Surviving in a Collapsed World, Is Something Wrong?

“…Is that so?”

Yuexia said this in disbelief, then as if remembering something, he straightened his posture and pointed at something again.

"Then...what is that?"

Jiang Ming raised his head and looked in the direction indicated by the moon.

It was a machine box placed at the entrance of the game room, making a noisy sound. In the large glass box, there were several small dolls arranged in it, and their round eyes looked at the passers-by.

"Oh, that's a claw machine. There's a mechanical arm on top of the box, right? You operate it from the outside to grab the dolls inside, like Homo, Homi, and so on."

After Jiang Ming briefly explained the game, Yuexia kept rubbing the corner of her clothes, as if she really wanted to take a look. Seeing Yuexia like this, Jiang Ming took her hand and walked closer to the claw machine.

"Do you want the Hom doll inside?"

Jiang Ming asked softly after briefly observing the doll.

"Hmm~..."

Yuexia showed her previous hesitation again. After all, Jiang Ming had already given her a super giant Houmu. When she was about to refuse, Jiang Ming spoke first.

"Let me help you catch it."

"......Eh?"

Hearing this, Yuexia raised her head, her expression seemed to tell of her surprise and astonishment.

"Haha, don't be so surprised. After all, I will fulfill any wish of yours today."

Jiang Ming smiled bitterly at her expression, put the money into the machine, and then began to operate the robotic arm following the instructions.

Ten minutes later, he hit the target with one shot... Although he didn't do it, Jiang Ming's mouth twitched as he looked at Hou Mu, who had only moved a little bit. The sly smile and the cheerful music around him seemed to be mocking him.

"...I should have asked Bronya for advice earlier."

Although he really wanted to use some special abilities, that would be meaningless. Before his wallet was emptied, Jiang Ming still managed to grab the Houm doll inside.

"It's done! How's it going!"

To be honest, because he had experienced continuous failures, he was much happier than he had imagined after his success. More importantly, he did not embarrass himself in front of Yuexia. So at the moment the doll fell into the exit, Jiang Ming shouted these words loudly regardless of the presence of the people around him. The guests in the game hall and the pedestrians in the amusement park looked here in surprise, then walked away with a wry smile.

"Cough cough."

Jiang Ming couldn't help blushing when he noticed the gazes from people around him.

"Here, take it. Compared to the giant homunculus at home, this is more suitable to carry with you, right?"

"Ah... for me...?"

"Well, that's why you caught it... Or do you not want it? I saw you looking inside so eagerly, and I thought you liked it..."

"like......"

Yuexia stared at the soft Houm doll handed to her, repeating the word in a low voice.

"Yes——that's it... This must be [love]"

Yuexia thought of the princess and prince in the fairy tale. For a moment, she looked as if she was hesitating in her thoughts, and then immediately turned to Jiang Ming again.

"Thank you, I'm very happy, I like you."

Then she said with a smile.

"!"

I always felt like my heart was pierced by that smile and it stopped slightly. If Jiang Ming was not a lolita complex, he would have sunk to it. However, this still caused a lot of harm to Jiang Ming.

......

After that, Jiang Ming took Yuexia to play some games that were not very exciting but very comfortable. Finally, with Ji Zi's recommendation and Yuexia's consent, they went to the haunted house. Jiang Ming and his friends didn't feel it was very scary, but the staff there were frightened by Yuexia's blood-red eyes in the dark.

Houm Happy Restaurant.

Jiang Ming ordered a children's meal for Yuexia, mainly because it came with a small Hom doll. Jiang Ming also ordered two grilled steaks with black truffle chocolate, but his own portion was more for Yuexia to satisfy her craving.

"Haha——I had so much fun today~"

Ji Zi took a big gulp of cold beer and said generously.

It is noon now, and the hot weather has caused most people to go to the restaurant to escape the heat. A lovely girl like Yuexia naturally attracts the attention of almost everyone, including the waiters.

Well~ After all, people are full of yearning for beautiful things, and the moonlight is the so-called beauty.

But Yuexia usually only watched the humans coming and going in the dark. Today was the first time she faced humans in the sun. She was very uneasy and kept curling up in Jiang Ming's arms and refused to come out, which made Ji Zi and some boys grit their teeth.

Seeing that Yuexia was still so scared, Jiang Ming sighed lightly and then spoke patiently.

"Don't be afraid. They don't look at you with ill intent. You like Houmu very much, right? This is the same feeling you have when you see Houmu."

Under the moonlight, I mustered up the courage to look at the people around me and found that there was no fear, surprise or rejection in their eyes, only curiosity and joy.

"Is she so shy?"

Ji Zi asked the question in her mind.

"Yeah, it became like this because of some family reasons, but..."

"but?"

Ji Zi raised her eyebrows slightly, while Jiang Ming smiled.

"If there was ice cream at this time, maybe I would accept you~"

Upon hearing this, Ji Zi's face suddenly became gloomy.

"For your lovely sister's sake!"

Although she was a little unhappy, she still chose to buy an ice cream cone after glaring at Jiang Ming, and gave one to Jiang Ming and Yuexia. But after Jiang Ming took the two ice creams, he gave one to Yuexia and the other to Ji Zi.

"What?"

Jizi asked in doubt.

"Hey, I'll treat you to a meal. Thank you for bringing Jiang Yue and me to the amusement park. Besides, I'm going to tell you the story of Jiang Yue next."

'Take my money and buy me ice cream?'

Ji Zi looked as if she was kidding, but she still took the ice cream and ate it while preparing to listen to Jiang Ming.

Yuexia was a little excited and nervous when she got the cone for the first time. After carefully examining it, she licked the cone with her pink little tongue.

"------!"

As a result, she immediately widened her eyes in surprise, looked left and right, then looked up at Jiang Ming's face, showing excitement and slapping Jiang Ming's body.

But then she shook her shoulders suddenly, bent her eyebrows slightly, and said with an apologetic look.

"Sorry... I was careless just now..."

"Haha, do you like it?"

Jiang Ming asked this, and Yuexia immediately nodded vigorously.

"It's a little icy, but very sweet, so good..."

After saying this, Yuexia took a big bite of the ice cream.

"Hey, if you eat too fast..."

Jiang Ming was about to remind Yuexia, but it was too late.

"-----Um!"

Yuexia suddenly frowned bitterly, bent her eyebrows, pressed her forehead with her bare hands, and looked a little painful.

“So cold…”

"That's what happens when you eat too fast."

Jiang Ming said with a wry smile.

“It’s called an ice cream headache.”

"That's it..."

[So cute...]

I don’t know if it’s an illusion or something, but I always feel that these three words are emanating from the people around me. Ignoring the gazes around him, Jiang Ming gently stroked Yuexia’s little head to help her relieve the icy pain.

......

Jiang Ming began to explain to Ji Zi what had happened in Yuexia's family.

"Jiang Yue's parents had an accident due to some special reasons. Now only her grandfather is taking care of her. But Jiang Yue actually has an older sister. Compared to her, her grandfather values ​​her sister more, so he doesn't give Jiang Yue too much care..."

"She could only stay at home. She was taught to read by my sister, and she could only wear her sister's old clothes when she was a child. Of course, the clothes she was wearing were bought by me before. Most importantly, my sister was still in high school, so she had to work to earn money. She couldn't stand the pressure from my grandfather, so she sneaked out and sought my help."

Jiang Ming made up stories as he spoke, trying to make Yuexia's life experience sound more miserable. He was not very good at it, but if he said he was second to none, no one would dare to say he was first.

He lied, but not much. The Otto in this world seemed to be more advanced than that in the original world. Jiang Ming couldn't help but think, if he could revive Kallen in exchange for Theresa from the original world, would Otto agree?

No, if you think so, if Otto obtained the Jizo Soul and also created A-872, then the ending would probably be the same as this world.

"If he dares, I will kill him even if I have to blow up the entire Tianming headquarters today."

As Jiang Ming thought about it, his expression turned a little gloomy. Everyone sitting in the restaurant shivered unconsciously. They even thought that even if the air conditioner was turned on in the restaurant, it shouldn't be so cold, right?

Snapped!

After listening to Jiang Ming's story, Ji Zi felt even more sympathetic towards Yuexia. She clapped her hands, scaring Jiang Ming and Yuexia.

"You...what are you doing?"

Jiang Ming was a little panicked, thinking that the story he made up was exposed, but Ji Zi suddenly cursed in a low voice, and her emotional side instantly erupted.

"This beast!"

"No...No..."

Yuexia said, shaking her hands in fear.

"Grandpa is not that bad. If it weren't for Grandpa, I wouldn't even know the meaning of my life."

Without waiting for Jiang Ming to say anything, Ji Zi continued.

"Don't make excuses for that idiot. Jiang Yue, live with your brother... No, live with me. I won't charge you rent. Just let him give you some living expenses. When I become a formal Valkyrie, I will be able to support you better."

"You can pay back the money after you finish your studies..."

Ji Zi shook her head again to deny what she said before.

"No, by then I will definitely become a formal Valkyrie of Destiny, and my salary will definitely be high. This amount of money is nothing!"

Not only Yuexia, but even Jiang Ming was shocked by Ji Zi's sense of justice. After all, she was just a reserve member, and no one could predict the future. Her father's death and dropping out of school to become a Valkyrie made her already bad life even worse, and her boss made things difficult for her. But she still persisted until now. She was paid so little now, and she still set aside part of it to take care of Yuexia...

So even though Ji Zi usually acts like a social slave, as long as she gets serious, she can surpass 99.99% of social slaves!

Ji Zi's enthusiasm made Yuexia a little panicked. Why was this person so nice to her? Was she the same person as her sister and brother? Although Yuexia didn't understand many words, she could understand that Ji Zi wanted to take care of her, and she was no longer afraid of her.

"No...No."

Theresa refused quietly.

"I'm in danger. I'm afraid I'll have to leave after tonight..."

"What are you talking about! Children should just listen to adults."

Ji Zi sternly rejected Yuexia and asked her to be obedient. Yuexia was not afraid of Ji Zi's seriousness because she knew that Ji Zi was not lying.

Yuexia's thoughts returned to the imprisoned life before, but now, there is a kind brother and a kind sister, but why... why...

Why do I have to leave after just meeting them? I really envy them for living happily and carefree here, why can't I? I am so unwilling...

As she thought about it, Yuexia's tears unconsciously flowed down her cheeks. Seeing Yuexia like this, Ji Zi thought that her voice was too loud and scared her, so she quickly apologized.

"Oh...yes...I'm sorry...I was a little too loud just now. Don't cry, don't cry."

The lame apology made Jiang Ming couldn't help laughing. In the end, Jiang Ming wiped the tears from his cheeks with a handkerchief, and stroked Yuexia's head with the other hand, and said softly.

"Okay, I promise you, you won't go back to that dark place. Now, just enjoy the moment. Eat your cone quickly, or it will melt."

"Ah."

Yuexia nodded slightly and continued to lick the ice cream cone. It seemed that she really liked it. Ji Zi originally wanted to buy some more things, but Jiang Ming seemed to notice something at this time. He glanced outside the restaurant out of the corner of his eye, then chuckled, hugged Yuexia in his arms, and said to her, ignoring Ji Zi's twitching eyes.

"Jizi, someone seems to be looking for you outside."

Jiang Ming raised his chin towards the outside of the restaurant. Ji Zi looked outside the restaurant with her eyes slightly widened and a look of surprise. The incident happened suddenly, so she said to Jiang Ming and Yuexia and then hurried out.