The Vixen's Gambit: Tonight We Hunt

"Wow, it's flying so high."

Days later, in the ruins outside Kolosten, Lihua looked up at the wooden airplane model soaring in the sky. "The Wright brothers would be ashamed of themselves."

"The Wright brothers?" Otto turned to Lihua, confused. "Are they Lihua's friends? Can they make this, too?"

"Hmm, should I say yes or no..." Lihua pondered, watching the model. "They might have made one a bit bigger than yours."

"Bigger than this?!" Otto's eyes widened in surprise. He thought this size was the limit, but it seemed there was room for improvement!

"Can I, can I meet them?"

"That might be difficult..." Lihua awkwardly scratched her cheek. "I can't meet them anymore."

In the modern era, I could at least go to a museum to see their stuff.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Otto quickly apologized.

So Lihua's friends are gone. She must be very sad.

[Energy +100]

"It's alright, just keep thinking about how to build your airplane. Maybe one day they can carry us from Europe to Shenzhou," Lihua said casually.

Otto sure does have a vivid imagination.

Looking at the guilty Otto, Lihua sighed. How could such a pure boy turn into a ruthless, obsessed man? Love really did make people change.

Unlike her, she just wanted to make other people change.

Perhaps because he was still a child, Otto's favorability had already reached level 10 and a shocking 1000% charging efficiency after only a week.

Normally, she would be ready to pull off a grand scheme that would leave Otto scarred for life. Then, she'd pack her bags and return to Earth.

But looking at the innocent boy, Lihua just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Back on Earth, Li Bei would have gladly inflicted some deep childhood trauma on Otto for the sake of energy. But as Lihua, influenced by her Kaslana blood and gentle nature, she hesitated.

After gathering information, she'd learned that Otto's life wasn't as good as it seemed. He was the Archbishop's son, but he was ignored. He was also sickly, confined to his home with no friends.

If she backstabbed him now, he'd be like a pitiful stray puppy, kicked while he was down.

If Otto was an adult, Lihua would have "struck" without hesitation. But she felt she should have some self-respect when dealing with someone who wasn't even ten.

Ugh, this damn conscience, what a waste of energy!

It seemed she needed to become a moral vacuum...

She couldn't do a big play on Otto, but she could squeeze some smaller energy gains during their daily interactions.

For example...

"Otto?" Lihua called out to Otto, who was walking ahead of her. He was deep in thought, oblivious.

"...Otto?"

He's not paying attention, huh? Hehehe.

"Ah!"

While thinking about how to make a manned aircraft, Otto heard a scream from behind. He turned around in a panic, only to see Lihua collapsed in the ruins!

It seemed she had hit her head on a rock. Blood was spreading from the side of her face.

"Lihua!!"

[Energy +1000]

The gruesome scene sent Otto into a panic. He rushed to Lihua's side, his hands trembling as he saw the blood pouring from her head.

What should he do? First aid?!

He was still just a kid. Despite his knowledge, he panicked and didn't know what to do.

"O-Otto..."

Lihua seemed to regain consciousness. She opened her eyes with difficulty and grabbed his hand. "Why didn't you pay attention to me?"

"I fell because you weren't paying attention..."

"Ah?! Because of me?!" Otto was shocked. Something felt off, but he was too flustered to think straight.

"You won't admit it? Waaah, I'm going to die..."

Seeing Lihua in pain, Otto panicked and apologized. "I'm sorry Lihua, it's all my fault! What should I do?!"

[Energy +1000]

"Promise you'll always listen to me..."

"I promise I'll always listen to you, Lihua!" Otto, seeing the weak, seemingly bleeding Lihua, repeated her demand without hesitation.

Then, he saw the same Lihua sit up calmly. "You said it."

"...Huh?"

Otto stared at Lihua in confusion. "Lihua, aren't you dying?"

"Just kidding." Lihua shrugged.

"What about the blood on your head?"

"That's just leftover tomato sauce from breakfast..."

Lihua nonchalantly wiped the tomato sauce off her hair and fed it to the ants on the ground. She was sacrificing her reputation for a few thousand points of energy.

"How could you..." Knowing Lihua was fine, Otto felt dizzy. He sat on the ground, both relieved and annoyed. "Don't joke like that!"

[Energy +300]