"Up-upgrade?!" Xiao Yang's eyes instantly lit up like stars. Her originally rosy cheeks gained an extra flush of color from excitement, and her voice couldn't help but tremble.
"Big brother, are you telling the truth? Can this transformation device really be upgraded again?"
Although Xiao Yang had heard last time that Ye Chuan was the inventor of the transformation device, could a device that was already so powerful be upgraded even further?
She clutched the hem of her clothes, leaning forward slightly, her eyes filled with unbelievable anticipation.
The transformation device Ye Chuan had given her before already allowed her to easily insta-kill monsters. If it was upgraded again, wouldn't she be able to deal with even more formidable enemies?
The thought of becoming a true urban superhero grew wildly in her heart.
But after the initial excitement, Xiao Yang suddenly calmed down a bit and asked cautiously:
"Big brother, upgrading the transformation device... does it cost money? I have money. Or do I need to do something for you? Besides studying and fighting monsters, it seems I don't have much else I can help you with..."
She knew there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Ye Chuan giving her the transformation device was already a massive favor; now that he was going to help her upgrade it, there definitely had to be a price to pay.
She bit her lip, having already prepared herself to save up money or help out to the best of her ability.
Otherwise, she could even risk her own body.
It was just that she lacked curves, and compared to the older sisters sitting next to Ye Chuan, she was completely out of their league.
That white-haired sister was so amazing, with a figure straight out of a manga, and this black-haired sister was also super beautiful, just like a fairy.
Ye Chuan looked at Xiao Yang's serious expression, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening as he shook his head:
"No money needed, and you don't need to do anything extra."
He paused, resting his face on one hand, and looked straight into Xiao Yang's eyes with a somewhat playful gaze:
"The burdens you bear by becoming a hero are the price."
"I'm very curious to see how far you can go."
"The burdens I bear..." Xiao Yang murmured, repeating his words, her eyes gradually becoming clear.
She thought of every time she fought, seeing the terrified looks of the citizens and hearing their voices of gratitude;
She thought of how she had to brave the risk of getting hurt and rush to the frontlines to protect others;
She thought of how she had to carefully hide her identity so her family and friends wouldn't worry... These, it seemed, really were the prices of becoming a hero.
She nodded vigorously, her eyes firm:
"I understand, big brother! I'm not afraid of this price! I want to become a hero who can protect even more people!"
"Very good." Ye Chuan smiled in satisfaction. He reached out his hand, and Xiao Yang's transformation device landed in his palm.
"My transformation device?!"
"Hmm... why do you transform more than a dozen times every day? Do you just like practicing your transformation in your room?" He raised his eyes to look at Xiao Yang.
"For this upgrade, what features do you want? Tell me."
Xiao Yang froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting Ye Chuan to let her make her own requests. Her eyes widened roundly:
"A-any feature I want is fine?"
"Yes, anything goes." Ye Chuan's tone was casual, as if upgrading the transformation device was just a trivial matter.
For him, who had already reached the Dao Comprehension Realm, combined with his tech tree points, modifying a tiny transformation device was indeed no different from playing with a toy.
Getting an affirmative answer, Xiao Yang instantly became excited and started counting on her fingers:
"I hope the transformation duration can be a bit longer! Right now, sometimes when I encounter two monsters in a row, the transformation time isn't enough!"
"Also, I want a lightsaber! Punching monsters before was powerful, but having a weapon would definitely be cooler, and it could protect me from being touched!"
The more she spoke, the more excited she got, her speaking speed increasing a bit:
"And, and! I want a ranged weapon! Sometimes the monsters are too far away, and rushing over wastes time. A ranged attack could pin them down first! Lastly...
Lastly, I hope there can be invincibility frames during the transformation process! Last time I transformed, I was sneak-attacked by a monster. Although I didn't get hurt, it was so dangerous!"
These were all issues she had encountered in actual combat. After every battle, she would silently note them down, never expecting to actually have the chance to realize them now.
After finishing, she looked at Ye Chuan nervously, afraid that she had asked for too much.
Would this be a bit too demanding?
Ye Chuan listened and merely tilted his head: "Just those simple requests?"
Simple?!
Was this very simple?
Xiao Yang was stunned for a moment. She felt that her requests were actually quite demanding.
"Big brother, can you really do it?"
"I can. You could even use a bit more imagination; for example, I could add something like background music playing when you make your entrance." Ye Chuan said casually, then proceeded to add Xiao Yang's requests into the transformation device one by one.
These were all things that could be done by spending just a little money. To Ye Chuan, it posed no difficulty whatsoever.
"The weapons and the extended transformation time have been added. As for the invincibility frames... I'll just set it so that your physical and magical defenses increase by a thousand times and you're immune to crowd control while transforming. Hmm..."
"Done."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Yang's silver transformation device suddenly emitted a soft glow and began vibrating slightly.
She hurriedly took back the transformation device, only to see that the patterns on its surface had become more complex. Several streams of pale pink light now flowed over the originally monotonous silver, making it look much more exquisite.
"I-it's done? So fast?!" Xiao Yang held the transformation device in her hands, feeling that the energy contained within it was several times more abundant than before. Her eyes were full of pleasant surprise.
"It's done."
"Sh-shouldn't an upgrade take a few days or even a month? Then a monster appears, and in an emergency, I have to fight it with my mortal body, get injured, and then receive the transformation device again to save everyone?!" Xiao Yang said.
Ye Chuan: "..."
You've got quite a few scripts in your head, don't you?
Can't it just be a direct upgrade?
Ye Chuan put his phone away. "The transformation time has been extended. The lightsaber and ranged light cannon are both integrated into the transformation device; just call out the corresponding commands to summon them."
"Also, the pseudo-invincibility frames during the transformation process have been added. They last for five seconds, which is enough for you to deal with sneak attacks."
Xiao Yang couldn't wait to try it out, but remembering that they were in a dessert shop, she forced herself to hold back. Carefully putting the transformation device back into her pocket, she bowed deeply to Ye Chuan:
"Thank you, big brother! I will definitely use it well and protect even more people!"
"Remember what you said," Ye Chuan reminded her indifferently. "As your strength grows, your responsibilities become heavier. If you encounter a monster you can't handle, don't force it. Staying alive is the most important thing."
"I know!" Xiao Yang nodded vigorously, her face full of determination. She looked at the desserts on the table, then at Ye Chuan, and smiled sheepishly.
"Big brother, let me treat you all to desserts! Just take it as my thanks for helping me upgrade my transformation device!"
"Sure." While Ye Chuan nodded, Xiao Yang took out her phone and paid the bill. But at that moment, she suddenly noticed her phone vibrating—it was a disaster warning.
"Oh no, it looks like a rift is about to appear. I, I... Big brother, I'm heading out!" Xiao Yang said immediately.
With that, she quickly jogged out of the dessert shop, leaving Ye Chuan and the others still sitting at the table, along with the somewhat bewildered customers around them.
"Ye Chuan, is this really a good idea?" Bai Qianshuang asked him.
"Who knows," Ye Chuan replied with a faint smile.
Playing the hero is no easy task.

't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.

ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!

transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”

young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."