Lu Guan

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The Ming Court, Huanglong.

At the entrance to the Lu family estate.

An elegant, richly dressed beauty stood before the steps, gazing reluctantly at the young man in front of her.

She raised a delicate hand to straighten his collar, her fingertips lingering on his shoulder for a moment longer, her eyes full of reluctance.

"Guan'er~" The beauty's voice was lovely, brushing past the young man's ears as gently as a spring breeze. "When you get to Stardust Academy, remember to write to your mother and let me know you're safe~"

"Oh, come on~ It's not my first time traveling far from home. What are you so worried about?" Lu Guan looked helplessly at his mother. "The academy's a place to study, not some dragon's den or tiger's lair..."

"Even so... I'm still very worried." The beauty's name was Yu Lan, a noblewoman from a family of vocal musicians. After marrying Lu Yi, the head of the Lu family, she had become the Lu family's current matriarch and was also Lu Guan's birth mother.

"Whether it's you or your two older female cousins... none of you can sit still..." Yu Lan said worriedly. "You're my only child. If anything were to happen to you..."

"What would your father and I do?"

Lu Guan shrugged carelessly. "So why don't you give me a little brother or sister while you're both still young? Then you wouldn't have to spend all day worrying about me alone..."

"Scoundrel!" A stern male voice came from inside the gate, and a man in scholar's robes slowly walked out. It was Lu Yi, the head of the Lu family. "You spend all day spouting such frivolous nonsense. You're going to disgrace the entire Lu family all by yourself!"

"Why are you yelling at him?" Yu Lan immediately came to Lu Guan's defense. "Guan'er has been lively since he was little. He's nothing like you, sitting at the government office reading documents all day without even finding time for your own son."

"Alas, a doting mother spoils her child. Just keep indulging him!" Seeing his wife's attitude, Lu Yi could hardly say anything more. He snorted, swept his sleeve, and left.

"Don't mind your father. He's just too proud to admit it..." Yu Lan told Lu Guan. "Despite what he says, he's actually quite worried about you."

"Anyway... Guan'er, you must take good care of yourself once you reach the academy. If you run into any trouble, tell the family."

"I know, I know!" Lu Guan waved his hand. "You should go back inside. I'm an adult now, and I want to travel the rest of the way on my own."

"All right, all right... Guan'er has grown up." Yu Lan looked gratified. "In that case, I won't keep nagging you..."

With that, she turned and went inside without the slightest reluctance.

As the servants closed the estate's gates, Lu Guan prepared to turn and leave for the docks, where he would board a ship to the academy.

But the moment he turned to leave, laughter came from inside the gates, as though celebrating his departure.

Lu Guan's mouth twitched. He turned back and pushed open the gates.

The laughter stopped abruptly. Before him were his mother, weeping her eyes out, and his father, who was comforting her.

"...Is there something else?" Lu Yi asked with a frown.

"...No."

As soon as Lu Guan closed the gates, the laughter rang out again.

"...?"

"Guan'er, did you forget something?" Yu Lan asked.

"...No."

The gates closed for the third time, and the laughter inside continued as before.

"Enough! You two have been laughing behind my back this whole time, and you haven't stopped once! At least wait until I'm far away before you laugh!"

"Guan'er... what are you saying?" Yu Lan clutched her chest, looking heartbroken. "You're traveling so far from home this time. I'm worried sick. How could I possibly laugh?"

At that, Lu Guan sighed, dropped his luggage, and clenched both hands into fists, making a gesture in front of him.

"...Furube, Yura... mmph!"

"...No need, no need." After hearing only half of it, Lu Yi broke out in a cold sweat. He darted forward at a speed no civil official should have possessed and clapped a hand over Lu Guan's mouth.

"The thing is... Guan'er, you know this yourself... your resonance ability really is... too unusual..." Yu Lan stepped forward to explain. "Over the years, just cleaning up after the things you've done has nearly exhausted your father."

"After you received your acceptance letter, you offered to go study at the academy. Your father and I were overjoyed. How could we be sad?"

"So you do know..." Lu Guan slapped his father's hand away irritably. "Then don't pretend you're reluctant to see me go..."

After boarding the ship, Lu Guan stood on deck, watching the continent recede until it sank below the horizon. Only then did he return to his cabin.

Lying on the bed, Lu Guan's thoughts churned as he recalled the events that had unfolded since he came to Solaris.

Yes, in a sense, Lu Guan was both a native of Solaris and not truly a native.

He had originally come from Earth, and an accident had caused him to transmigrate here.

He had even transmigrated as a fetus.

It all started that day, when he logged in to clear his dailies...

After clearing his dailies and finishing Nightmare's Nest, Lu Guan suddenly noticed that his Echo inventory was almost full.

He happened to have quite a few promising pieces, so he decided to tune them.

Sonata effect: Tidebreaking Courage

COST 3 Sentry Construct +25

Fusion damage bonus 30.0%

ATK 100

Crit. damage 21.0%

Crit. rate 10.5%

Energy regen 12.4%

Resonance liberation damage bonus 11.6%

ATK 11.6%

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho! All five substats are useful, and they're even max rolls! Something this good could be a family heirloom!"

The sudden surprise filled Lu Guan with affection, and he immediately decided to log off Wuthering Waves and head to an H-site to find a Huanglong masterpiece.

But just as he was about to quit Wuthering Waves, a pop-up appeared in the middle of his computer screen.

[Young man, do you desire power?]

Gah! Some security manager you are. How could you still let this kind of spam pop up?

Don't you know it's rude to disturb a captain who's about to take off?

Lu Guan immediately spat out a response.

"No, I desire boobs!"

With that, he moved his mouse to close the spam message, but he couldn't find the close button anywhere.

Just then, the message on the pop-up changed.

[Then... as you wish.]

And just like that, Lu Guan kicked the bucket, dying of cardiac arrest. When he woke up, he had been reborn in the womb of Yu Lan, the Lu family matriarch.

His name in this life was also Lu Guan.

Though the name sounded somewhat suggestive at first because of a homophone, that wasn't what it meant. His father, Lu Yi, had chosen it for its profound meaning.

Lu was the family name, and Guan was the given name. It meant to stand on the earth, have a broad outlook and a clear mind, and observe the world.

As a senior official in the agriculture department, Lu Yi naturally hoped his son would be as mature and steady as he was. Once he came of age and completed his studies, he could join the Ming Court and work for the people's welfare.

That said... Lu Guan's behavior since birth had left much to be desired.

As a transmigrator, Lu Guan had a "conquest system" bound to him. As long as he successfully raised the favorability of a playable Wuthering Waves character to the required level, he could obtain a reward.

But that wasn't the point... the reason lay with him.

When Lu Guan was born, a delicate fragrance had suddenly filled the delivery room, faintly reminiscent of sandalwood, and had lingered for a long time.

At the same time, zither strings sounded on their own, pages turned, brushes and ink gave off a fragrance, and a black bird came from the west, seemingly celebrating Lu Guan's birth.

These were unusual phenomena that could only possibly appear with an innate resonator.

Lu Guan's resonance ability was called "Command All Things with Words."

As long as he said the right words at the right time, he could obtain the corresponding buff or summon whatever was supposed to appear.

Simply put: since the mood has already been set... why not?

At first, it sounded useless, but that wasn't the case.

His resonance ability was similar to Jinhsi's in that both had tremendous potential for growth. If it developed further, it might even reach the level where his words became law.

As for the development of Lu Guan's ability at present... it wasn't so much a difficult journey as no progress at all.

Still, thanks to his parents' excellent genes, Lu Guan had already grown quite good-looking by the age of eight. Back then, he had planned to use his cute appearance to try to complete some system missions...

At the Ming Court at the time, Qiuyuan, one of the available conquest targets, had yet to join the Ming Court's Peacekeeping Bureau. Changli, meanwhile, held a high position and rarely went out; Lu Guan had only seen her a few times when he went to the government office to find his father.

As for other people... it wasn't as though there were none.

Suisui and Yangyang, the two sisters, were about his age. Children could naturally play together often, so by all rights, they should have been excellent conquest targets.

Unfortunately, those two were his older female cousins.

Lu Guan had also tried to raise their favorability through familial affection, but unfortunately, the system had shown no response.

He guessed that familial affection wasn't counted by the system, which meant that Lu Guan's system was currently about as useful as... a log.

Or rather, after binding itself to him at birth, the system had gone silent. No matter how Lu Guan called for it, it never responded, and it didn't even have the most basic chat function.