The Time-Stopping Pocket Watch

Their stance—at least during the period when the Elixir of Love was in effect—was entirely dictated by Liu Bai.

"Tell me," Bai added, realizing the issue of the Thunderfly Brute's stance, following Kujou Sara's words.

"I'm sorry, I'm not aware of that."

The frivolous tone in the Thunderfly Brute's voice had dissipated considerably.

"However, I think some of my former comrades should know about this."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bai fell into deep thought. After a moment, Liu Bai looked at the map again.

"So for now, the outer perimeter of the Sky Dome Zone is under the command of a small number of Herrscher, while the majority of Herrscher may be lurking inside the city."

"Well, this is the only possible allocation..."

Before this, Kujou Sara wouldn't have been able to make a judgment based on "mind manipulation" and "multiple people infiltrating".

However, the Thunderfly Brute's use of the term "masters" had already confirmed that the other party was a plural Herrscher with a single power.

This structure is difficult to manage; a large number of people means it's impossible to interfere with the other side's command and control through normal means.

Not to mention the potential for sharing capabilities in various aspects.

"The goal for tomorrow is to sweep away all these red circles."

No one present had any objections to Liu Bai's words. Afterwards, Liu Bai gave the Thunderfly Brute a bottle of Elixir of Love.

This time there was absolutely no resistance, and there was no diminishing return; the Thunderfly Brute's favorability rating soared to 300.

Given Thunderfly Brute's "loyal and yandere" tendencies, she probably wouldn't hesitate to die even if Liu Bai asked her to.

After bringing the Thunderfly Brute to the "ranch," Liu Bai assigned tasks to the Thunderfly Brute.

"Teach her to speak when you have time." Bai pointed at the Mirror Maiden, then took out a three-day supply of potions and handed them to the Thunderfly Brute. "In addition, you and the Mirror Maiden should each drink two vials of these potions every morning, and the others should each drink one."

It's time to teach them self-management.

Well, if it weren't for the fact that the Thunderfly Brute has a rather obvious loyal dog attribute, Liu Bai really wouldn't have done this.

After all, accidents can easily happen in this area—it's not a golden rule.

It's very likely that he forgot about this for various reasons, and Liu Bai's distortion is only in the realm of emotions.

The true golden rule is advanced hypnosis. Once hypnotized, one will unconsciously do it when the time comes.

These people live in a ranch where nothing much happens all day and there are no accidents. The Thunderfly Brute also has the characteristics of a loyal dog.

These factors combined led Liu Bai to decide to teach these people self-management.

"Yes, my respected master."

The Thunderfly Brute, who had been assigned a task by Liu Bai, spoke in a very lighthearted tone.

Is there anything else I can do for you?

"Hmm... can your clothes be recycled?"

After thinking for a moment, Liu Bai, since there were no outsiders present, still asked the question he most wanted to ask.

"It will regenerate slowly," the Thunderfly Brute gave a positive answer—the answer Liu Bai most wanted.

"And where is your lantern?"

After confirming that the Thunderfly Brute was not in danger, Shadow returned the lantern.

"... This regeneration process will take a relatively long time."

"Then take off your clothes and give me the lantern too."

Liu Bai decided to take them all the first time, since there was no need for the Thunderfly Brute to fight now.

I've invested so much in the ranch, and so many love-enhancing drugs. Even if you can't produce milk right now, you should at least produce something for me, right?

"Yes, Master."

Thunderfly Brute, readily agreed, and then Liu Bai ordered the other Honkai zombie to take off their clothes as well.

Of course, Liu Bai didn't ask for weapons from the other Honkai zombie, and the Mirror Maiden didn't have any either.

After all the Honkai zombie had stripped naked, a hint of desire appeared in the Thunderfly Brute's eyes, and her tone became even more seductive. "Is there anything else your subordinates can do for you?"

"..."

Ah, the atmosphere is starting to get strange.

Hmm, that's normal. The first time I faced those two Ice Scythe warriors, if it weren't for Xiao Guizi, I would have already been pinned to the ground by the Ice Scythe Honkai zombie.

Now...

It's not that I don't want to do something, it's just that my fragile little head can't withstand such violent Honkai energy.

If you want to do anything outrageous to the Honkai zombie, you have to be able to withstand the erosion of Honkai energy, right?

In a final act of stubbornness, Liu Bai reached out and pinched the Thunderfly Brute...

With a soft moan from the Thunderfly Brute, Liu Bai expressionlessly picked up his clothes and said, "That's all. Just do what you're responsible for."

"Yes, my respected master."

The Honkai zombie thoughtfully folded up all the clothes, and then placed the Thunderfly Brute's purple lantern on top of them.

[Misty Lantern·Thunder (0/3) (Weapon)]

When equipped by the Thunderfly Brute, one Lightning Flame will be stored in the lantern every ten minutes, up to a maximum of three. The number of Lightning Flames can be replenished by actively using Honkai energy.

[After losing the Mist Lantern, the Firefly Sorcerer will be unable to use most of their skills. When the Mist Lantern is replaced, the Firefly Sorcerer's skills will change accordingly.]

Huh? So, as long as you can find the Ice Lantern, Thunderfly Brute can become an Ice Sorcerer?

Although he is a "color-changing monster", Liu Bai personally feels that the Ice Firefly Sorcerer makes him feel more like Xingyu.

Okay, without solving the Honkai energy problem, no matter what, I can only touch it myself.

But then again, even though I've seen it more than once, those Honkai zombie are really white...

"... Lord Liu Bai, what's going on?"

Kamisato Ayaka saw Liu Bai just entering the room... and a large pile of clothes that Liu Bai was carrying.

"To do research?"

"Um."

Liu Bai nodded calmly—studying this theory had really been a great help.

Having preconceived notions can be really great sometimes.

"I'll go to the workroom first. I'll leave the preparation of the ingredients for dinner to Ms. Kamisato."

"No trouble at all."

Kamisato Ayaka politely bowed to Liu Bai.

"I wish you great success in your research."

"Thank you for your kind words."

After a brief, casual conversation, Kamisato Ayaka watched Liu Bai go upstairs.

"... Liu Bai is really busy. He has to be in charge of treatment, take care of research, and deal with the complicated situation outside."

Kamisato Ayaka was quite impressed, finding it hard to imagine how Liu Bai had managed to handle all these matters so efficiently.

"I wonder what kind of experiment Liu Bai is planning to conduct with the Thunderfly Brute's lantern and clothes... Eh? Clothes?"

Kamisato Ayaka finally realized something belatedly.

Chapter 118 The Time-Stop Pocket Watch

The Misty Lantern... Hmm, does it actually produce Misty Pollen inside?

Liu Bai discovered yet another creation of the Thunderfly Brute.

The clothes of the Mirror Maiden also have many crystal mirrors and one or two polarized mirrors.

Hmm... Could this be the normal product of these two types of Honkai zombie?

Liu Bai realized once again that it might not be normal for him to strip off his clothes directly—but anyway, this wasn't the first time he'd realized this.

It's a minor issue.

However, directly collecting clothes does seem to affect the production of these two products.

The pollen from the misty flower is not very useful, but as for mirrors, the crystal mirror is a spellcasting tool for the Mirror Maiden, and the polarized mirror can be used as an accessory to increase mental resistance in addition to spellcasting.

Hmm... I'll be more careful next time.

Let's begin alchemy.

The Emperor-class materials and Honkai zombie materials I collected before, as well as the high-level Honkai zombie clothing and equipment I currently possess.

If you use enough materials, you can craft a high-level item.

If it weren't for the fact that the clothes and props of the Thunderfly Brute and the Mirror Maiden were made of alchemical materials that Liu Bai had never encountered before, Liu Bai would be able to perform targeted alchemy now.

However, if you invest enough resources, it's not unacceptable to randomly get a high-level item from the pool.

Anyway, Liu Bai can now regularly collect high-level materials.

That's the advantage of industrialization.

Liu Bai did something that only a newbie would do—he threw all the ingredients he had into the pot until it was almost overflowing.

Then, Liu Bai picked up the large spoon and began to stir it—as if melting, the various materials that had emerged slowly sank into the dark green liquid.

After stirring for five or six minutes, Liu Bai finally heard the system notification.

Alchemy complete.

Liu Bai mentioned alchemy, and a silver pocket watch lay quietly inside, untouched by the dark green liquid due to its mechanism.

"???"

Wait a minute? I submitted so many things, and all you give me is a hypnosis pocket watch?

That's impossible, isn't it?

"Etc...?"

[Time-Stop Device (Pocket Watch Type)]

Pressing the top button consumes energy and pauses world time for everyone except the user. During the pause, all calculations will be suspended, and all actions will be calculated after the pause ends. Press the button again to end the pause.

[Gain one charge every ten seconds of natural time, with a maximum charge time of 24 hours.]

[Current charging time: 00:00]

Ah... a time-stopping pocket watch.

Liu Bai looked at the silver pocket watch in his hand, which was about 70% similar to the Disposable Hypnosis Pocket Watch, and his expression was slightly subtle.

A frequent visitor to the underworld... but this thing isn't as useful as those real underworld gadgets that you can press and stop at will.

The black hour, minute, and second hands at the top all point to 12.

These three hands rotate using their own charging method. After ten days, when the charging is complete, the entire pocket watch, including all the hands that have stopped at the 0 o'clock position again, will turn gold.

Rather than calling this a lewd prop, it's more accurate to call it a combat prop.

As for the erotic aspects of this kind of thing... I believe that in reality, there are far too many people who can corrupt beautiful girls through doujinshi.

How could such a thing happen, you idiot?

Liu Bai carefully put the pocket watch away.

However, time is money, and this thing is worth the high-quality materials that Liu Bai invested.

Combat artifacts and life-saving artifacts—using this as a base material, Liu Bai could create even more advanced "electronic watches."

The maximum charging time is 365 days, and the charging speed has also been changed to 5:1.

Of course, the materials needed would be of higher quality... So, making more of these pocket watches is another solution.

However, the materials I've thrown in all at once today are really not very useful for reference... Ugh, headache, I can only rely on my gut feeling to make a prediction.

You should keep this safe. After all, NPCs in the game won't use it, but in reality... someone will definitely use it.