The Bronze Rod and Burgeoning Worries

Please stop stuffing everything into your pants!!

‘I thought it was… that… Guwuwaaaaaah—’

Realizing the suggestive turn of her thoughts, Liuxia was utterly mortified, wishing only to burrow into the ground.

Yet, on the surface, she maintained a perfect smile, determined to play the fool to the very end.

“Oh, so it’s this… It looks so big and hard… No wonder it hurt Senior so much…”

The young woman found it hard to keep her composure, yet managed to display just the right amount of confusion on her face.

“But… why did you have to stuff it into your pants…?”

Li Chunsheng sighed, explaining, “It’s all because the Church is incredibly strict about managing Authority Artifacts that originate from the Temples…”

Much like the strict regulation of firearms by the governing bodies in Li Chunsheng’s previous life, the Church in this world maintained equally stringent control over Authority Artifacts that solidified powers of various ranks.

Their control was so strict that even most commoners were denied private ownership of Black Iron-tier Authority Artifacts; at best, they could pay a fee to use them at specially authorized locations.

Needless to say, this applied even more so to Bronze-tier and above.

Should one be caught illegally possessing an Authority Artifact, the crime would typically start as a felony and could even lead to the death penalty.

“This bronze rod is quite long; it would be impossible to conceal it entirely, whether in a pocket or simply tucked into clothing, wouldn’t it?” Li Chunsheng remarked, pointing at the bronze rod.

Liuxia nodded, acknowledging that the rod was indeed both large and long, and remarkably rigid—a fact the young woman’s body had intimately experienced.

“So, to avoid revealing that I possessed such a Bronze-tier Authority Artifact…”

“I had no choice but to stuff most of it into my pants, while the excess was securely wrapped in the clothes covering my front—that way, I could take the bus home!” Li Chunsheng declared with a triumphant expression, clearly pleased with his ingenious method of concealment.

“And until I got home, no one discovered I was carrying a weapon!”

“But why did you absolutely have to take the bus?!” Liuxia exclaimed, staring at her junior with disbelief, a powerful urge to complain rising within her.

‘Her junior had already reached the Bronze-tier; wouldn’t it have been faster and more discreet to just run back? Then he wouldn’t have needed to… to stuff it into his pants, would he? And he could have saved the bus fare…’

However, Li Chunsheng’s thought process was not something ordinary people in this world could comprehend.

Despite possessing the speed to effortlessly outpace a bus and the stamina to complete an Earth marathon with ease, he was still a Black Iron-tier commoner who insisted on spending money to ride the bus.

Provided he could conceal his unusual financial habits, Li Chunsheng would always choose to spend money to conserve his energy.

This was entirely contrary to the habits of most people in this world, who would never spend a single coin if they had the ability to avoid it.

“Ah, ah…”

Liuxia felt her brain melting; her emotions had fluctuated too wildly in such a short time, her intellect seemed to have retreated, and she was on the verge of losing her composure.

‘Liu Xia… calm down, calm down… You are Chunsheng’s senior; you mustn’t lose your composure in front of him. Be composed.’

As the young woman thought this, her emotions gradually stabilized, and only then did she notice another piece of information that had been overlooked in their previous conversation, overshadowed by her preoccupation with the rod in the pants.

A Bronze-tier Artifact?!

Liuxia’s face paled, and she stammered, “Chun… Chunsheng… did you say you brought back a Bronze-tier Artifact?”

If illegally possessing a Black Iron-tier Artifact was akin to manufacturing a homemade firearm, then possessing a Bronze-tier Artifact was comparable to stashing away rocket launchers and cannons…

“Yes?” Li Chunsheng responded, looking at his senior with a puzzled expression that clearly conveyed, ‘Didn’t I just say that?’

“Wh-where did this Bronze-tier Artifact come from?… Illegal possession is a serious crime, Chunsheng…” Liuxia’s eyes welled up with tears as she looked at her junior with deep concern.

“Let’s not steal… and let’s not rob… let’s just live a peaceful, stable life, okay?… If you simply save money safely and marry a good woman in the future, your senior will finally be at ease…”

The young woman instinctively tugged at her junior’s sleeve, looking up at Li Chunsheng.

“Senior, from the moment I decided to protect you… I was already committing a serious crime,” Li Chunsheng said with a dismissive smile. “What’s one more sin added to the list now, right?”

“But…” The young woman remained uneasy, wanting to say more.

However, Li Chunsheng waved his hand, saying, “Alright, what’s done is done. Let’s talk about something else.”

“By the way, Senior, aren’t you curious about what this Bronze-tier Artifact does?” Without waiting for a reply, he personally demonstrated its use… pressing a button and pointing the bronze rod at himself twice, with a slight pause in between.

In Liuxia’s perception, Li Chunsheng’s aura first plummeted, dropping to the Black Iron-tier, before returning to the Bronze-tier after the second tap of the bronze rod.

“This is—!” The young woman gasped, “It can actually strengthen someone from Black Iron-tier directly to Bronze-tier?!”

Li Chunsheng nodded.

“Then… using this thing must come with a significant cost, right?” Liuxia voiced a new concern.

“Hmm! It’s fine, Senior,” Li Chunsheng reassured her, pulling out a Black Iron card and displaying the amount on it to Liuxia.

“Look, Senior, I managed to secure a substantial amount of compensation from those who tried to harm me this time—a full twenty thousand Black Iron coins! Coupled with my savings, I now have over thirty thousand, which is more than enough to cover the costs several times over!”

“However, I plan to use this money next to get your identification card processed first, so please don’t worry, nothing will go wrong!” Li Chunsheng spoke confidently, exuding an air of self-assurance.

“…Alright.”

Liuxia pursed her lips and nodded.

Watching Li Chunsheng’s confident demeanor, she sighed inwardly, ‘It seems Chunsheng has matured even more than I imagined… Now, I find myself relying on him more than he relies on me.’

As for the Bronze-tier Artifact her junior had acquired, Liuxia harbored no covetous desires; moreover, for a goblin whose intrinsic value had plummeted to negative, there was no possibility of her ever using it.

Following this, the young woman fell silent, not uttering another word, yet a hint of worry occasionally flitted across her face, making her appear particularly forlorn.

‘Seeing his senior in such a state, Li Chunsheng felt a pang of sympathy.’

‘Senior always seems so unhappy lately…’

‘If only I could be more useful…’

‘The most important thing now is to cheer her up!’

Thus, Li Chunsheng quickly shoveled several mouthfuls of food, making loud swallowing noises to catch Liuxia’s attention, and praised incessantly, “Delicious, truly delicious! Senior, you’re incredibly skilled; your cooking is absolutely superb!”

Seeing the young woman finally reveal a genuinely joyful smile, Li Chunsheng’s heart swelled with delight, and he decided to strike while the iron was hot, continuing his praise:

“If I had this skill, I would have found a girlfriend ages ago!”

However, this time, his senior’s reaction was not what he had anticipated.

Her expression inexplicably dimmed.

“Ah, this…” Li Chunsheng’s words trailed off.

A bitter smile suddenly surfaced on Liuxia’s dimmed face:

“Indeed… back then… the girl I was pursuing said she liked boys who could cook… so I learned a lot…”

The girl she spoke of was, quite clearly, Mu Shengling.

Li Chunsheng’s well-intentioned praise had, unexpectedly, ripped open Liuxia’s old wound!

“Ahhhhhhh!” Li Chunsheng inwardly fumed, ‘What kind of topic did I even bring up? I actually managed to steer the conversation toward that wretched b*tch!’

His resentment towards Mu Shengling intensified even further, and his favorability rating for her plummeted once more.

To Li Chunsheng’s unsurprised dismay, Liuxia did not continue the conversation on that topic, instead resuming her meal in silence.

Understanding the situation, Li Chunsheng tactfully remained silent as well.

After they finished eating, both went to wash up and rest.

However, in her heart, Liuxia pondered many things that night.

‘For Chunsheng, what good is it if I’m skilled at cooking?’

‘I’m just a goblin who inexplicably ended up in a girl’s body…’

‘…As I am now, I can neither drop gold coins nor bestow a [Blessing] upon Junior, like a true girl would…’

‘To help me, Junior personally ventured into grave danger and even incurred a serious crime—all of this, for me…’

‘For his safety, would it be better if I left him?’

…

In the deepening night, the young woman curled up on the sofa, her brows subtly furrowed.

Within Liuxia’s body, a strange deterioration was quietly brewing…