The sky was just beginning to lighten, casting a soft glow into Ye Xi’s room.
A figure stealthily pushed the door open, creeping inside with extreme caution.
Adair turned his head, a sigh of relief escaping him upon seeing Ye Xi soundly asleep in the bed.
Suddenly, he felt a gaze on his back. He spun around, only to find a pair of eyes intently fixed on him.
Startled, Adair realized it was Yuzu, looking at him with an expression full of questions.
Just as Yuzu was about to let out a cry, Adair quickly clapped a hand over their mouth.
“Shh! Don’t wake Ye Xi.”
Adair warned. He only released Yuzu after they gave an understanding nod.
Nevertheless, Yuzu continued to gaze at Adair with a puzzled expression, utterly bewildered by his clandestine actions.
Seeing this, Adair, wanting to tease the little wolf, chuckled and said, “If you cry out, wouldn’t my plan to ‘night raid’ Ye Xi be ruined?”
Yuzu’s face was a picture of disbelief, clearly thinking, ‘You?!’ It was as if they were looking at an idiot.
“Look how soundly Ye Xi is sleeping. I remember some of the medicine she uses has a sedative effect. Maybe the raw rice will turn into cooked rice. Hehe, just talking about it makes my heart flutter.”
A crisp, cool voice suddenly broke through the silence: “Then why aren’t you acting on it?”
“Isn’t this just a joke… huh?”
Before Adair could finish, he sensed something was amiss. Why was someone answering him?
A terrible premonition washed over Adair. He let out a dry laugh and said to Yuzu, “Well done, little buddy. You’ve learned to speak human.”
Yuzu sighed, lowered their head, and covered their eyes, unwilling to witness the upcoming tragedy.
Adair knew all hope was lost. With a despondent expression, he slowly turned to find Ye Xi standing behind him, staring coldly.
“Ye Xi, when did you wake up?” Adair asked weakly.
Ye Xi replied calmly, “The moment you said you were going to ‘night raid’ me.”
“I was just joking,” Adair said mournfully. “You see, someone as cherishing of their life as I am would never do something so irrational.”
Ye Xi sneered, “If your ‘lower head’ gets hard, rationality probably becomes a joke. And that’s called being a coward, don’t make it sound so grand.”
Adair looked at Ye Xi’s left arm, wrapped in layers of bandages, yet blood still seeped through to the outermost layer. His heart ached.
“You’re injured, so you should rest properly. I remember you said the medicine you applied has a sedative effect. Why are you up again?”
“I can still control that much sedative effect,” Ye Xi retorted. “As for why I’m not resting properly, hehe, a second wolf snuck in, and you expect me to sleep? What if I wake up to find a man crawling on top of me?”
Adair said, feeling wronged, “It’s not like we haven’t slept together before.”
Ye Xi said with disdain, “This time, your wicked desires were practically bursting out, like a horny poodle. How can it be the same? I now have two options for you. First, I’ll sterilize you for free, once and for all. Second, for the sake of safety tonight, I’ll beat you until you can’t move. I think the first option is very feasible. Don’t worry, I’ll be quick; it won’t hurt.”
Adair didn’t hesitate for a second: “I choose the second one!”
“The second one will hurt a lot,” Ye Xi advised.
Adair affirmed, “Say no more! If I don’t go to hell, who will? I choose the second one!”
Ye Xi sighed. “Alright, just endure it and don’t scream.”
Afterward, Ye Xi fulfilled Adair’s desire to share a bed, though the cost was Adair’s bones being practically shattered, leaving him unable to move and eventually passing out from the pain.
****
Meanwhile, Hicks, having abandoned the pursuit, returned to the underground secret chamber. Inside, Baron Quentin lay unconscious, a veritable mountain of flesh.
Besides him, a spectacled man in black bishop’s robes was waiting for Hicks.
Upon Hicks’s return, the man proactively asked, “Is it dealt with?”
Hicks shook his head. “Someone rescued them.”
The man looked at Hicks with some surprise. “Including this time, you’ve failed twice. Is this country truly so full of hidden talents?”
Hicks didn’t seem annoyed. He calmly stated, “I failed against the same person. That assassin was the one I encountered in Pecoin City.”
The spectacled man raised an eyebrow. “Has our arrangement here been noticed by their side?”
Hicks nodded. “I can’t rule out that possibility. After all, their territories border each other, making it easy to embed spies. They might have noticed after the events in Pecoin.”
The man shrugged. “It seems we’ll have to abandon this cash cow. It’s a pity that thing was taken by that assassin; it shouldn’t have been given to a puppet. Alas, I hope Terra doesn’t yell at me. Let’s go.”
Hicks looked at the fleshy mountain that was Quentin. “Aren’t we going to deal with this guy? He’s had too much contact with us.”
“Not with *us*, but with those two puppets,” the spectacled man said, adjusting his glasses. “From the very beginning until now, all he’s contacted are the humanoid puppets made by me, the Puppeteer. Their materials are human corpses, so it’s normal that he didn’t realize. Moreover, there’s no useful information about us in his mind, only his fear of us, hahaha. I also injected this guy with the latest experimental results from the cult. It should fully take effect in a couple of days. I truly look forward to the terrified expressions of those mortals then. However, that old geezer does know a lot about our businesses, so we should quickly dispose of him.”
“Oh, right,” the Puppeteer asked. “Who rescued that assassin? Someone capable of rescuing someone from your hands must be quite strong. Is it the Holy Sanctuary? If it is, that would be even more interesting.”
Hicks said indifferently, “No, but it’s someone I know. I’ll tell you later. Let’s retreat for now. This isn’t a place to linger.”
“Alright.”
The Puppeteer and Hicks left the underground secret chamber together. Shortly after their departure, a violent explosion occurred in the passage behind the secret door, engulfing their point of entry.
****
At this moment, Adair, in his sleep, was once again summoned to the Pure White Room.
Having been sleeping quite deeply, he was doused with a bucket of cold water, instantly jolting him awake.
Adair looked at the idiotic goddess standing before him, holding an empty bucket, and complained, “What are you doing?!”
Lifa glared. “You ask me! I didn’t summon you here to sleep!”
“Don’t you know sleep is more important for people?! I’ve been exhausted these past two days, physically and mentally drained, and now I’m being harassed by you!”
“Do you think I want to see your face?! Do you know how hard it is for me to resist the urge to stab a knife into your head every time?”
Adair immediately stumbled backward, horrified. This crazy goddess harbored such dangerous thoughts?!
“Who’s a crazy goddess?! Show some respect!”
Cold sweat broke out on Adair’s forehead; he had accidentally blurted out his true feelings.
Lifa conjured a room full of lightsabers, pointing them at Adair, and threatened, “I’m in a very bad mood right now. Don’t underestimate an angry woman! Do you want to find out if I’ll let you be pierced by ten thousand swords?”
“Wait, don’t you still need me for something? Calm down!”
“I’m in charge here. I decide who lives. Even if you’re chopped into mincemeat here, I can bring you back. Want to try ten thousand ways to die?”
Adair immediately cowered, quickly saying, “No, no. I understand, Goddess Lifa. Please put down your weapons; let’s discuss this calmly.”
“Hmph.” Lifa retracted the lightsabers. Lifa’s intense anger had its reasons.
She hadn’t investigated recently, but when she did, she was startled. An unknown intruder had actually established a world portal right under her nose. Although it wasn’t enough to transport living beings, it was more than sufficient for transmitting contraband.
This was a blatant provocation to her, a public destruction of her performance, a mountain placed on her path to promotion, and a bottomless abyss dug beneath her feet. At that moment, Lifa felt her menopause had arrived: irritable, furious, and then… she didn’t know who to vent her anger on. It seemed clear now that someone was messing with her, but she just couldn’t catch that person. How infuriating!
Lifa had also sensed that Adair seemed to have obtained the item she needed to retrieve, so she summoned him. She had only intended to give Adair some rewards for helping her, but who knew he would be sleeping like a dead pig when he arrived, and then yell at her after being woken up? Didn’t he know that a woman in menopause was unreasonable?!!!
Lifa snorted coldly and extended her hand. “Give me the item.”
“Huh?” Adair was momentarily stunned, then realized she must be referring to the Desire Gene Amplifier. However, that thing seemed to be in the real world.
Lifa frowned, asking, “Hurry up. You wouldn’t be thinking of secretly keeping it, would you?”
Adair wanted to cry but had no tears. “Secretly keeping what, for heaven’s sake? That thing is on me, but not on *me* here!”
“Hmm?” Lifa frowned. “You just need to think about it, and you can summon the item to this space. I’ve already opened the mental channel; don’t you know how to use it?”
“???” Adair looked at Lifa as if she were an idiot. “This is the first time you’ve told me this, isn’t it?”
Lifa paused. “Hmm? Is it?”
“…” Adair’s mouth twitched. His heart felt as heavy as if he’d swallowed a lead ball, and he replied weakly, “Forget it, don’t say anything more. It’s all my fault. Mentally chanting, right? Just a moment.”
Upon hearing Adair’s words, Lifa felt a little embarrassed. It seemed she really hadn’t told Adair how to use it.
“It seems you really haven’t.” Adair handed the summoned black crystal to Lifa.
After receiving it, Lifa frowned. “This item of yours isn’t complete.”
Adair was stunned. “Huh?”
“This seems to be just one crystal from the top,” Lifa said, handing Adair the blueprint of the Desire Gene Amplifier.
Adair saw that the true Desire Gene Amplifier on the blueprint was a bracelet-like item, with five of the aforementioned rhomboid crystals embedded in it.
“This thing can be disassembled and used?” Adair asked, puzzled.
“It should be possible,” Lifa replied with uncertainty, as she likely hadn’t used the item much herself.
“Anyway, only when all these crystals are placed on the bracelet can this item exert its maximum power. That…” Lifa scratched her head, “I can only ask you to collect the other components as well.”
“…” Adair looked at the innocent Lifa and asked, “What about information?”
Lifa replied sheepishly, “Just this photo. Don’t get it wrong.”
“Are you messing with me?!”
Adair finally couldn’t help but shout again.
(Two Days)