"Waaah..."
"My retainer is no longer pure."
"Waaah..."
"It's all my fault. I wasn't smart enough. I stayed up all night doing my homework and couldn't rescue you in time."
"Waaah..."
"But don't worry, one day I will definitely avenge you!"
"Uh... you really don't have to be this sad. Nothing actually happened to me." With his hands raised in surrender, Chen Li, whose waist was being tightly hugged by Sirin, felt her overwhelming sorrow and didn't know how to comfort her.
I didn't get defiled by anyone, do you really need to cry this hard?
It was just Big Herta demanding that he give her a massage as payment for Sirin's tuition.
If Big Herta hadn't brought it up, Chen Li genuinely would have forgotten that teaching a student usually required tuition fees.
Although Big Herta was personally very interested in the Herrscher of the Void's authority, charging a little tuition seemed normal enough.
However, he absolutely could not say this to Sirin, otherwise she would only cry even louder.
As for massage techniques, Chen Li knew a thing or two.
And for Chen Li, "knowing a thing or two" meant he was practically a grandmaster.
Thanks to the massive amount of attribute points he gained after taking a bite out of the [World], under Big Herta's demands, Chen Li had dumped all of his idle points into the massage skill...
"I don't believe you! The room where I was doing my exercises is right next to Big Herta's bedroom. The sounds coming from her room last night... they had absolutely nothing to do with anything decent!"
Thanks to the terrible soundproofing, Sirin's face had been constantly flushed red while she was doing her after-class exercises last night.
Sirin felt that Big Herta had intentionally made the soundproofing that bad on purpose!
And to ensure Sirin could earnestly focus on her homework, Big Herta had Chen Li confiscate Sirin's "answer key"—the [Myriad Phenomena Severance].
So it was useless for Sirin to be anxious.
"Then if I tell you those were just the sounds she made while I was giving her a massage, would you believe me?"
"Really?" Sirin looked up, a glimmer of hope shining in her eyes.
"Of course it's—"
"Sirin, your retainer is incredibly useful. I've never experienced this level of pleasure before. If I had known doing this kind of thing felt so good, I would have done it much sooner." Big Herta, stretching her waist lazily as she walked by, glanced at Sirin and Chen Li and dropped the bombshell.
"???"
"This is a special reward just for you." Big Herta walked up to Chen Li, pressed his head down, brushed aside his bangs, and planted a kiss right on his forehead.
"My retainer has been defiled! Old Witch, I'll fight you to the death!"
Seeing Sirin charge at her with raised fists, Big Herta let out a disdainful smirk and smoothly hoisted Sirin up by the back of her collar.
Thanks to Big Herta's long-term deconstruction and research into Sirin's Herrscher authority, she could now selectively suppress portions of her Herrscher of the Void powers.
Although Sirin had not only gained absurdly powerful authority upon becoming a Herrscher but also a remarkably durable physical body, Big Herta's own strength was nothing to scoff at.
"Show some respect and call me Teacher. Alright, now hurry up and go catch up on your sleep. Once you're fully rested, I still need your assistance in researching the 2nd Divine Key."
"What? You still want me to help you research the 2nd Divine Key?! After the humiliation I suffered last night..."
"If you can suppress me without relying on Curios, I wouldn't mind if you 'use' your retainer to humiliate me right in front of my face. I wouldn't even care how loud you get."
"...Let me go. I'm going to sleep."
"It's good that you have this level of self-awareness. You should understand that excellent mates are only meant to be possessed by the strong. Even if I don't snatch your retainer away, someone else will eventually do it in the future. And you can't possibly rely on your retainer's Curios and gifts forever, can you?"
"Tch, just you wait!" Released by Big Herta, Sirin glared at her viciously before storming off towards her own guest room in a huff.
"Big Herta, this isn't what we agreed upon. This wasn't part of the plan." Chen Li touched his forehead.
"I didn't even mind giving you a kiss, what are you fussing about? That was my first time ever kissing someone, you ungrateful guy... Just consider it a tip for your massage techniques." Big Herta rolled her eyes at him.
Big Herta had to admit, after Chen Li used his points to push his maxed-out Level 10 massage skill all the way to Level 13, the sheer pleasure his palms brought when gliding over her skin was something she had never experienced in her entire life.
The [Allocation] skill was truly wonderful.
"Alright, alright, it's my fault. Thank you for the generous reward, Ms. Big Herta, whose beauty is peerless in the world and whose intellect is unparalleled."
Since Big Herta put it that way, Chen Li's only option was to raise his hands in surrender.
"Sirin is so easy to read. With a retainer like you who constantly flirts with danger and attracts bad women everywhere, she might never lack the motivation to study. That's a good thing," Big Herta noted, looking at Sirin's now-closed bedroom door.
"That's just naked slander. When have I ever..."
"Rumor has it you went to a new world yesterday, right?"
"Correct."
"And you didn't take anyone else with you, right?"
"Correct. But that's because the cosmology of that world is a bit unique. There's a special deity there who possesses the concept of being the 'strongest.' If an entity with a power level of 'n' that is stronger than him appears in the world, his strength automatically becomes 'n+1.' Although this has its limits, to prevent any accidents with my plans, I didn't bring any of you along."
Because bringing strong group members would only buff the God of War, and bringing weak ones would be useless, Chen Li had to brave the No Game No Life instance completely alone.
Oh, and with Haruhi Suzumiya.
But Haruhi Suzumiya was an exception to all rules, so she didn't count.
"Then do you dare claim that you didn't provoke any pretty girls while you were alone in that other world?"
"Of course I didn't... Uh, does finding a long-term meal ticket count?"
"Heh, men." Big Herta crossed her arms.
"It was genuinely a coincidence! It's just because that bad woman Jibril desperately needed to be taught a lesson. And I actually helped her! At the very least, I prevented her god from dying. It's just..."
"Just what?"
"She's currently begging me for help because her god has strung her up at the entrance of their fortress," Chen Li said, looking at the SOS message Jibril had sent him via the Friends Circle terminal.
It was all Jibril's fault. If Jibril hadn't used Heavenly Smite against Schwi, the Ex-Machina wouldn't have recorded and copied an attack completely exclusive to the Flügel. If the Ex-Machina couldn't use Heavenly Smite, they wouldn't have been able to smoothly trigger the various races to fire their ultimate weapons simultaneously. If the various races hadn't fired their ultimate weapons, the energy storm wouldn't have formed. If the energy storm hadn't formed, it wouldn't have been gathered and compressed into an arrow to pierce the planet. And if the arrow hadn't pierced the planet, the Star Cup wouldn't have manifested...
And in that case, the Star Cup wouldn't have fallen into the hands of the God of Play, a deity whose entire aesthetic completely clashed with the Eternal War.
So, Jibril got strung up.
Of course, there was another reason she was tied up. Taking advantage of the fact that the entire Flügel race had exhausted their energy using Heavenly Smite and reverted to loli forms, Jibril had plucked all of their feathers naked—and had even plotted to go pluck the God of War's feathers!
Naturally, Chen Li had orchestrated this.
But as the strongest deity, even with less than ten percent of his strength remaining, the God of War wasn't someone Jibril could just mess with.
Precisely because Jibril had failed, Chen Li had asked Tet for a favor instead.
Tet really didn't hold back against the God of War. When Tet sent the God of War's feathers to Chen Li as a red packet, he casually mentioned that at least half the feathers on Artosh's eighteen wings were gone.
When would he go rescue Jibril? He'd think about it later.
"A deity... sounds very interesting." Big Herta's eyes lit up.
"Her god is the God of War who possesses the concept of the 'strongest'," Chen Li explained.
"Then if we drag an Aeon into his world, could he become stronger than an Aeon?"
"Big Herta, you should understand that all concepts have a limit, including 'strongest'. Their world has an omniscient and omnipotent artifact called the Star Cup, which can freely alter the world's rules. The God of War's strength can only ever be 'n+1' beneath the absolute ceiling of the Star Cup."
"The Star Cup sounds very interesting too." Big Herta's eyes sparkled even more.
"It is. Not only is it very interesting, but the mouthfeel was excellent."
"...You ate the Star Cup? Why would you eat such a precious research specimen?!"
"I just took one bite! And while I was at it, I used the Star Cup's authority to take a bite out of the [World] itself. That's why I've been hiccuping all day yesterday."
"...Chen Li, oh Chen Li. You always manage to pull off the most eye-catching stunts." Big Herta looked at him, clicking her tongue in sheer wonder.
This was exactly what Big Herta loved most about Chen Li.
Around him, the word "boredom" simply ceased to exist.
"Here, this is that Miracle Card." Before Big Herta could even ask, Chen Li tossed the [Scamming Meals] Miracle Card to her.
Didn't Chen Li understand Big Herta by now? Without her even opening her mouth, he knew exactly what she wanted.
"You really know how to make me happy. Come, take a bite out of me." Having finished reading the Miracle Card's description in seconds, Big Herta offered her pristine, slender wrist right to Chen Li's mouth.
"???"
"I want to experience the feeling of being rejected by the World. Stop wasting time and bite me," Big Herta urged excitedly.
Sigh, to feel what it's like to be hated by the World!
If someone had the ability, who wouldn't want to try it out?
Plus, looking at the card's description, as long as Chen Li was willing, he could cancel the effect at any time.
People usually don't want to watch bad movies, but when a movie is legendarily awful, you just have to see it for yourself to taste the salt.
Besides, it was free of charge.
"Sorry, I don't eat people," Chen Li shook his head.
"Just one bite, come on, just a little bite." Big Herta pushed her wrist closer to his lips.
"It doesn't strictly have to be flesh. It just has to be a part of the body, but the bite itself has to occur on the body."
"A part of the body, huh..." Big Herta gently stroked a lock of her own hair, a brilliant idea forming.
...
"No, I can't sleep at all! And I have a feeling you two are just acting to mess with me! I'll have you know, I, Sirin, am very smart. How could I possibly be so easily fooled by you... you... WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?! Is there no justice left in this world?! Is there no law?! Old Witch! I'll fight you to the death!!!"
When Sirin pushed open her door and saw Chen Li and Big Herta kissing right in front of her room, she instantly exploded like a stepped-on cat.
Old Witch! Stop NTR-ing my retainer!
I'm going to blow you to pieces!
The golden light in Sirin's pupils instantly flared with blinding intensity!
Space began to violently ripple. Countless overlapping afterimages flickered behind Sirin. Within those infinite layers, Big Herta seemed to catch a glimpse of an incredibly magnificent silhouette of a tree—a tree where even a single branch was enough to leave one dizzy and mesmerized.
Big Herta stared at the projection behind Sirin in a daze, her body going soft from the sheer influx of information as she slumped into Chen Li's embrace. Upon observing the majestic projection of the Imaginary Tree, she felt an ocean of data flooding her mind.
This feeling... it's absolutely wonderful!
Without realizing it, Big Herta's lips parted from Chen Li's, and the ultimate, hyper-dimensional sensation vanished instantly.
Big Herta froze for a second. She looked at the enraged Sirin, then looked at Chen Li, and then used her finger to tilt Chen Li's chin up before leaning back in.
The feeling returned!
"Old Witch, I'm going to kill you!!!" Seeing Big Herta provocatively invading her retainer over and over again, Sirin summoned her [Myriad Phenomena Severance] and charged forward.
Rationality told Sirin that she shouldn't use the [Myriad Phenomena Severance], but Sirin's rationality had already fully evaporated!
...
"Sirin, Sirin, can you perform that trick again for me?" Sitting on the sofa in Raiden Mei's living room, Big Herta asked with great anticipation.
"Hmph! Don't talk to me!" Looking exactly like a puffed-up pufferfish furious enough to pop, Sirin crossed her arms and violently turned her head away.
"I'm begging you. Just try connecting to the Imaginary Tree one more time," Big Herta said, her tone filled with excitement.
The Zeroth Rated Power of the 2nd Divine Key—Cosmic Juggernaut—which was forged from the Herrscher of the Void's core, was the ability to open a pathway directly to the Imaginary Tree.
The fact that the Honkai Impact 3rd civilization, which hadn't even managed to leave its own solar system, could produce something this absurdly overpowered was the exact reason Big Herta was so fascinated by the Honkai universe.
Big Herta's preliminary hypothesis was that the Honkai world's underlying mechanisms were incredibly ancient... The Honkai's existence in the solar system could be traced back hundreds of millions of years, a terrifyingly vast number.
It was just like how in the early days of a video game, the mechanics of some vintage, launch-day characters were absolutely broken. Even if their raw numerical stats couldn't compare to a single hair of late-game units, their fundamental mechanics were flawless.
The Herrschers of the Honkai world were exactly like that.
Since the 2nd Divine Key could open a path to the Imaginary Tree, the Herrscher of the Void could naturally do the same. Furthermore, since Sirin was a living 2nd Herrscher, her connection to the Imaginary Tree seemed far more flexible and intuitive.
"No!"
"Just one more time. Do it for the sake of all the things I've taught you."
"..." Sirin looked conflicted.
"Silence means consent! Chen Li, hurry over here!"
"Wait, why are you calling Chen Li over?" Sirin froze.
"You connect to the Imaginary Tree, and I'll connect to Chen Li."
"WHAT?!!"
"I figured it out! Perhaps because Chen Li used his [Gourmet Cells] to taste the [World], he can naturally emit the same 'flavor' as the World itself! This means Chen Li acts as a conduit to observe the world from the perspective of the World. And when I make ultra-close contact with Chen Li—when I taste his 'flavor'—I can borrow that state to observe your connection to the Imaginary Tree from a completely unique, higher dimension. In other words, Chen Li is my conversion plug to the World!" Big Herta explained passionately.
This was exactly why Big Herta, upon touching Chen Li's lips, was able to see Sirin's connection to the Imaginary Tree and glean profound, hidden knowledge, but the moment she pulled away, she could no longer observe it.
However, that knowledge seemed exceptionally unique. One could only see and comprehend it while existing in the perspective of the World. The moment she left that state, the knowledge vanished like sand slipping through her fingers.
Big Herta's initial estimate was that only by thoroughly comprehending specific fragments of knowledge while in that state—assimilating it and making it hers—could she retain it permanently.
Because that was... forbidden knowledge. Knowledge belonging to the World that humans were never meant to touch.
Which meant that if Big Herta wanted to further understand the miraculous, profound secrets brought by the Imaginary Tree, she had to continuously use her "conversion plug."
Did you ask what Big Herta actually managed to comprehend just now?
Nothing. Because the duration was too short and the knowledge was far too deep.
Just like a toddler trying to grasp calculus, Big Herta experienced, for the very first time, the sensation of knowledge flowing into her left ear and pouring straight out the right. It felt as if the wrinkles on her cerebral cortex had been instantly ironed flat. There was a momentary sense of ultimate relaxation, like strolling through a Norwegian forest, or swimming in the Pacific Ocean off Sanya...
As a genius, Big Herta had never felt so utterly ignorant before.
And the feeling was absolutely intoxicating.
"Are you telling me you want me to give it my all to connect to the Imaginary Tree, while you sit right next to me tasting my retainer?! Keep dreaming! I'm going back to sleep!" Sirin glared daggers at Big Herta, turned on her heel, and stormed off.
Heh, despicable Old Witch.
However, because of this, Sirin had also realized one very important fact: Big Herta absolutely had not engaged in any 'negative-distance contact' with Chen Li.
Otherwise, Big Herta would have discovered Chen Li's special trait much earlier.
As for why Big Herta had kissed Chen Li right in front of her door?
How was Sirin supposed to know?
Regardless, there was no way Sirin was going to generously offer herself up as an excuse for Big Herta to take advantage of Chen Li.
What a joke.
Who on earth would be stupid enough to facilitate their own NTR?
...
"How about it? Do you want to give the Sirin who completely ignored you yesterday a little dose of Herrscher of the Void shock and awe?" Big Herta asked Kiana—or rather, Queenie the Sprite, who was currently piloting Kiana's account.
"..." Queenie the Sprite looked tempted.
"Silence means consent. I will help you gather enough Honkai energy to repair the Herrscher of the Void core inside your body. But in exchange, you must demonstrate the [Connection to the Imaginary Tree] for me." Seeing Queenie hesitate, Big Herta nodded in deep satisfaction.
"..." Sitting on the sidelines watching this unfold, Chen Li was speechless.
How can anyone actually be stupid enough to facilitate their own NTR?
But it was fine if Queenie the Sprite was a bit stupid and naive. It just proved that Chen Li's "Herrscher of the Void Useless Bumification Plan" was a resounding success.
There was nothing wrong with letting Queenie the Sprite be a useless bum.
Besides, it really was about time to repair the Herrscher of the Void core inside Kiana's body.
"Ahhh! I can't take this anymore! Chen Li, when are you going to extract Queenie the Sprite out of my body?! She keeps suddenly hijacking my account without any warning! And then she uses my body to do all sorts of weird things!" The moment Queenie went offline, Kiana immediately began to complain.
"The most infuriating part is that when she showed up, I went back into the consciousness space and ate some of her snacks. But when she returned and found her snacks gone, she actually called me a rice bucket and complained about how much I ate!"
"Is there any justice?! Is there any law?!"
"I didn't even yell at her for littering all over my consciousness space, and she's blaming me for eating too much?!"
"I'll talk to her for you," Chen Li nodded.
Leaving Queenie the Sprite stuck inside Kiana's consciousness space forever wasn't a permanent solution either.
And getting Queenie out as an independent entity was actually incredibly simple. Just look at Yakumo Yukari's gaps, or her boundary manipulation.
As the chosen ultimate wage-slave, Yakumo Yukari could do anything.
Even if Yukari couldn't do it, Chen Li could just forge an extra Curio to solve the problem.
Though when the time came, it was hard to say who exactly would hold the Herrscher of the Void's authority.
It might end up like Fu Hua and the Herrscher of Sentience, where they could freely borrow it from each other at any time.
"Chen Li, conjure up some snacks for me too! Preferably 'Mom' brand!" Kiana asked expectantly.
"I can do that, but you need to understand something: when Queenie eats snacks in your consciousness space, she doesn't gain weight. But when you eat snacks in the real world, you will get fat."
"...Then Chen Li, can you think of a way to turn me into the Herrscher consciousness so Queenie can come out and walk around in the real world?" Kiana froze for a second before immediately asking.
"Probably not."
"Then can you forge a Curio that lets me eat without getting fat?!" Kiana begged.
"I could, but it would have zero miracle value and be a complete waste."
"A Curio that lets you eat without getting fat! How could you possibly call that a waste?!"
"Because I don't get fat when I eat anyway. If I have no use for it, it's a waste," Chen Li stated flatly.
"...Then can I borrow your Curio for a bit?"
"The [Gourmet Cells] Curio is practically custom-made only for me. After all, Kiana, you wouldn't want to be eating snacks only for your physical stats to passively skyrocket out of your control, causing you to accidentally tear down the house every time you move, right?"
Because Chen Li possessed the [Allocation] ability, he could instantly bench the surging attribute points and leave them idle, or dump them into [Body Control] to offset the issue.
Otherwise, let alone taking a bite of the [World] like Chen Li did, just nibbling on a piece of divine amber could cause one's strength to spiral completely out of control.
[Gourmet Cells] only increased your physical stats; they didn't come with a complementary tutorial on how to control your new body.
"...Fine. I'm going back to sleep." Kiana suddenly felt that maybe eating those snacks wasn't absolutely necessary, and dejectedly trudged back to her room.
It was still early—only 6:00 AM. Kiana had been rudely dragged out of bed by Big Herta while she was still deep in dreamland.
"I really hope Sirin can figure this out soon and cooperate with my research." Seeing Kiana return to her room, Big Herta sighed.
In Big Herta's eyes, the most ideal test subject was still Sirin.
Not because teasing Chen Li in front of Sirin gave Big Herta a twisted sense of accomplishment, but because Sirin could theoretically control three Herrscher of the Void cores simultaneously.
Sirin's own Herrscher core was one, the original core inside Kiana (which previously belonged to Sirin) was two, and the 2nd Divine Key was three.
The first and the third went without saying, and the core inside Kiana was originally Sirin's property anyway.
"Sirin will probably never 'figure this out' for the rest of her life, you know?" Chen Li retorted.
How could a problem like this possibly be solved just by 'figuring it out'?
"Chen Li, this is all your fault."
"How is this my fault? You were the one who insisted on testing if a bodily fluid exchange could trigger the [Scamming Meals] effect! I told you a strand of hair would work, but you insisted on putting it in your mouth!"
"Was it tasty?"
"Mhm, the taste was exceptionally good," Chen Li gave a thumbs up.
"Then there you go. But I wasn't talking about that. I mean... did you intentionally stay in this state of constantly emitting the 'flavor' of the World, just so I would discover on my own that you could act as a conversion plug? Did you do it to let me see that higher dimension so I'd become hopelessly addicted to the sensation? Are you secretly in love with me?"
"I'm not secretly in love with you; I'm openly in love with you! Ms. Big Herta's beauty is enough to sink fish and make geese fall from the sky. How could I not like you?" Chen Li suddenly gazed deeply into Big Herta's eyes.
Everyone saw it. She provoked me first.
"Mhm. I've recorded your words." Big Herta suddenly pulled out a voice recording pen.
"??? What are you going to do with that???"
"Stimulate Sirin."
"...Sirin is so lucky to have a teacher like you. But I still have to clarify: I didn't intentionally emit the flavor of the World. It's because I still haven't fully digested that bite of the [World], which is why I'm stuck passively radiating its essence," Chen Li explained.
Facts proved that 1-Star Curios had a hard limit.
Chen Li was already considering trying to forge a 2-Star Curio.
But right now, no one seemed to have a demand high enough to warrant it.
A 1-Star Curio had a probability of opposing the world. A 2-Star Curio could comprehend and utilize the world. A 3-Star Curio had a probability of transcending the world...
He wondered if there was a Curio that could truly "surpass" the world?
"So you're saying that right now, anyone who links with you can observe the world from the perspective of the World itself?" Big Herta's eyes lit up.
"Theoretically, yes. But what are you planning?"
"When there's such a good thing, of course I have to share it with my besties! Wait right here, I'm going to go tell Ruan Mei immediately!"
"Holy crap, calm down."
"I can't calm down at all!"
Although Big Herta was currently very un-calm, after Chen Li summarily banned her Friends Circle account, she immediately calmed down.
"Speaking of which, Chen Li, doesn't this technically make you Tang Monk's meat right now?" the forcibly calmed Big Herta asked.
"A bit, yeah. Because you guys can use me to observe the World, but I can't do it myself," Chen Li sighed.
"Why not? You can't observe the World yourself? That's impossible, isn't it?"
"Because my CPU gets overclocked. I'm different from you guys. You can only see what manifests right in front of you through me. But after I ate the glimpse from the Aeon of Equilibrium and gained the ability to see 'Connections', the things I perceive are vastly more expansive. And all that information is completely meaningless to me, while the sheer quantity is absurdly massive..."
"I understand. It's like how some people, upon suffering extreme trauma, experience temporary amnesia due to the brain's self-defense mechanisms. Because you perceive far too much, your body voluntarily restricts your ability to view the World in order to block out the overwhelming majority of meaningless data?" Big Herta easily grasped Chen Li's explanation.
"Exactly. Plus, being able to see this information from the World's perspective is one thing; being able to comprehend it is another. Since I can see it but can't understand it, it's better not to look at all," Chen Li nodded.
Chen Li could integrate with the "World", but Chen Li was ultimately not the "World". He couldn't handle that level of data processing.
Chen Li's CPU nearly got fried on the spot.
The chaotic noise of the data was like listening to a billion little Herta puppets screaming at once: Ms. Herta is peerless! Ms. Herta's intellect is unparalleled! Ms. Herta's beauty sinks fish and downs geese!
Not only was it meaningless, but it was also incredibly loud.
But Chen Li truly hadn't expected that he could function as a conversion plug.
Bro, is this even reasonable?
Although he could spend time trying to understand and familiarize himself with this information to gain benefits, with that kind of time, Chen Li might as well just forge a new Curio.
Acclimating to this ability would take far too long.
In a supernatural world, people who can't see ghosts might be deeply curious about them. But the moment they actually gain Yin-Yang eyes and see the horrors around them, they'd wish they were blind.
Chen Li was even debating whether he should forge a Curio that allowed others to share his processing burden.
That way, if he ever found someone annoying, he could just activate overclocking and let them experience what it felt like to have their CPU violently melt down.
"Alright, let's put that line of research on hold for now. It's time to test out what it feels like to be hated by the World." Big Herta turned her gaze to Chen Li.
"You're the one asking to court death. Whatever happens, I take zero responsibility," Chen Li warned.
Chen Li had already "tasted" Big Herta's deliciousness, so he could now command the World to reject her.
"At worst, I'll just have Little Herta watch an ad to revive me." Big Herta decisively dumped the burden onto Little Herta.
"Alright then. Big Herta, go get me something to eat."
"I don't want to," Big Herta shook her head.
Bzzzt!
Big Herta instantly felt a bizarre, ethereal humming noise, but it felt like a hallucination, vanishing in a flash.
"Is it done?" Big Herta asked, seeking confirmation.
"It's done. Enjoy experiencing the upgraded version of the Silent Lord. The feeling of being hated by the World shouldn't be very pleasant," Chen Li stood up and patted Big Herta's shoulder.
Crack.
The sofa Big Herta was sitting on suddenly collapsed, causing her to fall backward.
Chen Li instinctively reached out to grab her, thrusting his hand forward, but he only managed to grab... the fabric on the chest of her shirt.
Seeing the sudden flash of bare skin and cleavage exposed to the spring light, Chen Li decisively chose to let go.
Thud!
"Chen Li, why did you let go?!" Having pulled her oversized hat off her face—which had completely covered her during the fall—Big Herta rubbed her head and glared at him.
Because the hat had blocked her vision, Big Herta had no idea what Chen Li had seen; she had only felt a sudden tug on her clothes.
"Maybe... you really shouldn't test this further," Chen Li offered a friendly warning.
"No. It's just a little fall. I can handle it."
"Good words can't persuade a damned ghost. Let's go then. But at least stay by my side. If you can't take it anymore, you can tell me immediately. Otherwise, if an accident destroys your Friends Circle terminal, you won't even be able to stop it if you want to," Chen Li sighed.
"Fair enough. So, where are we going next? Back to your room to sleep? You didn't sleep at all last night."
"And whose fault do you think it is that I didn't sleep all night?"
"You can't blame me for that. Your massage really was just that comfortable. Mhm, exactly." Big Herta nodded to herself, completely unapologetic.
"Right now, it's time to head back to my real home and wait for the new [Heavenly Drop] to arrive. Judging by the time, it should be here soon," Chen Li said, glancing at the living room clock.
"No problem," Big Herta nodded.
Big Herta only wanted to test what it was like to be hated by the World; which world hated her didn't matter in the slightest.
Hearing this, Chen Li extended his hand toward Herta.
"Oh? Have you started paying attention to your image and learning gentlemanly etiquette?" Big Herta smiled confidently and placed her hand in his.
"Cut it out, I want your hat. Don't you really like this hat? If it gets destroyed by some freak accident, you'll definitely be furious. So you better hand it over for me to keep safe," Chen Li stated bluntly.
Chen Li was being this considerate because, after all, he was the one who had cursed Big Herta.
When women got angry, logic went out the window. Big Herta might be a genius and slightly different, but Chen Li wasn't willing to gamble on it.
"No wonder you manage to attract so many bad women every single day. But there's no need. I want to see if the [World] can snatch this hat out of my hands," Big Herta declared confidently.
Friends, this is a massive gamble!
"Besides, even if I fail to protect it, don't I still have you? Protect me well, and I'll give you a reward." Big Herta patted Chen Li's shoulder.
"You're the one insisting on courting death! Why am I the one who has to fight the World?"
"There's a reward!"
"What kind of reward?"
"For example... you can act all lovey-dovey with Sirin right in front of me?"
"You better save that kind of 'reward' to tempt Sirin instead." Chen Li rolled his eyes at her.
How could I possibly be interested in something like that?
If it were up to me, of course it would be...
[Of course I want it all!]
---