CHAPTER 980: CHAPTER 977 · "LI MINGYUE LINE · RELIEF

"Ding Dong!"

[You have discovered the Immortal’s Talisman - "New Build."]

...

Su Ming’an rubbed the wooden plaque in his hand.

He had already moved a chair to sit opposite Li Mingyue, watching as Li Mingyue wrote down the instant death rules.

Voices of female students came from the outer hall; they had already finished school and were praying before dinner.

"What authority does this Immortal’s Talisman represent?" Su Ming’an rubbed the butterfly wooden plaque: "Is its name ’New Build’?"

Li Mingyue gently set down his pen: "It can create a small space and drag people into it, hence the name ’New Build’."

Su Ming’an stared at the wooden plaque in his hand: "The Immortal’s Talisman is indeed powerful. If you constantly drag people into small spaces and trigger instant death rules, it’s easy to destroy someone."

Li Mingyue extended his hand, fingers pressing on the wooden plaque: "Very few people hold the Immortal’s Talisman, most are still hidden within the relics, and I only obtained one by chance."

Su Ming’an was somewhat reluctant to let go—this thing was too strong. He looked at Li Mingyue with a gaze of desire, and Li Mingyue saw such an expression, somewhat helplessly, slightly withdrew his strength: "The Immortal’s Talisman recognizes its master, my name is already engraved on it, even if you take it, you can’t use it against the enemy."

Su Ming’an said: "Since I can’t have this one, give me more good things, Godfather..."

He hurriedly sought to gain more from a good-hearted person he caught by chance, only then could he quickly develop.

Li Mingyue placed the rule book under the ventilated window, watching the ink gradually dry. The distant sunset gradually fell, and in the far distance, the fire was extinguishing, the sky still retained a crimson hue.

His profile was infused with red-purple twilight, like a vividly colored oil painting.

The cross reflected fragmented light, piercing Su Ming’an’s eyes, he slightly blinked. This scene was beautiful, like a rising colorful bubble.

Initially, Li Mingyue’s first impression of Su Ming’an was a pure white stone sculpture devoid of emotions, no emotional fluctuations regardless of what he did. But now Su Ming’an realized that Li Mingyue was not without emotions; rather, his gentleness and indulgence were reserved for specific people.

But in the Louyue Nation, State Preceptor Li Mingyue gave Su Ming’an a different feeling; the State Preceptor really seemed emotionless, whether witnessing the Eldest Prince being drawn blood or suppressing the exotic Bai Yu, he watched everything with a lofty viewpoint, his posture akin to a true Immortal.

To this day, Su Ming’an couldn’t confirm the connection between the Godfather and the State Preceptor. Could it be that the Dream Patrol game is projecting reality? Deities reproduce games based on reality, finding ways to dispel the black mist in reality?

Su Ming’an said: "Right, Godfather, I spent a night in the Old Day Church before, and someone tried to assassinate me."

Li Mingyue glanced sideways.

Su Mingan recounted his experience. At that time, he was playing "Louyue Nation," about to arrive at Penglai Fairy Island, when suddenly, someone attempted to assassinate him in reality. After losing consciousness, he didn’t die; instead, he returned to "Louyue Nation" and couldn’t exit. He only managed to overwrite the event by committing suicide to trigger a true death rebound.

In Su Ming’an’s narration, he omitted the part about his death rebound, mentioning only the assassination attempt. He subtly inquired if dying in reality truly counts as dying.

Li Mingyue pondered for a moment and replied: "Dying in reality does not count as true death."

Su Ming’an was surprised: "It doesn’t?"

Li Mingyue said: "In certain circumstances, people, after dying, enter the game and become local characters. As for the principle, I cannot explain."

Su Ming’an suddenly understood. What Li Mingyue described was exactly what he experienced.

"You continue reading. I’ll send you to the open relics tonight." Li Mingyue turned away.

"Where are you going?"

"To distribute relief supplies in the city." Li Mingyue’s voice paused: "...You need not go, you’re no longer suited for this job."

The white-clothed Bishop left, leaving only Su Ming’an in the room.

Outside the window, white doves flew by, and Li Mingyue, alone, unpacked the bread bag, distributing food and medical supplies to the refugees in turn. The spring snow formed by Bai Yu fell, leaving no other boy’s shadow behind him.

Su Ming’an watched outside the window for a moment. He crawled under the table, flipped out a Dream Patrol Helmet. This should be Li Mingyue’s Dream Patrol Helmet.

He put on the helmet and logged into the "Young Girl’s Dream Plan," where two accounts were available for login: his own and Su Rin’s. It seems the authentication standards for the Dream Patrol game are broad, capable of certifying both body and soul.

Su Ming’an logged into Su Rin’s account, wanting to see what kind of child Su Rin could raise.

Entering the game, Su Ming’an looked down and found himself on an airship, with the badge of a Royal Engineer on his chest, in the distance was the endlessly blue sea.

...Su Rin indeed, in every game goes to great lengths to find the feeling of home, relentlessly restoring it to the maximum extent.

Su Ming’an opened the information interface for Su Rin’s child and was stunned.

...

[Name: Xiao Hei (Age: 16 and a half)

Occupation: Clergy, Minstrel

Physique: 248

Force: 282

Wisdom: 186

Emotional Intelligence: 173

Good and Evil: 10 (Evil)

Faith: 0

Mood: 80% (Extremely Happy)

Prestige: 2931802

Martial Arts: The Way of Attack (3000), The Way of Defense (3000), The Way of Healing (3000), The Way of Method (3000).

Learning: Music Arts (5000), Chess Arts (1000), Calligraphy (1000), Drawing Skill (1000), Dance (3000), Cooking (1000), Tailoring (1000), Medicine (1000), Engineering (1000), Mathematics (1000), Literature (2000), Etiquette (3000), Military (3000), Eloquence (1000), Theology (5000), Mysticism (1000), Archaeology (1000)

Darkness: 100

Divinity: 100

Skill: Master-level Music Arts, Master-level Theology, Expert-level Dance, Expert-level Military, Fifth Rank Talisman Family, etc.

Overall Evaluation: SS+

Favorability: 0 (Stranger)

Note: You and Xiao Hei are in a mutual cooperation relationship, not needing you to nurture him; he is already strong enough and could even be said to be the most powerful child in this world.]

...

Su Ming’an was stunned by these terrifying values, feeling the disparity of the world.

The highest value Alice had was only 500 points in cooking. Any random skill from little Black could crush her. If even a minstrel like little Black was so powerful, how could Alice be fit to be the Goddess? What went wrong in her growth path? Or was she just never meant to become strong?

Su Ming’an pushed the door open and stepped out; this airship was Su Rin’s private airship, docked above the Steam Country. Just by lowering his head, he could see the street of the detective’s house. It seemed Su Rin had always been staying above the detective’s house.

After all, this was Su Rin’s account, Su Ming’an looked for a while and then logged out.

Switch account.

Su Ming’an opened his eyes and smelled the fragrance of black tea; the spring heart cookies on the table radiated heat. Turning his head, he saw Alice lying on the bed.

He touched Alice’s forehead; she had a fever.

"Detective... sir." Alice said softly, "Welcome home... I’ve been sick these past few days..."

It had been half a year since she last saw Su Ming’an.

"You lie down, I’ll go buy medicine." Su Ming’an immediately got up.

He went to the pharmacy on the street but found the pharmacies were all locked. Only a few scattered people were on the street, while traces of cannon fire appeared on the edge of the city walls; the flames of war had already reached here.

He went to the Royal City to see Princess Avetina, only to be told the Princess had already gone to another country to seek allies, and the remaining royal family members were prepared to fight to the death. The war situation was extremely tense.

Su Ming’an looked longingly at the scenery of this kingdom; he actually quite liked this mechanical-style country. Whether the iron-gray motorbikes or the gears rotating on the roofs of houses—they all had a very distinctive characteristic. But once the flames of war reached here, all the exquisite artworks would be burned to ashes. Having experienced massive civilization wars, he knew war only brought destruction.

He walked past the red-light alley where he first met Alice, which no longer had ladies standing by the street; shards of bottles were scattered all over the ground, only blood-red seals could be seen.

The plague worsened, and now the only place with people in town was probably the church. Refugees huddled together like rats at the church.

Passing the plaza fountain, Su Ming’an saw many parents hanging peace charms with their children. That old tree already showed a heavy and drooping posture, tens of thousands of peace charms hung on its branches, carrying too many people’s wishes—not knowing when it would collapse. Su Ming’an tried to find the peace charm he and Alice hung half a year ago, but it was already unseen.

...

[Girl: What did you write?]

[Detective: I hope you live well, still as Alice, not as Taslyche.]

...

Su Ming’an silently gazed at the large tree whose leaf colors were already indistinctly visible; he didn’t buy any fever-reducing medicine. During these days he wasn’t around, Alice must have been sick too; how did she manage to get through it?

Lying alone in bed, coughing, changing her ice pack herself. With no one to take care of her, many of her friends were already missing.

He walked back home, finding an old man standing at the door. The old man appeared even older compared to four years ago, with white hair covering his head.

"...It’s you, detective." Morgan turned and handed a box of medicine to Su Ming’an: "Take this, fever medicine, I stored it myself."

Su Ming’an tightly grasped the medicine box; this was indeed a timely relief: "Thank you."

Morgan laughed: "I watched Alice grow up; she’s nearly sixteen now. This kid has always been stubborn. I once told her she didn’t have much talent for fighting, yet she insisted on learning swordsmanship."

Su Ming’an sighed inwardly. Alice actually liked playing the violin, but because he asked her to learn swordsmanship, nothing else seemed to matter in her eyes.

Morgan said: "I found it very strange at the time. I told her, Alice, you’re really not suited for combat; you have a naturally weak physique, can’t keep up with understanding, and your mental state isn’t suitable for learning talisman arts. Old man like me can teach you etiquette and conversation; you could become a court musician in the Royal City, or marry a noble and live comfortably for a lifetime."

"But she shook her head and said she just wanted to become stronger."

"She started making tea for me every day, bringing snacks, running around, helping me with errands. I couldn’t resist; this child’s heart was too good—even the wild pigeons passing by had to be fed by her. I softened and began teaching her swordsmanship."

"After four years, there’s some semblance of it. As to whether she can self-preserve in war, it’s really up for debate."

"Sometimes I ask her, why do you learn swordsmanship? You clearly don’t enjoy wielding a sword, and so many people call you a muscle girl—what are you striving for? She said she wanted to protect her detective someday, so she must become stronger. This child... always had you in her heart."

Su Ming’an listened in silence. He didn’t know about Alice’s growth experiences; he was just a visitor seen once every six months, unable to accompany her through her long years. Yet, she always regarded him as the best person.

The old man smoked: "I don’t know why you adopted her. You, this young man, have a mysterious background. I’m a retired Light Knight, yet I couldn’t uncover your background, detective you should have some ability to take her away sooner; this country won’t last half a year."

Su Ming’an shook his head. His answer was the same as Alice’s; she would become the Goddess, and he couldn’t escape.

The old man sighed: "Since that’s the case, I won’t persuade further."

He drew a sword from his back and handed it to Su Ming’an: "This is the sword I used before retiring. Give this to Alice. After teaching her for four years, it’s time for graduation—a farewell gift from a teacher."

This was a beautiful sword, its hilt set with rubies and engraved with royal patterns. Su Ming’an took the sword, its weight making his hands sink slightly.

...

[Morgan Maxey’s Royal Knight Sword (Red Level, Evolvable)]

[Origin: "Girl’s Dream Plan"]

[Durability: 3/3]

[Active Skills (Oath of Victory): Summons the sword spirit silhouette of Morgan Maxey, fully exerting the power of his eighteen sword techniques. Each use reduces durability by one; once durability is exhausted, the sword blade shatters.]

[Passive Skills (Royal Dignity): Holding this sword, civilians will fear your dignity. You will no longer belong to civilians.]

...

Su Ming’an looked up: "Where are you going?"

He had a deep impression of this enthusiastic, kind, and talkative old man. When he first entered the game, it was the old man who acted as the novice guide. For the past four years, it was also this old man who helped take care of Alice.

"There comes a time in life when one must part."

Under the sunset, the old man flicked off his ash: "I can’t handle the fuss anymore, just want to hide from the war. I’ve never married, no children accompanying me; I’ll return to the countryside, raise some chickens, keep some dogs, enjoy a happy and peaceful retirement."

Su Ming’an watched his departing figure, suddenly saying:

"...Retired Light Knights, can they have such a happy and peaceful life?"

The old man’s steps paused:

"Indeed, at least I can."

"Are you reminded of someone, young man?"

The old man’s figure gradually blended into the sunset.