"Holy crap, I struck it rich! They really are yellow equipment!"
Sun Fei's eyes lit up. He eagerly picked up the two pieces of yellow equipment and was about to examine them closely when that mysterious, icy voice appeared in his mind again-
"The daily game time limit is approaching. Player, prepare to save your progress!"
It had finally come!
This time, however, the mysterious, icy voice didn't start a three-second countdown like some death-haunting specter. Instead, it gave Sun Fei plenty of time to react.
"I've been waiting for you!" Sun Fei's heart tightened.
That was right. Although he had been too focused on killing monsters to let himself get distracted, Sun Fei had indeed been waiting a long time for this voice to appear, as part of his plan.
Afraid of missing his chance, Sun Fei hurriedly shouted at the sky, "Wait, wait! I have something to ask... I want to exchange for some [Healing Potions] and take them back to my world. You understand what I mean, right? Tell me, what do I have to pay?"
At the same time, Sun Fei concentrated, trying to communicate with the mysterious voice in his mind.
But the voice didn't answer immediately.
What followed was a terrifying, heart-pounding silence.
Those three or four short seconds felt like centuries passing in the river of time to Sun Fei, who desperately needed an answer.
Finally, in the fifth second, the mysterious, icy voice appeared in Sun Fei's mind again-
"As you wish... [Minor Healing Potion], exchange price: 3,000 gold coins per bottle. Chance of successful exchange: 25 percent. Gold coins will be deducted directly from the player's total. If the player has insufficient gold, existing equipment may be exchanged at 80 percent of its actual value... Please confirm the exchange. Countdown beginning... 10... 8... 5..."
"I'll exchange! Of course I confirm... First, exchange for three bottles of [Minor Treatment Potion]."
Sun Fei was overjoyed.
"Ding-! Calculation complete. Insufficient gold coins, insufficient equipment value. Please select another item or quantity for exchange... Countdown: 4... 3..."
"One bottle... one bottle of [Minor Treatment Potion]," Sun Fei cried in panic.
"Ding-! Calculating... Insufficient gold coins... Equipment value sufficient... Calculating 25 percent chance of successful exchange... Exchange successful... Daily game time limit reached. Player forcibly logged out."
Ding-dong!
A pleasant chime rang out.
Sun Fei's vision blurred again. Everything around him began to twist and warp until it all faded to gray.
Darkness swept over him again.
Whoosh!
Sun Fei cried out and jumped up from the bed.
He looked around carefully and found that he had indeed returned to the king's hall.
His "fiancée," Angela, was sitting at the bedside, staring intently at him with her big, sapphire-blue eyes. Her fair, breathtakingly beautiful face was filled with worry.
"Alexander, you're finally awake."
The cloud of worry on Angela's face vanished the moment she saw Sun Fei wake up. The girl was so delighted that her voice trembled a little. "I saw the wound on your left shoulder. You bled so much... Oh, right, were you having a nightmare just now? You kept struggling in your sleep, and your forehead was covered in sweat... I was so worried that you might..."
Sun Fei froze.
From that string of words, jumbled in no particular order, he could clearly feel how deeply the beautiful girl before him cared about him.
Her concern wasn't because he had become Chambord City's hero overnight, nor was it the sort of admiration Brook and the soldiers felt for a powerful man. It was a simple feeling that came from the heart. Whether he was the fool everyone used to mock or the normal man he had become after being reborn, Angela-this girl as pure and kind as an angel-would care for him just the same.
Her concern stirred a strange feeling in Sun Fei's heart.
Perhaps she cared because the owner of his current body was called Alexander.
But regardless, Sun Fei felt great affection for the kind girl before him.
Although he was a beast who usually liked to talk dirty and find excuses to get close to beautiful girls at every opportunity, those were merely the normal actions of a normal man. At heart, Sun Fei was actually a rather traditional man who hid his lecherous side. He liked talking dirty and spouting nonsense, but he was absolutely not promiscuous. He had his own principles and held fast to them.
Yet Angela's kindness had so easily moved Sun Fei's heart.
He was truly smitten.
What girl, knowing full well she would one day marry a fool, would still care for that fool so attentively? Sun Fei didn't know the ins and outs of why Angela was the idiot Alexander's fiancée, but that didn't stop him from resolving then and there to give this girl the happiness she wanted, in whatever form it might take.
Of course, if she could marry him, that would be even better. Why let someone else have the prize?
"Don't worry, Angela. My wound healed ages ago..."
Sun Fei gave the beauty a brilliant smile, got off the bed, unfastened and removed the breastplate of his knight's armor, then undid the padding underneath. Sure enough, the sword wound on his left shoulder had mostly healed. The scar was gone, leaving only a small red spot.
This confirmed Sun Fei's earlier suspicion-
After a trip to the Diablo World, his body would miraculously recover from whatever injuries it had previously suffered.
Blushing, Angela carefully examined the wound and finally set her mind at ease.
Back when Alexander was an idiot, Angela had subconsciously treated him as a child who didn't know any better and felt nothing else. But now that Alexander had suddenly become a normal person overnight, Angela found that, from some point she couldn't remember, her thoughts had fallen into complete disarray. Whenever she thought about how the person before her was her fiancé, her heart pounded like a startled fawn.
Angela didn't know that her pretty, blushing face, her eyes full of bashful charm, had left Sun Fei staring in a daze.
Neither of them spoke, and the hall was silent.
The atmosphere was a little romantic, a little strange.
Sun Fei couldn't help recalling a line of poetry old Bai Juyi had written during a romantic visit to a pleasure boat: A hidden sorrow and secret regret arise; at this moment, silence speaks louder than sound... Uh, I don't remember what comes next. Was it "The spring splendor filling the garden cannot be contained; a branch of red apricot blossoms reaches over the wall"?
What a wonderful moment.
Sun Fei savored it happily.
But just then, something happened to ruin the mood-
Clang!
The hall doors were pushed open.
The little blonde Loli Jima came charging in.
Completely unaware of how badly she had spoiled the mood, and paying no heed to Sun Fei's murderous glare, the little girl shouted breathlessly as soon as she entered, "Alexander, how's your plan coming along? Uncle Pierce can't hold on much longer..."
Damn!
Only then did Sun Fei remember the important matter at hand.
He searched all around and finally found the thing he had paid so dearly to obtain on the gilded bed where he had been lying earlier-the [Slight Healing Elixir].
Thank Diablo, he had actually succeeded in exchanging for this miraculous red potion, which in the Diablo World could instantly restore health and save someone as long as they were still alive.
Sun Fei picked up the little bottle and examined it closely.
It looked much like a small ink bottle. The liquid inside was bright red and about as thin as Coca-Cola.
There's so little of it. I'm afraid it won't be enough to save Pierce and two or three hundred wounded soldiers...
Sun Fei thought quickly as he examined it.
What should I do? I'll test its effects first. If this healing elixir really works as dramatically as it does in the Diablo World, maybe I can dilute it with clean water and still use it to keep them alive...
"What are you standing around for? Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry..." Without another word, the little Loli Jima grabbed Sun Fei and pulled him outside.
Angela, who had finally come to her senses, was just about to follow when Sun Fei suddenly turned and said to her, "Angela, go prepare two basins full of clean water for me. We might need them."
"What do you need clean water and basins for?" The little blonde Loli was as curious as a child discovering something new. Greatly puzzled, she asked, "I'll help Sister Angela prepare them. Alexander, hurry and check on Uncle Pierce. He's almost gone."
Sun Fei was speechless.
This little brat was so bossy. She really didn't treat the king like an authority figure.
Sun Fei arrived at the palace's front courtyard.
Wounded soldiers lay everywhere, their groans unceasing.
Most of them, however, had been well cared for and were in much better spirits than they had been at the infirmary that resembled a pigsty.
Besides the few physicians, some women of Chambord City had been organized to come and care for the wounded. His Majesty King Alexander's generosity made everyone understand that, at this perilous moment of national crisis, they all had to work together to resist the enemy. Otherwise, when the nest was overturned, no egg would remain intact. The day the city fell would be the day their homes and families were destroyed.
"His Majesty the king is here!"
When they saw Sun Fei arrive, everyone's eyes turned toward him.
Everything that had happened in the day's battle had spread rapidly through Chambord City. Many attributed the idiot king's sudden transformation into an unrivaled hero to the blessing of the God of War, and so Alexander naturally became the God of War's representative, receiving unprecedented respect and worship.
Everyone greeted Sun Fei excitedly.
Someone even knelt down and kissed Sun Fei's boots, giving him a terrible fright.
"Holy crap! Hey, hey, hey... you bit my foot... Whew! Looks like being an idol isn't so easy..." Even though Beast Sun usually loved showing off and being worshipped, such an enthusiastic reception was a little too much for him.
After finally squeezing his way out, he heard faint sounds of crying nearby.
Thanks for your support, brothers.
There was a mistake earlier with an equipment color-it should have been blue equipment, not green. Daozi apologizes to everyone. It's all been corrected, including at the beginning.
To be honest, Daozi is only a half-baked Diablo fan, so I may make some mistakes. I'll try to correct them gradually, and I've also made some changes to the Diablo World setting in the story to make up for my shortcomings.
Lastly, please add this to your favorites and give it red tickets. Thanks, everyone.
Thanks to the brothers who gave tips to support me. You've given Daozi plenty of motivation.