Chapter 102: Was It Intentional or Accidental?

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Was It Intentional or Accidental?

SSSHHH—

Blinding sparks erupted from Bai Qimeng’s Mechanical Armor at the throat, chest, and limbs, all at nearly the same instant.

The Demon King Cat could actually strike its enemies from a distance!

This Hexagram Swordsmanship was clearly some kind of ultimate move!

"Boss!" Lin Xin’Er cried out in alarm.

As Bai Qimeng’s personal bodyguard, her primary duty was to protect her employer. But right now, she could only watch helplessly as Bai Qimeng was struck by the Demon King’s six consecutive slashes.

Lin Xin’Er quickly rushed forward.

With a THUD, she caught the falling Rabbit-Faced Knight, catching her perfectly in a princess carry.

"Boss, are you all—"

But as soon as Lin Xin’Er spoke, she froze.

She realized that Bai Qimeng’s Mechanical Armor hadn’t been pierced at all. In fact, she couldn’t see even a single scratch; it was as shiny as ever.

’She took the Demon King’s slashes head-on and was completely unscathed?!’

Just then, Bai Qimeng’s arm had already snaked around Lin Xin’Er’s neck. The electronic eyes on the rabbit mask glowed crimson as she chuckled in a girlish, robotic voice:

"Xin’Er, how could a Knight ever be harmed by a Demon King?"

With that, she used the thumb of her gun-holding hand to pat Lin Xin’Er’s head, then flipped out of her arms and landed on her feet.

"But thank you for your concern. Now then, allow me to continue enumerating the Demon King’s sins—"

Just as Bai Qimeng struck a cool pose, raised her twin guns, and prepared to end the Demon King Cat’s life, she suddenly stopped moving.

It was because the dark-haired young man had, at some point, already cut off the Demon King Cat’s head. He was now standing beside the corpse, leaning on his Beheading Sword and looking over with great interest.

"I thought you two were going to kiss."

Wang Xi said, disappointed.

Hearing this, Lin Xin’Er’s expression stiffened, and she clenched her fists.

But a closer look would reveal a faint blush creeping across her cheeks.

"I wanted to," Bai Qimeng clicked her tongue and lowered her guns. "But this mask gets in the way. I can’t allow it to kiss a cute girl before I do."

’Such a classic domineering-CEO line.’

’She’s really leaning into it.’

"..."

Wang Xi and Lin Xin’Er fell silent.

"Going by what you said, Miss Bai," Wang Xi began, suddenly seeming to have thought of something as he stroked his chin. "It may not have kissed a cute girl, but it did kiss a handsome boy first."

"Was that on purpose, or was it an accident?"

"..."

This time, it was Bai Qimeng’s turn to be silent.

Lin Xin’Er paused.

’That’s right.’

’Wang Xi had used that mask too.’

’The boss had even given it to him personally.’

Suddenly, Lin Xin’Er’s expression turned strange.

’Could the boss be...?’

"Oh dear, it seems you’ve found me out."

Bai Qimeng lightly tapped the mask’s forehead with the butt of her gun, feigning a troubled look.

"Since it’s come to this, I’ll drop the act."

She stuck out her chest, placed her hands on her hips, and declared brazenly:

"I did it on purpose."

"..."

All three of them fell silent.

Wang Xi scratched his head.

’It’s a little itchy. Feels like I’m about to grow a brain.’

In the end, he gave up on thinking.

He just said nonchalantly:

"That’ll cost extra."

"Fine."

Bai Qimeng nodded.

...

...

The three of them got busy.

Joyful shouts occasionally echoed through the Iron Cage Theater.

"Another one!"

Having deactivated her transformation, Bai Qimeng was back in her original outfit. Dagger in hand, she had just carved a lychee-sized Magic Stone from the corpse of a walking cat.

She stood up, struck a cool pose as if wiping away sweat, and sighed with feeling,

"Hunting Maze monsters isn’t hard, but collecting the loot is such a chore..."

"Miss Bai, even the final boss Demon King couldn’t satisfy you. How about I have the Maze kowtow and apologize?"

Wang Xi and Lin Xin’Er walked over, each carrying a leather pouch full of Magic Stones. The pouches contained the loot from all the monsters in the arena.

The Mechanical Doll audience members also contained Magic Stones, though they were smaller, only about the size of a fingertip. Fortunately, there were many of them, so the total amount was quite substantial.

"Hmph. Smooth talker."

Bai Qimeng shot him a look, then broke into a grin.

"But I like it."

"..."

Wang Xi and Lin Xin’Er exchanged a glance.

Wordlessly, they both saw a hint of pity on the other’s face.

"Alright, let’s tally up the loot."

Bai Qimeng beckoned with her hand, taking charge.

Wang Xi and Lin Xin’Er handed over their leather pouches.

Bai Qimeng poured all the collected Magic Stones into a single pile, then scanned them with her Monitoring Wristwatch.

BEEP BEEP.

"Not a bad haul. 6,690 grams of Magic Stones," she said with a light chuckle.

"That’s 2,230 grams per person."

"Miss Bai, for you, these Magic Stones are barely enough for two taxi rides. Is it really worth getting so excited over?"

Wang Xi asked cheerfully, folding his arms.

Bai Qimeng heard the teasing in his tone and huffed, speaking as she divided the Magic Stones:

"Life, you see, is all about the experience. Everyone starts at a different point—some are rich, some are poor, and we can’t decide that for ourselves... But there are some things whose flavor you’ll only know once you’ve pursued them yourself."

"Miss Qi Meng, you’re a true kindred spirit."

Wang Xi sighed with emotion, shaking his head.

Then he changed his tune and said:

"In that case, could you let me experience a little bit of your life?"

"Heh heh, want to have a taste?"

Bai Qimeng shot him a sidelong glance.

"Then you’ll have to pursue me first."

"You’re driving too fast! I’d rather not have a taste of that!"

Wang Xi said, flustered.

Bai Qimeng held out the divided leather pouches to the two of them and said disdainfully:

"Wimp."

Wang Xi let her words go in one ear and out the other, simply taking his share of the Magic Stones.

Next, the three began to search the Iron Cage Theater for any sign of the Maze Card Pool.

According to the intel Bai Qimeng had gathered, in the "Circus" scene of the "Boot Cat" Maze, the Card Pool was usually hidden somewhere inside the theater.

Sure enough, after only about ten minutes of searching, they found the Maze Card Pool’s location.

In a corner of the Iron Cage Theater stood a simple, temporarily constructed wooden hut. Inside were all sorts of miscellaneous items, iron cages, costume trunks, and prop boxes—it looked like a backstage area for performers.

And next to a large iron cage, a perfectly ordinary-looking ring of fire prop was leaning against the wall.

After Wang Xi and the others entered, it suddenly began to roll on its own, bursting into splendid, seven-colored flames that radiated light.

The ring of fire rolling toward her made Bai Qimeng’s fingers itch with anticipation, a feeling she had never experienced before.

If you were to ask why, it was simply because it was too beautiful.

"The exciting moment has arrived!"

Watching the ring of fire hover before them and slowly float upward, Bai Qimeng gave a sly grin and rubbed her hands together like a fly.

But in the end, she held back, patting Wang Xi on the shoulder and gesturing for him to go first.

"You go first and pad the numbers for me."

"Miss Bai, this service wasn’t included in the commission."

As Wang Xi spoke, Bai Qimeng’s gaze grew intense. He quickly changed his tune and sighed. "But what can I do? We’re friends, after all."

"So you do have a conscience after all!"

Bai Qimeng gave him a hard punch on the arm and urged him on. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

"Don’t tell a man to be quick."

"Although I’m tempted to say that people are most sensitive about the things they’re bad at... you, my friend, I just think you’re more than capable," Bai Qimeng said earnestly.

"Really capable!"

Muttering that she had no right to speak without practical experience, Wang Xi strode forward and tossed a random assortment of about 1 kilogram of Magic Stones into the ring of fire.

He couldn’t be bothered to do single pulls one by one.

He went straight for a ten-pull!

Instantly, the hovering ring of fire began to spin rapidly.

Seven-colored light shot out in all directions.

DING DONG DING DONG!

A series of crisp chimes rang out from the ring of fire.

Immediately after, a ghastly white light surged out.

White, white, and more white...

Whiter than Bai Qimeng.

Wang Xi remained expressionless, unfazed.

’If you don’t have any expectations, you can’t be disappointed.’

But at the very end, the light turned from white to green, and two green orbs shot out in succession.

"?!"

All three of them were shocked.

"Two greens in a ten-pull?"

His luck was off the charts.

Wang Xi gathered the ten floating Cards in front of him into a single stack.

The moment he turned around, Bai Qimeng and Lin Xin’Er were already crowding around him.

"You got something good! What is it?"

"Quick, let me see!"

"Be my guest."

Wang Xi didn’t try to hide anything, generously displaying the Cards.

He had actually already scanned them with Kaos and knew what he had.

Perhaps it was a feature of this particular Maze Card Pool, but most of the good pulls were Equipment Cards—

Of the eight White Cards, six were trash.

Two were White Two Stars weapon Cards of the same Quality as the Beheading Sword: one "Silver Thorn Sword" and one "Iron Oath Longsword."

The remaining two were One Star Green Cards: a pair of "Wind-Seeking Boots" and a "Wind Breath Cloak."

Both of these Equipment Cards had Wind Element enchantments. The former could provide an Enhancement to speed, while the latter offered protection. They were excellent, top-tier items, each worth over 300,000.

"How is that fair?!"

Bai Qimeng exclaimed after using her Monitoring Wristwatch to scan the Cards and get their basic information.

How was it fair?

It was a good question.

But no matter how many times he was asked, Wang Xi only had one answer:

"That’s just how it is when you’re handsome."

"..."

Beside them, Lin Xin’Er pressed her lips together.

It was hard not to be envious.

After factoring out the cost of just over 100,000, that ten-pull had netted him a profit of at least 600,000 to 700,000!

He’d struck it rich in one go.

"Aaaah!"

Bai Qimeng grabbed Wang Xi by the collar and shook him violently, crying out in anguish, "I told you to pad the numbers a little, not to gorge yourself! Now look what you’ve done! You’ve sucked away all my good luck! How am I supposed to get any good pulls now?!"

"Superstition can’t change your non-SSR luck, and whaling can’t change your fate. The pool is full of Follower Cards. Give it up, Qi Meng," Wang Xi patted her small hands comfortingly.

Whether his comforting worked or not, Bai Qimeng suddenly let go and calmed down.

She pointed to a Green Card in Wang Xi’s hand and said:

"I’ll take these ’Wind-Seeking Boots.’ Name your price."

"You have Mechanical Armor, what do you need these for?" Wang Xi asked curiously.

Bai Qimeng didn’t hide it, explaining openly:

"The cat-type Follower Cards from the ’Boot Cat’ Maze are special. They can equip three Equipment Cards at once. If those cards are boots, a sword, and a gun, their power increases dramatically."

"I see."

Wang Xi was a little surprised to hear that.

’I never thought Follower Cards could be used like that.’

’It’s like a special deck archetype.’

"200,000," Wang Xi said with a smile.

"Hm?" Bai Qimeng raised a delicate eyebrow. "Not going to take the chance to rip me off?"

She had thought that even if he didn’t ask for 500,000, he would at least ask for 400,000... but instead, he was selling them to her for 200,000, a price far below the market rate.

"Don’t think so poorly of me, alright?"

Wang Xi held the Green Card between two fingers and tucked it into her hand.

"I’m greedy, but not for my friends’ money. Don’t worry about what I said about charging extra before. It was just a joke."

"Hakixi, you..."

Bai Qimeng toyed with the "Wind-Seeking Boots," putting on a look of girlish emotion on her delicate face, her eyes welling up with fake tears.

Whether he was being sincere or just putting on an act, a gentleman is judged by his actions, not his intentions. She just liked making friends with interesting people like him.

"Thanks," she said, her face breaking into a smile.