Xyrin Empire-Chapter 682 What Kind of Competition!

From the start, Little Baobao just didn’t have a suitable playmate.

Okay, I know I’ve got the titles of Ultimate Dad, Mobile Fatherly Love Launcher, Walking Loli Summoning Machine, and so on and so forth (courtesy of Evil Priest Fake Lolita and the Tsundere Poison-tongued Great Prophet), and I’ve indeed collected a basketful of lolis, with more than one having daughter attributes. But you gotta understand, there really aren’t many who can play carefree with Little Baobao.

The manipulative ones are manipulative, the mischievous are troublemakers, even Mercury Lamp, who’s the most dad-controlled character, is psychologically mature almost to the point of being demonic. Among such bossy sisters, the simplicity of real little girl Little Baobao is more than overwhelming—although it’s all in good fun, she ends up crying and running to Dad or Moms one, two, and three all too often.

For a long time, there have only been two individuals in the family who could even remotely qualify as playmates for Little Baobao. The first one is Dingdang, Lady Goddess of the Trio of Idiots, while Little Douding has settled into the spot of Little Baobao’s first playmate, due to her personality and intellect, and is the one who usually plays with Little Baobao. Sadly, it seems that playing is more of a one-sided affair for Little Baobao; considering how the little girl occasionally, mindlessly tries to stuff Dingdang into her mouth, the latter always keeps guard over Little Baobao like she’s some wild beast. Even the not-so-bright goddess knows how terrifying it is to occasionally be considered food by such a huge creature.

The second one is Jier, who later joined the family—the most ancient Queen.

Yes, a lady of high self-esteem, arrogance, and rudeness, who isn’t quite bright. But now she has earned the title of children’s friend. There she is—the dumb, flat chested girl holding a book on child education all day.

No matter how heroically majestic the original Hero King Gilgamesh was (according to various analyses, maybe Jier’s original personality really was that badass), now Jier Jiamishi has turned into the world’s number one Nanny Dad, commanded by our mighty Little Baobao. Although Jier is still generally impolite to everyone, she has a peculiar fondness for Little Baobao—perhaps the little girl’s innocence and loveliness can even move the Hero King. Anyway, Jier is now Baobao’s second playmate.

But these two playmates, no matter how you look at them, are just nannies or pets (no mistake), and Little Baobao really needs a peer of her own as a friend—a point that neither Dingdang nor Jier nor the bunch of quirky sisters can satisfy for our little princess.

However, just as I, the father, was wracking my brains over this, someone burst onto the scene:

Xue Huajing—a misfortunate girl who became my daughter after a series of events including soul transfer, amnesia reincarnation, born into the royal family, raised in a harem, possessing superpowers, with an Emperor father, and heaps of sisters, amid a time of war...

Were it not for a misclassification at reincarnation, she would at least be a leading lady in romantic tales. So reincarnation is a technical job, you need to look not only at the father but also at the classification.

She’s gone without a trace.

Anyway, I meant to say, it’s unexpectedly very fortunate that Xue Huajing and Little Baobao get along so well. Two little girls, one two years old and the other two months (thankfully not spanning generations apart), having found playmates of the same age—that’s quite a coincidence, isn’t it?

Yeah, of course, it would be even better if Little Baobao and Xue Huajing didn’t drag me into their play every time...

Without experiencing it yourself, you guys wouldn’t understand how nut-cracking it is for a strapping young man to have to play with two little girls for three whole hours, just watching them contend with a few dolls.

Xue Huajing, this girl unsupported by roaming!

After testing, once Little Qi Jing moves more than five meters away from me, she begins gradually to fade, over seven meters she loses form like smoke, and within seconds returns to my Spirit Sea as an energy wave. Then Little Baobao encounters the regrettable situation of "The lolita you are searching for is out of the service area." Thus, to ensure the two kids can play normally, I have to stupidly stand by, exchanging glances with the super mouthy Golden Shining, enduring a night so bitter it ended with me hugging my daughter’s doll as I fell asleep...

The very next day I was endlessly taunted by that awful Jier Jiamishi. Standing there, holding Little Baobao in my left hand and the doll in my right, looking up at the sky contemplating my desire to die.

With a conflicted expression I woke up, put Little Baobao’s doll away, and began helping my own daughter dress her hair. This morning was especially frustrating.

You really are a troublemaker, Little Baobao!

"Ooh la la~!~!" The little girl in my arms squirmed restlessly, seemingly sensing her dad’s resentment and attempting to cure his melancholy with a strenuous effort to act cute, but unfortunately, other than turning the hair I had neatly combed into a mess, her efforts were utterly ineffective.

Little Qijing had already returned to the Spirit Sea and was now sound asleep, cuddling Alaya’s big wings, plunging into darkness. Regardless, from a sociological perspective, Alaya was half a mother to Little Qijing. It seemed the sleepy gene Alaya passed on was taking effect; the little one now needed to sleep for over twelve hours a day. Every time I peered into my soul, eight times out of ten, I would see a certain Dull Cat Angel and a certain Doll Girl huddled together, deep in slumber...

Behind us, a certain flat-chested Queen was still resisting her morning low blood pressure, huh, and she laughed at me for falling asleep with a doll! She should look at what she’s holding in her arms!

"Hey! Peasants, I command you to keep your eyes forward and not turn around! I’m changing my clothes!"

Listening to the haughty declaration from behind, I stared at the large mirror taking up half the wall in front of me and silently wondered: What exactly is stuffed inside that girl’s head? It’s ridiculous that she said this while looking at herself in the mirror!

"Blue and white stripes today?"

As I was clipping a crystal hairpin on Little Baobao, I watched the obvious fool in the mirror.

"Tsk, it’s all stuff you gave me, and you still ask me—Hey! You’re peeking!"

"Worry about that when you have curves."

I responded without turning back, and the blue-and-white-striped bare-skin Queen immediately exploded, "Damned peasant! Not only daring to sleep with me, but also to insult me like this! Who allowed you to breathe the air in this room that belongs to me! Get out!"

"Alright, alright, I’m going...~~"

Just like dealing with a child, I casually agreed a couple of times, picked up Little Baobao, who I had dressed in a bizarre fashion, and headed for the door, only to have the other party shout again, "Put down the little princess! Look at those hairpins you put on her!!"

I looked down and immediately got blinded by a shining light from a small head packed with crystal hairpins—caught up in arguing with Jier Jiamishi, I had outfitted Little Baobao’s head like a steel helmet.

Sheepishly, I handed the Little Princess to the professional nanny Jil, turned around, and staggered downstairs.

Just as I reached the top of the stairs, I encountered a baffling scene.

Pandora was standing barefoot in front of the dressing mirror in the living room, blankly staring at her own reflection. Then, she sneakily glanced around to make sure no one was watching and quickly drew a black line across the mirror with a marker.

...This action was obviously too much, my one-meter-two sister! Did you think we wouldn’t suspect who was behind the mysterious black line suddenly appearing at a one-meter-two height on the family mirror?

However, seeing Pandora make such a cute gesture when she thought no one was watching made me feel, how should I put it, instantly charmed.

"Pretty awful grudge, right?"

Suddenly, a stifled giggle came from behind me. Turning around, the golden-haired girl, still in her pajamas, moved closer with full smile and gave me a kiss.

"You saw it too... that girl is really unlucky." I smirked, "Speaking of which, has she never grown taller?"

"Oh, about that, I’ve actually heard Sivis mention it before," Sandora tugged my arm, leaning in with a mysterious look, "Apparently, before Pandora became a General, she often did this sneaky thing: behind the officers’ area where she was living at that time, there was a command tower. Pandora would check her height underneath the command tower every day, and after each check, she would discretely etch a line in an inconspicuous place on the tower..."

"And then?" Seeing Sandora’s expression, I knew there was an even more frustrating continuation to the story but couldn’t help asking.

"...Finally, the tower collapsed."

You silly girl, couldn’t you have marked someplace else? Or did you circle the entire tower and really couldn’t find any other place?

At that moment, I was deeply shocked and then utterly convinced; the sense of Pandora’s grievance towards her own height was deeply acknowledged.

Today, the carnival in Shadow City was still ongoing. For a festival that lasted fourteen days straight, this was just the beginning and no one would complain about the length of the celebration. Guests from all realms immersed themselves in a bizarre yet wondrous world; there were new surprises every moment. Given the Empire-controlled territories and the vast number of tribes, the fourteen days of showcase seemed rushed. With limited platforms for display, many realms couldn’t even find a spot, leading to the proliferation of mobile vendors and street performers. As these were irregularities but still part of the festival crowd, we couldn’t deal with them the same way we handled the Sicaro pirating gangs, so these past two days have been particularly tough for the urban management, especially today as street vendors seemed to have exploded in numbers...

"Ah, I really wish I could just drink tea, sleep, count money, and roll around in bed... why is it so busy?!"

While touring the areas with Sandora and Qianqian, we coincidentally met Boli Lingmeng on duty. The overwhelmed, red-and-white witch was indiscriminately swinging sacred coins to dispel a group of wandering performers that had nearly blocked the entire road, clamoring noisily.

Under our watch, the city manager, Boli Lingmeng, managed to restore order to the street within a few minutes. However, the girl showed no sense of achievement, merely yawning lazily, her face sullen: "So tired... Even though there’s a salary, it’s still exhausting... I really miss the days in the shrine, just lightly sweeping left and right, then drinking tea and basking in the sun. Well, time to start slacking off..."

"Cough cough, Lingmeng." I couldn’t bear it any longer and suddenly coughed behind the red-and-white witch.

"Wow!" The girl in front jumped like a startled rabbit, then turned her head and hastily retreated several meters, "You, you, you... when did you... I absolutely, definitely, wasn’t slacking off at all! Definitely wasn’t thinking about sneaking off to Silvia’s little shop to drink tea, have snacks, and lazily while away the time under the sun until the end of my shift..."

You’re drooling!

I fully understood the character of the girl in front of me, extremely averse to trouble, lazy and procrastinating whenever possible, and even when she was in Fantasy Country, she only acted when problems became unavoidable. Moreover, she harbored resentment as there was no reward for solving these incidents. Now, in Shadow City with a fixed daily work schedule during the busiest festival period for urban managers, it would be strange if she did her job diligently!

But at least this girl possessed a basic sense of responsibility. Each time she slacked off was after she had finished patrolling her assigned district, which is why I had always turned a blind eye to her antics. Of course, I wasn’t here to cause trouble now.

"I won’t dock your pay; how is that demon fox girl doing?"

"Oh, so you’re not docking my pay, you gave me such a scare," Boli Lingmeng immediately appeared relieved, as if the world was peaceful as long as her salary was intact, "She’s still unconscious. According to what I heard, it’ll take a few days before she wakes up. Murasaki is taking care of her..."

"How can someone be taken care of when they’re kept in a medical cabin?"

"...Ah! Purple is so sly! She skipped work!"

I had already lost all hope in these two employees who were always ready to sneak off!

Having received the news that Yakumo Lan was still unconscious, I also gave up on the idea of visiting the medical center. After saying goodbye to Ling Meng, who kept mumbling, Sandora, Qianqian, and I headed towards the G-77 area.

Finally, we were about to see the legendary fiercest competition arena.

G-77, a joint exhibition area, and also a venue for hosting competitive events, is sponsored by the Azeroth and New Eden Federation. Participants included at least forty representative teams from over twenty worlds. Of course, that’s not the tricky part. The tricky part is... the events here are electronic sports competitions.

Don’t understand? Well, Star X Hegemony, Warcraft X Hegemony, King of Fighters 20XX, Sin X Prepared...

I always thought Qianqian’s brain was unique enough, but never imagined that in a distant otherworld, there would exist geniuses whose brains could outrun hers in creativity. Can you believe those racial leaders came up with this?

We were still several hundred meters away from the exhibition area, but we could already hear the roaring cheers and the thrilling music coming from ahead. When we arrived, we found ourselves in a teeming sea of people, with spectators from various worlds packing into an open-air venue larger than a national stadium. They were cheering for their favorite players, and the area was equipped with numerous large projection systems transmitting the heart of the game live to the audience. When Qianqian and I arrived, a new match had just begun.

The ongoing competition was the Warcraft semifinals, with contestants being... the Azeroth representative team against the Azeroth representative team.

Looking at the player matchup list and the notes below, displayed on the large mid-air projection, I felt my worldview gradually collapsing.

Damn, is it that you really can’t find anything else to do?

The host’s voice echoed over the venue, "Ladies and gentlemen, guests from all worlds! The exciting moment has arrived, the semifinals, a match that will determine which four teams will stay, is about to begin! I am Tex Finley, the host for this match. First, let’s introduce today’s contestants: from Durotar, the Trolls’ player, Serajin Dal, consistently choosing his strongest Human Race; from Stormwind City, the Human player, Hilda Dugen, still choosing the Undead Clan that brought him countless victories! From Dark City, Shishak Bone Demon, oh, Emperor bless him, he has chosen the Dark Night Elves this time! After consecutive losses with the Human Race, Mr. Shishak has chosen the rarely used Dark Night Elves! Is this a counterattack?! And the last one, the Dark Night Elf player, Pan Gen... oh, by the Emperor’s name! Random! Pan Gen has shockingly chosen Random! Today’s match is too interesting! Two players have made jaw-dropping choices! The Emperor watches over you! You must take responsibility for your choices! Let’s see, let’s see what excitement these four contestants who have reached the semifinals will bring to us. Is it the Human Race of the Trolls that’s formidable, or is the power of the Human’s Undead strong, is the cunning of the Forgotten One’s Dark Night Elves effective, or will the Random pick of the Dark Night Elves Clan cause an upset, oh my, this match... this match is truly a test for the host... Reynolds! My tongue isn’t working anymore, your turn!"

Damn it, it’s not just Tex’s tongue that’s malfunctioning, my brain is all knotted up too.

"Ah Jun, Ah Jun... I feel a bit dizzy."

Qianqian, with eyes full of mosquito coils, grabbed my arm and shook it hard. "Who is who here?"

Who are you asking if you’re asking me! Even Qianqian felt dizzy; had this match’s chaotic level truly broken through the stratosphere?

At that moment, this super chaotic, headache-inducing match had already begun. The players on the field were covered by a soundproof barrier to prevent the cheers from the outside from disturbing their normal performance. Outside the field, the overwhelming audience quickly formed several camps, starting various taunts—this was definitely the most formidable e-sport match, we not only had a bunch of chaotic contestants but also an audience with fighting power of several +’s. Look at those Beastsman aunties over there, holding up huge portraits of the Trolls’ player, swinging them while ripping their throats shouting "For the Alliance". Then look at this group of Stormwind cheerleaders, waving the flags of the Undead Clan, their adrenaline soaring in a tsunami-like chant: "Destroy humanity", what a scene...

Director, can I request the organizers to be shot, please? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation.)

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