Love, Gun, Cupid

Gladiolus changed her attire; a cardigan and dress covered her body, and an apron was tied over them. Her long gray hair was tied up in a bun, swaying back and forth at her chest.

Good heavens, Gladiolus, you can't keep this hairstyle!

Gladiolus sports the dangerous hairstyle seen on the wives in the anime who are forced to die, but it has to be admitted that it's the hairstyle that best suits her temperament, making her look every bit the wife.

Perhaps, after absorbing the soul fragments, she took another step closer to her original self.

Lin Mengde took a deep breath and sat at the dining table with Jasmine, calmly waiting for his breakfast. Soon after, the breakfast flew to them, along with Gladiolus, who was wearing an apron.

"Does it look good? This is a set of loungewear I found from my memory."

The gladiolus twirled in front of him, its hem and apron fluttering together, white and pink overlapping, and then the gladiolus bloomed before his eyes.

He gave a thumbs-up and tried desperately to force a smile, trying to appear more mature. Unfortunately, his acting was poor; he was still the same simple-minded son of a landlord.

Sword Orchid smiled slightly, a doting smile that made Lin Jiade unable to look directly at her. He lowered his head to taste the food, having already prepared himself to sit on the toilet, since this was breakfast made by the lich, and the cooking skills of Azalea and Jasmine had aroused his prejudice against the cooking skills of other races.

Unexpectedly, the delicious taste spread through his mouth, causing him to speed up his eating and, disregarding his image, wolfed down his food.

Jasmine wasn't angry; she didn't eat as roughly as Lin Jiade, but she was just as quick. Looking at the two of them, Jianlan wore a satisfied expression.

After learning magic, Lin Jiade no longer worried about calories, and those who knew him felt he was thinner than the previous month. In fact, he had lost fat and gained muscle, so his weight had actually increased.

Ms. Jianlan must have been a person who loved life. Without putting in the effort and going through constant trial and error, her culinary skills could not have reached such a level. But she is already dead... Lin Jiade thought bitterly.

"Is it to your liking?" Gladiolus asked.

"Ah, um, it's delicious. You can tell that just by looking at the clean plates and soup bowls."

"Miss Dujuan told me that even if it doesn't taste good, you will force yourself to eat it."

Lin Jiade was beaming with delight: "Ah, so you guys have been talking about me."

“You are an important part of our lives right now, so of course I want to get to know you. Besides, I can’t help but worry about young people like you who are so careless about their lives, so I naturally have the desire to take care of you.”

Jianlan joked, "My age is still unknown. The reason I can't let you go might be because I have a child who is the same age as you."

Jasmine choked, coughing as she covered her mouth, looking at Jianlan with surprise. Lin Jiade dropped the spoon in his hand, leaning back strategically, his face filled with horror: "No, I consider the lady my comrade-in-arms, a partner to whom I give my complete trust, and my mentor on my path as a magic researcher."

I thought we were on the same page, and that you considered me a community member, a partner, and a disciple... but it turns out you want to be my mother?

I owe 64 chapters in total, have paid 14, and still owe 50.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Cao the Traitor

“I don’t deny that. I’ve observed that you, Miss Jasmine, and Miss Cuckoo are all people with poor life skills… To put it bluntly, you tend to get by in life.”

Gladiolus put one hand on her hip, leaned slightly forward, and brandished a ladle with the other hand to add momentum: "That's not good. Home is a warrior's rest and supply haven. If you don't manage your own life well, how can you be ready for tomorrow's battle?"

Do you want to end up like me, only yearning to appreciate the beauty of life after you've lost everything? By then, it will be too late for regrets.

“Indeed.” Jasmine nodded.

"It really is a ghost!"

Lin Jiade protested being downgraded from a member of the community of shared destiny to a son. Jianlan's lecturing reminded him of his mother, who would lecture him whenever their phone calls lasted more than five minutes.

Take care of yourself, don't stay up late, don't eat out, you should get a girlfriend... These are things my mom always brings up repeatedly, but he just lets them go in one ear and out the other.

Lin Jiade recalled the fear of being lectured by the older generation. He used the excuse of cleaning the dishes to escape the lecture, but Jianlan took the dishes back to the kitchen first, and Jasmine went to the balcony.

“This is also how I train myself,” Jianlan said. “The magic I master emphasizes the details of energy manipulation. Although I have no physical form, I can use energy to interfere with things in reality.”

Another rehabilitation session?

Jasmine has difficulty walking, and Lin Jiade can offer some advice and provide daily care, but when it comes to magic, he is completely unhelpful.

"Stop looking, you little pervert. He treats you like a son, he has no other intentions."

As Du Juan's voice rang out behind him, her finger poked Lin Jiade's shoulder. Lin Jiade turned around, just as Du Juan was about to lean over the edge of the sofa. Their faces met, and they both leaned back to avoid each other.

"Miss Dujuan, what about you?" Lin Jiade, who had been inexplicably demoted, asked dejectedly, "What do you take me for now?"

"It's U-Love-Me."

"To hold me in the palm of your hand?"

"No, it means I'll discard you after sucking out the last drop. So, you need to keep your upward momentum, keep yourself full of energy, that's how you keep me here."

Du Juan's fingers wandered over Lin Jiade's shoulder and collarbone. Lin Jiade shivered. Du Juan's fingers were cool and smooth, but the skin she touched felt hot.

He reached out to grab Dujuan's fingers, wanting to study the mystery of the dual nature of ice and fire. Just as he was about to grasp them, Dujuan pulled her fingers away and laughed, "Do you really want to touch my hand that much?"

Yes, if you and Gladiolus can become husband and wife, this hand will accompany you in doing whatever you like.

Lin Jiade was overjoyed: "Play football with me? I think you've got the makings of a goalkeeper!"

"Are you sure? The physical difference between us is enough to make you hate football."

"Never mind then." Lin Jiade said listlessly. "Besides, do you think Ms. Jianlan and I look like a couple?"

"Could they be a mother and child?"

“Of course not, my parents are alive and well, I don’t need to find another one,” Lin Jiade said. “It would be a lie to say that I have no interest in her, but there are just too many obstacles between us.”

As her soul continues to coalesce, she will gradually return to her familiar self; she will reshape her body and return to the life she deserves. But to me, she will gradually become a stranger.

If I were to truly love her, I might end up falling in love with a non-existent person, or a foolish illusion.

Furthermore, I cannot betray Jasmine, nor can I cause Lady Sword Orchid to betray her own family. To lay a hand on a married woman—how would that be any different from the traitor Cao Cao?

"Living with all the constraints of the world is exhausting. Lin Jiade, you're only 19. Why not examine yourself, listen to your true desires, and then put them into practice? You'll find that you will become the happiest person in the world."

Lin Jiade replied solemnly, "There are boundaries on the football field, rules in football, and human actions should also be within those boundaries and rules."

Azalea drew chibi-style gladiolus figures in the air, filled with pink. Her lips parted, sending out a gentle breeze that carried the gladiolus into Lin Jiade's heart.

Lin Jiade suddenly remembered the desire that the creatures from the Mirror Realm had projected onto him for the sword orchid, and his body involuntarily reacted.

Du Juan laughed, "In the middle of last month, you were just as serious when you talked to me about jasmine. And then, hmm?"

Lin Jiade was extremely embarrassed: "This... Jasmine's situation is different."

"In my opinion, they are all the same. If your self-control loses to desire once, then you are destined to keep losing, because self-control is a loss, while indulgence is a gain, and humans always seek advantage and avoid harm."

Du Juan reached out and grabbed Lin Jiade. In just a second, she transformed into a sword orchid, a tangible and gentle maternal lady.

With Lin Jiade as her support, she leaned forward, her fitted sleeveless black dress outlining her good figure, exuding a mature aura unlike that of Du Juan and Jasmine.

She looked at Lin Jiade, her smile full of encouragement and warmth, and gently pulled him towards her. Lin Jiade's face flushed red, and only a narrow gap remained between their figures.

Just as he could catch a glimpse of her alluring red lips when he looked down, the fickle woman put on a mocking smile, suddenly pushed him away, and reverted to her original self.

Lin Jiade sat in the chair in a daze, feeling as if he had fallen from heaven to hell. He pressed his chest and said to Du Juan with a wry smile, "Don't tease me, it's bad for your heart."

"I just want you to understand that you can't resist temptation."

Gladiolus, who was washing the dishes, looked up blankly, and Lin Jiade's chaotic thoughts were transmitted to her through the will link.

From her angle, she could only see Lin Jiade's broad back, and she guessed that Lin Jiade was talking to Du Juan. Suddenly, Du Juan grabbed Lin Jiade's arm and pulled him closer, and Lin Jiade's confusion reached its peak.

Did Azalea cheat on Jasmine with Lin Jiade? Gladiolus made the most reasonable deduction based on the available information.

Gladiolus didn't want to get involved in their complicated relationship, but their open flirting made her, an outsider, somewhat uncomfortable. Neither Jasmine nor Cuckoo seemed to care about morality, so she might be forced to witness many provocative scenes.

"Sigh, young people just love to do ridiculous things," she muttered.

She waited a while longer, watching how Cupid would toy with the young man's heart, making him unable to resist. She felt sorry for Jasmine for a few seconds, and then for Lin Jiade.

It wasn't until 9:30, when Lin Jiade left the living room to go to school, that she pretended to be completely unaware and walked through the wall into the living room.

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Kapok Squad

Meanwhile, two ZiXia SUVs were parked in the exclusive activity area of ​​the Baiyun Charity Association. The magical light covered the surface of the vehicles, making them invisible to people.

Kapok stood at the entrance, welcoming her teammates who were heading to the Mirror Realm to carry out their mission. These were the strongest mercenaries that the whale-money-grubbing mother had carefully selected and trusted, and who could be found in Region 18.

The mercenaries who arrived by car brought equipment and supplies. All the equipment was stripped of its markings. In accordance with the technology blockade regulations, those equipment that were considered easy to analyze and superior to those from outside the domain were replaced with civilian versions (for registered magic researchers outside the system; ordinary people are not considered civilians).

In short, the Empire distanced itself from the matter publicly, but in reality, they provided the best civilian equipment to Kapok's team, and the various teams responsible for intelligence analysis, item identification, handling of hazardous materials, and medical care were already in place in Fuxing City.

Before Kapok could even give her opening remarks, she transformed into a porter, carrying the supplies she had brought with her and the three who got off the bus into the martial arts classroom—the team's assembly point. Here, they would be sucked into the Mirror Realm and spat out by it, repeating the Black Expedition until the mission was completed.

The tall (2.1 meters) minotaur and the equally tall elf (2 meters) both bumped into the door frame as they entered, while the human boy at the back watched with a smile as his two temporary teammates suffered a setback.

"Don't you humans know to build doors a little higher?"

Miss Elf covered her forehead and complained. Her long, sea-blue hair was parted into two strands. She reached out to Kapok and introduced herself: "My registered name is Yuki. I am twenty-six years old this year. My role is archer. I am good at archery and wind element magic."

Because humans used to have a tradition of giving diamond fairies as wedding gifts, Mian couldn't help but glance at Yuki a few more times. However, Yuki wasn't one of those diamond fairies who were all handsome men and beautiful women and sexually frigid; rather, she was a water diamond fairy who had long been assimilated by humans.

Diamond sprites are hybrids of humans and diamond sprites. Before the "Liberation of Diamond Sprites Act" came into effect, a diamond sprite would have to endure the cruel baptism of ten generations of men and women in a family, playing the roles of grandmother, mother and wife, or grandfather, father and husband.

As a result, this cruel and twisted relationship gave birth to a large number of elf hybrids. However, because the bloodline of diamond elves is more dominant, after nine generations of backcrossing, the proportion of human genes in elf hybrids is only 4%.

However, this 4% of genes tainted the Diamond Elves, making them, who were originally perfect, suffer from various defects like humans, such as depression, diabetes, and high blood pressure, which are diseases that Diamond Elves do not have, but are manifested in their hybrid offspring.

Therefore, people, with regret and contempt, call elf hybrids "diamond elves".

Although Yuki is an elf with pointed ears and a height far exceeding the average human female, her appearance and figure are similar to those of humans, making her seem very ordinary.

Her weapon is a complex modern compound bow with eccentric wheels at both ends as its core. It weighs 2.5kg (the traditional Diamond Elf longbow weighs only about 0.5kg). It needs to be launched by hooking the D-ring on the string with a release device. It has a slow rate of fire, but is extremely powerful and accurate.

According to a traditional diamond elf archer, the diamond elves are firing expensive short spears from expensive bows.

This is true. Yuki's arrows are longer and heavier. Both the back of Yuki's bow and the shafts of the arrows in the quiver are engraved with magic, which enriches the tactics of the rhinestone archer and allows her to provide stable output even under complex conditions.

And you can feel the energy fluctuations on her gloves, boots and functional coat—piling different spells on each piece of clothing to give yourself more abilities is a common practice among ordinary people.

After a polite handshake with Yuki, Kapok stepped aside, and the more imposing Minotaur stepped aside. The Minotaur wore Milanese-style plate armor, but the protective material was composite material rather than steel, leaving only his head exposed.

Before the minotaur spoke, the people in the room could not tell its gender from its appearance.

“My registered name is Arcrus, I am from the Bloodhoof tribe, I am 25 years old, and I am a priest.”

Arcturus's voice indicated that she was a female minotaur. Kapok's gaze fell on the totem pole behind her, and she asked, "Is this your spellcasting tool?"

"Yes, this is a rocket launcher modified using my tribe's technology. It can fire various types of gunpowder magic. However, I don't use it to cast healing spells."

"Then how will you perform it?" Yuki asked curiously.

"I need a wounded player."

The short boy who appeared last whistled, pulled out a folding knife, and slashed a bloody gash on his arm, maintaining a nonchalant expression on his face.

Arcturus walked over, scooped up the short boy, hugged him, and chanted a spell. The short boy's wound healed in just two seconds.

“Contact spellcasting,” the boy said. “I thought I only saw this in textbooks.”