Chapter 2593 / Chapter 2594 ...

"Since you want to take revenge on Chen Li, then why..." Jingliu frowned, as if he had thought of something.

[Hey, don't misunderstand. I just want to make Chen Li suffer a little, and then give him a little treat. I don't want to take revenge on Chen Li.] The Pixie's tone suddenly became serious.

[I'm worried about Chen Li, he's exhausted. He has things to do tomorrow. But if only one person comes, finishing before sunrise will be just right so it won't affect his condition tomorrow. If more people come, the battle won't end until sunset, let alone sunrise. So you have to freeze the door shut. This is for Chen Li's own good.]

"..." Faced with the Pixie's words, Jingliu remained silent for a moment.

Although that's what they said, it still sounded rather eerie coming from Chen Li's soul weapon.

After saying that, the Pixie ignored Jingliu's reaction and flew directly towards the front of the corridor. After opening the door of this carriage, the Miraculous Forging Guide disappeared from the spot.

It wasn't that the Pixie didn't want to teleport directly at first, but rather that teleportation was prohibited in the entire carriage where Chen Li was located.

Furthermore, this carriage was located at the very end, and the door was equipped with a soul recognition device... These were clearly protective measures Chen Li had taken to prevent any sneak attacks.

Unfortunately, there was a traitor within the family.

Seeing that the Pixie had really left, Jingliu no longer hesitated and continued walking towards Chen Li's room.

As I approached the door, it sensed the temporary permission granted by the Pixie and slid open automatically to both sides.

Jingliu paused at the door, bent down to take off her slippers, neatly placed them together at the door, and then stepped barefoot into the carriage where Chen Li was.

The floor of the newly built carriage felt cool and smooth to the touch, and the icy temperature spread up from the soles of the feet, but it did not make Jingliu hesitate in the slightest.

For Jingliu, who spends his life surrounded by ice, this temperature actually brings a sense of familiarity that feels just right.

Jingliu's footsteps were very light, and each step made no sound.

At this moment, Chen Li's room was pitch black, with only the embers of the Artifact Forging Furnace emitting a very faint blue light, outlining the general shape of the room. Chen Li was already lying on the huge double bed.

"Hmm? You're back so soon?" Hearing the door open, Chen Li stretched, his voice tinged with sleepiness.

"Hmm," Jingliu responded softly.

At the same time, Jingliu leaned against the closed door, and with a light tap of his fingertip, countless icicles spread silently, from the door crack to the door frame, from the hinges to the lock cylinder, sealing the entire door tightly in just a few breaths.

The ice layer was thick and dense, and it shimmered with a cold, bluish light when viewed from the inside.

With Jingliu's strength, this ice wall is enough to withstand most people's attempts to break through.

Of course, if Chen Li himself wanted to break down the door, that would be a different story.

However, Jingliu bets Chen Li won't.

"Hmm, it's good that you're back... Wait, something's not right!" Chen Li suddenly sat up in bed.

The sound is wrong.

The Pixie's voice would appear directly in Chen Li's mind, but the "hmm" just now was a human voice, a woman's voice, and it was very close.

When Chen Li opened his eyes and looked towards the door, he was stunned for a moment as he saw the figure walking towards him.

"Jingliu? How did you get in?" Seeing Jingliu standing barefoot on the floor, Chen Li's drowsiness vanished in an instant.

Chapter 2593

He clearly set up a soul recognition device and a teleportation restriction, so how did Jingliu bypass it?

Unless... damn it!

"Don't call me by my name. Call me Master." Jingliu's voice was cold and calm, as if he were simply stating a matter-of-fact fact.

"But didn't you tell me to call you by your first name?" Chen Li asked, somewhat confused.

Jingliu did not answer the question, but continued walking towards Chen Li.

Then, the spaghetti strap nightgown she was wearing slipped off Jingliu's shoulders and fell silently to the floor.

"At least for now... call me Master." Jingliu's scarlet eyes shone like two bright lamps in the darkness, staring straight at Chen Li. His voice was cold, yet contained an eerie gentleness.

Although the room was pitch black, neither Chen Li nor Jingliu were affected by the darkness and could clearly see every detail of each other.

At least... Chen Li can see it.

After glancing at it several times unconsciously, Chen Li couldn't help but cover half of his face with his hand.

Despite all my precautions, how could I still have failed to protect myself?

Soul recognition device, prohibition of teleportation, soundproofed private carriages... I took all the protective measures I could.

But what he never expected was that the Pixie would betray him.

As long as you can endure hardship, there will always be endless hardship. As long as you can work, there will always be endless work...

Now, karma has caught up with them.

"Traitor, are you ready?" Jingliu had already walked to Chen Li's bedside, one knee bent and resting on the edge of the bed, his body slowly leaning forward, closing in on Chen Li.

Jingliu's voice was cold and clear, yet it contained a hint of fanaticism and morbidity that frightened Chen Li.

In Jingliu's view, Chen Li used to be so good to her, but he wouldn't let her touch him—wasn't that just pure lust?

The Pixie have already opened the door wide for everyone. The doors are frozen shut, the soundproofing is done, and there are still several hours until sunrise.

Then don't blame your master for being impolite.

"If I say I'm not ready, do you think you can just let me go?" Chen Li looked at Jingliu, who was now sitting on him with his hands on either side of him, looking down at him.

Jingliu's long, silver hair brushed against Chen Li's cheek, making Chen Li feel ticklish.

"Then I'll leave?" Jingliu stared intently into Chen Li's eyes, his voice cold.

"Uh... since we're already here." Chen Li coughed lightly.

Upon hearing Chen Li's words, Jingliu finally showed a rare smile.

It turns out that I wasn't entirely without charm in my disciple's eyes after all.

"Since this rebellious disciple has said he's here, then I, as his master, will not stand on ceremony." Jingliu leaned down, his scarlet eyes meeting Chen Li's gaze in the darkness, their breaths almost touching.

Chen Li opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but the next moment, his voice was blocked by Jingliu's Chen Li fingertips.

"Shh... don't speak. Master has been waiting for a long time." Jingliu said softly, his scarlet eyes swirling with a kind of almost greedy madness that Chen Li had never seen before.

At the same time.

Chapter 2594

In front of the door between the eighth and ninth carriages, where Chen Li was staying, Pearl, standing on a chair, was tiptoeing and carefully fiddling with something above the door.

After a while, Pearl withdrew her hand and nodded in satisfaction.

"Hmm, finally it's all set. Now I should be able to rest easy," Pearl murmured to herself.

Looking up, you can see that the camera Pearl has borrowed from March 7th is fixed above the hatch.

Using this camera to deal with Chen Li?

Pearl never had that idea from the beginning.

Pearl certainly doesn't consider herself the strongest Intelligent Machines, but she's not that stupid either.

Given the ironclad rule against using Miraculous Item on participants in the Holy Grail War, it's impossible for Pearl to try and get away with using a derivative of this Miracle Card. Besides, Pearl had no interest in the Holy Grail War to begin with.

Win the Holy Grail War, obtain the Holy Grail, and use the Wish Machine to Miraculous Forger to gain the opportunity to choose Miraculous Item?

Hilarious. If I take down the Miraculous Forger, the Miraculous Item will still be mine, right? Why go through all that trouble?

However, Pearl was only interested in Chen Li as a person. This had been the case ever since she first saw Chen Li's techniques for creating worlds.

But just as Pearl had witnessed in the Parlor Car, Xing had said that as long as one could obtain Chen Li's sleeping face photo album, it would be a sure thing in a certain small circle. In other words, there was definitely more than one person with ulterior motives towards Chen Li, and there might even be a group of them.

And it wasn't just the people on the Astral Express. There were also many people in New Penacony who harbored ulterior motives towards Chen Li.

Now that Chen Li is staying on the Astral Express, if others find out about this, many people with ill intentions will try to disturb Chen Li's peaceful sleep.

Pearl knew Chen Li had important things to do tomorrow, so she absolutely wouldn't allow anyone to disturb Chen Li sleep. Nobody!

Therefore, this arrangement is unique.

After securing the camera above the hatch, Pearl made a slight adjustment to the angle, then took out a small terminal from her pocket and shared the camera's view.

After confirming that the camera could capture the entire scene of the eighth carriage without any blind spots, Pearl put away the terminal with satisfaction.

It must be said that the camera from March 7th was even more useful than Pearl had expected. Once fixed high up, it covered almost every corner of the eighth carriage. Even the ventilation ducts in the ceiling were within the lens's range.

Pearl then estimated the time, jumped off the chair, opened the hatch, walked into the ninth carriage, and dragged the chair into the carriage.

About two seconds after Pearl entered the ninth carriage, the camera on March 7th, which was placed above the cabin door, suddenly emitted a soft "beep".

Time-lapse mode is now activated.

Time-lapse photography is a special photographic technique that compresses a long shooting process into a short playback time. It usually requires shooting footage from a fixed position for several hours or even days, and finally condensing it into a few minutes or even a few seconds of footage.

On this snapshot camera, time-lapse photography means that the camera will operate continuously for a set time period, maintaining a continuous shooting state.

When Pearl was inspecting the camera, she discovered that...

The camera used for capturing moments on March 7th did indeed have this function. So she set the time-lapse photography duration to four hours, which ended precisely at sunrise.

In other words, for the next four hours, the camera on March 7th will be in continuous shooting mode. And according to the mechanism of the snapshot camera, anything that enters the camera's field of view will be frozen in place due to the camera's snapshot effect, assuming the pose most suitable for the photographer and unable to move.

This effectively creates an inaccessible zone in the eighth carriage. Anyone who steps inside will be captured by the camera.

However, as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Pearl took out a remote control from her bosom and pressed a button. The door between the seventh and eighth carriages opened, and a small reconnaissance robot started up from behind the door and drove towards the eighth carriage.

But the moment the hatch opened, the small robot that was moving in this direction came to an abrupt halt, frozen in place as if a pause button had been pressed.

Seeing this, Pearl nodded in satisfaction.

The last few carriages were all added by Chen Li, and it was already late at night. There was absolutely no way anyone could have accidentally entered before sunrise.

However, out of caution, Pearl still posted a notice on the door of the seventh carriage, informing that safety devices had been installed in the eighth carriage and that Chen Li's sleep should not be disturbed. Below the notice, in smaller print, she added: Violators will bear the consequences.

And there's no need to worry about anyone damaging the camera.

Firstly, because this camera captures the entire view of the eighth carriage, freezing everything in its frame, including people, objects, and even incoming attacks. Therefore, there's no need to worry about ordinary attacks damaging the camera.

Furthermore, Pearl had placed a note next to the camera that read, "[This camera is the personal property of Miss March 7th. Please do not damage it. Anyone who damages it will bear the consequences.]"

Of course, if someone insists on causing trouble, then there's really nothing Pearl can do. After all, not everyone is familiar with March 7th.

But having some insurance is better than nothing. Do your best and leave the rest to Schicksal. That's all the strategist can do.

Pearl glanced once more at the small robot in the eighth carriage to confirm that it was still frozen in place before folding her hands in front of her abdomen, slowly turning around, and looking at the ninth carriage behind her.

The Astral Express's carriages all feature space compression technology, and these newly built carriages are no exception.

Unlike the other carriages, the ninth carriage has only one room.

"Now that our escape route is cut off, we have no choice but to take a gamble. I just... want to protect my lord for one night. I'll just stand guard at the gate and not go in." Pearl muttered to herself, unsure whether she was trying to convince others or herself.

But nobody would believe that.

A person who spent 5 million Credits to borrow a camera, personally constructed an impenetrable defensive perimeter, and then deliberately trapped himself in the carriage where the target was located, claims he's just there to stand guard?

Even if March 7th comes, I wouldn't believe it, would I?

Moreover, as Pearl said, the road back is now cut off. With nothing to lose, the only option now is to move forward.

After all... just as Pearl had initially envisioned, the camera placed above the hatch could capture the entire scene of the eighth carriage after the angle was adjusted, including the hatch itself below.

Chapter 2595

Since the ninth carriage is the last carriage, if Pearl wants to leave, she can only leave through the eighth carriage, but she needs to take the camera out of the eighth carriage first.

Even if Pearl only sticks a finger out of the hatch before the four-hour time-lapse photography period ends, the camera lens will immediately capture the moment and freeze the moment in place.

So... Pearl cut off her own escape route.

Four hours, from now until sunrise. During these four hours, Pearl and Chen Li will be trapped in this ninth carriage with only one room, unable to go anywhere.

This is a perfect plan.

In the name of protecting their lord, they actually carried out a desperate gamble.

With a do-or-die spirit, Lord Chen Li ultimately became a pearl.

With no way out, Pearl took a deep breath and clenched her fists.

The hatch behind her slowly closed, completely separating Pearl from the eighth carriage.

From this moment on, before sunrise, Pearl could go nowhere.

Of course... Chen Li too.