Chapter 120: [Cup] and [Lamp]
For nearly half a month, Xu Zhi hadn’t taken a single step outside her room. During that time, her Familiars cooperated with Zhong Lingfan to handle some residential district expansion issues, as well as a secondary cleanup of the plantation.
As the progress bar for the Minor Aberration’s evolution to level 30 slowly reached the end, the rest of her Familiars—aside from the black cat—had all gradually reached the threshold of level 29.
This was largely thanks to the generous Federation and the “chives” (naive residents) of the residential district.
At level 29, both Xiao Yi and Gouzi had significant physical improvements, though neither had reached the 9000 stat mark for that level. Still, their traits had reached level 8 or 9. Xu Zhi estimated that once they broke through to level 30, their traits would all reach level 10—a level likely to be a qualitative leap.
Worth noting was that the evolution levels of the three Familiars still lagged behind the Minor Aberration. Fortunately, their special abilities had managed to keep pace, more or less.
Among them, Xu Zhi was most optimistic about Xiao Zhen’s [Instant Death].
When she reached level 29, her [Instant Death] skill had risen to Lv4. While the trigger rate at Lv3 was only 0.1%, Lv4 increased it to 0.5%. Though seemingly minor, the improvement was significant—Xiao Zhen could now use [Instant Death] three times with her current transcendent energy reserves.
A decent improvement—especially if Xu Zhi’s “luck buff” applied to Xiao Zhen as well.
It was just a pity that waiting for all three Familiars to hit level 30 would take too long. Otherwise, Xu Zhi really would’ve preferred to wait until they were all leveled up before heading into the city center—more safety never hurt.
Two days later, Xiao Zhen found another one of those black fruits. Xu Zhi immediately fed it to the Minor Aberration. At last, its evolution progress bar was full.
[Would you like your Familiar to evolve to level 30 now?]
The long-missed game prompt appeared.
[Note: This Familiar will undergo significant changes upon reaching level 30. Estimated evolution time: 78 hours. Please ensure the surrounding area is safe.]
Of course.
Xu Zhi clicked confirm, and the Minor Aberration immediately fell into slumber.
Wanting to observe the transformation, she took it out of her pocket and placed it on the table.
Over the past half month, the pounding pain and dizziness in her brain had eased significantly. Now, only the lingering feeling of a migraine and some light vertigo remained. She estimated another week or so and she’d fully recover.
And yet all of this—half a month of recovery—was the price of spending less than half an hour in the Midnight realm.
“Still not strong enough…” Xu Zhi sighed.
What’s more, she probably couldn’t bring Gouzi into the city center. There were too many Aberrants there, and Gouzi’s large size would draw too much attention. At least Xiao Yi could be hidden on her wrist, Xiao Zhen could fly, and the black cat didn’t even have a physical form—no concerns there.
Gouzi had to stay in the residential area, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Xu Zhi was worried that if she couldn’t return, the “chives” might run into trouble. With Gouzi there, she could monitor the area via the game device. If she needed to leave the city center, she could even have Gouzi pick her up.
These past days, even minor movements had been exhausting for her. She’d asked Zhong Lingfan to gather materials for the cloak she was making. Luckily, none of them were too hard to find, and for anything difficult to hunt, she had her Familiars. Everything had already been collected—only the Minor Aberration’s branch was still missing.
While recovering, Xu Zhi kept an eye on the evolving Minor Aberration.
Although the game said the Familiar would undergo significant changes, its physical appearance didn’t seem to reflect that—at least not at first glance.
Its body size hadn’t changed, which was expected. Thanks to its growth ability, it could generate new limbs like a plant anyway.
The main change was that over time, faint golden spots began to appear on its black body. Initially sparse, they grew in number, gradually connecting into lines that formed a complex pattern—so dizzying and intricate that just looking at it made Xu Zhi feel light-headed.
If the Minor Aberration had once been a grotesque, eerie monster that moved in disturbing ways, now, with these golden patterns, it radiated an indescribable sense of “radiance.” It was something that logically shouldn’t appear on a monster, yet Xu Zhi didn’t feel it was out of place. In fact, there was an odd sense of harmony.
“What strange thing is this?”
Xu Zhi was puzzled. The Minor Aberration had a [Cup] attribute—how could something associated with [Cup] give off such a feeling?
Could it be due to [Temptation]?
“What’s going on with it?”
Xu Zhi couldn’t help but ask the game device.
The narrator was silent for a moment before replying:
[Didn’t I already tell you before? Its path deviated slightly—things didn’t go as planned. As for what’s happening now… I honestly don’t know what to call it.]
So basically, asking was useless.
“Could it be because it consumed too many [Lamp] cores?” The more she looked, the more she felt that the faint gold on the Minor Aberration resembled the color of [Lamp] attribute cores, only deeper.
[…It’s not impossible.]
The narrator sounded uncertain.
[But [Cup] and [Lamp] are undeniably conflicting attributes. Logically, it’s absolutely impossible for both to coexist peacefully within a single creature.]
“You act like this is the first impossible thing that’s ever happened.”
Xu Zhi wasn’t as convinced as the narrator.
The narrator fell silent again.
[But this—this is truly impossible!]
[You saw how much pain it was in after eating a [Lamp] core. If the two attributes could truly fuse, it wouldn’t always suffer so much.]
That was true.
[So the cause likely isn’t the [Lamp] core. There must be… another reason.]
“What reason?” Xu Zhi pressed.
But the narrator gave no reply.
“This guy…”
Xu Zhi had a feeling—it was hiding something from her. Not like before, when it would say “this isn’t information you should know at your current level.” This felt more personal. Simply put, she felt the narrator was hiding a big secret… about itself.
Maybe, if she could uncover that secret, she’d finally understand where the game device came from—and what it truly was.
Unfortunately, the narrator guarded that secret with everything it had. Xu Zhi could only sense that something was being hidden. And if it refused to talk, there wasn’t much she could do.
For Xu Zhi, still suffering from Midnight aftereffects, time had become a blur. She often spaced out to relieve her discomfort and calm her agitated mind. In those moments of blankness, the Minor Aberration’s long evolution period passed quickly.
When it finally lifted its head in confusion, emerging from its deep slumber, Xu Zhi’s gaze shifted to the game device beside her.
[Congratulations, your Familiar has reached level 30.]
But didn’t she say she didn’t know if center has flyers?