Lisi Isn't Like Annan

"Do you really consider yourself her father?" As they ran down the stairs, Igola, following behind Yaxiu, suddenly asked. Right after leaving the perilous gaming floor, a brief but fierce argument had erupted between Yaxiu and Banjie—Annan was on the 86th floor, while Lisi was on the 56th. According to the character activity map displayed by the Book of Gospel, Annan was engaged with multiple opponents, whereas Lisi was being pursued by just one person. Consequently, Banjie wanted everyone to reinforce Annan first. Igola and Harvey had raised no objections; only Yaxiu insisted on heading down to find Lisi. With time of the essence, they acted immediately after stating their positions. Banjie took the elevator up, Yaxiu ran down the stairs, and Igola flashed a hand sign to Harvey. And so, the necromancer accompanied the butler to butter up the boss, while the swindler accompanied the "Worst Employee of the Year" to pick up his kid. Undoubtedly, Yaxiu's failure to separate public duty from personal matters would invite resentment from Banjie and Annan. After all, Lisi's side didn't seem in immediate danger, while Annan was on the verge of being overwhelmed. For Yaxiu to rank the boss below his adopted daughter defied all reason and etiquette. Did he really think the agency was his own home? Igola didn't understand it either. He knew that while Yaxiu might have the intellect of an ogre, the resourcefulness of a goblin, and a brain prone to catching a bus and fleeing at any given moment, he wasn't some socially regressed degenerate incapable of discerning priorities. Judging by the situation, the only sensible move was for everyone to rescue Annan first and then track down Lisi together. Yet Yaxiu had insisted on splitting their forces. If anything went wrong, Yaxiu would bear full responsibility. In truth, Igola should have gone with Banjie to rescue Annan, but doing so would have made it look like they were ostracizing Yaxiu. Even if only to demonstrate solidarity among outsiders, Igola had to accompany Yaxiu on this downward spiral. Granted, he would inevitably earn Annan's resentment as well, but with Yaxiu serving as a taunt minion to draw aggro, Igola wasn't overly concerned. "How could I?" Yaxiu's voice came between hurried footfalls. "I'm an unmarried man, nowhere near the age to be a father." "Then why do you care so much about Lisi that you can't even wait a few minutes? If we went to rescue Annan together, we could probably take down those enemies quickly, and turning back to save Lisi afterward would be a much more sensible plan, wouldn't it?" "Oh, right. Why didn't I think of that? My bad." "Playing dumb in front of me?" Igola reached out and slapped the back of Yaxiu's head. "Even if time was pressing, how could you fail to deduce something so basic?" "I really wasn't thinking that much just now—" "Fine, if you don't want to talk, don't." Rounding a corner on the stairs, Yaxiu said helplessly, "Lisi isn't like Annan." "Aha. I can only hope the difference you're referring to isn't their figure," Igola mocked. "There are far too many differences between them. For instance, their names are different." "Setting combat power aside, the most important thing," Yaxiu said, "is that their mindsets are different." "Mindsets?" Igola paused slightly. As a mind sorcerer, he grasped Yaxiu's subtext in an instant. "Even in the direst crisis, Annan can remain calm in her heart," Yaxiu said. "Because she knows many people care about her: her mother Qinna, her butler Banjie, beasts of burden like us... She has so many reasons to hold on. She believes time is definitely on her side, and she's certain people are rushing to save her. She harbors hope. "But Lisi is different. She..." Yaxiu paused, as if racking his brain across his pool of knowledge, before finally picking the worst possible example: "She's a lot like you." "She is not." "She doesn't know if anyone will come to save her. She doesn't know if she truly matters to anyone. Time is on Annan's side because with every second that passes, she feels reinforcements will arrive the next second. Time is not on Lisi's side because with every passing second, she feels she is being abandoned in that very second. "A child acts spoiled because they believe they will be favored; a child acts sensible because they suspect they will be abandoned. Igola, Lisi has always been a clever, sensible child." Yaxiu smiled faintly. "Though I never saw you back then, I feel she's a lot like how you were as a kid." "She is not." "So even if it's just me, I have to go to her first." Yaxiu leaped down the steps, his feet landing heavily on the concrete. "Maybe my arriving won't help, maybe I'll even be captured, but at least my actions will show her—no matter what, she must never lose hope." "Like I said, she's not like me." Igola matched Yaxiu's pace. "I haven't degenerated to the point of relying on others to grant me hope." "Be a little more tolerant of children, Aunt Bogin." "You still haven't answered my question. You only explained why you're rescuing her, not why you place so much value on her." "Did you forget? I have a contract with her; I must protect her." "Just because of a contract?" "There's also a trivial reason..." ...... ... Yaxiu gripped 'Lisi's' hand, pulled her straight onto his shoulder, and gave her bottom a firm smack. 'Lisi' couldn't help letting out an "Ah!" "See? You only know how to cause trouble. I have to save you every single time," Yaxiu scoffed with feigned anger. "Let's see if you dare disobey me again!" Yaxiu felt that Lisi hadn't shown him enough respect lately. Before, she always called him 'Papa', but recently she'd been alternating between 'Yaxiu' and 'Papa', and had even dared tease him in front of Harvey—in private was one thing, but how could she embarrass him in front of outsiders! If this continued, Lisi might undergo a mega-evolution into a brat who barked, 'Hey, whatshisname, give me some money.' This was a golden opportunity to establish adult authority. For the sake of Lisi's healthy development, it was time to strike hard! From the floor above, Igola looked on with a bizarre expression. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined Yaxiu's main reason for saving Lisi first was to act cool in front of a little girl. *This guy had the nerve to claim Lisi and I were alike? You're the one who's like Lisi—two overgrown brats.* Covering her blushing face, Diya wished she could revert to her true form and beat this guy up, but she couldn't. In all her life, not even the Witch had ever smacked her bottom, yet Yaxiu had dared give it a resounding wallop! The moment she saw Yaxiu, she should have handed the body back to Little Witch right away! After all, if Little Witch's bottom got smacked, so be it, but she was the Secret Princess! How was she supposed to face White Queen and the others after this?! Wait... Diya's expression changed, and she slapped Yaxiu's back hard. "Run!" Boom! The ceiling above the ceiling collapsed with a thunderous crash. Yaxiu instantly carried Diya away from their spot, narrowly avoiding the falling rebar and stones. "Still not dead?" Yaxiu looked at the piled rubble, his expression turning grave. After he and Igola discovered that the stairway to the 56th floor was blocked, they had gone to the 57th floor. Determining via the Book of Gospel that Lisi's pursuer was directly beneath them, they quickly hatched a battle plan: Igola would unleash Mind Shriek to create an opening, and Yaxiu would drop straight down to crush the enemy. And the offensive miracle Yaxiu chose this time wasn't Sword Painting, nor Singular Devotion, but rather his most proficient miracle—Sword Body Barrier! His Sword Body Barrier was originally an integrated offensive-and-defensive miracle. If an enemy used ranged attacks, that was one thing, but if they made close contact with the Sword Body Barrier, not only would their attacks be neutralized by it, but they would even be cut by its sharp sword qi! The sword qi of Sword Body Barrier originated from 'Earth Sword' and was shaped via 'Wind Wall'. Because Earth Sword was united with the earth, its sword qi could be called indestructible—if you couldn't shatter the earth, you couldn't pierce Sword Body Barrier. Unless someone could punch through it in an instant, anyone attempting to smash against Sword Body Barrier like an egg against a stone would find that the barrier was definitely not the egg. Yet in practical combat within the Void Realm, virtually no Void Realm creatures ever clashed head-on with Sword Body Barrier; they either gave up immediately upon sensing trouble or switched straight to ranged attacks. Even Void Realm creatures knew to steer clear of its sharp edge, to say nothing of sorcerers. As a result, the offensive utility of Sword Body Barrier had always been rather lackluster, earning it the reputation of a 'benevolent sword' with a current combat record of 0/10/65—broken at least ten times, assisting in protecting teammates sixty-five times. Yet Yaxiu keenly realized that this current terrain was Sword Body Barrier's chance to hold its head high. Sword Body Barrier had two major flaws: it had to rest on the ground, and it couldn't move. That was how the name 'Barrier' had come about; it could only passively take hits, unable to strike proactively. True, Sword Body Barrier couldn't move, but wasn't it enough to simply smash the ground into the enemy? Sword Body Barrier had to rest on the ground, but wasn't a ceiling also ground? So Yaxiu plunged his sword down, having Sword Body Barrier coalesce on the ceiling directly below him, cut through the floor with Heart Sword, and timed it with Igola's Mind Shriek for crowd control. Yaxiu had finally executed his concept to perfection— Miracle: Airstrike Sword Body Barrier! "The damage should have been sufficient, and with the enemy stunned by Mind Shriek, there shouldn't have been any reaction time..." Yaxiu set Diya down, his eyes darting. "Could it be..." Igola flipped open the Book of Gospel directly: "Tell me all the information you can about that person!" Book of Gospel: "(Consuming 30 Gospel points) The target's name is hidden. "Identity: Isu Secret Guard. Walks the realm on behalf of the Isu royal family, possessing executive authority second only to royalty, with the power to command all imperial units. "Class Privilege · Secret-Peeking: The Secret Guard possesses intelligence privileges second only to royalty, allowing them to view any intelligence free of charge. "Class Privilege · Weaving: The Secret Guard possesses miracle privileges second only to royalty, allowing them to draw upon the royal family's Gospel points to pray via the Book of Gospel for miracles—or even divine wonders—from the Omniscient Weaver, weaving fate as they see fit. "Class Privilege · Darkest Night: The Secret Guard's armor is imbued with the 'Darkest Night' blessing, automatically expending Gospel points to ward off all damage. "Class Privilege · Requiem Prayer: The Secret Guard's soul is imbued with the 'Requiem Prayer' blessing, automatically expending Gospel points to heal all mind damage." There was a long list of class privileges below that, but Igola didn't bother reading further. He shouted urgently, "Yaxiu, don't—"