Chapter 234: Chuunibyou, 8th Grade Syndrome!

Chapter 234: Chuunibyou, 8th Grade Syndrome!

Three days later, the day the Tokyo Tower collapses arrived with a heavy, inescapable weight.

Ning'er had kept me mostly locked up in the hotel room with her for seventy-two hours, aggressively forcing me to interact and share her space. She openly admitted that she was trying to force a connection between us by any means necessary, acting completely bossy and spoiled about the entire arrangement. Watching her puff out her cheeks and demand my attention was, frankly, incredibly cute.

We were both sitting on the plush living room couch, enjoying the quiet while Ling was out pretending to do her day-job with Pam. Ning'er tilted her glowing laptop screen toward my face, tilting the webcam so we could both be seen. On the display, a massive split-screen window showed that my various wives and lovers had gathered for a massive conference call in Harem-Chat with Ning.

Victoria and Helen, fully understanding my real background, had already been brought up to speed regarding my father's official betrothal contract with Ning. However, I had strictly warned them not to let that information slip to anyone else quite yet. Right now, my father was considered a premier global bad-guy, meaning any public mention of his name or associations could spell instant trouble for Ning.

The cover story we decided to go with was the old tried and true classic. We told the group that we got completely drunk one night and unexpected things simply happened. After waking up wrapped in one another's arms, I claimed I took full responsibility and married her on the spot so her Noble Family would not disown her for the scandal.

Because of this fabricated tale, Ning was actively sucking up to every single one of my lovers on the screen, including my unofficial partners like Gretta.

My genuinely smart wives who knew my true character could easily read between the lines, instantly recognizing that I would never be so sloppy with alcohol, but they clearly saw I was being evasive for a strategic reason and chose not to pry too much. I resolved that I would personally tell Mary the truth the next time she was melting in my arms, where I could explain everything safely.

But the single person making me want to physically slam my palm against my forehead was Nadia.

[Ning, are you sure you are not secretly older than Ricky? He never gets turned on by younger girls, especially one that is only eighteen. Perhaps you had to change your documents' age for some reason? Or, maybe you only have less than a year to live, and Ricky is trying to make you happy? Or maybe you are the Emperor's daughter and secretly ran away from China to be with your true love? Hmm, Or maybe...]

Ning'er went completely stiff the moment Nadia unleashed that wild, rapid-fire rant across the digital audio feed. At this exact time, I had absolutely no idea that she had actually nailed one of those ridiculous theories perfectly. In a couple of years, I would end up watching this recorded video side-by-side with Ning and laughing hysterically at the memory of her face etched in a state of absolute, paralyzed shock.

"Nadia dear, she is really eighteen, she is definitely not going to die young, and her legal paperwork is completely fine or the city would not let us marry," I interjected, waving my hand dismissively toward the microphone to cut her off before she could dig any deeper. "And her being the Empress, let alone the Emperor's daughter, is just completely silly. You have been watching far too many trashy soap opera dramas with the girls lately, ha-ha."

[Ricky, I know you is all, and eighteen is not your thing?]

Ning'er could easily tell from the sharp tone that Nadia possessed the sharp instincts of a natural detective when it came to reading my preferences. She quickly cleared her throat and spun a plausible lie to salvage the situation. "Ah, I think while I was drunk with him, I may have told him I was twenty-three just to impress him, so that would explain his sudden interest," Ning'er lied smoothly, leaning closer to the microphone with a feigned bashful smile. "But he accepted the reality after the fact, so I am very sorry."

[Don't apologize, a lot of us have used a classic bait and switch on Ricky before. He is just too cutely gullible, Ufufu. I understand completely, if he honestly thought you were 23, everything makes total sense now!]

Ning'er noticed my deeply defeated, sad eyes and decided to seize the moment to build our intimacy. She leaned over and pressed a firm, warm kiss right against my cheek directly in front of the active camera lens, startling me out of my daze.

"You girls keep talking," I announced to the grid of faces, raising my hands in mock surrender as I pushed myself off the couch. "I am going to go jump off the roof, see you later..."

A massive chorus of loud laughter echoed from the laptop speakers as I walked out of the living room, leaving the digital chaos behind.

Later on, the atmosphere shifted completely as we relaxed in the steaming water of the master bath. I held Ning'er close against my chest, feeling her soft skin relax as she looked up at me with lingering concern.

"Rick, do you want more back up for the mission tonight?" she questioned softly, her fingers tracing small circles on my thigh beneath the water. "I can easily send my personal agents out right now to cause major distractions and pull the local authorities away from the sector."

We had engaged in intense, passionate sex just prior to getting in, and I had spent an hour giving her a deep, soothing body massage to help her body heal from our excessive sexual engagements. Now, we were soaking together in the hot bath specifically so her muscles could recover from the strain. She had been hyper-focused and deeply concerned about my safety tonight. I could tell she was genuinely trying to show care, especially because ever since she read whatever secret letter her mother had sent her, she looked at me with an entirely different intensity. It was a remarkably good difference.

With her back fully entrusted against my chest, my hand gently rubbed her stomach to comfort her aching body. I leaned forward to press slow, warm kisses against her bare shoulder and neck, causing her to moan softly and lean her weight entirely into me.

"No, in fact, I would pull any shadows you have deployed away from the area as much as possible," I answered, my voice dropping to a serious whisper against her skin. "They will only become unavoidable collateral damage if I am forced to go completely all out tonight. The Yakuza group has already cleared the entire building of all regular personnel, and the open land around the structure is wide enough to handle a total building collapse safely without causing any excessive loss of civilian life. Not having your people lingering around when we make our escape is much better."

She twisted her slick body around in the water to face me directly, locking her intense, deep blue eyes onto mine. "With all of the armed Yakuza heavily surrounding the building, how confident are you really to get the bomb underground and then get out alive?" she demanded, her voice trembling slightly as she grabbed my wrists. "What happens if they manage to trap or delay you inside?"

I flashed her a confident, relaxed smile because I could literally feel her heart pounding frantically against my chest. "Why are you suddenly so worried about me?" I asked, tilting her chin up gently. "You know my full capabilities, and I execute operations like this all the time. Did you not hear about the sudden death of Hanzo Kato and his entire family?"

"Rick, I have only just met you, and I feel incredibly nervous to just let you walk blindly into extreme danger," she stammered, her regal composure fracturing as she squeezed her eyes shut. "I-I can call off this entire mission right now, and we can just try to hunt them down through individual assassinations instead."

I pressed a reassuring kiss directly against her forehead, letting my lips linger there for a long moment.

"You are just having irrational fears of me leaving your side so soon after we connected, but I promise you, Ling Ling and I can come out of this mission with absolutely no problem," I assured her, squeezing her waist tightly. "If I cannot even handle an easy demolition mission like this, how can I expect to successfully kill the Traditionalist Li for us later?"

She bit her bottom lip hard, closing her eyes as she fought against her internal panic. After a long pause, she snapped them open, her demeanor suddenly shifting back into a rigid, commanding posture.

"Come home safely to your Empress, Rick," she commanded, lifting her chin with an imperious glare. "I will wait right here to receive you when you return. Do not dare to disappoint this Empress."

I grinned broadly at her sudden, dramatic noble lady act, completely amused by her shifting dynamics. "When you start talking in the third person like that, it just makes me want to bully you even more, my wife, ha-ha," I teased, splashing a bit of warm water toward her chest.

And so, I immediately proceeded to thoroughly bully my Empress right there in the tub. Yeah, looking back, I was incredibly dumb at this specific point in my life. I had absolutely no clue that I was actually, literally bullying the true Empress of the China Empire, sigh.

Who could have possibly known that I was messing with a real Sovereign at this time?

Around 8 pm local time, Ling'er and I arrived at a secluded cabin nestled far outside the city limits, where the local security presence was almost nonexistent.

She and I immediately began suiting up for our high-stakes mission inside the dark, abandoned home. The interior was completely devoid of electricity, but our enhanced cultivator eyes had absolutely no problem navigating the pitch-black space. As long as there was some ambient form of light available—stars, distant streetlights, or even a single candle—we could see perfectly fine. The only way we ever truly lose our vision is if we are trapped deep underground with zero light sources, but outdoors, we have no problems at all.

However, if we actively flush our bodies with our internal Chi, we can even temporarily see in total, absolute darkness. This technique is honestly a massive waste of precious Chi, but if your life is directly on the line, it is well worth the cost. In short, when we flush our physical bodies temporarily with Chi, we become something incredibly close to the Hulk in terms of raw physical ability—you know, the big, green, angry guy from the comics.

Another supervillain we could easily be compared to in terms of sheer durability and brute strength would be the Juggernaut, though that only applies during our peak superhuman moments.

"Ling'er, how long can you maintain your Chi flush for right now?" I asked, pulling my straps tight as I glanced over at her.

She paused to calculate her internal energy reserves, carefully guesstimating her current limits. "The shortest duration is one minute, but if it is just for small, controlled bursts, then I can stretch it for two minutes," she explained, adjusting her gear. "I only managed to break through to this cultivation layer recently, so I am still quite far behind you. How long do you have, Rick?"

"I can most definitely maintain the flush for ten to fifteen minutes for sure, but I have not come anywhere close to reaching the absolute peak of one hour," I answered, double-checking our equipment. "So, based on your current time limit, let me handle all the heavy physical work tonight. You just save your energy reserves exclusively for sudden emergencies. And lastly, why on earth are you wearing that specific outfit on a stealth mission?"

Ling Ling was currently wearing a tight, vinyl full-body Pink Ranger outfit complete with the matching helmet. She was the absolute opposite of covert; the attire was as blindingly overt as humanly possible. However, the skin-tight material perfectly accentuated her small Loli body style and surprisingly large chest. The ridiculous sight immediately reminded me of one of the specialized roleplay outfits that Tina and Hana frequently wear for my personal pleasure.

"Dao Lover, when you and I finally initiate the attack, do you honestly think your Hanzo Kato Ninja outfit is going to make you any less noticed?" my smug lover teased, sticking her tongue out playfully through the visor. "The exact moment you start blowing shit up, even a bright rainbow outfit won't matter to the enemy. I am wearing this because it looks absolutely great, and I already know you love it, Ufufu."

Yes, I was currently holding the sharp Hanzo Kato Ninjato that I had previously stolen, fully disguised as the dead man himself. I was intentionally going for the whole terrifying ghost-returning-from-the-grave look to completely throw off the future police investigations. But now that I looked at the two of us standing side by side, only one embarrassing word came into my mind: Chuunibyou. We looked like a textbook definition of eighth-grade syndrome.

"Rick dear, with your ninja mask on, I cannot see your completely speechless face," she giggled, tilting her pink helmet toward me. "Is it nice?"

I stared at her, wondering if this was truly how powerful cultivators were supposed to act in the real world.

"Do I have time to change?" I asked without a shred of hope left.

Ling Ling immediately crossed her hands in a firm, dramatic Power Ranger X-shape with her arms. "Ufufu, Nope," she chirped.

"Fuck me!" I groaned aloud, realizing that if anyone actually saw me standing next to her later tonight, I would suffer an instant social Chuunibyou death.

"I will later, Rick," she nodded with immense, unwavering enthusiasm.

"Sigh, Ling'er, just get in the van..." I muttered, completely giving up the argument.

Now I knew exactly why destiny had made her my true Dao Companion; our brands of madness matched perfectly.

"Next time offer a sweet lollipop when you say that, fufu!" she cheered happily.

She took my arm in high spirits, clinging to me as we walked out to the vehicle to cause absolute death and destruction, probably yelling incredibly embarrassing things along the way.

A short while later, I was driving our white flower-delivery van, which was packed to the brim with a massive haul of freaking explosives. There was more than enough firepower in the back to easily kill the two of us ten times over if anything went sideways.

Lucy's crisp voice suddenly cut through our wireless earpieces, delivering the final updates for her side of the operation.

[Any and all security cameras that can see your approach, including those from civilian smartphones, are currently being rerouted to show loop recordings of other things. I have also successfully sent false emergency alerts to all the authorities on far away sites to completely divert them from the area, ensuring they stay clear even after the shit hits the fan. All current Yakuza targets have entered the main building exactly as planned, including that specific relative of Hanzo you let live. Though I should note he is heavily on drugs right now just to calm his racing heart.]

"Alright, Lucy, I can see the structure in the distance now," I reported, gripping the steering wheel tight as the facility loomed ahead. "I am going to force our way directly into the underground parking garage. Make sure to completely shut down the elevators right now so they cannot escape fast enough. Even with the emergency stairwells, they will never make it down in time. I am going to accelerate now, so prepare for sudden impacts, Ling!"

VARROOM! I slammed the accelerator pedal all the way to the floorboards, letting my specialized Driving Mastery trait take over to execute extreme maneuvers that would get us safely into the parking structure under the building.

I almost lost control and drove us directly into a concrete pole when I heard what the Pink Ranger suddenly yelled next to me.

"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

I keep completely forgetting that she originally comes from my exact last Earth.