Fang Xunjiu was scolded so harshly that he couldn't lift his head. He wanted to argue, but realized that he really hadn't done anything… No! He did step forward to ask for information! He did make contributions! He wasn't slacking off, and he did hand out cards seriously!
However, this explanation was not accepted by the Vine demon sisters. Instead, they said, "You actually dare talk back," and immediately tied him up, saying that there was no time to wait for special training and that they would take him straight back to the basement of their family home in the Underworld later.
Fang Xunjiu sent a signal for help to Fang Yunjiu, only to see Fang Yunjiu holding back laughter until her face turned red.
Fang Xunjiu: ...
"General?" Mu Anqi looked at General Ji and still took the initiative to approach her. She carefully observed Ji Huaichu's expression, trying to read her. "I did okay, right?"
"Good." Ji Huaichu replied softly.
"Although the Black Mirror vortex is rated A+, I think it was two unnamed spirit ghosts on the Spirit Ghost Voyage causing trouble," Mu Anqi said, casually glancing in the direction of the little mermaid. The little mermaid was hiding behind those two ghosts, and since she had said upon returning that they had entered the Spirit Ghost Voyage game, it was clear that those two ghosts were related to the Spirit Ghost Voyage. "However, I should get an S-rank for this game, right, General?"
Ji Huaichu looked at the little money tree, whose face was full of a plea for praise and hugs. She lowered her eyes, trying her best to control her emotions, and softly said, "I'll reward you when we go back."
Several shattered mirror experts checked on their own players, and after they finished speaking, the planning ghost and responsible ghost for the Spirit Ghost Voyage hesitated before speaking: "Um… honored sirs, our game has also ended early. Shall we start the settlement now?"
"Wait a little longer," Ji Huaichu said. "Let Madame Red finish handling the Black Mirror vortex and see the results." After all, this Black Mirror vortex was mainly completed under Mu Anqi and her team's leadership, so they should at least know the outcome.
"Yes~ anyway, waiting a little won't make a difference," Bai Yulai lazily agreed, her tail brushing against Wu Sansheng's hand off and on. Yet Wu Sansheng stood expressionless beside her, completely unmoved.
The planning ghost didn't dare make a sound and silently waited for the Black Mirror vortex to disappear.
They didn't have to wait long. About ten minutes later, Madame Red appeared holding a red thread. The other end of the thread was tied to a faint, almost invisible ghostly figure, which looked extremely weak, clearly having undergone a thorough "lesson."
"Oh, everyone's waiting?" Madame Red hooked the red thread with her finger and pulled the nearly transparent ghost over, letting out a low laugh. "Take a look, this is that plastic person."
As she tugged the ghost, it almost dispersed entirely, collapsing weakly on the ground, barely clinging to life. It didn't speak of any ideal country or recruitment slogans; the entire ghost seemed to have lost all hope, lying on the ground like a stagnant pool.
"Can he still survive?" asked the elder Vine demon sister, unable to hold back.
"Alive," Madame Red glanced at the ghost. "He agreed to submit to me. From now on, he'll be the garbage collector in my city."
Mu Anqi: ???
What kind of operation is this? Using a ghost as a waste resource?
"Of course, but he can be lent out." Madame Red conjured a long tobacco pipe with a dark red base and golden dragon patterns. She flicked her finger, and smoke curled around it. "However, the Pipe Department will collect a fee."
Mu Anqi looked at Madame Red and had a feeling that this ghost had lived during the Republic of China… though maybe she was just biased, seeing someone in a qipao and thinking of that era.
"Little beauty, if you keep staring at me, your General might eat me up," Madame Red said, lifting her tobacco pipe and blowing a thin cloud of smoke toward Mu Anqi, chuckling. "Now that things here are settled, I'll be going back first."
With that, she nodded to the assembled ghost kings and demon kings, then disappeared.
She had likely teleported straight back to the city.
Mu Anqi felt her ears warm at Madame Red's parting words. She glanced back at General Ji, only to see her expressionless and say, "Don't listen to her nonsense."
"Ah, I know," Mu Anqi replied obediently. Her General was always the opposite of what she expressed when it came to her preferences.
However, upon hearing Mu Anqi's response, Ji Huaichu's expression stiffened for a brief moment. She quietly turned her head without saying anything, simply raising her hand to press Mu Anqi's shoulder and pulling her to her side.
The Black Mirror vortex was now resolved. The responsible ghost and the planning ghost hesitated, unsure whether to speak, and dared not open their mouths. It was the sword-cultivating female ghost who spoke: "Almost cleared, right? My disciple is exhausted. Let her go back and rest for a day; tomorrow I still need to teach her swordsmanship."
"Then let's settle it," the elder Qingteng demon sister responded, followed by the younger sister saying, "We also need to properly discipline this Fang Xunjiu kid."
"Go back and rest first," Ji Huaichu said. "Once you're rested, contact me anytime."
"All right~" Mu Anqi smiled, bidding farewell to her teammates one by one. Once they were all ready, the planning ghost and the responsible ghost submitted the game progress and contacted Nirvana Space.
[Game Cleared: Spirit Ghost Voyage. Level Evaluation in Progress——]
[Level Evaluation: S (The two unnamed ghosts say: We kneel to you!)]
[Passive Triggered! Earned Clearance Points: 2000]
[Drawing official player clearance reward items——]
[Ding! Congratulations, player has received [Compact and Exquisite Remote-Control Car]]
[Compact and Exquisite Remote-Control Car]: Fully remote-controlled within 800 meters, super 48-hour battery life, powerful motor! Sleek black with cool blue accents, equipped with horn and lights~
[Special Marker Detected!]
[Beep! Player must enter the next game within seven days! (Or the game will be forced after 168 hours)]
[Do you want to teleport back to Nirvana Space?]
Yes.
Back in Nirvana Space, Mu Anqi looked at the palm-sized "compact and exquisite" remote-control car and the equally tiny controller, feeling a wave of helplessness rise in her chest. Oh well… at least it has an 800-meter remote range—maybe she could use it to lure ghosts? Even if it's one-time use… it's still not bad.
Honestly… Mu Anqi had never expected her points to increase so quickly.
Player: Mu Anqi
Age at Death: 20
Ability: I've got plenty of money
Points: 4748.6
Transaction Serial Number: 64805368
Pipe Department: 12204
The feeling of sudden wealth overnight was always dreamy and strange. These points could practically be used for luxurious modifications!
Of course, that was just a thought. Mu Anqi still couldn't spend that many points at once, just to add lasers and flames to a Lighting Badge. First, she'd need to spend 400 points just to complete a double draw!
Mu Anqi rubbed her hands together, her face full of anticipation. Right now, she thought the "Sudden Wealth from Heaven" skill wasn't bad at all. If only she could change the gold ingots into a rain of gold knives! Pointing at the sky and shouting for money was still no match for Si Maomao, Fang Yunjiu, and the magic buff guy!
Draw! Draw! Double draw!
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining skill: Passive · I'm VIP! Detected that the player already has this skill; the I'm VIP passive skill has automatically upgraded.]
[Passive · I'm VIP]: Activates during transactions to receive a 30% discount. (Note: Does not activate when trading with players.)
[Ding! Congratulations on obtaining skill: Sudden Wealth from Heaven! Detected that the player already has this skill; the Sudden Wealth from Heaven skill has automatically upgraded.]
[Sudden Wealth from Heaven]: When you point at the sky and shout "Money, come!" a super-large ingot will fall at a designated location. (Note: 1. The ingot will automatically disappear after 20 minutes. 2. This skill can be used up to 10 times per day, refreshed at midnight. 3. A maximum of 5 ingots can exist simultaneously. 4. When 5 ingots are present on the field, a slow-effect aura is activated, slightly slowing targets within one meter of the ingots.)
Could this be what they call a turn of fortune?
Mu Anqi looked at the two skills. Although she was a little disappointed that the active and passive versions of Sudden Wealth from Heaven didn't both upgrade simultaneously, the 30% discount was still great! Who needs a bicycle? The five ingots now directly activating a slow debuff could be considered a qualitative improvement. Although it was only a slight slow, it still counted as a control skill—and a large-area slow at that.
A 30% discount practically encouraged her to go out and spend! From now on, meals would cost only 3.5 points, and buying bullets in bulk would save her a lot of money.
Mu Anqi enjoyed the 30% discount and spent 560 points to expand her storage ring again, upgrading it to four cubic meters. Then she went out, taking 20 anti-ghost bullet cards, 20 anti-demon bullet cards, and 4 sets of ordinary bullet cards. She browsed the weapon shop, and in the end, gritted her teeth and bought the special □□ and special hand grenade produced by Nirvana Space. Each of these items originally cost 30 points, could affect both ghosts and demons, and came with special damage. She didn't buy too many—three of each type, just to test the waters. [T/N: it was censored in the raws, I can only guess it might be gun? Or some kinda weapon.]
After this round of shopping, the discounted total came to 700 points. She then went to the player stall to restock 10 smoke grenades. As for ordinary hand grenades, Mu Anqi still had plenty, so she didn't replenish them this time.
After this big shopping spree, she still had 3385.6 points left, which made Mu Anqi sigh in amazement. Sometimes, earning points was just this easy.
Mu Anqi had completed six games in the Shattered Mirror Continent; just two more and she could unlock the special store. Therefore, she didn't plan to buy any powerful weapons with these 3,000 points yet, and instead intended to visit two more Shattered Mirror Continent instance to check things out.
Even without rebirth, the dimensional travel vouchers certainly wouldn't be cheap—definitely not something ordinary players could afford. Mu Anqi thought silently, but the price couldn't be too outrageous either; otherwise, ordinary players would find it unacceptable. It had to be somewhere between outrageous and just barely attainable with effort…
For example, 5,000 points? Although clearing an S-rank only required five games, for a normal B-rank clearance, that would still be quite an ambitious goal.
Mu Anqi pondered this, but there wasn't anything she particularly wanted. She then turned back to her room, took a proper bath, and lay down on the bed to sleep peacefully.
S-rank… tomorrow at the General's mansion, should she go for a hug first? Or a hug first?
What exactly were her feelings for General Ji… and what did she feel for her? Mu Anqi thought about it, not knowing when she would have an answer.
She herself was still naïve and half-understood emotions, and General Ji wasn't exactly straightforward either. Although she sometimes acted contrary to her words… that didn't mean every time was just pretense. When it came to feelings, Mu Anqi would be extra careful, especially since this was a relationship involving the ghosts of the Shattered Mirror Continent…
Sigh.