TN: And we're back! sorry for the week long hiatus, it was not intentional since I had to get my right leg in a cast after tripping 3 floors down a stairwell (like an idiot ://) and be unable to use my PC setup upstairs BUT I should be OK now.
Anyways, Thanks for Arcanic Madness, WeissAkumu and WolfWTF for becoming as Supporters!,
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Huohuo hurried to the counter and slapped a hand over Tail's mouth.
"I don't want to become a big mus—muscle brute."
She spoke quickly, but faltered weakly halfway through.
Still, fearing that Sylvester might actually believe him and pull out some bizarre Curio for her, she clenched her teeth and forced the words out.
After all, she had already asked Bailu about this place—this shop had genuinely produced a summoning talisman before.
Tail had lit up the moment he heard that and forcibly dragged her here.
Tail's flaming body twisted lightly, suddenly vanishing from Huohuo's arms, then with a bang, reappearing in midair.
"No way. It has to be maxed out! Otherwise, I'm going to be driven to death by this little one sooner or later," he retorted.
Sylvester looked at him, eyes full of why-won't-you-grow-up, and blinked.
Has it occurred to you that once she gets stronger, she might annoy you even more confidently?
He kept the thought to himself and instead spoke gently, "Ahem, you two. What comes out of the trash cans here depends entirely on luck. We don't do custom orders."
Tail didn't care in the slightest. He chuckled confidently, his eyes full of certainty.
"That's fine. We Heliobi are at least a little idealistic. I'll pray for her."
Huohuo pursed her lips and muttered softly, "Good thing I'm not a Heliobus…"
Seeing Tail's gaze turn fierce again, she quickly handed Sylvester her phone and raised a slender finger.
"I—I'll open one at a time and pay each time."
Though it still hurt her heart, she had already decided she'd at least open until she got one useful item.
Once she got one, she would stop immediately.
Sylvester pointed toward the shelves and smiled lightly. "No problem. Take your pick."
Then he called out to Qingque in the rest area, "Stop playing—work's here!"
"Relax, I'm watching closely," Qingque replied.
That was what she said, but her eyes were glued to the Jade Abacus and she didn't even lift her head, which wasn't very convincing at all.
Still, given her just-do-enough-to-pass work ethic, it would probably be fine… right?
Turning back, Sylvester looked at the foxian girl standing before the shelves.
Surprisingly, despite her usual timid demeanor, she didn't show the hesitation most customers did.
She casually grabbed the trash can closest to her.
"Muscles, muscles, muscles—" Tail floated around behind her, even waving Huohuo's little flag, constantly performing blessings for her.
Of course, in Huohuo's eyes, this was more like a curse.
Even though she knew it probably wouldn't work, listening to him was driving her crazy.
She suddenly pointed out the window and cried out, "Tail, look! There's a Heliobus over there!"
Tail fell for it immediately, spinning around to look. "Where?! I haven't had a supplement in ages!"
Seizing the opening, Huohuo hurriedly flipped open the lid.
Hearing the metallic scrape behind him, Tail realized he'd been tricked and complained irritably, "Hey! How come you've never been this sneaky before?"
But no matter how dissatisfied he was, a blue light had already risen.
A pair of purple metal gauntlets landed in Huohuo's hands.
"What's this thing?" Tail floated around it, inspecting it for a long while before shaking his head. "Letting this little one throw punches—no matter how you look at it, that's just bullying her."
Huohuo, however, still clung to a sliver of hope.
"What if it's really strong? Um… Shopkeeper Sylvester, what is this?"
After checking the item description, Sylvester pinched his chin, his expression turning rather strange. "This is called the [Beginner ORA ORA Gauntlets]. As for the effect…"
"Once equipped, as long as you keep shouting 'ORA ORA,' your body will expand into a two-meter-tall purple-skinned giant."
"Then you'll unleash a storm of punches at a rate of one thousand punches per second."
"As for how strong those punches are—that depends entirely on you."
The moment he finished speaking, Tail burst into wild laughter.
"Wahahahaha! I told you my blessing would work!"
"Little one, hurry up and keep that thing safe. Next time you run into any demons or monsters, you'll smash them into paste in one second. Just thinking about it feels amazing!"
Tail puffed up with pride over the Curio he had "blessed" into existence.
But Huohuo was absolutely not as happy as he was.
She trembled as she held the gauntlets, her paw-print-shaped pupils shimmering with tears, so aggrieved she could cry her heart out.
"Two meters tall? A purple giant? No way!"
Just imagining herself like that nearly made Huohuo faint from fear.
If she really turned into that, she might as well have let Tail eat her back then!
And there was one more thing—something she couldn't even bring herself to say.
She silently glanced at the comfortable clothes fitted to her body. If she used the gauntlets, wouldn't that mean…
After a long pause, her lips trembling, she said, "I—I'll ask Judge Xueyi if she's interested."
"Hey, hey! Such a great item—it's practically tailor-made for you! Why give it away?" Tail protested.
"How is that tailor-made?!" Huohuo was almost driven mad by him. "If you like it so much, you use it! I'm absolutely not using it!"
Listening to their bickering, Sylvester was suddenly inspired.
"It could be considered tailor-made, I suppose. After all, you'll change into a body that matches the gauntlets. Mm… just in reverse."
Hearing that only made Huohuo feel worse.
She wanted nothing more than to toss the gauntlets straight into a real trash can.
But after agonizing over it for a long while, she couldn't bear to waste her hard-earned money.
Planning to resell it later, she set it aside.
Standing before the shelves, Huohuo picked up another trash can, glancing sideways at Tail as he started chanting again.
She sighed.
Whatever. I'll just lie flat and leave it to fate.
With a clatter, the trash can released another burst of blue light.
This time, what appeared in her hands was an oddly shaped amber-colored fruit.
"Phew~"
Huohuo finally relaxed. At last, something that looked normal.
But Tail still wouldn't let go of his plan. "What if it turns you into a big muscle brute after you eat it?"
"Wah!" Huohuo whimpered, looking pitifully at Sylvester.
Tail's jinx had just worked perfectly—if it happened again this time…
Facing her gaze, Sylvester actually felt a bit softhearted. Fortunately, Tail hadn't guessed right this time.
He smiled. "Don't worry. This is called the [Exotic Wood Fruit]. For thirteen days after consumption, if you take a fatal blow, you'll revive on the spot at full health. It's very useful."
"That's great."
After all the turmoil earlier, Huohuo looked at the fruit in her hands and felt genuinely moved.
If she ever ran into another dangerous mission, eating this could save her life.
"But why thirteen days?" Tail asked, puzzled.
Sylvester fell silent for a moment, then said something seemingly unrelated. "Because its place of origin only has thirteen stages."
"Huh?" Tail was completely lost.
Huohuo, however, didn't care much about the place of origin.
She reached into the shelf and pulled out the next trash can.
The fruit had given her some confidence.
Maybe… she really could become stronger through opening trash cans?
She took a deep breath and decisively lifted the lid.
Golden light illuminated her pupils.
"Wow~~"
She couldn't help but cheer out loud.
This was a golden trash can! What it represented was something almost everyone in the Luofu knew.
Even Qingque—deeply immersed in slacking off beyond salvation—looked up, scrambling to pull out pen and paper.
What was going on these past two days? Top-tier Curios one after another.
Huohuo nearly cried again—but this time, they were tears of pure joy.
She really… was going to become stronger!
Looking at the small command pennant that appeared in her hands, she was just about to ask Sylvester about its effects—
When suddenly, thick black smoke poured out of the flag.
Ferocious ghosts and wailing specters filled her entire field of vision.
"Waaaahhh!"
In an instant, Huohuo was scared half to death by the sudden turn of events.
She ran wildly around the shop, spinning in circles like a millstone, while screaming miserably.
"Don't eat me! If you're going to eat me, you have to line up first!"
===BREAK===
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