Vill-V, You're Finished!

When Li Ming carried Cosmo and Griseo back into the house, the fragrant steamed buns had just come out of the steamer.

After the three eagerly finished breakfast, just as Li Ming was about to bring some food to Hua, Cosmo and Griseo put the Alolan Stoutland buns they had made into the Klein Smart Steamer.

At first, Li Ming did not pay much attention. Alolan Stoutland buns were still buns, after all. No one had said they could not be steamed in a steamer, so he went to help Chrono prepare the cake layers they had made yesterday.

If nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected was bound to happen.

While Griseo and Cosmo eagerly watched the steamer, waiting for the Alolan Stoutland buns to burst out of it, Li Ming noticed something was wrong. His heart skipped a beat as the steamer suddenly began to hum like a ticking time bomb.

Although the Klein Intelligent Furniture was trying its best to hold itself together, a muffled bang sounded from inside it, and the lid with the display screen—the part that looked like a head—was blasted off by steam.

It was over. Its skull had been blown off.

Li Ming hurriedly made a tactical retreat with Cosmo and Griseo.

As he ran, he shouted, "Chrono, Hua, come help! The steamer's about to explode!"

Chrono looked over at the sound. Li Ming and the two little ones brushed past him, and before he could react, the steamer exploded with a boom.

Li Ming and the two children were all blasted away. Fortunately, they landed on the sofa. Chrono turned around and looked at someone who had run off without taking him along, yet had still shouted for him to come see.

Although Chrono's face had been blasted black, with two charred Alolan Stoutland buns stuck over his eyes, Li Ming could still feel Chrono's ill-intentioned gaze.

"Heh heh heh... Hahahahaha!"

Chrono suddenly burst into wild laughter. A clown would have rejoiced at the sight, a bat would have cried, and even the Four Great Uchiha Laughers would have had to call him senior.

"Brother Li Ming, Brother Chrono is angry."

No need to tell me. I can see that.

"Brother Li Ming, Chrono is all yours. Griseo, let's hurry and check on our Alolan Stoutland buns."

Heh. The moment something goes wrong, you call me brother? Cosmo, you're dead!

But neither of them got away. The enraged Chrono directly unleashed area-of-effect damage.

So when Hua entered after filling in the pit, she saw complete chaos. The kitchen was pitch-black, Chrono was chasing Cosmo and Li Ming while breathing fire, and Griseo was riding on Cosmo's back, shouting, "Roar, Cosmo!"

The house was a complete mess. Misshapen Alolan Stoutland buns were scattered everywhere, and a huge hole had even been punched through the window.

In the end, Hua had to step in and plant two pagodas on Cosmo and Li Ming's heads. Otherwise, the two definitely would not have behaved.

"We were wrong!" Li Ming and Cosmo obediently admitted their mistakes, though they looked rather ridiculous with pagodas on their heads.

Hua reined in some of her anger. "It's good that you know you were wrong. I just finished filling the huge pit in the backyard, and now you two have caused another mess?"

Seeing how pitiful the two looked, Hua could not bring herself to hit them again.

"Let's let it go this time. We should clean up the house first, or we won't have much time left to prepare for the party."

"Yes, Commander Hua."

The two carried the remains of the Klein Intelligent Furniture steamer to the middle of the dirt pile in the backyard. The other intelligent robots happened to surround it, making the scene feel even more bizarre.

Seeing that they had settled down, Hua said nothing more and took Li Ming and Cosmo to the basement storage room to find materials for repairing the window.

Griseo and Chrono were responsible for repainting the walls. It took them half an hour to finish. Hua wiped the sweat from her forehead, wondering why the same hour felt far more exhausting than filling in the pit.

Maybe it was because she was mentally exhausted.

After taking some time to recover, the group resumed their grand party preparations. With two conspicuous troublemakers absent, everything went smoothly and progressed rapidly.

"There's no steamer left? We can only see whether the old-fashioned steamer in the basement still works. Who's going?"

"I'll go!" ("Then it has to be me!")

The two spoke in unison, then froze and looked at each other. Neither had expected the other to have the same idea.

Hua rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. This headache was even worse than when she had undergone an artificial Honkai eruption.

In the end, Chrono went to get the steamer because neither Li Ming nor Cosmo knew where it was.

The five spent nearly the entire afternoon preparing everything. However, after learning from their previous mistake, the Alolan Stoutland buns and Magical Girl Sweetheart Pie never got the chance to come out of the oven.

Forget coming out of the oven—they did not even get to be seen. Hua and Chrono joined forces to deal with them, leaving not even ashes behind.

After decorating Golden Courtyard from top to bottom, everyone collapsed onto the sofa, too tired to move.

By then, people began returning one after another. Su was the first. He had rarely gotten time off and had come back to attend the party. Squinting, Su saw everyone's careful preparations and smiled warmly. "Thanks for the effort, everyone."

But no one had the strength to respond to him. He did not mind and began chatting with Mobius, who had arrived behind him.

When Li Ming and Cosmo saw Mobius, they exchanged a glance and immediately understood each other's intentions. In an instant, they reached an agreement.

"Mobius, we found a huge surprise in the backyard!"

"We're sure you'll love it."

"Go take a look quickly. If you're late, you won't get another chance."

The two worked together to lead Mobius to the backyard. They no longer even felt the soreness in their bodies. Su followed curiously and saw a grave in the backyard—no, a dirt pile.

Looking at the dirt pile, the Klein Intelligent Furniture surrounding it as though carrying a coffin, and the steamer lying atop the pile, Mobius's normally indifferent face froze. Her slender pale hand suddenly clenched her sleeve, and her expression darkened.

Su came over for a look. His expression froze, and his eyes narrowed. What was with this arrangement that was brimming with such a bizarre ritualistic atmosphere? Why did it look so much like a burial?

After observing the surroundings, Su understood the rough situation. A faint smile appeared on his lips. So that was it. When he turned back, he saw Li Ming and Cosmo exchange a glance and secretly high-five.

The two seemed to sense Su's gaze. After stealing a look at him, they began whistling in unison and pretended nothing had happened as they slowly shuffled back toward the house.

"Who did this?!"

An icy pressure instantly enveloped the backyard. The two turned and ran, while Su somehow vanished without a trace, leaving Mobius standing there alone with a faint black shadow rising behind her.

By then, most of Golden Courtyard had arrived. Even Kevin and Mei, who often worked overtime, had arrived on time. Well, together with Mei.

Li Ming greeted Mei. This was his first time seeing her in the Elysian Realm, but he was no longer surprised. After all, he had seen even more unexpected things. Still, he remembered that Yae and Mei had the same character model, which meant Yae was future-wife material!

When Aponia arrived at Golden Courtyard with a group of children from the orphanage, Li Ming saw a white-haired twelve-year-old boy run over the instant he saw Kevin, hug Kevin's leg, and shout, "Dad!"

Just as I thought. Li Ming folded his arms, the corner of his mouth twitching. His Elysian Realm really was abnormal. When Kevin carried Adam over to meet Mei, Adam was about to call her Mom when Mei pinched his cheek. "Don't call me Mom. Call me Big Sister!"

Mei pinched Adam's face. Clearly, the child's smooth little cheeks were irresistibly cute and made people want to play with them. "No~ Mom and~ Mom Aponia~ are the same age, so I can't~ call you Big Sister!"

Adam had clearly inherited Kevin's personality perfectly. That only made Mei want to tease him more, and she did not let go until she had pinched his cheeks for quite a while.

"Oh my, isn't that Ming? Long time no see!" A cute girl with long, slightly curly pink hair suddenly appeared before Li Ming. Her maid outfit accentuated her graceful figure, while her pointed ears and large pink eyes made her look utterly adorable.

Answer me, Elysia! Those words suddenly flashed through Li Ming's mind and nearly slipped out. But just as the word answer reached his lips, he stopped himself and merely smiled. "Elysia, long time no see."

Hearing Li Ming's reply, Elysia smiled softly. As she passed him, a fragrant breeze drifted by. "I heard you, Ming, so I answered you!"

Li Ming suddenly froze. Seeing the girl's long ponytail tied behind her back, he felt as if tears were welling in his eyes. He wiped his cheek. "Tears... what is this?"

"Oh? Is this Adam? You've gotten so big?" Elysia reached out and pinched Adam's cheek. Adam looked helpless with his cheek being pinched, as though he were suffering pains no child his age should have to bear.

Still, he politely replied, though his words were somewhat muffled, "Elysia... little sister."

Hm? Mei's brows rose. She had only just let Adam go, but now she puffed up her cheeks and grabbed his face again. "Why do you call Elysia little sister? Shouldn't you call her Auntie?"

"Little Sister Elysia told me to. All the younger brothers and sisters call her that."

"Then why won't you listen when I tell you to call me Big Sister?" Mei had no way to deal with her own son. After pinching him once more, she stopped bothering him.

"Then go play somewhere with Little Sister Elysia!" She pulled Adam out of Kevin's arms, handed him to Elysia, then dragged Kevin aside to chat.

"Oh? Mei, you just wanted to talk to Kevin alone, didn't you?" Elysia saw through everything. Taking Adam's hand, she led him away. "Come on, little Adam!"

"Hello, everyone! The greatest magician, Vill-V, has made her dazzling entrance!"

"Big Sister Vill-V, wait for me! This is way too over-the-top!"

A boom rang out, and streamers rained down from above amid a burst of dazzling lights. A tall figure in a brown tailcoat descended from the air, a gear-shaped hairclip in her brown hair. "This is the greatest magician Vill-V's latest invention—the Party Atmosphere Light!"

"Big Sister Vill-V, wait for me! This thing is too heavy!"

A cat-eared girl in cool, revealing clothes appeared at the door carrying a machine as tall as a person. The machine looked even taller than the girl herself. This girl was Pardo.

"Big Sister Vill-V, come help me! Hey, hey, hey, it's going to fall!" Pardo finally carried the machine inside and had just set it down when it began tipping over. She tried to support it, but could not hold it up at all.

Li Ming reached out and helped steady the machine. After the two worked together to place it in the corner, Pardo finally sighed in relief. "Good thing Brother Li Ming was here, or we would've been in trouble."

"It's fine. No big deal." Li Ming rubbed his chin and studied it for a while. Something about the machine looked strangely familiar. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but it looked very much like the rows lying in the backyard.

"Brother Li Ming!" Rin ran over and suddenly hugged Li Ming's arm. Sakura wore a short jacket and shorts that revealed her long legs. Her neck beneath her headphones was pale and smooth, and her pink hair was adorned with a fox-ear headband.

Rin, meanwhile, had light orange short hair. Her short T-shirt and skirt made her look youthful and lively.

"Eden said she's still on the train and will be late, so she told us to start first. Oh? It's Eden's call! Everyone, come quickly! It's Eden calling!"

Elysia held Adam and had him show everyone the phone. Eden, dressed in magnificent formal attire, appeared on the screen. Behind her was a train car, with the night sky visible through the window.

Her wine-red hair rested over her shoulders. "Good evening, everyone. We suddenly ran into a thunderstorm, so the train may be delayed. Don't wait for me—you can start eating first!"

The screen went black after she finished speaking. She had clearly hung up. Li Ming felt that this scene was strangely familiar.

Vill-V had already activated the Party Atmosphere Light she had made. The room was filled with light pollution, and even Mobius in the backyard was nearly blinded by it.

After slightly restraining her resentment, Mobius walked into the house and saw an incredibly familiar Party Atmosphere Light singing, dancing, rapping, and playing basketball in the room, glittering brightly.

Everyone in the house had tacitly put on sunglasses, including the children.

Yet no matter how intense the light was, it could not illuminate the darkness shrouding Mobius. "Vill-V!"

The brightest star in the room, Vill-V, looked completely confused. "Aha, someone called me?"

Then she noticed everyone had moved far away. In the center stood a green-haired woman in a lab coat, shrouded in black mist. Mobius's eyes gleamed fiercely.

The moment Vill-V saw Mobius, her expression stiffened. "Oh? Mobius, wait, I can explain. Wait, don't..."

"Vill-V, you're finished!"