Li Ke: "??"
Kiri: "??"
Kiri: "?!!!"
Kiri was utterly dumbfounded. The plan was supposed to be simple: she would sacrifice her body, sleep with Li Ke, and test whether his claims were actually true.
Well, the test results were practically guaranteed to be true now. But out of nowhere, a little girl who had only shown up yesterday was trying to cut the line?!
"Hey, hey, little girl. I get that this place sucks and you're dying to go home, but shouldn't you show some respect for first come, first served? I've been away from home for a very long time, so by all accounts, it should be my turn first, right?"
Kiri sighed, resting her M60 machine gun on her shoulder. In a hellhole like this, heavy firearms brought the most peace of mind. After all, repairing these guns didn't require much—just repair kits crafted from iron ingots and duct tape.
Moreover, now that things had materialized into reality, she could easily find plenty of spare parts and tools. The cement mixer, for instance, had been fixed up using parts harvested from a repair kit.
Because of this, she hadn't restricted herself to just revolvers anymore and went straight for the heavy machinery.
It was just too convenient. To be honest, Kiri actually quite appreciated some of this world's unique quirks. Just yesterday, she had deliberately passed on a few firearm rewards, choosing blueprints for a forge and a chemistry station instead.
If it hadn't been for that sudden zombie bird incident, she would have already started mass-producing forges.
After all, they still had an abundance of minerals. The storage boxes used to hold their mined ore were already stacked high enough to form a wall.
However, facing Kiri's interrogation, a look of sheer agony washed over Lux's face. She stood up and bowed deeply to Kiri.
"Please forgive me, Miss Kiri! But I must go save my country! If I linger here any longer, those people... those people will have no choice but to side with Sylas!"
"Huh? Sounds like a grand, tragic epic I'm supposed to listen to," Kiri said, waving her hand dismissively. "But I'm sorry, Miss Lux. I also have people waiting for me to save them. So do me a favor and don't tell me your story. It'll only weigh on my conscience and delay my return. If I get back late, my comrades might die."
The only reason Kiri had let Tsunade go first before was because Tsunade's mental state had been highly unstable, and it would take some time for the enemy to launch an attack on her side anyway.
But she couldn't afford to wait any longer.
Kiri knew she wouldn't develop intense romantic feelings for Li Ke through an emotional breakdown the way Tsunade did. While she thought Li Ke was a decent guy—and wouldn't mind him being the first and final man in her life—she refused to abandon her comrades.
Even if those comrades had once doubted her.
Even if her only reason for returning was to save their skins just so she could flip them off.
She refused to miss her own battle.
She had already acquired the abilities of this world, and they were powerful—more than enough to give her old comrades and friends a massive edge. It was time to leave.
"I..."
Lux opened her mouth to speak, but the words caught in her throat. She believed Kiri was telling the truth, but her own desperation was entirely real.
Because Sylas had killed the King and ignited a rebellion after being persecuted by Demacia's anti-mage laws, countless innocent mages were forced to flee the country. If they stayed, they faced arrest or even execution by the kingdom.
Worse yet, the catalyst for this entire rebellion was Lux herself. In her naivety, she had trusted Sylas. Driven by sympathy, she had inadvertently shown him how to absorb and weaponize the magic of others.
Then, because of her sympathy and affection for him, Sylas had siphoned the magic straight from her own body. He used that power to slaughter countless people, spark a full-scale revolt, and assassinate the King of Demacia—the father of Prince Jarvan IV, who was technically her fiancé.
Even her brother, Garen, had nearly died in the chaos.
In the aftermath, the kingdom had transformed into a place of terror. Even those who had successfully hidden their magic for years were now forced into exile, and a suffocating paranoia gripped every citizen of Demacia.
Lux felt the crushing weight of the blame. Desperate to restore Demacia to what it once was, she had gathered a group of mages and their families—those who had been abandoned by Sylas because they had loved ones holding them back. Leading them out of Demacia, her goal was to give them a normal life and eventually use their combined strength to change the kingdom from within.
But if she failed to protect them at this critical juncture, these vulnerable mages would undoubtedly turn to Sylas for survival. And Sylas would gladly lead them to butcher everyone else.
If Sylas were a sane man, that might have been a bittersweet resolution. Unfortunately, he had swung from one extreme to the other.
He wanted mages to enslave ordinary citizens, and he couldn't care less whether regular humans lived or died.
Lux could not tolerate such a future. She had to get back as soon as possible!
"Uh..."
Li Ke was at a loss for words. Under Lux's intense gaze, he could only raise his hands in a defensive gesture.
"Look, Miss Lux, my physical stamina and strength have their limits. And more importantly, it takes energy to Repatriate someone. As of right now, that energy can only be generated through... marital intimacy. Plus, the amount I get each time fluctuates based on emotional connection. Even if you join in right now, there's no guarantee we'll pool enough energy for you to go back anytime soon."
Li Ke spread his hands, explaining the mechanics of his power once again.
Sitting nearby, Rias couldn't help but shake her head. Shifting her impossibly large, almost unreal breasts, she spoke up.
"It truly is a tragic ability for you, isn't it?"
Rias kept the rest of her thoughts to herself. If what Li Ke said was true, it really was quite pitiful.
To be forced to constantly sleep with people he had no feelings for, only for the ones he actually grew attached to leave after just a few times—honestly, that kind of life was a form of torture in itself.
However, Kiri had severely underestimated Lux's resolve.
"I'll do whatever it takes, Miss Kiri! I have no intention of stealing your spot. But if it's all based on emotional investment, wouldn't me joining in help you go back sooner? If my presence generates more energy, then... if Mr. Li Ke keeps using me to farm energy, wouldn't that accelerate your departure?"
Lux's declaration left Kiri completely dumbfounded. She stared at the girl, utterly incredulous.
The unwavering resolve on Lux's face, her burning red cheeks, and the tears shimmering in her eyes all screamed one thing.
The girl was dead serious.
"I..."
Kiri opened her mouth but no words came out. She glanced at Li Ke. Li Ke was also staring back at her, his jaw slack.
Kiri got it, and Li Ke got it too, but...
This was just too absurd.
"Uh... what can I even say to that? As expected of a noble lady, I guess?"
Kiri complained under her breath, though she quickly found a way to counter Lux's logic.
"If you're trying to save a country, Miss Lux, then you need to spend time studying this world even more. Certain things here allow you to harvest tens of thousands of tons of steel in a single day, not to mention learning how to manufacture the very weapons we are holding. That should be incredibly useful for saving a nation. So, you'd better stay put and research what this world has to offer."
Kiri patted her pockets, growing increasingly irritated because she couldn't find her cigarettes.
Li Ke nodded along in agreement. To be honest, he wouldn't mind having Kiri in the morning and Lux at night. He knew one thing for certain: Kiri's physical stamina and endurance could never match Tsunade's. As for himself...
He was a man who could trade blows with Tsunade even when she activated her Creation Rebirth.
Granted, Tsunade's body had been absurdly sensitive—she practically surrendered every few rounds—but there was no doubt about it. Unless Kiri turned out to have an incredibly low sensitivity level, she wouldn't stand a chance against him alone.
Kiri would undoubtedly get utterly wrecked by him in every sense of the word.
Still, Kiri's point was valid. If Lux could master the various system crafting tools of this world, she could equip every single soldier with a pipe machine gun. Combined with an endless supply of iron and massive reserves of gunpowder, Lux could probably build her own empire from scratch.
Of course, that was assuming the abilities acquired here could actually be used in other universes.
Regardless, studying the mechanics of this world would bring nothing but benefits.
"And, most importantly..."
Kiri walked over to Li Ke, resting her elbow heavily on his shoulder.
"We have to consider this bastard's safety."