"Get my Contract Spirit Master certificate... as soon as possible?"
Lin Luoluo pondered Mayor Liu De's suggestion.
It was just as the mayor had said.
Once she obtained a Contract Spirit Master certificate, she would be an officially certified Contract Spirit Master. No matter how arrogant the Jiang Family was, they wouldn't dare go too far against her in the open.
She would also be qualified to enter the mine tunnels and earn money.
Although going into the mine tunnels was dangerous, both raising a Contract Spirit and treating her sister's illness required an astronomical sum.
Lin Luoluo was short of money—desperately short of it!
Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen to drop out at the most crucial point in her final year of high school, taking the burden of the entire family onto her small shoulders.
Thinking of this, Lin Luoluo nodded.
"Okay. Thank you, Mayor."
"Then... I'll head home first. My sister is still waiting at home for me to cook."
"Go on, girl..."
Liu De sighed, watching the frail, petite figure maneuver her wheelchair out of sight around the corner of the alley.
The road home was rather bumpy, and Lin Luoluo hadn't put Bai Chen away in her Contract Spirit space.
She had heard that it was pitch-dark inside a Contract Spirit space. She had been afraid of the dark since she was little, so she didn't want her Contract Spirit to stay in a place like that either.
On the way home, she could take the opportunity to learn more about this family member she had just met.
She still knew almost nothing about this Contract Spirit called "Xiao Hei."
"Xiao Hei, what exactly is your race?" Lin Luoluo asked curiously as she pushed her wheelchair along. "Why can I only see your Life Skills and attributes, but not your race?"
Although someone had just said that Xiao Hei might be an Evil Contract Spirit, Lin Luoluo didn't believe it at all.
When Jiang Ruoxue had bullied her, Xiao Hei was the one who had protected her.
So he definitely couldn't be a bad guy.
So... this girl can't see the details of my race?
Bai Chen thought to himself. No wonder Lin Luoluo had looked so surprised when she saw him kill the Cold Moon Fox in a single blow.
That's for the best. After all, my race, the 'Devouring Demon God,' really could be considered a kind of Evil Contract Spirit in a sense—and the most evil and powerful kind at that.
It's just that I won't lose my mind like those Evil Contract Spirits.
But if she found out, it could easily lead to a misunderstanding.
Bai Chen had just thought this when he suddenly noticed an even bigger problem.
Wait...
"Who's Xiao Hei?! Are you calling me that?"
Now that they had formed a contract, the two could communicate freely through their mental link.
At that moment, a voice sounded in Lin Luoluo's mind without warning.
Cool and clear, with a trace of distinctive magnetism, like a breeze on a summer night brushing over strings...
That voice... was Xiao Hei's?!
Lin Luoluo's arms stiffened, and her wheelchair even stopped for a moment.
Bai Chen's voice was exactly the same as it had been before he transmigrated.
Back when he played games on Earth, plenty of girls had sent him friend requests whenever he turned on his mic, openly telling him his voice was good enough to be a voice actor.
So, with just one sentence, a rush of heat shot from Lin Luoluo's neck to the top of her head. The girl's delicate cheeks instantly flushed crimson, and the blush spread all the way to the fair, smooth skin around her collarbones.
Heavens!
Xiao Hei's voice... sounded so good!
It was the kind... the kind that could get your ears pregnant the moment you heard it!
Just as Lin Luoluo was feeling utterly ashamed that her Contract Spirit's voice had made her blush and her heart race, Bai Chen's voice sounded in her mind again, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"Don't tell me 'Xiao Hei' is the name you gave me?"
"I have a name, you know. I'm Bai Chen."
"Xiao Hei... has a name?"
Coming back to her senses, Lin Luoluo visibly froze for a moment.
She was very surprised to hear that her Contract Spirit already had a name.
After the surprise, though, came a wave of deep embarrassment. She stuck out her tongue a little sheepishly.
Since he already had a name, it really wasn't very nice of her to casually give him the name "Xiao Hei" based on his pitch-black appearance.
From his tone, he didn't seem happy with the name either.
"Sorry, sorry!" Lin Luoluo hurriedly apologized. "I didn't know you already had a name.
"I saw that you were pitch-black all over, so... so that's how I thought of the name Xiao Hei."
In the dim alley of the Underground City, Lin Luoluo brought her rolling wheelchair to a stop.
She pressed her palms together in front of her chest,
The girl leaned forward slightly, her slender arms pressing against the fullness of her chest and making it dip slightly,
Lin Luoluo offered a suggestion in the most sincere tone.
"But we're family now, and family can have nicknames for each other.
"Since you don't like the name 'Xiao Hei,' then... how about 'Xiao Bai'?"
The girl sat in her wheelchair, and her slightly forward-leaning posture meant that even her old, faded clothes couldn't entirely conceal her astonishing curves.
Dim light slanted in from the mouth of the alley, outlining her slender figure and long, silver-white hair.
Because the girl's usual part-time work was mending clothes for others, and she had spent years without much sunlight, her skin was almost translucent. Now, as she apologized, her clear eyes were full of sincerity, like a pool of clear spring water.
She was cute, with a hint of unconscious temptation.
Honestly, any man with a normal sexual orientation would have found it hard not to be moved by the sight.
Bai Chen was practically overwhelmed by how adorable Lin Luoluo was,
Who said lolis couldn't compare to mature beauties? Step forward! Lolis were just too good, okay?!
Besides, the name Xiao Bai really was much easier to accept than Xiao Hei.
Ever since becoming a pitch-black mass of shadow, the thing Bai Chen hated most was people saying he was black!
"All right, all right."
Bai Chen gave a somewhat aloof reply.
"Hehe..."
Having received permission, Lin Luoluo paid his attitude no mind and smiled happily.
She reached out both arms and gave Bai Chen a tight hug on her lap, even rubbing her soft cheek against him, as though she wanted to knead him into her body.
That astonishingly soft sensation came again...
Bai Chen swallowed a nonexistent mouthful of saliva and hurriedly reminded her, "It's getting late. Let's hurry home."
He was a good judge of character. From the resentful look Jiang Ruoxue had given them when she left, he knew that woman definitely wouldn't let the matter rest.
This stretch of Lin Luoluo's route home was far too secluded. Having survived in the Monster Forest for so long, he couldn't shake the feeling that danger lurked everywhere around them.
"Okay, okay!"
Lin Luoluo answered happily and put Bai Chen back between her legs.
She was just about to push the wheelchair onward when she heard a strange sound.
Creak—
It sounded like the final groan of some old part.
Lin Luoluo didn't pay it much attention. The wheelchair was already very old, so it was normal for it to make a little noise now and then. She pushed hard again.
Crack!
A crisp snapping sound rang out!
Immediately afterward, Lin Luoluo felt the seat beneath her tilt. The wheel on the left had actually come right off the wheelchair and rolled away to one side.
"Ah!"
Lin Luoluo cried out as the entire wheelchair instantly lost its balance and tipped sharply toward the hard ground.
Just as she thought she was going to hit the ground hard, the moment her body began to fall, the black mass on her lap moved.
Just like when Luo Bai had caught Lin Luoluo during the fight earlier.
Now, part of Bai Chen's body instantly stretched and changed shape like liquid. Supple, pitch-black tentacles sprang from his body and quickly wrapped around Lin Luoluo's slender waist, while several others braced against the ground, firmly supporting her falling body just before she hit the ground.
A gentle yet firm force came from the tentacles. Supporting Lin Luoluo's bottom, Bai Chen set her safely on the ground.
Still shaken, Lin Luoluo patted her chest. When she turned her head and saw the wheelchair that had fallen apart beside her, her eyes reddened with distress.
One of the wheelchair's wheels had come off, the connecting bearing had snapped in two, and the entire frame was bent out of shape. It was completely ruined.
"This... Chuchu collected scrap for a long time and sold it to buy this for my fourteenth birthday..."
A hint of tears entered the girl's voice.
She looked at the broken wheelchair, then at the distant, dim end of the alley. Her aggrieved little face nearly crumpled.
"And... there's still such a long way to go. How am I supposed to get home?"