novelraw Chapter 247: One-Punch Casanova
Chapter 247: One-Punch Casanova
After using One Life's Flowing Years to partially restore the factory facilities, Jiang Si didn't waste any more energy.
If he had to do everything himself, then what was the point of gathering so many useless people? This factory was, after all, a product of Yun Ke's own mana.
It must be known, the New Witch Association's salary far exceeded the base pay of the old Witch Association, with bonuses and overtime pay fully intact, and no deductions from the usual holidays either.
If someone still doesn't work under these conditions, they should just get lost.
Although Yun Ke had learned a bit of Xilan's bootlicking skills, she hadn't learned Xilan's management methods very well.
It always felt like the factory's workload wasn't very saturated.
This was a situation that absolutely could not have occurred when Xilan was around; she would have definitely arranged everyone's work to be completely full.
But there was no helping it. After all, Xilan had become the main person in charge of this Full Bloom Plan—though it was unclear how the Prince had chosen her—and had been in contact with other Old Worlds recently.
She was using a body-splitting technique to manage the New Witch Association side.
Regarding this, Jiang Si only felt a bit emotional. This world truly had plenty of talent scouts, but finding a true talent was difficult.The New Witch Association's salaries would naturally need to be suppressed later. It wasn't about lacking money; it was mainly that seeing people who don't work hard holding money made him feel unbalanced.
Although the factory had been snatched away by the Witch Association, the amount of witch reagents actually obtained wasn't small. After replenishing some reagents, Jiang Si took White Fox back to Beihai first.
On one hand, he needed to find her a tutor. White Fox's aversion to studying was too severe; first, she needed to find the joy in cultivating the Dao.
On the other hand, Keke was also about to return home. Once the Mental Landscape at the Central Bureau was mastered, there was no need to stay there any longer.
Although Beihai had the Azure Cloud Sect, the Disaster Control Bureau still had plenty of work to do. The paid exchange program this time was only for a few days.
After these few days, if you didn't go to work at the Disaster Control Bureau, you wouldn't get paid.
Tsk, capitalism.
Always flowing with dirty blood, even trying to make money off Magical Girls.
Regardless, it was best for Keke to earn more living expenses from the Disaster Control Bureau and become independent sooner.
It would also be more convenient to live separately later.
Ever since that Heart Image Remnant incident, every time Jiang Si went out, Keke would carefully inquire about his whereabouts.
It was also apparent that she was afraid of annoying him, so she would always ask in a roundabout way if she could come along.
After going to the Central Bureau this time, she would send him messages every night, telling him what she did and asking what he was doing.
Jiang Si occasionally replied, occasionally didn't. Keke wouldn't keep sending messages either, just finding time to send one message at night before going to sleep. It wasn't too annoying; just treat it like a text message from the phone service provider.
Pretty good. Even if she doesn't become a Magical Girl in the future, she could still work as a customer service representative.
Once they've been separated for a long time, she should get used to it.
The admission notice from Yanzi University had also arrived. Sooner or later, they would have to live separately.
The only worry was whether Keke would still study hard when he wasn't at home. Some children, when strictly controlled as kids, tend to indulge excessively once they gain freedom as adults.
His parenting and management of Keke over the past three years had been quite strict.
As a result, after becoming a Magical Girl and being given a little more freedom, she immediately started with compensatory regression.
Couldn't handle praise; would flip right after being praised.
In the future, he would still continue with a mainly oppressive education style.
Regardless, he still had to ensure Keke got into a good university, then became economically independent. Then he could pretty much stop worrying.
Thinking about the future arrangements along the way, he even forgot about White Fox following behind.
After all, White Fox was just too quiet.
This could be considered her only merit.
She didn't talk much and rarely did meaningless things.
Even after taking off the mask and letting her see his face, White Fox didn't have much of a reaction.
Ever since Jiang Si told her to study properly, from the moment they met, White Fox had spent most of her time diligently reading.
After arriving in Beihai, Jiang Si thought for a moment and decided to change White Fox's clothes first.
This girl's attire was actually quite special. Old World clothing was always very special, with a kind of primitive, wild beauty.
Suitable for a runway show, not very suitable for daily life.
And White Fox's clothes were more like a spacesuit, looking a bit clumsy and stupid, attracting quite a lot of attention when walking on the street.
Even so, there would still be young men trying to come over and say hello.
After all, White Fox was indeed very beautiful, although those white, almost transparent pupils were slightly peculiar.
But heterochromia, as long as the face is pretty, can be quite a nice accent.
Not to mention, among Magical Girls, heterochromia was practically the norm. To some extent, heterochromia was also a trend of the times.
As for White Fox herself, she spent the whole journey staring at her phone, seriously reading Battle Demon Continent. Apart from following closely behind him like a little shadow, she basically had no reaction to any external disturbances.
As long as he didn't speak, White Fox would absolutely not say a word either.
And as she read for longer and longer, White Fox's expression gradually began to soften.
She should also be gradually starting to experience the joy of reading.
After strolling around the streets for a bit, Jiang Si walked to a women's clothing store that Bingtang really liked.
Some of Keke's clothes in the past were also bought here by Bingtang for him to give to Keke as gifts.
The reason Jiang Si remembered this place was because there was a gym across the street.
Though, in reality, he had never been to the gym opposite the women's clothing store either. It was just that they would give out some small fitness equipment during events, which left a good impression on Jiang Si.
"Stop reading for now."
After stopping in front of the women's clothing store, he tilted his head and said.
White Fox let out a long sigh.
A hint of fatigue could be faintly heard.
Shaking his head, Jiang Si's evaluation of this girl dropped a few more points.
"Go change your clothes. This outfit of yours is too conspicuous."
"Yes, Sir."
Then he watched as White Fox walked directly into the clothing store. A salesperson immediately came up with a beaming smile and started introducing clothes to her.
As a result, this idiot just casually grabbed a piece of clothing that fit her and started walking out.
The salesperson was so anxious she started regressing and howling.
"Got it, Sir."
The security guard and salesperson behind her chased her out. So White Fox tilted her head, "Please wait a moment, Sir. I'll handle this."
Saying this, mana surged in her hands. Silver vines grew from the ground, about to entangle the salesperson and security guard.
Jiang Si gave a sharp knock on the back of her head, directly dispersing her mana.
Dragging this idiot, he apologized to the salesperson and directly took out the Black Gold Card to pay.
The salesperson's eyes nearly popped out when she saw the Black Gold Card.
"Hey, hey, hey, sir, this piece of clothing actually doesn't suit your girlfriend very well. We have a few better ones here you can look at..."
But as soon as she finished speaking, White Fox slapped down on her knees again, about to kowtow.
Jiang Si yanked her up. "No need."
"Oh."
"Don't do it in the future either."
"Mm."
White Fox's action of immediately trying to kowtow without a word also startled the salesperson.
Soon after, the salesperson's expression was full of sympathy and pity, mixed with admiration as she looked at Jiang Si.
Clearly wearing the moved expression of a rich young master who wouldn't abandon his brain-damaged, stroke-suffering girlfriend.
Her mind had already concocted an eight-hundred-episode family ethics drama, currently at the stage where the young master rebels against his family and takes his brain-damaged girlfriend out to live independently.
Thus, Jiang Si was respectfully invited inside by the salesperson, who dragged White Fox to try on three or four outfits.
After changing into each outfit, she would bring White Fox out for Jiang Si to see and let him choose.
However, Jiang Si had said "it's fine" from the first outfit.
Still, she tried on a whole bunch. Only when he showed impatience did the salesperson finally calm down.
In the end, he bought them all.
After all, Jiang Si didn't want to argue with this salesperson anymore. She was indeed a gold medal salesperson, with very slick talk, constantly saying how each piece of clothing suited White Fox.
When they came out of the women's clothing store, White Fox, now in a new outfit, was obviously even more eye-catching.
A beige thin sweater, soft in texture, with sleeves slightly past her wrists, resting on her fingers. The bottom was a black long skirt reaching down to her sockless ankles. The salesperson had also matched her with a light white chiffon scarf wrapped around her neck.
White Fox, carrying a bunch of bags, trotted behind Jiang Si, really looking like a couple out shopping.
Though, the boyfriend walking ahead carrying nothing, letting the girlfriend carry a bunch of stuff behind, obviously looked a bit incongruous.
"Have you never been out on the street before?"
"Mm."
This was the first time Jiang Si had met someone even lazier at talking than himself, and he felt a headache coming on.
"Have you never interacted with people?"
"Mm."
Only then did White Fox add, "Jade Fox said, no need."
That useless Jade Fox, she ruined the account.
One could only say you really can't let the elderly raise children. Not even a Magical Grandma.
This further solidified his determination to prove the Fruit Position of [Magical Girl Eternal Youth].
Carrying the bags, following behind Jiang Si for a while longer, White Fox spoke again, "Thank you, Sir."
"No need to thank me. Pay me back the money later."
"Oh."
Jiang Si didn't plan to waste money on this kind of person.
Even if he had ten billion, to him, every cent had to be spent meaningfully. Money that could be picked up for free couldn't be given up either...
He tilted his head, looking at White Fox who had hung all the bags on her arm and was continuing to read diligently.
If you didn't know better, you'd think she was some internet-addicted girl.
"I advise you to give up." Jiang Si said, looking at the increasingly close home. "Your talent isn't enough."
White Fox's movements paused slightly. The hair originally tucked behind her ear fell down, swaying in front of her eyes.
Slightly messy. However, White Fox, with bags hanging on her arm, couldn't reach out to fix it for the moment. She just said softly, "Sir, I don't want to give up."
"This isn't about wanting to give up or not."
Jiang Si said indifferently. "Things without meaning or hope, don't waste time on them."
"It's not, wasting time, Sir."
She seemed a bit lost and hurried, as if the clothes on her arm were too heavy for her to bear. "I can only do, this thing."
The benefit of communicating with White Fox was not having to listen to too much nonsense.
The downside was that without saying much, Jiang Si also understood her meaning.
"You're not cut out for it." Jiang Si just shook his head. "Having a purpose isn't the problem. Everyone has a purpose. On the path of cultivation, for revenge, to become stronger, for longevity—a firm purpose isn't a bad thing. But while having a firm purpose, enjoying the process is what allows one to walk far enough on the Great Dao."
"But you only have a purpose. You don't care about the process at all. Rather, you find it torturous."
"You won't reach the end. Most importantly, you cannot summon miracles."
Word by word, White Fox's pupils gradually dimmed. The originally transparent, ethereal pupils suddenly took on a sense of nothingness and darkness.
"A strong desire is needed to summon miracles. You say you want to take revenge for Jade Fox, but you don't have such a strong desire."
Her emotions were too faint.
Whether it's the Path of Emotionlessness or the Path of Extreme Emotion, at their core, it's about using intense emotions to exchange for power.
Magical Girls are like this. Witches are like this too.
But the girl before him was utterly hollow.
No emotions, no hope, no despair either.
Just following the steps, treating it like a job to complete a task.
Utterly meaningless.
"Sir."
The girl's lips moved, as if murmuring. "Without emotions, it won't work?"
"Mm."
This time, it was Jiang Si's turn to be too lazy to talk.
However, the girl looked somewhat at a loss, yet didn't know what to say.
The two of them walked quietly like this until they reached a fork in the road. Jiang Si stopped. "We'll part here. Either go back to the Prince, or go back to the New Witch Association. Find a position for yourself and stay there. No need to follow me anymore."
"But."
Just as Jiang Si was about to leave, White Fox finally spoke.
"Sir, only with you, is there a chance..."
"That has nothing to do with me. I'm not interested in your affairs."
Jiang Si crossed the street. "If you follow me again, I'll kill you."
A sharp, utterly genuine killing intent, as if congealed into a solid wall.
Forced White Fox to stop in her tracks.
The girl just stared blankly and helplessly at the retreating back, standing in place, motionless.
...
For Jiang Si, an Old World Ghost, if cultivated into a formidable opponent, would be a good choice.
And, without a doubt, White Fox should be within the Prince's Full Bloom Plan.
That's why Jiang Si held expectations and patience towards her.
But unfortunately, White Fox couldn't meet his expectations.
How could a World Ghost be even worse than a Disaster Beast...
To him, this was just an insignificant little interlude.
After returning home, he continued researching his Mental Landscape.
The Mental Landscape dug out from the past world, he still hadn't fully comprehended it yet. Plus, he was currently a bit unsure about the next step to open the Sea of Consciousness. These past few days of quiet cultivation at home passed unknowingly.
Actually, ever since obtaining the Mental Landscape, he had been able to feel a strange sensation.
There was a feeling that the power of a Magical Girl was constantly being called by something.
Although not intense, it was undeniable.
Something wanted to force him to return the Dao to Heaven...
Tsk, it should be Heaven returning the Dao to me.
What a bold Heavenly Demon, daring to call me like this. How many Fruit Position holes do you have on you?
So Jiang Si contacted Bai Mei, planning to have her come to Beihai to sit and discuss the Dao with him, to see how best to break through to the next step of the Sea of Consciousness.
His Divine Sense cultivation was also almost complete. He had optimized Thousand-Pinweed's previous usage method. Now he just lacked a Sea of Consciousness to fully contain the Divine Sense—if simply carried on the body, the Divine Sense would continuously dissipate, just like Pure Mana within an ordinary person's body.
Once the complete set of Divine Sense techniques was perfected, he could teach them to the other disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect.
As for the Vice President mission from the Witch Association, Jiang Si wasn't in a hurry.
After all, there was zero intelligence. The Witch Association assigned the task and then provided nothing, not even the appearance or identity of the Full Bloom.
Completely in the dark. Beautifully named as a test of the Vice President's abilities.
No matter. The Witch Association was good at being hands-off managers, but he was even better.
Jiang Si had already thrown the task to the Saint Hall.
Recently, the Saint Hall had taken on quite a few tasks from the Prince, reaching a deep level of cooperation with her, to the point where the Prince was willing to include the Central State Demon Squad led by Ruo Yun and Hyacinth into the Full Bloom Plan.
You have to understand, even the Witch Association had been kicked out by her. It was imaginable how much the Prince trusted the Saint Hall... or rather, the Central State Demon Squad.
After all, the Central State Demon Squad had always publicly stated that the Saint Hall was a loose organization. Besides them, there were other squads. The Saint Hall wasn't a monolithic block either.
Actually, up to now, the Saint Hall really only had their one squad...
Thus, with the Prince's guarantee, the Saint Hall's interactions with the Old Worlds naturally increased.
Now, as a simple task-taking organization, it was gradually gaining quite a reputation.
Given some time, they would naturally be able to help him find that Full Bloom who needed a bodyguard...
Every time he thought of this, Jiang Si felt pleased with his own foresight and planning.
These were things the Azure Cloud Sect found difficult to do.
The Azure Cloud Sect's position and reputation made the Old Worlds and the Mirror Kingdom Prince dare not make contact. Twins, who could gather intelligence, had limited capabilities and couldn't shoulder the burden alone.
But the Saint Hall was different.
Through the efforts of Ruo Yun and Hyacinth, in the eyes of the Old Worlds now, the Saint Hall was simply a neutral mercenary organization that worked for money. Many things were much more convenient to do.
Not only that, but Xilan and Helen also seemed to have started creating a prototype of the Void Mirror.
Possessing a Supreme Emperor's Weapon would allow the Saint Hall's status to rise another step.
In the future, it wasn't impossible for the Saint Hall to become the leader of the entire Old World.
On the surface, control this world with the Azure Cloud Sect; in the shadows, rule the Old World with the Saint Hall.
Then he could promote the imagery of [Predetermined Fate], ultimately bringing everything under his control!
The layout he had meticulously planned was gradually beginning to show results.
This was his grand perspective as a strategist!
By the third day after Jiang Si returned, it started to rain.
Keke finally came back, bringing some North China specialties.
Naturally, the first thing she did upon returning was look for her big brother. Running to his bedroom and finding Jiang Si exercising, she breathed a sigh of relief, then hopped over happily, lying down by the bed, tilting her head to look at her big brother:
"Big brother, I'm back."
"Go do your homework when you're back."
"...It's done."
"Preview next semester's content."
"Ah, it's endless..."
She complained softly, but Keke wasn't really angry. Being able to see her big brother at home when she returned was happier than anything.
"Later, okay? I'm hungry."
"Order takeout."
"No, I bought some North China specialties, and some things the Central Bureau gave us. Let's cook?"
"Do it yourself."
"Help me..."
Finally, after Keke kept rolling around on the bed begging, Jiang Si finally came out of the room.
Keke habitually turned on the TV, playing the news as background noise, then took out all the specialties she brought from North China.
"This Golden Phoenix Braised Chicken, they said it's especially delicious, needs to be heated up. And this Landlord's Baked Sesame Cake, and these few dishes, steak..."
Jiang Si suspected she had gone to the Central Bureau to stock up on goods.
"Weren't you there for an exchange study? Spent so much money on food?"
"Ah, the local specialty dishes over there were really cheap, so I bought a bit more. Anyway, no one said anything..."
Keke scratched her head. "And I did properly master the Mental Landscape, and also learned a bit about resonance techniques."
"What resonance?"
"It's about creating resonance with other Magical Girls' powers, called Stellar Trace Resonance. Although I don't really understand the theory, operating it isn't actually hard, much simpler than Teacher Shion's classes..."
The siblings chatted while tidying up a bit, going to the kitchen to pick and wash vegetables, boil water, and prepare to make a meal.
"Oh, right, big brother, when I came back, there was a really strange girl standing at the intersection."
While helping her big brother, peeling garlic, Keke said, "I heard from the neighbors she's been standing there for several days, carrying a bunch of bags. Did you see her?"
Jiang Si just turned on the fire to heat the wok. "No."
"Huh? Didn't go out for a run these past two days?"
"No."
"Okay..." Keke finished peeling the garlic, then chopped some green onions and ginger slices, looking out the window. "Today, the rain seems to be getting heavier."
Shaking the water off her hands, Keke was still a bit worried. "If she's still standing over there, she'll catch a cold, right?"
"Probably left by now."
"I, I'll go take a look."
Saying this, Keke went to put on some clothes, grabbed an umbrella, and ran out into the rain.
Jiang Si followed to the doorway.
He saw Keke trotting all the way to the somewhat distant intersection.
That transparent, empty girl was still standing there, holding the clothes she bought earlier, motionless.
Keke held the umbrella, saying something softly beside her for a long time. Finally, she tried to hand the umbrella to her, but the girl just shook her head.
Keke stood beside her, holding the umbrella over her, still talking continuously, her expression showing some difficulty and concern.
The other party kept unwilling to talk to her or accept the umbrella. For a moment, she didn't know if she should go back and tell her big brother, but her big brother probably wouldn't care. She felt a bit conflicted...
Then, White Fox seemed to see something. Finally, she reached out and took the umbrella from Keke's hand, saying softly:
"Thank you."
Keke was stunned for a moment, then still said with some unease, "You should go home soon, okay?"
Then the girl fell silent again.
Feeling somewhat helpless, Keke still trotted back first. Looking at her big brother, she said, "She seems unable to go home, big brother. Isn't it bad to just leave her like that?"
"Don't mind her."
"How can I not mind? Leaving her like this, she'll definitely catch a cold tomorrow. What if she gets sick? Didn't the police come before? That's strange. I'll call Yiyi and ask..."
Seeing Keke determined to help to the end, Jiang Si sighed. "I'll go talk to her."
"Ah?" Keke was instantly startled, pinching her big brother's face. "Are you okay? Do you have a fever? How could... my big brother would never be like this..."
"Then let's not mind her."
"I was joking! Go on, go on, big brother, go talk to her?"
So Jiang Si walked over.
The girl, who had shown no reaction all along, finally raised her head to look at Jiang Si. Soaked through, raising her head, her face covered in rain, lips bloodless, icy pale. Her body shivered when the wind blew.
Raindrops fell from her eyelashes, invading her pupils, yet she didn't blink.
Her delicate features were blurred in the rain. Wet hair clung in strands to her forehead and cheeks, messy but not ugly, only possessing a breathtaking beauty of disarray.
When looking at Jiang Si, her white, transparent, empty pupils showed a slight change in color.
"Roll."
The girl instinctively started to squat down, then lie on the ground, and begin to roll.
But halfway through, she suddenly stopped. Holding the umbrella, she quietly looked up at the youth.
Jiang Si just looked at her. "Why aren't you doing it?"
White Fox's lips moved. "Clothes, will get dirty, Sir."
"Is that the only reason?"
A long silence. Then White Fox slowly stood up. "I, don't want to roll."
"Why."
"I..." The girl clutched her chest tightly. "I don't know."
"Then roll."
Some faint mana began to dissipate.
She put away the umbrella, then set down the bags containing her clothes.
"Sir."
With that, she suddenly raised her leg—a fierce high whip kick, aiming straight for Jiang Si's forehead!
Keke, watching, was so startled she immediately wanted to run over. But then she saw her big brother casually throw a punch back. The girl's calf snapped like a branch, and her whole person knelt down in the muddy ground.
Her expensive clothes became utterly filthy.
Jiang Si squatted down, looking down at her. "What are you doing?"
"I wanted to attack you, Sir."
"Why?"
"Body, moved on its own." A slight fluctuation appeared in the girl's pale, transparent pupils. "An, impulse I couldn't, endure."
"That's called anger. Remember this feeling."
Jiang Si picked up the umbrella and stood up. "Follow me."
Keke watched as the girl, who had seemed completely unapproachable just moments ago, now hurriedly limped after Jiang Si.
For a moment, she was stunned.
What's going on? Why did big brother handle it so easily?
One punch and she obediently followed back...
Could it be... my brother really is a love guru?