Quadruple split.

Chapter 2730 Interlude

Chapter 2730 Interlude: Blazing

"Haha, that little pigeon is really something."

Looking at the still-distorted space not far away, Gu Xiaole scratched his head in annoyance and muttered with a wry smile, "In that case, I can't even apologize..."

"..."

Mo Tan stared blankly at the spot where Ji Xiaoge had disappeared. It was unclear whether it was because the side effects of [Reverse Scale: Full Release] and [Herrscher's Resolve] were too strong, or for some other reason, but her complexion looked terrible.

Then, he felt two clear and gentle gazes—

"I'm sorry, Mo-chan."

Noticing that the other person had turned to look at her, the girl next door, who had just shaken off her melancholy but was now filled with a sense of loss, pursed her lips and bowed deeply to Mo Tan: "I'm sorry for troubling you earlier."

Mo Tan was taken aback at first, then gently shook her head, her tone as gentle as ever: "How could that be? Even if there is any trouble, I myself will definitely be the biggest trouble."

"I think so."

Knowing full well that the other person's mental state was far from optimistic in every sense, Gu Xiaole nodded slightly, then suddenly asked, "I remember Little Pigeon told me before that you, Mo-chan, seem to be unable to lie in the [Innocent Realm], right?"

Mo Tan gave a wry smile and readily admitted, "That's right. Because of a certain passive skill, I will be severely punished if I lie in any subjective sense. My combat power will be reduced to less than one percent of normal, and I might not even be able to beat Cordova in his kobold form."

Gu Xiaole smiled and said happily, "Oh my, in that case, Mo-chan, would you mind answering a few questions for your older sister?"

"Uh……"

Mo Tan paused slightly, then lowered her eyes and said softly, "I really can't guarantee that."

"Are you ok?"

"……Eh?"

"How are you?"

"……well enough."

"And in terms of physical health?"

"Not bad, because I rarely get sick and I exercise regularly, so although I'm not exactly muscular, I'm still within the healthy range."

"How about the economy? Is it tough?"

“Before, although I was always quite nervous, I was able to manage to get by, and I also have a friend with a very good family, so I was never going to starve.”

"now what?"

"I recently received a windfall, and I don't know what to do with it."

"Hmm, how about your mood?"

"As long as you live long enough, good things will always happen, but we can't expect to only encounter good things, right?"

"That's a bit of a trick."

"That's absolutely the truth."

"Well, although it seems like I can't be of much help, I still want to say—thank you for your hard work, Mo-chan!"

"Uh……"

"I have no other questions to ask. Tsk tsk, it seems your talent isn't all that fun."

Gu Xiaole playfully stuck out her tongue, then walked lightly to Mo Tan, tiptoed to touch Mo Tan's hair, and said with a smile, "In short, be good."

Mo Tan lowered his head obediently and chuckled, "I'm not a child anymore."

"Yes."

Gu Xiaole gently flicked Mo Tan's forehead and chuckled, "You've completely become a reliable man."

After saying that, the girl turned around lightly and strolled briskly toward the arena exit, waving her hand without looking back and saying, "Sister, I'm going to wander around outside for a bit first. I'll go to the Seventh Outer Mountain to meet you and Little Pigeon at the agreed time."

Mo Tan nodded vigorously and smiled, "Okay, I understand."

"you……"

Gu Xiaole stopped in her tracks, and after a brief silence of less than half a second, she turned to Mo Tan with a bright, cheerful, and resilient silly grin: "We need to hurry and find her!"

After saying that, the girl left without looking back.

"..."

After standing there blankly for two minutes, Mo Tan gently patted his head and silently left the arena through another convenient passage.

However, although he himself was indeed silent, the spirits that had been unusually active due to the change in environment were not idle at all. After barely keeping quiet until Gu Xiaole left, they immediately started discussing it as if a nest had been disturbed.

"Well, while I should be relieved that Brother Mo chose the Seven Star Fan at the last minute, the scene that just unfolded and left me wanting more is actually more interesting."

The gentle and refined voice of Shan Po echoed in the depths of Mo Tan's mind, carrying a distinct smile.

'Indeed, how should I put it? But after all, Brother Mo is a handsome young man, so it's only natural.'

At the same time, Gun Soul's cheerful voice rang out.

'It's alright. Although that swordsman is formidable, my own strength isn't bad either. Besides, he's just improved recently, so there's no need to worry too much about the difference in skill.'

Although the sword spirit's voice was slightly delayed, it was still as reassuring as ever.

'But Sister Sword Soul… I feel like you've missed the point.'

Kill Soul said something rather weakly, sounding quite helpless.

'Ha, what did I say before? As the saying goes, form is emptiness, emptiness is form, Brother Mo is simply…'

On the other side, just as Zhang Po was about to laugh out loud, he was interrupted by a cold snort.

'Instead of mocking that kid, you should be thinking about how to make him even better at fighting.'

Ji Po said this with a hint of annoyance, then said in a deep voice, "As long as you're strong enough, no one will dare to speak out of turn."

'Brother Ji.'

Dao Po's calm and reserved voice rang out, saying softly, "Many things are not as simple as you say. There are often just as many problems that can be solved with a sword as there are problems that cannot be solved with a sword."

'Ah. '

Ji Po let out another cold laugh, exuding domineering arrogance, and said, "What the sword can solve, the halberd can solve; what the sword cannot solve, the halberd can also solve."

'My axe has never been dull!'

Axe Soul also shouted loudly.

Then--

'knife.'

The sword's soul suddenly rang out, its tone cold as it asked, "Can your blade make the halberd's soul grow taller?"

Sword Soul: '...Obviously not.'

'halberd.'

After a brief delay, Sword Soul asked again, "Can your halberd make you grow taller?"

Ji Po: '...'

'Hmm, even my sword can't do that.'

Sword Soul's tone was calm and peaceful, with a hint of regret: 'What a pity.'

Halberd Soul: '...Sword Woman, I'm going to fight you to the death!!!'

'Alright, alright, everyone, please be quiet.'

Just then, Shan Po, who had been keeping a close eye on the outside world, suddenly broke the harmonious atmosphere and said calmly, "Brother Mo has arrived."

Thank you.

Before the teleportation array of the Seventh Outer Mountain, Mo Tan breathed a sigh of relief, briefly thanked the 'tenants' in his weapon, and then took a somewhat heavy step. However, as soon as he took a step, he knelt down in a sharp pain and gasped for breath.

"Very well, it seems you were just absent-minded, not deliberately ignoring me."

Standing with his hands behind his back beside the teleportation array, Ruvi Fitzgerald preemptively kicked Mo Tan in the shinbone before Mo Tan could accidentally kick him. Fitzgerald frowned and stared at Mo Tan with an unfriendly tone.

Only then did Mo Tan realize that he hadn't noticed Lu Wei standing right in front of him. He immediately lowered his head and apologized, saying solemnly, "I'm sorry, Master Lu Wei, I just..."

"I don't care what happened to you just now."

However, Lu Wei waved his hand to interrupt him and said calmly, "The important thing is what you're going to do now."

Mo Tan stood up again, met the eyes of the gloomy-faced old goblin, and said in a calm tone, "I have arranged to meet Ye Ge at the Seventh Outer Mountain, and we will go to the Ascension Fortress together later."

"it is good."

Lu Wei nodded and said calmly, "Then you can wait here until 'later'."

"Master Ruwei".

Mo Tan's gaze sharpened slightly, and he asked seriously, "Where is Ye Ge?"

"Looking for materials."

Lu Wei twitched the corner of his mouth and said in a dry voice, "She didn't have enough materials. Although those studios and clubs brought a lot of things, some materials are not easy for them to collect, so Little Pigeon came to me for them."

Mo Tan nodded slightly and said, "Then I'll go help her."

"unnecessary."

Lu Wei rejected Mo Tan's suggestion without hesitation, shaking his head and saying, "I don't intend to give you permission to enter the workshop and take things."

"..."

Mo Tan lowered her head and remained silent for a few seconds, then resolutely raised her head to look at Lu Wei: "I want to see her."

The old goblin gave a noncommittal "Oh," and asked, "What if I just won't let you in?"

"Then I'll send her a message."

Mo Tan looked calmly at Lu Wei and said seriously, "Tell her I'll be waiting for her here."

"..."

The old goblin narrowed his eyes and stared at Mo Tan for a long time with his knife-like gaze. Just as he was about to say something, a badminton shuttlecock appeared out of nowhere with a blur. It then circled Lu Wei several times at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye before landing steadily on Mo Tan's shoulder, emitting a series of affectionate 'buzzing' sounds.

"..."

The old goblin, his face growing increasingly grim, fell silent again. After a long silence, he sighed deeply and pointed in a certain direction: "Keep going. Once you get there, the little bird will lead you to the entrance to the small workshop."

Mo Tan was slightly taken aback: "A little bird?"

"Hmph, it's that thing on your shoulder. Although the little pigeon likes to call it Little Feather, I think it looks more like a bird with an empty head."

After coldly uttering those words, Ruwei disappeared in a spatial distortion.

……

five minutes later
"Buzz!"

With a pleasant buzzing sound, the badminton shuttlecock, which had been obediently resting on Mo Tan's shoulder, suddenly flew up and excitedly rushed towards the seemingly empty space in front of the two of them. After flying to a certain position, it disappeared in ripples.

"Ok?"

Mo Tan, who had begun to doubt whether she was getting lost while walking in a straight line, paused for a moment, and then discovered that the open space in front of her was gradually distorted in several waves, and finally turned into a magnificent building.

It is no exaggeration to say that, in terms of scale and area, this so-called 'small workshop' is at least three times the size of a regular workshop.

'That's normal; it probably didn't employ many spatial overlap or extra-plane mounting techniques.'

The languid voice of the staff echoed in Mo Tan's mind, chuckling, "So don't make a fuss, hurry up and go in."

"..."

Mo Tan nodded silently, then patted his cheeks hard, took a deep breath, and struggled to move his stiff legs as he slowly walked into the small workshop in front of him.

The man was sitting on a stack of rune boxes not far from the entrance.

Although the visitor made no attempt to conceal his presence, and even his footsteps were clearly audible, the absent-minded girl seemed oblivious to him. She simply sat on the cold box, hugging her knees, gently covering herself with her white wings, her eyes lowered, her lips pursed, and a faint melancholy lingering in her gaze.

"...Night Song".

For some reason, Mo Tan subconsciously called out softly, not wanting the other person to continue like this even for a moment, but she did not easily take a step.

He didn't know if he should get closer to her at this moment, and he wasn't sure if he might hurt her.

The knight, who was always resolute and decisive, hesitated as he had expected.

"silent!!"

However, the princess did not hesitate. With a joyful cry, the anxious man felt a blur before his eyes and was suddenly caught in a large badminton shuttlecock that was just more than three meters away from him, and was held tightly in her arms.

"Night Song..."

Somewhat flustered, Mo Tan awkwardly repeated the other person's game ID again, raising his hands as if surrendering to prevent his armor from hurting the other person. When he opened his mouth again, he couldn't utter a single word.

Rarely, Mo Tan, in her current personality, neither knew what she could say nor what she should do, so she could only stand there like a silly pillar, letting the other person hold her tightly.

"I knew you would come looking for me!"

But the girl, who seemed to have a lot to say, happily raised her head and said cheerfully in Mo Tan's ear like a chirping little bird, "I know you can tell I'm being sulky—"

"Buzz!"

The badminton shuttlecock inexplicably buzzed around the two of them with a series of cheerful sounds.

"..."

Mo Tan remained silent for a long while, and finally hesitated before gently placing his hand on the hair of the girl in his arms: "I'm sorry, Ye Ge, I..."

"Don't talk."

Ji Xiaoge tiptoed and gently bumped Mo Tan's chin, muttering, "Just let me hold you like this for a little while!"

"..."

"...Why are you so quiet?"

"Didn't you tell me to shut up?"

"But you can't just stay silent."

"Should I say something?"

"Mmm, make a sound."

"throat."

"Pfft, pfft hahahaha, you...you're bullying me...you know perfectly well that I'm easily amused..."

"throat!"

"Hahaha, okay, okay, stop fooling around! Answer me quickly, do you like me or not?"