"The 'Exuvia' of Morax, the Geo Archon—I need you to help me modify it…"
"Dottore?"
But when he turned his head, Dottore had already vanished.
"Hehehe…"
A strange laugh echoed in the air. Shajin followed the sound.
At some point, Dottore had reappeared in front of the Exuvia, holding a scalpel and staring at the massive body with gleaming eyes full of excitement.
There was a crazed, greedy glint in Dottore's gaze—the look of a mad scientist who had just discovered the treasure of a lifetime.
He waved the scalpel through the air as if already envisioning the dissection, planning exactly how to reshape the artifact into his own ideal weapon.
As he stroked the hard, lustrous scales of the Exuvia, he said,
"Adventurine, ask whatever you want. I guarantee you'll be satisfied~"
His voice brimmed with confidence and obsession—he clearly had absolute faith in his own abilities.
Shajin showed him his gloves and gave a flick of his fingers.
With a faint whoosh, Imaginary Energy was instantly compressed into a single line, slicing through the air like a flash of lightning. In the blink of an eye, it cut a nearby test tube clean in half.
Dottore paused, looking thoughtful after witnessing the display.
Shajin spoke up. "It'd be best if you could make it like the one Sandrone crafted—something I can channel Imaginary Energy through as a weapon."
Then he turned to Dottore, who gave the glove a dismissive glance, his eyes filled with contempt.
"Hmph, inferior materials."
Then, his gaze returned to the Exuvia with excitement.
"Relax. It will become the most powerful weapon I've ever created!"
Hearing this, Shajin yawned and lazily asked, "I'll leave it to you, then~ Can you finish it this month?"
Dottore waved him off impatiently. "Enough, enough—just leave already, don't distract me!"
Shajin resisted the overwhelming urge to Mora-punch Dottore, turned, and slowly headed back upstairs.
Before leaving, he even thoughtfully used his Cryo Vision to completely freeze over Dottore's laboratory.
Dottore glanced at the direction Shajin had left and scoffed.
"If I could beat you, you would've been my best test subject!"
…
Back at his place, Shajin looked calmly at his bed.
His quilt, previously folded neatly like tofu cubes, was now spread flat—and in the center, a large lump bulged under it.
Three pairs of tiny wings stuck out from under the blanket.
Shajin slowly reached out and grabbed the three pairs of wings, effortlessly lifting the mystery squatter off his bed.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead with his other hand. His voice was tinged with fatigue.
"Columbina, this is my house. And my bed."
Looking at the woman lying in his bed, Shajin couldn't help but speak up.
Columbina smacked her lips sleepily and cracked one eye open to look at him, only to begin drifting back to sleep.
"Adven…turine…"
She didn't even finish his name before collapsing back down into a soft heap on the bed.
Shajin: "…"
His lips twitched in exasperation. He shook her head in an attempt to wake her.
"Columbina, where did you get the key to my place?"
Columbina slipped free from his hand, rubbed her eyes, yawned, stretched, and finally perked up a little.
"You're so rough, Adventurine~"
Shajin's mouth twitched even harder. He nearly laughed out of sheer frustration.
Grabbing her cheeks with both hands, he pulled them outward.
"I'm asking you again—where did you get the key to my place?!"
"Ow… owie…"
Columbina looked at him with watery eyes, her face full of grievance.
Shajin finally let go of her face and sighed.
Columbina rubbed her cheeks and pointed at the open window nearby.
Shajin rubbed his chin.
"What do you mean?"
With a dead-serious expression, Columbina said crisply:
"No key needed! You can just climb through there~"
But before she could keep being smug—
Bonk!
She clutched her head where a new bump had formed and crouched pitifully on the ground.
"Adventurine… that's mean…"
Tears welled up in her eyes as she stared at Shajin.
He sighed and cracked his knuckles. "My little miss, what you just did is called breaking and entering. The patrol guards would have every right to take you away."
Columbina puffed up her cheeks, clearly not convinced. "Hmph! Like they'd dare arrest me—ah!"
Before she could finish, another bonk landed squarely on her head, giving her two lumps.
She collapsed to the floor, groaning and clutching both.
Shajin shook his head. "Snezhnaya isn't lawless, Columbina~"
"If you keep hitting my head like that, I'll get dumber…"
She mumbled miserably.
Shajin sighed again. "What makes you think you were that smart to begin with?!"
Suddenly—
Columbina jumped to her feet and moved up close, sniffing his chest with her dainty nose.
Then she tilted her head curiously.
"Adventurine, did you go see Her Majesty?"
Shajin crossed his arms. "Yeah, so what?"
Columbina locked eyes with him, voice trembling slightly.
"You… um… will you…"
She stammered.
But Shajin already understood what she meant.
He gently patted her head.
"I'll help lay a brick in building the New World."
Columbina stared at him blankly, her heart swelling with warmth and emotion.
She instinctively opened her arms, wanting to hug him tightly and express the feelings she couldn't put into words.
But as she stepped forward, she slipped—and toppled straight onto him.
Shajin had tried to catch her, but she grabbed his collar instead.
The result: both of them crashed to the ground.
A highly awkward scene followed.
Shajin was holding himself up on both arms, while Columbina lay beneath him.
She blinked up at him in confusion, unsure of what had just happened.
Then realization dawned in her eyes.
She closed them slowly, a bashful yet inviting expression on her face.
Why are you closing your eyes?!
Shajin's mouth twitched.
There were so many things wrong with this, he didn't even know where to begin.
"Adventurine, about going to Inazuma—"
Just as he tried to get up, the door swung open.
Rosalyne walked in—and immediately saw the scene before her.
Shajin forced a smile, trying to explain.
"Rosalyne, I swear, this is just a misunderstanding—"
Before he could finish, he noticed the light in her eyes flicker out.
Flames and frost began to swirl around her body.
Hovering in midair, they surged straight at the two on the floor.
_
Please support my patreon, patreon. com/TravelerDouluo
And get early access to my 50 advance chapters.