Quadruple split.

Chapter 2626 Illusion
"?"

"?"

Even Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge, two players with considerable experience, were momentarily stunned. Clearly, even though they had been to Tianzhu Mountain, poisoned the God-Slaying Beast, adopted Wang Badan, and faced off against the Legend, they never expected that the 'badminton shuttlecock' that had been leading them on crazy detours and behaving particularly badly would actually obediently come closer and show a feeling of eagerness, excitement, and anticipation.

Indeed, although this thing looks like a billiard ball with two wings on its back, and has no facial features or other parts to give people a direct understanding of its mood, and even the buzzing sound is exactly the same frequency, in Mo Tan's opinion, this 'badminton shuttlecock' does fully express a sufficiently compelling sense of excitement.

Upon reflection, he believes this may be largely related to his daily interactions with a winged beauty in the game and his constant attention to her.

In other words, although Mo Tan cannot read the 'expression' that the badminton shuttlecock in front of her does not possess, she can understand its mood from a series of factors such as the amplitude and frequency of its wing flapping.

To give a somewhat offensive example, just as many people can tell that a puppy is excited by wagging its tail, Mo Tan can also make a preliminary judgment about the emotional state of winged creatures by observing how they flap their wings.

Right now, this elusive badminton shuttlecock is clearly in a state of great excitement and even euphoria!
and so--

"What is this...?"

Ji Xiaoge stared blankly at the badminton shuttlecock that was frantically flapping its wings between the two of them, looking somewhat anxious, and hesitated before asking, "Want us to groom your feathers?"

"To be more precise, it should be called hair care."

Knowing full well that the brush in his hand was a product of Fiyali's work, and also knowing that it was indeed of good quality and could provide care for winged creatures, Mo Tan gently put away his weapon, then nervously swallowed and slowly extended the brush towards the wing of the badminton shuttlecock.

Whoosh!
Just as the brush was about to touch its opponent, the shuttlecock made a zero-frame start, swiftly dodging behind Ji Xiaoge, and then slightly bouncing halfway out, seemingly carefully observing Mo Tan who was trying to groom it.

"Be careful!"

Ji Xiaoge immediately spread her arms wide, shielding the badminton shuttlecock that she had been chasing for more than half an hour behind her, and said fiercely to Mo Tan, "You scared it!"

“I obviously didn’t mean to scare it.”

Mo Tan shook his head with a wry smile, then gently handed the brush to Ji Xiaoge: "Why don't you try it?"

"Okay, I'll give it a try!"

Ji Xiaoge, who believed that as a fellow winged creature, she must understand badminton better than Mo Tan, nodded vigorously. Then, she carefully turned around to look at the shuttlecock hovering behind her and brought the brush towards the other's golden wings.

Whoosh!
And so, the scene just now was repeated. With a dazzling golden light flashing by, the unruly badminton shuttlecock instantly disappeared in front of Ji Xiaoge. Then, half of the shuttlecock secretly peeked out from behind Mo Tan and continued to eagerly try its luck at the exquisitely crafted feather brush.

Ji Xiaoge: "..."

"Although it's a good start, I feel like this isn't a sustainable solution."

Not daring to make any rash moves, Mo Tan pinched the bridge of her nose, then after a brief moment of thought, raised her hands and slowly turned around.

So, the badminton shuttlecock that had been stuck to Mo Tan's back like a magnet reappeared in front of Ji Xiaoge, now 'lying' on the former.

Do you think this will make it feel safe?

Ji Xiaoge, who immediately understood, tilted her head, then raised the brush again and bravely aimed at the shuttlecock—

hum!
This time, the shuttlecock didn't disappear like lightning. Instead, after shivering for a moment, it obediently let the brush fall onto its wing, and then, as if exhausted, it began to roll down Mo Tan's back.

"!?"

Mo Tan, who immediately sensed something was wrong, didn't hesitate. He immediately bent down and lay on the ground in a standard push-up position, striking a pose similar to Cordoba's 'OTZ' after running out of power, but rather quite cool and not at all humble (?). He managed to keep the shuttlecock on his back before it rolled to the ground.

"Whoa!"

Startled, Ji Xiaoge clutched the brush tightly and whispered, "How did it get like this after just one touch? Could it be dead?!"

"will not."

Confirming that the 'badminton shuttlecock' was gradually regaining its mobility by feeling the massager-like sensation on its back, Mo Tan, with her lightning-fast reflexes, shook her head and, while maintaining her push-up position, decisively said, "Keep hitting it."

"oh oh!"

Ji Xiaoge, who always readily accepts any advice from Mo Tan, immediately swung her brush and brushed the other half of the shuttlecock's wing. A high-frequency, pleasant buzzing sound was immediately heard, and at the same time, golden patterns appeared on the surface of the shuttlecock, making it look quite beautiful.

Seeing that this trick worked, without Mo Tan saying anything more, Ji Xiaoge immediately waved the grooming brush and, in the same manner as she was torturing the slices of steamed buns and potatoes on the grill, gave Mo Tan a massage with the badminton shuttlecock on her back, turning the latter into a vibrating mode. Judging from the fact that it clearly had the ability to move but did not run away as usual, this feather care that it had never experienced before was indeed quite comfortable.

We must admit that although Ji Xiaoge has a rather single-threaded way of thinking, perhaps it is precisely because of this that, apart from cooking, this winged beauty is quite focused on everything she does, and can be considered a 'little all-rounder'. Whether it is sports such as volleyball, tennis, and swimming, or musical instruments such as guitar, keyboard, drums and so on, she can master them in a short time. I wouldn't say she is an expert, but she can definitely get started easily.

In areas corresponding to his talents, such as engineering under Lu Wei's tutelage, Ji Xiaoge can make rapid progress after a period of study. For example, the Valkyrie Gathen has now evolved into an all-weather combat weapon that can switch between several forms and cope with any situation. It would be difficult for an ordinary engineer to achieve such frequent upgrades and iterations.

Of course, Ji Xiaoge is not a super special talent like Shuangye, Xinglong, Muxuejian, or Jadka. For example, no matter how hard she tries, she probably cannot create a terrifying existence like the [Ascension Fortress] Valhalla from scratch in her lifetime. However, if she is just using her experience of massaging her parents' shoulders and scratching the chins of her cats to give a 'badminton shuttlecock' a grooming massage, it is not a problem for her.

Incidentally, in the eyes of many people, including Mo Tan, Lu Wei, and Cordova, Ji Xiaoge is actually an absolute super genius. For example, in cooking, although there may be some minor deviations that make the food that should have been used to fill one's stomach more... somewhat shocking, we cannot deny the fact that she is indeed exceptionally talented in this area.

Getting back to the point, it wasn't until Ji Xiaoge brushed the feathers off the shuttlecock that was resting on Mo Tan's back for nearly fifteen minutes that the shuttlecock, which had started rolling around the girl's fingers (PS: Mo Tan was still in a push-up position at this moment), finally 'reacted' with a buzzing sound, and with a whoosh, it left Mo Tan's back and hovered warily in mid-air.

"what?"

Ji Xiaoge looked curiously at the shuttlecock in mid-air, which was no longer moving away at high speed as before, but was instead making small, high-speed movements that almost made her dizzy. She gently waved the grooming brush in her hand and asked with lingering interest, "Aren't you going to continue? You haven't brushed the left wing root area a second time yet!"

Om-!
The badminton shuttlecock first streaked towards Ji Xiaoge with a long golden trail, then instantly distanced itself, spinning warily in mid-air while struggling to flap its wings towards Ji Xiaoge. "Whoosh~"

Finally free from being a base, Mo Tan stood up, stretching his somewhat stiff body as he remarked, "It looks like it's struggling."

"What's there to struggle about? Would I, your sister, possibly harm you?"

Ji Xiaoge, who had regarded the shuttlecock as some kind of small animal from the moment she started brushing its feathers, pouted and gently waved to the shuttlecock that was constantly moving closer and flying further away, saying, "Come here, let your sister hug you."

Whoosh!
Perhaps because it was alerted, the badminton shuttlecock did not come over after hearing this, but instead moved back several meters and made a series of alert buzzing sounds.

"Don't worry."

Mo Tan gently patted Ji Xiaoge's shoulder, comforting the slightly dejected winged beauty, "It has relaxed its guard now. We still have time. Even if we slow down a bit, we should be able to gradually build trust."

"That's true, but we don't know if this ball is the 'Queen's Legacy'."

However, Ji Xiaoge shook her head, took a deep breath, and when she raised her head again, her gaze was firm, as if she had made up her mind: "I think it's best not to waste too much time now."

"Then what do you want to do... uh."

Mo Tan stopped talking halfway through the question.

The reason was simple: Ji Xiaoge had already taken off her goggles and winked at the badminton shuttlecock—

A single glance could topple a city.

"Be good, come here."

hum!
Unexpectedly, yet predictably, the moment Ji Xiaoge left her "isolated and aloof" state and called out to the mysterious winged sphere, the highly alert badminton shuttlecock obediently lay in the girl's outstretched palm.

This time, it's not simply about beauty or charm.

Rather, it was a more stream-of-consciousness concept, closer to the origin, that built a mysterious link between the two and made the shuttlecock sense the other's thought that it would never hurt itself.

Just as Xue Yin's singing and dancing never make sense, Ji Xiaoge's "Alluring Beauty" also never makes sense. However, compared to that planet-level idol, Ji Xiaoge is much more sensible and has never thought of abusing her terrifying talent.

Looking back now, all I can say is that this decision was incredibly wise!
If beauty, which can infect even flowers, trees, mountains, rivers, the sun, moon, stars, and even man-made objects, is wantonly abused like Xueyin's singing voice... at least Mo Tan cannot imagine what a terrible scene that would be.

"call--"

The next second, Ji Xiaoge gently stroked the wingtip of the badminton shuttlecock in her hand, then turned to Mo Tan and winked, saying, "Done, mission accomplished!"

Mo Tan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "So we won't be relentlessly hunted down in the hour before the Keystone's cooldown ends?"

"Well, that's not the case."

Ji Xiaoge shook her head and shrugged, saying, "I just received another follow-up mission. The task is to come to the Central Management Room under the guidance of [The Queen's Legacy] and obtain temporary visitor privileges. The reward for success is nothing, and the penalty for failure is..."

Mo Tan, with a subtle expression, quickly answered, "Defined as an intruder by the [Ascension Fortress] Valhalla, and subjected to a wide-area manhunt?"

"Is such that."

Ji Xiaoge stuck out her tongue, then gently poked the seemingly lazy badminton shuttlecock in her hand, and said with a smile, "But little guy, you'll lead us to that central management room, right?"

hum-

With a crisp buzzing sound, the badminton shuttlecock, which the system called "Queen's Legacy," immediately hovered in the air, flapping its wings at an incredible speed, and quickly circled Ji Xiaoge and Mo Tan a few times before rushing headlong into the distance.

However, unlike before, this time the badminton player not only did not hide his position, but also deliberately controlled his flight speed to a level that the two players could keep up with, showing a very obvious change in attitude.

The subsequent developments went exceptionally smoothly. Although the ruins of Valhalla, the Ascension Fortress, were intricate and complex, and the First Abandoned Zone, which the two were deep in, was like a maze that made them dizzy, thanks to the badminton shuttlecock, Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge found the core of the area, Cabin 1, in less than an hour, and found an emergency passage in that abandoned space full of rust and dust.

"If I'm not mistaken, the end of this passage should be the so-called [Central Management Room]."

Standing before the entrance to the passage opened up by Mo Tan, Ji Xiaoge gently stroked the badminton shuttlecock perched on her shoulder and said softly, "The area directly connected to the cabins that form the core of the entire floor, and with almost identical relative positions, should be the management room with the highest authority."

Mo Tan nodded slightly, turned to look at Ji Xiaoge, who looked thoughtful, and asked softly, "You seem to know this place very well."

"Yes, I feel like this place is... familiar?"

"What do you mean?"

"I often have the illusion that I've been in this kind of place for a long time."

"Do you feel like you've been here before?"

"Do not."

"That is……"

"This place feels a lot like the Seventh Outer Mountain."

Chapter 2617: The End