Collapse Iron: I just transmigrated! You want me to save the Black Tower?!

"I......"

"Fool."

click-

The door was suddenly pushed open.

The Black Tower itself, dressed in casual pajamas, floated in through the door, seated on its scepter.

Reaching the bedside, she gently waved her hand, and the scepter vanished into thin air.

She sat on the bed, picked up the doll and threw it on the table, then turned her gaze to Jiang Jiu.

Pajama Tower

"Do you miss me?" she asked.

Jiang Jiu blinked, unable to resist taking a second look at the clothes Hei Ta was wearing.

He coughed lightly: "What brings you here?"

Am I pretty?

Black Tower leaned closer, a smile playing on his lips: "I'm right here. Why don't you ask me your questions? Why ask this little doll?"

Jiang Jiu was taken aback for a moment: "Isn't that you too..."

"That's different."

Jiang Jiu looked at the black tower so close to her, a triumphant smile on her delicate face, her purple eyes looking particularly beautiful under the soft light of the bedroom.

She was wearing casual pajamas with lace trim, sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at Jiang Jiu in a relaxed manner.

"What's different?"

Jiang Jiu countered with a question.

"Of course they're different."

Black Tower spoke with righteous indignation, and even moved a little closer to him, reducing the distance between the two considerably.

"I control the puppet, but it's not me. You confess your feelings to it, ask it what you like, and blush in front of it..."

She listed them off one by one, her tone as if stating experimental data, but a smug smile lurked in her eyes: "Isn't that a bit too disrespectful of me?"

“…I didn’t confess to it,” Jiang Jiu tried to explain. “I was asking you.”

"Asking it and asking me are two different things."

Hei Ta extended a finger and gently touched his chest. Through the clothes, he could feel the slightly rapid heartbeat beneath.

"You see, it can't detect this reaction now."

Jiang Jiu froze for a moment.

...Ms. Black Tower, you're a bit too good at this, you know that?

He lowered his eyes, looking at the finger poking and prodding at his chest, then raised his eyes to meet Black Tower's gaze.

He was clearly in the upper hand, clearly speechless, but... he just couldn't muster any thought of resistance.

I was even a little happy.

"...So you've come in person," he smiled resignedly and asked softly, "Do you want me to ask you again?"

Black Tower tilted his head, neither saying yes nor no.

But she didn't retract her fingers, nor did she look away.

Jiang Jiu took a deep breath.

He gently grasped the hand that was poking his chest; the movement was very light, and Black Tower didn't dodge.

"Black Tower, I like your question, I've already answered it."

"Mmm," she responded, listening quietly, a rare occurrence for her.

"I like you, so I want to know what you like, coffee or tea, whether you like sweets, what you usually do, what you do to relax when you're tired of research, and whether there's any place you've wanted to go but haven't yet..."

He spoke slowly, pausing after each question and looking expectantly at Black Tower, awaiting her answer.

Heita sat on the bed and moved a little closer.

"I don't like drinking tea."

"Anything else...?"

As the black tower drew closer, Jiang Jiu's heart began to race.

Then, the next moment, he was lightly flicked on the forehead by Black Tower.

Jiang Jiu: "...?"

Jiang Jiu paused for a moment, looking at the Black Tower with some confusion.

Black Tower slightly curled his lips.

"Fool."

Chapter 168 You're Pushing Your Bottoms

Jiang Jiu covered his forehead, looking at the triumphant smile in Hei Ta's eyes, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

He got flicked on the head and it popped.

He got his head slammed by the Black Tower.

Black Tower...

He went over those words in his mind several times, and then... he couldn't help but laugh.

"What are you laughing at?"

Black Tower withdrew her hand, her tone carrying a hint of interrogation, but she did not retreat, maintaining that excessively close distance.

"I'm laughing at myself."

Jiang Jiu lowered his hand, unable to suppress his smile.

"I used to find it hardest to handle you when you spoke with a barb, but now I find it even harder to handle when you just flick me without saying anything."

Black Tower blinked: "So?"

"So..." Jiang Jiu looked at her, his voice unconsciously softening, "Could you play a few more notes?"

Black Tower: "..."

Black Tower: "Have you been sleeping for thousands of years and ruined your brain?"

"Maybe." Jiang Jiu followed up on Hei Ta's words, "But before it breaks down, I still want to know... what do you like to eat? What's your favorite color? Hmm... I think I know that. What do you usually do when you're alone?"

He's come full circle again.

Black Tower looked at him, a complex emotion flashing in his purple eyes.

It's not that I'm impatient.

Rather, it was a slight sense of bewilderment... a momentary unease about how to handle the situation.

But she had a solution in the next moment.

“You’re really annoying,” she said.

"Ok, I know."

What's the point of asking these questions?

“It’s useless,” Jiang Jiu replied earnestly, “but I want to know.”

The Black Tower remained silent for a few seconds.

Then, she turned her face away, her voice so soft it was as if she were talking to herself.

"...I don't like overly sweet desserts, and you know the colors, so I won't go into details. When I'm alone...I'm doing research, what else can I be doing?"

Jiang Jiu listened quietly, memorizing every word.

Then, when he was alone, he secretly wrote it down in his notes. That's what he was thinking.

"Anything else?" he asked softly.

"...The starry sky chocolate produced by Onfaros isn't too sweet, it's acceptable." She paused, as if making a great decision, "Occasionally I try... um... try to make some food that looks good, but the response is so-so."

How often is "occasionally"?

Why do you ask so many questions?

"I'm afraid I'll forget something." Jiang Jiu said matter-of-factly, "What if I send the wrong thing in the future and make you angry?"

Black Tower turned around and stared at him for several seconds.

Her gaze held scrutiny, incomprehension, and a hint of helplessness that she herself might not have realized.

"...Once every few months, I guess," she finally answered, her voice muffled. "Sometimes it's longer, but I don't remember exactly. What? Do you?"

Jiang Jiu's eyes crinkled into a smile.

"I will, I'll make it for you next time."

"Who would want to eat your cooking? What if it doesn't taste good?"

"Then I won't give you any."

"no!"

Jiang Jiu was delighted.

Hei Ta knew that Jiang Jiu said that on purpose, but she still went along with it anyway.

The room fell silent.

Black Tower's gaze fell on the blanket, lost in thought.

Jiang Jiu looked at her lowered eyelashes, at the lace trim of her nightgown swaying slightly as she sat on the edge of the bed, and at the hand she placed beside her, just inches away from his.

He hesitated for a moment.