Tuckerque Military Training Base, 1:00 AM.
Feeling a sense of loss, she slowly took off her helmet, her slender fingers pinching a soft strand of her deep blue short hair.
Lingxin stared blankly into space. The image of Bai Xiaodu standing on the plaza with his hands behind his back and smiling seemed etched into her mind, impossible to forget.
“Sister Lingxin is the best.”
“If I get into that university, will I be able to see you? Then Xiaobai will definitely work hard!”
Am I really the best?
But she had just been playing games with Xiaobai normally, doing nothing more than explaining a few things that were practically common knowledge.
Was even this small amount of warmth something he usually couldn't experience, which was why he looked at her with those clear yet slightly self-deprecating eyes?
Lingxin only felt an uncomfortable sensation in her heart. Truly.
She felt a bit heartbroken.
Xiaobai's intelligence was obvious to everyone; there was no way he couldn't even learn basic runes in high school.
He must have spent his school days working part-time jobs, which ruined his studies.
And that elder of his was sick. His so-called relatives probably claimed they were afraid of contagion just because they didn't want to spend money.
All these years, he must have carried everything on his own shoulders, silently swallowing all his bitterness.
It was so unfair.
Why did fate always like to bully such kind, mature-for-their-age kids?
As she thought, she couldn't help but swipe open her phone screen and open the Lele Gaming Companion app.
Bai Xiaodu's profile picture showed him with a slight smile, exuding a very cute and clean youthful charm.
She was momentarily captivated and unconsciously swiped to the gift interface.
Even if it was just to assuage the faint guilt in her heart.
After all, when she first met Bai Xiaodu, she had been thinking about how to turn him into her personal plaything.
“Damn it! I'm such a scumbag!”
Nodding unconsciously, Lingxin made up her mind.
If fate was unfair to Xiaobai, then she was willing to add whatever help she could offer to the scales.
“Your balance is insufficient. Please top up.”
“...”
Lingxin's beautiful eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot.
She checked her bank card, only to remember that the month wasn't over yet, so her salary hadn't been paid.
Uh, maybe a small micro-loan...
As soon as this thought crossed her mind, Lingxin quickly dismissed it.
The military audited financial transactions. They didn't care about much else, but loans and similar things were regulated very, very strictly.
Standing up on her bed, she rubbed her chin and thought calmly for a long time.
Her choice was...
She got off the bed, walked quickly to the opposite bunk, and slapped the loudly snoring white dragon girl, Vervia, six times to wake her up!
“Sister Lingxin, what are you doing?!”
She rubbed her blurry eyes. Her intense sleepiness kept her from opening them fully even after being woken up; she only peered through a tiny slit.
Opening her mouth wide, Vervia let out an incredibly massive yawn.
Seeing Lingxin standing by her bedside in the middle of the night holding her phone, she shook her head in confusion.
Then, as if remembering something, a look of joy immediately appeared on Vervia's face.
She rubbed her stomach, which let out a perfectly timed grumbling sound.
Her pink tongue quickly swept around her mouth, and she licked her lips.
“Meat wraps, twice-cooked pork, tiger-skin pork trotter, braised pork! Did you make a midnight snack?”
“Sister Lingxin! I knew it! How could you possibly be captivated by some online gaming companion? Hahaha! Did you make him refund all the money you tipped him, with interest?”
Vervia gave her a thumbs-up.
“You're amazing, Sister Lingxin. When it comes to being a scumbag, you really take the cake!”
“Hey, why are you pointing your phone screen at my face...”
Lingxin made a shushing gesture, telling her not to be too loud and wake up the others.
An embarrassed look appeared on her beautiful face.
“Come on, open your mouth.”
“?????????”
Vervia's delicate face froze, making her already silly expression look even sillier.
She stared at the screen, looking at it over and over in disbelief.
Once she confirmed it was facial recognition, Vervia let out a sharp shriek.
“What? What are you doing, Sister Lingxin?!”
“Don't do this to me, wahhh! My gold coins are really only enough to buy meat until the end of this month! If you really send him big rockets, even if we claim a minor's refund, we'll only get half the money back! You can't, you really can't...”
Several small veins instantly popped on Lingxin's ivory forehead.
“Keep your voice down! Asking you for a little money is like asking for your life. Last month, when you stuffed your face and blew through a month's worth of money in ten days, didn't I cover for you? Besides, my outstanding officer bonus and salary are coming soon. I'll pay you back in full then.”
Covering her face tightly with one hand, Vervia shook her head frantically.
“He's just a gaming companion! You don't know how many clients he's taken! Anyone can order him as long as they pay. Why are you sending him such expensive gifts? With this much money, you could probably book him offline! Even an idiot like me can see that!”
With a sudden, sharp slap cutting through the air, Lingxin smacked her dragon horn. Vervia let go of her face in pain and began to wail.
Anger quickly rushed to Lingxin's face, her chest heaving violently as if she were about to burst with rage.
“How can you say that about him?”
“You don't know how earnest and cute he is when he asks me for knowledge. How could that possibly be an act?”
“And that mission from the commander to clear the new Secret Realm map—the one I just played was the library. You have no idea how much hardship he endured just to reach me. He rescued me. If it weren't for Xiaobai's help, I'd still be in there trading blows with that dragon beast!”
“His talent for magic is also excellent, and he really likes Empire history. His mourning and sorrow for the fallen heroes of the Empire—how could that possibly be fake?”
“With such a wonderful junior, I couldn't bear to stand by. What's wrong with lending him a hand?”
“Don't look at him with such cynical eyes. I told you already, he is different from the others!”
Vervia was pinned down firmly by a hand. She struggled hard a few times, but finding it impossible to break free, her face quickly turned ashen.
She mumbled.
“Sister Lingxin, if your family finds out you're planning to make a generic online gaming companion your boyfriend, you'll bring utter shame to your clan!”
“Who knows what his real job is to have you this infatuated. Maybe he's a gigolo. I bet his business is booming...”
Lingxin pinched her cheeks to force her mouth open and shook her head.
“You talk too much damn trash.”
Payment completed.
Watching several big rockets fly across her screen, Lingxin felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her chest, and she let out a long sigh.
Like a maiden who had been forcefully defiled, Vervia clutched her blanket and curled up in the corner of her bed, motionless.
However, faint sobbing could be heard from her.
Shaking her head, Lingxin ignored her.
...
Returning to her own bed, she was in no hurry to sleep. Instead, she sat cross-legged and slowly let her breathing fall into a natural rhythm.
This continued for about half an hour until everything quieted down.
The surroundings were dead silent.
The room was dark, but a glow gradually illuminated the space around her.
A faint, almost imperceptible golden light slowly emanated from her body.
Glancing at it, Lingxin's thin lips moved as she quickly chanted several tight strings of characters.
Rather than a chant, the beautiful melody sounded more like singing.
“Ashes Library, the hero who slew the evil dragon... named Kalugar.”
“Arcane and Magic-Guiding Wings, Dragon of Eternal Existence, Lord of Infinite Transmutation and the Unknown...”
“I offer this lost 【Knowledge】 in devotion. May it add a shred of glory to your wisdom, vast as the stars.”
As the words fell, the golden light vibrated.
Flying into mid-air, it transformed into several visibly clearer particles that slowly dissolved into Lingxin's forehead.
Nearby, Vervia had already been woken by the commotion and was staring at her in shock and confusion.
Dragon-kin were highly sensitive to physical blood energy and magic.
Vervia could clearly see that Lingxin's cultivation was slowly rising.
Rate on N.U.
