Love, Gun, Cupid

The cuckoo transformed into another gladiolus, using her energy to pull back the covers, yet her inner self remained unchanged. She extended a finger, and chains connected her, Lin Jiade, and the gladiolus.

Gladiolus stared at the chains that had seeped into her soul and said, "Is this your contract with him? Did he sign it knowing its contents?"

Dujuan did not answer; her fingers slid along the chains. Then, in the dream, Lin Jiade turned around and embraced Dujuan, causing Jianlan's soul to tremble.

“It’s empathy,” Du Juan explained. “Now, our senses are synchronized. When Lin Jiade hugs me, it’s just like when he hugs you right now. Doesn’t it feel warm and reassuring?”

"No!"

Du Juan laughed and said, "According to your own words, you call yourself his guardian and love him like a child. Does contact with a child give you pleasure?"

"I don't!"

Du Juan lifted the blanket and manipulated Lin Jiade's hand to rise, about to place it on the inside of his thigh. A look of fear appeared on Jianlan's face, while the fear of the undead filled Du Juan's eyes with joy.

"Alright, that's enough for now. If you interfere with my plans again, I'll make you and Jasmine experience firsthand how Lin Jiade treats his girlfriend, and how happy Jasmine is."

“…Okay, I promise you,” Jianlan said softly.

The cuckoo disappeared, and the gladiolus covered Lin Jiade with the blanket again. Beside his pillow and bedside, there were also imprints left by another "self".

As Gladiolus imagined herself lying there, her head resting on a broad chest, surrounded by a pair of strong arms, a sense of security surged through her body like a warm current.

She had to use immense willpower to suppress her desire to crawl into Lin Jiade's bed.

Gladiolus turned back in distress and saw the figure who had been disturbing her heart having some happy dream again, making humming noises. She couldn't help but take her anger out on him, floated in front of him, and poked him with energy, leaving a shallow vortex on his face.

"It's all your fault...you made me lose my composure, you little pervert!"

As Jianlan poked and poked, she laughed at herself.

I owe 69 chapters in total, have paid 22, and still owe 47.

Chapter Sixty-One Examination

Under the oracle of the cuckoo, Lin Jiade was completely unaware of the struggle between his dream and reality, and simply slept until the afternoon.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Du Juan beside him, the delicate notes left by Jian Lan on the table, and Jasmine wearing an apron and listening to Jian Lan's instructions in the kitchen. His eyes welled up with tears.

At that moment, he genuinely believed that he was the happiest person in the world.

Lin Jiade opened his phone, and Kapok's avatar popped up in the chat app, prompting him to check the phone that had been used to assign tasks.

Lin Jiade thought the phone was terrible. It had no other functions besides sending and receiving messages from friendly forces and sharing maps... Oh, and it also had the functions of removing beauty filters, restoring the real image, and self-destruction.

Kapok sent the meeting minutes of the six team leaders. Lao Can, the leader of the 15th District team, was recommended as the overall person in charge of the six teams because of his semi-official status.

Lao Can first coordinated everyone's interests, addressed potential conflicts between teams in advance, and agreed on three rules.

He then decided to start from Robinson Town and, according to the map, divided the town into six areas, with each area to be managed by a small team. If there were not enough people, some local residents could be recruited.

"Lao Can didn't say it explicitly, but we all understood that he would direct us to forcibly take over Robinson Town, eliminate all hidden dangers, and make it a safe and reliable stronghold."

Meanwhile, the side quests proposed by the relevant departments of the Empire also need to be completed while taking over the town.

"Get ready, Lin Jiade, we're going to have a battle tonight."

After reading the message added by Kapok, Lin Jiade sighed. He turned to Cupid, explaining that the Empire's celestial allies were exempt from the secrecy regulations, so he could legally discuss the matter with Azalea.

He said worriedly, "It feels bad to be the invaders, and we only have thirty people to suppress a town of two thousand people, plus other unregistered magic researchers staying in the town..."

Du Juan leaned over and sat on the edge of the bed, her arm pressed against Lin Jiade's arm, their cheeks only showing a slit in an ambiguous way, and some playful strands of hair brushing against Lin Jiade's shoulder and back.

Lin Jiade glanced at her without showing any emotion, then moved slightly away, feeling his cheeks burning. Even after looking at her for so long, he still couldn't process the impact of Du Juan's beauty on his soul.

Du Juan smiled gently and pointed to the avatars of the team members on Lin Jiade's phone screen, saying, "There's no need to worry about that. There are a few interesting people mixed in with the teams from other regions."

"Interesting?"

"Well, for example, the head of the department, Lao Can, is a highly skilled doctor. People know that he has connections with officials within the system, but they don't know which department he actually works for. Therefore, some people suspect that he works for a secret service agency;

For example, Tang Ao from District 16 is one of the few ascendants from the Xiaopenglai Mountain lineage who is active in the mortal world. The magic system of Xiaopenglai Mountain is not good at fighting and is based on mirrors, flowers and fate. You can pay more attention to his abilities.

Cyrus Smith of District 17 is a military engineer. He and his team have participated in the war between the Empire and alien civilizations. In terms of combat experience, he is the most experienced among the six squads.

I don't know about Districts 19 and 20, but I imagine they must have some extraordinary abilities.

Your Kapok is the strongest non-governmental magic researcher in District 18, but it may not be able to gain an advantage against elites from other districts who are outside the system.

I think the reason Kapok introduced you that way was both to elevate your status and, by elevating your status, to elevate its own.

"If someone can be ordered around at will by our dear candidate dragon knight, then others will not look down on you, Senior Kapok."

"What 'your Kapok senior'? We're not in that kind of relationship." Lin Jiade waved his hand. "Forget about the candidate dragon knight, there really isn't one."

Du Juan smiled and left. Lin Jiade glanced at the new thunder spell recipe written by Jianlan. The ingredients were mostly spicy, which wasn't a problem; he could just drink more water. However, there were two particularly absurd requirements in the thunder spell—

His first task was to capture sound and video of lightning and thunder on a stormy night.

Secondly, he wanted to use a special container to store the lightning that struck down.

These two items are necessary conditions for the Lightning Spell 2.0 version, but it's October now, how could Fuxing City possibly have another thunderstorm?

He had intended to ask, but then he caught a glimpse of the textbook out of the corner of his eye, flinched, and called his best friend.

"What's up?" his good friend asked.

When is our Mathematics Analysis III exam?

"It's 5:30 PM, and it ends at 7:00 PM. You're not saying you forgot, are you?"

I haven't forgotten, but I've got the time wrong!

In the midst of the chaos, Lin Jiade assumed the first midterm exam was on the evening of October 29th and made a study plan based on that. Currently, he still has two days' worth of material to review.

“Help!” he said.

"Brother, do you think any of us who cram at the last minute have the ability to carry others? We've always been the ones who fill the 'easy points' pool of 60 to 80 points, haven't we?"

When Lin Jiade hung up the phone and walked into the living room, the scene had transformed into Munch's famous oil painting, "The Scream."

Gladiolus and Jasmine, the newly formed master and apprentice duo, were eagerly anticipating Lin Jiade's enjoyment of the dishes they had poured their hearts into. Upon seeing his expression, they asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

"I failed my first midterm exam."

"I remember your final exams were the main event?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes, but I was hoping to get more points on the midterm exam so that the final exam would be easier..."

Gladiolus pointed to herself: "Although it's unethical, if your need is urgent, I can take a look for you..."

Lin Jiade hurriedly waved his hand: "My goodness, ma'am, you can't plagiarize like this. There's no point in trying to exploit such a loophole."

He was so anxious and stressed that he would cram for exams while eating, and even the most delicious food tasted the same to him.

Jasmine watched longingly as Lin Jiade finished eating but didn't offer a single word of comment on her hard work, which made her feel somewhat wronged.

Sword Orchid stretched out her leg; her body was invisible, yet her energy inflicted pain on Lin Jiade, causing him to let out a "Ouch!"

"Don't you think you've forgotten something?" she said, arms crossed. "Those who have silently supported you deserve your thanks."

"Oh, Jasmine, I'm sorry."

Lin Jiade hurriedly went over and hugged Jasmine. Jasmine nudged him, then hugged him tightly again and whispered, "Does it suit your taste?"

Gladiolus quickly wrote a line on the paper. After Lin Jiade saw it, he said to Jasmine, "Not bad, not bad, uh, a little salty. Use less salt next time."

"Oh, I see."

Chapter Sixty-Two Civilian Weapons

Lin Jiade entered the examination room with a frown, but came out with confidence on his face. His biggest worry was the few classes he had missed, but fortunately, the exam did not cover any of the topics from those classes.

Half an hour early, he finished the test, checked it to make sure there were no blanks, confidently handed it in, glanced at his good friends who were still scratching their heads, smiled slightly, grabbed his schoolbag and ran away.

In exams, nothing is more satisfying than finishing your paper and watching others still wearing pained masks while answering questions.

He went to the martial arts classroom and ate the high-calorie rations issued by the Empire. The food was good in every way, except it wasn't very palatable. A short while later, Kapok came in and relayed almost exactly what Azalea had told him.

The allied forces have no shortage of powerful figures who can improve Lin Jiade's safety in the Mirror Realm, while also reducing his chances of obtaining soul fragments.

He still hadn't given up on keeping Gladiolus in his life, and in the face of this situation, he even felt a bit of despicable smugness.

As long as the erroneous secret the Empire is searching for is not Gladiolus himself, then on a personal level, it's as if he participated in a game activity, earning "reward characters," "points," and "experience," and using these to upgrade his magic, bringing him one step closer to the title of junior magic researcher.

Cupid had examined Gladiolus's spirit and found that, at least the Gladiolus woman before Lin Jiade was not hiding any dangerous secrets. In other words, the trouble would not come from Gladiolus herself, but rather from her other soul fragments.

"Lin Jiade, how are your football skills?" Mu Mian suddenly asked.

Lin Jiade thought for a moment and said, "With my current physical abilities, I'm a soccer prodigy!"

Speak like a human.

"Do you remember last year's biology department's top basketball player?"

Kapok nodded: "Our Chinese department was the first to encounter the biology department, and we were defeated 18-0."

"Right now, I can outmaneuver the biological sciences' basketball king for the entire game, making sure he can't even touch the ball!"

This isn't Lin Jiade bragging. In the modern development of football, technique and physique are equally important. Tactical understanding and execution, quick ball distribution, high-intensity sprinting, total running distance, physical confrontation, and maintaining technique under pressure are the standards for measuring a player's excellence.

Lin Jiade's technique is still a bit lacking, but his physical fitness is amazing (compared to ordinary people), enough to make him the shortest between the two points... ptooey, ptooey, that's a bit unlucky, he doesn't want his soleus muscle to keep getting injured.

“That’s good,” Kapok said. “For today’s town sweep, the logistics team provided us with a lot of civilian weapons, and I just happened to see one on the list that would be perfect for you.”

When Mumu pulled out her belt, Lin Jiade thought his senior wanted him to become a Kamen Rider, but when Mumu then pulled out her rattling sneakers, he realized it was a tribute to Edogawa Minami.

Kapok explained awkwardly, "The Empire has many equipment research labs. In order to become famous, gain more attention, and thus get more budget, the smaller research labs often make weapons that are usable but seem strange to people."

There's a research lab in Fuxing City that gains fame by recreating weapons from animated films.

"Such unrestrained behavior... the consequences won't be good."

Kapok nodded: "They had already disbanded in July, and the equipment that had been prototyped was also sealed up."

The reason for the disbandment was that they had submitted a bid for the Imperial military's next-generation urban security mech design, referencing the Gundam's shape, but lost to the Spider-Type mech design. Unable to accept this, the laboratory was disbanded.

Lin Jiade's blood pressure immediately spiked upon hearing this. After watching many cool mechas in animated films, the idea that mechas were essentially humanoids had become common knowledge to him.

"What's that spider-shaped mech? Even a dog wouldn't fly it. Lin Dianci is a man of his word!"

Looking at the belt and the charged sneakers, Lin Jiade suddenly realized why the Empire was so generous. It turned out they wanted to get rid of the two-dimensional realistic weapons they didn't like, and these strange things had absolutely nothing to do with the Empire's standard equipment.

Lin Jiade lowered his voice and asked, "Senior Mumian, what did you take?"

Mu Mian happily replied, "I took Li Xiaolang's sword as a spare weapon. It has one spell each for fire, thunder, wind, and water. When used, it also has the original lines 'Summon the God of Fire,' 'Summon the Emperor of Thunder,' 'Summon the God of Wind,' and 'Summon the God of Water.'"

I also gave Li Xiaolang's feng shui compass to Hehuan.