Is this girl crazy or just starving?
Lu Wei, his face ashen, couldn't help but think this, then waved his hand at Cordova, who was about to speak, and snorted, "Take out the stuff, let me see."
"Oh." Cordova immediately took out the spatial rune he had used to retrieve the Absolute Express, releasing the flying vehicle that resembled a 7.62 caliber bullet, then whispered to Lu Wei, "Well, actually..."
"Shut up!" Master Lu darted to the side of the Express, waving his hand at Mo Tan and the others: "You guys rest here for a bit, while I study this..."
With that, he began to observe the Express, darting up and down around it, occasionally hammering it with a pipe wrench and spanner, his small eyes wide, muttering various professional terms far beyond normal comprehension, clearly having entered his work state.
"That's just how the Undead old man is." Cordova sighed, spreading his hands to Mo Tan and the others beside him: "Don't mind him, this shouldn't take too long..."
Mo Tan shook his head and smiled, "It's fine, everyone's pretty tired anyway. Waiting for Master Lu will be like resting."
Then Ji Xiaoge couldn't take it anymore...
"Master Lu... Master Lu... Pfft, puhahaha... Puhahahahahaha! Master Lu!"
The girl first blinked, then softly repeated the three words 'Master Lu' that Mo Tan had just said twice, immediately bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, leaving Cordova and Lu Jiang utterly bewildered.
What's wrong with this girl!?
Cordova was greatly alarmed and quickly asked Ji Xiaoge, who was laughing so hard she couldn't straighten up, "Are you alright?"
"Puhaha, Master Lu, haha... Hahahahaha... Master Lu! Oh, Master Lu!" Ji Xiaoge, whose mysterious funny bone had been tickled, said while bursting into laughter, "My computer also has a Lu... Puhahahaha Master Lu, and they even look a bit alike..."
Computer?!
Cordova thought for a moment and immediately realized that Ji Xiaoge was also a player. Then he subconsciously thought about 'Master Lu' again and found that its logo indeed bore a slight resemblance to Lu Wei, but...
Is it really that funny?!
Cordova was confused.
"Uh, Ye Ge has a rather strange sense of humor." Mo Tan chuckled and shrugged at Cordova, then turned back to Jia Deka and Ya Ya, who were NPCs, and added, "This seems to be a joke unique to her hometown... We can just ignore it..."
The two nodded knowingly, though it was unclear if they truly understood or were just pretending.
At this moment, Lu Jiang, with an excited face, ran up to Ji Xiaoge and quietly asked her, "You too?"
The latter didn't react for a moment, only barely stopping her laughter and tilting her head: "What?"
"That's right, she is too." Mo Tan, however, guessed the meaning of Lu Jiang's words immediately and said to 'him' in an equally low voice: "Not just her, Cordova and I are too."
Lu Jiang immediately clapped her hands happily and exclaimed softly, "Wow! It's my first time meeting someone like me."
Her fair, smooth, melon-seed-shaped face was slightly flushed with excitement, and her eyes, which seemed to speak, sparkled. Although her beauty wasn't as exaggerated as Ji Xiaoge's, she was definitely delicate and charming, which made Cordova...
He immediately leaped backward!
"Bro! Let's talk nicely, don't get so close!" Cordova, who had guessed that Lu Jiang was not an NPC due to the previous introduction, waved his hand with a wry smile: "I'm scared!"
Lu Jiang paused slightly and subconsciously asked, "Scared of what?"
Cordova said nothing.
He's probably scared of bending...
Mo Tan chuckled dryly, then shrugged at Lu Jiang: "It's nothing, let's talk about these things later."
With that, he sent Lu Jiang a friend request. After Lu Jiang accepted, she immediately sent friend requests to Ji Xiaoge and Cordova respectively. 'He', who hadn't encountered a single player in over half a month of playing, was clearly very excited, feeling much like a fellow countryman meeting another.
After all, Innocent World is different from other spiritual simulation games. It doesn't have newbie villages, main cities, or player gathering spots. Forget about 'world channels' or 'matchmaking queues'; this game doesn't even have dungeons or a party system. Plus, the map is unusually vast, making it truly difficult to run into other players. Of course, this doesn't mean that Innocent Continent is desolate, as the NPCs here are no different from players, a fact that Lu Jiang, who transformed into a soft girl in the game, deeply appreciated.
However, this situation won't last too long. After all, only a little over half a month has passed since the game launched, and its reputation and popularity have steadily risen during this time. Therefore, the proportion of players in the game will increase in the future, and many well-known professional players and studios have observed enough. When these people enter, it means that the game has received sufficient recognition. As long as the official doesn't mess up, it's only a matter of time before it becomes popular...
The perfect spiritual simulation experience, far superior to most games on the market, NPCs indistinguishable from real people, a vast game map, no forced grinding, and absolutely no pay-to-win content, all earned Innocent World an excellent reputation.
Of course, the future is only in anticipation and imagination. Currently, Innocent World still doesn't have enough players, and there are many like Lu Jiang who haven't met a single 'kindred spirit' after playing for over half a month.
That's why 'he' was so excited...
"Cordova, have you been here at Tian Zhu Mountain from the beginning?" Lu Jiang looked at the runic creation, which was quite unconventional among players, with some curiosity and asked cautiously.
I don't know what he's being cautious about...
Cordova shook his head: "No, I went through a lot before Tian Zhu Mountain."
"Such as?"
"Diediediediedie..."
Lu Jiang was a little bewildered.
"Ah, it's a long story." Cordova sighed with emotion, then spread his hands and said, "But I am indeed a local of Tian Zhu Mountain now. Is there a problem?"
Lu Jiang was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Do you know someone named 'Long'? Just Long, the Long from 'hazy' (ménglóng - hazy/obscure)."
Long?
Mo Tan was a little surprised. If he remembered correctly, that person should be...
"Of course I know him." Cordova nodded, even glancing at Mo Tan: "Mo also met him. Mr. Long is the thirteenth-ranked High-Rank Observer of our Tian Zhu Mountain, the master of the Rewind Chamber. Do you know him?"
Lu Jiang shook her head: "I don't know him, but I need to find him..."
"Find him?" Cordova was a little confused: "What for?"
Mo Tan was also quite curious about this. He had a deep impression of Long. Although his contact with that High-Rank Observer was not long, the other party always gave him an elusive feeling. Of course, everything in Tian Zhu Mountain was quite elusive; Chief Engineer Lu Wei and another High-Rank Observer Leisade were also like that.
But Long was different from those two; he gave Mo Tan a more mysterious feeling...
"My brother told me to find him." Lu Jiang shrugged, then looked back at Jia Deka and Ya Ya nearby. After confirming they weren't paying attention, she whispered to Cordova: "My guiding quest was to find my brother, but I haven't found him for over half a month, and I can't add him as a friend. Later, he told me to try coming to Tian Zhu Mountain to find a 'Mr. Long,' so I came."
Cordova said in astonishment, "You couldn't find him, right? So how did he tell you?"
Lu Jiang smiled: "After leaving the game, we live together and go to the same school."
Cordova: "..."
Mo Tan: "..."
Just then, Lu Wei, who had been circling the Express, suddenly turned around and shouted, "Hey, winged girl, come here!"
Ji Xiaoge, who was listening to the three of them chat, tilted her head, then pointed to herself: "Me?"
"Yes, you, come here..." Lu Wei, slumped on the ground, said weakly: "Hurry up."
Ji Xiaoge nodded: "Oh, okay!"
Then she made a face at Mo Tan and the others, trotted over to Lu Wei, and bent down to ask, "Master Lu, did you call me?"
"Yes." Lu Wei nodded somewhat dejectedly, then raised a hand to point at a 'patch' on the Express and a blob of unknown substance beneath two floating runes, his expression particularly resentful: "What material did you use to patch up my alloy beta? Also, what exactly is that substance used to bond the floating runes? How can it have such terrifying stickiness?!"
Ji Xiaoge blinked: "The patch is millet porridge and black sesame paste, and what I used to stick them together is sticky bean paste..."
"I'm not joking with you!" Lu Wei roared, his face ashen: "This could involve a whole new field, both in Engineering and materials science! Tell me the truth, I'll give you anything you want! As long as I have it!"
Ji Xiaoge looked back at Mo Tan with a troubled expression: "Help me out..."
The latter smiled wryly and nodded, telling Cordova and Lu Jiang to continue chatting, then quickly walked to Lu Wei's side and spread his hands: "I can vouch for her, she's really not joking with you."
"Not joking?!" Lu Wei, who trusted Mo Tan's character, was immediately shocked after hearing him speak. His dirty hand reached out to Ji Xiaoge: "Give it to me!"
Ji Xiaoge looked puzzled: "Give what?"
"Those things you just mentioned!" Lu Wei cried out in exasperation: "Millet porridge! What black paste! And that what's-it bean paste!"
The girl immediately obediently pulled out a fragrant, dark, lumpy bowl from her satchel and handed it to Lu Wei, smiling: "I made a lot, this is black sesame paste~"
Lu Wei took it with a solemn expression, then leaned in to smell it. After frowning, he carefully poured some onto the ground...
Then, under Mo Tan's horrified gaze and Ji Xiaoge's slightly pained expression, that small blob of fragrant, dark, viscous liquid solidified the moment it hit the ground!
Exactly like the inconspicuous patch on the Express!
"It's real!" Lu Wei's pupils instantly constricted, then he looked at Ji Xiaoge, whose face was filled with the word 'pity', in disbelief, exclaiming: "How did you do that?!"
The girl thought for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Wash the sesame-like things, fry them, fry the glutinous-rice-like things, grind the sesame, and then..."
"Wait, wait!!" Lu Wei immediately interrupted: "What is all this nonsense? Do you think you're cooking?"
The girl looked innocent: "I am cooking..."
Master Lu fell silent.
Meanwhile, Mo Tan was pondering what 'sesame-like things' and 'glutinous-rice-like things' were.
After a long while, Lu Wei looked at the bowl of 'black sesame paste' in his hand, his mouth twitching as he asked Ji Xiaoge, "Is this really... food?"
The girl nodded seriously.
Then, after hesitating for a moment, Lu Wei actually picked up the bowl and stuck out his tongue to lick it...
Licked it...
It...
A bite...
Mouth...
For the next minute, the Chief Engineer of Tian Zhu Mountain used a wrench, pipe pliers, a chainsaw, miniature explosives, and explosive runes, until he was about to kill himself... only then did he manage to remove the substance from the tip of his tongue, which was no less durable than runic alloy.
"Very good, extremely good..." However, Lu Wei wasn't angry at all; instead, he asked Ji Xiaoge with a fanatical expression: "You are a talent! Do you want to learn a skill from me?"
Ji Xiaoge: "?"
Mo Tan: "?"
Lu Wei pondered for a moment, then raised his hand and summoned a blue light screen in front of him, writing on it—
'Girl, you're great! You're a talent! Do you want to learn a skill from me?'
Because Cordova and Mo Tan had previously told her how amazing Lu Wei was, how amazing Tian Zhu Mountain was, and how Lu Wei was so unrestrained and domineering in Tian Zhu Mountain, Ji Xiaoge immediately felt a little overwhelmed and quickly stammered, "What skill?"
Master Lu smiled proudly, raising his hand to write five large characters and a punctuation mark on the light screen...
'Battlefield Engineering!'
...
At the same time,
Inner Mountain of Tian Zhu Mountain, Rewind Chamber
A tall, silver-haired elf gently stood up from the mist. He was clad in a white robe, his eyes covered by a layer of linen, his expression serene and indifferent.
He was Mr. Long, who Mo Tan had met once, the last of the thirteen High-Rank Observers of Tian Zhu Mountain, and the one in charge of the Rewind Chamber.
"The apocalypse light is back..." Mr. Long raised his hand, sweeping away the mist that filled the entire Rewind Chamber, and murmured: "And a Silver Elf very much like A Sang, could it be that they've come to find me?"
He looked up slightly, his eyes, hidden behind the thin cloth, seemed to be observing something...
After a long while,
"As expected, I still can't see anything." Mr. Long revealed a self-mocking smile, then his entire being gradually transformed from solid to ethereal, slowly becoming a blurry phantom.
"But, even if there's only a glimmer of hope... I must not lose my way, I must not... give up."
...
Chapter 130: End
