After spending a long time chatting on the phone with a very flattered Fu Hua, Old Man Fuli finally hung up, albeit reluctantly.
He turned around and spread his hands toward the girls, who were looking less than impressed. "My cousin really is just too honest."
He then jutted his chin toward Bronya. The little girl puffed out her cheeks and, with great reluctance, pulled out a Western-style sword and handed it over.
The longsword was bright throughout, appearing as if cast from gold. In the few seconds it was exposed to the air, the color of the blade shifted more than thirty times.
"Joyeuse, the 'Joyful' Sword — One of the Legendary Holy Swords of Europe"
Fuli took it, performed a flourish with the blade, and turned to introduce it to Mei. "This is the biggest haul from our tomb raiding trip. Also created by top scientists of the Previous Era—an experimental prototype predating the Holy Sword Durandal. The user can utilize its power to manipulate and restructure molecules."
"Good stuff," Bronya remarked sourly.
She had been eyeing this item for a long time. In the two days since they acquired it, she had even slept hugging it, making Project Bunny incredibly jealous.
During that time, she hadn't held back on the moe tactics either. She hovered around Fuli, sweetly calling him "Onii-chan," serving tea, pouring water, and even giving foot massages. Aside from actually warming his bed, she had done basically everything a little sister could do.
And yet, this insensitive jerk wouldn't budge. He insisted on bringing it back for Raiden Mei, claiming, "Only Mei can maximize the effects of the Sword of Rejoicing."
One could only say that the "little sister" ecological niche still had its disadvantages.
However, facts were facts. Compared to Dr. MEI, who possessed the intellectual treasury of the Stigmata and was sprinting down the path of decoding the universe, Bronya's knowledge could only be described as thin. Her application of Joyeuse would be far beyond a mortal's, but still miles away from a god's.
But that didn't stop the girl's jealousy from evaporating into the air, filling the entire bridge with the scent of sour grapes.
"Hmph."
Seeing this, the corners of Mei's mouth quirked up. She extended a hand, her nails painted with clear polish. "Yuan, let me see."
"Here!"
Fuli handed it over.
The girl took the holy sword, toyed with it for a moment, and then suddenly raised her hand. The SUV parked on the Hyperion's deck was instantly compressed into a palm-sized cube, which flew into her hand.
"I can combine this with that medium tank from earlier. The exterior will remain an off-road vehicle, but the internal functions will be replaced by the tank."
With the original transaction documents published by Shenzhou, they wouldn't have to worry about being unable to drive it around the world.
"Hell yeah!" x2
Fuli and Kiana jumped up in high spirits and high-fived. Upon landing, Kiana tilted her head. "Tank?"
"You know, that Type-59 Medium Tank: Super-Modified Edition!"
The boy gestured wildly.
Kiana slapped her thigh. "Oh! The one you planned to drive straight into Shenzhou with, but we stopped you!"
"Yes, yes, yes! The one with the supersonic nuclear space engine, the 120mm super laser cannon, the five pairs of tracking Wind-Fire Wheels... and tons of other functions! Capable of going to space, underground, or into the sea!"
Fuli sighed with emotion. "I thought Mei had already dissected my baby while we were out on the mission. I didn't expect it to actually—wait, Mei, why do you look like that?"
"I don't look like anything."
The girl turned her face away, refusing to look at him.
Fuli paused. A thought struck him, and his smile gradually became strained. "You... you did restore it properly... right?"
"Nah, I'd win."
Mei turned back, her tone firm.
"So you definitely dismantled it and didn't put it back together!"
Bronya rolled her eyes.
She would never submit to the tyranny of the Queen of Thunder!
The current Bronya held the purse strings of the Hyperion. If the ME Corp wanted to purchase anything, it had to go through her approval!
How can I lose when I have the high ground?!
This time, the advantage is mine!
"Come to the lab tonight, Bronya."
Sheathing the sword, Mei spoke in a casual, breezy tone. "It concerns the PRI-ARM breakthrough for Project Bunny 19C. A combined upgrade of various armaments. With the molecular restructuring ability of Joyeuse, the success rate is very high."
"YES! MA'AM!"
"Which Seele represent are you pledging loyalty to?! Wait, you defected just like that?"
Watching his little sister—who had been wearing a look of arrogant defiance just seconds ago—switch sides faster than the wind, standing behind Mei with a face full of fanaticism and her right arm raised at a 45-degree angle, Fuli completely lost his composure.
Wait, haven't I seen this development before?
Bronya declared firmly, "There cannot be two suns in the sky! The Hyperion has only one sun!"
"Ignore her."
On the sofa, Kiana extended a foot clad in white silk and kicked Fuli's lower back. The hardness of his abs made the girl squint in satisfaction. "You know girls. There are always a few days every month like this. She'll be back to normal once it passes."
"You make it sound like a period," Old Man Fuli retorted.
"Besides, who asked her to be the slowest growing out of the four of us?" Kiana said incredibly punchable words with a calm expression. "Look, in the beginning, you and I were outliers among B-Ranks, and Mei was only strong for a C-Rank. But Bronya? The great! The unattainable! A-Rank!"
"Chest is also A-Rank," she added quickly in a whisper before fiddling with her slender fingers again. "But look at us now. Mei is staying on the ship for research, so she doesn't count as combat power. But this young miss is full of vigor and about to break the A-Rank limit. And you, Ah Li? Even without the shards of the Holy Lance of Finality or the Oath of Octavia, average Critical-level fighters aren't your match."
She concluded, "Seeing herself getting left further and further behind... it'd be weird if a certain someone wasn't anxious."
Fuli rubbed his chin. "Don't you think being that blunt is a bit hurtful?"
Hurtful my ass!!!
Bronya puffed up her cheeks and stared daggers at the Fuli-Kiana duo, but ultimately swallowed the classic curse word.
Lies are not sharp blades; the truth is the knife that cuts deepest.
She was indeed anxious.
"But speaking of which, I feel like I'm just one kick away from the Critical," Fuli added. "Thinking back, four months ago I was just a normal person. A pure, natural, additive-free Critical fighter in less than half a year—scary. Too scary. Why do monsters like me exist in this world?"
"Well said."
Mei walked over with a smile. "Since you reached the Critical in less than half a year, reaching the rank of 'Licensed for Marriage' in another half year shouldn't be a big problem."
"That won't work. The legal marriage age in Shenzhou is 22 for males and 20 for females."
"Since you'll get arrested if you enter Shenzhou anyway, why not just change to a North American nationality like me?"
Poke, poke~ Poke, poke~
"Hm?"
Mei, who was in the middle of her persuasive pitch, tilted her head to find a white-haired Tuna poking her cheek.
"This young miss is more curious about what Mei's status is right now," Kiana said with an innocent, naive smile. "Are you a A-Rank Breaker like me, or have you gone a step further?"
"No, not at all." Mei responded with a bright, sunny smile. "I'm just a researcher. I don't have powerful strength like you guys~"
"Really?"
"Really."
Invisible gunpowder smoke filled the room, instantly dispersing the earlier scent of vinegar.
Tsk, these two.
Bronya curled her lip and glanced at where her brother was.
"Moyomo?"
"The Cat Cake is so cute."
Sure enough, he was happily playing with the Durandal-prototype Cat Cake.
This is what you call: You can't hide it when you like one person, but you definitely have to hide it when you like two or more.
Pah! Scumbag!
"Bronya? Bronya?"
Catching a glimpse of Kallen waving at her, the girl walked over, puzzled.
"Angela, what's up?"
"About that nickname—never mind. Don't listen to those guys humble-bragging. Come look at something funny!"
The Saintess twitched her fingers, stealthily pulling up a video.
It was the scene of the trio in the car after leaving the border, cosplaying the Jim Carrey Saturday Night Live trio. The three little ones were bobbing their heads with extremely high synchronization, looking incredibly goofy against the buggy drum beat.
But that wasn't the point. The point was Mei's expression. In the video, the girl looked at the three of them posturing with utter disgust, all while chewing on a piece of Ejiao vigorously, looking exactly like the King of Alpacas.
Bronya finally understood why Kallen had sneakily called her over; she was also trying hard to suppress the laughter in her throat.
"Pfft!"
She couldn't hold it in.
"Hm?"
Mei's gaze swept over instantly.
The Saintess hurriedly closed the video and stood up. "Um, Mei, aren't you going to talk about what you did during this time?"
Giving her a suspicious look, the girl withdrew her gaze. "It's nothing much. While you were on the mission, I successfully launched a few groups of our own exclusive satellites."
Previously, the Hyperion had relied on satellite navigation from Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, or the Taixuan Front to avoid accidents like accidentally barging into a World Bubble slice.
Essentially, this was entrusting their safety to others. The classic examples were the Galaxy incident Shenzhou encountered years ago, or a certain country launching a missile only to find their GPS cut off.
Now it was fine. Although it was just the basics, they at least had their own infrastructure.
Next, they just had to proceed step by step.
However—
Facing Mei's beautiful smile and her outstretched open hand, Old Man Fuli clutched his violently beating heart. "You want a budget, right? Discuss it with Bronya yourself."
"Asta! I want to sell Light Cones!!!"
In a private overwater villa in the Maldives, Asta, dressed in cool pajamas, had just answered the call when the voice blasting through made her tremble.
The little rich girl asked timidly, "O-Out of money again?"
"Not yet." Fuli looked away, his face full of gloom. "But eighty percent chance I won't last two months."
Even as the daughter of a major company who had seen it all, Asta was shocked by this money-burning speed.
"That rate is probably only surpassed by the Lord of the Screwllum Workshop. What kind of gold-swallowing beast are you raising over there?" She stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the seascape while tucking a strand of pink hair behind her ear. "By the way, the official Light Cone sales launch will be held at the Taixuan Luminary Wardance Ceremony next month. Remember to come and show your support."
"Can't go."
Baby Li was incredibly depressed.
He knew, of course, that the Xianzhou Luofu—one of the six major World Bubbles under the Taixuan Front—was hosting a Martial Arts Ceremony next month. Originally, he had planned to run over there with the Hyperion to join in the fun.
Who would have thought the whole "Fuli is the Primeval Lord of Heaven" divinity issue would pop up? To avoid causing trouble for his honest cousin Ah Hua, the boy had to painfully absent himself from this world-renowned carnival.
"That is truly a pity."
Regarding the highest divinity of the South Heavenly Gate Project, Shenzhou's confidentiality measures were impeccable. Even Asta, a member of the Schicksal Senate, knew nothing about it.
She nodded and said regretfully, "I heard that Princess Tribios and His Highness Argenti of the British Empire, Mr. Boothill of the Galaxy Rangers, Dr. Mobius and Miss Klein of Anti-Entropy, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from Schicksal and St. Freya Academy will all be sending people to observe the ceremony on the Luofu. Aside from them, many organizations including the Screwllum Workshop and the Golden Dawn will participate. If you aren't there, Mr. Fuli, it will truly be missing a major source of amusement."
She didn't even need a premonition. Just looking at the boy's face, which had "Troublemaker" written all over it, the little rich girl knew that if he went, he would definitely cause big news.
Who isn't a believer in Elation, after all? To miss out on such grand drama...
"Exactly."
Hearing the little rich girl say that made Fuli even more depressed.
He actually knew about Boothill and Argenti going. After the London incident, the three like-minded men had set up a group chat.
Those two had been bragging in the group chat early on, and Old Man Fuli was originally part of the bragging lineup.
What a pity...
"I'll go fishing then." Ending the discussion with Asta, the boy grumbled aggrievedly, "You guys play however you want. Emperor Fuli will fish alone in the Pacific for all eternity!"
Unlike the scrapped gym RV, the "Handy Geng-style" DIY Fishing RV was still sitting safely in his system space.
He'd just drive that!
Having made his decision, Fuli returned to his room. He walked to the collection rack in the corner and took out a twisted, broken weapon.
"Sparrow Talk, oh Sparrow Talk... your master has failed you."
He sighed, carefully wiping down this B-Rank long blade that had followed him for two volumes, and placed it next to Little March and Black Swan.
He thought he had escaped the title of "Weapon Breaker" and had been happy about it for a long time.
But as it turned out, he broke two in one go. One of them was even Kiana's Flamescion.
Even though the owner just complained a bit and didn't take it seriously, Fuli still planned to extract the B-Rank spell Acala's Fiery Boundary and turn it into a Light Cone to compensate her.
His self-created Setsuna Blade: Heaven's Endless Abyss combined all the characteristics of Flamescion and Acala's Fiery Boundary. It was perfectly fine to use it to replace the latter, which had become redundant.
After all that tossing and turning, it was already eleven o'clock at night.
The boy went into the bathroom to wash up, took a hot bath to sweep away his physical and mental fatigue, he crawled into the quilt stark naked and fell asleep three seconds after closing his eyes.
Then, he opened his eyes within the dreamscape.
Taking three steps in two, he arrived in front of the TV, sat down next to Sirin who was in the middle of a game, and skillfully tore open a bag of potato chips.
"What are we playing today?"
Nowadays, the time acceleration effect of the mental "Little Black Room" existed in name only.
Even so, Sirin had preserved all the games and anime series.
On top of that, she had actually rigged up an ethernet cable, allowing the mental space to connect online and receive signals from the outside world.
As for how she did it—don't ask. If you ask, the answer is "Invincible Herrscher Authority."
"Play what?"
The Queen gave him a strange look and tossed the controller in her hand aside.
"Play with you, obviously."
To accommodate Cousin Ah Hua's "Dual Cultivation Technique" (even though they didn't actually dual cultivate), Fuli hadn't visited the mental space once in the past half-month.
She was practically becoming an "Empty Nest Herrscher." Seizing this opportunity, she naturally had to exact her revenge properly.
And so, they went at it to their hearts' content.