Xyrin Empire
Chapter 371 - Chapter 371 Chapter 371 In Front of the Barbecue Stall

Chapter 371: Chapter 371: In Front of the Barbecue Stall Chapter 371: Chapter 371: In Front of the Barbecue Stall “Science Side versus Magic Side–what does that have to do with the Divine Realm?”

As soon as these words were spoken, Shen Lie Huozhi almost passed out from lack of breath.

“Shen Lie, in your view, what are the fundamental goals of science and magic respectively?”

Seeing the conflicted expression on the face of the Girl Saint before me, I suddenly felt overtaken by a teaching spirit.

“The fundamental goals of science and magic?” Shen Lie clearly hadn’t considered this question before, and thus a bewildered expression appeared on her face. “If we are talking about developing the power of magic to its limit, it would probably be… God’s domain… right?”

“Science is the same,” I said, shaking my finger in front of the increasingly puzzled Shen Lie. “Although the terms differ, the Magic Side calls it the ‘mysteries of God,’ while people from the Science Side are more accustomed to referring to it as various truths, laws, science, and magic. They are all tools used by mortals to explore the ultimate truths of the world, meaning the distinction between science and magic is based entirely on the methods of seeking the truth.”

“Your teachings are very enlightening!”

Shen Lie immediately bowed respectfully.

“So, to us, the difference and opposition between science and magic are meaningless–for we are the truth.

“As the ultimate answer, there is no need to worry about the process of solving, as the ultimate truth, there is no need to concern about the methods used to seek this truth. You might think of Angels as mythical creatures, manifestations of the Magic Side’s power, but in reality, the root of this world has nothing to do with magic or science. It simply exists, as the foundation of this world, from the beginning to the end. Even if all the powers of science and magic in the world were to disappear, the truth of this world would not change in the slightest. So I say, in the eyes of ‘God’ who represents the truth, science and magic are the same–they are tools created by mortals, used as codebooks to understand the world, and the power of gods is above any form of power from science or magic. Do you see?”

Shen Lie was silent for a long time and finally spoke slowly: “Although I understand, and your teachings seem irrefutable, it’s still… really hard to accept.”

“That’s true,” I nodded. “And most of the Angels are indeed tech idiots (that fool Alaya now even has to refer to the manual for ages just to use a communicator!), after all, you have been taught since childhood that science and magic are absolutely contrary, which is why the humans of this world are still at a primitive stage of civilization.”

“Is that so…”

Shen Lie said softly, seemingly unable to accept this contradiction to her lifelong beliefs momentarily, just as she mentioned, although the theory seemed irrefutable, accepting it was quite difficult.

“Alright, let’s not think about these headache-inducing matters anymore,” seeing Shen Lie about to fall into the paradoxical thinking of a philosopher, and feeling my stomach protesting ever more intensely, I decisively chose to shift my focus. “Stay for dinner, and taste my sister’s cooking–what is that look supposed to mean?”

Shen Lie looked at me with a strange expression and finally muttered softly after a moment, “Do Angels usually… cook as well?”

“Just take everything as normal! Moreover, we are here on vacation, even if experiencing life, we’ve got to live like humans, right?”

As I finished speaking, an energetic voice came from the door: “Director! Commander Zuotian Tsuruya reporting!!”

I turned around just in time to see Zuotian Tsuruya, still dressed in the Imperial Army uniform, standing at the door with a mischievous smile, adorably saluting me… damn it! It was a Nazi salute again!

“Ah–ouch!”

Hit squarely on the forehead by my decisive bonk, Zuotian Tsuruya held her head and then looked up with a 45-degree angelic gaze–well, looking up at the Girl Saint who came over out of curiosity. Helplessly, from all aspects, Shen Lie Huozhi was too captivating.

“Eh? Do we have a guest?” Zuotian Tsuruya straightened up immediately and bowed politely, “Hello, nice to meet you, I am Zuotian Tsuruya, an Ability User here for Ability Development experiments, please take care of me.”

“Oh, hello…” Shen Lie Huozhi paused, then hesitantly spoke, “Nice to meet you, Shen Lie Huozhi, I am… well, I am here as a…”

It seemed she really was someone incapable of lying; Shen Lie Huozhi struggled for a moment, finally pointing at me, “I am his servant!”

I suddenly couldn’t catch my breath: “Servant my ass!”

But it was already too late, Zuotian Tsuruya’s gaze turned strangely at me as she drew out a meaningful “Oh~~~~.”

I hurriedly changed the subject: “By the way, Shen Lie, I have something for you.”

Despite this clumsy attempt at changing the topic, Shen Lie immediately focused her attention on my hand.

What I took out from my personal space was a nearly two-meter-long silver-white long sword.

The style of the sword was a bit odd, with a long, parallel blade like that of a Tang sword, but it was slightly wider than usual and had a more pronounced curve. The hilt’s guard was rather narrow and the sheath was engraved with a string of complex runes; based on its style alone, it was really hard to identify what kind of weapon it was.

Of course, this was not something designed by humans, nor was it a ceremonial saber used by Xyrin Commanders, but rather a replica of some sort of weapon brought from the Divine Realm by Dingdang.

A weapon truly made by the Divine Race was difficult for even me to handle, let alone for Shen Lie. This sword was a replica version of a weapon commonly used by the royal Blade Guards of the Divine Race. It had been modified to some extent to fit human usage habits, using the highest strength alloy that the Xyrin Apostles could synthesize and mixed with a trace amount of Star Gold Stone powder. Although it was nowhere near the class of Divine Realm weapons, considering its sharpness, anti-magic ability, and various other attributes, it was already considered a divine weapon unimaginable to humans.

Initially, I had made it to satisfy my otaku-like fascination for cold weapons. Once I actually got this thing, I realized it was useless for anything but decorative purposes. Surprisingly, now it ended up benefiting Shen Lie.

“Last time I accidentally broke your sword,” I handed the long sword to a slightly dazed Shen Lie, “I felt quite bad about it. This is a replica made based on Divine Realm weapons, it should suit your usage habits.”

Shen Lie hesitated a bit as she took the long sword, weighed it slightly, and immediately revealed a surprised and delighted expression, but still embarrassedly said, “This… gift is too valuable, I…”

“Just take it, I don’t like owing people anything,” I pushed Shen Lie’s hand back without much explanation, “This sword not only is sharp and durable, but it also has a special feature: it can destroy any form of magic power, and even directly cut through Saint Level pure magic attacks. If used against a mage, even an ordinary person could easily win. So, I named it Lawbreaker, but if you don’t like this name, you can change it.”

“No, I really like it!”

Shen Lie replied loudly with a surprised expression on her face. The last time her beloved sword was broken by me, she had been quite despondent for days, only swallowing that sadness because the person responsible was someone she respects. She didn’t expect to receive such a huge “compensation” today. If not for considering etiquette, she would probably rush out to find a deserted place to test the sword right now–well, Stier’s magic level is decent, perhaps it could be used to test this sword’s anti-magic properties…

Shen Lie’s visit was clearly not just to update me, it seemed she also had some other mission, probably some troublesome task assigned by a certain Fox Woman to keep her subordinate busy. Seeing Shen Lie’s reluctant face, I could guess as much, but since she didn’t say anything, I didn’t ask. After lunch, the Girl Saint, slightly cheered up by receiving the precious sword, got up to leave.

The meddling Roman Orthodox, truly troublesome fellows.

I’ve been annoyed by those religious fanatics from the beginning, and now they plan to take advantage of this situation to strike at Academy City?

What I’m curious about is why Aresta is completely unresponsive.

As a “human” who could control every corner of Academy City, it was unreasonable for him not to detect the activities of the Roman Orthodox, even if it was challenging to find those capable and already blended into the crowd Roman Orthodox members in a short time, he shouldn’t have been completely unaware. However, under Pandora’s surveillance, Aresta indeed had not shown any reaction recently. There are high-level “agreements” between British Puritan and Academy City, but with an organization like the Roman Orthodox, which would rather see the entire science side perish, what is Aresta planning to let them do?

With such layers of confusion in my mind, I leisurely walked with Qianqian along the city canal bank near the Seventh District.

“It feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve had time alone together like this… We’ve been very busy recently…”

Her soft voice suddenly rose next to me; Qianqian hooked my hand, swinging it back and forth as she walked. Besides her usual perky and mischievous demeanor, she also had this quiet and well-behaved side.

Why bother with those troublesome matters? I should just enjoy the time being with Qianqian.

Thinking self-deprecatingly in my mind, I suddenly scooped Qianqian into my arms, then in a princess carry, lifted the screaming girl.

“Ah! Ah Jun, what are you doing!”

Qianqian screamed, but quickly quieted down, resting her head gently in my arms, and whispered, “Next time you scare me like that, I’ll bite you.”

…You’ve been hanging out with Dingdang too much.

I lowered my head and gently kissed Qianqian on the lips, then, full of spirit, faced the sunset heroically, “Baby, where do you want to go?”

Qianqian immediately arched her body, “I want spicy hot pot! And zhajiang noodles!”

Spicy hot pot and zhajiang noodles–that was the most genuine happiness between me and this girl who always saw herself as an ordinary girl, from our days playing in the mud at the alley’s entrance to our current holiday in the Otherworld. Qianqian never changed a bit, and that’s what I liked most about her.

But in Academy City…

Can we really find spicy hot pot and zhajiang noodles?

“Mmm! Barbecue sounds good too!”

We couldn’t find the spicy hot pot, but we did find a barbecue stall. Should I sigh at the drama? This magical barbecue uncle, who appeared many times in the original work and was said to be a all-capable stall owner transported by Doraemon, was actually stumbled upon by Qianqian and me.

“Ha, Ah Jun, this squid skewer is really tasty!”

Qianqian said with her mouth greasy, speaking indistinctly.

I swallowed the squid skewer Qianqian handed over and called out to the owner, “Boss! Two more lamb chops!”

“Oh! Coming right up!”

“And two roasted sweet potatoes!”

“Oh! Coming right up!”

“…And how about the roasted glass noodles?”

“Oh! Coming right up!”

“Uncle, do you have roasted sperm whale ribs?”

“Oh! Coming right up!”

Then I was shocked.

“Hey, Ah Jun,” Qianqian suddenly leaned in and asked quietly, “do you think if we asked for roasted Ancestor Dragon wings, would he…”

“That will take a bit longer, Ancestor Dragon meat isn’t that easy to cook… Haha, just kidding, I’m no mage, can’t conjure up Ancestor Dragons.”

The barbecue uncle laughed heartily while serving up the strange and curious assortment Qianqian and I had ordered.

Just then, a very familiar voice came from behind us, “Eh, Director? And Sister Qianqian, what are you guys doing here?”

“Black? And Mikoto?”

I turned around, and upon seeing who it was, I couldn’t help but shout in surprise before slowly realizing something, delivering a karate chop to a ponytailed girl: “You should call me big brother, dammit! What’s with this differential treatment!?”

Bai Jing Heizi held her head, sneaking a glance my way before suddenly adopting an exaggerated daydreaming expression, hands clasped to her heart as she said with eyes closed, “Ah, today is the rare dating time for Black and Big Sister. In order to enjoy this hard-earned happy moment without disturbance, Black came here with Big Sister… Eh, speaking of which, is the Director… cough, is Director bro and Sister Qianqian on a date too? This makes us two couples then, what a meaningful encounter.”

But don’t you think calling one male and three females two couples puts us into some kind of strange situation regardless of how we group it?

Compared to my commentary, Mikoto’s solution was much simpler: With a crackle of thunder, Black was blown away.

“Weren’t you the one who dragged me out!? When did it turn into a date, you bizarre freak?” Surrounded by crackling electricity, Mikoto yelled angrily at Bai Jing Heizi, who was smoking on the ground not far away, then suddenly turned her face towards me, the onlooker, “And you! What exactly happened that day? Why did you suddenly leave me behind, and then there were exploding pipes and factory boilers out of control, was it related to you guys?”

Mikoto lowered her voice when she reached the last sentence, leaning in to ask quietly.

Boiler out of control? Pipe explosions? Aresta, could you slack off any more? An entire area turned into a basin, several remote buildings suffered destructive attacks, and even now the medical facilities there are overwhelmed, and you’re telling me it’s due to boiler mismanagement? Are the boilers in Academy City powered by uranium-235!?

Well, I’ve already left the aftermath to that old fox anyway, let him handle it however he wants; even if he says illegal fireworks blew up half the city, I have no complaints.

Looking at Mikoto, still furious yet stubbornly concerned, I smiled slightly and whispered, “The sisters are safe now.”

“What?”

This answer evidently wasn’t what Mikoto expected. Though she heard about Sister Mikoto that day, she hadn’t anticipated that just mentioning it would lead us to use terrorism (her own assumption) to resolve the whole situation, thus she was stunned.

“What’s with that look?”

I looked displeasedly at Mikoto, “What we used were perfectly legal measures by persuading those in power in Academy City through humanitarian influences, changing his perspective on life, and also taught Yifang, the key participant of the experiment, in a cautious and friendly manner…”

Qianqian nodded beside me, adding, “Though the process did involve explosions, more explosions, and yet more explosions…”

“But it was all in the name of love and peace!”

“Hey hey hey, you guys aren’t joking, right!?” At this point, Mikoto didn’t know what to make of our actions, her look towards me was like a U.S. envoy negotiating directly with the Taliban, “It has to be a joke, right?!”

“Anyway, don’t worry about the process,” I said with a smile, patting Mikoto’s head, “Our statuses are, let’s say, somewhat special. After taking some special measures yesterday, the ‘Absolute Ability Plan’ has also safely come to an end. The Mikotos should be transferred under my lab’s care for physical adjustments in the next few days, and you can come and visit them anytime…”

“Is that true…” Mikoto lowered her head and murmured, I hadn’t answered yet when she continued, “Is it really over… really…”

“It’s true.”

I placed my hands on Mikoto’s shoulders, pressing slightly, “So, don’t cry…”

“I am not, I wasn’t crying!” Mikoto suddenly lifted her head, though her eyes were still somewhat red, her tears had stopped, “I was just a bit, a bit overwhelmed, that’s all!”

“Alright, alright, no crying, no crying,” looking at Mikoto like that, for some reason, I felt that familiar urge to comfort her like I would Little Baobao, “Then to celebrate, how about I treat you to some barbecue?”

“Uncle–” At that moment, a ghastly voice came from behind us, long-forgotten Bai Jing Heizi, who had miraculously revived on the spot, now stood behind me shrouded in black smoke, “Unforgivable… to make Big Sister cry… unforgivable ahhhh!!!”

“Hey hey! Don’t suddenly pounce like that! I’m your senior, at least give me… Hey!”(To be continued, for more please visit www.NovelFire.net, more chapters, support the author, support authorized reading!)

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.