Chapter 27
Among the many ways to bond, shared “mischief” is undoubtedly effective. Although Sootball and Snowball’s adventure had been driven by naive curiosity, seeing A-Ran angry, they both became quiet and still, like little statues.
Lin Ran, amused but also concerned, didn’t soften his expression. Their recklessness could have had dire consequences. He had to make them understand the gravity of their actions.
“No one wants to talk?”
“Sootball?” he asked, the silence unbroken.
“Cheep…” Sootball glanced at the unusually stern A-Ran, then looked away, feigning ignorance.
“Usually so smart, now suddenly you don’t understand?” Lin Ran lightly flicked its head.
“Cheep cheep!!” Though it didn’t hurt, Sootball panicked, gesturing that they had just found the stone, trying to appease him with its usual cuteness.
But this tactic, usually foolproof, failed.
“You’re covered in dirt and leaves. Stay away. And no sleeping on the bed tonight. I’ve never seen such messy little creatures,” Lin Ran said, shaking his head.
“Cheep—!!” Sootball, devastated, flew into Lin Ran’s arms, burying its face against him.
Lin Ran chuckled, letting it rub its dirty fur against him before petting it.
“Now you’re worried? Do you know how worried I was when you disappeared? What if something happened to you?”
“Snowball, do you have anything to say?” he asked, his tone softening slightly as he looked at Snowball.
Snowball covered its head with its paws, its large eyes downcast, looking pitiful, but remaining silent. Although Sootball had claimed they found the stone, An Xun knew it wouldn’t fool A-Ran. It was better to stay quiet.
“I give up… Go take a bath, both of you!” Lin Ran said, carrying the two dirty cubs to the stream.
He lathered them with peach-scented shampoo. Sootball was used to baths, but Snowball seemed shy and uncomfortable, making Lin Ran focus on it.
“Close your eyes, so you don’t get soap in them,” he said, gently rubbing its fur.
“Ch-Mew…!” An Xun, flustered, wanted to struggle but didn’t want to splash water on A-Ran. It remained stiff as a toy, letting him bathe it.
“You’re quite… uh, modest, aren’t you? Then wash this part yourself,” Lin Ran said, amused by Snowball’s attempts to cover its belly with its tail.
After washing and drying Snowball, he held it up, admiring its clean fur. “You’re so beautiful, Snowball. Are you the most handsome snow leopard?” he asked softly.
“Mew…” Snowball’s tail wrapped around his wrist, then it snuggled against him. An Xun was used to being praised for his looks, but being called “our Snowball” by A-Ran made him shy.
“What’s this on your neck?” Lin Ran noticed a silver necklace with a small tag.
“Mew.” Snowball looked at the necklace, then at Lin Ran, having forgotten about it. But a fluffy creature couldn’t explain where it got a necklace from.
Lin Ran, getting no answer, assumed Snowball had found it somewhere.
After drying both cubs, he let them play while he examined the Phantom Stone.
[Beep—High-Quality Phantom Stone x1!]
[This is Phantom Stone Marrow from the depths of Mount Anduin. Triples the invisibility effect, masking all detectable traces!]
Phantom Stone Marrow from Mount Anduin? So, they really had gone to Mount Anduin! And Sootball had claimed they just found it? Lin Ran, who had almost calmed down, was now both amused and exasperated.
The cubs, unaware of the system’s betrayal, suddenly felt a chill down their spines.
Meanwhile, Shao Mian, on his routine patrol, saw Lin Ran looking unusually angry. He had never seen the human lose his temper before. He paused, sensing a dangerous aura, and instinctively lowered his presence.
“Cheep cheep cheep—!” Sootball, however, spotted him and cried out for help, struggling in Lin Ran’s grip.
Lin Ran turned and saw Yuanbao. But he had no time for him now.
“Asking for help? Expecting Yuanbao to rescue you?” he asked, and Sootball looked at Shao Mian pleadingly.
And Shao Mian…
Shao Mian inexplicably remained silent. The hand holding the cub’s scruff looked both beautiful and dangerous. He felt a strange itch on his own neck.
[→.→.jpg] This was different from the hunting lesson.
“Cheep…” Sootball, realizing its “reinforcements” were useless, went limp, its tail drooping.
“Cheep cheep cheep!” It gestured, admitting it had taken Snowball to the mountains and found the stone there, not just randomly on the ground.
“Mew…!” Snowball, however, nudged Sootball with its tail, trying to tell A-Ran it had provided the information, but unable to explain clearly.
The two cubs’ soft chirps and meows made Lin Ran sigh and hold them both.
“Although finding the Phantom Stone is good, you can’t just run off like that! Do you know how many monsters are in those mountains? What if they ate you? I told you to be careful!” Their safety was more important than the stone.
He lectured them, still wondering how they had managed to get there and back.
“Mew…”
“Cheep!” The cubs nodded obediently, like little dolls.
Shao Mian, watching from afar, couldn’t help but smile. The cubs in the video Anvers had shown him were far from obedient. They had acted like little bullies, fighting anything they could defeat and running away from anything stronger. He found their recklessness amusing, though their lack of experience had gotten them into trouble.
But with time, the Luna Clan cub would become a formidable demon. As for the snow leopard, he couldn’t identify its lineage. It had no discernible aura, like an ordinary animal. But it seemed even more calm and daring than Sootball. A closer look at the video revealed it was often the snow leopard who spotted the demons’ weaknesses.
“Yuanbao, what are you smiling about?” Lin Ran suddenly asked, turning to him.
Shao Mian: ? Was he smiling? Don’t be ridiculous.
He flicked his tail, then approached the cubs. Sootball, having been scolded, just chirped at him listlessly. Snowball still trembled slightly in his presence, instinctively fearing the predator.
But Shao Mian, unusually interested, demonstrated a more refined way of controlling demonic energy. Unlike Sootball’s purple aura, his was a liquid gold, its power palpable even from a distance. It made Lin Ran’s breath catch in his throat.
He then used this powerful energy to delicately slice open a fruit shell, leaving the kernel untouched.
“Cheep…!?” Sootball instantly recognized the technique it had used against the Khazira beast on the mountain. But its own control had been much cruder, using a large amount of energy for a less effective result.
“Cheep cheep!” Forgetting its earlier dejection, it started practicing with the fruits on the ground, mimicking Shao Mian’s movements.
The cub’s quick learning pleased Shao Mian, who seemed to be saying, “If you had done this before, you wouldn’t have been bitten by that clumsy Khazira beast.” True safety came only from absolute power. Instead of hiding, venturing out and facing challenges was the way to become a strong demon.
“Cheep cheep!” Sootball nodded enthusiastically, its eyes shining with admiration. Even Snowball, initially scared, joined in.
Lin Ran, seeing Yuanbao teaching them, didn’t interrupt, though he grew increasingly concerned about the increasingly destructive nature of the lessons. At first, it had been basic cub skills, but encouraged by Sootball’s enthusiasm, Yuanbao had started teaching them more advanced, and dangerous, techniques.
He touched the remains of a tree that had been compressed into a magic bomb by Sootball’s aura and exploded, lost in thought. The cubs, however, were now playing with Yuanbao, disappearing into the forest. With Yuanbao there, they were safe.
“They just had a bath, and now they’re dirty again. No bed for them tonight,” he sighed, rubbing his forehead. He shouldn’t have bathed them so early.
But with the house quiet, he decided to make the invisibility cloak. Following the blueprint, he quickly finished it, inserting the Phantom Stone into the clasp. As he put it on, he vanished.
[Beep—Required item acquired! Activate “Complete Time Mirror”? Target: Nemo] A new notification appeared.
He looked out the window, the three fluffballs still nowhere in sight, then at the glowing mirror, and clicked “Use.” He had time now, and knowing about Sootball’s future might allow him to change it. And he was curious to see what Sootball would look like when it grew up.
[This Mirror World will affect the main storyline. Actions taken may have real-world consequences. Proceed with caution!] A red warning flashed three times.
Lin Ran, even more intrigued, wondered what this “main storyline” was. He had seen the game’s introductory video, a typical “save the world” scenario, common in stories and movies. He couldn’t imagine how his desire to pet fluffy creatures could be related to saving the world.
As he activated the mirror, he felt a strange sensation, like traveling through a time warp.
“Hiss—” He groaned, opening his eyes, understanding why the invisibility cloak was a necessary item. In this world, a human was a conspicuous anomaly.
The city streets were filled with demons, some in human form, but with horns or unusual features.
“You humans, stay together! Or you won’t get paid!” A group of burly but clumsy Khazira demons herded a group of humans into a vehicle, including Lin Ran.
Paid? For what?
“Are you also applying for a job?”
“It’s hard to find work these days. We can’t compete with demons…”
“I don’t want to work for demons, but I need to pay rent.”
The conversations around him made him realize he had been transported a hundred years into the future! This Complete Time Mirror was far more powerful than Jiang Jie’s basic version. And there was a thirty-minute timer, adding to his sense of urgency.
“Luna Clan? Is this Luna Clan territory?” he asked, overhearing a familiar name.
“Yeah, it’s ancient Luna Clan territory. But there’s only one Luna Clan demon left now, and he hasn’t even officially acknowledged his identity. You’re applying for a job here and you don’t even know that?” a young man said, initially annoyed, then pausing as he looked at Lin Ran, explaining patiently. He thought Lin Ran had a good chance of being selected; those demons were known for their preference for attractive individuals. Getting on their good side wouldn’t hurt.
“Only one left?” Lin Ran was shocked. He had met several Luna Clan demons, and Oni seemed quite powerful. Had they all disappeared?
“Who is this last descendant?”
“Delmoko Luna Avikajan,” the man replied without hesitation.
“But I suggest you don’t say his name too much. They say he can hear you if enough people say it. Those demons are weird.” He stopped Lin Ran from repeating the name.
Delmoko Luna Avikajan… Lin Ran repeated the strangely familiar name in his mind. As they arrived at a grand hall for registration, he realized it was Sootball’s full name! But if Sootball was alive, why were the other Luna Clan demons gone? Was this future shown in the mirror truly what would happen in “Demon World”?
He decided to put on his cloak and leave. He couldn’t waste time working here. He only had twenty minutes left; he needed more information.
The young man who had spoken to him turned around and found him gone. Had he imagined him?
Lin Ran, now invisible, found the palace-like building much larger than he had anticipated. The numerous corridors and halls made navigation challenging, especially while avoiding guards and patrols. Did Nemo live in this massive castle? He had glimpsed the Luna Clan’s wealth from the suitcase they had given him, but seeing it firsthand was different. He thought of Sootball’s little basket and his own small wooden house, feeling a pang of guilt. It was like making a pampered cub live on wild vegetables. No wonder Oni and Yorke had been so shocked during their visit. Sootball had never complained, even seeming quite content.
As he ran, slightly breathless, he found himself in a dusty, abandoned area. The rooms here looked like they were designed for a cub. He hesitated, looking at a fluffy toy on the floor, picking it up, dusting it off, and placing it back on the table. The door opened easily.
If he had visited the Luna Clan manor before, he would have recognized this as Nemo’s childhood bedroom. Even the velvet cushion was in the same spot.
“A child’s smartwatch? This is definitely a nursery,” he said, observing the room, not touching anything else, about to leave. He wanted to build a luxurious nursery like this for his cubs someday.
But as he turned to leave, he heard footsteps, making him freeze, his cloak wrapped tightly around him. A teenager with large black wings landed in the hall, his dark red eyes fixed on the open bedroom door. If not for the cloak, Lin Ran would have thought he had been seen.
“Master Delmoko, there are no intruders here. I sense no magical fluctuations,” a worried demon said, following the teenager, wondering why he had come to this long-sealed area. No one dared to enter this forbidden zone.
Lin Ran froze, hearing the words “Master Delmoko.” Was this Sootball, a hundred years later?
Nemo, ignoring the demon, walked towards the toy Lin Ran had placed on the table. Just as Lin Ran was about to sneak away, Nemo turned and grabbed the hem of his invisible cloak.
“A human—!?” The demons stared in disbelief at the suddenly visible human, almost losing their minds. No wonder they hadn’t sensed any magic; he wasn’t a demon!
Lin Ran, looking at Sootball, who was holding his cloak, didn’t know how to react. He wasn’t even sure if this was the same Sootball he knew. Then, his gaze fell on the black wings, his voice filled with concern and confusion.
“Your wings… they were growing back…” Why were they even more damaged now?
