Gunpowder

It didn’t take long for them to complete all their preparations.

Livia sat on a small stool, quietly watching the charcoal turn black in front of her. Her weakened body had recovered slightly but was still soft and powerless.

Alice, on the other hand, was soaking soil and wall plaster in water.

Watching the two little ones fiddle around, Flora asked curiously, “What are you two doing? Is it related to fighting goblins?”

“Of course.”

Livia replied without looking back, “Just watch, if we don’t use this, we and the militia won’t be able to fight them.”

Having gone through it once, Livia naturally knew.

The goblin horde attacking from two directions numbered an astonishing thousand, and they were controlled by Shamans. It would be difficult to unite the people of Elton town in such a cohesive manner.

“Alright, alright~ How interesting.”

Flora bent over, with the equally formidable breasts propped on Alice’s shoulder.

“What is that white ball trying to do? Can you understand her?”

“Of course, after all, we… cough.”

Alice’s face flushed red, and she subtly shifted her shoulder. “But whether it will succeed… is not entirely certain.”

“Then I’ll go help the Ice Block organize the militia~”

Flora smiled, her hands clasped behind her back, “But before that, I must thank you for the staff you gave me. I like it very much.”

In her hand was an oak staff about one meter fifty long.

It was of moderate thickness, its surface smooth and warm, as if polished for many years.

The surface was a deep brown, with a natural luster. It didn’t look particularly luxurious or precious, but it wasn’t something easily found.

“It’s, it’s nothing. I also used money from my and Viya’s little treasure vault. After all, you’re a mage, and you need a proper staff…”

“Sigh~~~”

Flora placed the staff in her hand gently by the bedside with a half-smile, then gracefully stepped out. Alice wiped the sweat from her brow at this moment.

“Damn, the pressure is immense. Lao Ai, do you know how heavy that thing is!”

“Get lost. Are you complaining or showing off? And you used our money to pick up girls?”

“Hey, didn’t you say I should buy her a proper staff?”

“Of course, I just made a remark earlier…”

Livia rolled her eyes, then felt impressed that she could still joke in such a tense situation.

“Sigh.”

She stood up and processed the sulfur as well, “Be serious. This is no laughing matter. If we don’t succeed, even if we survive, Elton town will be lost.”

“Alright, alright. Speaking of which, do you have any ability to predict the future?”

Alice stopped the action she had already completed. She stood up, placed her hand on Livia’s tense shoulder, and gently kneaded it, “If you do, could you predict for us? Like, our future with Flora. Will she leave me in the end?”

“Are you being too literal?”

“No, no, no!” The golden-haired girl shook her hands like helicopter rotors, “Not at all! How could I possibly like someone with no sense of boundaries!”

“Explanation is concealment, concealment is fact.”

Livia also stood up, dotted a streak of black on her best friend’s nose with her dark finger, and giggled, “I can indeed predict the future. You’ll be ‘grass-fed’ by her!”

“Ha!?”

Alice frowned, “Even if that happens, it’ll be me grass-feeding her. She looks so frail and weak, how can she compare to this young lady!”

“Trash, you’re also frail!”

Livia snorted coldly, turning her back. Yet, a crystal clear sheen welled up in her red eyes, “Mhm, too weak, you’re too weak…”

“Hurry up and get stronger for this Master, become incredibly strong, so strong that no one can do anything to you!”

“Don’t rush.”

Alice ran to the small cup, filtering out the impurities while patting her abundant chest, a confident smile appearing on her face, “Mere goblins, they’re just level-one trash. What’s there to be afraid of? Even if there are many of them, just leave it all to me!”

“They shouldn’t be underestimated…”

Livia sighed, repeating words she had already said countless times, but her tone was not tired, only serious. She mixed the charcoal and sulfur in the proportions she remembered from her memory, and sat beside Alice, waiting for the final step to be completed.

The two chatted idly, Livia’s tense mood eased considerably. She could already hear the previously quiet street becoming noisy.

The night was lit up by firelight.

But this time, it was the light from torches, symbolizing hope.

—’Bang.’

Ilya and Flora returned together.

“The basic organization is complete. From now on, we’ll focus on defense. You two, come with me to a safer place.”

“No.”

Livia stood up, her voice firm and decisive, “I want to kill them. I want to kill them myself. I want to see their limbs fly everywhere, I want to hear their screams!”

With each sentence, her tone became more agitated, causing all three present to show expressions of astonishment.

Alice was the first to speak, the Big Thunder girl waving her hand in front of the white-haired loli.

“Sister? No, when did you become like this? Who adjusted you?”

“Hmph.”

It wasn’t entirely for revenge.

Livia pushed her hair back, looking at the flickering fire under the clay pot, “If we defend passively, our chance of winning is only thirty percent. Therefore, we must take the initiative.”

“Then, what’s the win rate for proactive attack…?”

“One thousand percent!!!”

Her words exploded in the air along with the crackling of the firewood. Livia extinguished the fire and slowly scraped the white crystals that had formed on the inner wall of the clay pot.

Beside her, Alice clenched her small fists excitedly, “Did we succeed?!”

“I’m not sure,” Livia expertly mixed them, then took out only a tiny amount, “In short, they’re scarce, so stable experiments aren’t possible. But as long as they can ignite and have some power, it’s enough. You’ll know why later.”

“Haha, if the innkeeper finds out we used the cooking pot to make this, he’ll probably explode.”

“Well… maybe we can still use it after washing it.”

Livia said, then struck a match. A faint flame immediately appeared in the air. She threw the match into a small pile of black powder.

‘Swish.’

In Livia’s expectant red eyes, the powder ignited like confetti, then vanished instantly.

“Success!”

“Hooray!”

She jumped up abruptly, feeling as if her previously weak body was filled with renewed strength. She grabbed Alice’s hand, who was happily bouncing along, and together with Big Thunder Girl, they danced around the burnt-out pile of black powder on the ground.

“Damn! Lao Li, you’re amazing! I was just saying it casually before, I never expected you to actually make something like this!?”