Once the affection level is maxed out, the rivalry begins!

Bai Ze still remembers the first time he witnessed Lin Tingwan fighting against a superhuman.

While concealing his identity, he had shared the same information with Lu Xingyao, which resulted in a new problem.

"Senior, judging from your description, the creature fighting the witch should be an anomaly classified as an extradimensional being."

Lu Xingyao pointed it out incisively.

This planet frequently receives visitors from other worlds. It is said that the Bureau of Spirit Disasters handles more than a hundred incidents every year, such as "I remember now, I am the reincarnation of an immortal" or "I have returned from the Western fantasy world after defeating the demon king."

However, the vast majority of these are merely cognitive harms, where victims are misled by fabricated memories and mistakenly believe they are returning transmigrators; a small portion are the result of high-risk anomalies [using large transport trucks on transmigrators].

Only a very small fraction of them, who were neither self-proclaimed time travelers nor were they hit by randomly generated transport trucks with instant-death attacks, were truly extraterrestrial visitors.

For example, the owner of this data core.

"There's just one problem. It's said that beings from other worlds are rejected by the world, and to people in reality, they look like a blurry silhouette."

Lu Xingyao tilted her head in confusion, "But the senior said he saw a silver-haired woman."

That's true, but Bai Ze believes this precisely shows that he is a true transmigrator who has integrated into the local culture, rather than an imposter misled by fictional memories.

That's why he was able to bypass the world's rejection and see the appearance of otherworldly beings, and perhaps even communicate with them.

Therefore, after discovering that the core repair was completed, Bai Ze decided to have a talk with the other party.

"It's too unsafe outside, why don't you come to my house?"

Inside the coffee shop, Lu Xingyao, having learned of his idea, offered this suggestion.

So the two moved to a detached villa in the suburbs.

Although during the first café meeting, Bai Ze had heard the story of how a girl who had awakened prophetic abilities contracted chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) due to an incident of being isolated by elementary school students and used her supernatural powers to make money.

But he never considered the exact amount of money Lu Xingyao mentioned she had earned.

"That's about enough for me to live alone for the rest of my life. Any more and it might attract the attention of the Bureau of Spirit Disasters."

The girl, who had suddenly acquired the traits of a wealthy heiress, said nonchalantly.

"Since this place exists, why did you choose a coffee shop as your regular meeting place?"

Bai Ze asked a question as he entered the magnificent entrance hall.

"Senior, can I take that as you asking, 'Why don't you usually invite me over?'"

As Lu Xingyao squatted down and lifted her shoe heel, she asked slyly in return.

"I'm really impatient... I think we should start with places outside and gradually transition to homes."

"Give her a little attention and she'll take advantage of it" is probably the best way to describe her.

"...And I don't like it here. It's too big for one person." She whispered at the end.

"Excuse me, but where are your parents?"

Bai Ze was beginning to wonder if every witch's parents were destined to disappear without a trace. Was this some kind of anomaly where Uncle Ben was specially summoned as Spider-Man by sacrificing himself?

However, Lu Xingyao's answer denied this rather horrifying speculation: "I don't get along with them."

She pursed her lips and turned her face away. Bai Ze felt it was clearly not appropriate to ask any further questions.

After the two tacitly ignored the question, Lu Xingyao led him to a door.

"I'll tidy up the bedroom first, senior, don't peek." She warned him by opening the door a crack after entering.

Wouldn't it be better to talk about it directly in the living room?

When Bai Ze counted the six hundredth sheep in his mind, the suspicious commotion behind the door finally stopped, and the girl's voice announced that entry was permitted.

"Welcome to visit, senior."

He pushed open the door and saw Lu Xingyao had set up a small round table in the center of the gleaming ebony floor. The girl sat on the floor and quietly picked up the tea set in front of her. The teapot was inlaid with silver flowers and birds, and the sound of boiling water was like the rustling of the wind in the pines.

If you didn't see the bookshelves against the wall haphazardly crammed with physical comic books, and the Unicorn Gundam model surrounded by a group of game character figurines in the glass cabinet on the lower shelf, you might actually be intimidated by her welcoming tea-making manner.

Therefore, Bai Ze reasonably questioned, "At this point, is it still useful for you to adopt the young lady's persona?"

"Tch, judging from the expression on your face when you saw this house, I thought I could deliver a fatal blow with the contrast."

Her elegant posture collapsed like a limp lizard as she casually poured hot water mixed with dark tea leaves into an antique teacup.

"This stuff doesn't look drinkable at all. Are you trying to deliver a fatal chemical blow to me?"

Bai Ze sat down opposite her and took out the octahedral core that had remained silent throughout the journey.

Then it was thrown into boiling water.

"Protest: In the more than 300 worlds recorded on this machine, the use of high-temperature torture on prisoners is inhumane."

He really... spoke.

More accurately, it vibrated like a speaker, emitting sound waves that caused ripples in the tea, sounding like someone was hiding underwater.

You're wrong.

Bai Ze retorted seriously, "This is waterboarding."

"Senior, there's no need to correct such trivial differences."

Lu Xingyao looked excited, which was understandable, as people with chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) always yearn to talk to visitors from another world.

Even if it's just a brick from another world.

She began by posing the most crucial question: "The Bureau of Disasters claims that your very existence as otherworldly beings exacerbates global instability, making you enemies of humanity. Shouldn't we destroy it?"

"Negative: This machine cannot determine whether the rejection reaction in your world is so severe, but it should not have any effect in this form where the body has been lost."

"Additional argument: The personnel from your world who destroyed the machine's body also intended to capture the machine's core, not destroy it."

This brick from another world has a strong will to survive.

Bai Ze nodded in agreement: "The people from the Spirit Disaster Bureau also chose to leave the core behind—but what use are you to us?"

The Minotaur's labyrinth is a mobile base, and the materialized ghost stories can be considered as having a certain level of group attack strength.

This visitor from another world was no match for Lin Tingwan even when his body was intact, and his role when only his core remained was even more questionable.

After summarizing the above concerns, he conveyed them to Miss Core.

"Rage: It was just a despicable sneak attack that took advantage of the unit's weakened state after its interdimensional travel. Besides, the unit's function is to assist the admiral in battle, and direct confrontation is not its forte."

"Proposal: Provide this unit with sufficient spiritual energy, and this unit will fight for you."

Miss Core churned as if expressing anger, causing the tea to splash out.

"Even if you want to cooperate, we don't know where to find the energy you're talking about."

In response to Bai Ze's reply, the core of the octahedron softened like slime, extending a tentacle-like organ that pointed at Lu Xingyao from afar.

"Question: Didn't she and the entity that destroyed this machine possess massive amounts of spiritual energy at similar energy levels?"

The two instinctively looked at each other.

Perhaps they have found a way to provide Lu Xingyao with combat skills.