“Shield of Unfallen, Justice?” Annan asked.
Hearing Annan’s question, Longjing Tea furrowed his brow in thought and said, “Hmm, let me see… Now that you mention it, I have a vague memory of that. Let me think for a sec…”
Instead of sitting in a chair, he paced around the room.
He poured the freshly brewed black tea for Annan and then brought the snacks.
“Take your time. I’m not in a hurry.”
Annan took the warm but not scalding black tea and smiled gently at Longjing Tea.
Wandering Child quietly stood by the window while Delicious Wind Goose secretly observed the passers-by on the second floor.
Although Annan wanted to say they were overly nervous, he did not do so. After thinking about it, he realized it was a sign that the players had treated him kindly.
It was different from the initial situation.
Initially, the players pleased him to gain favorability or with the objective of missions and rewards.
However, things had changed.
In the current state, they had gradually become friends with Annan.
The process was mutual.
Annan no longer regarded them as pure tools, and the players had become friendly, respectful, and even reverent toward Annan.
—Yes, reverence.
Although Mist Continent tried its best to maintain its image and dignity as a game, the players had long known that this was not a game but the real world.
Annan interacted with them sincerely, striving to protect them and wholeheartedly find ways to make things convenient for them—even bringing the players to this world and becoming the ‘anchor point’ for all the changes here.
So why wouldn’t the players become friends with him?
Since it came from a friend’s standpoint, when they were in awe of Annan’s will, they would naturally develop a sense of admiration of “I am not as good”. It was no exception that it turned into respect and even admiration.
Isn’t this a surprise? While you are farming for affection rating, I’m earning your favorability too!
“Meow~” Feeling Annan’s touch, Dove let out a soft cry.
She was curled up on the sofa beside Annan, quietly putting its serval head on Annan’s lap.
Chocolate on the side followed suit, using Dove’s body to securely lean against Annan’s other side and let out a “meow”.
Only then did Annan notice that Chocolate was about the same height as him when they sat on the same sofa.
“Speaking of which, haven’t you changed back yet?” Annan lowered his head to the cat and asked, “I should have told you how to switch bodies, right?”
Dove was Annan’s secret keeper, and Annan was also Dove’s secret keeper. As a soul partner with Shared Perception, it was normal for Serval “Chocolate” to feel dependent on Annan.
It was just that Annan did not expect that Dove still had not returned to her original body after so long.
Dove shook her head.
Unexpectedly, the sly cat lying on Annan’s lap spoke out, “It can already talk anyway. There is no urgent need to change back.”
“Is a cat’s body more comfortable than a human’s?” Annan was a little surprised.
As a person who had the same bond with Dove as a “shapeshifter”, Annan, who could also shapeshift, was a little curious about Dove’s experience.
In the end, Dove shook her head.
“Of course not.” She replied affirmatively, “After all, I am human.”
“Ah, you are still a human.”
Longjing Tea, who was flipping through the newspaper, couldn’t help but complain, “I’ve never seen you transform back into a human form for a few days. Monsters may be more diligent than you in transforming into humans.”
“What do you know, brat? I’m training Chocolate.”
Dove raised her cat head upright and looked at Longjing Tea, “Turning into a cat doesn’t hinder my daily life much, and it actually allows me to study how the forest cats fight, sneak, and perform more naturally.
“And after Chocolate becomes me, she can understand how I fight. And with a human body, I can easily teach her some common sense. Didn’t you see that she can already speak a few words? She can even write, sing, and know that people must wear clothes. She also keeps herself clean. Isn’t that progress?”
“Is that why you asked Chocolate to edit the video and cover for you?”
Longjing Tea asked loudly, “Don’t let the cat work for you! Or at least give her a salary!”
Hearing this, Annan looked in surprise at the “Dove cat” on her lap.
Wow, Chocolate also has these functions?
Dove did not respond and just muttered, “Hmph, this person is outrageous.”
“It’s you who went too far!” The players broke into a mess.
Initially, Longjing Tea showed respect and politeness towards Dove, considering her as his senior. However, as they got to know each other better, he discovered that this seemingly composed and stable older girl had a hidden talent for comedy, much to his surprise.
Delicious Wind Goose seemed to be a calm and reliable burly man. Moreover, he adopted the profession of being the core carry of the team, Sword Saint. However, he was pretty careless and prone to getting carried away… He was the cautious type who utilized his ultimate moves on mobs.
However, the problem was that the mana recovery of his ultimate move was slow and stagnant.
After Wandering Child advanced to Silver Rank, his ability to manipulate nature became significantly more substantial. He had become a semi-close-combat, semi-ranged offense-type assassin profession. However, what he was most concerned about was that he had grown green hair like tree roots.
Dove was a highly-accurate shooter. Longjing Tea had never seen a more powerful shooter than Dove. The Serval could also be used as a scout or assassin.
Undoubtedly, it was a complete team.
If there was anything wrong with the team when Dove and Chocolate were counted as two people, four were in DPS roles.
There were four squishy damage dealers. Every one of them was vulnerable!
None of the four of them could wear heavy armor. The combined thickness of their armor was as thick as four layers of cloth.
Longjing Tea was deeply annoyed by that.
Indeed, including his mage profession, they became five squishy damage dealers.
He inexplicably felt guilty for picking the fifth ADC role while scolding his teammates after seeing his teammates pick four ADCs.
[TN: Attack Damage Carry (ADCs).]
Whether it was keeping an adventure journal, calculating how much money they had left in savings, or finding ways to contact other people to melt and launder their gold mines, bargaining with them, buying houses and land, and buying furniture, Longjing Tea did all the socializing work alone.
He heard from Jiu Er that Delicious Wind Goose was proficient at socializing. Moreover, Dove and the Child were not the types to struggle with communicating with others.
However, after he formed a team with Longjing Tea, they became lazy.
Speaking of which, am I not your boss outside this world?
Occasionally Longjing Tea had such confusion.
However, there was no other way. Now that Annan came here to ask them for information, he was still the only one who could answer Annan.
Longjing Tea was still working while arguing with the cat.
When he turned to the 32nd newspaper, he found a clue.
“How could it be in “The Unsolved Mystery of the Prospecting Land”?”
Longjing Tea muttered doubtfully and then slowly read the newspaper’s contents.
“The former ‘Shield of Unfallen’ Justice had fallen in Cinder Barren the day before yesterday…”
He slowly widened his eyes.
Longjing Tea was confused.
“According to the injury analysis, the fatal injury that directly led to Justice’s death was a heavy blow to the back of the head by the heavy sword. In addition, there were twelve wounds on his body, all of which were penetrating wounds and lacerations.
“—In terms of magic examination, the murderer who killed Justice was Justice himself.”