Volume Five: Return from the Other Side, Chapter 433: The Holiday Ends

"Aren't you going to try some?"

"Hey Ye... you might not care, but isn't the smell of blood a bit too strong?"

"What does it matter? As long as it tastes good--"

"The problem is, this is completely inadequate..."

Xiao Wu used a slotted spoon to scoop up a few pieces of blood and carefully smelled them.

"The preparation is extremely rough, it's practically a perfunctory job. Plus, the excessive spiciness numbs the taste buds, and it's so greasy... It's fine to eat it occasionally for a bit of fun, but eating it regularly is bound to make you sick."

"I don't have your cooking skills... please forgive me..."

Seriously, I rarely want to show off my skills and treat everyone at the last moment before setting off. I even used blood and tripe that I generated myself, but Xiao Wu is so ungrateful... So you really have low emotional intelligence. And apart from occasionally showing your wifely side, you don't seem to have any other cute points. No wonder you're not as popular as me and Haoyue among the vast number of moe fans.

However, our main trio has a clear division of labor: I'm in charge of looks and inner thoughts, Haoyue is in charge of cuteness and madness, and you, as the last bit of conscience, are responsible for being handsome and turning girls gay! This isn't just the author being sarcastic!

"You seemed to be thinking about something random just now?"

"It must be your imagination."

Thinking about all sorts of random things is my protagonist's specialty, you know. Would I say that half of this book is filled with my own inner monologues?

... Wait a minute, this book? What book? And who is the author? What am I talking about?

"Speaking of Xiao Wu..."

"What?"

"What happened to those things?"

I pointed to her hand.

Her once fair hands, now calloused, were covered in numerous scars. These were simple cuts and scrapes, the kind I probably wouldn't even glance at on anyone else's hands, but the problem was... how could Xiao Wu possibly have scars?

"... Oh, you mean this?"

Xiao Wu's expression became somewhat subtle. She touched her wound and sighed as if giving up.

"Well... how should I put it? It's probably the sacrifices we have to make to become stronger."

"Become stronger? Sacrifice?"

"Yes, one of my greatest strengths—or rather, my most important strength—is this extremely powerful self-healing ability. It's because of this that I can push my body to its limits without any restraint. But... this self-healing ability can sometimes become an obstacle."

"... An obstacle? Shouldn't that be a huge help?"

"It's not quite the same. The more I rely on it, the more I forget what it means to fight to the death. Over time, I might even become afraid to take my attention away from self-healing... The so-called 'Extreme Night Style' is probably something that can only be mastered by completely transcending the fear of death that living beings have."

"I don't understand what you're saying... Extreme Night Style?"

"The fighting style I usually use is called 'Night Nether Style,' you know that, right? And it's a simplified and improved version by my mom."

"Of course I know, and then?"

"Then, if you take the Night Nether Style to its extreme, it becomes the 'Extreme Night Style'. To be honest, even my mother couldn't complete the construction of this ultimate style. I'm only using it now because I have no other choice, and I'm doing my best to perfect it."

Why didn't you use it before?

"Insufficient strength in the past was one factor, but another was that the Extreme Night Style had other limitations, namely, these injuries..."

It took me a few seconds to react.

"Wait, could it be that when you use that Extreme Night Style, your self-healing ability weakens... or even disappears completely?"

Trading healing for high attack power?

"That's right. As the saying goes, there are gains and losses. When using the Extreme Night Style, I must enter what is called the 'limit state.' In this state, every cell in my body will be fully activated by the Demonic Power, and my strength will double compared to now. At the same time, it should not be a problem to fight against multiple Special Class Combatants of the organization."

"What?! This Dragon Proud Heaven setting? So you're Super Saiyan? Or maybe Frieza Bloodline?"

"What utter nonsense..."

"Exactly, you think a character is 'that's all there is to him,' and then suddenly you're told he actually has an even stronger mode, a more awesome transformation, more overpowered moves, and even more outrageous cheat codes. Isn't that just a standard plot from a clichéd shonen manga? Just how much of a protagonist are you?"

"Tch... If only it were the convenient things you mentioned. I've already said, there's always a trade-off; my body would suffer immense damage under extreme conditions."

"Destruction? Oh, you mean that kind... the kind you see in shonen manga, 'using it once will shorten your lifespan by xx days,' although I've never actually seen a character die because of it--"

"One year." "Huh?"

"For every minute you operate at your limit, your physical lifespan will be shortened by approximately one year."

"..." How heavy.

"So... how many minutes have you driven so far to master this?"

"About twenty minutes."

"..." It's too heavy.

"Don't overthink it," Xiao Wu shrugged. "The reason I practice this kind of powerful stuff is, of course, for use in case we ever have to confront the higher-ups head-on. We might not even have a chance to use it."

Stop talking, you're practically riddled with thorns from all the flags you've set up.

"Let's not talk about that... What are they doing over there? Why are they all gathered around a board?"

Xiao Wu gestured with her chin towards a group of people over there: Haoyue, Little Butterfly, Xiaozhizhu, Sin Annihilation, and Little Ying were engaged in some kind of lively activity.

Xiao Wu and I went over to take a look--

"See? That's it! Enter values for oil, ammunition, steel, and aluminum—choose the ones you feel are best! Then click 'Build'—and then use 'Quick Build'—"

Ta-da!

"The fleet's idol, Naka- chan, da yo~!"

"--Then a girl will come out!"

Little Butterfly proudly showed Naka to everyone around her. Why is it that whenever she builds KanColle ship, she always gets Naka... and if she gets Azur Lane ship, it's always a fodder ship? Why is she so unlucky?

"But, but, Little Butterfly," Haoyue questioned, "Judging from this child's background... she doesn't seem to be anything rare."

"No way! Mom said that Little Butterfly is the only KanColle, so she must be a rare find!"

"This looks interesting! Let me try it!"

Little Ying snatched the tablet with a delighted expression and pressed the "Build" button.

20 minutes.

What is this?

Rapid construction--

"I am a special-type destroyer... Ayanami-class Ushio. I can retire now, right...?"

Wow, that's trendy... Speaking of which, the new "Demonic Tide" book for Earth should have been released by now, right?

"Uh... wait, not Naka? Why can you build other ships, Sister Little Ying?"

It would be strange if it couldn't be built.

"Who knows? Maybe I was just lucky?" Little Ying looked smug, probably because she was happy to be called "sister"?

"Hey, hey... Trendy items aren't exactly rare, you know?" I couldn't help but chime in.

Anyone could build this, right?

"Xiao Ye, how do these girls determine rarity?"

"Well... in KanColle, from lowest to highest, it's blue -- cyan -- silver -- gold -- rainbow -- shimmering rainbow -- shimmering rainbow cherry blossom snow; in Azur Lane or R, it's white -- green -- blue -- purple -- gold -- rainbow. Generally speaking, that's how it is, but --"

Before I could finish speaking, Haoyue grabbed the tablet and started shooting.

"Ah, I built one too..."

Ta-da!

"... The heavy cruiser USS Kent, its weak armor isn't my fault... Waaah..."

Huh? What's this?

"Blue? It's nothing special, let's just remove it."

"--Eh--"

"Just click this, disassemble..."

"Etc!!"

Disintegration~❤

"Ugh! Kent Kent Kent Kent Kent, my wedding ship!!"

Ten minutes later...

"Xiao Ye, I'm so sorry, I didn't know that star rating and rarity aren't entirely proportional..."

"Waaaaah... You have to pay me back for my wedding ship..."

"Don't cry, how about this, I'll let you do whatever you want with me today!"

"It's like I can't just play around with you all the time... Fine, if you've taken it apart, you've taken it apart. Learn from this experience, and besides, I also want to remind you—"

The gray-haired girl named Sin Annihilation suddenly made a move.

"I'll... give it a try too..."

Biubiu~6 hours 40 minutes~

Wait, could this be --

Ta-da!

"I am the aircraft carrier Taiho. A state-of-the-art, fully-defended aircraft carrier with robust defenses on the flight deck. The enclosed hangar is also excellent, isn't it?"

What the heck!? "Hmm..."

Sin Annihilation tilted her head, her delicate eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"I don't like the look of it, let's tear it down."

"Etc!!"

Disintegration~❤

"Eeya ya Taiho Taiho Taiho Taiho Taiho Taiho my wife yaya!!"

"How?"

"This is the second thing I wanted to say! Please don't tear it down just because you don't like the character art!!"

Poke, poke. "...?"

Something is poking me.

Looking down, I saw a small, soft creature rubbing against me.

She looked at me timidly, then stretched out her arms to me in a coquettish manner. Her fair face turned rosy, and her tender neck glowed with youthful radiance under her long black ponytail. Although she looked very young, for some reason I felt a little erotic.

"Mom, give me a hug (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ..."

"..."

"I want... a hug from Mommy..."

"..."

"If Little Spider wants a hug, then you can give yourself to me Little Butterfly! Come on, let's play a game of lifting each other up~ I'll lift you up first, and then you can lift me up!"

"...Ugh... Mommy..."

"Alright, alright, it's rare for Little Spider to want to be pampered by her mom. Little Butterfly, be a good girl, I'll take her out for a walk~"

Under Little Butterfly's disappointed gaze, I picked up the little spider and quickly walked out of the tent, only stopping after making sure no one was around.

In an instant, the atmosphere changed.

Her once clear and bright eyes suddenly turned murderous, and she broke free from my embrace as quickly as possible, as if she didn't want to have any contact with me for even a second longer.

"Ha, I can't help but marvel at your acting skills every time. They really didn't suspect a thing."

"Maybe they've suspected it for a while but just haven't shown it... But what have you been up to these past few days?!"

"What's going on...?"

Well, how should I put it?

These past few days, I've been living in a daze.

Teasing my daughter, fantasizing about new move names, playing terrible games with Haoyue, catching up with Little Ying, chatting with Xiao Wu to strengthen our bond, spending money on in-game games on my tablet, and then just eating, sleeping, and wandering around aimlessly...

"What a relaxing time."

"You know that too! Why don't you be more on your guard? You're about to have a showdown with the lady out of nowhere!"

"Of course I know... but you see, even if I train hard, I won't see any results in just a few days. I might as well enjoy these last few good days."

"You... Humph!"

The Sick Spider irritably flicked its ponytail; the way it did this with its tiny body was quite comical.

Are you worried about me? Afraid I'll lose?

"Who would worry about you? It would be better if you were dead!"

"Yes, yes~ Good boy/girl, pat pat..."

"Don't touch me! You have exactly the same features as Kasser!"

And so, time flew by leisurely.

Athletes who step off the starting line will eventually reach the finish line.

The final battle of the great decisive war is finally upon us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From now on, a new round of sustained high energy will begin.