Chapter 151: As Long as It’s Her

Xuan Xuan sat in the living room accompanying Tong Wan to watch television, but her attention had already followed Moqi Lianhao and the others into the study.

Moqi Yi was still busy with work in the study. Moqi Lianhao and the other person sat by the desk and waited for a moment. After Moqi Yi finished dealing with the matters at hand, he looked at Moqi Lianhao and said, "I truly never expected the mecha modified by Xuan Xuan to have such a significant effect. It was my oversight, but with Liao Kun around, it doesn't matter. I have instructed him to handle it, and there should be no issues. That old codger Kuang Hongyi also said that even he cannot replicate this modification method, so we needn't worry about others discovering anything. Even if discovered, they would not be able to recreate it. I am only concerned that someone might harbor malicious intentions, so Xuan Xuan's recent safety must be given special attention."

Moqi Lianhao nodded, well aware of these potential risks.

"It is only a pity that currently only Xuan Xuan knows how to make this type of mecha, and it cannot be mass-produced. Otherwise, it would greatly enhance the combat capability of ordinary soldiers," Moqi Yi remarked offhandedly.

Hearing Moqi Yi say this, Xuan Xuan pondered slightly. Modern standard mechas were partially produced on assembly lines. She wondered what such an assembly line looked like and thought she might go take a look; perhaps it could be adapted, though the magical arrays inscribed upon them presented a slight problem.

Moqi Yi then asked Moqi Lianhao, "How is the investigation into the Bai family progressing?"

Moqi Lianhao glanced at Moqi Lianjun, sighed inwardly, and replied, "There are some leads, but it will still take some time."

Moqi Yi nodded; this matter could not be rushed. "Where has that fellow Lao Er gone off to again?"

"He went to the Black Domain," Moqi Lianjun replied. Moqi Chen was away from the imperial capital year-round and could disappear at any time. With Moqi Lianhao holding down the fort and Moqi Lianjun watching his back, he had grown increasingly unrestrained and unruly.

Moqi Yi let out a cold snort. "Hmph, nowhere to be seen all day long, who knows what he's busy with."

Upon hearing Moqi Chen mentioned, Xuan Xuan curled the corner of her lips. It was better if he didn't return. Whenever he saw her, he called her "Chubby," when she had long since stopped being chubby.

"He went out on a mission. The Black Domain has become increasingly chaotic lately, so he will be safer over there," Moqi Lianjun explained on his behalf.

Moqi Yi snorted again, knowing that although Moqi Chen was somewhat fond of play, he still possessed a sense of proportion, and thus pressed the matter no further. Moqi Lianhao and Moqi Lianjun exchanged a glance and breathed a sigh of relief.

Xuan Xuan, however, felt a sense of regret that her Second Uncle had escaped scot-free once again.

Moqi Yi turned to Moqi Lianjun and asked, "What brings you back?"

Moqi Lianjun felt a twitch of exasperation. Just moments ago, the Second Elder was being criticized for not returning, and now that he had returned, he was still met with complaints. Nonetheless, he explained, "There is some movement on the Zerg side. A batch of Zerg has mysteriously vanished without a trace. After investigating, I suspect they were transferred, but I have been unable to find any method of transfer or their destination."

"Another unexplained transfer?" Moqi Yi asked.

Hearing this, Xuan Xuan also knitted her brows. A method like this must be extremely difficult to execute, and for them to expend such massive resources to accomplish it could not be without reason. She feared some special scheme was afoot.

"Another?" Moqi Lianjun asked, puzzled.

Moqi Yi nodded. "During their military training, Xuan Xuan and the others encountered this once before. They had the area surrounded, but the Zerg escaped from the inside. There were energy fluctuations, but no trace was left behind."

Moqi Lianjun's eyes widened slightly. Such an incident had occurred?

"Were Xuan Xuan and the others harmed?"

"No." Moqi Yi shook his head, then said to Moqi Lianhao, "Safety measures around the Imperial Star must be strictly observed recently. They surely would not carry out such a massive transfer without cause."

With a grave expression, Moqi Lianhao nodded. He was also concerned about this issue, but more importantly, "I just received news that after leaving the Federal First Military Academy today, Aikang contacted Bai Ruchen."

Moqi Yi raised an eyebrow. "What was said?"

Moqi Lianhao shook his head. "I didn't hear the specifics, but their meeting was short. They must have realized that the ties between our three families are growing too close and have started to worry."

"Pay them no heed; they wouldn't dare act rashly. Pass the intelligence regarding the Zerg to the Zhan and Kuang families so we can coordinate our defenses," Moqi Yi said. Their primary enemy was not the Ai or Bai families, but the covetous Zerg.

With the combined military might of the Moqi and Zhan families, there was simply no need to worry about the petty machinations of the Bai and Ai families.

Xuan Xuan pondered the situation. The principle behind the Zerg's current method remained unknown; if they continued to appear and disappear like phantoms, it would indeed pose a major problem. She only wondered whether the Zerg parasitic within Xuan Guo would attempt to contact that vanished batch of Zerg.

Waiting until Tong Wan went to the kitchen, Xuan Xuan hurriedly turned off the television, left Moqi Weinhao and the others behind, and retreated to her bedroom. Whenever she had free time lately, she would dive into the Star Network to research antidotes for Zerg parasitism and detection methods, determined not to remain overly passive.

She no longer paid attention to the continuation of the conversation among Moqi Yi and the others; the Zerg were a grave menace, and she had to handle them properly.

Xuan Xuan's research within the Star Network was still based on Baicao Star, where various materials were relatively abundant.

The only difference was the absence of Zhan Yu by her side. Even when Zhan Yu was on Baicao Star, he wouldn't stay right beside Xuan Xuan, yet he constantly gathered various items. No matter how bizarre or rare, Zhan Yu collected them and would drop by to see her whenever he had free time.

Recently, Xuan Xuan had been visiting the Star Network somewhat more frequently. Yet, why did she feel that Zhan Yu's visits had also grown much more frequent? She seemed to run into him almost every time she logged on.

Upon entering the Star Network, she headed straight for the laboratory. In truth, certain progress had already been made regarding these experiments.

Not long after she entered, she heard a commotion outside. Without even turning her head to look, Xuan Xuan knew that Zhan Yu must have found something rare and left it outside, the noise carrying into the room. With a slight motion, Xuan Xuan turned back and thought, *How did he get in here?*

Her gaze fell upon Zhan Yu, only to be instantly drawn to his hands. "Where did you find these?"

Xuan Xuan felt that today was truly a lucky day. The various metals in Zhan Yu's hands happened to be precisely the ones she had been lacking. Her eyes narrowed into a happy smile as she snatched the metals directly from Zhan Yu's hands, completely forgetting about the potion she had been brewing earlier. With these materials finally complete, she could now build the conversion device for converting magic crystals.

What existed in the Star Network also existed in reality. Now that the Zerg were eyeing them hungrily, having this would greatly boost their strength, and her father and the others would surely be much happier.

"In consideration of these metals, I'll make that little trinket I promised you last time," Xuan Xuan said, the corners of her lips curling upward as she fiddled with the metals in her hands.

Zhan Yu raised an eyebrow, his heartbeat suddenly skipping a beat as his voice trembled slightly. "What trinket?"

Wanqi Xuan Xuan had never promised to make him any trinket. They rarely spoke to each other, especially within the Star Network; Zhan Yu had only seen her after her teacher, Wanqi Xuan Xuan, went missing. At that time, he was in no state of mind for anything else, and having been busy recently, he had virtually no contact with her on the Star Network.

Only Xuan Xuan, in her identity as her teacher, had once promised to make him a small trinket, though she had forgotten and never gotten around to it.

Yet Xuan Xuan was currently in such high spirits that she completely failed to notice the anomaly in the person before her. The persona of "Teacher" was mostly maintained only in front of Zhan Yu, rarely showing its face to others, but when facing Zhan Yu, she constantly blurred the lines between her two identities.

Nor did she realize that she had already let slip a secret. Without the slightest reaction, and assuming Zhan Yu had a poor memory, she reminded him, "The batch of metals bought from that small vendor."

Without lifting her head, Xuan Xuan continued studying the metals in her hands, the smile in her eyes deepening. She hadn't been mistaken; it was real. She went to retrieve the previously prepared batch of metals. After preparing for so long, she could finally complete it.

Behind her, Zhan Yu merely stared blankly at the busy figure before him. There was bewilderment, confusion, and incomprehension, but above all, wild euphoria.

He had not misidentified her. She truly was "her."

They were the only two who had gone to buy the metals together, and "she" had promised to make him a small trinket.

Though he did not know why she needed to maintain these two identities, nor why she had suddenly made her teacher persona vanish.

However, as long as she was still here, it was enough.

As long as it was her, it was enough.

Xuan Xuan always felt that the way Zhan Yu looked at her was strange. Turning around, she saw Zhan Yu gazing at her with a tangled, complex expression.

Xuan Xuan felt a creeping sensation over her skin. Had she done something wrong again? It seemed not.

After pondering for a moment without an answer, she decided her conversion device was more important. Catching sight of the Abyssal Magic Gold close at hand, she cast a strange look at Zhan Yu. Could it be that he was harboring resentment because she had forgotten about this?

It didn't look like it.

Although she found it peculiar, Xuan Xuan ultimately decided to make the magic storage device she had promised him first. The conversion device wasn't so urgent, and since these materials were found by him, taking a short while to craft a magic storage device for Zhan Yu wouldn't take long.

"I'll make your little trinket first, so you don't have to look at me with such full resentment," Xuan Xuan said. With that, she lowered her head, found the piece of Abyssal Magic Gold that had been left aside for a long time, and handed it to Zhan Yu. "Make whatever shape you like; it's best if it's around this size."

Xuan Xuan gestured with her hands. This material was rare, so it was better to use it sparingly.

Full of resentment? Did he look like that?

Looking at the size Xuan Xuan gestured, the corners of Zhan Yu's lips curved into a smile. A volume of this size seemed to be just right for making a ring.

Using his metal-element abilities to control and slice away a small piece from the metal in his hand, he simply fashioned it into a ring band without any patterns, and handed it back to Xuan Xuan.

Xuan Xuan glanced at it without a second thought. Crafting this kind of magic storage device into a ring was entirely appropriate; if the texture were not as good and required a larger volume, a bracelet would also be fine.

Taking the ring-shaped metal, she lowered her head and began inscribing runes upon it. While this metal alone could store magic power, extraction was difficult and usage inconvenient. It had to be paired with two magical arrays to be truly practical.