"Mom, you're back? Did something happen? Why were you gone so long?" As the well-behaved daughter, Chu Lian was the first to step forward. When she noticed that her hands were empty, she felt a slight disappointment—there went her chance to be attentive and helpful.
"It's nothing. Just handled a small issue. It was a bit troublesome, so I had to rush," Li Mingxue replied casually, clearly unwilling to elaborate, brushing it off with a few words.
"As long as you're fine." Chu Lian didn't press further. Since Li Mingxue had been involved, it definitely wasn't something simple. It was clearly beyond her current level—better not to know than to worry about it.
"Mm. Have you all eaten yet?" After changing her shoes, Li Mingxue stepped barefoot onto the floor. Looking at the group of girls and then at the spotless kitchen, she frowned slightly and asked.
Only then did Chu Lian realize they hadn't eaten at all. She explained, "We got caught up discussing some things and lost track of time. We haven't had the chance to cook yet."
"That's good. With so many friends visiting, as the host, I should be the one cooking personally." A faint smile appeared on her face, as if she didn't mind the extra work at all.
"Then I'll trouble you, Mom." On matters like this, Chu Lian never argued with her mother. Even though she could cook a delicious meal herself, her mother always treated the kitchen as her own territory and rarely let her step into it.
Still, being pampered like this felt rather nice, didn't it?
Watching her mother tie on an apron and direct Tina—who had just come downstairs—to take out various ingredients from the fridge and assist her, Chu Lian suddenly felt a sense of warmth.
"What, Chu Lian? Want a family like this too?" Cai Ya looked at her with a slightly strange expression as she sat back down.
"Huh? A family like this?" Chu Lian was momentarily stunned before understanding what she meant. She shook her head and said, "I'm still young. Even though I already have Anna as a daughter, having a house full of children like this would be quite difficult."
"True." A trace of understanding flashed in Cai Ya's eyes. For someone who liked girls, even having offspring was already rare, let alone having many children.
"Let's drop that topic. What time should we go tonight?" Chu Lian waved her hand, steering the conversation away. Right now, all she wanted was to rescue Li Xiu'er. Everything else could wait.
"Eight?" Liu Yanran suggested a time that was neither too early nor too late. If things went smoothly, they could be back within an hour, still have time for a shower, and then go to bed.
"I think nine would be better. If we go later, more of their people will be there. It'll make a bigger scene when things blow up," Chu Chu said, the embodiment of someone who loved chaos. Today's experience had left her in a bad mood—she wanted a proper fight.
Behind her, the Thunder Empress Lia seemed to agree with her master's words. Dressed in a purple gown, she floated in the air, clearly radiating a strong desire for battle.
"Chu Chu, you just like causing trouble." Chu Lian flicked her forehead, completely ignoring her suggestion. If they went that late, she might be fine, but the others would have their schedules disrupted. They still had school tomorrow.
It wasn't like the night before, where they could go wild and still feel energetic the next day. That had been an exception—an exception! Why was it that she ended up exhausted while they seemed even more energized?
"I think Yanran's suggestion is good. Eight it is." Cai Ya considered it. Even if things ran late, it wouldn't pass ten, so they could still rest properly.
"What about Inori?" Chu Lian looked at the quiet girl, wanting to hear her opinion.
"I'll go with whatever you decide. But this time, Eve can't come out. Yesterday's two uses consumed too much," Inori said. She didn't care about such matters, but she felt a little apologetic that Eve might not be able to help this time.
"It's fine. If we rely on top-tier power every time we can't handle something, we'll never grow," Chu Lian replied, unconcerned. She wasn't just referring to Inori, but to herself as well.
With Ayase gone, she had to face all enemies on her own now—whether they were at the Transcendence Realm or Heaven rank. No one would help her anymore.
Wait... if opening the fan could let that eternally seventeen-year-old girl lock onto her location and arrive through a gap, then that could count as a trump card, right?
But that trump card was far too unstable. Chu Lian suspected that by the time the enemy was dealt with, she herself wouldn't fare much better. Either she'd be teased until her face turned red, or she'd be thoroughly "disciplined." Escaping afterward would be a problem in itself.
"Then let's go at eight. Yanran, Ya'er, you two stay here. With Mom around, this place is safer than anywhere else." As Chu Lian said this, she carefully watched their expressions, afraid they might feel upset.
"Even though I have some special abilities now, I still can't help you much. I'll stay at home like before and wait for your victorious return." Liu Yanran smiled gently. Her words made Chu Lian feel as if she had traveled through time, back to a battlefield where she fought enemies while a beautiful woman waited for her in a tent.
"I don't know why I think this way, but having a girl waiting for me at home like this... it really feels wonderful." Chu Lian's gaze softened like water. This kind of scene had lasted for over two thousand years between them. Thinking about it now felt incredibly warm.
"It's fine. Once I get stronger, I'll go myself without waiting for your orders." Cai Ya pouted. She wasn't joining because her strength wasn't enough—she didn't want to cause trouble. But if she were strong enough, she wouldn't just sit here doing nothing.
"Alright. Anna, what about you?" Chu Lian finally turned to Anna. The little girl who used to cling to her had now learned to stay quiet in certain situations.
"If Mommy isn't back by ten, Anna will be hungry." Anna placed a book on her flat chest and looked at Chu Lian with calm black eyes.
But her words made cold sweat break out on Chu Lian's back. She knew very well what would happen if Anna got hungry.
To appease her, Chu Lian didn't hesitate. She immediately spent 150,000 Integrity Points to exchange ten portions each of Aunt Akiko's Jam, Misuzu Kamio's Juice, and Sanae Furukawa's Bread. Placing them on the table, she pointed at them and said, "Phew... Anna, if you get hungry, eat these. Don't go eating anything else."
"These are tasty, but if Mommy makes it back in time, then Anna will really be hungry." She felt a little happy that Mommy cared about her so much, but in order to let this foolish mom know she was waiting for her, she still had to say things like this.
And besides, according to what the book said, this counted as a strategy, right? As long as the strategy succeeded, Mommy would definitely become hers.
"Alright, I'll be back before ten!" Chu Lian had no choice but to make that promise.
The moment she received the guarantee, the little girl beamed and stored all the items into her dimensional space... dimensional space?
"This is something Anna recently learned. It's really big inside, and it's super fun!" Anna seemed to be showing off as she reached out and tugged at the rift leading into her dimensional space, and then...
"Okay, it's not very stable yet. Once Anna gets better at it next time, it'll definitely work." The moment she touched the rift, it immediately closed. When she tried to reopen it, she realized that due to her earlier interference, it needed some time to stabilize before it could be opened again, leaving her a bit dejected.
To the other girls, this scene made Anna seem incredibly adorable. It was impossible not to like her.
"Alright, then it's settled." With the decision made, the girls dropped the topic and casually chatted about school instead, bringing up today's unusual transfer student Qu Ningmeng and the relationship between Lux Lyle and Ruriko Nana.
"Qu Ningmeng is quite scheming, but not really annoying. In fact, if it weren't for her unusual ability, there wouldn't be many people who disliked her. She's very cute—when properly dressed up, she's even more exquisite than a doll. It's just a pity about her height and figure. She's already twelve, yet only 119 centimeters tall," Liu Yanran commented, her information thorough as expected from someone from a prominent family.
"Pfft—and her background is pretty strange too. She's a Chinese-American who grew up in the U.S., from a research-oriented family. A proper young lady. But the most unusual thing isn't that—it's that her entire family, from top to bottom, is female," Cai Ya added, clearly amused by the family information she had gathered.
"All female? What does that even mean?" Chu Lian was stunned, unable to grasp it at first.
"Apparently, their family has a hereditary condition. The women develop an extreme aversion to men—so much so that, at first, only their fathers were tolerated. Later, it evolved into not allowing any man to touch them at all. Life became very difficult, and most of them ended up living alone for the rest of their lives.
"In modern times, the Qu family finally made a decision. To prevent this branch from affecting the rest, the previous head separated this generation of women and had them settle in the U.S. With the family's support, these women reportedly began research in fields like biotechnology and genetics.
"You can imagine—if they hate men that much, but also don't want to live alone forever, and now have no restrictions, what kind of things they might do."
"You mean...?" At this point, Chu Lian understood.
"That's right. They've all become a same-sex family line—choosing girls who have never been with men as partners, and using technology to reproduce the next generation. Qu Ningmeng is one such creation." Cai Ya wasn't laughing at the girl's background, but rather at how bizarre such a hereditary condition could be.
"Qu Ningmeng shouldn't be considered an artificial human, right? At most, she's just a normal girl born through scientific methods—a girl who inherited the Qu family's unusual condition? No... maybe it's more like a mutation." Chu Lian thought it through and identified the distinction.
"Her case is an ability, not a natural hereditary condition. While she herself likes women and dislikes men, there's one key difference—she emits an aura that makes women instinctively drawn to her, developing affection, even love. As for men, they simply feel repulsed by her, not attracted at all.
"From what you said about the Qu family history, there was no mention of people actively hating those girls who disliked men. It seems that their condition is passive, whereas hers actively affects others." Chu Lian sorted out the logic and understood what made the girl unique.
"Yeah... she's a pitiful child. She hasn't done anything wrong, yet she's inexplicably become someone all men find repulsive. Living under that kind of environment and scrutiny every day, danger is always lurking. If her mental resilience were weak, she'd either shut herself off from the world or have already ended her life. The fact that she can still stand there like that is truly admirable." Liu Yanran sighed, clearly sympathetic.
"That's not quite right, Yanran, Ya'er, Big Sis." Chu Chu shook her finger, offering a different perspective. "Whatever you gain, you must pay for. It's only natural. If you possess an ability that draws women to you, then you should be prepared to be disliked by men. No ability comes without side effects."
She used herself as an example. "Don't think Chu Chu's abilities are all advantages. I have the Thunder Empress as a companion spirit, can summon lightning spirits, and even control the lightning in the sky. But my physical body improves very slowly—far slower than my spiritual perception. That becomes a major weakness. And against non-conductive materials, unless I overpower them completely, I have no way to deal with them."
"Exactly. Gaining power always comes with a price. It's a fundamental rule. It's not that it can't be changed, but such cases are extremely rare." Chu Lian deeply agreed—she had experienced this firsthand.
The other two girls understood the reasoning, but still couldn't help feeling sympathy. "At this rate, she'll be bullied. What happened after morning reading definitely wasn't an isolated incident."
"We're not related to her—we can't really help her. Let's talk about it later." Chu Lian had no good solution.
Strictly speaking, they were strangers. Being able to discuss her this much was already enough. As for helping her... in what capacity could she even do so?
Just as they were about to switch topics to Lux and Nana's relationship, a cool, distant voice came from upstairs. "What are you all talking about?"
Looking up, Chu Lian and the others saw a white-haired girl with a slender figure, and behind her stood the Umbral Knight Hiyori. The last person had arrived.
Tonight's operation could begin.