"...Elysia, didn't you say there's no way anyone would pay for this service? Why are you here too?"
"You're asking me? I want to know why you're here, Mobius. Didn't you say you had a very important surgery to perform?"
"You guys are absolutely shameless!"
"Vill-V, you have the nerve to talk about us? Didn't you say you were going to the engineering department to work your butt off, figure out a way to get rid of Chen Li—that department head who does nothing but occupy a seat—and then rise to the top of the Flame-Chasers?"
"That's right, I am working my butt off in the engineering department right now. But what does that have to do with this projection of me?"
"Exactly. And I am performing a very important surgery. But I feel that exploring another world is also very important."
"Hmm, how come Kalpas isn't here? Don't tell me he's the only honest one?"
"This is too much! You all just know how to bully an honest person!"
"That's the pot calling the kettle black. You're no better than any of us, really."
"Don't say that. I came to Chen Li for a very serious discussion about forging techniques."
"Like hell we believe you!"
"Speaking of which, did you all suddenly get a personal panel?"
"Yes."
"I thought Chen Li made this personal panel just for me. I didn't expect everyone to have one..."
"So what are your professions?"
"I'm a Valkyrie and... a Herrscher." Seeing the two professions on her personal panel, Elysia was a little troubled.
Elysia knew she was special ever since the Flame-Chasers' predecessor organization searched her orphanage. Her travels around the world at a young age only deepened this feeling that she was "special," but she had never dared to confirm that she was truly a Herrscher. Although she had already learned the reality from the online encyclopedia link Chen Li gave her, this was the first time she had seen it so directly stated.
Of course, Elysia had no aversion to her Herrscher identity.
"A Herrscher? Elysia, I think you need to come to my lab for a thorough physical examination."
"Let's not, Dr. Mobius. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"Unless you're willing to wear the little pink dress provided courtesy of Chen Li."
"Hmph, forget it then."
"Is that condition really that difficult?" Elysia fell into thought.
"Mobius, what's your profession?" Vill-V asked.
"...Demon Scientist."
"Hahaha!" Hearing the answer, Vill-V laughed without reservation.
"Laughing so happily. Then what's your profession?"
"Genius."
"Yes, yes, I know you're a genius. So what is your profession?" Mobius nodded perfunctorily.
Who among those who entered the Thirteen Flame-Chasers as a scientist wasn't a genius? Although, the only scientists among them were Mobius and Vill-V. Su was a doctor.
"My profession is [Genius]. Jealous? Though I prefer the title 'Flame-Chaser.' A pity that's not an option," Vill-V said with great regret.
"Emmm..." Mobius looked at Vill-V suspiciously.
She didn't doubt that Vill-V was a genius, but she didn't believe her profession was literally "Genius." Based on Elysia's and her own profession, Mobius could roughly conclude that everyone's profession was their identity in their original world.
Treating one's identity as a profession... what an interesting world.
"In that case, dear Guardian, can you see the details of our professions?" Mobius asked, walking up to Chen Li.
Chen Li was Mobius's Guardian, and she believed the same was true for the others.
"I can," Chen Li nodded.
Just as he was Jingliu's Guardian and could see her profession and level, the same applied to Sirin, Mobius, Elysia, and Vill-V, whom he had brought to this world.
Chen Li could see that Vill-V's profession wasn't "Genius" at all, but "[Trickster]."
But then again, Vill-V's public statement was perfectly in line with the behavior of a Trickster.
"Why ask Chen Li? If you want to know my profession, can't you just look at it directly?" Vill-V said, summoning her own professional panel without batting an eye and showing it to Mobius.
And so, Mobius saw Vill-V's profession—[Genius].
"You believe me this time?"
"Alright." Mobius admitted defeat against this broken panel's judgment criteria. Why was she a "Demon Scientist" while the other was a "Genius"?
Meanwhile, Chen Li was thoroughly impressed by Vill-V the Trickster.
She can even forge her own professional panel? In that case, you get this (thumbs up).
At the same time, Chen Li watched as Vill-V's level shot up from Lv. 0 directly to Lv. 2. Clearly, deceiving her companions, excluding Chen Li, had brought her a considerable amount of experience points.
"I like this world. Hard work pays off," Vill-V said suddenly.
"What hard work did you do?"
"Don't you worry about that. Anyway, Little Li, can you figure out a way to pin this panel to the Friends Circle?" Vill-V asked.
"This... I'll have the little sprite try it out later," Chen Li agreed. But if he had to guess, it would probably require him to add a new Entry first.
[...Stop giving me more work. I'm about to go bald from fixing bugs in the Friends Circle.]
"Alright, you've all seen my world. Well? Just as I said, not that interesting, right?" Chen Li said to the group.
He had originally wanted to take them to the Xianzhou, but some of them had expressed a strong interest in his home world.
"Isn't this personal panel very interesting?"
"You're all projections right now, you can't take the experience back with you... wait, maybe you actually can. Because the logic of the Friend Assist projection is to feed back the memories and experience you gain during the summoning."
Chen Li suddenly sucked in a cold breath.
Normally, the stats on the personal panel, unless they were permanent physical enhancements from leveling up, would remain in his world and not be carried back to other worlds.
But the summoning logic of The Guide to Forging Curios was to feed the projection's memories and experience back to the friend. In that case...
"It works. You guys actually managed to get a personal panel by exploiting a bug... although it's pretty incomplete." After sending back Vill-V—the only one among them who had reached level 2—and summoning her again, Chen Li came to a conclusion.
What do you call this? You call this: My code has a higher priority than yours!
Jingliu's personal panel couldn't be saved purely because she had the disadvantage of not being Chen Li's "Friend," but was instead summoned by [Pale Justice].
"But it's a shame the panel is so incomplete that it only has your profession, experience level, and professional traits. I'll strengthen the Friends Circle again later to solve this problem," Chen Li said.
As a 1-Star Curio, the [Friends Circle] wasn't low-tier; it just lacked the corresponding function. The terminal could be turned into a virtual panel, which could perhaps be used to load this world's personal panel. He'd just need to open up an interface later.
And in Chen Li's view, Mobius and Elysia having personal panels without a [Guardian] listed was like a wife cake without a wife—utterly soulless!
How else was he supposed to control them?
Once he solved this problem, he could proudly tell his parents: "Mom, Dad, you don't have to worry about me being deceived by bad women when I'm out anymore, because all the bad women have become my Wards!"
[You have found the only worldline where you will not be dismembered for excessive philandering.]
"Since you all have obtained incomplete personal panels in this world, then... onward, to the Xianzhou Luofu!" Chen Li snapped his fingers.
His world's tolerance was truly immense. But all jokes aside, Chen Li felt that this world's only virtue was its tolerance.
...
[Jing Yuan]: You mean to say, you've brought a few friends, and for special reasons, they want to enter the Xianzhou Luofu for advanced studies, correct?
[Dad]: Correct.
[Jing Yuan]: This is not permissible in principle. After all, they do not have official identities.
[Dad]: So?
[Jing Yuan]: But since the right to interpret the principles lies with me, it's not a problem.
[Dad]: Thanks, then. I have a friend who is a genius at crafting artifacts, so I'd like her to go to the Artisanship Commission.
[Jing Yuan]: No problem.
[Dad]: I have another friend who is a genius in biological experiments, so I'd like to recommend her to the Alchemy Commission.
[Jing Yuan]: A genius in biological experiments? The Alchemy Commission?
Jing Yuan, who was sitting in the Seat of Divine Foresight handling official business, held his phone at arm's length, his brow furrowed as he looked at those two phrases.
(Old man on the subway staring at phone meme)
Are you absolutely sure you're not here to cause trouble?
However, Jing Yuan had to admire Chen Li's eye. The Luofu's Alchemy Commission had once conducted profound research on the Path of Abundance and had made great achievements in biological research. It was even once the place where the "Immortal's Path" (Abundance) was expounded. However, with the destruction of the Ambrosial Arbor, research on Abundance was sealed away, and the Alchemy Commission had now become a place where outworlders sought medical treatment.
What about the native Xianzhou people? They generally didn't need medicine. But it wasn't unheard of for some Foxians to feel unwell after eating chocolate and go to the Alchemy Commission. Although it sounded strange, because foxes are canids, Foxians cannot eat chocolate.
[Dad]: Is that not allowed?
[Jing Yuan]: It's not a big problem... I just hope your friend will be a bit more restrained.
[Dad]: No problem. I have another friend who wants to practice swordsmanship with the Cloud Knights.
[Jing Yuan]: Why don't you teach her? Your "Cloud Knight Sword Champion" title is already among the best in the Cloud Knights.
[Dad]: I don't have time. This afternoon, I have to go to the Herta Space Station to discuss a big business deal with Herta.
[Jing Yuan]: May I be so bold as to ask what kind of business?
[Dad]: Oh, you should have received the ad link for the Revival Games, right?
[Jing Yuan]: I have, what about it?
It was precisely because of the ad link for the Revival Games that Jing Yuan was even more certain that Chen Li was the Curio Forger. And he was even more confident that Chen Li could create a Curio to suppress the mara. Jing Yuan had even considered putting the Cloud Knights' recruitment ad on the link, but unfortunately, he lost the bid to a die-hard Robin fan.
[Dad]: Herta is paying me to turn all the current ads into brainwashing ads of Herta's puppets praising Herta.
[Jing Yuan]: ...Pretend I didn't ask. This matter is fine.
Jing Yuan was the general of the Cloud Knights, so it wasn't a problem.
[Dad]: I have one last friend, she said...
[Jing Yuan]: What did she say? Just say it. I'm mentally prepared. It's just about learning the advanced knowledge of the Luofu, isn't it? As long as you can forge the mara-suppressing Curio, the Xianzhou will help you even if we have to sell the pot to scrape the iron!
[Dad]: She said she wants to find a department with a lot of pretty girls. My friend is a girl, so don't worry.
(This friend was Elysia. The one who wanted to learn swordsmanship was actually Sakura.)
[Jing Yuan]: ...Just destroy me. I'm tired.
[Dad]: Don't give up so quickly. I think the Divination Commission is pretty good. The Sky-Faring Commission would also work.
[Jing Yuan]: ...Fine. But you don't have any other friends, do you?
Do you think the Divination and Sky-Faring Commissions are good? You think Master Diviner Fu Xuan and Helm Master Yukong are good, don't you?
[Dad]: None for now. Thanks for your help. I'm sorry to trouble you, but you're my only contact on the Xianzhou. My last trump card.
So I'm the trump card again, am I? Fine, fine! Just use one trump card until it breaks, is that it? I've learned my lesson. I'll do the same next time!
[Jing Yuan]: By the way, how is the progress on the mara-suppressing Curio?
[Dad]: I'm only one step away from success!
[Jing Yuan]: Can you elaborate?
[Dad]: I've already created a new folder. All that's left is to forge it.
[Jing Yuan]: Isn't that the same as not having started at all?!
[Dad]: Soon, soon. The last forging material is on its way.
[Jing Yuan]: This Curio is truly important to us on the Xianzhou. Once it is successfully forged, the Xianzhou will reward you handsomely!
[Dad]: I can ask for any reward?
[Jing Yuan]: Correct. I can even try to make an exception and let you run for the Marshal of the Alliance. But you cannot be elected Marshal of the Luofu, you know this.
[Dad]: Tch, how boring.
[Jing Yuan]: So... why are you so obsessed with being a Marshal?
[Dad]: Emmm, it's fun.
[Jing Yuan]: ...It's a real shame you didn't become a Masked Fool!
[Dad]: And also, I see in your Xianzhou General the likeness of an old friend.
[Jing Yuan]: Now that's more like it. But why don't you go find your old friend directly?
Jing Yuan figured it couldn't be because they were dead or anything, since Chen Li had a resurrection Curio.
[Dad]: You might not believe this, but although I already have a life-and-death friendship with that old friend, she doesn't know me yet.
[Jing Yuan]: I see. A one-sided crush.
[Dad]: IT'S! NOT! Don't you dare slander me! It's purely my collector's instinct acting up.
---o---