Love, Gun, Cupid

"Senior, you actually like Li Xiaolang, not Daidouji Tomoyo, right?" Lin Jiade thought.

Along with the belt and energy-charging shoes came an instruction manual, which explained how to use the shoes in a way that even a small person could understand in just half an hour.

After Lin Jiade put it on, Mu Mian examined it and said, "The product is not bad. The various research labs in the Empire may not be very proper, but the materials they use are of the highest quality."

The only drawback is that the research lab went bankrupt, and the contract manufacturer shut down its production line, so you can no longer get logistical support. Therefore, just use it casually; don't over-treat it.

It's absurd that this thing even has a production line!

Moderation is a virtue, and Lin Chia-te's virtue score skyrocketed once again after she held back her complaints.

Yuki and two other mercenaries arrived from the designated accommodation in an off-road vehicle. Each of them carried emergency food, nutritional supplements, and candy, all intended to help the townspeople.

The six Imperial squads each have different missions. For example, Cyrus Smith and his war-hardened team from District 17 focus on combat. Meanwhile, the Cotton Squad from District 18 focuses on appeasing the townspeople, feeding them, and thus winning their hearts and minds to cooperate with Imperial operations.

At least it was winning people's hearts instead of massacre. Lin Jiade breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the Empire's humanitarian aid was aimed at bringing the town's more than two thousand residents under its rule, they were indeed able to live a better life than in the Mirror Realm, which alleviated Lin Jiade's moral pressure as an invader.

At 20 PM Imperial Standard Time, the 18th District team was teleported to the Mirror Realm. Each person carried a large box containing equipment, food, nutrients, and candy. Instead of humans, the rhinestone elf Yuki and Arcturus each carried two boxes.

With just rations, nutrients, enough water, and a candy, you can make a superior porridge that surpasses the diet of the town's residents—the key to superiority lies in the seasoning, as the town's residents' food is very bland due to the lack of relevant crops.

The moment the Kapok Squad landed, the poorly maintained room floor couldn't bear the weight, so the entire squad, along with pieces of wood, plummeted from the second floor to the first, where they stared blankly at the wanderers who had sneaked in.

Chapter 63 Asuka XV (Bonus Chapter)

Lin Jiade glanced over and saw that the wanderers were all holding explosives, clearly intending to send their squad into the air.

"Should we add some firewood?" the enemy leader asked awkwardly. "This stuff is pretty warm, do you want some?"

What's there to say? Lin Jiade quickly pressed the button on the left side of his sneakers. The airflow surged on the floor, pushing him forward, and the buoyancy was even enough to lift him slightly off the ground.

In a moment of panic, the enemy closest to him threw an explosive at Lin Jiade. Lin Jiade dodged it, accelerated forward, and finally slid and kicked the enemy's shin.

Legend has it that the sliding tackle magic can kill a tiger in one strike. Although Lin Jiade has not reached such a level, the moment he firmly steps on the enemy, the spikes on his shoes pop out and pierce into the enemy's flesh, and then the electric current spreads through the torn wound.

Amidst the screams of his enemies, he swiftly rose to his feet. As the shadow behind him descended with the sound of the wind, he turned and shouted, "One strike in two, Ruyi Divine Sword!"

The longsword materialized from the talisman, and Lin Jiade swung it upwards, parrying a short spear. Sparks flew as he infused energy into the blade, causing it to generate a gust of wind that sent the enemy flying while simultaneously slashing an arc-shaped wound across his chest.

The enemy whose knee he had injured by sliding tackle from behind struggled to his feet. Gladiolus whispered in his ear. He reached into his pocket with his left hand, and the cold, hard gun handle slid into his hand. He turned around and saw the enemy with the knife standing up, the tip of the knife heading towards his chest.

He pulled the trigger, the bullet piercing the enemy's neck, splattering hot blood that bloomed like red plum blossoms on the floor. Even so, the enemy did not die, but struggled to retreat and seek cover—that was the wonder of magic.

Under the cover of smoke and dust, Lin Jiade knelt down on one knee and tapped his right foot with the hilt of his sword, deactivating the "slide mode" and switching to "shooting mode".

The cleats began to gather power, Lin Jiade stood up, twisted his belt, and the inflatable soccer ball landed at his feet. Young people's first time playing soccer always starts with a powerful shot, and Lin Jiade was no exception.

Gladiolus pointed him to the target, he took a step back, accelerated his run-up and kicked the juggernaut ball. The ball barely spun in the air, and then suddenly plummeted down, hitting the enemy in the face.

The soccer ball explodes, releasing ropes hidden within, binding the kneeling enemy in a turtle-like binding technique. Egg-shaped objects are attached to the knots of the turtle-like binding, which are pressed against the victim's genitals and emit a buzzing sound. Within seconds, the bound victim emits philosophical sounds.

The battlefield fell silent for a moment, and Yuki said awkwardly, "Emperor Lin... do you like this kind of thing?"

I told you, why would I get the good equipment?!

Once again, his reputation was damaged. Lin Jiade turned around expressionlessly and saw the two enemies he had previously injured rushing towards him.

Perhaps because life magic is so costly, magic researchers pay special attention to ways to preserve their lives. If they cannot be killed in one go, they can quickly get up and rejoin the battle like cockroaches.

Lin Jiade wasn't alone; his teammates had already taken care of the others. Yuki had taken down one with an arrow, and Arcturus had smashed another into a pulp with his rocket launcher.

Only the one bound by Lin Jiade remained at the scene. Mu Mian conducted a brief interrogation, then looked at Lin Jiade, who shook his head. Mu Mian then casually ended the other's life.

As a result, the number of assists under his registered ID "Lin Huang" reached 10.

Lin Jiade's fighting spirit hadn't cooled, so he ignored the corpses scattered on the ground. At that moment, three tiny fragments of soul silently pierced into Jianlan's body, puzzling the Star Flying Fish who were subsequently looting the spoils.

Kapok's team stormed out of the house and, according to their plan, headed towards the town center, specifically the three-story building where Robinson lived. Having likely experienced the commotion caused by the birds, the townspeople, upon seeing their menacing presence, quickly slipped into their rooms and locked their doors and windows.

As the alarm sounded, Friday led a militia team to block the road and confront the Kapok Squad. He asked, "Why?"

Kapok said, "If you were truly so innocent, those adventurers wouldn't have sneaked into our dwellings and tried to blow us up."

Whether you're forced to remain neutral or want us to fight each other and weaken us, I don't care. I'm just following orders.

Friday had reasons not to back down, and so did Kapok's side. At that moment, the team from District 17 suddenly attacked from the side. That team was more skilled in battle formations than Kapok's team, and with the cooperation of Kapok's team, they wiped out Friday's team in just a few minutes.

Most of the militiamen surrendered or were captured after being wounded. Unlike the way the Cotton Tree dealt with unregistered magic researchers, these prisoners were properly resettled.

When they saw "expensive medicine" and "delicious food" (in their value system) being distributed to them, they momentarily forgot the fact that they had just fought a battle, and their faces were full of disbelief.

Friday was among them; he resisted more fiercely than the others and thus received more beatings. However, his admiration for the warrior transcended political stance, so after being captured, he received the best medical care and continued to lead his militia.

The barbarian was utterly bewildered: "Are you out of your minds? We can't beat you, so just kill us prisoners. Why give us food and medicine? If you wanted to do something good, why didn't you just give us these things in the first place?"

When he was abroad, Lin Jiade considered himself an imperial citizen and naturally had to defend his country's actions. Just as he was about to explain to the prisoners, a piece of tile flew over and spun down in front of him.

He looked over and saw the twin-tailed girl who had wanted to trade with him yesterday bend down to pick up the second tile and throw it at him. He dodged it, walked towards her, smashed the third tile with his sword, and caught the fourth one.

When his shadow loomed over her like a mountain, the monstrous girl showed fear, as if he were the monster.

"Invaders...I...I am not afraid of you!"

Lin Jiade pushed the other person into the house, swung his longsword, cut off the door and blocked him inside. After thinking for a moment, he took out his personal rations and a bottle of drinking water and threw them in.

He turned around, shrugged at his teammates, and said, "Bullying the weak is one thing, but it's just low-class."

“However, we are bullying the weak,” Kapok said. “This operation’s reduction of civilian casualties and resistance is a plus; you did the right thing.”

The team from District 17 has already set off, and now it's Kapok's team, enduring the scrutiny of the town's residents hiding in their homes.

Lin Jiade had expected the townspeople to enthusiastically resist the invaders, but in reality, apart from Mayor Robinson's confidants like Friday, the other townspeople watched the battle with indifference.

The militiamen, while still having the courage to exchange fire at medium to long range, were terrified when it came to close combat. Even when Lin Jiade was just yelling and charging with his longsword, before he even got close enough to engage, the militiamen's hands would tremble with fear.

Could this be some kind of lawnmower game? Lin Jiade's confidence swelled.

Several drones took off, making friend and foe clearly visible on the tactical map. Lin Jiade saw the main force of the wanderers in the town collide with the squad from District 16, and then the dots marked in red quickly disappeared.

I owe 70 chapters in total, have paid 23, and still owe 47.

Chapter Sixty-Four: The Worm V

At dawn on October 27th, Imperial Standard Time, six teams that were actually subordinate to the Empire but did not violate the armistice treaty arrived in Robinson Town one after another. They all requested to meet with the mayor of Robinson Town, but none of them were able to do so.

Mayor Robinson has long since retired from public life, relying entirely on his confidant Friday to maintain order; his authority is the foundation of the town's smooth operation.

Friday was loyal and hardworking, but he lacked the prestige to do so, and thus the town's order began to crumble before hordes of wanderers flooded into the Mirror Realm.

When rumors about the mayor surfaced, and Friday could only silence them with violence, his defeat was inevitable. Because amidst the abnormal facade of peace and prosperity, the seeds of doubt had already been sown.

Before the Imperial army arrived, several wanderers saw an opportunity and started a riot. Friday and his militia wiped them out, but the elite troops loyal to Mayor Robinson were almost entirely wiped out.

Friday lost the violence to suppress the situation, and order began to crumble in the town; when new and more powerful wanderers poured in, Friday was powerless to stop them and could only watch helplessly as the outsiders expanded their influence.

On this day, when the Kapok Squad entered, Friday saw the most powerful outsiders they had ever encountered. They were well-equipped, uniformly dressed, well-trained, and bound by strong discipline, as if they were the tentacles of a behemoth.

While negotiations were still proceeding cautiously on Friday, Mayor Robinson withdrew his deep gaze from the three-story building in the town center.

“The Empire is back,” he said.

He wasn't talking to himself. Across the long table, a pale woman, hidden in the shadows, said, "An empire has two obvious elements: strength and corruption, but I don't feel the same way here."

"I found a document here that records a long-forgotten past: There was a war between the Empire and the Mirror Realm. At that time, the Mirror Realm was not yet the Mirror Realm. In order to mine the Amanda Stone, which was of great importance to the Empire at the time, the Empire's ships covered the sky and the surface of the planet was divided into a thousand squares. Each square was filled with a legion with master-level magic researchers at its core."

The Legion destroyed all the squares, ultimately annihilating all creatures that might resist them, leaving only the Mirror, this gentle, self-sufficient race. A truce was signed, with no set date.

In exchange for peace, the Mirrors, representing the planet's native inhabitants, relinquished ownership of all Amanda Stones on the planet, thus legally guaranteeing the Empire the right to mine Amanda Stones.

This is a whitewashed peace; no one mourns the exterminated. The Empire sent a group of people to mine Amanda Stone until it was exhausted, and then began to withdraw the manpower.

The mirror creatures spread during peaceful times without posing a threat, but to guard against their threat, the Empire placed a certain magic on the Mirror Realm—the magic that now allows birds to flock into the Mirror Realm—ensuring that the Empire maintains its ability to intervene in the Mirror Realm.

To avoid accusations of violating the ceasefire treaty, the Empire fabricated a story that the Mirror Realm would absorb destined individuals at 20 PM and expel them at 6 PM. Through repeated lies, everyone came to believe that the Mirror Realm had such a pattern.

At this time, the emperor died, and the early period of the great void in the empire was overshadowed by the civil war among the lords of the thirteen continents. Therefore, some of the miners who originally planned to return home chose to stay in the Mirror Realm out of fear of the civil war, and this is the origin of the ancestors of the town's residents.

Those who remained in the Mirror Realm thought they could create a new empire, but the gentle rise of the Mirror Realm creatures turned it into a nightmare. They fought against them, and the bravest warriors quickly succumbed to the Mirror Realm creatures' allure, becoming one of them.

As technology was continuously lost, the timid were forced to abandon their homes. To survive, the town's inhabitants began interspecies reproduction, followed by inbreeding... Over time, the town's residents became the ugly and flawed beings they are today.

“You keep talking about small-town residents, but aren’t you?” the woman asked.

Mayor Robinson shook his head: "I was once a member of the Empire, yet I was also outside of it, because the Empire needed some power so that, even when the rules restricted them from exporting fleets, magic, and legions, they could still use violence to expand their influence."

I was born into a renowned family of adventurers on the Second Continent. My ancestor was Gulliver, the great adventurer and legendary horse trainer. I admired his deeds and joined 'Baker Street,' an outer organization of the Empire.

Baker Street is home to seven advanced magic researchers. On ordinary days, we explore foreign lands, and when there are missions, we participate in the war as civilians to do things that the Imperial government cannot do.

We were like brothers and sisters, spending ten years together, and then a brilliant ambush destroyed the squad... except for me.

I barely managed to activate a random teleportation spell, which transported me and a nearby boy, Friday, to another world. We escaped the immediate death, but then entered another world of slow death—the Mirror Realm.

I brought him here after many twists and turns. I ruled this town with knowledge and power far exceeding that of its inhabitants. This was a world abandoned by the empire, and I could never return to it. I could only wait for the day I died of old age or assimilated into the creatures of the Mirror Realm.

Mr. Robinson had a bad trachea, and he often let out heavy, bellows-like breathing. The woman sitting opposite him listened patiently to him finish his long story before answering, "So, you want to offer Robinson Town to the Empire?"

“I was originally a member of the Empire, and now I am simply returning to the path of my life that I was meant to take… That’s what I thought before you came.”

Mayor Robinson gripped his rifle tightly, looked at the woman opposite him, and said, "Why... I clearly witnessed you die before my eyes, everyone is dead... but why are you here?"

The pale-faced woman stepped out of the shadows, her features revealing herself to Mayor Robinson, giving him the illusion that time had reversed.

"Old friend, it's been a long time. How many years has it been since we Baker Street team last operated as a group?"

The pale-skinned woman revealed a mysterious smile: "However, you've got one thing wrong. They're not dead; on the contrary, they're right here."

Following the direction the pale-skinned woman pointed, Robinson looked into the shadows, where five figures of varying heights emerged.

Upon seeing his old acquaintances again, Mayor Robinson was not delighted. Instead, he cried out in horror, "No, the Baker Street Squad! How could you be...? What are you?!"

“Death is not the end, my friend,” the pale-skinned woman said with a smile. “There is always the possibility of dying a little deeper, or returning from the world of the dead to the world of the living.”

Now, the Baker Street Scouts are back.

Chapter Sixty-Five: The Worm VI

The Baker Street Squad and the memories of its representatives are a wound in Mayor Robinson's heart. He burns time, gathers the ashes of years, and covers the wound, so that in the dull pain, the Baker Street Squad becomes an ugly scar.

Now, the pale-skinned woman has unearthed the scars and offered to erase them, which has captivated Mayor Robinson: how wonderful it would be if the lost comrades returned and the Baker Street crew were back in their golden age.

However, he found it hard to believe that this was true.

“93, you liar, Fran, ? and Red Leaf, right?” Robinson said, “Are you real?”

"of course."