Chen Miemie’s conversation with [Seahorse] was only halfway finished.
[Seahorse] received an urgent message and had to deal with an emergency, so she hurriedly left.
Before departing, she left him with one sentence: “There’ll be a citywide prewar mobilization at 7:00 p.m. tonight. You can hear it over the citywide broadcast, of course, but if you go to [Tidal Palace], you’ll be able to see what’s happening in person.”
Chen Miemie had only wanted to keep a low profile and travel for a few months. Unfortunately, his strength made that impossible.
[Seahorse] had barely left when yet another household name in [Foamwave Harbor] arrived.
A-Lin’s reaction was completely different this time. He hurried forward and bowed in greeting.
“Lord Bajiao, what brings you here?”
The newcomer had the head of an octopus, with eight tentacles hanging down from the back of his skull. Each tentacle ended in an eye-shaped marking.
His body was humanoid, but his skin constantly shifted colors in response to the surrounding environment.
His codename was [Octopus Sage], but Bajiao was his actual name, and he preferred people to address him by it rather than by his codename.
He was the chief administrator of the Tide Hall in [Tidal Palace]. Aside from the head of the Tide Administration—the city lord—he held the highest position in the entire city.
The Tide Hall was responsible for handling practical affairs. All matters, great and small, in [Foamwave Harbor] were dealt with by him.
“Is that A-Lin? You’ve grown so much,” Bajiao said, a smile appearing on his octopus face.
“You actually remember me?”
“Heh. I had quite a few dealings with your father in the past. Sometimes he’d bring you along.”
“It’s amazing that you still remember me. That was so many years ago. What brings you to my place?”
“I received word that Chen Miemie is staying here.” Bajiao phrased it as a question, but his tone made it a statement.
“Ah, yes.”
“Could you do me a favor and let him know I’d like to pay him a visit?”
A-Lin’s heart gave a heavy thud and sank.
He was a clever man. First [Seahorse] had come looking for Chen Miemie, and now even Lord Bajiao had arrived personally, speaking with such courtesy. If he still couldn’t tell that Chen Miemie’s identity was extraordinary, he would have to be an idiot.
He desperately wanted to call Dentist back and demand an explanation. What kind of terrifying big shot had he brought here?
“Lord Bajiao, please wait a moment. I’ll go upstairs and bring him down.”
“A-Lin, not ‘bring him down.’ ‘Invite him down.’ Be polite to Mr. Chen.”
“He only just checked in, and I still don’t know anything about Chen Miemie’s background. Could you give me a hint?” A-Lin asked.
Bajiao shook his head, all eight of his tentacles swaying independently.
“Don’t overthink it. Just serve him well. He’s someone our entire city must do everything possible to win over—especially at a time like this.”
As he watched A-Lin go upstairs to call for him, Bajiao was far less calm inside than he appeared on the surface.
An hour earlier—
When the city’s intelligence officer had burst into his office and placed a top-secret red file on his desk, Bajiao had even thought that [Mussel Ruins] had launched an attack.
He opened the file. In startling red letters, it read:
At 8:35 this morning, Chen Miemie—the representative of a strange new race and descendant of the Witch Triumvirate—entered the city aboard the boat of Old Zhou, the ferryman. He then entered [Blacktide Travel Agency], which operates under the [Blacktide Chamber of Commerce]. More than half an hour later, he was taken by [Dentist] to [Firefly Inn], where he has remained ever since.
When Bajiao saw the report, he felt as though his octopus head were about to explode.
“One undersea demon clan has already forced me to issue a [Call to Arms]. And now a new strange being and a witch have come to stir things up as well?”
In the eyes of the rulers of other cities, Chen Miemie was a city-destroying bomb that had yet to detonate. He contained elements of the human, witch, and strange races, and with his allegiance uncertain, he was extremely difficult to read.
Before long, Chen Miemie followed A-Lin downstairs.
The moment he saw Bajiao, he assumed the other man had been sent by the demon clans. Though Bajiao held a high position, Chen Miemie clearly had no idea who he was; he never bothered doing his homework before visiting places.
Fortunately, A-Lin introduced him quickly enough.
“This is Lord Bajiao, the chief administrator of [Foamwave Harbor].”
Chen Miemie stepped forward to shake his hand. But instead of a hand, Bajiao extended a tentacle. After a light shake, Chen Miemie’s hand was left sticky and slimy.
For the conversation that followed, A-Lin provided a private tearoom on the first floor, then was asked to leave.
“Mr. Chen Miemie, I’ve heard that you came to [Foamwave Harbor] mainly to travel?”
“Ah, yes. Since you’re here, let’s get this straight. I’m purely here on vacation to enjoy a seaside holiday. I have no other plans. As long as nobody bothers me, I’m just an ordinary tourist.”
Bajiao hadn’t expected Chen Miemie to be so direct. With only his very first sentence, he had placed the answer to Bajiao’s question right out in the open.
He knew perfectly well that words alone were useless in this world. People could lie, after all. Still, Chen Miemie had made his position so clear that even if Bajiao couldn’t completely believe him, he couldn’t simply drive him away. Doing so might instead push Chen Miemie onto the city’s opposing side.
“Does Mr. Chen Miemie have any specific arrangements? If you need anything, we can provide all sorts of services.”
Chen Miemie shook his head. “You came a little late. I’ve already taken care of my guide and lodging, and paid for everything in advance. If I need anything else later, I’ll contact you.”
Bajiao had personally come all this way for more than just a few words. He continually observed Chen Miemie’s expression, tone, body language, and every other detail. Based on his analysis, he could see that the traces of humanity in Chen Miemie were exceptionally pronounced.
After giving it some thought, he extended an invitation.
“Mr. Chen Miemie, the city lord will be holding a prewar mobilization at [Tidal Palace] tonight. If you’re free, you’re welcome to attend.”
Chen Miemie had already planned to go.
“Sure. I’ll take a look.”
“This is an inner-hall seat ticket. You’ll have a clearer view from there.”
Bajiao left behind an admission ticket and then took his leave.
Chen Miemie looked at the exquisite ticket on the table.
The rectangular piece of paper displayed the seat number: “Row 1, Seat 19.”
It also featured a background image: a simplified map of [Foamwave Harbor] and the back of a woman singing at the top of her lungs.
A-Lin happened to walk in and spotted the ticket.
“Chen Miemie, you’ve been invited to [Tidal Palace] tonight?”
“Yep.”
“Impressive. Only important figures get seats like that. But you’d better not set your expectations too high for the city lord’s mobilization.”
“Hm? Why not?”
“Our city lord…” A-Lin hesitated. “Ah, forget it. You’ll understand once you see her for yourself.”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
