Qingxiao’s arrival was swift. For an existence like his, the barriers of time and space were nearly negligible. As soon as Fourth Joy sent a message through the internal backdoor connected to the Sea of Order, a corner of the Sea of Order descended into this room in no time.
Of course, he was meticulous and cautious, only allowing a little light to seep through the air to avoid attracting the attention of the game system.
“Hello,” Qingxiao greeted Shi Yuebai gently. Although it was a cold, electronic voice, it strangely retained the emotional nuances of human sensitivity. Not much, but it was sincere.
The light emanating from him shone into Shi Yuebai’s eyes, making him blink uncomfortably. His previously retracted fur ears and large tail also reappeared.
Casey Cat, who had been silently criticizing him for hogging everything, suddenly fell silent. If he hadn’t successfully killed the ancestor witch and solved the curse 99%, he would probably have turned into the witch’s ugly appearance like an evil beast once a month.
Under the radiance of Order, everything will reveal its true form.
Xu Yintang’s human guise also melted away under the light, revealing a bizarre scene where tentacles emerged from the human body. Even Qingxiao was momentarily stunned before apologizing and lowering his brightness to a level that wouldn’t affect Xu Yintang’s disguise.
The tentacles, which had been writhing and entwining, retreated into a new guise, with a few reluctant ones cut off and devoured before they could touch Shi Yuebai’s furry tail.
Disobedient, fragile, diseased, or damaged tentacles could be regenerated through self-devouring to maintain the body’s efficient operation.
It was imaginable how formidable an enemy he would be if he completely abandoned his human guise and extended his tentacles.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Qingxiao praised, [For a ‘human,’ you’ve mastered it well.]
We Tlcajcu wbvfrais atjcxfv tlw jcv gfmflnfv j reyaif tjcv-rdeffhf rlucji ogbw Vtl Tefyjl.
Pc atflg jugffv-eqbc mbvf, j tjcv rdeffhf wfjca “obmer abkjgvr wf,” ktlmt mbeiv yf fzafcvfv ab “ifa wf tjcvif atlr,” “rtloa atf abqlm ab wf,” bg “vgjk atf batfg’r jaafcalbc ab wf,” vfqfcvlcu bc atf mbcafza.
Given the current context, Xu Yintang quickly understood this as “introduce us to each other.” Even though Shi Yuebai and Qingxiao knew who the other was, the usual courtesy of an introduction still required him as the intermediary.
As for why Shi Yuebai had to reach out and squeeze Xu Yintang’s hand, it was an implicit hint of their ambiguous relationship.
Qingxiao had long been disturbed by the increasingly mingled aura between Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai since he last saw them. This level of mingled aura, in his perception, might as well have had a sign saying, “Thanks for the enjoyable session.”
It made the words Qingxiao had prepared to say to Shi Yuebai stick in his throat. Seeing Shi Yuebai and Xu Yintang holding hands affectionately finally gave him a chance, and he hurriedly congratulated them following Xu Yintang’s introduction of Shi Yuebai.
Shi Yuebai gave a faint but genuine smile, skillfully making his fur ears seem bashfully twitch a few times. He took over the conversation, keeping the dialogue in a comfortable, casual mode for everyone.
Qingxiao’s appearance was even further from human definition than Xu Yintang’s. However, unlike Xu Yintang, who had no trouble accepting his non-human status, Qingxiao’s opening words alone revealed that he was more adapted to or more inclined to maintain human self-awareness and exhibit more human-like responses.
The advantage was retaining more emotional perception and empathy, unlike Xu Yintang, who was becoming increasingly out of touch with human emotions as he drifted away from being human—though his social skills had vastly improved, Xu Yintang had an astonishing talent for mimicking and flexibly applying them.
Shi Yuebai silently contemplated how to save Xu Yintang’s plummeting emotional intelligence, while on the other hand, Qingxiao calculated that Shi Yuebai had been out of the witch-hunting dungeon for nearly a whole day now. Any news he should have known, he should have known by now. Following human social principles, he said, [Also, congratulations on successfully clearing the dungeon. As the first player to clear it, I remember there should be additional rewards.]
After saying this, he scanned the perplexed expression emanating from Shi Yuebai and added, [As I mentioned before, we players are like immune cells, tasked with antivirus missions. However, the corruption of the evil gods is too stubborn to be eradicated in one go. We can only deal with it through constant world refreshing and repeated cleansing.]
[And successfully clearing the dungeon means successfully eliminating the corruption of the evil gods within the dungeon world. Even if it means plummeting the world into the Sea of Void, it’s still considered a success. The rewards might differ significantly if you don’t get them, as it’s akin to curing a patient. A patient wouldn’t give you a banner or send you red envelopes… I mean, if it’s a salvation ending where the world survives, the rewards received would be at the level of ‘gifts from the world.’]
Xu Yintang summarized the key points — it’s best to save if possible, but if the world’s corruption cannot be saved, it has to die.
[Moreover, regardless of whether it’s a catastrophic or salvation ending, after successfully clearing the dungeon, this section of the game where we are will no longer see this dungeon.]
Needless to say, in a catastrophic ending, the evil gods in the Sea of Void are indiscriminate eaters. But if it’s a salvation ending, players like those in Dreamers will come online afterward, starting the post-disaster reconstruction of the world.
There were no secrets about the world’s composition in Qingxiao’s perception, and these were all things Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai would definitely know after agreeing to assist him. Naturally, he had nothing to hide. As for the possibility of Shi Yuebai refusing to cooperate with him…
In the countless future branches that Qingxiao could read, there wasn’t a single one where Shi Yuebai refused him. The only difference lay in how much information Shi Yuebai managed to extract from him and how much bargaining took place. Qingxiao roughly glanced over them and felt he could accept any outcome.
…
Qingxiao generously provided all the information he knew, leaving Xu Qi’s wish to see their captain’s face change in surprise in vain.
Shi Yuebai only gave Xu Qi a look of mild disdain, as if to say, “You’re making a fuss over nothing.” He then selected from the information Qingxiao provided what could be disclosed to Noah, who came with Xu Qi.
Noah was much more insightful than Xu Qi. Seeing that Shi Yuebai already had an idea, he didn’t rush to discuss serious matters. He congratulated Shi Yuebai with meaningful smiles on taking a big step towards his White Moonlight.
Perhaps Xu Qi’s eyes, nose, and brain were burnt by the demon’s corruption, which is why he didn’t notice their captain’s unusually radiant appearance, as well as the marks on the side of his neck and wrists that a blind man could see.
You can’t exactly say it was mosquito bites, right? What kind of mosquito could bite through their captain’s impenetrable defenses?
Oh my, oh my, Mr. Xu seemed to have enjoyed himself quite lavishly, despite his seemingly simple appearance.
Noah tutted inwardly, refraining from making any additional remarks for Xu Qi’s sake, but subtly inquired about Shi Yuebai’s relationship with several “stepchildren,” and sighed at the new large crow in the hospital with a fluffy chest that was enjoyable to touch, accompanied by a group of shadowy large dogs that were impossible to touch but definitely great to cuddle.
Shi Yuebai silently observed Noah’s fingertips gently rubbing, as if savoring the sensation and cautiously retracted his large furry tail.
Hmm, let’s stick to serious matters first.
Author’s Note –
Sugar Daddy’s tentacle form also carries some contamination, which is why it leaves traces on Shi Yuebai. However, because it’s not a complete form, Shi Yuebai’s self-healing ability will digest and dissipate it eventually!
