Fire's Delight

"Let's move, Xu Jiang. We'll rush in together."

"I refuse."

"Why? Didn't you want to get something from the orphanage? It's dangerous in there. Let me go with you."

"No. Because you're even more dangerous."

A lunatic running into Void Rifts to get himself killed—Xu Jiang had no intention of being dragged down by him.

Still, he did need to enter Angel Orphanage. Just moments ago, Xu Jiang had received a new prompt.

Congratulations, you have discovered summonable machinery.

He had never expected that, aside from monsters, Void Rifts also contained equipment suitable for him to summon.

Judging by the direction, though, that thing was probably inside the orphanage. That made things troublesome.

The orphanage was not large, but who knew how many monsters were hiding inside? Xu Jiang did not dare act rashly.

"How about this? I'll go in first and draw their attention. Before I die in battle, do your best to find what you want!"

Lan Tie's willingness to sacrifice himself was so intense that anyone unaware of the situation might have thought he was about to save the world.

"Are you really that eager to die? Why not just slit your throat?"

"No, no. This is my talent, Ten Lifetimes of Heroic Souls."

This guy was straightforward enough to immediately display his identity card.

Ten Lifetimes of Heroic Souls: Death is the beginning of reincarnation. Fight a glorious battle against evil forces; should you unfortunately perish, you will enter the next cycle of reincarnation. Across ten lives and ten lifetimes, a heroic soul may be forged.

Was there really such an absurd talent? Ten lives and ten lifetimes? Was he filming a TV drama?

No wonder this guy had jumped into the Void Rifts so excitedly. Apparently, even seeking death was not so easy!

First, he had to fight evil forces.

Second, he had to die gloriously. If he held back and it was judged as suicide, failing to meet the standard of sacrifice, then he would have died for nothing.

"You died fighting in your previous life too?"

"How would I know? I don't have memories of my previous life!" Lan Tie replied righteously.

Xu Jiang found that strange.

"If you don't have memories of your previous life, how do you know you need to go get yourself killed?"

"Isn't it written right there? It says I need to die gloriously."

"You..."

Xu Jiang opened his mouth but ultimately did not ask his final question:

What if this talent was just clickbait? What if it was only encouraging you to fight? What if you reincarnated as a pig in your next life? What if forging a heroic soul just turned you into a ghost?

Ordinary clickbait was one thing. There was no harm in giving it a try; if he was wrong, he could treat it as a lesson.

But this kind of trial meant actual death. There was no need to truly risk his life.

"Do you have a wife?"

"No. Why?"

"Nothing. Just asking."

There was no point trying to persuade a zealot like this. Just look at that row of skills.

There was not a single protection, healing, or blessing skill among them. Instead, he had Heavy Hammer, Back Throw, and Iron Mountain Lean.

In short, he charged at the front. Whatever got him killed fastest, he would do it.

"Fine, then let's charge in. But let me make this clear: if you're about to die, I'm not saving you!"

"Of course. If you saved me, you'd be doing me a disservice."

Listen to that. Was that something a normal person would say?

Xu Jiang rolled his eyes and led this member of the suicide squad into the orphanage.

The orphanage was not large, but its atmosphere was rather horrifying.

After pushing open the main building's doors and passing through a dim, sinister corridor, the two arrived in a spacious room.

Three long tables stood in the center of the room. This should have been the dining hall. The dilapidated tables were covered in cobwebs and moldy food, which a swarm of red-eyed rats gnawed at.

Even more horrifyingly, a group of deformed monsters sat beside the tables, as though their flesh and blood had been drained away. They were small, charred, and twisted.

At the far end of the room were two terrifying giant flesh balls, making chilling squelching sounds.

The scene was like two volunteers leading dozens of children seated neatly in the dining hall, quietly waiting for food to arrive.

It had to be said that these monsters were quite lucky today. Lan Tie looked at the crowd of man-eating monsters, his heart filled with excitement.

"Two, four, six, eight... thirty-two monsters in total. Enough. Enough for me to die."

Evil entities, exorcism, a heroic sacrifice—every element was in place. Next, he only needed to settle his affairs before charging in to die.

The two hid outside the door and spoke quietly.

"Xu Jiang, although we've only just met, I think you're a good person. There's something I'd like to ask you to do."

As he spoke, Lan Tie pulled a photograph and a bank card from his shirt pocket.

"What's this?"

"I don't have a wife, but I have a childhood sweetheart named Xiao Fang. If I unfortunately die in battle, please bring news of my sacrifice to her. Consider these Credit Points your payment."

Xu Jiang glanced at the photo and accepted them without hesitation.

"Don't worry. I happen to be short a childhood sweetheart myself. After you die, I'll use your money to take good care of her for you."

"Thank you. Now I have no regrets."

Having settled his affairs, Lan Tie was just about to enter the room to die when Xu Jiang stopped him.

"Wait. Let me get the thing out first. Otherwise, it'll be too chaotic later, and it won't be easy for me to take it." Xu Jiang was here to summon a general; he could not let this fool who had traveled so far to deliver himself to the monsters delay something important.

Lan Tie scratched his head and asked in confusion, "I know you're looking for something! But if I don't draw the monsters away, how will you get in?"

Lan Tie pointed at the two flesh balls at the far end. Generally speaking, wouldn't treasures be guarded by the strongest monsters?

"Unfortunately, that's not the case." Xu Jiang shrugged. His summons had never been normal.

For example, right now...

Xu Jiang cautiously edged forward two steps. The moment he stepped into the room, low growls began to sound. He seemed to have entered the monsters' alert range.

But Xu Jiang was already done.

He casually stepped back and nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. Got the thing. Thanks for coming with me to boost my courage."

Lan Tie: ???

"That's it? You just wanted a pack of cigarettes?"

"Uh, it's just a pack of cigarettes."

It was not just Old Tie who failed to understand. Xu Jiang himself did not understand either.

He had merely followed the instructions here to summon a general. After looking around, it seemed that his new subordinate was a pack of cigarettes.

Something utterly worthless had been casually left on a small tea table by the door. He could grab it in two steps; there was no difficulty at all.

By the definition of machinery, any tool or device that helped humans reduce the difficulty of work or save effort could be called machinery.

But could the pack of cigarettes in his hand count as machinery too?

Mech Cigarette Case (Colonel)

Quality: White

Skill: Cigarette Fabrication

Cigarette Fabrication: Insert materials to automatically process them into cigarettes.

Current Stock: Caramel Sweet x3

What sparse attributes. It only processed cigarettes? It did not seem special at all.

"General, it is my honor to serve you. You can call me Little Smoke. Here, General, have a cigarette to refresh yourself."

The cigarette case in his hand spoke, its voice brimming with sycophancy. It automatically popped out a cigarette, like a subordinate offering one to their superior.

Xu Jiang thought about it and did not refuse.

He had smoked in his previous life too, but only to go along with others during social occasions. He had never been addicted.

After arriving in this world, he had not tried the cigarettes here.

Caramel Sweet? The flavors were probably all about the same. Xu Jiang pulled one out and placed it between his lips. The cigarette case produced a flame on its own and lit it for him.

"Phew, not bad. Want one?" Xu Jiang exhaled a smoke ring. The smoke was smooth and mellow, a fairly high-quality cigarette.

He wanted to offer one to Lan Tie as well, but Lan Tie refused.

"As a Paladin, I don't smoke." Lan Tie was thoroughly upright, strictly observing the Paladin's precepts.

But with the way you looked, did you deserve to call yourself a Paladin?

If the mentor who had initiated you knew you used a totem to smash people, they would probably burst out of their coffin.

Xu Jiang spread his hands indifferently. "Fine. If you won't smoke, go get yourself killed. I'll just watch and won't intervene."

"Alright!" The important moment was about to arrive. Lan Tie gathered his courage once more and shouted, "Remember to take care of Xiao Fang for me! Kill!"

The death-seeking Paladin charged inside. There were no flashy moves; he swung his giant totem around wildly, provoking the dozens of monsters in the room into attacking.

Although Lan Tie was strong, two fists could not defeat dozens of claws. Fighting dozens of monsters hand-to-hand with flesh and blood alone, his death was only a matter of time.

Xu Jiang did not want to wait any longer. While the monsters were not paying attention, he decided to slip away first. He tossed aside his cigarette butt and turned to leave.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened. The instant the cigarette butt fell, a battle cry abruptly rang in his ears.

"Let the dropped cigarette be the signal—move! Fire's Delight!"

With an angry roar, fierce flames suddenly surged from the cigarette butt's still-glowing ember.

Like a Molotov cocktail exploding on the ground, the flames spread dozens of meters along the floor, engulfing the entire orphanage in an instant.