Chapter Twenty-One: Strengthening Jingchen

The twenty-first chapter was about strengthening Jing Chen.

He ignored Chu Xuan’s analysis.

“You all should discuss among yourselves what you want to strengthen,” Suster said as he walked toward the great light orb.

“Main God, strengthen Jing Chen with the Code Geass bloodline.”

Long before this, Lolita had already handed her side-story rewards and points over to Suster.

“Strengthening the Code Geass bloodline requires one rank-A side-story reward and twenty thousand points. Confirm?”

“Yes!”

The next instant, a green pillar of light enveloped Jing Chen, lifting her gently into the air.

Ten minutes later, Jing Chen landed on the ground. Her appearance had not changed much, yet the differences were impossible to miss. Most striking of all, her long, black hair that had once fallen to her waist, dark as the night sky, had become lustrous and dazzling emerald locks. Her eyes had grown larger as well, their irises turning a brilliant gold, and her features had become far more delicate. Her charm had increased by at least fifty percent. She had also shrunk a little in height, and now looked no older than sixteen.

“C... a queen?” Lori stared at Jing Chen, dumbfounded, as the aura of royalty radiated from her.

Jing Chen paid her no mind. Looking down at her own hands, she murmured, “So this is what power feels like?”

Just as everyone was lost in Jing Chen’s allure, Suster’s voice reached Zheng Zha’s ear.

“Let’s go back. Think about what you want to exchange for,” Suster said, heading straight for his own room. Jing Chen and Lolita followed him.

That left the others outside staring at one another.

Inside Suster’s room:

“Can you feel that energy?” Suster asked Jing Chen, who now exuded the bearing of a queen. This truly had the air of a monarch about it.

“Yes. I can feel it. My presence has been strengthened by at least twice, but...” Jing Chen smiled faintly, and while Suster was still dazed, she suddenly pulled him into a kiss.

Completely ignoring the stupefied Lolita beside them, Jing Chen kissed him with abandon, her queenly aura bursting forth in full.

After a long while, their lips parted, a thin thread of clear moisture still linking them. Suster’s face was red as a beet, and he was breathing hard.

“Huff... Jing Chen, that was my first kiss!” he cried after finally recovering.

“Nothing special. It was only the signing of a contract,” Jing Chen said, only slightly flushed, though the color faded quickly. “Besides, that was my first kiss too. So, what is your Geass?”

“Uh... this is...” Suster blinked, then said in disbelief, “System, check new skill.”

Innate talent: Geass: Soul Devour. Once activated, the user can see souls and extract them to nourish their own. Souls of a higher level than the host cannot be absorbed. This ability is useful in Death and Fate.

“This is a little too broken. Absorb souls to nourish your own soul? Isn’t that a bit excessive?” Suster opened his eyes, a blue bird now floating over his left eye.

“Soul synchronization...” Suster then passed the Geass to Lolita.

“What an amazing power!” Lolita opened her eyes as well, and a blue bird was now flying over her left eye too.

“Oh right, these are the weapons I captured... Hm? Why are you all looking at me like that?” Suster suddenly remembered something and produced a pile of weapons. In response, Lolita and Jing Chen looked at him with strange expressions.

“You really are as stingy as ever, little brother,” Jing Chen said, continuing to stare at him.

“Cheapskate!” Lolita chimed in.

Suster was struck through the heart by an arrow marked “Cheapskate.”

In his heart, Suster repeatedly pounded the floor in a posture of utter despair.

“Fine, these are the weapons and equipment I obtained in the last battle. Let’s see which ones we can use.” He quickly recovered under the title of Cheapskate and began sorting the items.

The things on the ground totaled two Predator spears, one Predator war bow, six Predator wrist blades, and four Predator shoulder cannons.

Jing Chen looked over the weapons, then kept only the Predator war bow. Lolita took only two of the Predator wrist blades.

“That’s all?” Suster asked the two of them.

“Mm. But take them and have the system modify them,” Jing Chen said, tossing the weapons over.

“System, upgrade these weapons,” Suster said after catching them.

“Predator war bow, tier-five weapon. Upgrade requires soul crystals. As for the numbers, I’m too lazy to write them out... Would you like the appearance changed?”

“Predator wrist blade, tier-five weapon. Upgrade requires soul crystals. As for the numbers, I’m too lazy to write them out... Would you like the appearance changed?”

The day before departure.

“Main God, exchange a rank-B Ranger skill for Jing Chen, and give me a complete manual of Ranger skills.”

Early that morning, before the others had risen, Suster came beneath the great light orb and said as much. Not caring how many points he lost, he nodded with satisfaction and returned.

After the others got up one by one, they stood speechless at the graceful figure on the shooting range.

She wore a crisp white trench coat over a white shirt. Her loose green hair had been tossed casually behind her back. A pair of blue hot pants revealed her fair, long legs, and white knee-high boots wrapped her calves. A black sheath hung on her left leg, holding a snow-white dagger within, while a black holster on her right leg carried a Desert Eagle. She looked every bit the gallant warrior.

That person was none other than Jing Chen.

“Wind Arrow!” With a sweet shout, wind gathered around the arrow on the white short bow in her hand.

Whoosh.

The arrow shot out at a speed the eye could barely follow, streaking toward the distant target.

Boom.

A hole the size of a fist was blasted through the target, and the arrow pierced through it and flew far into the distance.

Clap, clap, clap. “That Ranger skill is pretty impressive,” Suster said from the side, startling everyone who had just come out.

“Huff, you scared me to death. Suster, why do you walk without making a sound?” Zheng Zha asked, patting his chest.

“It’s basic training for warriors, assassins, and killers. Walking without a sound is fundamental,” Lolita said from behind them.

“What do you two mean, scaring us like that? This isn’t just about no footsteps either—you’ve hidden your breath too!” Zheng Zha and the others were shocked again.

“Ninjas naturally have to learn to conceal their presence,” Lolita said as though it were only natural.

“Ninjas?” Everyone was puzzled. Hadn’t they said before that they were exorcists? Why were they ninjas now?

“Our other profession is ninja. We forgot to tell you,” Suster added.

“Then can you use ninja techniques?” Lori asked from the side.

“Li Xiaoyi asked about that before. I can use a bit of lightning release,” Suster said, pushing up his glasses.

“Oh? You’re all up already.”

Jing Chen’s voice rang out at that moment.

“Yeah. You got up really early,” Zheng Zha said.

“Nothing much. It’s just the bloodline I exchanged for last time. I came out this morning to practice a little,” Jing Chen said, storing the short bow in the space ring Suster had given her, one with a hundred cubic meters of space. The one he gave Chu Xuan had only five cubic meters.

“Right. These are the Predator’s weapons I collected last time. See if any of them are useful,” Suster said, dumping the remaining weapons out of his limitless storage.

“Huh? Aren’t these Predator weapons? Four wrist blades, one Predator spear, three shoulder cannons... We’ve hit the jackpot! These things are better than plenty of other weapons,” Zhang Jie said in surprise.

“Of course. After I took down the Predator on the log bridge, I went back and stripped the gear from the other two I blew up as well. Too bad one shoulder cannon got damaged in the blast,” Suster said proudly. He was just showing off; there was nothing to be proud of.

“Not bad. A huge haul. As for the wrist blades, one for Overlord, one for Zero, one for me, and one for Zhang Jie. As for the Predator spear, Zheng Zha can keep it for throwing. For the shoulder cannons, go ask the Main God to turn them into three automatic turrets,” Chu Xuan said, pushing up his glasses.

“Mm, let’s divide them like that,” Zhang Jie agreed.

“Oh right, Zheng Zha, take these points and side-story rewards. Exchange for a higher-level bloodline—for Lori’s sake...” Suster suddenly said, patting Zheng Zha on the shoulder.

“Th... okay! I’ll definitely protect Lori,” Zheng Zha began to refuse, but after seeing Suster’s determined gaze, he could only accept it helplessly. After all, when someone gives you points and side-story rewards out of kindness, and you still shamelessly put on airs and refuse, wouldn’t that make you an idiot of the highest order?

“Keep this for Lori. It can block one fatal attack,” Suster said, handing Zheng Zha a small talisman-like substitute doll. It could block one fatal strike, had a cooldown of one year, and cost five thousand soul crystals. In truth, it was almost useless to Suster, since he had no need for a single fatal-hit defense. He passed it to Zheng Zha.

“No need to thank me. My little brother is only doing it for Lori’s sake. It has nothing to do with you,” Jing Chen quipped from the side.

“Uh, cough cough...” Jing Chen’s words immediately choked off the thanks Zheng Zha had just been about to say.

“Enough nonsense. Training begins,” Suster said, smoothing things over.

And so the day passed peacefully...

That night, in Suster’s room:

“Lolita, I found the best method for inscribing the static electric field in the Complete Compendium of Lightning Magic,” Suster said to Lolita, who had changed into a white lace nightdress.

“Really? Then send it over. I’ll inscribe it for you now,” Lolita said excitedly.

“Mm, it’s a memory transfer. But first, I’ll cancel the old static electric field,” Suster said as he began to dismantle the core of the static electric field on his arm.

Half an hour later, Suster said, “All right. You can begin.”

That night, sounds of Suster’s muffled moans echoed through the room...

P.S. I’ve been such an idiot every day. I even forgot to upload this chapter after finishing the revision. Sorry, everyone!