Chapter Five: The Standard Bearer’s Skirmish at the Outpost (Part Two)

Leaving the military district, Liu Mengchao felt his whole body grow light. Saying farewell to one’s past alone was always a little melancholy, but...

He lowered his head and looked at Joanna, who was holding his hand, and suddenly felt a surge of comfort. In hell, there was not only darkness; at the very least, Anna was still by his side.

Click.

Liu Mengchao pushed open the door of the house he was renting. Seeing the familiar surroundings, Joanna broke into a delighted smile. Clutching the chocolate in her arms, she sprang onto the sofa and rolled about happily.

This feeling was truly good, truly warm.

Liu Mengchao smiled and closed his eyes. Sitting beside Joanna, he finally felt what it was like to have family. They were very close to him, right beside him.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye. When Liu Mengchao came back to himself once more, the Lord God Space had appeared before him again.

“Welcome back, Exarch.”

Bai Ya’s voice sounded at just the right moment by Liu Mengchao’s ear.

“Bai Ya, I have four side-story rewards now,” Liu Mengchao said as he walked to the side of the Tree of Cause and Effect, crouched down, and looked at the leaves on its branches. “Will Joanna’s future enhancements use these too?”

“Yes.” Bai Ya’s voice rose slowly, but with certainty, in his ear. “Lady Joanna’s future enhancements will also make use of side-story rewards. And these two Trees of Cause and Effect are the foundation of everything.”

“The foundation of everything?”

Liu Mengchao reached out and plucked a leaf.

The system’s voice rang out in his ear again.

“Ding!

Detected... side-story reward.

Side-story evaluation: Original world magic energy—
Supernatural ability—zero.
Mystery—zero.
Overall rating—0.5.”

One leaf was 0.5, so two leaves should make 2, right?

Without further hesitation, Liu Mengchao plucked all four leaves. In his hand, the four leaves seemed to awaken from sleep; drawn to one another, twisting and turning, they finally merged into one.

“Detected C-rank story reward.”

“Bai Ya, if there are demons, then there must be angels too,” Liu Mengchao said slowly, looking at the leaf before him. “If angels and demons are combined, do you know what that becomes?”

“I’m sorry, Exarch. I do not know.”

“It becomes Ebony and Ivory.” Liu Mengchao laughed. “It becomes a man who can make even ghosts cry.”

“You mean the Devil May Cry enhancement?” Bai Ya cried out in sudden alarm. “A complete advanced Devil May Cry enhancement requires an A-rank story reward and 150,000 points in the pool. Unless we have that book in the library, we cannot obtain a cheaper condition.”

“We do. We have that book.”

As he spoke, Liu Mengchao pulled down the note in front of him.

“Devil May Cry Dante bloodline enhancement, demonic power not yet awakened. Rating: upgrade)

Description: Obtain Dante’s demon-and-angel bloodline from the Devil May Cry series. Initial level, and can grow.

1. Can use Ebony and Ivory. Black-and-white twin guns, advanced marksmanship, concentration after aiming: extremely high!

2. Can use Rebellion. The sword of the previous generation’s demon, Sparda, a greatsword. When swung, it will unleash immense killing power.”

“I used to imagine stories like this when I was a child.” Liu Mengchao chuckled. “Then the next world will be Final Destination. I look forward to seeing what the reincarnators can do.”

With that said, he closed his eyes and quietly waited for the transmission to begin.

Nothing happened.

“I’m sorry, Exarch.” Bai Ya’s voice was suddenly full of hesitation. “Could you choose an anime world? I think you would be more at ease in such a world.”

“More at ease? Bai Ya, I think it should be that I can only choose anime worlds,” Liu Mengchao said, voicing his suspicion.

There was no reply.

Bai Ya fell silent.

“So it is,” Liu Mengchao said, pacing slowly through the Lord God Space as he walked, “when I first opened the Lord God Space, you never suggested that I choose a film world. Back then I assumed it was because of the pool points, but in the second world...”

He stopped and said softly, “High School of the Dead and Resident Evil are both zombie horror stories, but you still did not suggest that I choose Resident Evil.”

Still there was no answer. Each of Liu Mengchao’s words struck at Bai Ya’s hidden thoughts.

“In my opinion, Resident Evil should be able to earn more pool points, but you did not suggest it. So can I infer that you deliberately hoped I would experience anime worlds?”

“I...”

“You did. Just now you wanted to persuade me to choose an anime world, but you were a little clumsy about it. And there is only one reason for all of this: all film worlds are impossible to choose. Or rather, if I choose one now, I will die!”

After a long sigh, Bai Ya finally spoke.

“As you can see, it is not yet time. We have only just begun.”

“Then...” Liu Mengchao sat down cross-legged on the floor and looked at the pool of light in the sky. “The next world will be That One, then. The one after that will be a team battle. I’m rather curious—if I write the Lord God’s name in my notebook, will he die?”

The instant Liu Mengchao finished speaking, a cold electronic voice rang in his ear.

“Detecting... detecting...

Lord God Space confirmed.

Lord God alive.

Detecting... detecting...

Authorization confirmed, confirming Lord God Space Exarch...”

A long string of identity-verification prompts rang endlessly by Liu Mengchao’s ear. This was not the first time he had experienced such a scene; next came the system announcement of the next story world.

As expected, the system continued relaying information just as Liu Mengchao had anticipated.

“Inquiry, inquiry, new equipment detected.

Would you like to equip it?”

“New equipment?” Liu Mengchao frowned. There was nothing about the next Lord God world he had expected, but none of that mattered.

“Equip it.”

The moment he spoke, a ray of white light flashed over his body. When Liu Mengchao came back to himself, a red cloak was already draped over him.

At his waist were two guns.

The black Ebony, the white Ivory.

And then Liu Mengchao touched his back. A long sword had appeared there as well.

The demonic sword, Rebellion.

Next should be the announcement of the next world, right?

Liu Mengchao smiled and listened to the system’s voice.

Suddenly, his expression changed dramatically.

“Detecting... detecting...

Detected a wagering agreement.

Stake: 1,000,000 pool points.

Wager target... veterans and newcomers.

Initiator: Ellucy, Lord God Exarch.

World generation... generating...

Another!”

“This is bad!” Bai Ya’s anxious voice rang by Liu Mengchao’s ear. “The team battle has begun early!”

“I already know.” Liu Mengchao looked at the white light before him and asked, “Then will Anna come?”

“No... this is a forward battle between Exarchs.”

“Then, fellow traveler...” Liu Mengchao faced the white light, drew the Rebellion from his back, and slashed it open with all his might. “Die for me!”

————————————

By the way! Potatoes are best with tomato flavor...

For some reason, that suddenly feels so evil...

And then... I think the flaw in That One is... too few heroines... and they’re not even pretty, hahaha...

And then, and then... I suddenly forgot what I was going to say.

Thanks to Great Lord Gyu Wu Chen, Great Lord Explosive-Laughter Vampire, Great Lord Cuteness Is Justice, Great Lord Pencil-in-Hand, Great Lord Xuanyuan the Murderous Maniac, Great Lord Frozen Speechless, Great Lord Thoughts of Prosperity, and Great Lords Kiririn☆ for the tips~~~~~~~~~~