Trouble Brewing

Old Wu gazed at the brilliant star chart, his heart surging with excitement. He longed to throw himself into it and swim among the stars.

“Record it! Don’t miss a single detail!”

The top priority was to document this star chart.

According to that girl Fire Finch, the subsequent records included the daily life of people from another world.

The essential differences between the two worlds might be hidden in the details they had overlooked.

Currently, most adventurers used magic ore obtained from instances as materials for their weapons, but the forging techniques were painstakingly developed by Blue Star people with massive human and material resources.

At its core, however, the thinking behind forging remained fixed on the original foundations.

If they could explore the origins of the other world, perhaps they could break free from conventional thinking, improve the utilization rate of magic ore, and thereby enhance humanity’s combat power.

The assistants all took out their phones to continue filming.

“Director, something’s wrong!”

Suddenly!

A researcher ran up to Old Wu, phone in hand, looking bewildered.

“Look, the camera captured nothing at all.”

“Mine too!”

Old Wu took the phone and saw it was true.

In the photo, apart from a film-like layer, everything else looked the same as an ordinary lab.

He pushed up his reading glasses, which had slipped down from excitement.

His mind raced, considering various factors.

The next moment!

“Everyone! Split up and write down the details. The moment your memory becomes fuzzy, stop immediately!”

Hearing the order, the researchers didn’t bother arguing about how inefficient it was. The evolution of “Starfeather Continent” was still ongoing; they had no time to hesitate.

The magic in the storage device was running low.

68%

…

“Damned bastards! Are those border guards just dead weight? Can’t even keep track of one person!”

At the H country embassy in the capital, Jin Jiancheng angrily shredded a confidential letter sent from Seoul and threw it into the air.

The paper scraps fell like snowflakes, hiding a pair of crimson pupils.

Jin Jiancheng struggled to suppress the urge to destroy everything around him, his mind racing through possible responses.

Those incompetents were bad enough, but their brains had gone haywire—actually wanting him to confront the Z country.

Heh.

What did he have to confront them with? What capital?

Did they really think that because their own country had more S-rank adventurers, they could go toe-to-toe with this giant?

Had they been standing at the top so long that they were blinded by their own lies, even fooling themselves?

This was the Z country!

Confrontation?

Making trouble on someone else’s turf—if those people wanted to move against him, it would be as easy as crushing an ant.

Only by standing on this land and interacting with these people could one truly grasp the mystery and power of this ancient nation.

The so-called S-ranks of his own country were nothing but a joke.

“Huff~”

After venting, Jin Jiancheng calmed down a little and cleaned up the shredded paper from the table.

Being able to sit in this position required excellent control over emotions.

He was a diplomat, and only a diplomat.

Power had never been in the hands of politicians like them. No matter how unwilling, this was the only path he could take.

Unless…

He picked up the phone and quickly dialed a number.

When the call connected, he immediately put on a fawning smile and said in standard Chinese, “Secretary Liu, it’s me, Jin Jiancheng from the H country embassy.”

“It’s like this: a friend of mine recently acquired a bottle of wine. I was wondering if you might have some time to honor us with your presence.”

“Right now? Okay, okay, many thanks for the invitation.”

Ending the call, the smile on Jin Jiancheng’s face vanished like a mask change, a hint of ruthlessness flickering in his eyes.

“Sorry, but I don’t want to die yet!”

…

The appearance of that sphere didn’t cause any ripples in Aya Tone’s life. The only impact was that he got named and shamed…

That’s right!

The S-rank adventurer was officially criticized.

The reason was—

After Aya Tone handed over the sphere device and magic storage device to Fire Finch, some “kind-hearted person” reported him to the court for occupying No. 2 High School’s playground without authorization.

When Fire Finch brought back the court summons, he had even laughed loudly, asking if an employee couldn’t stand their shady boss anymore and was suing her.

Aya Tone still remembered how arrogantly and smugly he had laughed at that time.

But when he saw his own name on the summons, he was stunned.

Wait, I wasn’t the one who sealed off the playground that day, okay! Why is it me again?

And most importantly, the court accepted the case?

But in the end, it was just a formality—oral education and an 800-word reflection.

It felt novel, but Fire Finch’s gloating expression pissed him off.

He hated people who gossiped about him, and also people who kept him from gossiping!

“Hey, look, so funny.”

Fire Finch leaned in with her phone, treating Aya Tone as if they were the best of friends, her body perfectly pressed against his side.

Feeling the warmth beside him and a fresh scent of just having bathed, and through the thin fabric, even glimpsing that abyss…

Impressive, no wait!

Aya Tone cleared his throat, controlled his eyes from wandering, and carefully shifted his butt a little.

But Fire Finch wasn’t about to let him escape. She stuck to him like glue—every time he moved away, she moved closer. Her motto: be a persistent plaster.

Mom always said men were incorrigible!

The sofa was only so big. Before long, Aya Tone was cornered.

Helpless, he emptied his mind and focused on her phone, hoping to finish quickly so she would stop clinging like sticky rice cake.

“What is it?”

!

His dead-fish eyes instantly widened.

Damn! Isn’t this that short drama I was in?

He remembered that back then… he just had one pose…

Aya Tone recalled that the director that day said he didn’t want to tire him out, so he just had to stand still, doing nothing.

And he still got paid afterward. Truly, standing to earn money.

“No! Why didn’t you say so earlier? A Dragon King plot? That I know!” After watching one episode, Aya Tone found himself just standing in the background, and felt deeply aggrieved.

This plot I know well—face-smacking and acting cool is just my nature. No acting needed at all.

Fire Finch: “…”

Was I talking about that?

“Next time, find you…”

“You said it! I want to play a tycoon!” Aya Tone excitedly hugged Fire Finch’s shoulders.

The dreams I haven’t realized in reality, let me experience them in fantasy for a while!

Eek!

Suddenly having her arms grabbed, Fire Finch was startled.

The rush of male hormones hit her, leaving her brain blank. She mechanically nodded.

“Great!”

Satisfied, Aya Tone happily browsed the short drama he starred in on his phone.

He had watched the same plot at least ten times, but for some reason, he never got bored.

He didn’t notice the faint blush spreading across Fire Finch’s face.

So hot!

Fire Finch turned away, touching her burning cheeks.

Inwardly, she scolded herself for being weak. It’s not like they kissed or hugged, why was she so shy?

“Sister Fire Finch, your face is really red~”

From the other side of the sofa, the little cutie Xiao Jiu poked her head out, blinking her big eyes.

“!”

Fire Finch quickly covered Xiao Jiu’s mouth, furtively checking Aya Tone’s expression. Seeing him glued to the phone, she first sighed in relief, then felt a surge of resentment.

All he can do is stare at videos!

With that thought, she lifted her foot and kicked this block of wood next to her, then carried Xiao Jiu into the bedroom, leaving the phone behind.

Kicked for no reason, Aya Tone: “???”

Is the guild leader on her period?

And why did she take Xiao Jiu away? To the master bedroom? Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?

Aya Tone was thoroughly confused.

Just then, the short drama showed the crooked-mouthed Dragon King getting kicked out of the room by Goddess Ru Yan—a situation that seemed somehow sympathetic.

Yeah, right!

“Bai ya~”