Nighttime Concert, Yellow Juice Lighting Booth

With a "thump," Vill-V successfully joined the pagoda brigade. Although Mobius was angry, she still held back her strength.

"So, the backyard incident was your doing too?"

Mobius brushed off her hands, her eyes sharp as she asked. Vill-V awkwardly scratched her head, "Uh, this, ha, the backyard stuff was discovered too? I really buried it underground, haha."

"Unfortunately, all your evidence has been dug up and neatly arranged in the backyard!" Mobius glared at Vill-V, saying irritably, "That was quite artistic!"

"Alright, alright, it's rare for everyone to have time to gather today, don't be angry!" At this moment, only Elysia could brave the cold atmosphere and step forward, wrapping her arms around Mobius's waist from behind. "But I gave you that dress, Mobius, why are you still wearing the same one today?"

Elysia subtly winked at Vill-V, who immediately understood and rushed to the backyard to clean up the scene.

When Elysia hugged Mobius's waist, her body stiffened. After hearing Elysia's words, her expression became even more sheepish.

After Vill-V finished cleaning up, the banquet began. Li Ming, Rin, and Cosmo helped Apponia with the children, while Apponia sat with Mobius, Sakura, and Vill-V, drinking.

When Chrono learned that the children wanted to eat barbecue, he didn't rest further. He rolled up his sleeves and got up to start working.

Cosmo and Adam ran around, while Kevin and Su had a rare reunion, chatting on the balcony. Just as Li Ming was about to take a break and reach for a drink from the table, someone swapped it out of his hand, and a glass of orange juice appeared in his hand.

Li Ming blinked in surprise. He turned his head and saw wine-red, curly hair stirring up a fragrant breeze, accompanied by an intoxicating scent. It took Li Ming a while to react, "Ah, E—"

Before he could finish, Li Ming's mouth was covered by a hand. "Shh, don't say it. This is a surprise. Long time no see, Ming!"

The wine glass in her hand clinked against the orange juice in Li Ming's. In the blink of an eye, she vanished. Li Ming stared with dead fish eyes, "She really is..."

However, Li Ming's attention was soon drawn to the conversation between Mei and Elysia on the other side.

"Mei, aren't you planning to move in yet?"

"Hmm, we'll see. Besides, with so many people here, it's not convenient."

"You're moving in together before even getting married..."

Then Mei kept chasing Elysia, and Elysia didn't dodge, just letting Mei hit her. Li Ming felt like he had overheard something explosive and quietly moved away to avoid being silenced.

Suddenly, Pardo appeared. "Brother Li Ming, come here for a sec, lend a hand."

??? (+_+) ?

Li Ming touched his face, confirming Pardo wasn't calling the wrong person. Li Ming was then pulled over by Pardo, only to see Pardo had already gathered Su, Cosmo, and Adam.

"Brother Li Ming, hurry up." Pardo saw Li Ming hesitating. Pardo pulled Li Ming, bringing the four of them together. "Sister Eden said she's prepared a big surprise and needs everyone's help."

"We're ready!" Cosmo and Adam exclaimed.

Su looked calm, but Li Ming was confused. He didn't even know what they were supposed to do. Then they went to the basement and saw Vill-V and Eden seemingly discussing something.

In the center of the basement, a stage was set up, filled with instruments like pianos, guitars, and basses – everything was there.

"You're here?" Eden walked over, looking at them and smiling gently, "Thank you for your hard work."

"It's nothing, we're all happy today." Su appeared calm, his emotions unreadable.

"Sister Eden trusts us, we're so happy!" Cosmo and Adam looked energetic.

Only Li Ming had a vague guess, but uncertainly asked, "So, what exactly are we going to do?"

Vill-V said excitedly, "A concert, of course!"

Then Vill-V assigned everyone their positions: Pianist: Su, Guitarists: Cosmo, Pardo, Bassist: Adam, Drummer: Vill-V, and Lead Singer: Eden.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Li Ming pointed to himself. Vill-V then pointed him to a spot on the highest part of the stage, "Atmosphere and Lighting Technician: Li Ming!"

Looking at the gaudy and strange lighting console, Li Ming felt his embarrassment level explode. Fortunately, the atmosphere and lighting crew were supposed to be backstage and not on stage, so Li Ming felt a little relieved.

Then, when everyone was in position, Li Ming was still getting familiar with the buttons when he heard Vill-V shout, "Is everyone ready? Golden Courtyard Concert, begins now!"

Li Ming was then launched out. A large hole appeared in the ceiling, and his destination was the backyard. As Li Ming took flight, the stage was activated. The stage was built using the broken robots that were originally in the backyard.

Elysia clearly knew about this plan and had gathered everyone in the backyard early. The children were the best atmosphere creators. When the lights turned on, the children's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Then, seeing the people on stage, they became even more excited. Elysia propped her chin and smiled, "Oh my, Eden really knows how to surprise us!"

"I don't believe you didn't know," Mobius said, her face darkening as she saw her Klein Intelligent Furniture was dismantled beyond recognition.

Kevin, Chrono, and Hua watched from the balcony. Sakura, holding the newly awakened Rin, sat in the living room looking out the window. Li Ming frantically focused the lights and turned on the music. Vill-V shouted, "Now, the grand performance begins!"

But Li Ming didn't know what else Vill-V had added to his control console: spray paint accelerators, flash effects, spiral ascensions... A barrage of operations made Li Ming's eyes spin.

His eyes turned into spirals, but Li Ming persisted until the end, though he felt an overwhelming urge to vomit.

After the concert ended, Li Ming quickly slipped away. He couldn't find anyone now, lest he vomit on them if he saw them.

Then, when Vill-V led everyone to celebrate, they couldn't find him.

"Hurl!" Li Ming finished vomiting and slowly sat down against the wall, looking pale. He had just eaten, but now he felt like he was back to square one. Li Ming was extremely depressed.

It wasn't like this when he arrived. How did it turn out like this?

Leaning against the wall, feeling dizzy, Li Ming took the opportunity to enter the system and open his missions. As expected, the request to help the great butler Chrono complete a banquet, which would increase Chrono's favorability by 10 and grant the imprint [Annihilation], was marked as complete.

He clicked to claim the mission reward. He didn't feel Chrono's favorability, but he clearly felt the imprint of [Annihilation].

A warm sensation appeared on his face. Looking in the mirror, an orange-red imprint was on his left cheek. The imprint of [Precept] on his neck was not very obvious, but the imprint of [Annihilation] on his left face was exceptionally noticeable.

This made Li Ming feel very depressed. Fortunately, it wasn't too obvious. Otherwise, Li Ming would have gone to fight Chrono to the death. Why not use the system?

Because if Li Ming were truly about to be killed by Chrono, he could use the system to escape in time.

I checked the Imprint effect: Saber's Edge · Sword Tomb · Sword Scar: The lower the HP, the higher the total damage dealt. Every 100 HP lost increases total damage by 1.0% (cap 180%).

After thinking for a moment, Li Ming felt the effect was acceptable. If he was low on HP, he'd still have a chance to counter-kill, at least he wouldn't be completely defenseless.

"Brother Li Ming, hurry up and come out! Everyone's looking for you!" Rin said softly as she knocked on the door.

Li Ming snapped back to attention. "Okay, I'm coming out right away!"

After rinsing his mouth, Li Ming emerged from the restroom. Sakura and Rin were waiting outside. Rin, being thoughtful, handed him a glass of milk to soothe his upset stomach.

Li Ming took a look and grabbed a few desserts to settle the churning stomach acid.

Seeing that Li Ming was alright, Rin pulled him over to Su. "Brother Su, can you check if there's anything wrong with Brother Li Ming?"

Su calmly examined Li Ming. "You're fine. It's just indigestion from strenuous activity right after eating. But with your current physical condition, Ming, you shouldn't be experiencing this. What did you do?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was just dizzy from Vill-V's light platform?" Li Ming said with a wry smile, still feeling a bit nauseous. He took another sip of water to suppress it.

Upon hearing Li Ming's words, Su's mouth twitched. "You mean that light platform?"

He pointed outside at the UFO-like structure hovering in the sky, its lights dazzling, spiraling upwards, and starting at 80 km/h. "Vill-V couldn't find you earlier, and then those kids wanted to go up and play, so Vill-V modified it and took them all up."

"Who's up there?" Li Ming's hand trembled, his heart filled with dread. This was a scene straight out of a horror movie.

"Besides Sakura, Rin, Chrono, Griseo, Apponia, you, and me, pretty much everyone else is up there."

Immediately, Li Ming looked at the light platform flying in the sky, its lights illuminating a hundred meters around. His heart was filled with guilt. Sure enough, a moment later, unknown liquid began to pour down from the sky. Li Ming, startled, quickly closed the window.

Apponia, as if by premonition, returned inside. Chrono, however, wasn't so lucky in the backyard; he was directly doused.

Chrono touched his hair, fell silent, didn't curse, and just walked inside to take a shower.

Li Ming and the others silently swallowed. They could only hope that those on the platform wouldn't suffer too much.

But the things you least want to happen are often the most likely. Who knew that the light platform could accelerate a second time? Who knows what else Vill-V added to it.

In any case, Li Ming watched as the yellowish liquid, which had initially been appearing sporadically like tides, turned into a veritable ocean. Li Ming felt that today, tomorrow, and the day after were not suitable for going out. Forget about any commissions; Li Ming absolutely would not step out of this house until this "Yellow Juice Courtyard" turned back into the Golden Courtyard.

Even the Old Ancestor couldn't stop me, I'm telling you!