txolops Chapter 44 Awakening
Chapter 44 Awakening
Li Yao blinked, paused for a few seconds, then raised his hand to push open the hatch and climbed out.
Just then, Angel Yan arrived at the research institute.
She rushed into the lab, saw Li Yao at a glance, and breathed a sigh of relief: "Li Yao, are you alright?"
"Sister Yan, I'm fine."
Just as Li Yao was about to say something more, he noticed that Angel Yan's gaze inadvertently swept over him.
Angel Yan's ears instantly flushed a light red, and even her neck felt hot.
She abruptly turned her head away, her voice trembling, "N-nothing's wrong! I'm leaving now!"
After saying that, she turned and ran out, her steps so fast it was as if a ghost was chasing her.
"Tsk tsk tsk, scared away like that? Turns out he's just a smooth talker."
He Xi stood to the side, arms crossed, and teased him.
Li Yao was baffled and turned to look at his teacher, only to find that He Xi's gaze was lingering on him with great interest.
He looked down, puzzled, following He Xi's gaze.
"Holy crap!!!"
He was completely stunned by what he saw.
He found himself completely naked; his clothes had long been washed away by the energy from the upgrade process.
Li Yao's face flushed red instantly. He quickly covered himself with his hand and stepped back, almost tripping over the hatch.
He quickly raised his hand, and with a flash of wormhole technology in his palm, a set of clothes appeared out of thin air and he was dressed.
"cough."
He cleared his throat, trying to appear nonchalant, and said in a serious tone, "Teacher, I've leveled up."
"Oh, are you shy now? You're all grown up now. Your teacher used to play those things for you when you were little."
He Xi raised an eyebrow, unable to suppress the smile on her lips.
"teacher!!!"
Li Yao wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground.
He Xi chuckled softly and then stopped teasing Li Yao.
"Alright, let's get down to business. Your third-generation divine body has been upgraded, and the invincible body has been successfully loaded. All data is normal."
She walked to the worktable and tapped the screen a few times.
Li Yao's eyes lit up, and he leaned closer to look at the screen: "Really?"
"Would I lie to you?"
He Xi glanced at him sideways, only to see a pair of golden eyes flashing. She frowned and said, "Hey? What's wrong with you? Why are your eyes glowing?"
Li Yao slapped his forehead, turned off the light, and replied, "It's a side effect left over from the upgrade process."
"Aftereffects?"
"Hmm, it's nothing, it's not serious."
He Xi checked it over but didn't find anything wrong.
She withdrew her hand, her tone casual: "Never mind, we can investigate further another day. Today, you'll come with me to see the Queen."
"Okay." Li Yao nodded with a smile.
He didn't feel there was anything wrong with it. Now that he had leveled up, he naturally had to go to the Queen to report and express his heartfelt gratitude.
But as he followed He Xi out of the research institute, he suddenly stopped.
He was stunned.
The once orderly Tiancheng was now a scene of utter devastation.
The ground was covered with charred cracks that had not yet been fully repaired.
The edges of several small floating islands in the distance had gaps, as if something had bitten off a piece of them.
On the plaza, fragments of armor lay scattered about, each piece corroded with shallow pits of varying depths.
In the garden next door, the flowers and plants were leaning and drooping.
Many angels were bowing their heads, methodically cleaning up the scene and repairing the damaged facilities.
There was still a pungent smell of acid rain in the air, which went straight into my nose.
Li Yao's throat tightened, and he opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
Finally, he managed to squeeze out, "This...I did all of this?"
He knew things would get chaotic outside, but he didn't expect it to get this chaotic.
He knew that the impact of his quantum engine running at full power would be significant, but he didn't expect it to be this significant.
He Xi glanced at him and said indifferently, "Otherwise what?"
Li Yao was silent for a moment, then suddenly blurted out, "Um... teacher, can I skip going to the Queen's?"
"What? Scared?" He Xi said with a half-smile. "You've turned Tiancheng into this mess, shouldn't you apologize?"
Li Yao wasn't trying to shirk responsibility; it was just that seeing this scene before him, he suddenly didn't know how to face the Queen, or how to face the angel sisters he had tormented and left looking disheveled.
Seeing this, He Xi raised her hand and pointed into the distance: "Don't worry, you didn't bring all bad things this time."
"Look over there—"
Li Yao looked in the direction she was pointing.
Surprisingly, there were many minerals along the edge of the crack, including several pieces of silvery ore crystals.
Not to mention, there was actually a whole vein of silver in the distance.
"Oh? How come these things are appearing?" Li Yao asked curiously.
"I don't know, you'll have to ask you."
He Xi shrugged and said no more nonsense: "Alright, let's go straight to the palace."
After saying that, she raised her hand and slashed open a wormhole in front of her.
As the Heavenly King, her authority in the Heavenly City was equal to that of Keisha, and it was only a matter of a moment for her to have direct access to the royal palace.
"Let's go." She pulled up Li Yao, who was still in a daze, and stepped inside.
Li Yao followed He Xi through the wormhole and arrived at the royal palace hall.
Inside the palace, besides Keisha on the throne, stood three other figures: Angel Yan, Angel Zhui, and Angel Moyi.
They were reporting something to Keisha.
Hearing the noise, they all turned around.
He Xi and Li Yao stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty."
Keisha nodded slightly and glanced at the two of them.
Then, she instructed the three angels, Yan and Yan, "Yan, you may go down now."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Angel Yan responded and led A-Zhui and Mo Yi outside.
Before turning away, she couldn't help but steal a glance at Li Yao.
Suddenly, the scene I had just witnessed during the research flashed into my mind: someone crawling naked out of the upgrade pod...
Thinking of this, Angel Yan's face instantly turned red, and she quickly turned her head away, even quickening her pace.
The angel behind her noticed something was amiss, glanced at her curiously, but didn't ask any further questions.
After the palace doors closed, Keisha looked at Li Yao, her gaze lingering on him for a moment as if confirming something, before she spoke: "Was everything alright?"
Li Yao replied, "It went fairly smoothly."
He recalled his previous experiences in the dark dimension and couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at surviving such a close call.
He was almost stunned by the shock.
"I hope everything goes smoothly."
Keisha nodded and leaned back on her throne.
"However, do you know how much suffering Tiancheng endured this time?"
Upon hearing this, Li Yao shrank back and stole a glance at He Xi.
He Xi crossed her arms, giving off an expression that said, "It's none of my business, you deal with it yourself."
"Your Majesty, I..."
Li Yao opened his mouth, wanting to say something to express his loyalty, but when he thought of the mess outside, he swallowed the words back.
When Keisha saw his expression, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, but she quickly returned to normal.
"Alright, don't say I didn't give you a chance. You'll be responsible for 50% of the restoration work in Tiancheng. The material costs will be deducted from your future achievements."
"Fifty percent?!"