Chapter 181: The Big Boss
“This talent really suits me…”
Wen Qiu closed her character panel, a simple smile playing on her lips, then found herself gently embraced. It was a warm and soft hug.
“Is that joyful expression because I woke up? She’s such a Holy Maiden that you can’t dislike her at all.”
The girl, still looking pale, blinked at Yu Cheng. “I’m fine now, Holy Maiden.”
Then, like a kitten, she nuzzled against Yu Cheng’s cheek, snuggling into the fragrant embrace and contentedly narrowing her eyes.
“You’re finally awake. Is there anywhere you feel uncomfortable?” Yu Cheng’s right hand, resting on Wen Qiu’s shoulder, emitted a bright light. Since there had been no Dark Interference triggered before, the healing divine spell she was now releasing was full of warmth and holy energy, silently nourishing the girl’s body.
Even though Yu Cheng knew that Wen Qiu was a player like herself, and understood that the damage simulation in Innocent World would be greatly reduced for minors, she still couldn’t relax. Perhaps it was a healer’s instinct, but she felt that the slightly trembling girl in her arms was indeed enduring pain.
What was even more worrying was Wen Qiu’s ‘habitual’ reaction to that pain.
Although there was a ninety percent chance she was overthinking it, Yu Cheng still couldn’t accept what was happening to Wen Qiu as mere ‘game content.’
“It’s rude to make that face when you don’t understand what’s happening to me~”
“It’s really okay,” Wen Qiu playfully stuck out her tongue, then smiled at Xia Lian by her bed. “Holy Maiden, you don’t need to worry either. Wen Qiu is just a little tired. I’ll be fine after a short rest.”
Xia Lian, leaning on her cross and slightly panting, paused, then instinctively asked, “Why am I ‘Holy Maiden’? Wang Yu is much younger than me.”
“She looks so tired. Even though it’s just data, it’s still interesting. Does she feel bad if she gets sick? How bad would it have to be to feel as bad as I do? Ugh, so annoying…”
“No, Wang Yu is the Holy Maiden,” Wen Qiu pouted, pointing seriously at Xia Lian’s chest. “You are the Holy Maiden!”
The Elf Holy Maiden’s face immediately turned green. “Little girl, aren’t you afraid you’ll just make me die of anger… Ugh…”
Bang!
The Star Gold Cross slipped uncontrollably from her fingers, crashing to the ground with a loud thud. At the same time, Xia Lian’s legs gave out, and she collapsed where she stood. Although she didn’t lose consciousness immediately, she couldn’t get back up.
“Holy Maiden!” Yu Cheng quickly laid Wen Qiu flat on the bed, then turned and knelt beside Xia Lian, anxiously asking, “What’s wrong with you…?”
“That girl made me angry!” Xia Lian bared her teeth and glared at Wen Qiu, then struggled to lean against the bed, shrugging and laughing. “Just kidding, just kidding. I’m just a little weak from the divine power backlash and overexertion earlier. There’s no great danger.”
Wen Qiu poked half her little head out from the bed, looked at her, then let out a long sigh. “That’s great, it’s not Wen Qiu’s fault!”
“What fault?” Xia Lian asked subconsciously, but didn’t press the issue. She just chuckled and ruffled Yu Cheng’s hair, whispering, “I’m about to lose consciousness. Remember to have someone carry me back to my room. And no men. The cross can stay here for now. You can’t lift it anyway, and the power from it can help that girl recover a bit, though it won’t be much.”
Yu Cheng nodded obediently. “Understood, Holy Maiden.”
“Alright, I’m going to faint now, okay?” Xia Lian chuckled, then tilted her head and lost consciousness.
Yu Cheng: “…”
Wen Qiu blinked, exclaiming, “Wow! How amazing, she really fainted just like that!”
…
Ten minutes later,
After settling Xia Lian with two apprentice priestesses, Yu Cheng returned to Wen Qiu’s room and quietly asked the girl, who was obediently lying on the bed, “Do you want to eat something?”
“No need~” Wen Qiu shook her head vigorously, spreading her small hands and smiling. “Holy Maiden, you know I’m a player, right? So there’s no need to treat me like a real patient.”
Yu Cheng walked to Wen Qiu’s bed, leaning over to tuck the covers around the girl while gently saying, “But you’re uncomfortable right now, aren’t you? Even in a game, you still need to take good care of yourself, don’t you?”
“I’m fine, so… Ugh!”
Wen Qiu suddenly frowned mid-sentence, then painfully clutched her head, moaning softly.
“Little Wen Qiu…”
“It’s nothing~” The pale girl interrupted Yu Cheng with a cheerful smile, then, amidst a series of piercing system notifications in her ear, waved her small hand. “But I have to log off now. See you later, Wang Yu~”
Then she transformed into a white light and disappeared from the bed.
…
At the same time,
In the real world, an apartment in T City
The sleeping couple was startled awake by their phone ringing at maximum volume.
“Hello, Wang, Deputy Director, it’s me, it’s me. I’ve already… what?” The tired-looking man’s eyes suddenly widened, his lingering sleepiness vanishing instantly. His right hand, holding the phone, trembled slightly from gripping too hard. “You mean, Mutation!?”
A difficult but affirmative answer came from the other end of the line.
This was destined to be another sleepless night…
…
Innocent Continent, Wanderer's Inn, Kalan City
Jun Wu, the boss with gold-rimmed glasses, was leisurely lying on a chair, eyes closed, resting. Beside him was a large stack of messy papers. He had just finished organizing the new intelligence sent down and was now formulating his words to convert it into a friend message to send to someone.
Although the other party’s request to ‘send everything, no matter how detailed’ resulted in a lot of work for him, Jun Wu enjoyed it. The reason was simple: it was a good deal.
“Just using the information uniformly issued by the Wanderer's Inn and the stories provided by other Bards can get us a lot of exclusive news, goo, and with a very high degree of authenticity…” Wei Yang, leaning against the counter, diligently wiping plates, tilted her head and grumbled to Jun Wu. “No matter how you look at it, it seems too cheap for us, goo.”
The latter, however, shook his head lazily, saying softly, “It is now, but it might not be in the future.”
“Are you showing off to your Holy Maiden, goo?” Wei Yang snorted, her two bright eyes narrowing slightly. “Do you want to eat a rag, goo?”
Jun Wu quickly opened his eyes and waved his hands vigorously. “Absolutely not!”
“Good.” Wei Yang placed the sparkling clean plate behind the counter, then casually picked up two more cups and started wiping them. “So you mean we’ll suffer losses in the future, goo?”
Jun Wu chuckled. “Not necessarily. We’re just providing information, so what loss could we incur? It’s just that the guy named Tan Mo will make more and more profit.”
“This is the countryside, goo,” Wei Yang’s reaction was quick, so she immediately turned back and asked, “Are you so sure we’ll get promoted, goo?”
“Yes, precisely because this is the countryside,” Jun Wu poked the stack of papers beside him, smiling. “The higher-ups won’t provide us with any good information, and there aren’t many Bards here who can collect good stories. But everything we report back is always high-quality, in quantity, and first-hand. What does that tell you?”
Wei Yang rolled her eyes. “It tells me that every time you skip class and browse the forums, you can righteously ask me to cover for you?”
“Isn’t that so you have more plates to wipe~” Jun Wu shrugged, spread his hands, and winked.
“I’m not a masochist, goo!” Wei Yang flapped her wings, gritting her teeth. “I just like to work, goo!”
Jun Wu sighed. “That’s a sickness, Holy Maiden.”
He had always wondered, ever since he was a child, why his excellent, reliable-looking Holy Maiden only had one hobby: ‘working and tidying things up.’ Every time his parents asked her to wash a plate, she would be as happy as anything, and being a class monitor felt like a holiday to her. She was practically trying to take over the street sweeper’s job.
“You’ll never understand the sense of accomplishment of washing a plate until it shines like it’s waxed, goo!” Wei Yang pouted, then spun around in a trance. “Window sills without a speck of dust, floors without a single stain, tables and chairs arranged with an error of no more than half a centimeter, clothes ironed without a single wrinkle~ Owwoo goo!”
Jun Wu turned his head away, unable to bear watching, and continued the previous topic weakly. “Anyway, with all the information from the forums, plus the high-quality intelligence Tan Mo provides, I don’t think we’ll be stuck in this lousy place for too long.”
“It better be, goo!” Wei Yang glanced at the empty hall, then lazily picked up a thin booklet. “The turnover is terrible, goo! We’ve been open for half a day and haven’t even had anyone willing to order a drink. Everyone’s so stingy, goo!”
Then someone pushed the door open…
“To consume or not to consume, goo?” Without a word, Wei Yang grabbed the drink menu and went to greet them.
“No, I’m from the Black Tower City Inn.” The unremarkable human man shook his head and smiled at Wei Yang. “Just a routine contact.”
Wei Yang sighed, then looked back at the counter. “Jun Jun, routine contact, goo~”
Jun Wu didn’t even turn his head. “I’m busy here. You two talk.”
“Uh, alright, goo…” Wei Yang muttered, then took the young man aside to talk.
Meanwhile, Jun Wu’s gaze was fixed on the virtual panel in front of him, which didn’t exist in the eyes of NPCs. There was a new message from someone.
‘Hofur City in Misha County has been designated a land of divine favor by Holy Maiden Xia Lian Zhuye of the Dawn Sect. Over two thousand infected individuals have recovered. The Violet Empire is about to hold a supreme conference, the main content of which will be to discuss how to deal with the Misha County refugees.’
Although there were only two pieces of information, their weight was considerable. Without a doubt, they were sent by Mo Tan.
“There’s no information on the forums, and they’re from Misha County and the Violet Empire respectively…” Jun Wu clicked his tongue, muttering softly, “How on earth did Tan Mo do it?”
He then sent over the intelligence he had just finished organizing, but the other party simply replied with a casual ‘keep up the good work’ and then went completely silent.
A few minutes later,
“Finished talking?” Jun Wu glanced at Wei Yang, who had ambled back, and asked curiously, “What did you talk about?”
Wei Yang sighed. “First, they praised our great achievements during this period, and it looks like a promotion is likely…”
“That’s good news,” Jun Wu stretched, then asked, rather puzzled, “Why are you sighing?”
Wei Yang shot him a look. “Do you remember when we asked that guy Tan Mo to deliver the box, goo?”
“I remember. He even messaged me two days ago saying it was done,” Jun Wu nodded as a matter of course.
That Epic box was the highest-grade item Jun Wu had seen in a long time. He had even planned to keep it with Wei Yang, though they eventually gave up because they couldn’t open it, but the impression was still very deep.
“He did it, and he seemed to have a good chat with Uncle Breen,” Wei Yang said with a strange expression. “As our great-uncles.”
As what!?
Jun Wu was shocked. “Say that again!?”
“You heard right,” Wei Yang said, gritting her teeth while wiping the table. “He told Uncle Breen that his name was Grand Fard, and that he was your great-uncle. Not only did Uncle Breen believe him, but he also had someone ask us why we don’t share the same surname as our great-uncle, and if there’s some hidden reason…”
Jun Wu slammed the table. “@#$%&!”
“Don’t swear,” Wei Yang glared at him, then asked curiously, “What were you spacing out about just now?”
Jun Wu closed his eyes, feeling utterly exhausted and unloved. “Reading messages, sending messages.”
“To whom?”
“Great-uncle.”
…
Eastern Innocent Continent, Free City
Unlike the countless branches scattered across various locations, the headquarters of the Wanderer's Inn had a pyramid-like shape. The middle sections of its four faces each extended into a white spire, topped by a heavy, large book carved entirely from white smoke stone, surrounded by numerous colorful musical notes projected by magic.
This building, which wasn’t particularly distinctive in the Free City, was located on Bard’s Promenade. It was lit day and night, with a constant flow of visitors, but there was one place that even its internal staff rarely had access to.
A completely black raven passed through dozens of barriers and appeared at a window at the very top of the North Tower, gently pecking at it.
The window didn’t open, but a hand reached out from inside and ‘grabbed’ it in.
“Let me see…”
A figure wearing a black mask chuckled as he untied the letter from the raven’s leg, examining it carefully.
“Yes, that young man is very excellent. Although I don’t know how he does it, from the perspective of results alone, he is no less capable than you…”
His, or her, voice was soft and low, and severely distorted, making it impossible to discern their age, or even their gender.
No one knew who he once was, but everyone understood that the person wearing the 【Breathless Mask】 could only be the big boss of the Wanderer's Inn. As for anything else… it didn’t matter.
Chapter 178: End
