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Chapter 091 The Price of Relying on a Rich Woman?

Xia Xinyan had no particular thoughts about Bai Yu.

Perhaps in this era, people like Bai Yu would be looked at with colored glasses, but ever since the invasion of the “Realm of Divine Presence” into reality, changing one’s gender wasn’t that difficult—though you couldn’t change gender during the character creation phase, there was a gender conversion option available for purchase in the game mall, and it would influence the real body directly. There was also the option to have the game character replace the real-life image, which could also be done with game points.

However, this required a considerable number of game points.

Among the people Xia Xinyan knew in her previous life, none had attempted gender conversion, and she certainly wouldn’t do that herself. Although she had turned into a girl in this life, if she wanted to change back, it would be to reclaim the identity of “Ling Mo,” instead of becoming a male version of Xia Xinyan—it was completely unnecessary.

For her now, gender wasn’t something worth paying attention to; her abilities were.

Suddenly, she realized that she seemed to have come to terms with her current identity somewhere along the line.

Well… perhaps this also had to do with her current Zen-like mentality.

The fat guy had mentioned that Bai Yu’s abilities interested her, specifically the mechanical aspect… She remembered that in her previous life there was someone on the leaderboard with mechanical abilities who, by the end, had transformed his entire body into a mechanical structure and could transmit his main consciousness within a certain range. Even if his body was destroyed, as long as there was a medium to hold his essence, he could reconstruct himself and make a comeback.

More resilient than a cockroach.

But… Bai Yu…

She hadn’t heard of this name before.

After thinking for a moment, she put away her phone and stood up: “I’ll go see what’s happening outside. You guys keep an eye on the phones, and contact any other players who log in right away to let them come over.”

Ling Mo nodded: “Okay.”

In the living room, Bai Yu was sitting at the door playing with gravity gloves.

He was using the gravity gloves to attract small objects nearby, then storing them in a spatial wristwatch before throwing them back… just repeating this over and over.

Seeing Xia Xinyan come out, he stopped: “Are you leaving?”

“No, just coming out to check the situation,” Xia Xinyan shook her head.

Bai Yu smiled: “Don’t worry, everything outside is safe. I’ve hacked into the hotel’s surveillance system, and I can spot anyone coming right away… Oh, also, I changed the door lock; now they’ll just lock themselves out if they swipe their access cards.”

Xia Xinyan scrutinized him for a few seconds and asked, “Is this your ability?”

“Yeah, my ability is called Mechanical Infection,” Bai Yu nodded. “I can hack into most electronic systems, and I can also create some electronic gadgets…”

Upon hearing this, Xia Xinyan’s gaze unconsciously drifted to his chest.

He was only wearing a white T-shirt, the neckline quite loose, exposing a hint of fair skin.

Nothing seemed weird about it.

Xia Xinyan’s mind absurdly pictured him taking off his shirt and pulling out a toolbox.

…Kind of hot.

Clearing her throat, she casually asked, “I heard you’re roommates with Zhang Dari?”

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Ling Mo and the fat guy were also discussing topics not suitable for others to overhear.

“Hey Ling, can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Does Xia Dajie… know martial arts?”

“…”

The fat guy had guessed Xia Xinyan’s identity, which didn’t surprise Ling Mo at this point.

As for what he was asking, it was probably about what had happened in the narrow alley before.

To be honest, Ling Mo was quite shocked; although he had heard Xia Xinyan mention practicing self-defense techniques for a few years, he wasn’t fully aware of her true strength. He instinctively thought it was just some flashy moves that wouldn’t hold up against real villains.

However, the scene in the alley had shattered his previous understanding.

This game didn’t allow for skill releases, meaning all actions were performed by the player themselves, even every punch or kick—yet she had taken down over a dozen fully armed police officers with her own strength.

It made him recall the upheaval back home that day.

…He figured if he had to face Xia Xinyan, he’d probably get smashed into the ground.

Was this really just some self-defense techniques practiced for a few years?

“Ahem, Ling,” Seeing Ling Mo silent, the fat guy’s tone turned comforting, “I understand your struggles… keep going.”

While he initially felt sour when he realized Ling Mo had gotten close to a wealthy heiress, he suddenly didn’t feel so bitter about it anymore.

So what if he was close to a rich girl? Wasn’t he still just acting like a younger brother in front of her? Would Ling Mo even dare to act tough like that? If Xia Xinyan got mad, he’d probably throw up last night’s dinner.

Likely end up in an abusive relationship.

Tsk, relying on a rich woman really comes with a cost.

Ling Mo knew exactly what the fat guy was thinking without needing to guess.

However, he didn’t refute him.

He was just thinking that if Xia Xinyan was so awesome, didn’t he need to step up his game too?

If his abilities were lacking… could he perhaps make up for it with his own strength?

The question was, how could he compensate?

Should he take a martial arts crash course?

Before he could figure out that dilemma, his phone suddenly chimed.

Not only his phone, but the fat guy’s phone also rang simultaneously.

Thinking it might be another player logging in, Ling Mo instinctively checked his phone.

Then—

[Shocking! World’s Richest Man, Mr. S, Erased with Fury for a Few Young Men and Women?! What could they have done to anger both gods and men?]

Below this notification were the bounty notices for all players participating in this dungeon.

The fat guy laughed: “Hey, this game really reflects reality.”

It had that stunned vibe.

Yet before he could enjoy it, Xia Xinyan and Bai Yu barged in: “We’re leaving! The police are coming to the hotel!”

The fat guy was immediately shocked: “Holy crap? That fast? How do we get out? Fight our way out?”

“No, fighting our way out would cause too much commotion, and it’s too dangerous,” Xia Xinyan walked to the window, surveying the surroundings, then said solemnly, “We’ll climb down from the outside.”

This floor was the sixth floor of the hotel, pretty high off the ground, but below was a narrow alley, and the dark night was a good cover, making it absolutely possible to descend unnoticed.

However, the fat guy peeked out the window and panicked: “Holy crap, it’s so high?! Are you serious?!”

“Don’t we have gravity gloves?” Xia Xinyan put on the gloves, “This height is manageable.”

“No way, no way. I can’t do it.” The fat guy took two steps back, “No… big brothers and sisters, can’t we escape another way?”

Bai Yu tilted his head slightly: “Are you scared?”

“Of course I’m scared! I’m afraid of heights!” Seeing everyone else putting on their gloves, the fat guy became even more despairing, “Don’t do this, can’t we just find another way? Worst case, we just fight our way out and hide quickly.”

Ling Mo stared at him for a moment, a bit helpless: “How did you manage to run between two buildings last time? That was much higher than this.”

“Last time I was controlled by a virus! All I could think about was crashing into people, I didn’t have time to think about anything else!”

“Well, you can just think about crashing into people this time too, right?”

“…Easier said than done!”

Ling Mo sighed in exasperation and raised his hand to conjure something: “Fine, I’ll make you something to help you overcome your fear of heights.”

The fat guy paused: “There’s such a thing? That sounds great…”

But before he could finish, he saw what Ling Mo conjured—

An eye mask, with a cartoonish dead fish-eye pattern drawn on it.

“Here, put this on, and you won’t be afraid of heights anymore.”

“…Are you serious?”

 

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