Chapter 488: Jiang Xiuer! (Bonus Chapter)
Xia Yao tightened the zip tie and stood up with a wicked grin: "Wrong guess! I'm not blowing up the academy! I'm blowing up your precious little pickup truck!"
Jiangnan: ???
What did the precious little pickup truck do wrong?
Why blow it up?
It's innocent!
Zhong Yingxue snickered: "Yaoyao said this is the first time we're all spending New Year's together, so she wants to leave a special memory! That's why she's planning a fireworks show!"
Wu Liang's legs were trembling: "She cleaned out 17 firecracker shops! She didn't come to buy fireworks—she came to stock up!"
Jiangnan grinned: "Haha! Da Lang Mie, you're amazing! A fireworks show sounds great!"
Xia Yao laughed with pure joy.
The group headed straight for the academy in the precious little pickup truck!
On the way, Jiangnan pulled out his phone, scrolled to Katerina's WeChat, and chuckled.
He sent a message over:
Southern God: That friend of yours can't take a hit. Send one who can take more to come pick it up.
◟(๐˃᷄з˂᷅)～Nyah nyah nyah～
[Grievance points from Qian Benying +1000!]
[Grievance points from Qian Benying...]
Jiangnan looked at his phone with a smile, not panicked at all.
Piss you off, piss you off!
Better come yourself!
Once you're here, this is my turf!
...
At the Royal Hotel in the Metropolis of Mi Guo.
A pale-skinned woman sat up straight in bed, grinding her teeth as she stared at her phone.
She looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, tall and slender, with short pink hair that curled slightly at the ends.
Even her eyelashes and eyebrows were pink. Her delicate features were sharp and defined, but her face carried a coldness that sharply contrasted her appearance.
"Found out? And you even sent me an emoji to mess with me?"
"Didn't you say you were wearing a white tank top?"
Katerina, tied to a chair beside her with special spirit-binding chains, shrugged: "I didn't lie to you. I am wearing white right now."
Qian Benying's beautiful eyes narrowed: "Didn't lie to you? Then how did he figure it out?"
Katerina: "Because there was never any code word in the first place!"
Little brother, do you have to be this clever?!
Qian Benying: !!!
"You really think I won't kill you?"
With that, she pinched with her small hand, and the space around Katerina violently compressed. Katerina's pretty face flushed red, her expression twisted in pain, and she involuntarily coughed up a mouthful of blood.
But she still stubbornly said, "Go ahead and kill me. My life isn't worth anything!"
Qian Benying stared intently at Katerina, about to speak, when the phone rang.
"Captain! Operation failed. The contact was Jiangnan, the Southern God! Hua Xia's second space-type! He has the key!"
Qian Benying froze. Jiangnan? Her eyes turned icy in an instant. "You dead woman! You actually mailed the key to Jiangnan?"
Katerina bit her lip hard, her gaze darkening. She had originally thought she could escape—she shouldn't have dragged Jiangnan into this.
Now he was in danger too...
"Abort the operation! I'll go personally and demand it from him."
"Captain, think twice. Hua Xia has a space-type Dao Heaven. The Magician already suffered a major loss in Hua Xia recently. If you go, once you use a high-powered space spiritual technique, you'll definitely be detected."
"Besides, here in the Metropolis, the Bose Body could show up at any time. If you leave, all the preparations here will be wasted!"
Qian Benying frowned, fidgeting with her fingers in frustration.
As a fellow space-type, no one knew better than her how troublesome space-types were.
If Jiangnan didn't leave the country, it would be very hard to get him.
"Forget about the key! No matter how many I send, I'll just lose them!"
Then she called headquarters directly: "Hey? Xiao Liuhua? I have a favor to ask you..."
After a solid half-hour call, Qian Benying finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Her gaze fell on Katerina, and a smile curled at the corner of her mouth: "Do you think Jiangnan will come to save you?"
"You mailed the key—the one tied to your life—to Jiangnan? You must trust him a lot, right?"
"If he doesn't come to save you, will you be disappointed?"
Katerina looked down at her toes, biting her lower lip, and said hoarsely, "You don't understand. I wish Jiangnan wouldn't come. I wish I would just die here in your hands right now."
Qian Benying: "Hehehe～ I don't understand. But you'd better cooperate. As a fellow woman, I haven't been too harsh on you. The only thing I want is the key."
...
Back at the academy, most of the students and instructors had already gone home for the New Year.
So it felt a bit quiet. Jiangnan and the others started decorating the small villa.
They stuck up couplets and "福" characters, bustling about happily, making the place feel more and more like home.
Halfway through, Jiangnan got a call from Liu Qiutian, asking him to come pick up his weapon.
Jiangnan's eyes lit up, and with a teleport, he vanished.
At the Material Science and Technology Building, Liu Qiutian, who had just hung up, shuddered and almost scared himself into cardiac arrest.
Jiangnan was already standing beside him, rubbing his little hands together excitedly.
"Grandpa Liu, you've worked hard!"
Liu Qiutian grinned, sporting huge dark circles under his eyes and looking noticeably thinner.
(›´ᗜ`‹)
"Not hard. Here, take it. Made according to your drawings."
With that, he retrieved a blood-red halberd from the forge room and tossed it to Jiangnan.
It was extremely heavy—nearly a thousand jin!
The whole weapon was a deep red, semi-transparent, and beautiful as a work of art.
Its length was an astonishing three meters!
The head of the halberd was designed in a well shape, with crescent blades on both sides and a spear tip in the center that gleamed dangerously.
Jiangnan gripped it and gave the shaft a hard twist, triggering a mechanism.
From the end of the shaft, he pulled out a blood-drinking longsword!
The blade was slender, its edge razor-sharp.
It was a concealed design—the halberd shaft itself was the scabbard!
"I'll be damned! Grandpa, you're awesome!"
Jiangnan was overjoyed. He actually made it? How incredible was that?
Liu Qiutian smirked proudly: "Don't you know who your grandpa is? I also forged the weapons for your teammates. Take them back with you."
He pulled aside a piece of oilcloth, and Jiangnan drooled at the sight. This was definitely the best New Year gift ever!
He stashed everything into his Alternate Dimension, planning to wrap them up nicely.
"But a three-meter-long, thousand-jin halberd? Can you even swing it, kid? Isn't it a bit too long? You—"
Jiangnan inserted the blood-drinking sword back and held the halberd with one hand.
[Skill triggered! Halberd Technique: LV0!]
Max it out! Max it out!
[Skill points added: 1,111,100 points!]
[Skill upgraded! Halberd Technique (Grandmaster): MAX!]
Countless techniques and knowledge flooded into his mind like a storm.
At that moment, the halberd in his hand felt like an extension of his arm, even forming muscle memory.
Jiangnan casually pulled an apple from his Alternate Dimension and tossed it up.
With a big stride, muscles bulging, he swung the halberd fiercely.
A sharp, piercing sound tore through the air as it split the air, moving so fast it left trails of red light.
The three-meter halberd felt anything but cumbersome in Jiangnan's hands; it was light and agile, heavy yet graceful.
It swept out red flashes that left Liu Qiutian utterly stunned.
Suddenly! Jiangnan stopped the halberd in front of him.
The apple landed perfectly on the blade's edge, its peel falling off in spirals.
The peeled apple suddenly split into eight equal segments, neatly laid out.
Jiangnan: "Grandpa? Want an apple?"
Liu Qiutian: =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪‧̣̥̇)
Are you freaking kidding me?!
You use a three-meter, thousand-jin halberd to pull off a godly move and peel me an apple?
And even neatly split it into segments?
From now on, don't call yourself Jiangnan! Call yourself Jiang Xiuer!
What terrifying halberd technique was that? It was no worse than his swordplay!
Jiangnan was only twenty after this New Year, right? Had he been training since the womb?
That's not science!
"This halberd isn't wasted on you. I'm going home for the New Year!"
Jiangnan scratched his head and grinned: "Happy New Year, Grandpa Liu! If I snatch any more good stuff, I'll come find you!"
Liu Qiutian nodded in satisfaction. Hmm? Wait, did he say "snatch"?
Overjoyed with his new weapon, Jiangnan happily bounced his way back to the villa.
Halfway there, he seemed to remember something and pulled out his phone to send Katerina a message.
Southern God: Dumb idiot! Hehe～
[Grievance points from Qian Benying +1000!]
[Grievance points from Qian Benying...]
Ahhh!
Just let me catch you!
Watching the grievance points list refresh endlessly, Jiangnan felt even happier.
—
Author's note: