CH 34.2

Bai Lixin looked at Baldy like the most dutiful producer, asking his customers about their experience, “How does it feel?”

Baldy reluctantly handed the crossbow back to Bai Lixin, “It works well, but the aim is a bit off.”

Bai Lixin, “The aiming needs a bit of practice, but this one is a semi-finished product, it’s not perfect yet.”

Scar cried out, “You call this a semi-finished product?”

Bai Lixin pointed to the spring, “Its tendons are a bit dull and don’t work very well. I need tendons that are a bit tighter than this fish tendon.”

Scar, “Show it to me.”

The crossbow came into Scar’s hand. He tried pulling the spring and asked Bai Lixin, “If I could find a stronger and tighter tendon than this, how would it work?”

Bai Lixin, “It would be at least twice as strong again.”

The mermen gasped.

Scar looked at Bai Lixin, “The sea has been unusual lately.”

Bai Lixin: “……”

“I don’t know when this abnormality will reach the merfolk, but if this weapon can be mass produced, it is capable of helping the merfolk escape danger in times of emergency. If you want stronger and tighter tendrils than these, I know of a creature that has them on it. It used to be not difficult to hunt them, even though it was in the South Seas, but it is easy to hook them if you set the bait.”

“But we now don’t know what the South Sea Zone is like. Does the frequent appearance of creatures from the South Sea Zone in the East Sea mean that creatures from the West Sea Zone have also migrated to the South Sea Zone? If that’s the case, then the South Sea Zone could be ten times more dangerous than before.”

When they heard this talk about the South Sea Zone, some mermen reacted.

“You mean that?”

” I caught that thing once, and I don’t want to catch it a second time. It’s too disgusting.”

Bai Lixin looked at Scar curiously, “What kind of creature is it?”

“There was a type of electric eel monster in the South Sea area. Their bodies could emit powerful electric currents and their habits were fierce. But these electric eel monsters not only have delicious meat, but also very strong fish tendons.”

“We caught two of them before, and the fish tendons were extracted and made into jump ropes for the baby merfolk to play with. Do you want to have a look?”

Bai Lixin, “Okay.”

Scar called a young merman to his side and gave him a few instructions. The young merman quickly swam away and came back a few minutes later with a strap that looked a bit old in his hand.

Bai Lixin took the strap and twisted it in his hand, saying, “This will do, but it has been worn out too many times for it to be durable.”

The scarred merman, “Then we’ll just have to go and catch it.”

He paused and looked at Bai Lixin, “This crossbow of yours, can you produce it?”

Bai Lixin, “I will teach you how to make it, and when the time comes, not only the old merfolk, but also the younger ones, can use it for defense. You can just draw me a map and tell me the exact location of the electric eel monster. I can go there myself.”

Scar struggled, “Are you kidding? You’re a treasure given to us by the God of the Sea. How can we let you go on your own?”

Bai Lixin blinked, “What?”

“The gods of the sea must have had mercy on us merfolk to send you to teach us new ways to make weapons. I’ll get the young mermen to help you catch them.”

“No, no, no,” Bai Lixin hurried to stop the scarred merman.

He had to kill monsters to earn points, but if he wasn’t allowed to go, should he *drink the northwest wind?

*To remain cold and hungry, or in this case, empty handed…I guess.

Bai Lixin began to lie with a straight face, “Ahem, as expected of you, you are indeed meticulous in your observations. You are right, it is indeed the Sea God who sent me here to help you. And the purpose of my visit is not only to help you, but also to understand the reason for the turmoil in the sea, so I will have to go on my own on this trip to the South Sea.”

The old merman’s face showed an excited expression, “Sure enough! You were like a newborn baby yesterday, you didn’t know anything, you couldn’t even speak, and you can communicate with us easily today! What is this if not a miracle?!”

“Now that you mention it….”

“I’ll accompany you!”

A loud voice came, and when the crowd looked over, they saw Green Hair, whose ventral fin looked very inconvenient, swimming in from outside.

Green Hair’s face turned red, “Counting the time before, you have saved us twice. I don’t like owing a merman a favor. I’ll protect you this time.”

Several other mermen looked at each other and nodded along, “We’ll go too.”

The boss had given his word, so could they not go?

Bai Lixin still needed mermen who were familiar with the environment to lead the way, so he didn’t push back, “Okay, once I finish teaching them how to make the crossbow, we’ll set off once you’ve all recovered from your injuries.”

Scar, “Alright, alright, that’s settled, let’s all disperse.”

With Scar’s command, the mermen dispersed in a flurry.

The practice hall, which had been bustling with activity just a moment ago, was left to Bai Lixin.

He still had the last spike in his hand.

Bai Lixin inserted the spike into the crossbow. He felt for the current this time, and fired instantly the moment he felt it move.

The spike immediately hit the rock with great force and precision.

Bai Lixin put the crossbow away, and finally swam out of the rocky area.

The old mermen were fast learners, and after only two lessons, they had mastered the art of making crossbows.

They polished the fish bones with great enthusiasm and spent hours buried in the pile.

Bai Lixin looked at the task bar and found that two days and two nights had passed.

There was no difference between day and night here, and Bai Lixin could not tell the time by light. He could only rely on the timer in the top right corner of the task bar.

Thinking of this, Bai Lixin asked Green Hair, who was not far from him, “How do you normally perceive the change of time?”

Green Hair stumbled over his words, “Time? I don’t know, I go hunting when I’m hungry and sleep when I’m sleepy.”

He gestured to his stomach and then to his head, “They tell us all that.”

Bai Lixin, “Oh.”

Biological instinct.

Bai Lixin, “Did the jellyfish hurt you so badly? When will you recover?”

When can we leave?

Green Hair blushed, “You…why are you asking this? It’ll be soon, probably quite soon once the anesthetic has passed.”

Bai Lixin remembered that they had no concept of hours and added, “How soon is quite soon?”

Green Hair, “When we get stung by a jellyfish, we usually sleep through it.”

That’s a couple of hours or so.

“Oh, that’s pretty quick.” Bai Lixin understood, “Then go to bed and recover as soon as possible.”

Green Hair blushed slightly as his back twisted against the wall several times before finally swimming up to him under Bai Lixin.

“That… the thing you mentioned yesterday, I agree.” Green Hair lowered his head shyly.

Bai Lixin frowned, “?”

The thing that was mentioned? What did he mention?

The next moment, Green Hair made a move that made Bai Lixin so shocked that he froze in place.

Green Hair raised both arms and made two fists with his thumbs wrapped around his fists.

Immediately afterwards, both thumbs came out of the fists and moved up and down from finger to finger.

He finally remembered what he had done yesterday, “……”.

S419M: [Lord host, one thumb means “asking to mate,” two thumbs means “asking for a relationship”, the kind where you have children and start a family].

Bai Lixin: [……]

Bai Lixin coughed in embarrassment. “Well, don’t you think I’m ugly?”

Green Hair, “You’re ugly, but ugly with character. I find you to be the good-looking type.”

Bai Lixin decisively refused, “Sorry, I refuse.”

Green Hair was shocked, “I’m the most handsome man among mermen! And I’m still a virgin! Didn’t you seduce me first yesterday?”

Bai Lixin looked at the green color and the big mouth that wouldn’t close, and said calmly, “I just came here yesterday, and I didn’t know your habits here. In the world of the gods, the thumb means ‘approval’. I approve of you, but I’m not interested in you.”

Green Hair couldn’t believe it, “You are rejecting me?”

Bai Lixin softened his hair in annoyance, “Yes, that’s right. I’m sorry, I’m rejecting you, and we’re definitely not going to happen. I have a lover, thank you.”

A string of pearls suddenly fell from the corner of Green Hair’s eyes. Green Hair gave Bai Lixin a sad look, and he covered his face as he hurried away.

Bai Lixin breathed a long sigh of relief and leaned against the wall behind him to rest.

[Would you accept it if he looked better?]

Bai Lixin replied, [No way, it’s not a matter of whether he looks good or not, I…]

Bai Lixin opened his eyes abruptly. A pair of clear blue eyes looked to his side, “Where are you?”

The voice rang out in his head, and he momentarily thought it was S419M. It was a second later when he realized that the voice was Dijia’s.

There was a sulk in Dijia’s voice, as if he was suppressing something but it was building up momentum.

His voice shifted from Bai Lixin’s mind to his ear, “Guess.”

A tingling touch came from his back that was pressed against the wall, and when Bai Lixin lowered his head, he saw that the black shadows seemed to come to life as the black marks had moved from his back to his waistline.

Two black marks brushed across his waist like two large hands, and he could feel a solid touch in every place they reached.

Bai Lixin’s whole body tingled, and he hurriedly swam to the uppermost unoccupied hole and burrowed in, stopping only when he reached the innermost part where other merfolk could not see.

The black shadow had no intention of stopping. It freely wandered all over Bai Lixin as if it were strolling through its own back garden.

One of the black shadows reached out and traveled along Bai Lixin’s chest to his arm. The black shadow extended, and Bai Lixin’s arm was controlled by the black shadow in the same way.

The black shadow slowly came to his palm, stretched along the back of his hand, and curled around his palm again along his fingers, as if it had interlocked with Bai Lixin’s fingers from the back.

The black shadow then manipulated Bai Lixin’s arm to come to his lips, and the tips of his fingers gently pressed into the lips.

The other hand was also grabbed by the black shadow and pulled down to the fishtail, slowly moving to the movable fish scale.

The fingers covered the scale, and from a distance, it all seemed as if Bai Lixin was acting on his own.

Dijia vented for awhile before letting the black shadow release him, not knowing exactly who he was angry at.

He looked at the little merman in front of him and, for a moment, had the idea of simply locking him up.

The black shadow wandered aimlessly over his body, releasing his anger with every touch.

He regarded the little merman as his only treasure, but there was someone else in the little merman’s heart.

What was the name of his damned lover? Damn it!

The dark shadow dropped to Bai Lixin’s neck, its strength slowly tightening.

Just when he was about to lose his mind, a blue pearl rolled down from the corner of Bai Lixin’s eye and landed on the black shadow.

Dijia’s movements came to an abrupt halt, and all sanity was restored.

It was only then that he found that Bai Lixin’s body was spotted and he had tossed him about.

The shadow suddenly pulled back and tentatively stretched out.

This time, with enough tenderness, he gently stroked over the spots, sweeping them over and making them disappear.

Only when he was sure that he had removed all the bruises from Bai Lixin’s body did Dijia sigh softly. Like a defeated dog, he retracted his black shadow in disarray, “Sorry.”

“Wait.”

Bai Lixin called out to Dijia.

The dark shadow paused, and continued to draw backwards.

“Are you having trouble controlling your emotions?”

Not caring about Dijia indifference, Bai Lixin asked again.

Dijia’s voice did not have the same strength as before, and his words were muffled, “Yes, a little.”

Bai Lixin, “It’s okay.”

Dijia, “What?”

Bai Lixin, “For the sake of your unsound mind, I’ll forgive you this time.”

Dijia’s moving black shadow suddenly paused, and where Bai Lixin could not see it, the black shadow slowly moved and turned into a small flower.

Bai Lixin added, “Just this once, I hope it won’t happen again!”

Dijia coughed and curled the blue pearl into the shape of a wing with an “mmm”.

Bai Lixin looked up at the uneven wall, deep in thought.

The lack of a soul had caused Dijia to become emotionally agitated.

The current Dijia was like a time bomb; he looked no different from ordinary people, even more powerful than them, but if something were to make his emotions fluctuate, the consequences were unimaginable.

He was strong, but he was also vulnerable, and he needed him now.

Bai Lixin pursed his lips and looked at the dark waters.

There were millions of copies of the game, but it couldn’t be a coincidence that Dijia was present in every copy he entered.

This might be something Dijia did on purpose.

He had speculated on the copies he might appear in and put his fragments into them to indirectly help him.

He had thought long and hard about this, and this was the only possible reason as to why he could find Dijia in every copy.

If that was the case, it meant that Dijia had encountered something in this game that prevented him from leaving. Otherwise, he would not have just watched his risky attempts or not given him some warning.

Bai Lixin: [Escape System, are you there?]

The escape system reluctantly replied: [Hello, the assistance system is at your service.]

Bai Lixin: [You said before that the higher the floor, the better the benefits, right?]

Escape System: [That’s right. There are also benefit games and lotteries for every 50 floors you pass.]

Bai Lixin: [Then let me ask you, does the higher you go mean you are closer to the main brain as well?]

The escape system paused for two seconds: [That’s right, the main brain system is in that part of the higher floors. If you want to talk to the main brain, you need to climb to the 900th floor or higher.]

[After talking to the main brain and with his approval, the player can have the powers of a god.]

Bai Lixin: [What does “powers of a god” mean specifically?]

The escape system paused longer this time: [Sorry, your question is beyond the scope of my answer and I cannot help you. But you can go to the 900th floor in person, and all your questions will be answered.]

Bai Lixin was not anxious when he didn’t get the answers he wanted.

His sixth sense had been telling him that the person on the 999th floor must be Dijia.

The system said that the floor level was related to the person’s ability. Dijia had entered this world as a Lord God, so how many copies did he actually need to complete in order to leave this world?

Perhaps it was in the process of clearing the copies that he unknowingly came above the 900 level and was forced to bind to the main brain.

Of course, this was just his speculation, but this conjecture would explain why Dijia could easily put soul fragments into the copies and again enter his room without any authentication in the tower.

Perhaps he realized the problem the moment he was bound to the game.

So why didn’t he just break free? Was there something deeper to this? Was it because breaking free would threaten something?