Chapter 102: So Tacky

Chapter 102: So Tacky

Hearing Yun Yang's rejection, a flicker of joy flashed across Hexi's face, though she concealed it so well that none of the three present noticed.

"That makes sense. How about this, I'll change it to something else for you," Hexi said in a light, cheerful tone.

"That doesn't seem very polite," Yun Yang said with an embarrassed look, though in truth, he was still quite expectant.

After all, as a tech giant, whatever Hexi gave him was bound to be high-quality. Yun Yang's feigned embarrassment was only because Hexi had already given him a King's Sword.

Speaking of the King's Sword, Yun Yang suddenly remembered that his sword seemed to still be with Ge Xiaolun. He had to find time to get it back. Ge Xiaolun already had his own weapon, so why did he still want the King's Sword? Who knew what he was thinking.

Just as Yun Yang was thinking about the King's Sword, Keisha's gentle voice sounded in his ears.

"It's fine. We can have our Tianji King modify it for you."

Hearing this voice, Yun Yang shuddered, his body trembling slightly as he instinctively pinched his own ear. He remembered that during those six months, every time he heard Keisha's gentle voice, his ear would end up being twisted.

Given Keisha's status and the role she played when they returned to Earth, even though Yun Yang was stronger than her at the time, he did not dare do anything. Later on, he simply got used to it.

Yun Yang let out a couple of dry laughs, instinctively turned his head, and said, "That would be wonderful. After all, I still quite like silver. My Black Armor isn't very good-looking."

After Yun Yang said this, Hexi picked up a strand of hair in front of her and twirled it around her finger.

Then, Keisha's tone grew even gentler. She placed her hand on Yun Yang's shoulder and said, "Do you really like silver the most? Won't you reconsider?"

Yun Yang glanced sideways at the slender, jade-like hand on his shoulder, then followed Keisha's gaze to Hexi, who was playing with her hair. He forced a smile that looked worse than crying.

Before Yun Yang could speak, Hexi beat him to it, teasing, "Kid, if you're being held hostage, blink twice."

Yun Yang's intended words were choked back in his throat by Hexi. As if possessed, he actually blinked his eyes twice.

Keisha noticed this, and an angry vein popped up on her fair forehead.

Hexi and Zhixin also saw the change in Keisha's expression. Hexi couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.

As for Zhixin, since this was an interaction between her teacher and her senior, she could only purse her lips tightly, trying her best not to laugh out loud.

Meanwhile, seeing Hexi's reaction, Yun Yang felt the hand on his shoulder lift.

Right now, only one sentence echoed in his mind: *Young man, it seems your path has narrowed once again.*

As for why it was "once again," Yun Yang did not wish to recall.

Sure enough, the sharp pain from his ear made him realize that using the words "once again" was entirely accurate.

He cast a hopeless look at Hexi, whose eyes were filled with amusement. Then, instinctively covering his ear with his hand, his body leaned in the direction Keisha was pulling.

He cried out in a desperate bid for survival, "No, no kidnapping!"

Feeling the grip on his ear loosen slightly, he quickly added, "I don't like silver either. I don't like it at all!"

Hearing Yun Yang's words and sensing his strong desire to survive, the tension on Keisha's forehead finally eased. She gave his ear one last hard pinch before releasing her hand.

Finally freed, Yun Yang quickly shifted his position, putting as much distance between himself and Keisha as possible, then gently rubbed his red, burning ear.

Ignoring Yun Yang's minor movements, Keisha waved her hand, and a light screen appeared, displaying the design of the armor they had been looking at. She motioned for Yun Yang to come over.

With no other choice, Yun Yang walked over to the screen step by step. As he began to fiddle with it, Keisha said, "Design a style yourself, and the Tianji King will modify it for you."

Yun Yang cast an inquiring glance at Hexi. After she gave an indifferent nod, he began to design his own armor.

Yun Yang felt that everyone's armor looked too ancient and monotonous. He wanted to design something with a strong sense of futuristic technology.

Since the light screen seemed to be able to simulate the concepts in his mind, it didn't take long for a highly high-tech exoskeleton armor to appear on the screen.

Tightly interlocking lines, flowing paths of mysterious light, and a menacing helmet made it look like a literal killing machine.

The exoskeleton armor on the screen was full of mechanical beauty, leaving Yun Yang incredibly satisfied. He then added a red five-pointed star to the chest.

Clenching his fist, he asked proudly, "How is it? Handsome, right?"

After waiting for a couple of seconds without hearing any praise, he turned his head in confusion, wondering what was wrong with the three of them.

As soon as he turned around, he met three pairs of slightly disgusted eyes. He couldn't help but look back at the exoskeleton armor he had designed. There was nothing wrong with it.

"What's with this exoskeleton that's full of outdated mechanical technology?" Hexi asked.

"So tacky," Zhixin commented.

"It does feel a bit backward," Keisha agreed.

"What do you mean? This is clearly high-tech, okay?" Yun Yang argued.

"What's with these blue lights running all over it? And these thrusters? What about these rows of screws?" Hexi pulled the armor on the screen from 2D to 3D, rotating it as she spoke.

"I, this..."

Before Yun Yang could finish, Hexi interrupted, "You what? Let me educate you first. Exoskeleton armor is meant to provide protection, strength, and speed to the user. Do you, a super soldier, need any of that?"

"I guess not," Yun Yang muttered.

"You also have the Wings of Space-Time. What? Are your wings not working anymore? Do you need to resort to the 'brute force makes a brick fly' approach?" Hexi nodded and continued.

"I guess not either," Yun Yang said.

"What I want to criticize the most is this... well, I suppose it's decoration? Or are they just glowing lights, as if you're afraid others won't be able to target you?" Hexi pointed to the flowing light strips on the armor.

This time, Yun Yang didn't speak; he just nodded.

Hexi wore a "just as I thought" expression and continued, "Furthermore, this is just an outer shell. There's no core inside. It's like a tin can. It will only restrict your movements, do you understand?"

Yun Yang coughed dryly, doing his best to hide his embarrassment. He hadn't thought about any of those things; he had designed it purely for aesthetics, and this aesthetic was based on Earthlings' perception of high technology.

That was why Zhixin called it tacky. As for being backward, to the angels of a god-making civilization, mechanical power armor was indeed incredibly primitive.

"Forget it, let's just use your Black Armor as a template," Hexi said, waving her hand.

Feeling utterly humiliated by the criticism, Yun Yang felt he had no face to—cough—no face to withstand Hexi's mockery. He could only transfer the template of his Black Armor to her.

***

In the Solar System, aboard Demon One.

Rose was looking speechlessly at Liangbing, who was changing outfits one after another. Every time she turned around, she was in a new set of clothes. After changing, she would sway her hips and ask Rose how this one looked.

"Yeah, it's nice." Rose had lost count of how many times she had said this. But each time, Liangbing would find herself dissatisfied and turn back to the mirror to change again.

Just as Liangbing was about to go back and change once more, Rose couldn't take it anymore and said, "Are we going or not? If not, I'm going back to study my new skills."

Liangbing paused, turned around, took Rose's arm, and said, "Alright, alright. Let's go. We'll take a walk and grab something to eat."

With that, she had Demon One open a micro-wormhole in front of them. The two stepped through and arrived at a food street on Earth.

Since the Taotie had left more than six months ago, and food is the first necessity of the people in China, restaurants and similar establishments had been forced to reopen. Shops that went unclaimed due to the war were requisitioned and operated by a newly established government department.

Over the past six months, China had basically restored its pre-war order. To prepare for the Taotie fleet currently regrouping at Pluto, they were also conducting massive military drills—minor ones every three days, and major ones every seven days.

Liangbing and Rose walked down the food street. To outsiders, they looked just like a pair of best friends shopping.

"We've been walking for so long, let's get something to eat," Rose said, spotting a hot pot restaurant.

Liangbing had no objections and nodded.

In a corner of the hot pot restaurant, Rose picked up a piece of beef tripe with her chopsticks and said to Liangbing, "Can you leave the converted demons on Earth alone?"

"Rose, I am the Demon Queen. Right now, demons rule Earth." Liangbing placed a meatball into Rose's bowl, put down her chopsticks, and said.

Rose frowned. She knew what Liangbing meant, but she still wanted to try. "Not even for me?"

"Rose, I know what you're thinking. How about this: I won't interfere with the minor demons that enter Chinese territory. What do you think?" Liangbing proposed.

"Deal." Rose's brow relaxed, and she placed a piece of meat into Liangbing's bowl.

***

On Earth, in Beizhixing.

Ge Xiaolun had recently come up with a sudden idea. Using the computing power of Qiankun, he had simulated a miniature universe within Xiongxin. Now, he spent all day holed up in his room, cramming physics so he could add physical laws to his mini-universe.

Following orders from their leaders, large forces of the Northern Vow armed faction were systematically moving toward the Chinese border.

Even more vanguard squads had already arrived at the border. For a time, over a hundred squads clashed frequently with the border guards.

Under the resistance of the border guards, nearly half of the vanguard squads were wiped out. Consequently, the remaining squads began to deliberately gather together. With tanks and armored vehicles clearing the way, they successfully breached the border crossing.

However, they ran into a reinforcing unit and engaged in a fierce skirmish. At a location 35 kilometers from the Chinese border, the Northern Vow armed personnel, who shouted "For Queen Morgana!" as they charged, were completely wiped out.

After the battle, a few soldiers chatted while eating.

"What is up with those foreign forces? They actually dared to charge right into heavy machine gun fire."

"Need you even ask? They've all been brainwashed."