Chapter 142 Eliminating Hidden Troubles

On the deck of the Xianglong, a total of four hundred and sixty-fives people—including superpower users, the ship’s crew, and the research team—were gathered together.

Looking at the number of people, which was not even a third of the original total, Mei couldn't help but shake her head.

The losses from this mission were truly devastating!

"Everyone, split into three groups. A-Chen, A-Ye, A-Jie, each of you take charge of one group. Later, when I begin, if you see any strange entities drifting out from their bodies, you must launch an attack at the very first moment. Give those things no chance to escape! Cereal, stay further away and hold the line for them," Mei instructed.

The spell she was about to cast was an advanced light-element magic. As the nemesis of undead magic, Cereal naturally needed to stay as far away as possible.

"Understood!" Ye Jingxuan nodded with a solemn expression.

"Got it!" Mo Chen stretched his body and made acknowledging gestures.

As for Lin Shaojie, he impatiently hopped in front of one group, waiting for Mei to start.

Once they were ready, Mei stepped into the middle of everyone, crossed her hands over her chest, and began chanting an extremely lengthy incantation.

In the past, the incantations Mei chanted consisted only of tones without a defined language. Yet this time, those closest to her heard her chanting in a tongue belonging to an unknown country, while her cloak and long black hair gradually began to flutter without any wind.

When her entire body levitated into mid-air, a white radiance released from within her, enveloping her entirely. The holy light set off her exquisite facial features, giving everyone on the deck the illusion that an angel had descended.

Soon, the white light spread slowly from her center, gradually enveloping the people around her.

Bathed in the white light, everyone on the deck felt a warm and exceptionally comfortable sensation coursing through their bodies. Even the circulation of their internal superpowers seemed much smoother. However, not everyone felt comfortable. A small fraction initially felt that the white light shining on them caused a slight stinging sensation, though it was still bearable.

Yet, as the exposure time increased, those people felt more and more uncomfortable. That stinging sensation gradually evolved into a burning pain. They felt as though their bodies were about to catch fire, screaming uncontrollably from the agony.

As these individuals reacted, wisps of black mist slowly drifted out from their bodies, twisting as they tried to escape beyond the white light.

Mo Chen and the other two, who had been closely watching these people, struck simultaneously the moment the black mist appeared.

Mo Chen's purple lightning, Ye Jingxuan's fire snake, and Lin Shaojie's miniature whirlwind were released all at once, attacking the still-unformed demonic entities.

Before these demonic entities took form, their defense was at its weakest, making them the easiest to eliminate.

However, before they completely detached from their hosts, any attack would cause them to burrow back into the host's body. Even if the host were killed, such demonic entities would still not die; they would simply wait quietly for an opportunity to find a new host.

Yet now, they would no longer have such a chance!

Mei’s light-element magic, carrying a powerful banishing effect, gave them no room to re-submerge, while Mo Chen, Ye Jingxuan, and Lin Shaojie made certain that not a single demonic entity could escape.

When not a shred of black mist remained emerging from anyone present, Mei sustained the magic for another ten minutes before withdrawing it and slowly floating back down to the ground.

"All right, all the demonic entities have been eliminated. You no longer need to worry about being ambushed and then inexplicably dying," Mei exhaled slowly and said.

"Mm, many thanks!" Ling Feng stepped forward upon hearing this to express his gratitude, and then began reorganizing the shift rotations for the remaining survivors.

"The crisis on the ship is resolved, so we won't linger. Our ship will follow behind the Xianglong. If there is danger, we will step in, but we won't participate in anything else!" Mei stated before Ling Feng resumed his duties.

Hearing her words, Ling Feng pondered for a moment before nodding slightly.

Seeing that he had no objections, Mei turned to summon the others and returned to the Niliu.

"Mei-er, are you alright?" The moment she returned to their ship, Ye Jingxuan asked with immediate concern.

"I'm fine!" Mei shook her head. Although she was a bit tired, she was otherwise okay and felt no discomfort.

Mei eagerly retrieved the medicine Cereal had given her from her spatial storage. Looking at the golden liquid inside the vial, she narrowed her eyes and smiled exceptionally happily.

"What is this medicine good for? Look at you grinning from ear to ear, little Mei-er," Mo Chen asked, unable to help himself when he saw her expression.

"This is called the Blessing of Goddess Tawara! Goddess Tawara is also known as the Goddess of Love in our world, so this medicine is also called the Blessing of the God of Love. It is said that as long as you use just a little bit and confess your love to someone you like, it will definitely succeed. Moreover, couples united through this medicine are said to never part for a lifetime. I've always wanted a bottle like this, but Cereal would give me any medicine except this specific formula, no matter how many times I asked."

Because it was unattainable, this bottle of the Blessing of Goddess Tawara had become the one thing she desired most. Yet strictly speaking, this medicine was of no use to her—at least, it was completely useless right now!

Hearing this, both Mo Chen and Ye Jingxuan wore rather unpleasant expressions.

In their hearts, they felt somewhat dissatisfied with Cereal for handing such a bizarre item over to Mei!

On one hand, he forbade them from letting Mei understand romance too early, yet on the other hand, he presented her with such an unbelievable potion—what on earth was he trying to do?

"Little Sister Mei-er, you're so happy. Could it be that you have someone you like and want to confess to him?" Lin Shaojie, who was thick-skinned and slow-witted, failed to notice the displeasure of Mo Chen and Ye Jingxuan, nor did he catch An Ziyou's fading smile, as he asked Mei in puzzlement.

Mei, who was toying with the medicine vial, was stunned for a moment before shaking her head.

"No way! I don't want to confess to anyone! I'm not even of age yet; even if I liked someone, we couldn't form a bond, so why waste the effort?"

"Then why are you so excited?" Lin Shaojie asked with even greater confusion.

"Just because I can't use it now doesn't mean I won't use it in the future! I've always been curious why two people never part after using this medicine. When I come of age, I must find someone to try it with and see what the reason is!"

Mei clenched her fist and gazed up at the sky, demonstrating her determination to get to the bottom of the matter.

"Cough, cough!" Mo Chen choked on his own breath from her words and broke into a violent fit of coughing.

Ye Jingxuan was also left between laughter and tears by her remarks, while secretly resolving in his heart to keep a close eye on her and prevent her from pulling off such a strange stunt.

Meanwhile, upon hearing her words, An Ziyou wore a thoughtful expression, completely lost in his own thoughts.

After toying with it for a while, Mei's excitement finally subsided, and she put the vial back into her spatial storage, pushing the matter to the back of her mind. After all, this medicine wouldn't be useful until she came of age; thinking about it too much now was pointless.

Once the Xianglong got underway again, Mei piloted the Niliu to follow closely behind the Xianglong, once more locking onto the Xianglong using a special magical array to ensure that even without a human driver, they wouldn't lose track of it.

"A-Chen, what do you usually do when you're in a bad mood?"

After dinner, Mei sat on the deck looking at the starry sky, as a sense of restlessness washed over her once more. She couldn't help asking Mo Chen.

"In a bad mood? Usually, at times like that, I'll go find someone to fight and vent out the irritability," Mo Chen replied directly without asking why she posed the question.

A fight?

She was too lazy to move right now!

Besides, to fight to the point where she could vent her frustration would cause too much commotion and become very troublesome, so that option was ruled out!

Therefore, Mei turned to Ye Jingxuan and asked, "A-Ye, how about you? Don't tell me you fight when you're in a bad mood too!"

With a soft look in his eyes, Ye Jingxuan shook his head. "No! Usually at times like that, I smoke. Tobacco helps me calm down!"

Smoking?

That was something worth trying!

She wondered if she had ever collected cigarettes in the past. Her former world didn't have such things, but after coming here, there were many times when she hadn't paid close attention to what she was hoarding; she had simply seen things and instinctively wanted to store them away.

Mei rummaged through her spatial storage and actually found quite a few. Pulling out various brands of cigarettes and arranging them on the deck, she felt somewhat at a loss as to which one to choose.

"Little Mei-er, what on earth are you trying to do?" Mo Chen frowned as he looked at the pile of various cigarette brands before her.

"Naturally, I want to try and see what smoking feels like!" Mei stated matter-of-factly.

"Mei-er, smoking is harmful to your health. You really shouldn't try it! Besides, this stuff is addictive," An Ziyou objected as well. Even though he occasionally smoked a couple of cigarettes himself, he didn't want Mei getting involved in this habit.

Hearing this, Mei froze for a moment, hesitated slightly, and said, "Is it addictive? But smoking just once in a while shouldn't matter, right?"

Seeing that she was truly set on trying it, Ye Jingxuan reached out and rummaged through the pile of cigarettes, pulling out a pack that was much slenderer and longer than the others, and handed it to her.

"If you want to try, try this one! These are women's cigarettes; the harmful substances inside are relatively fewer."

Seeing that they couldn't stop her, the others had no choice but to let Mei curiously accept the cigarette pack. The moment she opened it, she caught a refreshing scent of mint. She pulled one out, and Ye Jingxuan reached out, a tiny flame flickering at his fingertips to light it for her.

"How come it doesn't seem to want to catch fire? Has it been sitting too long?" Mei extended the cigarette directly toward the flame, only to find it wasn't lighting properly, and asked with puzzlement.

Her words, however, drew light chuckles from the others.

"You little dummy, that's not how you light a cigarette! You don't even know how to light one, and you have the nerve to learn how to smoke?" Mo Chen said, supporting his forehead with his hand in resignation.

Ye Jingxuan curved his lips into a slight smile, casually picked up a pack of cigarettes, opened it, and pulled out one to demonstrate for her.

Watching him draw in as he lit it so that the cigarette flared instantly, Mei imitated the action, putting the cigarette to her lips and trying to light it.

Then...

"Cough, cough, cough!"

She was choked into a coughing fit by the smoke right away.