I'm living off a woman in Arknights.

Page 106

Chen Huijie raised the dragon's tail with satisfaction and swayed it.

The dragon's healthy and beautiful scales are arranged closely yet dynamically. As the dragon's tail swings, they undulate like waves, displaying a unique, smooth, and natural rhythm.

Its deep red, fine, and supple mane swayed gently, like a dark and intense flame spreading from the base of the dragon's tail, eventually converging into a dazzling ball of flame at the tip, forming a striking contrast with the deep blue tail body, yet without losing balance, but rather complementing each other, making the entire dragon's tail appear even more majestic.

"Old? Immature? Humph, I'm in my prime." Chen Huijie was bursting with confidence because of her excellent dragon tail condition, or rather, in her eyes, this was clearly an objective fact, and Swire was just jealous of her overwhelming authority.

Who could blame them? Judging from her appearance, this young lady was far more intimidating than her. So wherever the three of them went, people always saw her or Hoshiguma as the leader, definitely not the petite and delicate-looking other woman.

Swire grumbled about this quite a bit.

After Chen Huijie finished stating the facts as she saw them in a low voice, her dragon tail, which had been sculpted into its longest and most elegant shape, swung back behind her. Due to her turbulent emotions, it swayed dramatically from side to side, at one point reaching near Hoshiguma's waist, attracting Yun Yi, who had just been calmed down by Hoshiguma.

Yun Yi's gaze fell on the tail that seemed to be inexplicably sparkling, and he let out a soft "hmm," looking up at Hoshiguma. "Hey? Hoshiguma, don't you think Old Chen's tail looks better?"

Chen Huijie's dragon tail stiffened. Oh no, had her self-admiration just now been seen?

Out of the corner of his eye, Hoshiguma saw Chen Huijie striking a beautiful pose with her tail the whole time and smiled. "Haha, maybe Old Chen is in a good mood. I heard that the state of some people's tails can reflect their mood."

Chen Huijie silently retracted her overly flamboyant tail and hid it to her side.

"Really?" Yun Yi rested her chin on her hand and looked down at the original location of the dragon's tail to confirm, but her gaze missed. "Hmm? Where's the tail—" She turned her eyes and easily found the dragon's tail hidden next to Chen Huijie's leg by following the tail root. "Oh, it's here."

Yun Yi glanced at Longwei's good condition and then at Chen Huijie's expression. Chen Huijie's expression was slightly gloomy due to embarrassment. "Hmm... it doesn't seem to match. Could it be that Longwei is in a bad mood, or is it a contrasting reaction?"

"Well, who knows? I've heard that the information we get might be wrong or incomplete." Hoshiguma coughed, putting her fist to her lips, forcibly suppressing her laughter. "Usually, it's just something to laugh at. If you want to know the real reason, just ask the person in question."

“…I’ve noticed,” Yun Yi said, squinting at Hoshiguma, “that you all seem to really enjoy teasing people.”

“I don’t like it.” Chen Huijie immediately pulled herself out of the pit with a blank expression, and then shoveled some dirt on the other two. “Hoshiguma and Swire really love to tease people.”

Moreover, he has a terrible personality.

Considering that Yun Yi might take it seriously, she swallowed the rest of her sentence.

Hoshiguma's eyes widened slightly. "You're really something, Old Chen!"

She turned to look at Yun Yi, a smirk playing on her lips. "See? She's the one who loves teasing people the most. Me? I'm too busy cleaning up the mess to have time to tease anyone."

"I'll take Old Chen's jokes for now, if he's not usually one to tease people." Yun Yi crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Hoshiguma, you...don't have time? You just teased me?"

“It’s better to see through things than to say them, Miss Yunyi,” Hoshiguma replied with a smile.

The dragon tail behind Chen Huijie swayed. "No need to make excuses. I'm not one to joke around—don't believe Hoshiguma's nonsense."

"Does that mean we can't believe anything Hoshiguma says?" Yun Yi blurted out instinctively as soon as the thought crossed his mind. "After all, Hoshiguma is a demon, right?"

What ghosts say is just ghost talk.

Chen Huijie and Xingxiong both shuddered simultaneously.

Hoshiguma laughed heartily, "Haha, that's true. Does that mean I can't be trusted at all? Old Chen, your advice is really half-hearted."

"...This ghost is not that ghost," Chen Huijie explained seriously, enduring the inexplicable chill as her toes dug into the ground. "The ghost in the ghost story is a ghost of the soul, while the ghost in Hoshiguma is a ghost of the Eastern Country. The two cannot be equated."

"I'm not stupid." Yun Yi raised her hand to cover her face. Of course she knew that... Uh, she shouldn't have said whatever came to mind without thinking. "I was just... um, just kidding."

"That's it..."

"That's it."

The two exchanged a glance, then awkwardly looked away, 'How embarrassing…' ×2

Hoshiguma glanced at one and then at the other, a subtle smile spreading across her face. "You two have made rapid progress in your relationship."

Yun Yi smiled and agreed, "Really? Then I'll keep trying and strive to make our relationship soar to new heights!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Chen Huijie's wagging tail stiffened slightly. She coughed, turned around briskly, and said, "I'm not going to talk anymore. I'm going to check on the remnants of the inner guards."

Chen Huijie left immediately after speaking, moving very quickly, seemingly not wanting to give the two of them time to react.

Hoshiguma and Yunyi looked at each other and saw the undisguised smile in each other's eyes.

"You also said you don't like making people laugh," Yunyi spread her hands, gesturing for Xingxiong to begin her explanation, "Is this what you call not liking to make people laugh?"

Hoshiguma remained calm and collected, saying, "Weren't you just teasing Old Chen?"

How can you say she enjoys teasing people? Hoshiguma's eyes gleamed with slyness. "You got rid of two people. So, in that sense, aren't you the master of teasing?"

"?" Several question marks of varying sizes popped up above Yun Yi's head. "Huh? Old Chen is the result of our combined efforts, right? Didn't Swire leave suddenly on her own?"

While the two were bickering, Chen Huijie, who was quick on her feet, had already reached Shi Huaiya's side.

She first glanced down at the black liquid rising from the icosahedral horizontal plane, then turned to look at Swire, who had been observing with a calm gaze for a while, and asked, "How is the situation?"

“Something’s strange.” Swire tapped her arm, her green eyes reflecting the black liquid filled with thought. “These… independent demonic forces didn’t absorb the demonic fragments left behind by the three inner guards, but they devoured all the corpses.”

From an energy composition perspective, the way black liquid is doing this is like ignoring the watermelon and wasting effort picking up sesame seeds.

Logically speaking, a corpse provides almost no energy and at most contains some mystery. For the demonic power that resembles black liquid, apart from being able to create a person, it probably doesn't have much effect on improving its essential power.

On the contrary, the three crystalline demonic fragments lying quietly in the black liquid contained extremely abundant energy. Each one was slightly stronger than the weak black liquid. It was not impossible for the black liquid to double its power even if it only absorbed one of them.

These black, liquid-like demonic forces resolutely rejected shortcuts and opportunities for advancement, devouring the corpses and discarding the fragments, instead painstakingly corroding the constantly repairing ground.

Volume Two: Dragon Gate Smoke, You Jiuqi, Liu Zhouyi, Shaanxi Dam, Lu Huo: Chapter 201 (Main Story) Swire: This demonic power always surprises me (derogatory).

“Perhaps it’s not that he doesn’t want to absorb it,” Chen Huijie unconsciously rubbed the sword hilt with her fingertips, her gaze lingering on the flowing black liquid, “it’s that he can’t absorb it, hmm?”

As she spoke, a string of bubbles suddenly appeared on the surface of the liquid, which then boiled violently. The three demon fragments were shaken and crashed against the wall of the icosahedron, emitting a crisp buzzing sound.

Below, the boiling black liquid was pulled and swirled into the air by an invisible force, slowly twisting into several thick, long columns of water that shot into the sky, revealing the ground covered with cracks and dark patterns.

Swire's pupils constricted sharply as she clearly saw several pale bones silently merging into the ground, followed by a faint light that connected with the column of water formed by the black liquid. "This is... taking root?"

"It's incubating—no, it's piecing together a stronger carrier of movement. Let's get away from it." Chen Huijie suddenly grabbed Shi Huaiya's shoulder, swung her dragon tail, and pulled her back away from the icosahedron that was now covered in black liquid and whose interior was no longer visible.

"Hmm." As Swire adjusted her center of gravity and retreated together with her, she noticed that beneath the patterns on the surface of the demon fragment that was about to be swallowed by the water column, a pattern similar to the dark runes had appeared.

Her heart sank. "Old Chen, the fragments have also been eroded. Let's go find Yun Yi and have her check what's going on inside. I have a feeling something big is about to come out."

“Don’t feel it.” Chen Huijie led Shi Huaiya back, his expression solemn, his red eyes never leaving the icosahedron. “One corpse can give birth to a monster that can fight two inner guards, so three corpses will naturally raise something even stronger.”

Although the corpse was able to briefly hold its own against the inner guards, this was directly related to Yun Yi, who was a regular icosahedron capable of restricting movement—perhaps because the corpse could not be considered a completely independent individual, the movement restriction on the corpse was significantly less severe than the restriction on the inner guards.

However, this does not mean that the corpse itself is not strong; the fact that it could injure the inner guards shows that its base stats are not low.

The uniforms and equipment worn by the internal guards, whose specific materials are not discernible, are not just for show.

In Chen Huijie's opinion, that uniform was probably crafted with some of Ursus's unique technologies and precious materials, making it a top-tier piece of armor that could withstand bullets, stabs, and Originium Arts.

This shows that even though the corpse is weaker than the inner guards, it is still not a good guy. And this is only one corpse. What will happen to three corpses?

Chen Huijie didn't know the answer, nor could she predict the future.

However, this did not prevent Chen Huijie from taking precautions and bringing Swire, who might not be able to escape, to a safe place to meet up with Hoshiguma and Yunyi first.

As thoughts raced through her mind, Chen Huijie successfully brought Shi Huaiya back to Xingxiong and Yunyi's side. When she arrived in front of the two, her expression was somewhat solemn.

Noticing their approach and seeing their somber expressions, Hoshiguma and Yunyi stopped talking. Hoshiguma looked at them questioningly, while Yunyi frowned in confusion. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Chen Huijie gave Hoshiguma a reassuring look, released her hand from Swire's shoulder, turned around, drew her sword, and lowered her dragon tail to guard against the now completely black icosahedron.

Swire stepped forward and briefly told Hoshiguma and Yunyi about their findings. Then she asked Yunyi to turn on the projector to see the inside of the icosahedron.

"Such a big commotion, yet there wasn't a sound? Or was the sound too quiet for me to hear at all?" Yun Yi scratched his head and waved to show Shi Huaiya the projection he had moved earlier, while also condensing a few more for himself and the other two.

Upon hearing this, Swire raised the tip of her tail and poked Yun Yi's hand. "You were so engrossed in chatting with Hoshiguma that you didn't even notice when Old Chen and I were practically right in front of you. I bet you couldn't have heard even if we were making a lot of noise."

Yun Yi let her poke him, since it didn't hurt but actually felt quite comfortable. "Where is it? I found it halfway there, okay? You can ask Hoshiguma if you don't believe me."

As she spoke, she reached out and tugged at Hoshiguma's sleeve. "Right, Hoshiguma?"

“Well…” Hoshiguma smiled and blinked her bright golden eyes. “That’s right. Yunyi even asked me back then, how come you guys came back so quickly?”

It's half true and half false at first glance.

Swire realized the truth in a second, guessing that it was Hoshiguma who discovered them. Yunyi probably did ask the question, but it was after Hoshiguma told Yunyi.

She paused for a moment, then spoke softly, "Do I look like someone who's easy to fool?"

Hoshiguma chuckled and shrugged, but was interrupted by Chen Huijie before she could speak, "That's enough chit-chat. Let's deal with the danger inside first. After that, you can chat however you like."

As she spoke, Chen Huijie glanced at Yun Yi and said, "Don't worry, the movements of the demonic power are silent. It's normal that you didn't hear it, Old Yun."

She then flicked her tail, remaining on guard. "I'll keep watch. You guys quickly analyze the demon fragments and their power to figure out the situation."

Swire glanced down at the projection for a moment, then paused in the swaying tiger tail behind her, shook her head and said, "The demonic power didn't break out just now, and it probably won't be able to break out again. There's no need to be on guard."

After all that effort, it turned out to be all talk and no action.

"Hmm?" Upon hearing this, Chen Huijie frowned and glanced at her own projection.

As Swire described in the projection, the viscous water column that ran through the interior of the icosahedron and had a fleshy texture on its surface, despite its immense strength and its towering presence, failed to shake the icosahedron in the slightest and could only scatter back onto the ground in frustration.

The black liquid that completely covered the walls of the icosahedron was not caused by any evil forces, but rather by the black liquid repeatedly splashing onto the walls as the water column formed by the evil forces repeatedly went through the cycle of "failed to impact the dome → scattered on the ground → re-condensed → failed to impact the dome again".

As for the demon fragments, they lay quietly on the ground, their surface patterns shimmering and reflecting the dark lines of the ground, seemingly providing power to the water column, but as the facts showed, it was utterly useless.

Seeing this, Chen Huijie gained a deeper understanding of the strength of Yun Yi's icosahedron and couldn't help but relax a little, "Indeed."

She fastened the Crimson Cloud sword back around her waist, tilted her head, and rubbed her shoulders. "Then all that's left is to figure out why this demonic power suddenly went berserk. It's probably because of instinct... Do you have any clues?"

“I also think it’s instinct. I guess they’ve been restricted too much, and they instinctively want to break free of the constraints?” Yun Yi shook his head and looked at Swire. “Swire, what do you think?”

"I think... unless you go in and experience it firsthand or immediately learn the relevant life science system, anything I say to you is just speculation, and the accuracy is hard to guarantee. My suggestion is, don't bother investigating." Swire spread her hands. Could a force that was clearly one of the sources of strength for a top-tier legion of a great power be something she could understand just by looking at it?

What a joke.

Volume 2: Fireworks at Dragon Gate: Chapter 202 (Main Story) Yun Yi: Can assassins be interrogated to extract information? Is it true?

“Yes, since we can control this strange thing, we don’t need to investigate it further,” Hoshiguma nodded in agreement. “This demonic power is like a living thing, which is a bit creepy. We should deal with it as soon as possible.”

She turned to look at Yun Yi, "Miss Yun Yi, you can restrain it, but can you destroy it?"

"Let me see..." Yun Yi lightly touched the collar, closed his eyes, and connected with the Nirvana. "Hmm, this thing is a bit strange. It seems to be somewhere between a solid and an intangible thing—wait, how come it has become a little stronger again?"

After saying this, Yun Yi fell silent and summoned the Nirvana's AI to analyze it.

As the AI ​​aboard the cosmic-class mech, it analyzed the results almost instantly upon receiving the request and presented them to the user, Yun Yi.

After reading it, Yun Yi opened his eyes with a strange expression. "Um, everyone, it seems we've gotten our hands on something incredible, but I can't say."

"What does that mean, 1霖起八罒?起思锍?" ×3

The three of them pressed for an answer in unison, and Hoshiguma quickly added, "Miss Yunyi, please try to say something you can. Don't worry, we won't force you to say anything even if you can't say anything."

Chen Huijie silently rested her hand on the hilt of her sword, and her gaze toward Yun Yi was not forceful, but rather contained a faint questioning tone.

After asking her question, Swire walked straight up to her, pointed to the little doll on her shoulder, and said, "Can't I even say it with this?"

"No, this has nothing to do with the channels. The key is what you know," Yun Yi said vaguely after refusing.

She rested her chin on her hand in distress, closed her eyes, and stared at the analysis results generated by the AI ​​in her mind, unsure how to explain it to the three Terran locals in front of her.

Who knows the background of the demon's inner guard power in her previous game? The existence that seemed insignificant to her was actually just a conceptual being!

What does it mean that "the more others know about them, the stronger they become" and "being afraid will likely result in instant death"? That's just too unfair!

At this moment, Yun Yi recalled his impression of Terra a few days ago—a chaotic stage where demons danced wildly, and if you have a dream, come and you'll be buried.

This evil spirit must be one of the reasons that players from the previous life had this impression!

Yunyi, who only knew about this through social media, muttered to himself, "Wait, dude, this conceptual creature suddenly popped up. Where did she get it? Is this the finale?"

Despite his complaints, Yun Yi composed himself and asked the AI ​​Nirvana if it could take down this seemingly incredibly powerful entity.

AI's answer was "Yes".

The water column inside the icosahedron is merely an extension of the demon, not its true form. Therefore, it possesses a tangible entity, and can be destroyed by obliterating it.

The same applies to the three fragments, but the AI ​​offered an advanced suggestion—they could be converted into materials and energy needed for the Nirvana.

With a solution in hand, Yun Yi breathed a sigh of relief and opened his eyes. The dragon, tiger, and ghost simultaneously cast "how was that?" glances at him.

"We can destroy them, but I still can't tell you the specifics." Yun Yi remembered there were quite a few demons, and it was hard to guarantee that they could communicate with each other.

The fact that the more people know about something, the stronger it becomes is too troublesome. Besides, they need to continue capturing the inner guards who possess demonic powers, so it's better for everyone to know as little as possible.

It just felt a little off that she knew but didn't say anything, like a riddle-maker she herself disliked. "Sorry."

“It’s nothing.” Swire didn’t dwell on it, and with a slight twitch of her tiger ears, she glossed over the matter with a single sentence. “Then let’s deal with those things first, and we can talk about the intelligence when we can.”

“Yes, you can talk more as you go,” Hoshiguma reassured him, then picked up Hannya and thought for a moment before changing the subject, “Once we’ve dealt with the demons, let’s continue arresting the Inner Guards.”