Chapter 170

Page Twenty-Seven Indirect Contact

“Is this for real! You actually flew — over there!”

“You couldn’t handle the inertia of high-speed flight with your original body, but Goddess Mode enhances your physique and reaction speed.”

“I don’t want to hear any explanations!”

To me, the true power of Goddess Mode lies in my ability to speak normally even when facing biting winds.

With a rocket propulsion pack on my back and wearing camouflage with optical camouflage, I took off from the low-rent apartment to the commercial area after the countdown.

—”The jet is high-pressure gas converted from magic power, providing thrust while being emission-free!”—

Who cares about that!

Although such exaggerated scenarios aren’t new, this is definitely the most extreme thing Sakura has done yet!

“It’s too high! Lower a bit!”

“Don’t be surprised; what’s wrong with flying? It’s not just with dual rocket launchers, you know! Even a chicken with white feathers would be more normal!”

“Wings? That’s too slow; we need to keep up with the times!”

Why not use an electromagnetic catapult?

With no experience riding planes, I flew over the rooftops of the commercial area, along the riverside highway, creating ripples on the river surface, and finally aimed for Mí Fēng Street…

Wait, slow down!!

Just as I was about to gently kiss this land that raised me, Sakura abruptly changed my posture, making the rockets behind me buffer downward. The intense high-pressure gas brushed past the treetops, stripping away part of the canopy…

“Huff, close call.”

I managed to avoid a disfiguring disaster.

“I knew you couldn’t use the jetpack, so I fused with you to operate it personally, coward~ Normal people can’t handle this! And the mana consumption for this pack is significant. Where did you get so much…”

Before I could finish, Sakura proudly pulled out two magic power batteries, bottles filled with purple solution made from black material.

Obviously, these were from the new research institute.

“You even stole some liquid magic power?”

“Heh, what do you mean ‘stole’? It sounds terrible, but they’re not that different anyway. Taking a little doesn’t matter. This can be useful as an emergency measure.”

Indeed, it’s quite useful for quickly replenishing mana and solving my blue bar issues.

But I think Miss Kē Màn would have given it to me if I had asked.

We landed in a deserted alley in Mí Fēng Street. Sakura changed her clothes back to normal (female) and deactivated the optical camouflage.

I didn’t notice when flying over, and I didn’t know where Lǐn Huā and the others were now.

—”There’s only one shop selling oden in Mí Fēng Street, right?”—

Sakura mentioned a snack shop run by an old lady, targeting nearby elementary school students. I used to visit often, and they also sold small snacks, toys, and activities like marble drawing.

The only thing I couldn’t understand is that, after more than ten years, the old lady is still the same, seemingly unchanged.

But just now, eating oden, she might have finished by now…

—”I think we don’t need to look for Lǐn Huā.”—

Looking up, an unexpected person walked out of the alley exit.

Sakura’s doppelgänger.

The mysterious girl A we were looking for.

During this time, we had been searching for her, but when we finally met, I didn’t know what to say.

“Who are you?”

But I still had Sakura inside me, who was better at handling such situations than I was.

“What do you want?”

Sakura asked a double-barreled question.

However, the mysterious girl A at the intersection didn’t answer. She quickly walked up to me, and since Goddess Mode (Megami Mod) hadn’t been deactivated, my reaction speed was fast. Instinctively, I stepped back and grabbed her extended wrist.

She said, “You’re hurting me!”

Even if there was a conflict, I was confident I could subdue her.

But it wouldn’t matter; the only thing I could hold onto was her doppelgänger.

“Don’t worry, I won’t harm you.”

Her eyes showed no hostility, and I released my grip.

“Hehe~ Good child~”

She reached out to stroke my hair and pinch my face. Her intimate gesture made me feel choked up.

“Oh, why are you crying?”

I suppressed my emotions and asked, “…Are you really my mother?”

She neither confirmed nor denied it.

“It doesn’t matter who I am, and I’m younger than you.”

She swung her hands behind her, and her face, identical to mine, came closer than ever. I could almost smell the oden on her lips.

But I couldn’t grasp or understand her.

I asked, “Can you come back with me? Even if it’s just a doppelgänger, go see my father…”

Mysterious Girl A interrupted me, shaking her head. “Not yet, I can’t… I don’t want to cause further harm to you.”

Her sincere and sorrowful gaze made my heart skip a beat.

“What do you mean by further harm?”

She put her hands on her hips and said, “I’m just a ghost. Your future won’t have me, nor should it. So don’t be obsessed with me, and don’t tell him about me. Good child, you make me feel at ease, and that’s enough.”

I had a bad feeling and asked, “Will you disappear?”

She looked up at the sunset sky.

“I am the existence deemed to disappear by the Heavenly Path.”

Tsk, again because of the Heavenly Path?

Then why did she appear before us?

Since she appeared, how could I not care?

Sakura said, “But I’m just a ghost too… Mother, we don’t care about further harm. Xiao Kai and I just want a complete family, even if it’s temporary.”

She still shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I can’t respond to this… But until this journey ends, I will always protect you.”

So-called protection means assisting secretly everywhere?

“By the way, I’ve already met those two kids, and they’re both satisfactory. You’re so lucky, with such excellent girls around you.”

I was stunned for a moment, then realized she meant Lǐn Huā and Xiǎo Lěi, and understood…

Mana depleted, Goddess Mode also deactivated.

“Oh, I turned back into a boy? There’s not much difference.”

Mysterious Girl A covered her mouth and laughed, then said, “Being gone for too long will make Xiao Lǐn Huā suspicious. I should go back. You should also recall your doppelgänger.”

In front of me was just a doppelgänger infused with a trace of divine thought. I couldn’t stop her from leaving, only asking, “Can we meet again?”

She just smiled and transformed into a streak of light, leaving the doppelgänger.

Sakura instantly took control of the body, sighing, “After coming all this way, we didn’t figure anything out.”

“Let’s go back. Keep this secret from Lǐn Huā and the others.”

At the entrance of the snack shop, there were two rows of benches. Not only Lǐn Huā and Xiǎo Lěi, but also Xiǎo Hǎi Táng and Jú Zǐ were there.

“Sakura brought Chairman over.”

Xiǎo Lěi, holding a large cup of oden, noticed us first.

“Why isn’t Old Zhao here? Where is he?”

Xiǎo Lěi retorted, “What do you think?”

Oh, probably spending time rebuilding his relationship with Lù Lí.

I advised, “Eat less, you still have dinner.”

“Don’t worry, my stomach is still empty!”

After they finished the oden, they headed home in a grand procession. Qínglán’s sports car was already parked at the doorstep.

It seemed they had returned.

“Xiao Wei’s cooking is good. Xiǎo Hǎi Táng and Jú Zǐ also came to bother.”

Even Xiǎo Hǎi Táng planned to join them for a meal. Jú Zǐ added, “I’m just going home, after all, Xiao Wei is my big boss!”

Am I the little boss then?

—”No, you’re just the one who cleans up the mess.”—

Jú Zǐ doesn’t need cleaning up now, so I should evolve into an older brother!

—”Your evolution path makes me think you need to see a doctor.”—

Changed shoes at the entrance, the smell of kitchen smoke had already reached the doorstep.

This unique aroma, which seemed to be eel and fatty intestines.

“Oh? So many people?”

According to the rotating schedule of my parents, it was my mother’s turn today.

She came out wearing an apron with great interest but was startled by the number of people.

She couldn’t help but laugh bitterly, “I need to add more dishes, wait a moment!”

Xiǎo Hǎi Táng clasped her hands in apology, “Xiao Wei, I’m sorry, we should have greeted you first.”

“It’s okay, I’m glad everyone came to play!”

“Xiao Kai is back! Tsk tsk, surrounded by so many girls today, you’re so lucky, kid!”

Qínglán said this naturally, sitting at the dining table waiting for free food.

But I didn’t expect Zhú to be here alone. I thought he would be with Shi Jie.

“Zhú came alone?”

“Mm, I came back to pack some things, and Xiao Wei kindly invited me for dinner…”

My father must have complex feelings towards Zhú. Although he’s not my mother, he is her other half… literally.

Since he invited me today, my father and Zhú have taken a step forward.

—”No, no, no, the truly strange atmosphere isn’t between my father and Zhú Běihǎi, right?”—

Sakura glanced at Qínglán.

—”Wū Qínglán and Zhú Běihǎi sat together without arguing. Don’t you think that’s… not normal?”—

I shrugged, what else could be the reason?

Qínglán didn’t know that my mother was only half of Zhú’s soul. Her ultimate plan was clearly to bring Zhú into the harem as well.

… Better not tell her the truth. Sometimes, peace needs to be built on lies.

Thinking this, I said, “Qínglán looks happy today?”

“Hehe, can you tell? Actually, ever since Uncle Chang emerged from the shadow of his female phobia, I’ve been happy every day.”

Qínglán smiled, her originally narrow eyes turning into fine lines, and her lips revealing sharp incisors.

“After all, I can finally interact with Uncle Chang as a woman!”

At this moment, even as a twenty-eight-year-old woman, Qínglán truly seemed like a young girl in love.

—

Prologue

Because regulations require me to upload a dedication, I’ll ramble on for a bit. Given my long-term apathetic state, the tone might be a bit downcast, please bear with me.

With 2.2 million Chinese characters, and less than 3,000 bookmarks, this tragic result has burned me out, even forgetting why I started writing… It’s not about being pitiful; it’s just reality.

Why continue writing despite such poor results?

Because readers still want to read!

My motivation comes from every comment, each monthly vote, every critique, and encouragement from the book group. Every mark you leave is important to me!

Extremely important!

In response to this, after burning myself out, I chose to lie flat. Even knowing there’s no hope for this book, I treat writing as a daily task, ignoring the embarrassing bookmarks and results, becoming a cold-hearted daily-updating machine. I persisted for two whole years.

Zombie-ization is getting worse.

If it were just this, I wouldn’t have chosen to publish.

Deep down, perhaps there’s still hope, wanting more exposure opportunities, hoping to get recommendations from the editor, wanting more readers to see my work.

So, I chose to publish.

Publishing can provide some scattered income to support household expenses, and also gives me more reasons to persist…

When readers read my novel, what do I hope they feel?

What is my novel to me?

This is a question thrown by a reader… no, it’s more like a challenge.

Because before this, I never thought about this, and I didn’t know how to answer.

[img=392,434]https://rss.sfacg.com/web/novel/images/UploadPic/2020/05/1fe23ea9-1fde-47d1-a1be-2b392a533d4a.jpg[/img]

If I have to answer, I hope it can make readers laugh. I hope they occasionally smile while reading, enjoying the simple story. That’s the only reason.

Have I achieved this?

As for the second question, it relates to my original intention for writing… actually, I started writing to quit mobile games.

Though strange, that’s exactly what I thought at the time. If I spent time writing, I wouldn’t have time to play games, wouldn’t spend money, and saving money is making money.

In short, the result was a failure!

Replacing mobile gaming with writing completely failed and wasn’t realistic. Instead, I compressed the time I spent on console games, as mobile games weren’t just games but a necessary social need…

Uh, I got sidetracked.

Though ineffective, writing novels became a habit, and I felt fortunate, as not writing would mean missing out on meeting all the readers.

Perhaps some will leave after publishing, but as long as there are readers willing to stay, I won’t give up!

At the end of the dedication, I’ll mention the book group: 954245459

May 14, 2020

A rambling note by a dead fish author after lunch