Chapter 22: The Warehouse Haul and a Whisper of Desire

Cheng Lan and Qin Jinxuan swiftly approached the warehouse entrance.

From a distance, Cheng Lan spotted a petite white figure guarding the large door.

It was Lidoa.

Cool moonlight cascaded upon the girl’s silvery hair, the tips swaying gently in the breeze like flowing silver silk.

Her already fair skin appeared even more pristine, like snow, under the moon’s glow. The white hem of her skirt danced up and down in the gentle wind, resembling a white lotus blooming in the dark of night.

Perhaps out of boredom, Lidoa stood with her hands clasped behind her back, her head bowed, as the tip of her right shoe incessantly traced circles in the sandy ground.

Just then, sensing something, she abruptly lifted her head, her gaze falling upon the two figures approaching her.

Lidoa immediately ceased her movements and joyfully sprinted towards Cheng Lan.

“Master!!!” As she neared Cheng Lan, Lidoa launched herself into a flying tackle, landing squarely in his embrace.

Upon seeing the figure hurtling towards him, Cheng Lan instinctively spread his arms, then stumbled back a few steps from the girl’s impact before finally catching her securely.

“Thank you, Master!” Lidoa joyfully clung to Cheng Lan, rubbing her fair, delicate cheek against his chest like a doting kitten.

“Thank me for what?” Cheng Lan asked, bewildered.

“For helping me take care of those five enemies just now!” Lidoa blinked, her sky-blue eyes fixed intently on Cheng Lan.

“Oh, *that*,” Cheng Lan realized, then waved a dismissive hand. “It was just a quick thing. Saved your little short legs from having to run all over the place; watching you would have been exhausting.”

“Hmph!” Hearing Cheng Lan’s words, Lidoa’s rosy cheeks immediately puffed out, making her resemble a hamster.

“Master! My height isn’t something I can control…” she retorted, then, as if to vent her frustration, she rubbed her face against Cheng Lan’s chest with renewed vigor.

“Anyway! I completed my mission perfectly today, and I want a reward!” The girl looked up at Cheng Lan again, her face clearly expressing her desire for a reward.

“Alright, alright!” Cheng Lan, utterly resigned, began to gently rub Lidoa’s small head.

As Cheng Lan’s ‘demonic paw’ (TL Note: A humorous, self-deprecating term often used to describe one’s own hand when petting or teasing someone) pressed down on her head, Lidoa immediately squinted her eyes, shook her head blissfully, and let out a contented hum.

Meanwhile, Qin Jinxuan, standing nearby, watched the scene unfold with an unwavering gaze.

Her eyes darted back and forth between Cheng Lan’s left hand, which continued to gently stroke Lidoa’s head, and the girl’s pleasantly narrowed face.

‘Is… is it really that comfortable?’

‘If I also performed exceptionally well, would Cheng Lan reward me too, perhaps by gently stroking my head like that?’

Qin Jinxuan couldn’t help but ponder, unconsciously clutching the corner of her clothes, a strange ripple stirring within her heart.

****

After a short while, Lidoa still clung tightly to Cheng Lan, showing no sign of letting go. Cheng Lan, finally resigned, subtly shifted his hands from her head and back, gently reaching under Lidoa’s armpits, and then…

Lidoa suddenly found her feet leaving the ground as she was lifted high into the air.

With her feet abruptly suspended, the silver-haired girl, now held aloft, looked down at Cheng Lan with a bewildered expression, her porcelain-fair legs unconsciously swinging back and forth.

“Alright, Lidoa, reward time is over; it’s time to get to work.” With that, Cheng Lan gently placed the girl back on the ground.

He raised a finger, pointing towards the warehouse entrance not far away. “That door is yours, Lidoa.”

“Understood!” Lidoa saluted Cheng Lan, then stretched her arms backward, her twin ponytails flying up in the wind, as she dashed briskly towards the heavy alloy door in a “plane run” (TL Note: Refers to a child’s playful running pose with arms outstretched like airplane wings) pose.

In moments, she arrived before the control panel beside the grand entrance.

The instant the girl’s fingertips grazed the control panel, her sky-blue pupils simultaneously fractured into countless tiny hexagonal light grids. A dense stream of data flashed rapidly before her eyes, resembling a constantly reassembling kaleidoscope, mesmerizing to behold.

Just as Lidoa was deciphering the warehouse door’s security…

Qin Jinxuan subtly poked Cheng Lan’s back.

“What is it?” he asked without turning his head.

“If… if I perform well, can I also ask you for a reward?” the girl asked, her voice crisp and clear.

“Huh?” Cheng Lan halted, turning to look at her, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

“No… not allowed?” Qin Jinxuan shrank her head back, her voice instantly growing softer.

“Ermmm,” Cheng Lan mused, stroking his chin for a few seconds before relenting. “If the request isn’t too outrageous, then perhaps it’s not impossible.”

“Really?!” Qin Jinxuan’s eyes instantly brightened, as if two small lamps had been lit. “Then it’s a deal!”

“Don’t get too excited just yet,” Cheng Lan interjected, raising a hand, his tone slightly serious. “The prerequisite is that you must genuinely deliver a performance that truly impresses me.”

“Mhm!” The girl nodded.

The two then walked to the grand entrance, just as Lidoa successfully decrypted the warehouse’s security system.

A green light spread outwards from the center of the door, followed by the hum of machinery from within as the massive door slowly creaked open.

Beyond the door, absolute darkness reigned, as if stretching into an endless abyss.

“Lidoa, turn on the lights.”

*Click! Click! Click!*

Following a series of crisp activation sounds, the incandescent lights neatly arranged on the ceiling flickered on one by one. The cold white glow instantly dispelled the darkness, revealing the full extent of the warehouse before Cheng Lan and the two girls.

At the very center of their vision stood rows of robots resembling human skeletons, identical in appearance to the one Cheng Lan had discovered atop the watchtower. Upon closer inspection, the designation ‘Shadow-5’ could be seen marked on each robot’s chest. In addition to those neatly arranged on the ground, a portion of these machines hung suspended in mid-air.

“Tsk!” Cheng Lan couldn’t help but click his tongue upon seeing the sight before him.

“So these guys were already preparing to invade Blue Star at this stage…” he murmured, lowering his voice.

He then cast his gaze to the right, where the weapon storage area, his objective for this trip, lay.

To the right of the warehouse were various highly futuristic vehicles, though these were of no immediate use to Cheng Lan. The primary reason was his inability to transport them back.

“Lidoa, these guys aren’t going to suddenly ‘wake up,’ are they?” Cheng Lan turned his head to the white-haired girl standing beside him.

“Don’t worry, Master!” Lidoa patted her small chest, nodding reassuringly. “I’ve already implanted the necessary commands into their backend systems; they’re guaranteed to be ‘sleeping’ soundly!”

“Then I’m relieved.” Saying this, Cheng Lan led the two girls to the weapon storage area—

Time to stock up!

“Lidoa, I’m not very knowledgeable about prosthetics (TL Note: 义体, ‘yiti,’ referring to cybernetic or bionic body parts), so go see if there’s anything you can use. Once you’re done, come back and find us.” Cheng Lan instructed.

Lidoa nodded, then turned and skipped towards the prosthetic section, her figure quickly vanishing among the neatly arranged metallic weapon racks.

After watching the girl depart, Cheng Lan, with Qin Jinxuan in tow, headed straight for the melee weapons section.

The moment she stepped into this area, Qin Jinxuan involuntarily held her breath—

On the weapon racks lining both sides, various mechanical weapons were neatly displayed, each exuding a strong sense of science fiction and mechanical precision.

Spears, blades, axes, swords… all the weapons were crafted from an unknown alloy, their intricate metallic patterns clearly visible, reflecting a deep blue metallic sheen under the lights.

Yet, Cheng Lan paid no heed to these weapons, which might have appeared highly alluring to others, his steps never faltering.

“None of these weapons catch your eye?” Qin Jinxuan couldn’t help but ask, curiosity piquing.

Cheng Lan shook his head. “Not really. I’m not *that* picky. I’m just looking for a weapon that feels right in my hands.”

“Feels right?”

Qin Jinxuan first recalled Cheng Lan’s feat of single-handedly slaying a Tyrannosaurus with two swords, then his recent display of flawless archery.

‘And he calls *that* not feeling right?’

She looked at Cheng Lan, utterly speechless.

Cheng Lan glanced back at the girl, as if having deciphered the expression on her face.

“In my opinion, my skill with swords or bows is, at best, merely ‘passable’,” Cheng Lan explained.

‘Right, right, and you call *that* ‘passable,’ do you?’

A slight twitch played at the corner of Qin Jinxuan’s mouth.

“However, *this* weapon,” Cheng Lan paused, his gaze fixed on a particular spot on a weapon rack, “is truly worthy of the word ‘mastery’.”