Chapter 53 - Debts Owed must be Repaid, Justice Lost must be Reclaimed!
After the simulated duel, it's time for the written test.
Melonica, holding a light pen, stared at the questions on the tablet with a frown, contemplating the solutions. Her gaze revealed a seriousness and focus, completely immersing herself in the sea of questions.
She didn't ask, and Luo Bai wouldn't answer voluntarily.
He blankly stared at the umbrella she always carried.
Even indoors, she needed to use the umbrella just because the lights were on, which seemed extremely inconvenient.
"Why did you come to the East?" Luo Bai looked at the umbrella with a hint of confusion and curiosity.
A girl crossing half a planet to get here, he wondered what she had gone through.
Melonica paused, tightening her grip on the pen, and gave a bitter, self-deprecating smile.
"I was kicked out."
She took a deep breath, exhaled, and forced a smile despite the sadness, trying to appear strong.
"They don't want me at home."
"No one in the West dares to take in the abandoned daughter of the Margulies family."
"Well, that's not really a big deal." Melonica pursed her lips, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I can earn money on my own."
"I'm just worried about my grandmother."
"Many people covet her blood..."
"She's really good to me, but she's old now and her mind is a bit daft, always calling me "sister"."
Luo Bai listened with some fascination. He initially thought she was a rebellious noble girl who had run away from home, but it turned out she had been driven out.
He's inwardly crying about the stuff he loaned to this poor girl though. She still has a million gold points to pay back.
"So, what are your plans?"
"Spend a few years at the academy here, then work, get married, and change your citizenship?"
He was a bit concerned about her career plans since it related to how the situation would develop.
"No!" Melonica's expression changed, her eyes flashing with a hint of fierce light, her fangs bared, as if she had turned into a different person.
"You... You're the one who told me this..."
"Debts owed must be repaid!"
"Justice lost must be reclaimed!"
"To the Margulies family, I will definitely return!"
Luo Bai was a bit confused: "Hmm? When did I ever say that to you?"
Melonica fell silent at the question, her head bowed, her expression unreadable.
Seeing that she didn't want to talk, he didn't press further and glanced at the supercomputer ring; it was time to open the shop.
"Well then, if there's nothing else, I'll head out," Luo Bai said, standing up and preparing to leave.
With a sudden rustle, Melonica, not looking at him, had her face on the table, suddenly raised her hand and grabbed his clothes.
"Anything else?" Luo Bai asked, puzzled.
"No," Melonica let go, her voice a bit hoarse. "No matter what sounds you hear tonight, don't open the door."
Hiss...
Luo Bai took a deep breath; her words sounded somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite recall why.
"Alright."
He replied dismissively, walked outside, and received the card-making materials from the drone.
He then went to the empty restroom.
Summoning the wooden door leading to
Meanwhile, not long after Luo Bai left.
Melonica, lying on the table, slowly lifted her head, yawned, her eyes a bit bleary and confused.
"Hah! I——- I actually fell asleep?"
She looked around in a daze, as if searching for something: "Hmm? Where is he?"
"Never mind, fuahhh——— I'm so sleepy."
......….
A land surrounded by waters under the dark night, only illuminated by white moonlight.
Luo Bai burst into the shop, excitedly shouting:
"Teacher Tony, I'm here!"
Teacher Tony: "Meow!!!"
The meow was a bit hoarse, with the cat showing its claws and fur standing on end, clearly startled.
"Haha," Luo Bai laughed unkindly.
"Here, try some isekai cat food."
As he spoke, he took out a small bag of premium cat food from the supercomputer ring and poured it into the cat bowl.
Teacher Tony glanced at it, eyes glowing.
With lightning speed, it pounced on the cat bowl.
Its frenzied actions...
It was as if after 800 years, he got to eat the food from his hometown again.
"Eat slowly, I'm not going to fight you for it this time," Luo Bai squatted down and watched silently.
Every time he reached towards the cat bowl, Teacher Tony would continuously warn him with a "grrr—" sound.
"Did anything happen in the shop while I was gone?" Luo Bai smiled slightly, standing up and asking the air.
Soon, a mechanical and cold voice from the program answered:
[During the closed period, neither living beings nor undead can enter the Alterlife Shop.]
"Alright, let's settle myself..."
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Before Luo Bai could finish his sentence, loud knocking sounds came from the wooden door outside the shop.
Thousands of miles away, at the Level 4 Fortress –
"Hurry up..."
"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Hurry it up..."
"If you don't come out soon, I'll put this in the experiment report!"
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Every time Qi Qian Kong struck the bathroom door, the knocking on the Rebirth Shop's wooden door synchronized.
"Program, can I close up the shop?" Luo Bai asked the air again.
[Of course.]
"I need to focus on card-making tonight, so block it off."
[Blocking successful.]
The knocking on the wooden door outside stopped, and the only sound remaining in the air was Teacher Tony chewing on his cat food.
"Let's start making cards!"
Luo Bai rubbed his hands together, eager to begin.
At first, he used C-card materials for practice.
Not surprisingly...
Exploded, successful, exploded...
An hour passed.
He used up 20 C-card materials.
After useful insights gained from repeated practice, he was getting skilled.
Luo Bai turned his attention to the Ex-Card
"Believe in yourself!"
Encouraging himself, he started channeling.
With a whoosh, his soul traversed through time and space once again.
He fell into the deep sea, just like before.
Ruins, sunken ships, a damaged golden mecha, and an erected Sacred Stele.
[Help us.]
The familiar child's voice sounded again.
Luo Bai floated in front of the Sacred Stele as before, lightly touching the engravings, but this time there was no reaction.
"Boom!"
All of a sudden, a loud explosion rocked the seabed, churning up intense currents that scattered the water monsters.
"Boom!"
As a huge crimson figure was knocked to the ground, another thunderous roar followed, revealing a gigantic sea monster as tall as a mountain.
It was covered in thick blue scales, with an odd serpentine body. It moved through the water, its wings stirring up turbulent currents. Its deep green eyes were wide open, and its fangs exuded ferocity and wildness.
The red mecha that was knocked to the ground by it was
Phoenix was heavily damaged, with its shoulder completely wrecked, exposing the complex and dense linkages and turbine engines inside. Sparks flew from its surface, and its control system was on the brink of collapse.
Luo Bai's expression tightened as he entered the Phoenix's cockpit in his soul state. The interior was chaotic, with shattered control panels and cracked screens scattered everywhere. Sparks flew, electric arcs danced, and thick smoke and the smell of burning filled the air.
The pilot was impaled by a metal pipe, barely clinging to life.
Luo Bai floated towards the pilot and took a closer look, only to discover...
The pilot with bleeding eyes... looked exactly like him!
[Help us.]
That ethereal child's voice sounded in Luo Bai's mind again.