Settling for the Next Best Thing

"If there are no external interferences, it will take about a year," Aponia replied without hesitation.

Mei was clearly taken aback by this answer.

"A year? That's more than I expected—of course, we can't really make plans based on a year. Six months, ideally, we should get these things sorted out within six months."

After hearing Aponia's response of a year, Mei's tone became noticeably calmer.

The root of other people's problems is insufficient firepower, while the root of their problems is insufficient time—in other words, given enough time, they can try anything.

"Aponia, I'm counting on you for Rin. Try your best to control the speed at which the Herrscher Rin inside Rin changes."

Aponia nodded compassionately.

The matter concerning Ling has been settled. Although there is no solution yet, Liu Bai's reminder has given Mei some ideas. The rest is about how to broaden her thinking and apply it.

These are clearly not things we're discussing right now.

However, when Mei looked at Aponia and Liu Bai, she suddenly remembered something else.

"By the way, have you heard what Elysia has been up to these past few days, running around everywhere..."

"The Thirteen Flame-Chasers." Liu Bai naturally knew what Mei was referring to. "I think apart from the number 13 being a bit subtle, the rest is quite fun. Anyway, it's not a big deal. Let Aili do whatever she wants."

"Aili also came to me, and I agreed."

Aponia's answer was more concise; in these little things, Aponia was actually quite vulnerable to Elysia's coquettishness.

"Furthermore, I think Aili's suggestion has some positive aspects."

"Of course I know it has positive implications, but the problem is... it's not that I'm overthinking things, it's mainly because of the list Elysia gave me..."

Mei took a piece of paper from the drawer and handed it to the two people.

Kevin, Aili, Aponia, Eden, Vil-V, Kalpas, Su, Sakura, Kosma, Mobius, Hen, Hua, Pardo.

"Look, have you found anything?"

"Hmm... not bad?" Liu Bai touched his chin. Apart from Gretel's position being replaced by Hen, the other rankings were exactly the same as he remembered.

Is there anything wrong with this ranking?

Is everything alright?

"But looking at the women, don't you think the combination of Elysia, Eden, and Aponia looks familiar?"

"Hmm... it seems there really is a bit?"

Only after Mei said that did Liu Bai realize that this group seemed to be the "Big Three".

Although Liu Bai treats everyone equally, he has heard this somewhat ridiculous nickname from other people.

"Her ranking always makes me think in a skewed way... If I think that way, then I can only imagine Mobius thinks."

Mei looked at Mobius, who was ranked tenth. What was this? A "minor" certification personally awarded by Aili?

Even Vil-V and Sakura can't catch up with this!

And then there's Hua. To be fair, my own senior sister seems to be ranked lower too. But if you look at it this way, it doesn't really seem like that kind of ranking.

However, Mei really can't help but view the things that Elysia creates without prejudice.

"That's fine, I think it's good—it's just a small matter after all."

Liu Bai said nonchalantly, "Anyway, this is for the public to see. As long as everyone is handsome and beautiful enough to be on camera, that's fine."

Liu Bai didn't care whether this thing was the Yin-Yang Ranking or not. Even if it was, what could you do about it? Even if Liu Bai was fair enough, he knew that the combat power of the others was far inferior to that of the three giants, Elysia, Eden, and Aponia.

If these people really wanted to overthrow Elysia and the other two, would they wait until this ranking came out before doing so?

Just kidding...

"If Dr. Mobius needs, I can switch places with her." Aponia remained calm, even though she herself felt it was a bit absurd that someone who joined halfway through could rank third.

Aponia doesn't need such useless terms... Anyway, the Lord God's gaze won't be swayed by such a trivial matter.

"No, let's leave it at that." After thinking about it, Mei felt that this ranking was not bad.

It's not that I'm trying to disgust Mobius, but as a ranking that's mainly for idols, it does feel a bit out of place for someone like Mobius, who's almost forty... Well, Eden and Aponia aren't exactly young either.

Forget it, I'll stop pretending. What's wrong with disgusting Mobius a little?

I just don't understand why Vil-V and Sakura are ranked so high, fifth and seventh respectively...

Okay, actually, if you only look at the later ones, you really can't find any logic in them. They look like they were just randomly arranged, but the first few don't seem to be randomly arranged at all.

Although these items are not ranked in any particular order, most people will still consider the order first when they see a ranking.

"He's quite playful."

Liu Bai glanced at Mei and immediately knew what his student was thinking.

Mei was a little embarrassed, then put on a serious expression and began to change the subject. "Ahem, teacher, to be honest, Kevin is not young anymore, and he's having trouble communicating with people. How about we arrange a blind date for him?"

Liu Bai: "?"

Is this how you change the subject?

Chapter 444: Falling back and doing the next best thing

Not only Liu Bai, but even Aponia's expression turned strange after hearing these words.

Is it really okay to treat your junior brother like this?

Okay, so this suggestion wasn't entirely a trap for Kevin, but Mei mentioning it at this point was obviously a way of shielding him.

And to be honest, this time of year is really not suitable for getting married.

After all, the current situation is quite delicate. It's not impossible for a wedding to happen today and a decisive battle to happen tomorrow. Moreover... although Aponia is reluctant to admit it, objectively speaking, at this point in time, for these elite combat forces, the newborn is far more of a "burden" than a source of hope.

"Doctor, are you kidding me?" Aponia made no attempt to hide the subtle expression on her face, her tone unusually tinged with doubt.

"I don't look like I'm joking at all. I can correct myself." Mei pushed up her glasses.

"..."

Upon hearing Mei's answer, Aponia wore a puzzled expression—she really wanted to tell Mei that everything she said sounded like a joke.

However, considering that Mei always speaks with purpose, even though Aponia still felt very uneasy, she chose to swallow her doubts.

(Dr. Mei may have her own reasons for doing this...)

Moreover, it seems that their own Lord God did not come out to stop it.

Yes, Liu Bai really thought this suggestion was pretty good, so that he wouldn't have to finish the simulation, upload the results, and then turn around to find that the Kaslana family was gone.

That would be a huge source of amusement.

In order to avoid creating such a huge mess, Liu Bai felt that sacrificing Kevin was acceptable.

Knock knock knock!

"Report!"

"Come in."

After receiving permission, Kevin cautiously walked in, maintaining his aloof demeanor.

"Senior sister, you were looking for me? And our teacher, Ms. Aponia?"

"Yes, I was looking for you." Mei pushed up her glasses. "Kevin, you're not getting any younger, are you?"

"Almost."

Mei's question gave Kevin goosebumps all over, but out of consideration for his image, he could only honestly continue the conversation.

Why are you suddenly asking this?

"After discussing it with my teacher and Aponia, we all agree that you should find a wife."

Aponia & Liu Bai: "..."

"Oh... cough! Wait a minute, senior sister, could you please repeat what you just said?"

Kevin nodded subconsciously, but then realized that something seemed off.

What does it mean to find a wife?

"After discussing it with my teacher and Aponia, we all agree that you should find a wife," Mei repeated her words verbatim. "Any questions you don't understand can be asked."

"... Why me? Kalpas, Kosma, Su, aren't we all single?" Kevin tried his best to maintain his aloof demeanor, afraid that he might accidentally reveal his true feelings.

But... this problem is just too unbearable!

Why did they have to ask this of all? He thought they were going to assign some new combat mission, but it turned out to be a wedding.

Marry!?

How could you say that?

If it weren't for the fact that it was inconvenient to say it directly, Kevin would really think that Dr. Mobius had made some kind of "foolproof drug" and fed it to Mei.

"Why not you?" Mei asked with a stern face. "Do you expect Kalpas to marry you?"

"..."

Well, speechless. Kevin genuinely thinks that the whole "Kalpas marriage" thing is probably a ghost story.

"What about Kosma?"

"He has a girlfriend. Although their relationship is not going well, he definitely has a girlfriend."

"Oh, Desstobia."

Kevin wasn't really forgetful; he still remembered which girl his little brother was most often seen with.

It's just that I hadn't really realized this connection before, but now that it's been mentioned, Kevin immediately thought of it.

"Then... what about Su? Su has a better personality than me, and he doesn't have a girlfriend either, so why don't you go for him?"

"Do you think I need to worry about something like this for Su?" Mei crossed her arms and looked at Kevin, who was in a cold and aloof state, with an expression of looking at an idiot. "Here, take a look. This is a list I made for you, and it also includes the girls' requirements."

Mei pulled a roster out of the drawer and threw it in front of Kevin.

Upon seeing this roster, both Kevin, the person involved, and Aponia and Liu Bai, the bystanders, were stunned.

You kept this kind of roster in a drawer? You were really prepared!

For some reason, Aponia felt a little more at ease.

Hmm, this probably proves that Mei's actions weren't impulsive, so I can probably feel a little more at ease with Mei's current behavior?

Is it really possible?

Aponia fell into deep thought once again.

Kevin looked at the roster that had been thrown on the table and suddenly felt as if his hands were weighed down by a thousand pounds.

If I pick up this roster, is there really no turning back?

Somewhat apprehensive about the thought, Kevin tried to remain calm and politely declined, saying, "Well, I don't think it's the right time for me or myself to get married right now."

Honestly, if Kevin hadn't felt that losing his temper now would have been more serious than getting married, and might even have exacerbated the seriousness of the marriage, he would have already broken down and run away.

Although he's not exactly a staunch advocate of being single, at this time, it's really not a good time to talk about marriage, both personally and in terms of the general situation!

"I know what you're worried about. Time doesn't matter. We probably have more than a year left, which is more than enough time to get married. Your marriage as the leader of the warriors will boost morale for everyone," Mei said calmly.

Boost morale... Kevin thought for a moment and nodded. He was now a person of some standing, and if he had a grand wedding, it would indeed boost morale and even give the other team members hope. "Captain Kevin can get married at this time, he must believe that we can defeat the Honkai!"

Is this really a positive development?

But isn't the positive significance itself a bit too great? Anyway, most of these Fusion Warriors are going to follow the next civilization. He's not completely ignorant. Although he doesn't know the exact strength of the Herrscher of Finality, Liu Bai and Mei won't hide their plans from him. In fact, Kevin knows that he needs to protect the next civilization to some extent.

In other words, neither of these two had much hope for the final battle, Kevin didn't think he was smarter than either of them—so what else is there to say?

But now that things had gotten to this point, Kevin couldn't really refute it, so Kevin brought up the second thing. "Senior sister, my body also prevents me from having contact with other women..."

Fortunately, he revealed his coldness when he was building his persona back then, otherwise there would be no reason for this to happen today.

Faced with Kevin's question, Mei's answer remained calm:

"It's alright, our family... can still pick out about ten female Fusion Warrior who are mainly ice-type from among the Moth Chasers to Fire."

What does it mean to have an oversupply of low- to mid-range combat power?