One second, two seconds, three seconds.
Su Muwan stood obediently to the side, blinking her eyes. "Qin Luo, what do you see?"
"Uh..."
Qin Luo pondered for a moment before turning to Su Muwan with a smile. "Young Miss, the problem doesn’t seem too serious."
Su Muwan didn’t understand. "Not serious?!"
She emphasized, "Qin Luo, in my past life, I was stuck at the Xuantian Realm level. I know nothing about this so-called Canggu Realm!"
"Who knows how strong they are here?"
Su Muwan felt that, for the first time since her rebirth, the pressure was truly mounting.
Suddenly, she felt an inexplicable surge of excitement.
Could it be...
That pressure was fueling her motivation?!
It was back.
Everything was coming back.
This was the feeling!
Su Muwan suddenly felt as though her past self—the one who trained relentlessly—was returning.
Hearing this, Qin Luo thought for a moment before revealing a little. "Young Miss, you really don’t need to worry."
"Because... you’ve probably already experienced the Canggu Realm."
Su Muwan froze. "Huh?"
"Why?"
"Well..."
Qin Luo blinked. "To put it simply, Young Miss, you..."
"Were terrifying after death."
Su Muwan: ???
She didn’t want to understand, nor did she want to hear it.
In any case, she felt insulted.
Was she not terrifying *before* death too?!
But never mind.
Su Muwan pointed at Lan Xi, who was floating on the sea’s surface. "What should we do with this mermaid princess?"
"Kill her?"
The moment she said this, Lan Xi scrambled up from the water, her eyes red with protest. "I’m not a mermaid! I’m a dragon!!"
"A pure-blooded water dragon!"
"And besides..."
She clutched her chest, looking fearfully at Su Muwan. "I... I warn you, my father is the Sea King! If you kill me, the human race will be wiped from this world!"
Qin Luo raised an eyebrow, his lips curling into a faint smirk as he studied Lan Xi. "Dragon or mermaid, it doesn’t matter."
"Princess Lan Xi, given your current predicament, your father hasn’t come to save you."
"Does that mean you can’t contact him?"
"In other words... you’re at our mercy now?"
Su Muwan nodded in agreement, crossing her arms with a light hum. "Exactly! And don’t forget, you insulted us just now. We still haven’t settled that score!"
"But I’m kind-hearted. I don’t *have* to make things difficult for you. If you behave, we can even play together in the future."
Lan Xi paled, biting her lip as she weighed her options.
She was alone here. Who knew when her father would act? If things escalated, she might not escape unharmed.
Damn it...
Finally, she steeled herself and met Su Muwan’s gaze. "Then... what do you want me to do?"
"Simple."
Qin Luo took a step forward. "Just say, ‘I pledge eternal loyalty to Young Miss Su.’"
"Say that, and all past grudges will be forgiven."
Su Muwan gave Qin Luo a deadpan look.
*Why do you make everyone say this?*
Lan Xi’s eyes widened in disbelief. "What?! How could I, the Sixth Princess of the Sea Clan, swear loyalty to a human?!"
Her chest heaved with indignation—this was utterly humiliating.
Qin Luo nodded, smiling. "Is that so? Well, I’ve always wanted to try dragon meat."
"D-Dragon meat?!"
"You humans eat dragons?!"
Lan Xi was horrified. She glanced at the turbulent sea, then back at the two humans who looked dead serious. After a long internal struggle, she finally gritted her teeth and muttered, "I... I pledge eternal loyalty to Young Miss Su."
The next moment—
**[Army Command—Activated!]**
**[Congratulations, Master, for recruiting a key heroine for the antagonist! Reward: +10 Attribute Points!]**
At the same time, Lan Xi felt an inexplicable surge of affection and loyalty toward Su Muwan welling up in her heart.
The sudden change left her stunned, unable to process what had just happened.
*Did I... just get myself into trouble?*
A short while later...
By the riverbank.
Lan Xi submerged half her body in the water, cautiously eyeing Qin Luo and Su Muwan. "Then... I’ll go back now..."
"Go ahead. Just remember to bring us some intel next time."
"Mm."
Lan Xi nodded, then swam off toward the Sea Clan’s territory, followed by five little sharks.
Su Muwan watched the tiny sharks grow smaller in the distance, feeling a pang of reluctance. "Ah... goodbye, little sharks."
Qin Luo waved. "It’s not really goodbye. Next time we meet, they’ll probably be spirit beasts."
"Mm."
Su Muwan nodded, then turned and grabbed Qin Luo’s arm. "Qin Luo..."
"Yeah?"
"Between the mermaid princess and me... who’s prettier?"
"...Young Miss."
"Hm?"
"Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to."
"Hehe."
Su Muwan already knew, but she just wanted to hear it. She swung his arm playfully. "Come on, say it~ Say it~"
"Isn’t it obvious? Of course, Young Miss is the cutest."
"Ehehehe..."
...
...
The next day.
Early morning.
Alliance Headquarters.
"So... do we *really* have to do this?"
Ouyang Xuan stood in the bustling first-floor lobby, his face dark with exasperation.
Qin Luo blinked innocently beside him. "What do you mean, Minister Ouyang?"
"What do I mean?!"
Ouyang Xuan’s eyes bulged as he pointed around the lobby, his voice rising. "What the hell is up with this decor?!"
"Why are there so many shark plushies?! And why are the walls covered with portraits of Young Miss Su?!"
"And this random statue of Young Miss Su in the middle?! What is this?!"
Passing Alliance staff turned their heads at his outburst, curious.
Qin Luo, however, remained unbothered. He followed Ouyang Xuan’s finger and proudly explained, "Minister Ouyang, this is my carefully designed masterpiece."
"Shark plushies are adorable. They liven up the serious atmosphere of the Alliance HQ."
"But... what’s wrong with the HQ being serious?"
"The portraits of Young Miss Su are essential—they ward off evil spirits."
"These portraits look like they’re from a different dimension compared to Young Miss Su’s actual style..."
"And as for the statue..."
Qin Luo gave Ouyang Xuan a puzzled look. "Is it really so strange for the Alliance Leader to have a statue in the lobby?"
"Minister Ouyang, you’re being unreasonable."
Ouyang Xuan’s mouth twitched, his expression one of utter disbelief.
*What the—*
Since when did Miss Su become the alliance leader?
You call me "Director," but address Miss Su as "Leader"—are we just using whatever titles we feel like?
And another thing?
Who exactly is being unreasonable here?
No way...
Ouyang Xuan couldn’t shake the feeling that Su Muwan taking over as alliance leader might not be such a bad idea.
But why...?
Our alliance should already have a leader, shouldn’t it...?
Ah, whatever.
He cleared his throat lightly. "So, what brings you here so early in the morning?"
Hearing this, Qin Luo turned to Ouyang Xuan, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "I want... unrestricted access to the alliance's entire database."
Ouyang Xuan: ???

shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]

and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!

Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"

reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?