RoCD Chapter 93

The extremely limited food rations forced the taskers to kill one another.

Bai Qu was very thankful that Youyou had only just arrived.

Those bloody, obscene, and sickeningly cruel scenes…

She had not seen them with her own eyes.

Numerous images flashed through his mind. Bai Qu pursed his lips, his brow furrowing in disgust—the taskers who had once been so high and mighty in the Main God Space and the mission worlds had, for the most part, become fragile and clumsy when returned to their most basic state. For instance, their physical reactions couldn’t keep up with their thoughts, their movements were sluggish, their strength was reduced, and the natural physical differences between men and women put female taskers at a particular disadvantage.

In the current Asura City, the surviving female taskers were either exceptionally powerful themselves or had attached themselves to the strong by using their bodies and beauty.

And Youyou… The mere thought that Youyou could be harmed made Bai Qu’s heart seethe with a violent rage. The strength in his hands increased uncontrollably. When he heard the little girl’s cry of surprise, Bai Qu’s eyes flickered, and he snapped back to his senses.

“Did I hurt you?”

He removed the towel and skillfully began to massage the little girl’s scalp. Bai Qu’s technique was excellent, causing Youyou to let out an involuntary, comfortable sigh.

Whimpering softly, she shook her head to show it didn’t hurt. Youyou narrowed her eyes in contentment, but then, as if suddenly remembering something, she looked up, hugged Bai Qu’s arm, and began to coax him.

“Bai Qu, Bai Qu, Xixi said you’re a high-level tasker from the Main God Space, so you must have a lot of points left, right?… Can you give me some points, please? I have too few, not even enough to buy good food, and I can’t decorate my system space. I’m so pitiful, aren’t I?… Bai Qu, I want points, points!”

Youyou, who never knew the meaning of restraint in front of Bai Qu, asked him for things just as she always had. This time, however, Bai Qu didn’t nod and agree immediately. Instead, his mouth twitched as he sighed helplessly.

“Did Xixi not tell you that you can only exchange things with other taskers after opening the Trading Hall?… Let’s not even mention that there are many restrictions in this Asura City; Brother can’t even open his system page. Even if I could, I’d still be powerless to help, you see?… Little fool, since you love playing games so much, why don’t you figure out the gameplay—that is, the rules—first?”

Regretting that he hadn’t educated the little girl more thoroughly on this front, Bai Qu was about to say more when he saw Youyou looking at him suspiciously, her voice soft and sweet. “But there is a Trading Hall, and you can open the system page.”

With a single thought, a transparent, incredibly simple, low-level system panel appeared in mid-air. Youyou pointed to the four sparkling, almost blindingly bright red characters, wearing a proud expression that seemed to say, “You underestimated me.”

“See? It’s right here. I do know how to read the words ‘Trading Hall’.”

Bai Qu: …

Su Ling: …

Xixi: …

Is there something wrong with Little Youyou’s / the little fool’s / the Host’s eyes?

On the plain and simple system page, there was only Youyou’s basic profile and a bare System Store button. As for the Trading Hall Youyou mentioned, Bai Qu, Su Ling, and System Xixi couldn’t see it at all.

[H-Host, you can really see… the Trading Hall?]

Xixi was very worried.

Youyou: …

“Tch. Don’t tell me Qi Feng scared you witless. Where’s any Trading Hall?”

After mocking Youyou bluntly, Su Ling looked at her system page again, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up inside him.

How could this be? Aren’t all taskers in Asura City unable to summon their system panels? Aside from their systems retaining a weakened monitoring function, weren’t they, as taskers, no different from ordinary people now?

And since Su Ling had noticed this, Bai Qu naturally had as well.

Studying Youyou’s face, a thousand thoughts raced through Bai Qu’s mind, yet he still couldn’t grasp the key point. With an imperceptible frown, Bai Qu considered for a moment before saying, “I believe Youyou. In that case, just try to trade with me.”

“Mhm, mhm!”

Youyou nodded excitedly, completely oblivious to the fact that something was amiss with Bai Qu and Su Ling. She cheerfully reached out with her small, delicate hand and tapped away at the virtual system panel. Not even a dozen seconds later, she turned her head, her eyes gleaming as she stared at Bai Qu.

As if she were looking at a piece of meat.

The corner of Bai Qu’s mouth twitched, utterly speechless, but he silently consented in his mind. In the next moment, a fragrant, soft steamed bun appeared in his palm, while on the system panel before them, Youyou’s point balance had increased by exactly one hundred thousand.

“Cough—”

Su Ling, who saw this, was utterly stunned. He had no time to dwell on Youyou’s peculiarity; he just stared at her in astonishment. “One hundred thousand points, and all you give your brother is a single steamed bun?! Little fool, how can you be so cheap?!”

Although he knew there were no real boundaries between them, and that with Youyou’s personality, she would have cheerfully accepted even if Bai Qu had given her all his points without the slightest hesitation, seeing it happen in person still made Su Ling want to crack open her head to see if there was anything inside besides steamed buns.

His sharp instincts allowed Su Ling to grasp the enormous potential in this in an instant. He desperately wanted Youyou to exchange for some powerful weapons, but the moment he met Bai Qu’s faint, unreadable smile, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him, and he immediately calmed down.

“Is a hundred thousand a lot for you, Brother?”

Happily stroking the digits on the panel, Youyou looked from Su Ling to Bai Qu, suddenly conflicted.

“It’s not a lot. Youyou can keep trading with me.”

He didn’t like seeing this expression on the little girl’s face. His precious little sister should be happy and always smiling.

Soothingly patting Youyou’s head, Bai Qu’s gaze was gentle and his voice was soft. “Brother can still provide for you.”

After a pause, Bai Qu added, “If I run out in the end, there’s still Su Ling. In short, you can have as many points as you want, Youyou. Don’t worry about a thing.”

Su Ling, who was already used to being exploited: …

Just as he expected.

Meanwhile, Xixi felt it was a miracle its Host hadn’t turned out completely spoiled.

“Yay, that’s great!”

Hearing Bai Qu’s words, Youyou was finally reassured.

She decisively traded with Bai Qu a few more times and then, with exceptional greed, bought a ton of delicious food from the System Store and placed it on the table—things like spicy hot pot, barbecue, and juice. In short, she bought everything she had been craving for a long time.

A faint, spicy aroma wafted through the air, enough to make one’s mouth water. Youyou sniffled, gazing at the table with a look of pure satisfaction. But, just as she was about to enjoy these delicacies, Bai Qu spoke up.

“Did I say you could eat these?”

Watching Youyou excitedly order this and that, Bai Qu thought he could probably guess just how “well-behaved” she was in the other worlds without his restraint.

“Er.”

She had gotten carried away and completely forgotten about Bai Qu.

Youyou timidly shrank back, glancing longingly at the hot pot, knowing she wouldn’t be allowed to eat it.

“W-well, I’ll just look at it then. And just smell it.”

“Tch—”

The little girl’s extremely pitiful expression was hilarious to Bai Qu and Su Ling, but no meant no. If they broke this rule even once, given Youyou’s knack for having them wrapped around her little finger, it would be nearly impossible for them to re-establish their authority. Grabbing Youyou’s wrist, Bai Qu led her to the dining table and forced her to order nutritious but bland food.

And so, Youyou could only watch with envy as Su Ling polished off all the food she liked, while she herself, under Bai Qu’s watchful eye, miserably drank her fish soup and chewed her vegetables, looking utterly pitiful.

After the meal was finished, Youyou washed up and went to bed under Bai Qu’s supervision. Because she had exhausted so much energy being chased by Qi Feng earlier, she quickly fell into a deep sleep amidst Bai Qu’s soft, gentle words, sleeping soundly.

On the light-gray bed, the soundly sleeping little girl looked as peaceful and sweet as ever—as exquisite and cute as a little angel.

If this were any other place, Bai Qu would surely be gratified. But here…

“She’s asleep?”

Su Ling, who had just finished tidying up the dishes, saw Bai Qu’s slightly furrowed brow the moment he entered the room. He couldn’t help but step forward and pull his lover into his arms. Su Ling then leaned down and quickly stole a kiss from the corner of Bai Qu’s mouth, speaking in a tone that practically begged to be punched.

“Relax, relax. The little fool will be fine. Look how special she is—not even restricted here in Asura City. I think she must have had some kind of lucky break. Who knows? Maybe in the end, we’ll both be dead, and she’ll still be living just fine, hmm?”

This wasn’t just Su Ling spouting nonsense. It was what he genuinely thought.

The little fool was simply too lucky—so lucky that it made him feel as if someone had intentionally guided Youyou to find them.

“A…’lucky break’?”

Mulling over those two words, Bai Qu’s gaze turned cold and distant. “Perhaps,” he said flatly. “Although there are many taskers in Asura City, compared to the countless taskers out there, the proportion is still minuscule. And yet, the three of us have all appeared here. To call that a coincidence… would be far too much of a coincidence.”

“That’s right. And the timing of the little fool’s appearance is especially odd, as if someone timed it perfectly for us to run into each other. Asura City isn’t exactly huge, but it’s not small either. Think back—when you came looking for me, didn’t it take two months for us to finally meet?”

Su Ling’s words sent Bai Qu into deep thought. He gazed silently at Youyou for a long moment before his lips curled into a cold smile. “I don’t care if this is some lucky break or not,” he said icily. “In any case, I will no longer tolerate Youyou being insulted, being deceived, or being played for a fool by those women behind my back, all without her even realizing it.”

Su Ling: “…”

“Bai Qu, you…?” He wasn’t sure—no, he couldn’t bring himself to believe what Bai Qu was implying. Su Ling stared at him, utterly horrified, the astonishment on his handsome face impossible to hide.

“You’re not mistaken.”

Not intending to hide anything from Su Ling, Bai Qu, his features as fine as a painting, spoke in a voice as cool and crisp as shattering jade. “Originally, it was because Youyou was on the outside that I intended to fight for that single spot for survival. Because no matter which of us made it out alive, we would take very, very good care of her. But now that Youyou has been teleported in here as well, well…”

“The choice becomes very easy, doesn’t it?”

Reaching out to stroke the little girl’s face, Bai Qu’s eyes curved into a smile. “You know, she’s very fragile. I pampered and doted on her, exhausting every effort, just to raise her to be normal—to be able to speak, to cajole, to sulk and playfully pester people. But in essence, she’s still an easily broken, fragile doll.”

“She is always so easily deceived by others, hurt by others, taught and instilled with bad ideas by others out of malice, all without her knowing. So, with her mind not yet fully developed, so easily led astray, unable to distinguish right from wrong… how could I possibly be at ease letting her live on her own?”

“So let it be this way. If there is only one spot for leaving… then she can stay with me in Asura City.”

“Bai! Qu!”

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