Game Time AM04:10
Mo Tan returned to the Grand Arena of the First Outer Mountain, covered in dust and dirt, every inch of his body aching.
He dragged his heavy steps back to his room, changed into a more comfortable set of soft armor, then collapsed onto the soft bed, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Even though it was only in the game, Mo Tan still felt tons of fatigue, as working on high-precision tasks with Lu Wei and Ji Xiaoge in the test field was truly a test of one's heart.
A genius Goblin Engineer and a chef who was even more of a genius in some respects—when this master and apprentice worked on a project together, it was practically a disaster for anyone else.
Admittedly, Lu Wei · Feizierban was a great Engineer, but greatness and reliability were two completely different things. He often had sudden inspirations even after designing a complete set of blueprints, either pushing various equipment to the brink of maximum output in crazy tests or intermittently trying to overload them at full capacity. This process was almost always accompanied by explosions, explosions, explosions, and even bigger explosions.
Ji Xiaoge, who possessed the 【Lu Wei's Teleportation Beacon - Good Disciple Ye Ge Luxury Limited Edition】, was easy to deal with. As long as she had this item in her inventory, any damage she sustained in the Seventh Outer Mountain, no matter how high, would be forcibly reduced by 99.9%. Even the most terrifying explosions and man-made disasters (yes, there were never natural disasters here, only man-made ones) would not have much impact on her. At most, she would cough a couple of times and lose less than 1% of her health.
And Lu Wei had long since grown accustomed to various sudden incidents; for him, being blown up by his own creations ten or twenty times a day was commonplace. As a native of Tian Zhu Mountain on par with High-Rank Observers, not only was his physical constitution extremely strong, but he also had the permanent buff Cordova had mentioned before—a state of near invincibility within the confines of Tian Zhu Mountain. Naturally, he wouldn't suffer any mishaps.
But Mo Tan was different. As someone who enthusiastically stayed to help, he had been struggling on the brink of death for the past few hours, his health constantly fluctuating between 10% and 90%, with negative statuses like 'burning,' 'scorched,' 'suffocation,' and 'bleeding' continuously appearing on him, tormenting him beyond words.
Moreover, a certain winged beauty was no easygoing person either. In her attempt to further develop the edibility of spicy chili powder, she inadvertently and greatly increased its strategic value. Although the taste and texture had not changed at all (ingesting it would apply over twenty negative statuses and a drastic drop in health), the concentration of fire elements within it had risen to another level. In Lu Wei's words, it 'reminded him of the days when he went to the Sunset Volcano for on-site inspection.'
Mo Tan almost choked to death during Ji Xiaoge's second purification of the spicy chili powder. The indescribable smell alone could cause health loss!
In short, he had a truly difficult night. If it weren't for Ji Xiaoge repeatedly urging Lu Wei to let him leave early, Mo Tan, who insisted on helping to the very end, might have already been completely 'cooled down'... or perhaps 'cooked through.'
But he wasn't without gains. The most direct one was that the 'Self-Destructing Sheep' Lu Wei had requisitioned finally gained the speed of a regular mount (earth horse), and its explosive power was said to have significantly increased...
Alright, the second point doesn't count.
In any case, this was an enhancement to Mo Tan's strength. With the ability to pick up speed, both his 【Knight Skill - Falcon Strike】 and 【Knight's Spirit: Honor】 could more easily unleash their maximum damage.
Other gains included a total of five points added to Lu Wei's favorability, two stacks of high-quality health potions, a dozen bottles of stamina-replenishing tea (made by Ji Xiaoge, but detoxified by Lu Wei), confirmation that players could also trigger Holy Light (Ji Xiaoge, wearing a skirt, was sent flying five or six meters high by an explosion), and the deduction of the diminishing returns rule for using potions to restore health and stamina (he was almost constantly using potions throughout the process), etc...
It could be considered a balance of payments in some sense.
Of course, even setting those aside, Mo Tan (lawful good only) wouldn't mind helping Master Lu Wei, who had taken good care of him, and there was also...
“Hmm?” Mo Tan turned over in bed, then suddenly saw a friend message flash at the edge of his vision. He opened his friend panel and saw that Cordova had greeted him.
The two had been in frequent contact during this period, and the content was mostly daily interactions between game friends, such as 'What new equipment have you updated recently? How's your strength improving? Go die, normie! (Cordova to Mo Tan)' and 'Is your journey going smoothly? Is your quest progressing well? Be sure to take care of yourself and stay safe. (Mo Tan to Cordova),' with no new tricks...
So this time, Mo Tan simply replied in his usual manner, stating that he had gained a lot today, that he, Ya Ya, and Ji Xiaoge had all defeated Number Three Chicken in the Noob Arena, and then he was dragged to the Seventh Outer Mountain and blown into an unrecognizable state.
It wasn't that Mo Tan genuinely wanted to complain; it was just that Cordova always griped about some crappy situation he encountered during every chat, and he would also emit a low pressure of 'I'm so miserable, ahhhhhhh.' Mo Tan felt that describing himself as more miserable would probably help the other person maintain their mental balance.
However, the other party's style today was a bit different...
Cordova: 'Emmmmm, brother, you really have it rough. That old Undead Lu Wei can cause trouble even when tightening a screw. My condolences~~'
Mo Tan was stunned for a moment, feeling that Cordova seemed to be in a very good mood today, so he asked, 'How's your situation recently?'
He usually wouldn't dare to ask that, because Cordova's 'recent situation' would almost always be accompanied by a large amount of 'MMP' and censored text. Of course, the main reason was that the other party had usually finished complaining before he even asked.
'Hehe, didn't I tell you I was helping Huo Yan Yang here at Mount Sumir in the north? I'm just about to leave now, and those old folks were very generous, giving me a lot of good stuff, and also a polar Kodo beast, a specialty of Tian Zhu Mountain. Not only can it carry me, but it runs incredibly fast. I'm a person with a mount now!'
It was indeed good news.
Mo Tan smiled faintly, genuinely happy for Cordova. He felt that his friend, who seemed to have offended the God of Destiny, should finally have a change of luck. After all, if that kind of unfortunate luck, which was practically the will of the great universe, were to continue, it might cause someone to lose faith in this game and even in life itself...
But just as he was about to reply with a few congratulatory words, Cordova immediately sent another message.
'And let me tell you, that crappy quest also has a lead! Although I didn't find the apocalypse light here in Sumir, I found a very likely suspect. I heard she's a beautiful woman too!'
Mo Tan was taken aback, then replied curiously, 'What's the situation?'
Cordova quickly replied: 'A Holy Maiden! The Holy Maiden of the Dawn Sect! She's a player like you, a God-blessed one permanently residing in the City of Light, and she's the Holy Maiden of the Dawn Goddess. All the divine skills she learns are related to 'Light.' Isn't it highly likely that she's the apocalypse light?'
【It's Yu Cheng...】
Mo Tan immediately understood what was going on. After all, in his impression, the only person who met the three conditions of 'Dawn Goddess's God-blessed one,' 'Holy Maiden,' and 'player' was Yu Cheng. And he hadn't heard her or Xia Lian mention anyone else. Plus, Huo Yan Yang knew Yu Cheng in reality, so the person Cordova was looking for was almost certainly Yu Cheng.
Of course, even though he knew full well, Mo Tan couldn't let Cordova know that he was quite familiar with Yu Cheng, so he simply continued to ask very logically: 'Oh~ So there's a player like that? So you're going to find her now?'
Cordova instantly replied: 'Exactly! I'm heading to that Misha County, which I heard has become a disaster area. That Holy Maiden and I have already added each other as friends! Come on, wish me a successful date!'
【Date?】
Mo Tan was slightly surprised, but he didn't pay too much attention to it, just thinking that it was quite incredible that Yu Cheng, with her shy and timid personality, would agree to go on a date with Cordova. Then he replied cheerfully: 'Alright, I wish you a successful date~'
'Hehe, borrowing your auspicious words, borrowing your auspicious words~~!'
Mo Tan looked at Cordova's smug reply and was about to ask two more questions about the situation in Sumir, when suddenly a strange feeling of detachment came from all directions.
So Mo Tan quickly sent Cordova a few sleepy-eyed red leaves (one of Innocent World's official emoticons), indicating that he was about to go offline.
【Premonition】
Passive Talent (Growable)
Effect: Generates a strong Premonition under ??? circumstances, and extends your time by 9 seconds.
【Note: Don't mind it, after all, no one in this world is their own master.】
It was still the same talent, but the original effect of 'extends your time by 3 seconds' had changed to '9 seconds.' This number was the same as the number of disconnections for the 'Mo' character, and the 'Tan Mo' and 'Black Vatican' characters had also increased to 7 seconds and 10 seconds respectively. In short, the buffer time for Mo Tan's characters when they were replaced by his other personalities had increased.
Although he would still disconnect, this talent undoubtedly alleviated a lot of trouble for him. At least he wouldn't suddenly 'pop' out of existence or 'plop' onto the ground without any preparation.
So, nine seconds later...
【You have been emergency disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect.】
“Reconnect, reconnect.”
【Reconnection in progress...】
【Connection complete, loading character information】
【Welcome back, Absolute Neutral Black Vatican, loading Innocent World. Good night.】
...
Misha County
Inside Midar City
Mo Tan appeared on a street in the city, vaguely recalling why he was in this very unfamiliar place.
A minute later, he finally remembered what had happened...
The reason was very simple: when he was returning from City Hall to the Holy Knight's station in the west of the city, he got distracted because he was thinking about all sorts of random things...
And then he got lost.
That's right, Mo Tan got lost for a full half an hour in this place where he had been for about a week! He hadn't even found out where he was until he disconnected! He completely failed to understand what the enthusiastic citizens who gave him directions were saying, things like 'turn east then go all the way west' or 'at the next intersection, look south, then turn west at the blacksmith's shop'!
“It wasn’t so much trouble when I walked with Yu Cheng before,” Mo Tan said with a bitter smile, scratching his hair. Then he suddenly froze, “Wait a minute… did Cordova just say… something about a date…?”
He concentrated on recalling for two seconds, then nodded vigorously.
【That's right, it's a date!】
【A date with the Holy Maiden of the Dawn Sect, a fellow player, and a God-blessed one of the Dawn Goddess.】
【Hmm... that means a date with Yu Cheng...】
【!】
A string of jumbled thoughts flashed through his mind, and Mo Tan almost instinctively sent a message to Yu Cheng: 'Are you there?'
'I am~ Mo Tan is online? I rarely see you this late (ω)'
Yu Cheng replied very quickly.
And then...
Then Mo Tan froze. He didn't know what to say at this moment, nor did he know what he wanted to say. After struggling for a while, he finally replied: 'Well, I have something I want to talk to Tairo about, but I'm lost in the city. Can you come pick me up...'
The next second, his screen was flooded with a large number of red leaf emojis of people laughing while banging on tables.
Mo Tan: 'I'm sorry for being directionally challenged...'
Yu Cheng replied instantly: 'No, no! Tell me what's near you, I'll come pick you up right away. You didn't see anything just now, hehehe (`)'
Mo Tan: '...'
Five minutes later
Yu Cheng, covering her small mouth and trying to suppress her laughter, successfully found Mo Tan, who was squatting on the street casting 【Luminescence】. Her small face was flushed, and her big eyes were almost invisible from laughing.
“Holy Maiden, you’ve worked hard…”
Mo Tan slowly stood up, then performed a priest's bow with a troubled expression: “I have disgraced the Goddess’s teachings.”
Yu Cheng chuckled, returned a comical bow, and said earnestly, “The Goddess told me she’d forgive you as long as you wear women’s clothes~”
Mo Tan instantly choked.
“Haha, just kidding, just kidding~” Yu Cheng smiled playfully and winked: “I’ll accompany you to find Mr. Tairo. He should be awake by now.”
Mo Tan nodded: “Then I’ll trouble you…”
Yu Cheng smiled slightly: “Anyway, I’m quite free. I’ve been reading the Holy Tome in the chapel, and the stories inside are quite interesting.”
“Hmm…”
“Use a skill, it’s so dark at night!”
Then the two of them each lit up Luminescence and slowly walked towards the garrison in the west of the city.
Two minutes later, Mo Tan had a sudden inspiration and thought of an idea.
“Ahem.” He first cleared his throat twice to break the silence, then asked in a particularly 'casual' manner: “By the way, have you been in contact with Wan Yang recently? I haven’t had a chance to thank him for that last quest.”
“Yes, though not very frequently.” Yu Cheng nodded very naturally, then turned back and smiled: “But he did introduce a friend to me today~”
“Oh, a friend…”
“Yes, that person is named Cordova. He said he needed my help with a quest, and it seems he’s already on his way.”
“And then?”
“That’s it.”
“That’s… that’s it.”
“Yes, I haven’t contacted him since I agreed to help him complete the quest.”
“Uh… oh.”
Chapter 227: End
