"A Lonely, Needy Mushroom-Eyed Girl Who Pretends to Be Tough"

"Peluru, are you really not going to play?"

After class, Liu Bai looked at the children playing "Monster Catches Chickens" on the playground and asked Pellervy.

"...I'm curious, what kind of person do you take me for?" Pellervy glanced at the children, then at Liu Bai, her tone somewhat helpless.

Having just received help from Liu Bai, Pellervy's tone was no longer so cold.

"Twisted Shiitake-Eye Girl desperately needs love but pretends to be strong?"

"... Do you really want to die?"

Pellervy's attitude, which had just softened, instantly turned cold again.

Twisted Shiitake-Eye Girl?

"Actually, I feel more likely that I'd have someone tie you up and spank you."

Liu Bai pressed down on Pellervy's shoulders from behind with both hands.

"..."

Although not as strong as himself, his unexpected strength was not small.

I originally thought Liu Bai was the kind of person who couldn't even kill a chicken.

"Father, weren't you supposed to be discussing the armor with Dr. Tesla?"

Pellervy changed the subject.

She... well, it wasn't that she was particularly averse to playing with children, it was just that the feeling of having her thoughts read her mind made her very uncomfortable.

She was always the deep, reserved type; indifference was her best armor.

Now that Liu Bai wants to expose this facade, even though Pellervy shares the same intention as Liu Bai, she will still argue with Liu Bai —a phenomenon commonly known as the rebellious phase.

Of course, Pellervy wouldn't act this way on important matters; it was only in these trivial and private matters that Pellervy would show some rebelliousness.

"Are you really sure it's okay if you don't go see Dr. Tesla or Miss Firefly right now?"

"It's alright, Kafka is still in charge of further negotiations." Bai pushed Pellervy forward from behind.

Kafka didn't stay with him at noon and in the afternoon because she volunteered to have more detailed discussions with Anti-Entropy.

The gist of it is the distribution of profits in the later stages—after all, the cooperation will definitely not be limited to this time, and it will be an important part of the future. However, once the first step is taken, the rest will be easier, especially since Liu Bai has given a condition that none of the Anti-Entropy groups can refuse.

Kafka finally did some of the things a proper secretary should do.

Otherwise, if things continue like this, Liu Bai feels that Kafka's ever-present nature as a secretary might gradually become frivolous.

... However, I sometimes worry about Kafka's negotiation skills.

"How about I be the monster and you be the mother hen?"

"... Can't you listen to human language for even a little bit?"

Pellervy complain, but she didn't actually struggle.

In the end, Liu Bai led him to the group of children.

Because they had given lectures before, the children spread the word and had no resistance to the arrival of the two; on the contrary, they welcomed them.

Liu (Bai Qijiu) goes without saying; his face is universally appealing. As for (Peluvie Bali), although his eyes are somewhat intimidating, his "cold and handsome" aura has garnered him a lot of admiring glances.

—The children playing freely on the playground are mostly ten years old and above.

With things having come to this point, Pellervy could only put on a cold face and act as the "mother hen."

"Speaking of which, does this game allow old hens to beat up monsters?" Pellervy twisted her wrist.

"Don't say such scary things, Peroo!"

Liu Bai, who was covering himself with a white cloth, paused.

"You also lack a sense of humor?" Pellervy asked with a forced smile as she looked at Liu Bai's reaction.

Liu Bai's face twitched. How could someone speak with that expression and then say that others have no sense of humor?

"She really is that Twisted Shiitake-Eye Girl," Bai sighed.

"—!"

Pellervy.

She hated the nickname.

Sure enough, I should give my "father" a good beating.

Liu Bai covered his face with a white cloth. "The monster is coming—!"

In the end, Pellervy didn't actually do anything to Liu Bai.

That Twisted Shiitake-Eye Girl...

After the game, Liu Bai went to attend to important matters, Pellervy continued to look after the children.

"Sister Peilu is amazing! Brother Liu Bai couldn't catch us at all!"

"Brother Liu Bai's portrayal of the monster is really interesting!"

"Sister Peilu is also very cool!"

"Speaking of which, what is the relationship between Sister Peilu and Brother Liu Bai?"

As everyone sat resting in the snow, amidst a chorus of praise, a little child posed a question to Pellervy was somewhat perplexing to her.

Upon hearing this, all the children looked on with curiosity.

"Yes, yes! What's the relationship between Sister Peilu and Brother Liu Bai?"

"This..."

Pellervy glanced at the little girl who had asked the question and the children who had been swayed by it.

The other person was staring at her with adorable, big, bright eyes, eagerly awaiting the answer to her question.

With that silly, adorable look in his eyes... can he really survive in this world?

Despite thinking this way, Pellervy was still seriously considering her answer.

Should we say "father and daughter"?

No, in fact, both she and Liu Bai knew that they were just "fake father and daughter".

She is already eighteen years old, and theoretically, she no longer needs a guardian.

She followed Liu Bai only for a transaction and to repay a debt of gratitude, and calling Liu Bai "father" was merely a continuation of the House of the Hearth's title.

But if we're talking about superiors and subordinates... it doesn't seem like it. Who has subordinates like themselves?

... Are kids these days so good at asking difficult questions?

Pellervy reached out and patted the little girl's head.

"Maybe they're just friends."

"Maybe?" The girl tilted her head, somewhat unable to understand what Pellervy meant.

Why would a "friend" say "maybe"?

In truth, Pellervy couldn't understand what stupid things she had said, but... her actual relationship with Liu Bai was indeed somewhat difficult to describe.

Friend...

Pellervy subconsciously thought of what Liu Bai had said before, "Twisted Shiitake-Eye Girl is starved for love but pretends to be strong."

... Maybe that guy really does see himself as a daughter?

"Twisted Shiitake-Eye Girl"... the more I think about this nickname, the angrier I get.

Even as a nickname, this is just awful!

"... Could it be that Sister Peru and Brother Liu Bai are boyfriend and girlfriend?!" After racking her brains, the girl who had just asked the question suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said something that left Pellervy's mind blank.

"...?"

Hey, are all kids these days so precocious?

This is completely different from their House of the Hearth. At their age... well, let's not talk about it.

"No, not at all." Pellervy naturally denied it outright—she couldn't think of any reason to admit it.

If it were Kafka, that beautiful snake, she might have nodded with a smile, but she simply couldn't bring herself to do that.

"Children should focus on their studies and not think about these trivial things!"

Pellervy face and threatened her in a very serious manner.

"Eh... I-I understand!"

Well... although the children looked frightened, they also had an "I knew it" expression.

"..."

These kids are so hard to deal with these days.

"To study fireflies?"

After listening to Liu Bai's words, Firefly showed a happy expression without much thought.

"No problem, it's beyond repair anyway. If it can help you, Mr. Liu Bai, then take it and use it! It's fine to remove it!"

Just as Kafka had predicted, Firefly decisively severed itself from its armor.

Well, it's not exactly a cut; in Firefly's opinion, her armor was indeed beyond repair.

On the one hand, she did not have detailed technical skills. Cleaning, polishing, and even replacing and maintaining individual parts were all easy for her, but the entire mecha had completely lost power... This was beyond her capabilities, and she... or rather "they" probably did not consider major damage and repair when they were designing it.

Although the Glamoth Iron Cavalry was the elite fighting force of the Glamoth Civilization, and one of the few mortal Antimatter Legion in the entire universe capable of confronting and defeating the Zerg head-on, their terrifying numbers, almost on par with the Swarm, inevitably turned them into "consumables"—consumables without even names, whose tombstones would only read "Glamoth Iron Cavalry" even after their deaths.

It has nothing to do with whether it's low-end or not; it's simply a matter of overcapacity—especially since it involves the fate of this kind of "capacity" overflow in Propagation.

In terms of combat power, if the ability to directly defeat Swarm is considered low-end, then the souls of some civilizations will have sleepless nights.

On the other hand, even if Firefly wanted to make repairs... there were no materials available.

The materials on this planet are still relatively primitive—although considering the length of civilization, this period is already quite remarkable.

However, even a skilled cook cannot cook without rice; if you have no ingredients, you have no ingredients.

Especially since the paths to destiny are cut off here, some high-end materials don't even have "raw materials" available, so what's the point of building anything here?

Previously, he had to sever his identity, so he kept it from Liu Bai. Now that Liu Bai needs it, he can take it if he wants. Being able to help is a way of contributing his remaining energy.

"Shall I take it out now?"

"No, there's no need to rush," Bai interrupted Firefly's enthusiasm.

"It's fine to leave it with you for now. I'm just asking for your opinion. The actual implementation and research will take a while, and I may need your assistance then."

"Oh, that's great! I'm very familiar with the data of the Firefly IV Strategic Assault Armor, I'm sure I can be of help!"

Firefly smiled even more happily.

... To be honest, when will the Gacha Machine be updated with Firefly's exclusive Light Cone?

I'm very curious about what the effect of Firefly's unique weapon is.

"Mr. Liu Bai, if you need any help, please feel free to ask! Even if it means fighting, I can still lend a hand!"

"Hmm... then practice parrying with me?"

Liu Bai's parry skill is already at level nine, and will soon be at level ten.

There aren't many people left in the family who can pose a life-threatening threat to Liu Bai without him actually fighting.

... Well, actually, only the Acheron are left.

Now, when I spar with Acheron, I always have a feeling that I'm going to be beaten to my knees.

"Brother-in-law? Shall we have a duel?"