Love, Gun, Cupid

Your shield was smashed, your armor destroyed, your machine gun seized, and even your entrenching tool deformed in hand-to-hand combat. So you fought them, swinging the bodies of alien soldiers.

I watched you being gradually submerged, then turned back to look at Jianlan, who had already been pierced by the enemy's spears, still muttering incantations, her pupils gradually dilating.

I should... I should die with you all. You sacrificed yourselves one after another. Why should I be the exception? But then, I ran away. I didn't want anything. I just ran away.

The alien soldiers didn't kill me immediately; they wanted to know the rebel stronghold. I wasn't thinking of anything at the time, just running and running. Even as the enemies behind me began attacking the tribes that had surrendered to the Empire, I felt a despicable sense of relief—

That way, I can use magic to escape.

“Back then, even if you were one more person, it wouldn’t have turned the tide of the battle. It was the right thing for you to run away,” the perfunctory guy comforted. “Because you ran away, we had a chance to be resurrected.”

Robinson looked up, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly as it sounds."

The pale-skinned woman passed through the wall, startling the two men. She crossed her arms and said, "You remember that I cast a mental protective spell on the entire Baker Street Squad?"

Robinson nodded, and the pale-skinned woman continued, "There is a small fragment of my soul inside, so that when you are attacked, I can react in time and adjust the energy input into your bodies."

Before you fled the battlefield, you witnessed my dying spell, which was to return to the fragment of my soul that I had stored there. At that time, you were the only one still alive, so I came to your side.

You didn't jump directly to the Mirror Realm. Instead, you first jumped back to your home planet and then to the Mirror Realm. I just followed you to your home planet, and then you took Friday to the Mirror Realm.

I tried to call out to you, but you looked utterly devastated, clutching the only surviving child you'd rescued from that tribe, a look of utter redemption on your face. In the end, you wouldn't listen to a word I said and just ran away.

I didn't have enough energy to leap again, so I had to go to the hospital and enter the womb of a pregnant magic researcher with decent energy reserves. I took over the consciousness of the baby in her womb and resurrected in an alternative way.

Unfortunately, the pregnant woman is unremarkable, but the child in her womb is not—she is a magic researcher who earns money through surrogacy, and her clients come from prestigious families in Brilliant City who want offspring but are bound by a loveless and sexless marriage.

Men are fervent researchers who feel that sex is a waste of time, while women don't want their bellies to grow so they can continue to seek pleasure outside.

These selfish parents shared one important consensus: to raise a person who would excel even in Brilliant City. So, before even naming their daughter, they cast a spell on the newborn.

Magic transformed the baby's body, while I, who controlled the baby's consciousness, was 'optimized' by the implanted magic and plunged into the depths of my consciousness. Only after everything was completed did they name their daughter Korobochka.

"You already know about Korobochka's mission at the age of thirty-two and my awakening. After I was absorbed into the Mirror Realm and stabilized, I summoned my other soul fragments, and the spirits of the squad gathered, regaining their sanity under the influence of magic."

The perfunctory guy shrugged: "I felt like I came back to life the moment I closed my eyes, and then Gladiolus helped us reshape our bodies."

"Your souls are whole, so you are able to have your own bodies. After that, I noticed something: two fragments of your soul did not respond to me, one is in you, and the other..."

"In that young man who came with the imperial army?"

“Yes, that’s a part of me. It’s not safe or appropriate to leave it with him. After all, if the Empire is willing to pay any price, it’s still possible to use that fragment to curse my original body by piling up resources. So we must take down that young man and the fragment he’s carrying.”

"What about Korobochka?" Robinson asked.

"She has always been a tool, a tool of the empire, a tool of her parents, and because she could not be a tool for procreation, she was ruthlessly abandoned by her fiancé."

Since that's the case, I'll just continue her fate as a tool. After all, she was quite happy when making tools and creating value.

Chapter 88 Asuka XVIII (Bonus Chapter)

Lin Jiade worked for several hours and fought the pale-faced woman again. He was exhausted, and his eyes were almost closed when he got home.

Du Juan opened the door for him. She glanced at him, slightly surprised, and said, "You have another appointment?"

"An agreement? What agreement?"

Following Cupid's gaze, he turned around in a daze and was startled when he saw Kapok's black latex suit. Whether in reality or in entertainment, stalkers are quite frightening.

He stammered, "Senior, why... why are you following me?"

“From now on, I will drive you home. Let me know in advance when you go out, and I will come to pick you up.” Mu Mian nodded to Du Juan. “I’ll leave his security at home to you. Be on guard against the possibility of the enemy hiring someone to attack him.”

"This is my responsibility."

Du Juan smiled, took Lin Jiade's arm, and pulled him inside without saying another word. Mu Mian understood she was unwelcome there, so the man in the tight-fitting suit turned and left, taking the elevator downstairs.

Lin Jiade stumbled back to bed. Jianlan used her energy to pull him out of his coat and pants, covered him with a blanket, and before he fell asleep, Lin Jiade asked groggily, "You knew that Kapok was following me, right?"

“I know, but your senior Kapok can see me without saying a word, so I don’t want to be so clueless as to expose this.”

"You're on my side, right?"

"But this is in your best interest, isn't it?"

"Yes, I just repaid some favors to my seniors, and now I owe even more. It's like the more I repay, the more I owe."

Lin Jiade fell asleep, and Jianlan stayed by his side, silently watching over him.

On the evening of October 31st, in the martial arts classroom, Lin Jiade, with Yuki as his opponent, proudly demonstrated the thunder magic he had learned. The thunder potion had already been prepared, and the thunder at the end of the fifth Mirror Realm Expedition helped him realize his dream.

The original lightning spell drained the opponent's energy within a 15-meter radius (provided the spell was not resisted). After being rewritten by Lancelot, this range was expanded to 50 meters, and the spell changed from draining energy to injecting energy, causing energy disturbance in a localized area of ​​the target, which then detonated in a very short time.

Originally, when Gladiolus rewrote the Thunder spell, it still revolved around the part about extracting energy. However, the golden apple given to her by Azalea made her change her mind. So she rewrote the principle of the Thunder spell to make it easier for Lin Jiade to expand his own energy reserve limit.

Lin Jiade didn't demonstrate the detonation step. After he hit Yuki's arm, the energy in Yuki's arm area became disordered, and the spell that was originally gathered in her hand collapsed. In her own words, her arm with disordered energy felt like it had been electrocuted.

In addition, the Amanda Stone that Lin Jiade obtained was sent to the logistics team for processing. When he gathered at the martial arts classroom that evening, it had been transformed into a magazine full of bullets. In this way, he could use it as a container for storing energy, and when necessary, he could also use it as a special seed to launch, pursuing instantaneous lethality.

The judicial transaction, which the young man was unaware of, reduced his processing fees by 99%. He only paid one point, which had a purchasing power roughly equivalent to 6 dinars = 0.8 kilograms of chicken breast = 3 liters of milk.

Milk and chicken breast are the most common ingredients in Lin Jiade's diet, and according to Du Juan, these two ingredients are the most energy-rich foods in terms of cost-effectiveness among the foods he often eats.

Therefore, he is quite sensitive to the prices of these two things: milk is cheap, which is thanks to the presence of dairy farms in the area; while chicken breast is more expensive because advertisements promoting healthy eating have swept the city, influencing people's choices of meat.

Thus, two completely different melodies are stitched into Lin Jiade's life. On the one hand, he lives a frugal life full of housewife-like shrewd calculations and energy conservation. On the other hand, he receives various forms of support and embarks on turbulent adventures in another world.

Such a life was too strange. Lin Jiade had never imagined it before. Now that he was actually living it, he was surprised that he had no complaints or discomfort. Thinking of this, Lin Jiade couldn't help but laugh.

"Why is the Emperor of Lin laughing?" Arcturus asked.

Lin Jiade casually remarked, "I laugh at the enemy's lack of military strategy. The townspeople are currently more of a burden than an asset to us. If the enemy targets the townspeople instead of us well-equipped magic researchers, it will definitely slow down our project..."

Kapok nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, stopping him from sharing the story she had just made up. They entered the Mirror Realm with supplies, and as soon as they landed, they saw Friday waving a flag and shouting, surrounded by an audience.

Although he didn't know why Friday was there or what he was doing, taking him down was never a bad idea. So Lin Jiade rushed towards Friday, while the barbarian's eyes burned with fighting spirit.

The barbarian shouted, "Listen up, invaders of the Empire! The people of free Robinsonshire will not be defeated a second time by the same trick!"

He waved the flag in a feint, then aimed his newly learned spell at Lin Jiade, who then caught up and his thunder spell was completed much faster.

The two clashed. Friday's spell struck Lin Jiade's shoulder, leaving only a few marks on his protective gear, while his spell caused an energy disorder within the barbarian's body. The poor barbarian was not good at controlling energy, so he convulsed and collapsed, with flashes of lightning occasionally appearing on his body.

After defeating the leader, the rest scattered like birds and beasts. It took the Kapok Squad some time to capture them all. Soon after, a dog came running. This was a team from District 20. Lin Jiade was impressed by their choice of a dog as their leader.

“We received orders that someone was planning a riot, and it seems you have dealt with it.”

The dog spoke human language, and its Imperial dialect was even more fluent than Lin Jiade's. Lin Jiade replied, "As soon as we landed, we saw Friday and some other people causing trouble, so we took care of it."

Buck looked down at Friday, who had been captured, shook his head, and said, "Why bother?"

Lin Jiade deeply agreed. The three mercenaries from the Kapok Squad went to hand over the supplies, while he and Kapok interrogated Friday on the spot. The interrogation method was simple and brutal. Jianlan floated directly in front of Friday, and the phantom of her finger entered Friday's mind. After a moment, she withdrew her hand, her expression full of surprise and uncertainty.

"What's wrong?" Lin Jiade asked.

“It was that woman who encouraged him to come, but their conversation was encrypted with witchcraft, which I can’t decipher,” Jianlan said after a moment’s hesitation. “When I saw her, I felt like she saw me too.”

There are a total of 73 chapters owed, of which 30 have been paid, leaving 43 chapters to be paid.

Chapter 89 Asuka XIX

Even someone as oblivious as Lin Jiade could tell that Jianlan was somewhat afraid of the pale-skinned woman, so he stepped forward and gently embraced her, the touch feeling like icy air.

He reassured her, "It's nothing. That woman already knew we were here. So what if she really saw you?"

Gladiolus nodded: "Yes, we will eventually have a battle, even a one-on-one duel."

A duel? Lin Jiade thought, impossible, impossible. I'm not stupid. Why would I want a one-on-one fight when there's a righteous brawl? The other party has magical knowledge equivalent to a top-level sorcerer. If he goes up and slams, the other party will probably only have one problem: whether to turn Lin Jiade into ginger-braised pork or sashimi.

His envisioned ending was to help the Imperial experts hidden within the team fight in team battles, acting as the atmosphere-setter. Once the experts had reduced the opponents to a sliver of health, he would appear with Lancelot to deliver the righteous finishing blow.

After the judicial transaction, it was clear from the attitudes of those around him that the Empire protected him as a traitor trap and search tool. Lin Jiade also understood that he had to demonstrate his value and prove himself in order to attract more "investment".

So the intelligence gleaned from Friday was quickly uploaded to the intelligence room built into the issued mobile phones. Twenty minutes later, a drone took off and, under the astonished gaze of the townspeople, searched the surrounding area.

As for Robinson himself and the rioters who supported him, they were imprisoned for the second time. The prison already held some people who had been exposed by the townspeople for abusing their power and committing crimes.

Lin Jiade had reviewed these records in the intelligence room and understood the internal struggles in the town before and after the arrival of the imperial troops—even though their food production had decreased this year and people were starving, this infighting had not stopped.

He thought about these things while escorting the prisoners and couldn't help but sigh. The militiamen on duty—naturally newly recruited militiamen—stood tall and looked at the newly brought-over prisoners with hatred.

Aside from the enemy's main base, Friday's operation itself was an explanation of intelligence: the pale woman might have an inside agent in the town, otherwise it would be inexplicable why she would infiltrate at this time.

The most suspicious people were the militia sentries stationed in secondary locations; then those who had fallen out of power after the Empire took over the town; next were those who were on good terms with Robinson or Friday; and finally, those whose behavior was suspicious.

However, the town currently lacks the manpower to screen 2000 people. So, in a discussion group of 30 people, they briefly exchanged ideas and decided that the Kapok team would conduct the simplest screening first: whether any town residents were hiding soul fragments—whether from Gladiolus or Korobochka. If so, they could be temporarily listed as suspects and detained.

So Lin Jiade went to Nabu again. Nabu's battlefield kitchen was the gathering point for all the townspeople. People are made of iron, and food is steel. No matter whether they love or hate the Empire, are indifferent or weak, the townspeople's bodies would faithfully come here to eat at fixed times.

"Yo, buddy."

Nabu raised his fist and bumped it with Lin Jiade's. The big gold chain around his neck swayed back and forth. Lin Jiade thought that if Nabu braided his hair and got some tattoos, he would look like a hip-hop artist.

Lin Jiade gave Jupp a candy and refused Jupp's corn pipe. Juno grumbled in dissatisfaction, for in its simple mind, smoking a pipe was the best thing in the world.

Next time, I'll bring Juno a pack of cigarettes. Lin Jiade thought to himself, "The cigarettes at home that are meant for entertaining guests are never touched; they're just going to go to waste."

“Nabu, how are you feeling?” Lin Jiade asked.

"It's alright, it's my first time sleeping in the Mirror World, so I still have to adjust to the time difference, but Jupu and I slept really well because we were exhausted from cooking. Hey buddy, are you here to eat or to help out?"

Lin Jiade clenched his fist: "I want them all. Also, do you have any specialty desserts?"

Nabu thought for a moment: "How about pumpkin pudding?"

Lin Jiade didn't care; he just wanted to learn how to make desserts to celebrate Jasmine's return to school. Her return date was finally set for November 9th, a little earlier than expected, because Gladiolus had also joined Jasmine's rehabilitation efforts to stimulate her legs with energy and speed up her recovery.

Is this part of Gladiolus's compensation to Jasmine? Lin Jiade didn't know. He just felt that they must have talked and reached some kind of agreement, giving up something for the man they both loved. Jasmine gave up more, so he felt that he had to compensate Jasmine more.

Jasmine cared more about his attitude, and Lin Jiade's determination to make desserts was part of that attitude. In the midst of their busy schedule, Nabu took time to guide him and experiment with leftover ingredients from cooking.

At that time, Lin Jiade was exhausted because he was solely responsible for monitoring all the labor force on the construction site... despite Jianlan playing a major role. He barely mustered his energy and followed Nabu's movements.

The first dessert was not satisfactory. Nabu watched Lin Jiade's movements and corrected him from time to time. The second dessert was finally done well. Lin Jiade took a video of the practice with his phone. He couldn't always bother Nabu, so he would work as an assistant and practice in the field kitchen from then on.

Gladiolus put her hands behind her back and asked curiously, "Is this for Jasmine?"

"Yes, Jasmine, Azalea, these are yours."

"But Cupid doesn't need to eat, and I can't eat... I understand, it's about feelings, isn't it?"

"Well, Miss Gladiolus, no matter what you consider yourself to be, no matter what you will become in the future, there will always be a place for you in the family. That's what I want to convey... Oh dear, saying this in public."

Lin Jiade shut his mouth, looking slightly shy. Jianlan smiled slightly, reached out and took his hand. The cold air rushed into Lin Jiade's palm, and he imagined what it would be like for him and Jianlan to stand hand in hand at this moment.

“There’s still some time before we’re spat out of the Mirror Realm. Shall we take a walk in a safe area?” Jianlan suggested.