"…" Staring at the scene before him, Chen Li fell into deep thought.
It was only after seeing the crime scene that he remembered something.
Namely, that when he used [Mengyin Shen], there was another heavyweight contestant in the Herta Space Station—Haruhi Suzumiya.
"What? You want some too?" Haruhi asked Chen Li as she used a burlap sack to collect snacks from her four companions.
"…When Asta first called and said something had gone wrong, I didn't believe her. I didn't expect something to have actually gone wrong," Chen Li sighed.
"Hmm? What went wrong?" Haruhi asked, confused.
"Don't you think there are way too many snacks in your four companions' baskets? You've already filled four burlap sacks," Chen Li pointed out.
Chen Li had asked Big Herta to have Asta collect a portion of the snacks from every researcher who had turned into a Yingying, because eating new things could increase his attribute points.
However, Asta had reported that while Chen Li's esteemed guest, Haruhi Suzumiya, had quickly returned to normal after being infected, her four companions had run into a problem. They had remained in their Yingying state for a full hour without changing back.
When Chen Li came over to check, he saw Haruhi stuffing snacks from her four companions' hands into burlap sacks.
"Eh? Shouldn't these little things be able to keep pulling snacks out of the basket as long as the recipient wants more? Just like Santa Claus," Haruhi said, tilting her head.
"…" So that's how you understood it?
Ordinarily, Chen Li would have found such a response strange, but hearing it come from Haruhi Suzumiya's mouth, it suddenly seemed to make perfect sense.
After all, this was Haruhi Suzumiya.
"Of course not. Normally, the number of snacks in each person's basket is limited. This is a new Curio I created, and this is its first experiment. It's possible that because you people from another world have a different constitution, your situation is different from the others who were affected," Chen Li told a white lie.
He had no choice. This was Haruhi Suzumiya, after all.
The surveillance footage from the space station showed that Haruhi had also been affected by [Mengyin Shen], which meant the Curio's effect was working properly.
Even a god has to turn into a Yingying if they get infected!
But Haruhi was also able to influence her four companions, keeping them in their Yingying state and having them continuously distribute snacks to her.
This wasn't strange either, because the Yingying state was pseudo-invincible, not truly invincible.
It helps you treat the Mara-Struck, it helps you relieve stress, and it gives you a pseudo-invincible state… what more could you ask for?
It's not like Chen Li could guarantee that every Yingying would have the power to go toe-to-toe with an Aeon—where the Aeon couldn't kill the Yingying, and the Yingying couldn't harm the Aeon.
Chen Li had also specifically tested it; the power of eternity, enhanced by Star Stones, could also be used to extend a Yingying's transformation time, preventing them from immediately changing back even after giving away all their snacks.
Of course, it could only be extended for a short period.
So, as for a maneuver like temporarily turning your teammates into Yingyings and using them as a shield to block damage for you… emmm, it wasn't entirely out of the question.
Because at the very least, a Yingying was more durable than their original body!
Chen Li's eyes lit up as a somewhat wicked idea began to form.
"So what do we do now?" Haruhi asked, looking at her four Brigade members.
"That's simple. It's like when the TV at home is broken; you just smack it a couple of times, and it's fixed. Go give each of them a karate chop," Chen Li said.
"Is it that simple? Then can I get a few more snacks before I fix them?"
"Theoretically, yes. But I'm worried that having them pull out so many snacks might have some effect on them, so I'd advise you to fix them quickly, dear."
"I'll go right now."
Although Haruhi, as the Brigade Leader, would occasionally bully her members, she still cared about them deeply.
Unsurprisingly, after Haruhi administered her signature karate chops, the four of them returned to their original forms.
It was just that their condition didn't seem too great.
"…"
"What is the meaning of life?"
"I want to become a monk. Amitabha."
"When I get home, I'm immediately deleting all the links to my… little websites. They're bad for my health. I can't keep degenerating like this."
After each of them spoke a single line, Chen Li knew exactly what the problem was.
"Because they distributed too much of their 'burden,' it caused them to enter Sage Mode," Chen Li explained to Haruhi.
Simply put, their bodies had been completely drained.
"Then what do we do?"
"Simple. Just have them eat back all the candy they gave out," Chen Li said, pointing at the four burlap sacks of snacks behind Haruhi.
"Eh? Eat all of it? Can they finish it?"
"Don't worry. In the mouths of others, these are real snacks. But if the distributor eats them back, they will turn back into burdens and return to them, so they'll never feel full no matter how much they eat. And you can eat a few pieces too; just a few won't have any effect," Chen Li said.
Because everyone has "burdens." Taking a moderate amount of their snacks could actually help them lighten their load.
"Looks like my plan to get rich by selling candy and snacks has failed. I'll think about how to get rich tomorrow. Hey, you guys, hurry up and eat all your candy!" Haruhi shouted at her four Brigade members.
Even in Sage Mode, one doesn't dare to talk back to their parents. Based on this theory, the four Brigade members in Sage Mode obediently began to eat their candy.
Fortunately, each person's candy had its own unique characteristics, so there was no need to worry about them getting mixed up.
They had only entered Sage Time; they hadn't become idiots.
"Speaking of which, if the Aeon of Elation got hit, what flavor would the candy he gives out be? And if he kept giving out candy, would he turn into another Aeon of Nihility?" Chen Li watched the four people about to eat four sacks of snacks and felt happy for them, but at the same time, another thought came to mind.
Making the Aeon of Elation unable to feel elation seemed pretty fun in its own right.
However, Chen Li had limited the range of this Curio to the Herta Space Station every time he used it, so the Aeon of Elation, who had been spying on him from afar, had not been affected.
"The Herta Space Station is too dangerous…" Haruhi sighed.
"And you too, Chen Li. Don't just casually experiment with untested Curios. See? It went wrong, didn't it?"
"…" Chen Li opened his mouth to respond to Haruhi's comment but found that he couldn't refute it at all.
He couldn't very well say that the anomaly with the four of them was her fault.
But Chen Li also knew it wasn't really Haruhi's fault. After all, what was wrong with just wanting to eat a few more snacks?
Haruhi simply thought these Yingyings could pull out infinite candy like Santa Claus.
Whatever, I won't hold it against her for the sake of the Entry.
Chen Li looked up…
[Entry: World of Haruhi Suzumiya] Extraction in progress…Progress: 25/100 (Progress can be increased by preventing Haruhi Suzumiya from discovering her own "truth")
In other words, lying to Haruhi Suzumiya could increase the progress.
"Alright, I promise I won't use any Curios with unknown effects or that haven't been perfected in the future," Chen Li said.
Because for Chen Li, any Curio that was usable was, by definition, already perfected.
"That's good! By the way, I've been feeling lately that the Herta Space Station is too dangerous, so…"
"Tell the truth."
The Herta Space Station, dangerous?
You must be joking. You are far more dangerous than the Herta Space Station.
"Because I've already explored the whole space station and I'm getting a little bored, I plan to take my companions to the Xianzhou tomorrow to play mahjong with Qingque. We've already made plans with her."
"???" replied Chen Li.
Going to the Xianzhou? Isn't that a bit inappropriate?
There were already three big daddies from other worlds on the Xianzhou.
"There are six of you in total. That's not a good number for mahjong. Qingque probably doesn't know your situation either," Chen Li said, trying to help Qingque politely decline.
"No, she knows. She even said she could find two more people to play with us. Although I'm not interested in Celestial Jade, I just couldn't refuse Qingque's enthusiasm," Haruhi said with a shrug.
"…" replied Chen Li.
Qingque! What have you done!
"Why do you look like you have a million things to say but can't?" Haruhi asked, a little confused.
"It's nothing. Just let me know before you go tomorrow. I'll give you a blessing," Chen Li said.
As expected, in a critical moment, he still had to rely on the Die of Elation.
Jing Yuan, I've failed you!
No, wait!
Jing Yuan, Qingque has failed you!
Today was another day of saving the world…
---o---
"Today was another day of saving the world…" Just as Chen Li lay in bed, preparing for a rare, peaceful night's sleep, his Friends Circle terminal began to vibrate wildly.
[Silver Wolf]: Dad!!! If I don't get my revenge for this, I swear I'm no longer a Wolf!
[Dad]: Yo, finally got your Friends Circle terminal? How was it? My hint was obvious enough, right?
[Silver Wolf]: AHHH!!!! How dare you even bring that up? You've completely ruined my reputation as a legendary cosmic hacker! What was that about, [Attention please, little Silver Wolf of the Stellaron Hunters, little Silver Wolf of the Stellaron Hunters, your mommy got you your favorite game console and left it in the old spot. Please be sure to pick it up.] Do you have any idea what kind of psychological trauma that caused me when I woke up and heard Kafka say that to my face?
[Dad]: Desperate times call for desperate measures. Anyway, welcome back to the Friends Circle.
[Silver Wolf]: I lost the first match to you, no arguments there. According to the rules, I'm in charge of the second match! Right? And this time, I've thought of a competition that will utterly humiliate you! One where I'll definitely win! A surefire victory that will have you on the ground calling me mommy! I spent the entire day, filled with absolute fury, coming up with this perfect competition. Just you wait and eat dirt!
[Dad]: Oh. Then I surrender.
[Silver Wolf]: The competition is… wait, what did you say?
Seeing the line of text Chen Li sent, Silver Wolf was so agitated that she kicked over her computer, pressed her face close to her phone, and stared at his message in shock.
The light from the Friends Circle terminal reflected off Silver Wolf's wide eyes and her face of disbelief.
[Dad]: You already said you're definitely going to win, so why should I even compete? Besides, there's still a third round, isn't there? And I get to decide the third round, right?
[Silver Wolf]: No, bro. Do you have no shame as a genius? You're just surrendering like that? Then what was the point of me racking my brain for the entire day?!!
[Dad]: It counts as you thinking.
[Silver Wolf]: ...
Silver Wolf used all her strength to type out six periods on the Friends Circle terminal.
Unbelievable! Unbelievable!
Silver Wolf had never met such a shameless genius!
[Silver Wolf]: Dad! I'm going to kill you! If you've got the guts, get in the game right now! I'm going to slaughter you 1000 times! 1000 TIMES!
[Dad]: I don't have the guts. Besides, I'm going to sleep. I'll announce the third competition tomorrow. Good night. You should get some sleep too.
"…At your age, how can you possibly sleep!" Silver Wolf was in a helpless fury. Silver Wolf was slamming her desk.
Silver Wolf didn't know if Chen Li would be able to sleep tonight. She only knew that she definitely wouldn't be able to.
She repeatedly read the chat log between her and Chen Li. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, and the angrier she got, the more she thought about it…
The words [Then I surrender] and [It counts as you thinking] played on a continuous loop in her mind.
Those few flippant words had completely erased her entire day's worth of hard thinking!
Silver Wolf swore that even when she competed against Screwllum from the Genius Society, she had never been this serious!
And in the end, you surrendered?
Silver Wolf felt like she had never been so wronged in her entire life!
"Waaah!" Silver Wolf let out a loud cry and burst into tears.
---o---