The Plan Is Approved-Begin the Scorched-Earth Campaign! / I'm Gonna Slurp, Slurp, Slurp!!!

"What about me?"

"Oh, Lin Shuang is naturally one of the best too. You saved the day today—there'll definitely be a generous reward someday!"

Having finally cast off the burden in her heart, Qingque had regained her usual liveliness. Her whole person seemed to brighten up at once.

That night.

Lin Shuang returned to her residence alone, sprawled lazily across the sofa, and pulled out her phone.

After the three of them had gone their separate ways earlier, Lin Shuang had stayed at the Starskiff Haven for a while longer, watching the starships rise and fall. She even considered whether she should buy one to have some fun with.

After enjoying the breeze for a while, she received a prompt from her "good eldest son," the friend who cosplayed Silver Wolf.

Apparently, a game was running an event and needed two people. He wanted to recommend it to her.

He told her to log in quickly.

With nothing else to do, Lin Shuang hurried home, opened the game on her phone, and logged in.

The moment she entered—

A string of impatient messages came through:

[Great God Silver Wolf of the Gaming Realm: Get online! Finish the tutorial and come straight to the church!]

[Great God Silver Wolf of the Gaming Realm: "Game coordinates"]

[Four-Core Greatsword: What's the rush? What rewards are there?]

[Great God Silver Wolf of the Gaming Realm: Limited outfits and items. They can only be claimed by two people together. Stop talking and hurry!]

[Four-Core Greatsword: Okay, okay, okay. As your only gaming friend and part-time good father, it's practically my duty!]

After saying that, Lin Shuang slyly closed the chat and temporarily turned off new-message notifications. Chuckling to herself, she entered the game and began the beginner tutorial.

Meanwhile.

Seeing Lin Shuang's message, Silver Wolf instantly saw red!

"Fine, fine, you just can't let this go, can you?! Acheron isn't with you now. Tonight is your death day!!!"

"Sweetie, did Lin Shuang make you angry again?"

Kafka, who was sitting nearby and sipping some wine, smiled as she watched Silver Wolf get so furious that she practically wanted to rush over and solo-kill Lin Shuang.

Though Silver Wolf kept cursing up a storm.

There was no doubt that she had been having much more fun gaming lately.

The game itself went rather harmoniously. The other side apparently had no intention of firing back—or perhaps they were holding something in.

In any case, until Lin Shuang claimed the rewards and logged off, nothing entertaining happened.

Just as she was about to rest, Acheron suddenly replied to her messages.

[Acheron: How was it? The scenery on my side is pretty nice too. You should like it.]

[Acheron: [Image][Image][Image]]

As though she had taken them specifically for Lin Shuang, Acheron stood atop a towering mountain peak and looked down upon the land below.

The purple wasteland was utterly barren, and the thin atmosphere made the sky shimmer with ever-changing colors.

At the end of the horizon, a colossal monster—or perhaps an enormous plant—reverently churned the drifting clouds.

The photos Acheron sent were indeed beautiful, but the wreckage in the background and the distant giant made the place seem anything but safe.

Although Lin Shuang knew Acheron was incredibly strong, seeing it still made her instinctively worry about her.

[Lin Shuang: It really is beautiful, but what's that in the background? Something artificial, or a monster?]

[Acheron: I don't know. It's quite aggressive, and it has some intelligence. Its strength is average, though. After I killed a batch of them, they stopped coming close. Maybe my scent got on them.]

[Lin Shuang: You weren't hurt, were you? Shouldn't you leave earlier? It'd be troublesome if some unknown giant attacked while you were resting.]

Elsewhere—

On some unknown planet.

Acheron looked at the words Lin Shuang had sent, and the corner of her lips lifted slightly.

With her head lowered and one hand resting on her blade, she earnestly replied to Lin Shuang:

[Acheron: I know. This planet is rather boring, and it isn't on any Trailblazing route. I'll leave after I finish taking photos for you.]

And if Lin Shuang had been there, following Acheron's gaze.

She would have discovered that what Acheron stood upon was no mountain peak at all.

It was clearly a monster identical to the one at the end of the horizon!

Only, this monster bore an enormous sword wound that ran from bottom to top, nearly splitting it in two. It had died in a single strike.

Massive quantities of blood had spread beneath its feet, forming rivers and lakes.

And if one looked behind Acheron.

One would see the nearly endless corpses of monsters lying silently on the ground, waiting to decompose and return to the planet.

Yet Acheron herself remained as immaculate as ever.

There was even still the scent of the ointment and essential oils Lin Shuang had mixed on her clothes.

Acheron did not enjoy excessive slaughter.

So after the battle ended, she instinctively opened her phone and tried to contact Lin Shuang.

Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps fate.

Lin Shuang saw Acheron's message immediately and chose to respond right away.

Lin Shuang told Acheron about what had happened that day: how she had met the diviners of the Divination Department, as well as Grand Tutor Fu Xuan.

She also told her about the delicious food she had eaten, thinking that someday, when Acheron returned to the Xianzhou, she could be Acheron's guide and take her everywhere to eat, drink, and have fun.

They were all ordinary little matters.

Yet as Acheron read them, the unrest within her and the discomfort brought by wielding the power of Nihility ebbed away like a receding tide.

Emotions she had lost long ago gradually filled her chest once more.

[Acheron: I've heard that Penacony is a world of beautiful dreams. By the time we meet again, although there won't be time to visit the Xianzhou, we'll certainly be able to try the delicacies you mentioned there.]

[Lin Shuang: You're already thinking about Penacony? I heard it's really expensive to go there. Without an invitation, it costs a lot of money.]

[Acheron: It's fine. I'm here.]

When Lin Shuang saw that, her heart skipped a beat.

Thinking of the Duke who had died with his eyes still open, Lin Shuang could not help wondering whether Acheron intended to randomly snatch another invitation.

Randomly selecting a lucky person to deliver a package to?

What a hellish joke.

[Lin Shuang: Have you saved up a lot of money? But there's no rush. I checked, and the next Charmony Festival is still a long way off. Maybe I'll get an invitation, or earn the money myself. I can't trouble you with everything.]

[Acheron: All right.]

Acheron had always respected Lin Shuang's wishes.

Of course, that did not stop her from making preparations on both fronts.

Besides, Acheron was also curious about how Lin Shuang planned to obtain an invitation or earn enough Credits.

She chatted with Acheron for more than one system hour.

Only after Acheron said she was preparing to depart did Lin Shuang reluctantly put down her phone.

After putting away her phone.

Lin Shuang washed up briefly and was just about to go to sleep when—

Suddenly—

Boom—!

The front door of the house suddenly exploded out of thin air.

Excessive flames and smoke poured in through the doorway, nearly leaving Lin Shuang dumbfounded.

Then, a tall and imposing silver-white robot stepped into the room amid roaring flames.

"Agreement approved. Initiating scorched-earth operations!"

"Holy shit, Sam!"

Accompanied by Lin Shuang's cry.

Boom—

Like a flaming meteor, Sam charged straight at Lin Shuang, intending to drown her in fire.

But Lin Shuang reacted with astonishing speed. She flipped over, braced one hand against the sofa, and easily avoided the frontal assault.

As for the scattered flames, they posed little threat to Lin Shuang, whose own body was likewise wrapped in fire.

Then, at that very moment, a purple blade flashed past—

Clang—

Lin Shuang drew her greatsword and raised it behind her, blocking the slender blade.

Those hollow purple eyes gazed at Lin Shuang from close range, filled with amusement.

"The prey has fallen into the trap~"

Clang—

Blade and sword passed each other. Flames burst from Lin Shuang's body as she forcefully dodged away from Kafka.

When the flames dispersed, a silver-white skintight battle suit had appeared over Lin Shuang's body.

"Where did these Stellaron Hunters come from?"

Lin Shuang was utterly bewildered. Why had the Stellaron Hunters come to her at this time? Were they really not afraid Jing Yuan would summon the Divine Foresight and give the two of them a slash?

Yet Sam and Kafka clearly gave Lin Shuang no time to think. They charged directly at her from two directions.

Forcing Lin Shuang to keep fighting them without any chance to focus on anything else.

But as the battle continued, Lin Shuang gradually sensed that something was wrong.

It was understandable that Sam's flames had little effect on her. After all, she played with fire herself. Unless it was some freakish Core Flame, it should not be able to burn her to death directly.

But not being able to burn her to death did not mean the flames could not even burn a sofa, right?

Sam's flames covered the entire living room. The fire was leaping high over the sofa, yet after burning for so long, the sofa remained exactly the same, without even the slightest sign of scorching.

An illusion?

No, Sparkle should not be on the Xianzhou right now. She should be heading toward Penacony too.

And if Sparkle had really dragged her into an illusion, she would not have made it so weak that even a sofa could not burn.

Then, from another angle, aside from Sparkle's illusions, the only one capable of doing something like this—and freely using the appearances of Stellaron Hunters—could only be Silver Wolf.

More importantly, Lin Shuang had usually watched her words and actions. The only person she had trash-talked online and might have offended was Silver Wolf.

"Silver Wolf, is this your doing?! You brat, are you seriously holding a grudge?? I only trash-talked you online a few times. Did you have to take it this far?"

After flipping away from another attack by Sam and Kafka, Lin Shuang shouted loudly.

Randomly.