“Since you hold the initiative, your momentum must not falter first!”
“What, kid, are you still hesitating? Are you afraid that little hoof will secretly hire someone to take you out?”
“Since you are the Young Hero, there is no need to fear such things.”
Even if I really have the system, I’m not actually invincible to blades and bullets, okay?
But what should I do now?
It was already impossible to tell Luo Qiu Zhu that he would leave Li Zhi Ran—Noxis had spoken, and Li Zhi Ran not instructing him otherwise already explained everything.
Moreover, what Noxis said made sense.
When had Luo Qiu Zhu ever been the type to negotiate?
Look, just now when he had been silent for so long, she had only watched, not urging at all, no longer as aggressive as at the start.
Could it be that right now, she was actually afraid he would choose Li Zhi Ran and not Lin Shen Xue?
“Kid, say to that little hoof, ‘I won’t leave Minerva’—see if she immediately gets up and leaves; that’ll settle it.”
Noxis seemed to sense something; her tone carried no urging, instead a feeling of watching a show.
Anyway, the only stance he could take now was one, so there was nothing to hesitate about.
However, he wanted to convince Luo Qiu Zhu to cooperate with him, not “tame” her as they said.
He wasn’t some trainer.
Xu Lin faced Luo Qiu Zhu’s sunglasses squarely again.
“No good, momentum’s still weak!”
Noxis’s scolding voice came through.
Xu Lin stared into Luo Qiu Zhu’s sunglasses, his eyes firm, neither servile nor overbearing.
“I cannot agree to your demand.”
Having said that, Xu Lin observed her every move.
Hearing his answer, Luo Qiu Zhu fell silent, her mask rapidly rising and falling.
Yet she did not stand up in fury and leave.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
“Are you really that fond of that Witch senior?”
After more than a minute of silence, she finally spoke, her tone unexpectedly calm, but he could hear the trembling at the edges of her voice.
This wasn’t a question of liking or not.
But Xu Lin absolutely could not say that aloud—after all, he didn’t know Li Zhi Ran’s stance on the other side.
“See, kid, this little girl didn’t leave.”
Noxis’s triumphant voice came through his mind.
“And her momentum has weakened a bit. Continue!”
Xu Lin also noticed the slight change in her.
“I simply think your demand is unreasonable.”
He did not deliberately create pressure, just spoke steadily, stating facts in a calm tone.
When the other party tried to overwhelm with momentum, it was to throw you off balance.
Whether you became furious or fearful and timid, it would give them an opening.
Only by remaining calm and unhurried in such a situation could you plant doubt in their heart.
“Unreasonable? You’re two-timing, even teaming up with that Witch senior, intending harm to Shen Xue—is that reasonable?”
Intending harm to Lin Shen Xue? So that’s her interpretation?
Well, indeed, the way he and Li Zhi Ran had appeared one after the other did look suspicious to outsiders.
“Luo classmate, we have no intention of doing anything harmful to Lin classmate.”
“You two.”
Luo Qiu Zhu let out a cold hum.
For some reason, that cold hum carried a hint of resentment.
Then she said no more and instead called over the waiter.
This disrupted Xu Lin’s rhythm just as he was about to continue.
“Hehe, she’s panicking. Trying to shift attention, buy time to think of a countermeasure.”
Noxis’s teasing laughter came through his mind.
“But it’s fine; from the moment she chose to talk to you, her fate was sealed with no other options.”
The coffee shop waiter arrived and handed menus to both of them.
“One Espresso.”
The person across didn’t even flip through the menu and directly ordered her coffee.
Xu Lin ordered a plain water.
It wasn’t that he wanted to save money; he had simply drunk too many beverages yesterday and felt averse to coffee now.
He noticed Luo Qiu Zhu’s somewhat strange gaze.
“Since I invited you out, I’m paying.”
“Luo classmate, regarding Lin classmate’s matter, I think we should be in a cooperative relationship.”
Xu Lin ignored her remark and returned to the earlier topic.
Hearing this, Luo Qiu Zhu’s brows furrowed.
“Cooperate? I have nothing to cooperate with you on!”
“Then why are you meeting me like this now?”
Luo Qiu Zhu was momentarily speechless.
“Your purpose today shouldn’t just be to make me cut ties with the Witch senior, right?”
“Ultimately, you’re here for Lin classmate.”
“And the fact that you came to me means you either don’t plan to or can’t convince Lin classmate, yet you also don’t intend to make me leave Lin classmate…”
“I’m only asking you not to leave Shen Xue for now!”
Before Xu Lin could finish, she cut in.
Her voice carried an irrepressible tremble.
“Luo classmate, why don’t you just say it clearly—what exactly do you want me to do?”
“First, cut ties with the Witch senior!”
“I said your demand is unreasonable.”
Luo Qiu Zhu fell silent again, her previously raised head drooping slightly.
Was this a sign of being at a complete loss?
After a short while, her lips parted slightly.
“Ngh…”
Yet what came from her mouth was a pained sound.
She gritted her teeth, trying to keep the pained noise from escaping.
It shouldn’t be this bad, right?
But soon, Xu Lin realized something was wrong.
A faint black mist began to drift around her.
Then, the black mist grew more solid.
And faintly, he saw a line of text appear beside her.
…No way, so she’s not ordinary either.
Soon, the text fully materialized. It was semi-transparent.
[<Heavy Girl> Gravity Field]
It was actually this!
Luo Qiu Zhu’s voice grew more pained; Xu Lin saw sweat beading on her forehead.
“Young Hero, the Gravity Witch’s guardian—her condition seems rather bad.”
A voice came through his mind; this time it was Li Zhi Ran, not Noxis.
But no matter how strange, he would not voice any thoughts about this in front of Li Zhi Ran.
So he described to Li Zhi Ran what he was seeing.
“Ah, I see it. But didn’t we say ordinary people can hardly withstand her magic?”
“The Gravity Witch’s guardian is currently only affected by the Gravity Witch’s magic leakage; the contamination isn’t much yet. That’s why there were no symptoms at first. After all, the current target of the Gravity Witch’s magic lock is you, Young Hero.”
“But even with the lock on you, there is still leakage—this explains the problem.”
“However, hasn’t the Gravity Witch’s… Lin’s magic level dropped quite a bit now?”
Before coming to meet Luo Qiu Zhu, Xu Lin had met Li Zhi Ran and told her about Lin Shen Xue’s unstable state shifting from moderate to mild. Of course, it was packaged in magical terms.
“After all, the Gravity Witch’s guardian is often with her, so this should be magic contaminated before Young Hero weakened the Gravity Witch’s magic level.”
“Before contamination with the Gravity Witch’s magic, everything was fine, but once contaminated, an unbreakable bond forms. The magic will continue to worsen the contamination. Therefore, if the Gravity Witch’s guardian continues contact with the Gravity Witch, the situation will grow worse.”
“Meaning, to save her life, she needs to stay away from Lin… the Gravity Witch?”
“That’s finished—persuading her to stay away from Lin Shen Xue would only enrage her further.”
“But if this continues, Young Hero, she will die!”
“No, there’s still a way!”