Begging for Mercy is Useless

June 15th, 7:00 AM.

Chen Wen was in his workshop, arranging the solid resin strips he'd taken out the night before on the table and attaching the blueprint for Demon Blade Thousand Blades he'd drawn.

He secured the solid resin strips with a vise, then took out a wire saw and began cutting along the lines on the blueprint.

Although it was called Demon Blade Thousand Blades, Chen Wen's blueprint actually only depicted two to three hundred fragments—

If he were to draw a thousand fragments, setting aside the workload, the fragments would be too small and likely warp during cutting with the wire saw. There was also the risk of losing them after they fell.

Halfway through cutting, Chen Wen checked the time. It was almost 8:00 AM, and he figured Si Jiao Ji and the others would be arriving soon.

But judging by the sounds outside, he wasn't sure if Jiang Qiuyi had woken up yet.

He didn't know what had gotten into Jiang Qiuyi last night; she'd gotten clingy and insisted on bothering him for a long time.

They'd messed around until past 1:00 AM before Jiang Qiuyi finally got sleepy and dozed off on him.

So after her 6:00 AM morning run, Jiang Qiuyi had immediately crawled back into bed to catch more sleep. She was probably still sleeping like a little pig right now.

Chen Wen stopped what he was doing, took off his gloves and mask, and left the workshop, heading to the bedroom.

As expected, Jiang Qiuyi was under the covers, only her smooth forehead and jet-black hair visible. She was likely fast asleep.

Chen Wen knocked on the bedroom door, making a thump-thump-thump sound.

"It's almost eight, time to get up. Don't you need to do your makeup?"

"Mmm..." Jiang Qiuyi rolled over in bed and wrapped herself tighter in the blanket. "Five more minutes."

Chen Wen was silent for five seconds, then knocked again. "Five minutes are up."

"You're lying..." Jiang Qiuyi's muffled voice came from under the covers.

"Time passes quickly when you're asleep, I'm not lying to you."

"Hmph..." Jiang Qiuyi grunted and reached a hand out from under the blanket, patting the surface of the bed. "Come here."

Chen Wen walked over and sat down, then had his waist immediately hugged by Jiang Qiuyi.

Wriggling like a maggot, Jiang Qiuyi squirmed over to Chen Wen, pressing her whole body against him. "What time is it?"

"Eight o'clock."

"The exact time, no lying."

Chen Wen glanced at the clock on the wall. "Seven fifty-eight."

"There are still two minutes left..." Jiang Qiuyi sleepily poked her head out from under the covers. "You lied and said it was eight, but it's two minutes off. One minute for one kiss~"

"..."

Chen Wen lowered his head, then raised it again a few seconds later.

"Alright, time to get up."

Jiang Qiuyi didn't get up. She fumbled for her phone, unlocked it, and tossed it to Chen Wen before tucking her head back under the covers to sleep.

"I woke up earlier. Si Jiao Ji said Dao Ye couldn't be reached and might be late. They'll contact us by phone when they know more."

Chen Wen looked down. Jiang Qiuyi's phone screen showed the chat page for the "Clothes-Swapping Squad."

Si Jiao Ji: Dao Ye's phone is off, no idea what's going on. Chi Hun De Tu Zi: He said he was staying up late to edit videos yesterday, probably overslept. Si Jiao Ji: We'll go to Dao Ye's place first to look for him. If we don't have enough time in the morning, Zhi Zhi Miao will be scheduled for the afternoon. Zhi Zhi Miao rou: OK, I'm free all day today. Mo Mo Momo: Dao Ye seemed to be up past 3 AM yesterday, his stream was still on. Pu Jie Ri Ji: Then I'll go get my nails done first, hehe. Qiuqiu yiyi: I'm going back to sleep. Call me when you get here. Si Jiao Ji: OK.

"..." Chen Wen finished reading the chat log, his eye twitching. "Then why did you ask me to kiss you."

"That's to punish you for lying to me. It has nothing to do with whether you get up or not." Jiang Qiuyi giggled from under the blanket, then pushed Chen Wen. "Don't bother me for now, I want to sleep a bit longer~"

Chen Wen put her phone away and walked to the window, drawing the curtains. "Take your head out from under there, it's not good to sleep like that."

"Mm."

He left the bedroom and returned to the workshop, continuing to make Demon Blade Thousand Blades.

Because each fragment was very small, Chen Wen had to slow down his cutting speed to achieve maximum precision.

With final exams approaching, he still had to study, complete some coursework, and coordinate with classmates he barely knew for group projects.

Courses with roommates were fine, but for some general electives where he didn't know anyone, he had to team up with strangers.

Given Chen Wen's personality... emmm...

In any case, Chen Wen wanted to cherish precious, uninterrupted time like the weekend.

He aimed to get the troublesome tasks done over the weekend so he could focus his energy on studying during the weekdays, avoiding problems on both fronts.

By the time he was almost done with the cutting, he checked the time and found it was past nine.

But Si Jiao Ji and the others still hadn't arrived?

Chen Wen shook his slightly sore arm, intending to rest for a bit, when he heard noises in the hallway outside. Then, the door to the workshop opened.

Jiang Qiuyi poked her small head in, "Si Jiao Ji and them are on their way. I'm going to the next room to change first."

"When the three of them get here, you come over too, meet them, and just make friends.

"Exchange WeChat or something later, and maybe we'll have a chance to collaborate in the future."

"Okay," Chen Wen nodded in response. "You go get ready."

He knew what Jiang Qiuyi was thinking.

Although his videos were quite popular now, if the quality of his future videos declined, he'd only be an up with a few hundred thousand followers in the crafting community.

Even if he could guarantee every future video would be a hit, his growth might be limited by the single theme of his content, preventing him from breaking through the ceiling of his category.

Chen Wen was quite confident in himself and didn't really care about the number of followers he had.

However, Jiang Qiuyi had clearly incorporated the profession of an up into her future plans, so naturally, she hoped Chen Wen would improve alongside her.

At this point, if he could collaborate with famous ups from other categories and film some joint videos, he might be able to reach audiences in other categories.

This was also an effective way to gain followers quickly.

Chen Wen shook his head and continued with his work.

This method was legitimate, and Chen Wen didn't object to it, he just found meeting new people a bit troublesome.

But since they were coming anyway, it was only right to meet them.

More than half an hour passed, and it was almost ten o'clock.

Jiang Qiuyi finished changing and walked in with a pale white face, wearing sunglasses. Her plump tail dragged on the floor behind her.

She swaggered up to Chen Wen and suddenly burst into laughter, then said in a lowered voice, "Begging for mercy is useless."

Chen Wen: "?"

"Your bravery and skill in battle are still commendable," Jiang Qiuyi's lips curled up as she looked at Chen Wen with a chuunibyo-like expression.

"...What are you talking about?" Chen Wen's eye twitched.

"But after all, you're just a Saiyan," Jiang Qiuyi clenched her fist and said fiercely, "This time, I will definitely kill you! I'll crush you into powder!"

"..." Chen Wen turned his body away and continued fiddling with the fragments of the Demon Blade Thousand Blades he had just cut.

[Pu Jie Ri Ji]: Yesterday's recommendation votes were over 1600... You guys are really hiding your strength... Currently owe one chapter for the chapters that have been put on the shelves~