Volume Four: Withering in the Human World - Backlash

"Presidential suite acquired!!!"

"Being happy about this doesn't make you a three-year-old..."

Haoyue pounced onto the soft bed, rolling and rubbing against it, her soft breasts and hips beneath her cheongsam constantly squirming and deforming. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I was speechless. Seriously, you're almost twenty, aren't you? Is it really okay to be acting cute while simultaneously offering me your body?

This girl is my age... When I transmigrated, I was a nineteen-year-old sophomore in college, and I've been in this other world for almost a year now. So, I'm almost twenty, just like Haoyue and Xiao Wu. In the eyes of those ignorant lolicon, we're probably just unattractive old ladies. According to Chinese law, we're almost at the age where we can get married and have children, but on Spirit Star, you can get married at fifteen or sixteen. Does that mean we're considered old maids? Speaking of which, in Blood Fiend's scattered memories, she hadn't had sex until she was twenty-four. That's considered old maid on Spirit Star. No wonder she was the revered Kasser Maiden back then (laughs).

"Little Ye!"

"Well?"

Two soft, bouncy, and warm things hooked around my body from behind, draped over my shoulders, and nimbly wrapped around my neck. I could smell a faint scent of sweat and a sweet body fragrance. The high-quality black stockings brushed against my cheeks, feeling incredibly comfortable. Wow, these legs feel so good, it's almost unfair.

"Hey, Haoyue, stop fooling around..."

"Hey!"

The owner of those legs ignored my slight struggles. With a little force, her tight inner thighs clamped my head down, and with another tightening, she pulled me down onto the bed. Now my head was completely trapped by her thighs, her beautifully shaped knees and smooth calves swaying in front of my eyes, and her two small feet, encased in black stockings, were restlessly rubbing against my chest. I could feel the back of my head pressed against something soft and warm, accompanied by a sweet and sour aroma reminiscent of high-end cheese that made my mind wander. Wait, this feeling, could it be—

"How was it? Did you enjoy their fanservice?"

"Compared to that... when did you take your panties off?"

A long time ago.

Officer, there's a pervert here!

"Ugh, I'm not a pervert!"

"You really can't hide what I'm thinking from you..."

"She just gets horny when she's with Xiao Ye."

Police officers, there's a perverted woman acting indecently here! The situation is getting out of control!

"Calling someone a hooligan is really going too far. Since that's the case, why don't I just be a hooligan for once?"

"Stop messing around! Our town is researching this thing, so don't touch me!"

I carefully protected the small object in my hand. It was a lump of iron, no bigger than an egg, shaped like a flower bud far from blooming, with rough textures that made it look like a cheap, low-quality item sold at a street stall to fool children.

If I hadn't obtained this myself, I would never have believed that it could be a Sub Core of the Divine Item, the Boundary Breaking Armor.

It looked like a crudely made model. Although it might have hidden dangers, it didn't react no matter how I moved it, and it was uncomfortable to carry in my pocket. After I joined the Revolutionary Army, I had it appraised by the Revolutionary Army craftsmen, and the result was quite speechless—

"This thing is just a solid lump of metal, with no sophisticated structure whatsoever. Its main components are an alloy of common metals like iron, copper, aluminum, and lead, mixed with small amounts of metal oxides such as iron oxide, copper oxide, sodium oxide, and quicklime, as well as salts like lead acetate, zinc nitrate, and basic copper carbonate, and very small amounts of precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and rhodium. In short, it's a piece of junk so bad that even refining it would be too much trouble to make a fruit knife. What a rip-off!"

"What are all these things...? Is this how people from another world name things?"

"It's all because of those awful high school chemistry problems! I have absolutely no interest in heating acetic acid and ethanol together to esterify them, mixing nitric acid and hydrochloric acid to make aqua regia, processing polyethylene into plastics, purifying sea salt, or using thermite reactions to Fireworks! Why do we have to learn all that nonsense in high school science classes?! And my major isn't materials science, applied chemistry, or pharmaceuticals, okay?!"

"Little Xiao Ye? You're suddenly so excited!?"

"I was originally thinking of swallowing the Sub Core before advancing! But this thing is completely useless! Won't it give me a stomachache?"

I'm increasingly feeling like I've been tricked. And what exactly was this "Sick Spider" thing all about? I initially thought it might be existing in some form within the Sub Core, but now I realize that's impossible!

"Really, it seems like it was all for nothing in the end..."

Just like when I devoured the Crystal Emperor Fruit and the Yan Yi Ming Hua, I let a thread of blood flow from my fingertip, wrapping around the Sub Core and seeping into it.

"See? There's no reaction at all! And no feeling of getting stronger—"

Feeling? What kind of feeling is that?

"... Xiao Ye?"

What does it feel like to become stronger?

What does it feel like to swallow something?

Still--

What does it feel like to be swallowed up by something external?

Who is the hunter and who is the prey?

"Hey, Xiao Ye, what's wrong...?"

Haha? How hilarious.

What am I doing?

What's the point of thinking about hunter and prey?

I was definitely the one being hunted.

I am just a tiny human being.

A pathetic carbon-based life form composed of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, water, inorganic salts, vitamins, and dietary fiber.

"Xiao Ye! Xiao Ye!"

How could we possibly win?

How could they possibly escape their status as inferior beings?

It's ridiculous to think you can take someone else as your own.

Am I, a lowly creature with only primitive intelligence, not existing to this day simply to become food?

So please accept this dessert called "Ye".

Please, don't be shy.

Chew my bones, tear my flesh, suck my blood, drain my marrow, pull out my intestines, break my neck, crush my heart, swallow my brain, and slowly torture me...

"Xiao Ye! Wake up!!!"

Ding!!!!

A sudden, excruciating pain in my lower abdomen almost made me scream. By the time I came to my senses, I had already been sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the wall. The spot where I was hit in my lower abdomen burned with pain, making it impossible for me to even straighten up for a moment. The Sub Core the Boundary Breaking Armor that I had been holding slipped from my grasp and fell to the ground.

... Hmm? Sub Core?

"I'm sorry, Xiao Ye! Are you alright?!"

"Uh... I... I'm fine..."

I've suffered countless serious injuries. An ordinary person would likely suffer severe consequences like intestinal adhesions from such a blow to the lower abdomen, but for me, it would only hurt a little and I'd be fine.

"I... I'm sorry! Even though it was an emergency, and I couldn't pry your hands off, I actually hit Xiao Ye... Waaah..."

Before I could say anything, the person who hit me was already sobbing uncontrollably. Haoyue hugged me with tears in her eyes, rubbing my stomach and apologizing repeatedly. "Hey, hey, it was just a punch, there's no need to be like this!" Although I'm usually the one who ends things.

So... what exactly happened?

I think... because I felt the Sub Core I risked everything to get was useless, I wanted to devour it out of spite?

Then...

A chill ran down my spine.

A metal ball, about the size of a tennis ball, rolled to my feet, hit the wall, and came to a stop obediently. It was lifeless, unremarkable, and looked exactly like a cheap, poorly made knock-off from a street vendor.

--Hmm? Wait a minute.

Size of a tennis ball?

Wasn't it originally only the size of an egg?

"Haoyue... what exactly happened just now?"

"When your blood seeped into the Sub Core, it seemed normal at first, but after only a few seconds... I don't know how to describe it, you just looked like you were sitting there holding the Sub Core. But as an observer, I don't know why I had this feeling that 'something was reaching out to you from the Sub Core,' and your expression changed at that moment... not a feeling of confusion or being controlled, but rather a bit... fanatical?"

"Fanatical...?"

It was indeed fanaticism.

Like cult members who are jubilantly martyred.

At that time, I genuinely believed that I deserved to be food.

The Boundary Breaking Armor... it's an inorganic life form beyond human comprehension. From a "human" perspective, its essence is incomprehensible. To humans, it's just an unremarkable metallic lump, while to it, humans are merely low-intelligence protein blocks. I was clearly the one devouring it, yet I almost suffered a backlash without realizing it. After all, the Boundary Breaking Armor is a symbol of "greed" and "corruption," and my current devouring is utterly insignificant compared to its power.

It was truly more challenging than I had imagined.

"Drink!"

The unadorned Greatsword sliced through the void, the gusts of wind carrying the slashes sweeping across the ground, smoothing the stone slabs within a hundred-meter radius as smooth as a mirror. Nid sensed everything around him: the tactile sensation of the ground transmitted through his thick leather boots, the subtle flow of air felt through his skin, even the tiny droplets evaporating in the air—all of this was an extension of his sword, transmitting any form of attack to any place through various mediums.

A gust of wind swept by, and immediately more than a dozen leaves were blown off the nearby tree, each no more than three or four centimeters long.

"Ha!"

The Greatsword spun wildly in his hand, seemingly weightless, yet the power of the Emperor Slaying Sword was subtly unleashed; even a light tap across the air contained the force to shatter powerful alloys. This continuous barrage of slashes, spreading outwards like a raging torrent, was instantly gathered and compressed into a thin, straight line at a thought from Nid. This line flew at incredible speed past all the scattered fallen leaves, finally leaving a small, perfectly solid hole in the wooden target. There wasn't a single crack around the hole—a testament to the power concentrated to its extreme. On the dozen or so small leaves that finally fell to the ground, each had a scratch, each with a regular and unique shape, and none of them had cut through the leaf's surface, which was only about one millimeter thick.

Nid's mastery of the transmission and force of his strikes had reached an unparalleled level.

The surrounding guards clapped and exclaimed in amazement, and the female revolutionary comrades all beamed with admiration. If there was anyone who wasn't impressed by the swordsmanship or even dismissed it, it would probably only be Nid himself.

Don't stop.

Swinging his sword once more, this simple training always brought him a little peace of mind. Compared to his restless and uncertain heart, the metal hilt of the sword felt far more real.

Was Nid Bradwich a hero?

Any revolutionary would answer "yes" without hesitation.

Loxue would say, "He is a hero, even though he is still growing."

When he was jokingly asked about it in public, he would always laugh and say, "Everyone who dedicates themselves to a great cause is a hero," trying to maintain his authority as a leader while making his words sound good.

But what if he asked himself the same question?

"I don't know... I don't know..."

Because of their talent, they stepped into the limelight even though they were not yet mature.

Although he was not yet eighteen, he had won everyone's respect because of his innate personal charisma, leadership qualities, and brilliant military achievements.

Nid always felt that his image as the leader of the Revolutionary Army was more complete than he was.

If we remove his identity as a leader, what does he have left?

But there's one fact he understands.

The one who was needed, praised, and worshipped by the people was "the invincible revolutionary leader, Lord Nid".

Instead of the immature, easily sympathetic, deserter, and incapable-of-doing-anything-without-his-sister-supporting Nid Bradwich.

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I went to visit relatives in the city today, so it's even later. Sorry.