Love, Gun, Cupid

Lin Jiade activated the vision of his soul's light flame. The dense blue color on the pigeon's body oppressed his senses. It wasn't dazzling, but it was unusually heavy. Just one glance made him want to vomit, so he was forced to shut it down.

The young man trembled, his wrists shaking as he gripped the gun. He punched himself to quell his fear with pain, while his other hand used the shortcut button (on the side of his phone) to share his location on the public channel, urgently calling for help.

Just as he was about to press the button, a block of ice suddenly appeared at his joint and froze him. His thumb and forefinger tried desperately to touch the shortcut button, but they couldn't move an inch.

His voice was the same; his throat was constricted by a claw-shaped block of ice, blocking his cries for help and his breath. In the blink of an eye, he turned into an ice sculpture... Was this how he fought against someone with the knowledge of a master sorcerer?

The waves of fear crashed against the beach of his soul, and as the tide receded, what remained on the shore was courage and rage. He had had enough of weakness, enough of running away, enough of powerlessness, and he did not want any more dark clouds to affect his life.

The pigeon spoke in human language: "Young swordsman, can anger make you stronger?"

Chapter 85 Asuka XVII

A wave of fear surged again, crashing onto the shore, yet the raging flames on the beach never died down. Heat rose from Lin Jiade's body, melting the ice sculpture that bound him from within.

The pigeon spread its wings, feathers flying everywhere, and at the same time, Lin Jiade pulled the trigger. The bullet was frozen, and Gladiolus drew energy from the Amanda Stone that Lin Jiade had just acquired, raising a hexagonal shield to protect him from the barrage of feathers.

"A single stroke cleaves in two, the Ruyi Divine Sword!"

Lin Jiade chanted a shameful declaration, and a longsword materialized in his hand, inscriptions lighting up on the blade, and a gust of wind flew from the tip of the sword, slashing towards the enemy.

With a sweep of its wings, the wind blade transformed into a crescent-shaped ice sculpture in mid-air before crashing to the ground. Amidst the crisp cracking sound, glistening ice fragments scattered, shimmering brilliantly in the sunlight.

"Incredible! Your determination to kill me is stronger than my determination to deal with you... So that's it, you're fighting for this imposter?"

“To me, you’re the imposter! We’ll destroy your evil plans, and destroy you in the process!” Lin Jiade said.

The pale-skinned woman looked at the sword orchid: "So that's why you didn't break down? That's really... enviable. Neither I nor Korobochka ended up with the man we liked."

All gladioli originated from me, so our aesthetics are similar. Those the imposter likes must also suit my taste. So, why not come to me? What the imposter can give you, I can give you more, because I am more complete, stronger, and more faithful to desire.

“I refuse. In my eyes, you have the same appearance, but you are completely different beings. I love not only her appearance, but also her soul.”

“The mind… ha.” The pale woman laughed. “If I devour the imposter, I can perfectly recreate her personality and recount to you the illusory yet real memories between us.”

Rather than being a lackey of the empire, constantly hampered by its constraints and ruthlessly discarded once you're no longer of use, joining our side offers a brighter future.

Lin Jiade didn't waste words with the pigeons; there were irreconcilable interests between them. So he pressed the quick button to request backup. Right now, there was only one problem: could he protect his own life before his teammates arrived to help?

“I was planning to tell you a story and offer you some deals, but it seems you won’t accept a mission-for-deal deal.”

Lin Jiade solemnly replied, "That's right."

The pigeon took flight, transforming into human form mid-air. Lin Jiade activated the button on his combat boots and slid towards the pale-haired woman. The woman gracefully extended her body in mid-air, dodging the slide, while the energy clinging to her arms coalesced into an ice blade, instantly slicing through the shield on Lin Jiade's body.

"cut!"

Lin Jiade slammed on the brakes, glanced at his phone, and understood. The pale-skinned woman launched her attack; before that, three arrows imbued with wind elemental magic had struck Lin Jiade's body.

With the buff, Lin Jiade nimbly dodged the sweeping ice blade of the pale woman. She froze his leg, but he melted it with his energy. The resulting stagnation allowed her ice blade to catch up with him and head straight for his chest.

A rope suddenly appeared in front of Lin Jiade. He reached out and grabbed it, and the immense force from it lifted him up. He pulled out his pistol and fired at the ground. The pale woman's gaze was briefly drawn to him. Then, Arcturus appeared in front of him, carrying a rocket launcher that fired, emitting flames and hitting the area where the pale woman was, sending up a cloud of smoke.

Lin Jiade was taken upstairs and discovered that the team that had come to his aid was Cyrus Smith's squad, whose two snipers had already taken up a nearby high ground. According to the "smoke-free" rule, the pale-skinned woman would most likely emerge from the smoke and start something new.

Unexpectedly, she chose to retreat. After thanking her comrades, Lin Jiade rejoined her team.

Arcturus showed concern for Lin Jiade, while Kapok went to meet with the other captains. The pale woman appeared directly from within, and the fact that she launched the attack indicated that she either had a way to break through the expedition team's security measures or had collaborators among the town's residents.

Then, the six captains turned their attention back to Lin Jiade.

“I received a cryptic explanation from my superiors,” Lao Can said. “I learned that ‘Lin Huang’ is the key to this matter, and everyone must protect him. Through him, we can quickly find Jian Lan.”

The bird-beak doctor's gaze was like a scalpel, trying to dissect everything about Lin Jiade. Kapok stood in front of Lin Jiade and said, "He returned here through a judicial transaction. If you want information, you need to apply to your superiors and obtain the corresponding authorization."

"Are you his protector?"

"If needed, that's me."

“There’s no need to create internal conflict,” Cyrus said, looking at Lin Jiade. “I just want to know, what is Gladiolus’s purpose in finding you?”

Lin Jiade replied, "I don't know. I don't intend to talk to her. There is a fundamental conflict of interest between us—I possess the knowledge she acquired during her time as a magic researcher, and she wants to reclaim that knowledge from me."

This line of reasoning was taught to Lin Jiade by Jianlan, who was by his side. It wasn't the truth, but it wouldn't mislead his allies. Everyone present was a researcher of magic and could understand the reason why the pale-faced woman was so obsessed with Lin Jiade: stealing someone's knowledge was like killing their parents.

“She is an enemy of the Empire, and we cannot give her to her under any circumstances,” Cyrus said. “The next problem is that we need someone to stay here and guard our teleportation magic circle and the residents of the town.”

Three of the six teams will remain, while the remaining three will return to our home planet to recuperate and bring back the next batch of supplies.

Lao Can said, "I, the teams from District 16 and District 17 will stay... No, Buck, your team will stay too. We need a team to scout out the enemy's situation."

"I have no objection," Tang Ao said.

Up until this point, they hadn't considered calling for reinforcements from the Empire, which Lin Jiade felt reflected their confidence in their ability to resolve the matter.

Cyrus stroked his chin: "At the same time, we must be wary of the possibility that Gladiolus could infiltrate our home planet and launch a decapitation strike... Kapok, do you and your team members live close by in reality?"

“I will protect him,” Kapok said.

"Your own opinion alone is not enough."

"Don't forget he's been involved in legal deals; the higher-ups will arrange everything."

At this moment, the sky over the Mirror Realm turned gloomy. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a deafening roar of thunder. Jianlan waved her hand in front of Lin Jiade's eyes, and Lin Jiade suddenly remembered that the element he needed for his thunder spell was in this bad weather.

He took his leave. Of the five captains besides Kapok, only two glanced at the gray phantom floating behind Lin Jiade before turning back to continue discussing town affairs.

Extra chapter added

Chapter 86 Worm XV

After finishing her "teasing" of Lin Jiade and the imposter, the pale-skinned woman returned to her camp, which was 37 kilometers away from the town. The complex terrain formed by a large number of Mirror Realm creatures was enough to deter most people, after all, no one wanted to be tempted by Mirror Realm creatures.

However, there are also reverse uses. Fran, a fox-person summoner and member of the Baker Street Squad, summons a golem and manipulates the lifeless golem to touch the Mirror Realm creatures to prevent them from being tempted. She cuts up the Mirror Realm creatures and then fills them into the golem, giving the golem intelligence and some of the Mirror Realm creatures' abilities.

The modified golem helped Fran capture the gathered wanderers, implanting fragments of Mirror World creatures into their bodies, making them easier to control and more resilient than before. The price was that they became sluggish, lost their sense of self, and could only be used as enhanced versions of zombies.

While the imperial authorities were unable to intervene, six small teams composed of civilians and equipped with supplies to meet militia standards gave the wanderers who came to seize the soul fragments of Korobochka a hard time.

In particular, the six teams that captured Robinson Town gained a stable foothold and began large-scale construction, transporting more equipment and supplies to the Mirror Realm, which created a sense of crisis among the wanderers roaming the wilderness.

Although they also follow the pattern of being absorbed and expelled by the Mirror Realm, their supplies are incomparable to those of the teams that return to the Empire's homeland. As the six teams embark on more and more expeditions, the gap between them and the Wanderers widens.

The wanderers realized this and reached a consensus to band together for survival; the option of surrender was never available in the first place—the Imperial forces killed 0 civilians, 0 local militiamen, and 67 wanderers who were in the town at the time during their control of Robinson Town.

Even if a Wanderer surrenders, they are usually executed on the spot after being compared to the database—most of them sought to break away from the Empire's control after committing atrocities.

At this time, a message spread among the Wanderers: a woman named Gladiolus and her Baker Street squad had seized the core fragment of Korobochka and gained unfathomable knowledge of witchcraft. She was willing to share this knowledge to fight against the unconventional forces the Empire had deployed in the Mirror Realm.

Forced by circumstances and driven by greed, the wanderers came to the labyrinth built by the creatures of the Mirror Realm. Amidst the sound of shattering mirrors, they dreamed of another paradise, their spirits forever immersed in a blissful dream.

Their physical bodies, however, are used by Fran, becoming obedient expendable objects, mechanically following knowledge to perform labor.

Not every wanderer can accept such a fate. Some, after witnessing the downfall of their companions, flee in panic, only to be mercilessly shot down one by one by the archers guarding the high platform.

"Thank you for your hard work, bye-bye."

The pale-haired woman greeted the archer, whose pointed ears and silver hair proved she was a diamond elf, yet her appearance and figure were reminiscent of Milin tires.

Diamond sprites are always beautiful, but just as some people can't get a single Red Ti after 299 pulls, there are also individuals among the diamond sprites that are not beautiful.

93's appearance, which lowers the race's overall attractiveness, stems from his gluttonous nature. His gluttony leads to obesity, and even while on duty, wrappers frequently flutter down from the platform. However, given his diamond elf heritage, the chubby 93's appearance isn't too different from Fran's.

Seeing the pale-faced woman approach, Fran walked over with her head bowed and reported her work. Fran had no fixed gender, sometimes appearing as a man and sometimes as a woman. Regardless of gender, she was a furry enthusiast, which could be seen in her style of creating golems and consumables using wanderers.

"He was being treated at Hongye's, and Hongye restored him to human form," Fran sighed. "The 'perfunctory monster' is drinking with Robinson. I don't think Robinson has accepted us yet."

"After all, he and we have been lost for far too long."

"Captain...can we go back to the past?" Fran asked.

“If it weren’t for the desire to recreate our golden age, why would we suffer here and risk our lives to fight against the Empire?”

“We’ve all died once already, but the way he came back still startled us dead. If the Empire has become that powerful... we should run away.”

Fran's cowardly nature was fully reflected in her attitude. However, the pale-haired woman had made up her mind. The wrong secret was that it was an advantage, a temptation, and a sunk cost, which blocked any other possible decisions and led her down a dark path.

"The seriously injured ones are not Imperial personnel, but Celestial Observers. Fortunately, Celestial Observers will not cooperate with the Empire's invasion of other worlds."

After encouraging Fran, the pale-skinned woman went to the center of the maze, where Robinson, having lost his town, had built himself a three-story house that, from a distance, looked almost exactly like the one in the town.

On Friday, while standing guard for Robinson, despite the lack of danger, he saw the pale-skinned woman, greeted her, and hesitated before asking, "Madam, have you gone to town?"

The pale-skinned woman nodded, and Friday asked, "Are they doing well?"

"They are being forced to work, forced to change their diet and lifestyle, and the women and children who remain are being used as subjects for medical experiments. The Empire is preparing an evil ritual that, if successful, will cause the town's inhabitants to disappear."

"Ah...they..."

"The Empire is so hypocritical. They are friendly to you only because you have value to be exploited. People like your adoptive father and I, who have worked for the Empire for 10 years, were also ruthlessly abandoned after we lost our usefulness. Do you think the Empire would be more benevolent to the alien races from other regions?"

On Friday, the pale-skinned woman clenched her fists and said softly, "This town is your adoptive father's life's work, and we will never stand idly by. In return, you should help your adoptive father, okay?"

“Alright!” The simple-minded barbarian nodded. “What does the lady need me to do?”

“Go find my informant in town, Chichikov, and take this to him.”

The pale-skinned woman tossed a pendant to Friday, who caught it. He was already burning with rage because of the pale-skinned woman's description, and for his adoptive father's sake, he was determined to get it done immediately—the bad weather would be good cover and help him sneak into the town.

Watching Friday's retreating figure, the pale-skinned woman smiled gently: "First, there was my appearance, and then Friday, who was destined to be captured. I think the Empire will definitely cause trouble in this town for a while."

Chapter 87 Worm XVI

The pale-skinned woman floated down the stairs. Because her soul was becoming more complete, her appearance was closer to that of a human. However, she was not complete after all, so she was stuck at the step of reshaping her body. Without reshaping her body, she could not be resurrected as a living being.

She silently floated upstairs and saw Robinson drinking with the Perfunctory Guy. In the Baker Street Squad, Robinson was proficient in earth magic. He could use spells to quickly reshape the terrain, and even some things that could be called buildings, which was the key to the squad's survival.

The "Perfunctory Monster" is the squad's heavy defender. He possesses a taunting ability within a certain range, forcing enemy attacks to focus on him and creating opportunities for his teammates to fire.

Because they were both responsible for ensuring the team's survival, the Perfunctory Guy and Robinson had some connection. After Robinson left the town where he had lived for thirty years and became depressed, the Perfunctory Guy naturally took on the task of comforting him.

"So, how exactly did you resurrect?" Robinson asked in a muffled voice. "Gladiatoria mentioned something to me, but I still don't understand it."

The perfunctory guy replied, "It wasn't exactly a resurrection. You still remember the last battle, right? That alien nation sent its main force to wipe us out, and countless alien soldiers poured out of the caves."

"Of course I remember. We all occupied the only high ground nearby. Fran summoned golems with all her might. She threw the inorganic golems down the hillside like logs and boulders. Each one could crush a large number of alien soldiers and lay a bloody carpet."

93 shot arrows into the sky, which turned into a silver rain of death when they landed. Even when the quiver behind her was empty, she continued to draw her bow and nock an arrow.

Hongye's entire body was crackling with electricity. He paid the price of overload, causing electric lightning to flash across the battlefield. The enemy was so in awe that they dared not approach him when he was glowing.

He appeared and disappeared on the battlefield, assassinating the enemy commander. He originally had a chance to escape, but he decided to live and die with them.

I protected Gladiolus, watching her cast spells; each flash of light from her magic gave us a moment's respite. And you, the perfunctory one, were at the head of the group, protecting us all.

Robinson took another sip of his drink and said, "Red Leaf was the first among us to die. He was overloaded and tackled by the enemy, so he detonated himself, causing the nearby cliff to fall with him."

The deaths of ? and Fran were over in the blink of an eye; the former was swallowed up by the endless ranks of alien soldiers, while the latter shot herself after exhausting her energy... One was silent, the other cowardly, and even in death they were the same.