Let's Team Up

"What's a Bond Card?"

"Rare equipment?"

The appearance of rare equipment had already made Li Ran's heart bloom with joy.

But what the heck was a Bond Card?

[Back: Phantom Cloak (Rare)]

[Requirement: Mysterious Power 400]

[Attributes: Mysterious Power +50, Strength +50, Agility +50, Constitution +50]

[Effect: When the player takes lethal damage, a Phantom will automatically appear to block the damage once. Cooldown: one day.]

[Bond Card: Phoenix Flying Together]

[Once a spouse is designated, the choice cannot be changed.]

[Use this card in battle while both spouses are present to increase all the player's attributes by 50% for ten minutes. Cooldown: one day.]

"Holy crap!"

When he saw the Bond Card's effect, Li Ran was stunned.

Trigger the Bond Card with his spouse present, and all his attributes would soar by 50%?

What kind of ridiculously overpowered bond was this?

It was simply terrifying.

But Li Ran soon thought of a problem.

As long as he was with Su Bingyao in the Weird World, this Bond Card would be extremely useful.

But what about when he returned to the real world? How could he trigger a bond between spouses when he was all alone?

"That makes the Bond Card practically useless."

At the thought, Li Ran ground his teeth in frustration. If he could make good use of it, the Bond Card would definitely become one of his trump cards—a devastating weapon.

Unless there was a way to bring Su Bingyao back to the real world.

But that was clearly unlikely.

The one consolation was that he had also obtained a piece of rare equipment.

After completing the "Repair Broken Family" task, Li Ran's Mysterious Power had increased from 380 to 430.

He now met the requirements to equip the [Phantom Cloak].

With this rare piece of equipment on, Li Ran was now the most dazzling guy around.

His attributes had increased substantially once again.

Mysterious Power: 480

Agility: 120

Strength: 120

Constitution: 100

Points: 1800

Active Skills: [Shadow Escape] [Shadow Assault] [Blood Sickle Flying Blade]

Passive Skills: Phantom, Thunder Mark, Focus

All in all, Li Ran's attributes had improved across the board.

He even felt like he could take on the Demon King of Killing, Wang Gan, one-on-one now.

But he wasn't reckless.

He wouldn't take such a risk without being completely sure.

After all, Wang Gan was an A-rank monster with 500 Mysterious Power.

What he wasn't sure about was whether his current equipment could stand up to Wang Gan.

To be absolutely safe, Li Ran figured he needed at least 700 Mysterious Power, regardless of his other attributes, before he could go after Wang Gan.

"I've got 1,800 points. I could probably spend some at the Points Mall."

The Parent-Child Activity rewards hadn't come through yet, though, so this wasn't the right time to exchange points for anything.

Su Bingyao was crying so hard that she looked like a rain-soaked flower. Li Ran comforted her for quite a while before she finally stopped blaming herself and feeling guilty.

Just then, the teaching assistant came running back with a huge gift box.

"I hereby announce that the winner of this Parent-Child Activity is..."

"The Li Ziyang family!"

Li Ziyang happily rushed over and hugged Li Ran. "Dad, we did it! We came in first!"

"Yay! We're first!"

Li Ran pulled his son into his arms too, savoring the happiness of having repaired their family.

[Task completed: Place first in the Parent-Child Activity]

[Completion reward: Mysterious Power +100, Points +1000]

As another cold voice rang out, Li Ran, still basking in the joy of the moment, was nearly overwhelmed by his happiness.

His Mysterious Power now reached 580, and his points totaled 2,800.

"Damn, today's been a huge win."

He'd won first place in the Parent-Child Activity and completed the "Repair Broken Family" task that had been weighing on him for so long.

Two birds with one stone—or rather, two wins from one shot!

And tonight, he could share a bed with Su Bingyao!

At the thought, Li Ran couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from turning up.

"Li Ziyang, bring your parents up to collect your prizes," the teaching assistant called.

Perhaps because Teacher Zhang was gone, the teaching assistant, who had always been timid and submissive, seemed unusually confident now. His whole demeanor had changed, as if he were the one in charge.

The three of them went up to the assistant and each received a beautifully wrapped little gift box.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

Li Ran opened his gift box. Inside lay a beautiful card, about the size of a playing card. It was black all over, with a gold border. The back bore a strange seal resembling a magic circle, while the front showed a family of three. The image was abstract, but it was still easy to tell that it depicted a father, a mother, and a son.

(Kinship Summon Card: When you miss someone, simply think of their name and kiss the card to summon them to your side. The effect lasts for one hour and is not limited by dimensions.)

When the Golden Finger gave him the prompt, Li Ran's mouth fell open wide enough to fit a soccer ball.

He'd been regretting that he couldn't use the Bond Card just moments ago.

Then he'd gotten a Kinship Summon Card, one that wasn't limited by dimensions.

That meant that even after returning to the real world, Li Ran could use the card to summon Su Bingyao to his side for an hour.

An hour was plenty of time to do a lot of things.

If they were quick, two or three times wasn't out of the question.

Su Bingyao could likewise summon Li Ran from the real world to the Weird World.

If Li Ziyang got into trouble or ran into something he couldn't handle, he could use the card to summon his father to his side.

Kinship Teleportation Card + Bond Card.

He could summon his wife to his side in battle and trigger the Phoenix Flying Together bond, boosting all his attributes by 50%!

My God!

Who could have guessed that he could trigger the Bond Card's effect this way?

Li Ran could hardly believe it himself.

Was he just that lucky, or had this all been arranged?

Overjoyed, Li Ran couldn't help planting a kiss on Su Bingyao's cheek.

Su Bingyao froze, then said shyly in a low voice, "What are you doing? Everyone's watching."

Li Ran couldn't care less. He picked Su Bingyao up and spun her around excitedly.

"Ah! Put me down!" Su Bingyao let out a string of squeals.

"Ew, Dad and Mom are being lovey-dovey!" Li Ziyang looked at Li Ran strangely.

"Put me down. Save it for when we get home."

Su Bingyao pounded Li Ran's chest with her tiny fists, her face as red as an apple.

If an adult couldn't understand what that meant, he might as well commit ritual suicide.

Li Ran grinned mischievously. "How should we do it at home? I like being on the bottom."

"You're awful~!"

Time flew by.

The day passed in a flash.

That evening, Su Bingyao cooked while Li Ran helped out, and together they prepared a lavish dinner.

After dinner, they played with their son for a while. Then came the nerve-racking, thrilling part.

Honestly, Li Ran was so nervous his throat felt like it was on fire.

He hurried through his shower, then slipped into the master bedroom wearing nothing but his boxers.

Tonight, he was going to be Xu Xian.

But...

"We can't tonight."

When Li Ran got onto the bed, Su Bingyao said that.

His beautiful wife was right within reach, and yet he couldn't have her?

Li Ran couldn't help asking in confusion, "Why?"

"What do you think?" Su Bingyao replied with a meaningful smile.

Just then, that damned, icy task notification popped up again.

[Task triggered: Find the Marriage Certificate your wife hid.]

[Task reward: Mysterious Power +50, Points +500]

"What the fuck? I've already taken my pants off, and this is what you give me?!"

Su Bingyao smiled seductively at her husband, who had gone limp. "If you can find the Marriage Certificate I hid, I'll let you have your way with me from now on."

Hearing that, Li Ran sprang up as if he'd been injected with a stimulant, his eyes shining.

He started turning the master bedroom upside down, searching for the Marriage Certificate Su Bingyao had hidden.

Li Ran had always thought they were divorced.

It turned out they were only divorced in name; they had never registered the divorce.

In other words, they were still legally married.

He just had to find that damned Marriage Certificate.

Unfortunately, Li Ran searched the entire room and still couldn't find it.

"Let me just hold you..."

"No!"

Su Bingyao clearly wasn't falling for Li Ran's attempt to sneak a feel. She rejected him without mercy.

"Keep looking. I'm going to sleep."

With a faint smile on her lips, Su Bingyao drifted off.

With no other choice, Li Ran continued sleeping on the tatami.

Near midnight, Li Ran no longer felt like searching.

His life mattered more. He needed to get some sleep.

Day Five

"Ran, why do you look so down?"

At the Community Gathering Point, Lu Zhaohui asked him.

After forcing himself to sleep the night before, Li Ran had gotten up in the morning and turned the house upside down again, but still hadn't found the Marriage Certificate.

The Golden Finger's final hint was that the Marriage Certificate wasn't in the house.

After that, Li Ran had lost heart.

If the Marriage Certificate wasn't in the house, then it had to be somewhere in this huge residential compound.

How was he supposed to find it?

"Nothing."

Li Ran looked at Lu Zhaohui and noticed that the guy had reached 50 Mysterious Power in just one day. He couldn't help being surprised that this coward had managed to complete a task on his own.

"By the way, Ran, I'll pay you back the 10 points I borrowed last time."

"Keep them."

Li Ran didn't take the 10 points. It wasn't that he didn't value them; he simply thought Lu Zhaohui was a decent guy, and the points had been well worth spending.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony," Lu Zhaohui said with a shameless grin.

But soon, he began sighing.

"Ran, there's a task I can't handle."

Lu Zhaohui looked at Li Ran pleadingly.

"What task?"

"It's..."

Before he could finish, three people approached from farther away.

Xiao Yi, Chen Jiabin, and a man Li Ran didn't recognize.

The man's Mysterious Power was 180, only 20 less than Xiao Yi's.

Everyone who was supposed to be there had arrived, except Song Linjia.

Of course, there could still be other survivors.

As for Chen Jiabin...

Li Ran looked toward him, his brows knitting tightly. For some reason, Chen Jiabin seemed a little strange.

Just then, Xiao Yi stepped in front of Li Ran's line of sight. He took the initiative to extend a hand and said:

"Li Ran, let's team up."

Li Ran drew back his gaze and looked at Xiao Yi in surprise.

As far as he knew, Xiao Yi was an arrogant man with a strong need for control. He couldn't stand anyone who was more capable than him.

He remembered what Xiao Yi had said to him at the bar the day before yesterday.

Wasn't he going to prove he was stronger than Li Ran?

But only one day had passed, and now he was backing down and taking the initiative to invite Li Ran to team up?

Did that make any sense?