Was her situation looking bad?
Xie Litang merely smiled.
In her view, "bad" was just an excuse for the weak, while her current over one million Vitality was the core of her confidence. Surpassing ten million in the foreseeable future was merely a matter of time.
Seeing her completely unbothered expression, Yang Yiyi stubbed out her slim cigarette on the spot and said with some impatience, “Seriously, sister, are you really not worried at all?”
Xie Litang asked in return, “Worrying? Is that going to help?”
Yang Yiyi took a deep breath and said in a serious tone, “I really think highly of you. I can use my connections to get you a new ID card so you can lay low for a few years until the storm passes.”
Without even thinking about it, Xie Litang replied, “No need.”
“Miss Xie, I know you're strong and have huge potential, which is exactly why I value you. But Xie Litang, tell me: facing the encirclement and suppression of all those forces, what are you going to do?”
“Deal with it as it comes.”
“Xie Litang, I'm really not joking with you. Taking a step back, do you intend to live like a gutter rat for the rest of your life?”
“No, no, no.” Xie Litang waved her hand, saying nonchalantly, “I think you've misunderstood something, Yang Yiyi. I won't be a rat in the gutters.”
“Seriously, facing the encirclement and suppression of so many forces, what are you actually thinking, Xie Litang?”
“It's simple. I'll just become invincible.”
Yang Yiyi said, “I...”
She truly couldn't bring herself to persuade her any further.
As if weighing a heavy heart, she opened her cigarette case again and pulled out a slim cigarette, preparing to light it.
Xie Litang stepped forward and snuffed out the cigarette in her hand, gesturing that smoking too much wasn't good for her.
Yang Yiyi opened her mouth, and after a long moment, sighed, “Sorry, I got too worked up just now. I know I shouldn't have been like that.”
“I had my own motives for helping you—I hoped you would stay by my side and assist me.”
“However, even if I gave you a new identity, unless you got plastic surgery on your face, you still couldn't live in the light of the New Citadel.”
“I was taking things for granted.”
Xie Litang lightly patted her shoulder and chuckled softly, “Are you under too much pressure?”
Yang Yiyi leaned back against the wall and let out a long breath. “I'm alright. I was just too eager to bring you under my wing.”
Xie Litang couldn't help but chuckle. Her impression of Yang Yiyi had improved slightly.
But it was only limited to being someone worth associating with. In her eyes, Yang Yiyi's identity as a merchant still called for vigilance.
Merchants prioritized profit; one should never expect to build true friendship with a merchant based on sentiment.
Therefore...
Xie Litang's attitude toward Yang Yiyi remained constant: collaborate, but never place absolute trust in her.
Xie Litang stood up.
“Alright.”
“Thank you for your good intentions.”
“But I'll stick to what I said: wait until I become invincible.”
“I don't need their recognition either. Once I blow them all to pieces, it will naturally clear my name.”
In summary, strength was everything.
The vehicles quickly left Fumu City, returning the area once more to a dead silence.
Of course, Chen Linling's workshop was an exception.
The underground parking lot of over a thousand square meters beneath the office building had been transformed by Chen Linling into sectioned workshops.
Exposed wires lay crudely on the floor, making fire safety look worrying.
Yet line after line of CNC machine tools were lathing out various parts, which were then assembled into robots and drones.
According to Chen Linling, if the power supply hadn't been an issue...
...she would have even set up a small blast furnace to recycle all the Old Era scrap iron across the entire city.
“Linling...”
Xie Litang opened a room.
She saw Chen Linling lying flat on her magnetic levitation wheelchair with several data cables on her arm connected to a server, looking like a bio-computing terminal.
“Sis?”
Chen Linling disconnected from the network and asked in confusion, “Is something wrong?”
Xie Litang brought over a set of Crane Whisper Battle Armor and pointed at the boxes outside. “This armor is for you. Also, rest early—don't push yourself too hard.”
Chen Linling gleefully took the armor, holding it up against herself to measure it. “Sis, doesn't this look like we're wearing matching couples' outfits?”
Xie Litang didn't bother arguing. “Whatever you say.”
She felt somewhat guilty after all. Ever since the two of them moved to Fumu City, Chen Linling had been doing almost all the construction work, while she herself basically just earned money and cultivated.
Chen Linling lived on the first floor for convenience.
Xie Litang lived on the second floor, which was convenient for her training.
Sitting by the windowsill without the city's neon lights, soft moonlight cast a layer of silver radiance over the room.
Xie Litang opened the boxes one by one, all filled with items purchased from Yang Yiyi.
A set of self-repairing nano under-armor, a set of Crane Whisper Battle Armor, and a Shadow-Seeking Butterfly larva.
The Crane Whisper Battle Armor went without saying—it was good-looking and elegant.
Wearing the self-repairing nano under-armor wasn't particularly comfortable, as it was produced by nanobots after all.
But its saving grace was that as long as energy was supplied, she no longer had to worry about the embarrassment of having her clothes shredded by firearms and ammunition.
Finally, there was the Shadow-Seeking Butterfly larva.
The larva inside the jade box squirmed.
“Holy shit!”
A layer of goosebumps instantly broke out on Xie Litang's arms. Although she had the soul of a man inside, who said guys weren't afraid of bugs? She had genuinely been scared to tears by a cabbage worm when she was little.
She took a deep breath.
Xie Litang swore in her heart.
“Once it metamorphoses into a butterfly, it'll be fine.”
The Shadow-Seeking Butterfly needed to be fed essence blood, but Vitality was the last thing Xie Litang lacked.
The normal way to raise it was under the surface of the body, which was how all Insect Masters raised them. It was said that people of the Insect Master Sequence had dense clusters of insect eggs packed beneath their skin.
Xie Litang brought out the blood extractor and said, “What era is this? Who still raises bugs the ancient way?”
After bending the needle several times, Xie Litang finally remembered to unequip the Blood River Divine Canon skill.
Xie Litang could clearly sense that after the blood was extracted...
...fresh blood wasn't created out of thin air. Instead, her Vitality stat acted like a power hub, continuously supplying energy to her body's blood-forming system.
She fed the refined blood to the Shadow-Seeking Butterfly larva.
At the same time, Xie Litang burned an insect contract talisman, establishing a faint mental connection with the larva.
【Hungry.】
【Want more.】
This was the first message Xie Litang received from the larva.
“What a coincidence.”
“The one thing I don't lack here is essence blood.”
Since it was her first time raising a pet, she gave it the luxury treatment right off the bat.
But clearly, this method was not the proper way an Insect Master raised bugs. When Xie Litang fed it a few drops less of essence blood one time, the larva expressed a trace of dissatisfaction and even anger through the mental link.
Realizing the severity of the situation immediately, she frowned and said, “You dare show hostility toward me? I fucking gave you an inch and you took a mile, huh?”
Xie Litang cut off its food supply on the spot.
“Ungrateful little parasite.”
Xie Litang exerted mental pressure directly onto the larva.
“You can only take what I give you.”
“You can't demand what I don't give.”
Cutting off its food and applying pressure.
If that failed, she would just kill it.
It was only a fifteen-million-yuan item; if it died, Xie Litang could always get another one.
There was really no need to raise a master for herself.
Rate on N.U.
