furthermore, you shared a tacit understanding that this matter would not be discussed in detail with Lin Jiade.

The mimosa tree couldn't sense Cupid's presence, but you clearly saw the cuckoo's hair flutter and point towards the kapok tree. You immediately understood, so you took the mimosa tree to save the kapok tree first.

After Kapok awakens, she uses her last bit of energy to break the spell sealing the space and retrieve Lin Jiade's arm. You solemnly place Lin Jiade's arm on his shoulder, watching as Cupid's long hair transforms into needles and thread, delicately sewing it up.

"He needs to go home and rest, while you need to go to the hospital."

Cupid's long hair billowed out, enveloping Lin Jiade, and quickly disappeared from the spot. Hehuan looked over strangely, so you had to explain that you had used magic to send Lin Jiade back.

Hehuan drove you to the hospital, and on the way, she said to you, "I'm sorry."

You know why she apologized to you. When Drinking Water finished his mission and left, you realized that one of the Empire's purposes in allowing these mercenaries to harass your life was to observe an experiment: an experiment to observe whether different lineages of dragons could transform into each other.

The experiment was a failure; you suppressed your transformation into the White Dragon. However, the experiment itself was a success because you were indeed transforming into the White Dragon.

Seemingly reading your thoughts, Hehuan said awkwardly, "Don't worry, this kind of thing probably won't happen again. The debate has been resolved, and the faction within the empire that believes you should remain to serve the empire has won."

Hehuan seemed to have quite a background; you could glean the Empire's attitude from her words. But at this moment, you were more concerned about the young man who had given up an arm for you, so you asked, "Where is Lin Jiade?"

"He'll be even less likely to get into trouble. The two of you are practically tied together. The closer you are to him, the more the empire will trust you. The more the empire trusts you, the more it will stabilize his position."

He might even be specially recruited and converted into a state-run magic researcher, you know what that means.

You certainly know that this means Lin Jiade's magical research will proceed unimpeded, and he might even be granted permission to research powerful first-level spells. At the same time, this is the Empire's way of buying you off, and also a chain attached to you.

However, these are chains you willingly accepted, and Lin Jiade has quietly become the most important person in your heart.

"Hehuan, thank you." You said sincerely.

"Ok?"

"You brought me and Lin Jiade together, all for this moment, right?"

“Not entirely,” Hehuan said to you, “I am human, while you are of a different race.”

"I know."

“I’m a useless person, unable to cross the racial barrier, but he can, so I’m introducing him to you. I apologize for saying some bad things to you before I knew you.”

Those trivial matters, those arrogance and prejudices, have been forgotten, because you never cared about Hehuan before, so you could ignore whatever she said. But now, with Lin Jiade as the lubricant, Hehuan has become a permanent part of your life.

You grinned and said, "I forgive you, but if there's a next time, I'll definitely chase after you and beat you up."

Hehuan laughed, and the originally somber and heavy atmosphere was replaced by a lighthearted one. You knew very well who had changed the atmosphere.

After the routine procedure, you go back to the dreaded hospital for treatment to reverse the white dragon transformation in your body, followed by medication and rest.

The hospital has provided you with a private room with various recreational facilities, but you choose to reflect on your life since September 12th, from meeting in dreams to encountering in reality, from indifference and resistance to trust and openness—a transformation that can only be described as miraculous.

Lin Jiade's name lingers in your mind. Just silently reciting it makes your lips burn and your skin itch. You treat your pillow as him, wrapping it around your tail and binding it with your paws, rubbing your face against it, imagining what it would be like to hold him in your arms.

This is your love, where passion and desire are inseparable and transform into one another, and you are determined to tell Lin Jiade this, with words and actions.

On the morning of the 4th, Lin Jiade went to visit you. The moment you expressed your feelings, love seemed to be given a magical power, making you unable to control yourself.

After Hehuan coughed, you stopped, but not because of Hehuan's presence as an observer, but because you found the reflection of Dujuan in Lin Jiade's eyes.

You finally understand why Lin Jiade exudes an unsettling aura; you finally see clearly the figure behind the layers of mystery surrounding Lin Jiade.

Du Juan is the puppeteer who guides the puppets, the spider who weaves the web, and the arrogant and ruthless chess player. For the sake of your and Lin Jiade's happiness, you must do everything in your power to eliminate her.

However, you have already fallen into her trap.

An Outsider's Retrospective: Blood Taxes and Overtime

Today is an auspicious day for gacha pulls, as confirmed by the old almanac.

As usual, she first looked at her cryptocurrency wallet, where half a month's salary was held. Then, satisfied, she burned incense, changed her clothes, washed her face and rinsed her mouth, and chose the most auspicious place to draw a card.

As a result, she spent all the money in her digital wallet before she could get the card she wanted through a hard guarantee.

The "pay-to-win" mother was in a terrible mood. When her phone rang, she impatiently said "hello," but after being transferred to customer service, she immediately switched to a fawning tone—

"Hello, Section Chief, may I have the honor of doing something for you?"

A calm voice came through the receiver: "How's that uncertain factor being handled?"

The pay-to-win sow was immediately embarrassed: "The information was wrong. I shredded his body, but the curse that he had been suppressing by drinking water surged out and immediately reassembled his body into a blue-skinned alien woman."

This was so astonishing. I was all ready to make a cool move and deliver my prepared lines when the corpse turned back into a living person and ran away, and incredibly fast at that.

"Section Chief, you know that all the magic I possess for combat is below level one; I simply can't catch up."

"Your bonus will be reduced by 30%," the boss replied bluntly.

The pay-to-win sow panicked: "No way, Section Chief, I haven't done anything meritorious or hard-working. The big shots above are fighting amongst themselves. Some say they want to solve the potential threat of the Red Dragon's offspring to the Empire, some say they want to use the Red Dragon's offspring for experiments, and some say the Red Dragon's offspring should be absorbed into the empire."

I don't want to offend any of them. You know how long it took me to come up with a plan to fool everyone, picking out four mercenaries who seemed capable of completing the mission, but actually had a very low probability of success.

To ensure everything went perfectly, I personally joined the team to control the situation. Do you know how hard it was for me to blend in with those four self-righteous idiots and pretend to be on the same level as them?

To lure that psychic to me, I even sent him an anonymous email. He did come, but he completely ignored my figurines. After breaking them, he said something like, "They're just a few plastic figures. How old are you to still be playing with this?"

My blood pressure spiked right then and there. If it weren't for maintaining my persona, I would have killed him on the spot. Then I had to pretend to be hypnotized by that pathetic mind sorcerer, which was really awful.

I was the one initially assigned to participate, I was the one who painstakingly went undercover, I was the one who stayed behind to clean up the mess, and I was the one who wrote the report to put an end to the incident. I think I'm more suited to the nickname "overtime worker."

"That's why you get the other 70%. Also, I know what you'll do with this money, so I've invested your bonus in a financial product with a good annual interest rate."

Fuck! I just spent all the money in my digital wallet and still owe a bunch of app credits to pay off, all while waiting for my bonus. Your response is so nonchalant; I'll be surviving on compressed biscuits and water for the rest of the month!

After thinking for a moment, the pay-to-win sow realized that among the 100,000 master-level magic researchers in the empire who possessed first-class magic, her superior ranked around 1,000.

This means that if she utters that classic three-word insult, her boss can arrive from Brilliant City in just 16 hours and destroy all the game characters and items she has drawn in front of her.

So she held onto this grudge, placing it after the poison pool that had forced her to accept a guaranteed loss.

"What's the public opinion like in Fuxing City?" the boss asked.

"It's operating normally. The public is unaware of the experiments on the transformation of the dragon lineage. Neither the mercenaries nor the people on the Red Dragon's side have crossed any lines, so the cleanup work is quite easy."

Since her superior had asked about the aftermath, the "pay-to-win" mother simply answered everything in one go: "The two mercenaries who died, one was reported as having a sudden heart attack, and the other as having died from overwork."

The two who escaped were said by our celestial allies to have the Barbary Witch used for something else, and they assured us that she would not leak any information, so I have not yet deployed satellite weapons to eliminate the threat.

As for the psionicist, because he displayed unregistered abilities, he's still difficult to track down. However, as a registered magic researcher, he should be aware of the Empire's bottom line and practices, and know that this secret will only bring him death.

The superior said, "Since the Red Dragon isn't dead, let's stop the lineage conversion experiment targeting her. She's a precious Red Dragon, and those senile old folks at the Herald Academy actually wanted to use her for experiments..."