Love, Gun, Cupid

Five voices came out in succession from the mouths of the Diamond Elf Archer, the Human Heavy Defender, the Fox Summoner, the Human Male Assassin, and the Male Mechanically Modified Healer.

Mayor Robinson lit an Amanda stone lamp to dispel the darkness, and the figures of his companions did indeed come into his view, but like the pale woman, their figures had a pale quality.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

"To be precise, we are currently in a state between life and death, and we need a ritual to allow us to fully return to the identity of the living."

"Is this even possible?! I always thought only celestial observers could bring the dead back to life!"

The pale-skinned woman replied gently, "From a common-sense perspective, no. But you know, my research focuses on soul magic, a path of study that indirectly involves the interplay between life and death."

At the moment of the Baker Street Squad's demise, I cast my spell, preserving the souls of my comrades and returning them to the Empire.

"?!"

"Just as you, by sheer luck, brought Friday to the Mirror Realm, I, by sheer luck, returned my soul to replace the infant consciousness in a superhuman family and began to function anew as her."

I lived my second life in the Empire, leading a busy life as a sorcerer within the system. However, I lost my memories of my past life... until I was assigned to transport an experimental project team that was attacked by alien mercenaries.

This was part of the power struggle within the empire. In the chaos, the enemy hit a sealed box carried by the experimental project team, and a false secret was leaked from it. The moment I came into contact with the false secret, my memories returned, and my first-life personality quickly replaced my second-life new personality.

It turns out that in my past life I was a member of the Baker Street Squad, and I was lucky enough to survive by possessing someone else's body. And that erroneous secret told me that it was possible to resurrect my fallen comrades, the Baker Street Squad members who were ruthlessly abandoned by the Empire.

So I immediately betrayed the Empire, absorbed the wrong secrets, and prepared to flee the battlefield when the new personality that emerged from my second life began to fight me for control of my body.

To prevent me from escaping with the wrong secrets, she used forbidden magic to split herself into pieces, turning them into projectiles that she fired in all directions, indiscriminately killing everyone present.

I wasn't among them. Thanks to the magic from my previous life, I luckily escaped. After some events, I was summoned into the Mirror Realm, carrying fragments of my new personality from my second life. I managed to fix my soul into a resident of a small town, thus breaking free from the cycle of being repeatedly swallowed and expelled.

Then I found you. Thirty years had passed, and you'd become a stubborn old man. How many hours would it take me to convince you that I was an old friend of the Baker Street Scouts?

I remember you said you would never get married and didn't want to have children, but the moment I saw Friday, I knew it was the child you were raising.

Friday was exactly like Robinson Crusoe, the Robinson Crusoe I remember from my childhood, belonging to the Baker Street gang.

Mayor Robinson relaxes: "Young people are always extremely craving attention, respect and recognition from others, so they are particularly sensitive to how others treat them, and thus often do stupid things."

The things I said in the past were foolish things I did when I was young. Especially after we parted ways, I was overwhelmed by immense loneliness, and if it weren't for Friday, I probably would have succumbed to the temptations of the Mirror Realm creatures.

"Alright, let's not talk about that. What wrong secrets did you steal from the Empire, and which objectively led to the death of a top-tier sorcerer belonging to the Empire…"

Mayor Robinson tensed up: "Are the people from the Empire flooding into the Mirror Realm here to see you?"

"No, they are searching for the wrong secret and are unaware of my existence. That's why the Empire carelessly sent out peripheral members to search for the wrong secret. After all, this thing isn't very dangerous, and it would be useless in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to use it."

Even if it were used, it would only amount to resurrecting the dead, not a major event that would shake the foundations of the empire's rule.

“This is betrayal!” Robinson exclaimed. “We all swore an oath to be loyal to the Empire, to fight for it, and to continue its glorious destiny!”

The pale-skinned woman shook her head: "My friend, what I saw after death and my subsequent rebirth gave me a different perspective on the Empire."

The empire is powerful, but to us as individuals, it is merely a dream. We are intoxicated by its glory, forgetting that in the eyes of 30 billion ordinary people, among 3700 million people who are aware of it but cannot obtain supernatural powers, among 650 million magic researchers, among 10 monsters cobbled together on the magic industrial assembly line, among the 1300 specially chosen fathers in the Senate, and among the lords of the 13 continents, the empire has a completely different meaning.

Robinson Crusoe, the empire that you are so fascinated by and dream about can only belong to those 10 monsters, those 1300 chosen fathers, those 13 continental lords, and 30 billion ordinary people, but it cannot belong to 650 million magic researchers.

We are both tools and a threat. Those in positions of power want to use us, but also prevent us from imitating the story and turning superhuman power into money and privilege.

When we were tools, we received far better treatment than ordinary people; when we were a threat, the empire was always ruthless.

There's nothing to resent. If I were in a higher position, I would have been more ruthless towards magic researchers, but I've never been in a higher position, so I have no reason to defend an order that is detrimental to me.

Think about it, Robinson. Here, at least you're the mayor, and you still have us old friends. After you move to the Empire with these people, what will you have left? Some insignificant comforts, rewards, and medals. Then you'll find that all you have left is Friday, no different from when you were wandering in the Mirror Realm.

In fact, I don't think the Empire will peacefully negotiate with you to accept your territory. You are too weak now. When a small team of six peripheral members can conquer your town, why would they negotiate with you?

If the positions were reversed, and you had six well-equipped squads eager to achieve merit and possessing overwhelming individual combat capabilities, would you negotiate with the other side?

Think about what we did as the Baker Street squad, and then look at the squad negotiating with Friday—doesn't it feel like yesterday is repeating itself?

Chapter Sixty-Six: The Worm VII (Bonus Chapter)

At this point, the pale-skinned woman paused, looking out the window. In her vision, the gray ghost beside Lin Jiade appeared particularly glaring.

"No matter how things change, the essence remains the same: will the divided souls always be reunited?" she muttered to herself.

Mayor Robinson still held onto hope for the Empire until the pale woman revealed the "false secret".

“The elders and the continental lords… how dare they… how dare they…”

Robinson's eyes burned with fury, while the pale-skinned woman consoled him, "They are human, not gods. They stand in the empire's closest place to the light."

What happens when you look directly at the brightest sunlight? It brings dizziness and stinging pain. Bathed in the light, they lose sight of color and true beauty. Therefore, the choices of those who bask in the light may not always align with your expectations.

It took Robinson a few minutes to process the shock of meeting an old friend. He raised his hand and asked, "How should I address you?"

The pale-skinned woman smiled and said, "As usual, just call me Jianlan."

“I can assist you… but you must promise me two things. First, we will not become enemies with the Empire. After you have accomplished your task, we can escape to another world together. There will always be a new home we can build.”

“Old friend, you’ve really lost your mind,” the pale-skinned woman said with a smile. “How could a few of us possibly resist the empire?”

My greatest hope is that, after using the false secret to resurrect our teammates, we can escape together to a place where the Empire can't find us, and find a good marriage for our child Friday.

Robinson's expression softened at the mention of Friday: "Yes, he's in his thirties, and given the situation in the Empire, his children should be several years old by now."

In addition, I have a second requirement: you must guarantee that your plan will not endanger their lives. I intend to hand over the town's inhabitants to the Empire after a token resistance.

The pale-skinned woman nodded: "Objectively speaking, they are happier as members of the empire. They have no power, so they pose no threat to the empire's order; on the contrary, their very existence expands the empire's biological understanding."

Therefore, the empire will provide them with a cradle of ignorance, allowing them to dream happy dreams.

At this point, Mayor Robinson set aside all his concerns and resolved to cooperate with his old friend to revive the members of the Baker Street Squad. "Revival" is a bit strange, because 93, the Perfunctory One, Fran, ?, and Momiji all possess intelligence and communication skills.

The conversations with old friends brought back happy memories, and Robinson's voice became hoarse from talking. He only saw Friday once all day, telling him to prioritize survival.

Friday may not seem very bright, but unfortunately, he's true to his word. This simple-minded barbarian is a representative of the spoils of the Baker Street Squad's special mission in another world.

Baker Street is nominally a private elite exploration team, self-sufficient and operating independently, but their financial backers and leaders come from the Special Statistics Bureau.

When the Empire decides to intervene or go to war with other civilizations, these peripheral organizations, through white-glove agents, infiltrate the weak points of the enemy civilization's controlled territory under various pretexts. Here, they exhaust all means to sow discord and turn people against the Empire, turning them into its collaborators.

Friday's tribe was a collaborator developed by Baker Street. Unfortunately, the other side got wind of it and sent a large force to surround and kill them, which led to the destruction of Friday's tribe and the Baker Street team.

This is something that Robinson still finds puzzling: who exactly brought in the enemy's regular army? The natives have come to regard the Baker Street Squad as gods, and they would never do anything against divine will.

After being stranded in the Mirror World, Robinson was initially very wary of Friday, fearing that the other would blame the Baker Street crew for the destruction of the tribe. However, Friday's honesty won Robinson's trust, and Robinson also intended to maintain Friday's honesty.

Now, this naiveté has backfired on Friday. He interprets Robinson's order to prioritize survival as the survival of the town. But who poses the greatest threat to the town's survival? Naturally, it's these outsiders.

The seemingly simple-minded man harbored a wicked scheme; he wanted the lone outsiders to fight and wear down the clearly prepared outsiders, then pick off the rest. However, he forgot to assess whether the two sides were evenly matched and the impact of starting a war in the town.

The Empire's forces decided to seize Robinson Town by force during the Third Mirror Realm Expedition, which met Robinson's expectations. There were no casualties in the battle, and the wounded were properly cared for by the Empire's forces, which also met Robinson's expectations. The only thing that made him somewhat anxious was Friday's capture, which made him look like a fool.

“This isn’t what we agreed on,” Robinson said. “You said that once the Imperial army entered this area, I would use magic to help everyone escape, but now…”

“You go first,” the pale-skinned woman replied. “The others go to rescue Friday, and then they’ll meet up with you.”

"how about you?"

"There is one person in the Empire's ranks who interests me greatly... no, there are two. Perhaps I can invite them to join our cause, or at the very least, satisfy my curiosity."

The pale-skinned woman patted Robinson's hand, but her phantom passed through Robinson's skin, leaving a cold touch.

“Don’t worry, I’ve waited many years for our reunion. I won’t disappear again so easily, I promise.”

"Promise" is a deceptive word; those who say it usually take no action to support their words. But friendship, like love, can turn a person into a fool, so Robinson believed it.

Meanwhile, the six teams belonging to the Empire gathered in the town center of Robinson Town. They had disarmed all the fighting forces in Robinson Town, leaving only control of Robinson and the establishment of a temporary order "peacefully" in preparation for the Empire's future takeover of the town and its residents.

Both Du Juan and Jasmine drew Lin Jiade's attention to Tang Ao, the leader of District 16—an ascendant from the Xiao Penglai Mountain lineage who still exists in the present world.

Ascension, of course, does not refer to entering the celestial realm, but rather to a transformation of the spirit and body through some fortuitous encounter. When Lin Jiade observed Tang Ao, he could clearly sense the other's ethereal aura, a feeling that was neither human nor inhuman.

Tang Ao appeared harmless, but his method of single-handedly wiping out the birds in the town, causing their corpses to rot like mud and return directly to the earth, chilled even his allies to the bone.

"Damn it, this bastard from District 16 even calls himself a mid-level magic researcher," Lin Jiade heard someone from District 19 mutter. "If he only has a mid-level title, I'll twist my head off and use it as a football!"

Lin Jiade thought the same thing. It was clearly a powerful player bullying newbies, yet he insisted on calling himself a mid-level magic researcher. It was too Versailles-esque and made him completely unlikable.

A total of 70 chapters are owed, 24 chapters have been paid, and 46 chapters are still needed.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Worm VIII

The leader of District 15, Lao Can, who is also the head of the six squads, is treating the injuries of his subordinates. The energy in his hand has turned into a translucent syringe filled with a yellowish-brown liquid.

He inserted the syringe into the wound and injected liquid into the injured person's body, and the wound, which was originally bleeding profusely, healed. In this way, Lao Can healed the injuries of four people at the same time.

As Lin Jiade watched, a wave of exhaustion from the battle washed over him, highlighting the biggest difference between him and the veterans on the scene.

However, when the six teams targeted the town center and Mayor Robinson's three-story building was put back into battle, the buffs from the other teams stacked on Lin Jiade, and the young man felt like he had come back to life. He followed the other teams and rushed into Mayor Robinson's house.

Kapok's team was responsible for searching the underground area. Star Flying Fish deployed security magic, with Shield on top leading the way. Behind him were the cautious Yuki and Arcturus, while Kapok and Lin Jiade brought up the rear.

Lin Jiade had already activated his Soul Flame Vision. In his vision, there were no living beings except for his own team. Despite this, he became increasingly uneasy, and fear gripped his heart.

He quickly realized that the fear didn't stem from his PTSD related to horror movie scenes, but rather from the gladiolus. The gray woman floating beside him had her hands protectively over her chest, looking around blankly but warily, as if something terrifying was watching her.

With others present, Lin Jiade couldn't bring himself to ask. He nervously surveyed his surroundings. What terrified Jianlan must also terrify him.

However, contrary to his guess, when the Cotton Squad searched to the end of the cellar, they found only a few bottles of wine, rusted dinar coins, a few damaged weapons, and ice.

With so many allies around, even if they really wanted to cause us trouble, they'd have to think twice about their own strength. Lin Jiade relaxed and thought that as long as he followed the group, there was nothing to be afraid of.

They returned from the cellar, with Lin Jiade and Mu Mian still at the back. Just as they were about to leave the cellar, a chilling coldness ran down Lin Jiade's neck. He turned around and saw a pale hand reaching out from the cellar.

The chill rendered Lin Jiade immobile. He helplessly watched as the blade of the sword struck his arm, only to be deflected by the exceptionally tough skin.

He was dragged into the cellar, the cellar door was closed and sealed with an energy flow seal. The moment he landed, Lin Jiade quickly got up, raised his weapon, and aimed the gun at the only light in the dark cellar.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Lin Jiade froze, because another Jianlan came into his view. He looked at the pale woman opposite him, then at the gray phantom beside him, and suddenly remembered that when he first activated his Soul Flame Vision, Jianlan's Soul Flame was divided into pale and gray.

"Lin Jiade, run...run away quickly!" Jianlan said in a dreamlike tone, "I have a bad feeling. She brings with her something destructive, something that will completely negate what we have now."

“Miss Jianlan, what’s going on?” he asked.

"Gladiolus?" The pale-skinned woman smiled. "Is that what you call this fake?"

Lin Jiade angrily retorted, "Fake? And what are you?!"

The pale-skinned woman glanced at the gate that had withstood the attack of the Kapok Squad and said to Lin Jiade, "Let me tell you a story first."

"I'd rather die than listen to you!"

Lin Jiade was confused, but he could sense the pale-skinned woman's hostility towards Jianlan. Jianlan's enemy was his enemy, and even if the other party had the same face as Jianlan, he would no longer be confused.

He fired all the bullets in the magazine in one go, and paused for a moment when he took out the reload tool from his waist pouch to reload.

Of the seven bullets he hastily fired, five missed their target, and two hit, but all of them remained suspended in mid-air, covered in frost.