My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 137

Going Home (Main Story Completed)

While everyone was scrutinizing Father Zhou and Mother Zhou with inquisitive eyes, Ren Chenxi looked toward Captain Wu of the Public Security Patrol Team. In her eyes, Captain Wu was likely the most rational person present. After all, on her mini-map, amidst a sea of red dots, he was the only yellow dot.

Since he could remain so rational and show no hostility toward her even after she’d injured two people and killed another right in front of him, Ren Chenxi figured she could have a proper talk with him. Of course, if they couldn’t reach an understanding, he’d simply be the one to suffer in the end.

            

“Captain Wu… right?” Ren Chenxi said. “As you can see, with my strength, I can hurt or kill whomever I want, whenever I want. I even dare to do it right in front of you. So there’s absolutely no need for me to invent such a rare esper ability just to frame the Zhou family and Zhou Zhilong, is there? Besides, I’m not even from your Ning’an Base. Why on earth would I travel all the way from Nanhai Base just to stir up trouble? Do you think I have nothing better to do?”

Under normal circumstances, everyone would have dismissed Ren Chenxi’s words as utter nonsense. But faced with her terrifying strength, the crowd actually wavered, caught between belief and doubt. As for Captain Wu, he stared warily at Ren Chenxi and asked in a loud voice, “Then tell us, why did someone from Nanhai Base travel such a vast distance to our base?”

“My wife…” Ren Chenxi pulled Mu Ning even closer to her side as she explained to Captain Wu. “Her family teamed up with the Zhou family to lure her to Ning’an Base under the pretense of her grandfather’s eightieth birthday. My wife only came because she was worried about her grandmother—the only person in that family who ever truly loved her. But no one told her that her grandmother had already passed away. My incredibly filial wife was foolishly deceived into coming to Ning’an Base. Then, the Mu family and the Zhou family arranged a marriage alliance, viciously plotting to steal my wife’s esper ability. Right now, she looks like an ordinary person to you, but she’s actually a sixth-order dual-system water-wood esper. It was because Cai Ping restricted my wife’s abilities on Zhou Zhilong’s behalf that I struck him down. As for the others who conspired against my wife, I’ve exacted revenge on every single one of them. Tell me, is what I did wrong? I’m not from your base, so I could hardly go to your base leaders to ask for justice, could I? Besides, it’s not like your leaders would actually side with an outsider to give me a fair trial.”

            

To Ren Chenxi’s question, Captain Wu could indeed give a definitive answer. Keep dreaming. An outsider coming to our Ning’an Base seeking justice? Are you out of your mind?

Naturally, he couldn’t say that out loud. He could only offer a stiff smile to pacify Ren Chenxi, promising that if the Zhou family really did plunder other espers’ abilities and silence them, the base administration would certainly deal with it severely. As for Ren Chenxi constantly calling Mu Ning her “wife,” Captain Wu didn’t particularly care, nor did the other survivors in the base. After all, relationships like theirs—whether between men or women—weren’t by any means uncommon within the base.

The only ones who found the word “wife” grating to the ears were likely the members of the Mu family. Mu Chengzhi in particular looked as though he would’ve rushed forward to slap Ren Chenxi then and there, if not for her terrifying esper ability. Suppressing his rage with great difficulty, he listened to Ren Chenxi denounce him and the Zhou family. The moment Captain Wu finished his placating remarks, Mu Chengzhi rushed forward impatiently.

            

“What absolute rubbish are you spewing, woman?!” Mu Chengzhi yelled. “She’s my own daughter! How’s it a trick when we tell her to come home?! Besides, her marriage to the Zhou family was arranged long ago! Since when did she become your wife?!”

“Arranged long ago? Did you ever bother to ask Mu Ning for her opinion?”

“I’m her father! We brought her into this world and raised her to adulthood! We can marry her off to whomever we want! Why should we have to ask for her opinion?!” Mu Chengzhi spoke with absolute, self-righteous certainty. He didn’t even think there was anything wrong with his words.

            

Hearing this, however, Ren Chenxi found his words highly obnoxious. She frowned, scratched her ear, and turned to ask Captain Wu politely, “Captain Wu, you see? This old codger¹ is completely selfish. He has absolutely no regard for my wife’s wishes. He colluded with the Zhou family to marry her off to that brute Zhou Zhilong so they could take control of her and plunder her abilities. So, would it be alright if I lay my hands on this old codger now? Don’t worry, I’ll only give him a minor lesson, and then demand some mental loss compensation². Once that’s settled, we’ll leave Ning’an Base immediately!”

While Ren Chenxi was speaking, another group of people rushed over in a hurry. Ren Chenxi took a moment to glance at them. Good lord, there were actually three more seventh-order espers. Had all the high-order espers in the base gathered here? A few patrol members stepped forward to whisper to the three newcomers. One of them cast a puzzled glance at Ren Chenxi but made no move. Checking her mini-map, Ren Chenxi saw that all three were yellow dots. But even so, she warily pulled Mu Ning a little closer. Her final sentence—”Once that’s settled, we’ll leave Ning’an Base immediately”—was mainly directed at these seventh-order espers.

Since these four seventh-order espers currently harbored no hostility toward her, she didn’t want to actively provoke trouble. She just wanted to wrap up her business with the Mu family as quickly as possible and take Mu Ning back to Nanhai Base!

            

The three newly arrived seventh-order espers naturally caught the non-confrontational undertone in Ren Chenxi’s words, yet one of them suddenly focused his gaze directly on her. Ren Chenxi had an intuitive feeling that this esper had just done something to her, but… nothing happened. Under the game’s mechanics, anyone launching an attack against her would automatically be flagged as an enemy. Just a moment ago, this guy’s yellow dot on the mini-map had flashed red before quickly reverting to yellow. What was his esper ability? Had he just launched a stealth attack on her? Her face instantly turned cold. Just as she was about to demand what they thought they were doing, the man subtly shook his head at the other three seventh-order espers.

Sensing the latent murderous intent in Ren Chenxi’s eyes, Captain Wu quickly stepped forward and tactfully said, “Uh… young lady, we also agree that the Mu family has gone too far in their treatment of your wife. So, if you wish to teach them a lesson and demand compensation, we fully support you. Please… be our guest.”

As Captain Wu spoke, he carefully backed away two steps, and the patrol members behind him followed suit, moving off to the side.

            

The patrol team, whom Mu Chengzhi and Mu Ning’s cousins had brought to deal with Ren Chenxi, had completely washed their hands of the matter, leaving her free to do as she pleased with them. This outcome was entirely beyond Mu Chengzhi’s expectations.

“Hey! Wu! What the hell is the meaning of this?!” Mu Chengzhi bellowed. “Isn’t your patrol team supposed to guarantee the security of our base?! Is this how you protect the base’s survivors?!”

Facing Mu Chengzhi’s furious interrogation, Captain Wu could only shrug helplessly. “There’s nothing I can do. You can see the situation as well as I can. Only by letting this young lady collect her rightful compensation will our base remain safe, right? So, for your own safety and the safety of the base, I suggest you cooperate obediently with her demands.”

            

“Un—Uncle… what, what do we do?” They had originally assumed that by summoning high-order espers, they could easily handle Ren Chenxi, whom they believed to be a mere fifth-order esper. Who could’ve imagined she could instantly execute even a seventh-order powerhouse? Now that the remaining four seventh-order espers in the base had no intention of interfering, they were left to face her vengeance alone! At the thought of her terrifying esper ability and the crystal spikes that had pierced their thighs earlier, the bandaged legs of Mu Ning’s two cousins began to tremble uncontrollably.

Mu Chengzhi, whose attitude had been so unyielding at first, looked ashen-faced at the headless, steel-plated corpse on the ground. He glared resentfully at Mu Ning for a long moment before finally softening his tone as much as possible, though he still used an authoritative command to question her: “You… unfilial daughter! Do you really intend to help an outsider against your own father?!”

“Father? I don’t have a father who colludes with outsiders to destroy his own daughter.” Mu Ning let out a cold laugh and shook her head at Mu Chengzhi. “Oh, wait, that’s not right—you really are my biological father. After all, didn’t I inherit this unfilial trait entirely from you? Just look at how you treated Grandmother, and you’ll have your answer.”

            

“But… but your grandmother turned into a zombie…”

“Who cares? I’m just an unfilial wretch anyway, right? Tell you what—since we’ve reached this point and I’m going to cut ties with you completely from now on, I’ll speak up for you one last time.”

“You—you! Fine, then let’s sever our parent-child relationship! From today onward, I don’t have a daughter like you! Get the hell away from me, I never want to see your face again!”

            

Mu Chengzhi assumed that severing their relationship meant he wouldn’t have to pay any of that bullshit compensation anymore. He never expected Mu Ning to merely cast a mocking glance at him before giving Ren Chenxi a gentle nudge.

“Xixi, this old codger doesn’t seem to understand what I’m saying. Why don’t you teach him a lesson first?”

Instantly catching Mu Ning’s drift, Ren Chenxi first executed her two cousins—the ones who had threatened to send them to their graves—with clean headshots³. Then, she flicked her wrist, sending a slender crystal spike flying toward Mu Chengzhi. The moment the crystal pierced his thigh, Mu Chengzhi collapsed to the ground, howling in agony. He screamed repeatedly, but no one came to his aid. When he looked up at Mu Ning, he saw only a chilling indifference in her eyes. At that moment, Mu Chengzhi finally realized that he couldn’t throw his weight around as a father in front of Mu Ning anymore.

            

“Un… unfilial…”

With trembling hands, Mu Chengzhi gripped the crystal spike embedded in his leg. He managed to squeeze out those two words through gritted teeth, but when Ren Chenxi brandished another crystal spike, his face paled. He instantly changed his tune, asking with resentful reluctance, “What kind of compensation do you want?!”

“Hmm… I don’t want much,” Mu Ning replied calmly. “You are my father, that old woman is my mother, and then there are all those relatives of the Mu family who ‘cared’ so deeply about me. But after today, I’ll have lost all of you. So, to reflect just how precious you all are, why don’t you compensate me with every single crystal core⁴ the Mu family owns?”

            

“You! How do you have the nerve to open your mouth like that?!⁵” Hearing that Mu Ning wanted all of the Mu family’s crystal cores, Mu Chengzhi felt his heart ache even more sharply than the wound on his leg!

“Oh? So you mean… you want me to lose you completely, just like I lost my two cousins? Very well then. Xixi…”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” With the corpses of his two nephews lying right beside him, Mu Chengzhi knew exactly what “losing someone completely” meant. He turned his head to look pleadingly at the four strongest seventh-order espers in the base, but they completely ignored his silent plea. Left with no choice, Mu Chengzhi could only yield. “Unfilial… no, no, alright. I’ll compensate you with crystal cores. But… I can only give you half! No matter what, you ate our food and drank our water growing up in the Mu family…”

            

Seeing that Mu Chengzhi still dared to bargain, Ren Chenxi aimed the crystal spike in her hand directly at him. “Isn’t that why Mu Ning spared the lives of you Mu family members? A life for a life! If you only want to pay half, then I’ll just have to beat you half to death first. How does that sound?”

Is that how “a life for a life” is supposed to be used?!

But even if Mu Chengzhi wanted to argue, the crystal spike in Ren Chenxi’s hand kept him quiet. He could only swallow his humiliation and heartache, hesitating for a long while. Only when he saw Ren Chenxi raise her hand impatiently did he reluctantly agree.

            

On their way to the Mu family residence to collect the crystal cores, Ren Chenxi noticed a neatly arranged row of yellow dots slightly further away on her mini-map. In unison, these yellow dots suddenly flashed red before quickly reverting to yellow.

Ren Chenxi had an intuitive feeling. Were these yellow dots troops mobilized by the base to deal with her? Or more accurately, were they testing her defenses? Had they been lying in ambush to snipe her? Heh, do they really think my patience is limitless? Ren Chenxi glanced sideways at the four seventh-order espers who were shamelessly trailing behind them toward the Mu residence, and quietly retrieved an SSR Critical Hit Card⁶ and an SSR Explosion Card from her inventory.

Should I take out another one of their seventh-order espers? Maybe start with the one who tried to attack me in secret just now?

            

The instant Ren Chenxi’s gaze locked onto the esper who had covertly attacked her, all four seventh-order powerhouses seemed to read her intent and retreated several paces in a panic. Captain Wu spoke up immediately with a deeply apologetic and sincere tone, “We are terribly sorry, Miss Ren. We indeed only wanted to test your strength just now. But we only did so because we already knew how powerful you are. So… our sincere apologies. We won’t try anything foolish again!”

“Tsk!” These people! If she hadn’t seen that they were still yellow dots on the mini-map, she certainly wouldn’t have tolerated their repeated provocations. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she took Mu Ning’s hand and quickened her pace.

This time, they tactfully stopped in their tracks, no longer following her like sycophantic lackeys.

            

Naturally, Ren Chenxi had no way of knowing exactly how many crystal cores the Mu family possessed in total. In any case, she simply had Mu Chengzhi lead them to their storage facility. Then, right in front of his eyes, she unceremoniously swept every single crystal core into her inventory panel. Since her inventory already contained her remaining stockpile and the compensation cores extorted from the Zhou family, she could only make a rough estimate. The crystal cores cleared from the Mu family’s storehouse were worth approximately seventy million crystal stones⁷ when converted in the mall.

Since the haul was so bountiful, Ren Chenxi didn’t bother investigating whether Mu Chengzhi had hidden more crystal cores elsewhere. She generously declared that this compensation was barely enough and that they could keep whatever was left as living expenses. Then, holding Mu Ning’s hand, she departed without a single backward glance. Behind them, Mu Chengzhi clutched his bleeding heart and collapsed onto the ground, unable to pull himself up.

Although the Mu family did have a few crystal cores stashed elsewhere, this warehouse had held their greatest assets! He had originally assumed Ren Chenxi would have no way to transport such an immense quantity, allowing him to use the opportunity to bargain. Who could’ve anticipated that she also possessed a spatial esper ability?!

            

Ren Chenxi didn’t care whether Mu Chengzhi’s heart was bleeding, or if the Mu family’s status in Ning’an Base would plummet. Right now, she was eager to take Mu Ning back to Nanhai Base. She wanted to see the look of pure joy on everyone’s faces when they saw Mu Ning return, to let Mu Ning live a warm and happy life once again, and most of all, she wanted to create as many beautiful memories with Mu Ning as possible in the limited time they had left.

When Ren Chenxi and Mu Ning left, they drove the RV extorted from the Zhou family, passing openly through the gates of Ning’an Base. As Captain Wu watched the vehicle recede into the distance, he murmured to another seventh-order esper, “Are we really just letting them leave? If they could stay in our base…”

“Forget it. With her kind of power, she wouldn’t look twice at our Ning’an Base anyway.”

            

“Yeah. Who would’ve thought that Nanhai Base, which we always dismissed as a small countryside base, could actually produce an eighth-order esper?”

“An eighth-order esper? I actually suspect she might possess ninth-order strength. She instantly executed a seventh-order esper like it was nothing, the snipers’ attacks had zero effect, and even the mental attacks of a seventh-order esper were completely useless. A power like that has to be beyond the eighth order, right?”

“Fortunately, she truly didn’t want to fall out with our base. Otherwise…” For a moment, the men felt a sudden chill of fear, realizing how reckless their earlier trial had been.

            

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Under the night sky, hazy moonlight bathed a silver RV as it sped along the highway. Outside, the eerie wails of mutated beasts and zombies echoed through the gloom, lending a spine-chilling horror to the dark, deserted road. Yet inside the silver RV, bathed in the warm yellow glow of the interior lights, the two figures leaning against one another seemed entirely detached from the world’s chaos, sharing a serene peace. Their conversation was sweet, intimate, and warm.

“Xixi, you’re so amazing~ You even know how to drive an RV~”

“I don’t, actually! But it doesn’t matter. It’s the apocalypse anyway. There are no traffic cops around, and this RV is so sturdy that I don’t have to worry even if I crash it into something~”

            

“Are we driving all the way back to Nanhai Base tonight?”

“If I could, I’d really love to drive through the night without sleeping to take you straight back to Nanhai Base~ Back to our home~ Everyone will be so happy when they see you’re back, right?”

“Mmh… so you’re only thinking about everyone else…”

            

“Huh???”

“The time we have left together is already so short…”

“That’s exactly why I want to rush back to Nanhai Base as fast as possible!”

            

“We’ve been running around all night. Shouldn’t we find a nice spot to get some proper rest?!”

“…Just rest?”

“And make up for our wedding night! Ren Chenxi, do you even have a heart? It’s our very first night as newlyweds, and you actually want me to spend it sitting next to you while you drive until dawn?”

            

“Uh… if you’re tired, you can go rest first…”

“No! In that case, we might as well ‘drive’ all the way until dawn!”

“Eh?”

            

“The other kind of driving~”

“…”

“Come on~ I know you can’t do it, but that’s fine. I’m very good at it~ Just leave everything to me, I promise I’ll make you %…¥#*…”

            

“Don’t say such explicit things! We’ll get locked!”

“It’s just a shame my abilities are temporarily restricted. Otherwise, it would’ve been even more thrilling~”

“Don’t get more and more out of hand!!!”

            

“Alright, alright, come here! Of course, if you don’t mind ‘driving’ while driving, I’m perfectly fine with that too~”

“…”

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The author has something to say:

            

Sigh, I’ve finally finished writing it, and the farce has more or less come to an end. Fortunately, I never strayed from my path. From the very beginning, I said I would respect the choices of the four girls, so this isn’t some about-face √.

The main story has concluded, but extra chapters will drop randomly in the future to wrap up the loose ends. It’ll mainly cover how Xixi secures a permanent happy ending⁸ with Mu Ning after departing the game world~

My emotions have been far too complicated lately. Aside from Nai-Bei being incredibly sweet, Bei-Bei-Jia actually turned out to be sugar laced with dog shit. As for those ultra-sweet extras, I’ll probably need to patch up my broken heart first before I can write them. (Bows 180 degrees in apology)

            

I’m sorry. I’ve been surfing the web with extreme intensity lately to follow the developments of A-Soul’s situation. I’m severely sleep-deprived, and I’m just so tired—so, so tired. What’s even more exhausting is that the ending actually had a sudden plot twist. Please give this author a few days to recover…

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