Didn't you go to Teyvat to earn money to support me?

What good is Cecilia anyway? It's more like Cecilia is dead. He's finally free from the burden of healing Cecilia for the Schariac family. He's been running around in Teyvat for so long, always working on this; now he can finally rest. The ones who should be sad are Sirin and Kiana. As Kiana's boyfriend, he might have to show some symbolic sadness, but how many men truly shed tears for their wife's mother, especially when they're not even related…

But Cecilia... she's dead.

Cecilia, who used to hold him every day, give him a lap pillow, and clean his ears, just... died so casually!

Shen Liang's delicate face now looked ferocious and terrifying; he had become a different person, as if a ghost had awakened within him. Wherever his gaze fell, every Valkyrie felt a chill run through their hearts.

At this moment, Night Owl finally managed to free himself from the vines binding him, and upon looking up, he saw Shen Liang's gaze sweep over him. Shen Liang suddenly drew his sword, grabbed Night Owl by the collar, and pressed the blade against the thick vine's bark to Night Owl's neck!

"Young Master Pandora! We are executives of the World Serpent, Valkyries sent to coordinate and handle the Anna incident!" Raven exclaimed, her keen senses instantly sensing Shen Liang's rising killing intent. "We are not enemies!"

Damn it, this young master and Night Owl are rivals in love! But what's going on? The last time we met, this young master was a bit arrogant, but overall he was well-mannered and lovable. This time, it feels like he hasn't retained any gentleness at all; he's just full of hostility, like a completely different person!

"It's you! It's you!" Night Owl seemed to finally realize what was happening, roaring ferociously, "You little beast! You little beast who tainted my Anna! It's all because of you! It's all because you used your power to force Anna, I didn't want this to happen... I didn't want this to happen!"

“World Serpent Lord Kevin, is that right?” Shen Liang said softly, “Go back and tell him that I’m back. He made me very unhappy. If I’m unhappy, then no one else should be happy either.”

Raven was completely dumbfounded. She thought to herself, "Kid, are you out of your mind? Do you even know what level of power the World Serpent Lord is? How dare you talk like that? There's a limit to putting on airs. I know you're annoyed, but saying such laughable things is just......"

Night Owl laughed. Although his mind was about to collapse, he was still not stupid. He knew that the words "go back and tell him" meant that Shen Liang would not kill him.

He laughed.

"Give me back Anna! You Shaniat can't withstand the wrath of the World Serpent. Hand over the Herrscher to us!" Night Owl laughed maniacally. "Give me Anna, Anna, my Anna..."

A deep cut was made across his neck by the knife, and the throbbing blood vessels under his skin almost bulged out. Shen Liang watched him silently, then tilted his head expressionlessly.

"So that's how it is, the Herrscher's original body, no wonder he became so obsessed after being attacked once." Shen Liang scoffed, "Kevin thinks he can bribe me with this? No, it's not enough, even if it's not true extinction, it's not enough, Kevin."

Raven no longer understood what the boy was rambling on about.

The next second, without hesitation, Shen Liang swung his blade! He sliced ​​the massive vine and the neck in two simultaneously, blood splattering onto his handsome face. The headless corpse still struggled; Shen Liang kicked the head aside, punched Night Owl in the chest, and crushed his heart! He squeezed it open!

The gruesome scene made Durandal frown slightly. Shen Liang raised the gray gem in his hand, dripping with blood, and looked at the sky at the appearance of the gem. Only then did Durandal realize what it was.

"Herrscher Core!"

The core, which had just come into contact with the air, shook violently for a moment, followed by a long-range communication that everyone present could hear clearly. Raven, who was about to flee this dangerous place, instinctively stopped upon hearing the voice, for it was the voice of Kevin, the World Serpent Lord.

"Long time no see, Eve. Hearing this recording means the Night Owl is dead."

"I've come to kill you," Shen Liang said calmly.

"You don't have this ability."

"Why did you give me the Herrscher Core?"

The conversation between the two has a sense of disjointedness. It is clear that the two seem to be both strangers and acquaintances. Each of Shen Liang's conversations does not connect with the previous one, as if he is talking to himself, but it is indeed an effective exchange.

"You will need a Herrscher."

"Are you looking forward to my growth?"

"The Son of Man Project must be completed."

Do you know what that plan is?

"I don't know, but I will definitely complete Mei's plan for her."

"You're willing to offend me?"

“I believe in power and violence, but you do not.”

"Do I still need to thank you for going easy on me?"

"You're welcome. Hate me all you want."

Communications cut off.

No one could understand Shen Liang and Kevin's conversation, but Xilin didn't care anymore. She suddenly turned around and stared in the direction of the World Serpent's cadre, her golden eyes turning bloodshot.

"Shaniat! All of you!" Sirin roared, "Leave no one alive in the Destiny and World Serpent clans! Kill them all!"

Before she could finish speaking, she fainted, and Durandal delivered a karate chop to the back of Sirin's neck.

She had been keeping a close eye on Sirin, and she would have to intervene if Sirin showed signs of emotional breakdown and potentially became a Herrscher. Cecilia and she had kept Sirin's secret hidden for sixteen years, unknown to anyone. If Sirin were to become a Herrscher on the spot at this moment, the Shaniat family would be unable to defend themselves and might even be accused of having achieved Herrscher research results, making them the true target of public criticism.

Shen Liang put away the Herrscher Core, sat down beside Cecilia's body, gazed at her for a while, then held Cecilia's hand and spoke slowly.

"system."

This time, the system finally stopped pretending to be aloof and immediately responded with lines of text flashing before his eyes.

"Tell me how to save him, or I'll kill myself," Shen Liang said calmly.

The statement was so shocking that the system was stunned for a moment.

“If I’m not mistaken, I won’t die even if I commit suicide, but losing my memory will make it take me a long time before I can start the mission, which will waste your time,” Shen Liang said. “Kevin couldn’t possibly not have left me a backup plan. Besides, you said that the Lost Paradise and the Ley Lines are similar things. So, if I can revive the heroic spirits of Teyvat in the Ley Lines, then I should be able to revive the deceased on Earth in the Lost Paradise.”

The system remained silent for a long time, and just as Shen Liang picked up the knife, its subtitles appeared.

This marks the 1687th time the Executor has threatened the Stigmata System with death.

"So I've died several times because of this?" Shen Liang asked casually.

【zero.】

"You guys seem pretty easy to talk to."

[No,] the system paused for a moment, [Actually, death poses no threat to the Stigmata System, and the "Child of Man" project is not urgent.]

"is it?"

But death is a painful thing, beautiful son of man, you should not suffer such pain.

Shen Liang was slightly taken aback. This was the first time the system had praised him, and even its tone was no longer so stiff.

"Stop talking nonsense," Shen Liang put down his sword. In fact, at this moment, Durandal and Kiana thought he was just talking to himself. Durandal even suspected that he had gone crazy from the shock, but Shen Liang didn't mind. "Let me see the contents of the second version of the system. I've been looking forward to the Earth side for a long time. Open the Paradise of the Past."

"Paradise of the Past?" Durandal asked in confusion. "That's in the database of the previous civilization at the World Serpent headquarters. Why are you suddenly bringing this up..."

Before she could finish speaking, her eyes widened. Shen Liang and Cecilia's bodies simultaneously faded and disappeared. Kiana, who was loudly wailing at a grave beside her, looked up and realized her mother was gone.

The atmosphere suddenly became strange.

"It's alright, it's just that the young lord ultimately chose the right path in history." Gan Yu, who had been relatively unknown, transformed into human form and smiled gently. "The young lord is omnipotent, and perhaps Gan Yu can tell the three ladies the rest of the story, since I may be staying in this world for quite some time."

----------

Shen Liang opened her eyes.

He originally thought he would enter a world similar to the ley lines and communicate with Cecilia's recently deceased soul, but he suddenly realized that the place he was in was not quite right.

He wasn't in such a mysterious world, but rather in a small space, to be precise...

It is a bathroom.

He was still taking a shower naked under the large showerhead, the sound of water rushing in his ears, and the fragrant shampoo even stung his eyes slightly. Everything felt so real, completely unlike a world like the ley lines.

The only thing that felt off was that the shower head was a bit too high; he couldn't even reach it.

Then he realized the problem: it wasn't that the showerhead was too high. He looked a little younger in the mirror, his wet black hair hanging down past his hips, longer than when he had long hair before, and his delicate face was even cuter this time. If before he was somewhere between a boy and a girl, now it seemed he could be somewhere between a shota and a loli.

The most outrageous thing was that there were height measurements marked on the bathroom wall. Shen Liang checked them and found that he was 10 centimeters shorter.

He couldn't help but scratch his head, then was captivated by the cuteness of the long, straight black-haired loli in the mirror.

The doll in Chapter One is so cute, don't you think, Mei!

"Da da da--"

The steady sound of typing echoed outside the bathroom. Shen Liang casually picked up a towel and dried her long hair. The towel carried a familiar scent—the fragrance of a girl's hair, mixed with the sweetness of shampoo.

Shen Liang thought he probably used the wrong towel, but it didn't seem to matter, because he didn't even know if he was dreaming. If he was dreaming, then it wouldn't matter if he used a towel to wipe his bottom. He wrapped the towel around his lower body, opened the bathroom door, and the afternoon sunlight streamed into the bedroom through the light-colored curtains, illuminating the large, white bed in the center of the bedroom with a bright and warm glow.

Where is this place?

In a daze, this question surfaced in Shen Liang's mind, but for some reason, he didn't feel that this place was unfamiliar. On the contrary, everything here felt familiar. He even remembered the perfect, luxurious feel of that bed, because he seemed to have slept on it countless times. The hazy, dreamlike feeling made him feel lazy and inexplicably at ease.

"Da da da--"

The sound of typing on the keyboard continued.

Shen Liang looked in the direction of the sound and saw a woman on the large bed—a mature woman with a supple and alluring figure, a serious woman wearing only underwear. Her beautiful long black hair was tied in a loose ponytail, and she wore black-rimmed glasses. She placed her electronic terminal on her curled-up knees, leaning against the headboard and typing on the virtual keyboard on the screen.

She was an absolutely beautiful woman, and wearing only underwear accentuated her stunning figure. Her round, beautiful breasts could barely be contained, and the large expanse of snow-white skin that her long hair couldn't hide was even more captivating.

"Does it take you twenty minutes to take a shower?" the mature woman asked casually while working, without turning her head.

"Mei?" Shen Liang asked subconsciously.

Why is Mei here? In this strange place? Where is this place?

Mei finally turned her head and glanced at him, her beautiful eyes still expressionless.

"Are you upset because I didn't bathe you like other people do?"

"???"

Shen Liang was completely baffled.

"I haven't finished the slides for tomorrow's meeting, so I'll have to work overtime during my personal time. Please understand, I'll make time for you next time," Mei apologized. "Besides, I can be willful with you, and I won't mind if you call me by my first name. But I can't be like that in front of other people. Although they like you, they are often more willful than you."

Shen Liang then noticed the white coat the woman was wearing behind the door, with a name tag that read "mei." Only then did he understand why the black-haired woman had said that.

Because "Mei" is also pronounced "mei," when he called out like that, the woman thought he was calling her.