Chapter 24: Concern from "Big Sister"
"Hiss..."
"Boss Liu, your physical condition is way too poor, isn't it?" Guinaifen complained as she washed a rag, watching Liu Bai rub his shoulders.
"Say, Little Gui."
Liu Bai poked his head out and glanced at Firefly, who was diligently sweeping the living room.
"What do you think about having Firefly carry bricks?"
"Huh? Is that really work a young girl should be doing?"
Guinaifen also poked her head out to look at Firefly.
Noticing Guinaifen's gaze, Firefly looked up and gave her a bright, innocent smile.
Yep, one delicate, frail young girl.
How could you even bring yourself to make a girl like that carry bricks, Boss Liu?!
"Mm... I was just saying it casually. Don't mind it."
That grip strength would be better suited for tightening screws.
Liu Bai had just thought Firefly was about to crush his shoulder blades.
A big tiger pretending to be a little orange kitten...
"But Firefly says she really wants to work. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Housework?"
"Do you think we're some family of three?" Liu Bai couldn't help but complain.
"Emmmm..." The jobs Guinaifen had encountered after her country was destroyed and she was displaced had never been easy, so she really couldn't think of anything suitable for Firefly right away.
Even as a streamer, Guinaifen did tough jobs, and weak social skills wouldn't cut it either.
"A library? How about a library?" Guinaifen suddenly thought of the library they had visited today.
For no other reason than that the atmosphere there seemed perfect for a quiet girl like Firefly.
"A library... That could work for now."
Liu Bai rubbed his chin. Since it was a branch office, it didn't seem likely to get dragged into the plot like the Liyue Merchant Guild here, at least for the time being.
"I'll make some preparations over the next few days—oh, right. Little Gui, how are your cooking skills?"
"So-so, I guess?" Guinaifen was a little surprised by Liu Bai's abrupt change of topic, but she answered honestly. "I can eat, but I can't really cook~ I'm okay with home-style dishes, but don't expect any fancy cuisine from me~"
"Then can you teach me how to cook tonight?"
"Sure."
"Guinaifen" (Cooking Lv. 3) will teach you cooking during dinner.
The next day.
Knock knock knock!
"Coming, coming!"
Early in the morning, Liu Bai was awakened by rather forceful knocking.
He hurriedly threw on some clothes and opened the door.
The moment he opened it, he saw Raven in a black tracksuit, carrying two bags.
"Living quite leisurely, aren't you?" Raven looked at the sleepy-eyed Liu Bai with a faintly mocking tone. Then she tossed the bag in her right hand to him. "Take it."
"This is...?"
"Clothes. You read my message and didn't reply. You've got some nerve, kid." Raven irritably squeezed past Liu Bai and walked inside.
Read but didn't reply?
Oh... the message from last night reminding him that the weather was getting colder.
No, wait! What kind of garbage messaging app showed whether a message had been read?!
"Ahem, I was busy tidying up the house yesterday. Once I was done, I went straight to sleep. I never had the time." Liu Bai could only give a half-truthful excuse.
"That's what I figured."
Raven sat down on the sofa without the slightest restraint and placed the bag in her left hand on the coffee table.
"I also picked up breakfast for you and your bodyguard while I was at it. Steamed buns and soy milk."
"..."
"...Why do you suddenly look so guarded?" Raven shot Liu Bai a glance, looking even more displeased.
"I suddenly got the feeling this is a last meal before execution—just kidding."
Seeing Raven's expression darken further, Liu Bai decisively abandoned the idea of continuing the joke.
"Little Gui is still asleep. She's probably sleeping in. Is something urgent going on?"
Firefly was still in the room.
He needed to find a way to get through this.
After all, Firefly had Entropy Loss Syndrome. If Mobius discovered her, things might head in a troublesome direction.
"Your information was traced. You used Celestial Vault City's public network." Raven opened with rather explosive intelligence.
"Rita?" Liu Bai wasn't too surprised—though the efficiency was a little frightening.
"Yes, but the ones who investigated were people from the merchant guild. You owe them a favor."
Did that mean the merchant guild had covered for him?
"Still, only the merchant guild could exploit Gray Serpent's blind spots in Celestial Vault City. Those business bastards."
"World Serpent and the merchant guild have a good relationship?" Liu Bai caught a hint of something beneath her words.
"Just some old ties. Though honestly, the merchant guild gets along reasonably well with everyone." Raven curled her lip. "So you need to be prepared over the next couple of days. There's an eighty to ninety percent chance Rita will ask you out within that time. Be ready. Of course, I'll be ready too."
"You want to try hitting their home base?"
Liu Bai frowned, feeling like he had grasped Raven's intention.
Were they going to capture Kiana together while Rita was being led away to meet him?
"The chances of success aren't high. Rita... no matter what, she's fairly cautious."
Even if she was someone who constantly messed up.
"Big sis, don't go charging headfirst into their trap." Liu Bai's tone carried a teasing edge. "Everyone's playing with their cards face-up now."
"I'm not stupid. It depends on how much you can lower her guard. Anyway, I came today to tell you this. Be ready to deal with Rita at any time. You can handle the specific details yourself."
Although they had only known each other for two or three days, Raven believed Liu Bai's abilities were absolutely reliable. Giving him some freedom wouldn't be a problem.
Besides, there was no way this could happen without Liu Bai's cooperation.
"And the preparation I'm talking about is preparation to be your big sister!"
Raven's voice held a trace of embarrassed irritation as she said that.
She wasn't open-minded enough to let Liu Bai be alone with Rita.
Even if Rita hadn't discovered Liu Bai's identity, she couldn't rule out the possibility of her suddenly being overcome by animal instincts.
What was more, Rita wasn't stupid. She certainly wouldn't fail to guard against Raven—just as Liu Bai had said, everyone was playing with their cards face-up.
So no matter how she looked at it, Raven had to grit her teeth and continue playing the childish game called "sibling roleplay" with Liu Bai.
"Also, don't keep going to the merchant guild lately. The Sky Dome Zone probably won't be peaceful for quite some time."
There was more or less some helplessness in Raven's tone.
"Who knows what the merchant guild is thinking? This time, they're actually preparing to enter the game. If Anti-Entropy shows up too, then the Sky Dome Zone will have quite a show on its hands. The worst part is, if things get too big here, Anti-Entropy really will send people. All right, that's enough. I'm going to work."
Something related to Kiana... Thinking it over, the only thing connected to Kiana was probably the Second Herrscher inside her body, right?
It couldn't possibly be something like Kiana's perverted escapades, could it?
Still, Kiana currently showed no signs of having transformed.
Oh, right. There was also the possibility that it was him, an outsider from beyond this world.
"Oh, right. One last thing."
Raven had just been about to stand when she sat back down and looked at Liu Bai with great seriousness.
"If the Highlord sends you a message, then no matter what, no matter what, no matter what, do not read it and ignore it!"
Chapter 25: Liu Bai's Alchemy Workshop
I'm not an idiot. Why would I go out of my way to provoke Mobius...
Liu Bai complained inwardly, but still nodded obediently.
After all, Raven had brought him clothes and breakfast. There was no need to argue with her.
Only after seeing Raven off with a smile did Liu Bai finally let out a sigh of relief.
He really should be grateful that Raven kept public and private matters separate.
"Boss Liu, today's objective is..."
After a simple breakfast, Guinaifen wiped her mouth and looked at Liu Bai.
"'Spend our days leisurely at home.' For now, that's the plan for today."
There were still six months before the Stellaron Crisis. For those six months, he would focus on strengthening himself.
As for the plots involving the various factions, he would have to adapt according to the situation... Preserving their current fighting strength was also extremely important.
"If nothing unexpected happens, today I'm planning to..."
"Stop, stop! Whenever someone says, 'If nothing unexpected happens,' something unexpected is definitely about to happen! Especially when you, Boss Liu, have the constitution of a trouble magnet!"
"Hey, Little Gui, that's slan—"
Before Liu Bai could finish the word "slander," his wristband rang with a crisp ding.
"See?" Guinaifen wore an expression that said, I knew it.
"See my ass. This is Gray Serpent sending more detailed household registration information so we can finalize our identities."
Seeing Gray Serpent's message, Liu Bai breathed a sigh of relief. He first replied with a thank-you, then accepted the files.
"Mm... A war orphan adopted by Raven, and his childhood sweetheart? So my household registration is just being placed under Raven's name?"
"Even so, you were dragged into trouble long ago. 'When you're in the world, you can't help yourself' is exactly this sort of situation... As expected, Miss Firefly still needs to live inside the World in a Bottle." Guinaifen had always possessed excellent crisis awareness and clearly understood the key issues at hand.
Yet it was precisely because of this that Guinaifen admired Liu Bai so much.
Although he had fallen into a situation beyond his control, in just two days he had already vaguely gained a foothold.
If her own brothers and sisters could have met Boss Liu back then... Forget it. The Xianzhou had not treated them badly. There was no need to think about it.
"I'll renovate the World in a Bottle. Firefly may have to put up with some inconvenience for a while. Little Gui, move next door."
Firefly, who had been unable to get a word in, silently nodded.
Firefly's biggest problem was that she still lacked a legal identity. If she were discovered, she would definitely be treated as an illegal resident.
Moreover, Firefly had Entropy Loss Syndrome, which made her subtly different from Liu Bai and Guinaifen.
Liu Bai didn't want to gamble on whether Mobius would notice something wrong.
After breakfast, Liu Bai immediately began taking action.
Liu Bai didn't intend to keep a single bit of the remaining money. After returning to the Serenitea Pot, he immediately began upgrading the little grass hut. With the Serenitea Pot's convenience, after Liu Bai made the purchase, a three-story Chinese-style pavilion courtyard replaced it.
"...So what exactly is this place?" Firefly stared at the pavilion courtyard that had replaced the little grass hut, unable to hide the shock on her face.
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