Love, Gun, Cupid

Kapok is indifferent to everything and has little interest in the mission reward, namely the "possibility of returning to Brilliant City." If someone could truly understand the Tight-Suited Monster and change the reward to a fourteen-day trip for two to the Western Provinces with Lin Jiade, Kapok might suddenly become enthusiastic.

Kapok didn't urge her subordinates on, but the three mercenaries in the group were in high spirits, vowing to be the first team to enter the town. Their group also valued reputation, as it was a factor considered when the Empire issued outsourced missions.

Like Mu Mian, Lin Jiade was indifferent to the competition for time. His backpack was filled with textbooks and draft paper for his major courses. He would walk at the front as a scout when traveling and use his breaks to review the key points highlighted by his teachers.

Yuki glanced at the textbook, then quickly looked away: "Wow, I'm reminded of the fear of being dominated by advanced mathematics. You're still a student? How old are you?"

“19 years old,” Lin Jiade replied.

“But you’ve already become a magic researcher, why do you still care about grades? I heard that magic researchers are all guaranteed admission to university, and they are assigned jobs and housing. The only restrictions are on marriage; they can’t date ordinary people,” Arcturus said enviously.

There are a total of 69 chapters owed, of which 19 have been paid, leaving 50 chapters to be paid.

I recommend a book, "Offering You the Crystal Sword," a pure love story with a lighthearted tone. It's a completed work, so the author's integrity is guaranteed.

Chapter 52 Asuka XI

Lin Jiade asked curiously, "That's a perk enjoyed by magic researchers within the system. We're just outsiders. Those who know, know."

But why can't I date ordinary people?

Starfish explained: "The differences in values, the different paces of life, and the secrecy regulations create a great gap between magic researchers and ordinary people, resulting in a high divorce rate."

Furthermore, the physical conditions of the two parties are different, and there have been tragic cases of ordinary people's spouses dying in bed.

Finally, it is difficult for the two to have offspring. If an ordinary male is paired with a female magic researcher, even if the husband is healthy, it is very difficult for the wife to get pregnant.

However, if a male magic researcher is paired with an ordinary female, the wife often suffers a miscarriage or dies in childbirth.

Therefore, the empire simply stipulated that magic researchers could not marry ordinary people. Of course, I'm referring to marriages protected by law.

The Empire doesn't care if magic researchers have affairs outside the marriage. The number of actual spouses a magic researcher can have depends solely on their strength, status, and views on marriage.

People like me, who are unlikely to have offspring, are frequently given hints by people in relevant departments.

"Relevant departments? Implying something?"

"The Planning Section of the Special Statistics Bureau is second only to the Magic Registrar Section in power within this organization. One of their tasks is to use knowledge of eugenics, along with information gathering by magic researchers, sorcerers, and divine protectors, to match unmarried men and women with extraordinary powers."

Although not mandatory, most people with extraordinary powers will sacrifice a considerable amount of things in pursuit of even greater power, while the sacrifices made in marriage are insignificant.

For example, our team leader, Kapok, is a product of eugenics. I heard that the team leader's parents had only met once before getting married, and the reason for their marriage was that they could produce outstanding offspring who would inherit the talents of both parents.

It seems something unexpected happened, so the captain came here. You and the captain are close; do you know anything about his situation?

Lin Jiade looked warily at the Star Flying Fish, who was subtly inquiring about the Kapok tree, and shook his head: "I don't know."

"By the way, why do you study so hard?" Yuki asked.

Lin Jiade's expression softened: "I want my girlfriend to be proud of me. I want to be a role model and encourage her to study hard. She wants to go to the same university as me."

"what?"

"Ok?"

The two surprised exclamations came from Yuki and Arcturus. Lin Jiade said inexplicably, "There's no need to be so surprised. Isn't it normal for us to talk about feelings at our age?"

Yuki waved her hand: "No, I just felt uncomfortable being suddenly shown up like this. It's great, though. The innocent and pure love of students is all positive."

Unlike my ex-boyfriend, who was arrogant, ordinary, petty, average-looking, and poor. I dumped him in a fit of anger, and I took this job to clear my head.

At first, I was quite happy because I thought the whole team was single, but then you, this little traitor, showed up.

“I just hope my partner will treat me well,” Arcturus said cautiously. “He’s a good guy, but he was recently scammed by a succubus who demanded money from me and beat me up if I didn’t give it to her.”

"Scumbag!" Yuki said through gritted teeth. "Your boyfriend is hopeless after meeting a succubus. This race's methods of seducing people are textbook-level. You, the original owner, have become the victim who is paying for your boyfriend and his mistress."

Arcturus revealed a foolishness that didn't match her appearance: "But I really love my boyfriend. Maybe, maybe after I risk going back this time, he'll change his mind."

“So you guys have relationship problems too,” Starfish laughed. “I also have my own relationship troubles, which is finding someone who can accept me. However, I’m afraid only slimes can accept my weapon.”

Yuki and Arcturus ended the topic with some disgust, leaving Lin Jiade confused.

Thus, the young man learned that the love of magic researchers is not only filled with happy memories, but also with hatred, pain, hurt, unrequited love, and even marriage without love, to produce offspring full of calculated interests.

He looked at Kapok with pity. Kapok did not participate in their chatter. One can imagine what kind of childhood and growth Kapok experienced in a loveless family.

He felt a dull ache in his heart. Jianlan's skirt peeked into his field of vision, and he looked up to meet her face.

In the fragments of her memories, Gladys's time as a wife was filled with happy moments. It seems that she married the man she loved and had children with him.

Lin Jiade had some aspirations for Jianlan. He hoped that in the future, after he married Jasmine, Jasmine could be like Jianlan, able to cook comforting meals, manage the household, and happily pat her growing belly, becoming a good wife and a good mother.

Jianlan looked at him calmly, silent as a statue. In the presence of outsiders, the two were destined not to communicate, but she could sense his longing, and she rejoiced for his longing. At least for this moment, Lin Jiade was the vaguely remembered family member.

“Alright, we should get going,” said Kapok. “We need to reach our destination before tonight.”

17 kilometers may not sound like a long distance, but that's just the straight-line distance marked on the map. Along this road, several mountains made up of Mirror Realm creatures block the way.

Yuki initially wanted to risk going through, but when Lin Jiade activated his Soul Flame vision and pointed out that there were mirror world creatures transformed from diamond fairies, Yuki chickened out.

They had to take a detour, and after six hours of Imperial Standard Time, they finally saw the town's dark silhouette in the observation equipment.

The townspeople were completely unaware of these outsiders. They formed several teams to carry out tasks such as collecting materials and building structures near the town. However, they were not very enthusiastic about their work and spent half of their time slacking off.

What's even stranger is the appearance of these townspeople. Lin Jiade couldn't even describe their race because both their appearance and their soul color highlighted a sense of hybridity and patchwork, something he couldn't find in his database.

He recounted his findings to his companions, and Kapok speculated: "Although there is a constant influx of illegal immigrants to replenish the population, and the town's residents can also have offspring, the total population of carbon-based intelligent life in the Mirror Realm is limited, and the settlement environment is relatively closed, so interspecies mating can easily become the norm."

As mixed-race individuals continue to intermarry, it's no wonder that the town's residents have such unsightly appearances.

Chapter 53 Asuka XII

These bizarre creatures immediately put the team on high alert. Yuki, Starfish, and Arcturus unloaded their backpacks, assembled the parts, and soon a drone was assembled. Yuki piloted it into the air, activated the invisibility spell, and cautiously scouted the vicinity of the town.

Lin Jiade opened the tactical app to watch the live broadcast. From the bird's-eye view, the small town settlement, though small, was fully functional. They had their own north-south railway, and the highway divided the town into four areas: a planting area, a residential area, an industrial area, and an area whose purpose was unclear.

“Wow, if we get closer and take a picture, some of the theories of biology might be overturned,” Yuki said. “Should we lower the drone a bit to take the picture?”

Arcturus said, "I think there might be a moving bounty in here."

“The premise is that we are alive to take it,” Star Flying Fish counted the number. “At this scale, if we assume an occupancy rate of two-thirds, the town must have a population of over two thousand. We only have five people on our side, so we are very likely to become their bounty.”

Just as the Empire offered bounties to wanderers, wanderers outside the Empire's system also offered bounties to members of the Empire.

However, the most valuable kapok tree right now has a bounty of only 5 dinars, which isn't even enough to buy a 50-square-meter suburban studio apartment (5.3 dinars), but it's equivalent to three years' worth of the average salary in Fuxing City (1650 dinars/month).

"Captain, are you sure we have the ability to ensure that the town's residents can negotiate peacefully with us?" Lin Jiade asked.

“Based on the basic energy scanner analysis from the drone, the average energy intensity of the town’s residents is not high. No magic researchers wearing standard equipment were found, and the militiamen are also lacking in training; they are even using bronze crossbows from the early feudal era,” Kapok replied.

“Ah, a small number of well-equipped outsiders observing a large number of poorly equipped natives… Something feels off about this operation,” Lin Jiade muttered.

Unfortunately, the other veterans in the group were utterly immoral. Upon hearing that the townspeople were all weaklings, they were already mentally simulating various scenarios involving the use of force.

Kapok added, "In addition, there are optional side quests. The Biological Research Institute is very interested in the intelligent carbon-based life forms in the Mirror Realm, while the Alien Humanities Research Institute wants to explore their ethnic culture in order to verify certain hypotheses."

The Immigration Bureau hopes to have more species, or more precisely, races that inherit any kind of magic, witchcraft, or oracle, join the Imperial family—the more supernatural powers the Empire controls, the fewer supernatural powers will oppose the Empire.

Of course, these are all optional tasks. The official organizations that issued the tasks did not expect us to accomplish anything; they only needed us to convey our intentions and act as intermediaries.

Personally, I don't care whether or not you do side quests, but I respect your choice.

The team completed the vote in just half a minute. The three mercenaries voted in favor, while Mumian and Lin Jiade, who had no interest in the mission, abstained. As a result, the team decided to take on as many side missions as possible.

“I understand the logic,” Arcturus said. “Would the townspeople be willing to accept the immigration bureau’s offer and run off to another planet?”

Yuki chuckled sarcastically: "Some of them even smuggled themselves out of the Empire. Wouldn't going back now be a slap in their own face? I think this will be very difficult to accomplish."

“I think they have reasons to migrate,” Lin Jiade said. “The Mirror Realm creatures expanded slowly, starting as forests, then mountains, and finally the entire surface of the planet.”

If we can't resist the allure of the Mirror Realm creatures, then for the residents of this town, it means watching helplessly as they expand, gradually shrinking their living space and driving them to the brink of despair.

Therefore, our appearance might be a sudden lifeline, leaving them with no choice but to believe.

Mu Mian gave Lin Jiade an approving look and added, "From a rational perspective, the success rate of negotiating with the town's residents is very high, but we still have to be wary."

Reality itself is surreal; in such a closed and desperate environment, none of us know what the mental state of the town's residents is like.

"Grab one alive and ask him?" Arcturus asked.

“No, the area is well-viewed and has rock-structured towers,” Kapok said. “I prefer to go directly into the town and negotiate peacefully.”

The higher-ups gave me a way to save my life, but I don't want to use it until the very last moment... It's a destructive force.

Lin Jiade was not afraid from the beginning. Du Juan's chains could transcend the will of the Mirror Realm and pull him back at any time. He was more worried about Mu Mian and his lovely and reliable teammates.

After Yuki surveyed the entire town, she retrieved the drone. The imperial emblem that was originally engraved on the wings had been scraped off, leaving only uneven scratches.

Then, they destroyed the drone, beyond repair, leaving it nothing but scrap metal. They had to do this before they could ensure the town could be a reliable starting point.

The "Technology Blockade Regulations" hold an equal importance to the "Principle of Secrecy of Extraordinary Powers." Before making contact with otherworldly civilization settlements, members of the Empire should ensure, as far as possible, that items and tools that are technologically superior to those of the current settlements are not at risk of being obtained and analyzed by the other side.

"Judging from the level of development of that civilization, we are probably ahead of them in every piece of equipment we carry. Should we destroy them all?" Lin Jiade asked.

Mu Mian explained, "You don't need to worry about that. All our equipment is equipped with self-destruct spells. The spells will activate five minutes after we lose vital signs."

So I'm a suicide bomber?!

Lin Jiade had an immunity from death, so he didn't want to make a fuss about this. After all his concerns were put aside, the five-person team walked along the cement road towards the town. This road was the lifeline of the town, and every so often, a group of town militiamen patrolled and guarded it. There were also towers built nearby, where some larger caliber weapons were deployed.

Just like the townspeople, the militiamen's weaponry was remarkably haphazard, ranging from primitive spears and broadswords to Mannlicher M1895 rifles, from bronze cannons to 77mm field guns...

Naturally, the mainstream weapons were cold weapons. In the early modern period, firearms were scarce and were carried by militia members who were relatively better dressed and had a better mental outlook.

Thanks to my good buddies for chatting, Lin Jiade's erudite but superficial knowledge allowed him to identify some equipment, but he was powerless to help with more DIY equipment.

Chapter 54 Asuka XIII (Bonus Chapter)

When the patrolling militiamen saw Kapok and her group, they were cautious and wary. They shouted to contact other teams and friendly forces on the tower, but showed no panic. It seemed that they had already made contact with the wanderers.

"Welcome to Robinson Town, travelers from another world."

A militia leader stepped forward and greeted them in heavily accented Imperial Standard.

Kapok asked, "Aren't we in the first batch?"

"Recently, many guests from other worlds have visited us, breaking our monotonous lives. We hope you will also experience exciting new things."

The militia leader's expression turned somewhat strange as he finished speaking. He hesitated, then sighed and turned to make a welcoming gesture.

Kapok became suspicious, but the man in the tight-fitting suit had no intention of starting a conflict. Following the leader's instructions, they walked into Robinson Town—a small town named after the mayor, Robinson.

There are several fortifications on the outskirts of Robinson Town, still covered with bits of flesh and black blood. There is a wooden wall around the town, not for defense, but to hang corpses, which sway whenever the wind blows.

Lin Jiade frowned in disgust, feeling uneasy about the town's dark order. He could feel the curious, envious, and greedy eyes of the townspeople looking at the outsider entering the town, which made him unconsciously reach into his pocket and grip the butt of his gun.

Soon, the town's administrator, a man who called himself Friday, greeted Kapok and her party. He was strong and hairy, but his clothes looked very elegant compared to the town's residents, and he spoke fluent Imperial Standard.