Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chapter 328: Chapter 24 The More You Ask, The More Dismal It Gets
 

The group passed through five battle halls and entered the depths of the Mirror Lake Divine Palace.

Lin Ning had a bellyful of questions, such as what the duplicate meant by “I just like your straightforwardness and decisiveness,” or “If you join my harem like this, you’ll be under Ling Yun’s thumb,” and so on.

But every time she found an opportunity to ask, she was immediately interrupted by Yan Yu in various ways, like “What is this! Oh… a book,” “There’s a figure over there! My mistake, it’s just a statue,” and so on.

After several times, she slowly got the hint and realized that Yan Yu didn’t want to hear her asking too much.

She kept her mouth shut, but secretly communicated with her sisters through voice transmission.

“What do you all think?” Lin Ning asked.

“Haven’t thought much about it,” Xie Ruoxi replied, “If the captain wants to open a harem, just let him be.”

“No,” Lin Ning said, exasperated, “It’s modern society; how could such things be allowed! Isn’t he afraid of being criticized by public opinion?”

“He’s probably not afraid,” Xie Ruoxi said.

Where Lin Ning would believe that, she racked her brains and thought about Yan Yu’s character.

Damn… he really isn’t afraid.

Before the battle with the Flying Dragon Battle Team, when the Zhenhai Team was criticized for having “too high a female ratio,” Yan Yu only reacted with “Haha, idiots,” and didn’t even bother to make a statement. It was just she and Sister Zhao battling it out with trolls online…

“Anyway, even if he really opens a harem, I won’t join, so it has nothing to do with me,” Xie Ruoxi said nonchalantly, “He can marry as many wives as he wants.”

Lin Ning: ……

Ruoxi, that’s not what your duplicate said. Why do I remember her saying “Once I become powerful, I’ll tie the captain down and marry him”?

But on second thought, if she truly became strong enough to thrash the captain, and dragged him off to the civil affairs bureau to forcibly register their marriage, wouldn’t that mean he couldn’t start a harem anyway? Since in modern society, to create a harem, one must not register a marriage, because the law doesn’t support polygamy, right?

“What about Ling Yun and Sister Zhao?” Lin Ning continued to inquire.

“He can’t open a harem,” Zhao Yuanzhen said coldly, “Otherwise, I’ll castrate him!”

Lin Ning decided to ignore Sister Zhao’s comment, and asked:

“What does Ling Yun think?”

“I find it quite interesting,” Chen Lingyun said with a smile.

How can that be interesting… Lin Ning was about to fiercely retort when she heard Chen Lingyun ask:

“Do you girls think the words spoken by Yan Yu’s duplicate really reflect his inner thoughts?”

“Yes.” “Of course.” “Definitely.” The girls agreed in unison.

If that wasn’t true, wouldn’t we be spouting nonsense into the void, scaring ourselves? It has to be true!

“Since that’s the case,” Chen Lingyun said with a smile, “then the words of our duplicates also must be true, right? Sister Zhao wants to be the lead wife, Ningning has a hidden crush on the captain, Ruoxi wants to forcibly marry the captain, and I want to encourage the captain to start a harem…”

“It’s not true, it’s not true!” The girls were alarmed and quickly denied it.

Xie Ruoxi even argued unreasonably, babbling:

“Is there a possibility that this mysterious realm naturally harbors malice toward females? Would the female replicas deliberately talk nonsense to slander our reputations, while male replicas would tell the truth?”

“I find that highly unlikely,” Chen Lingyun said with a smile, “The essence of gender is actually the difference in sex chromosomes. If the mechanisms of the mysterious realm were to handle individuals differently based on their sex chromosomes, then what would happen to cultivators with chromosomal abnormalities? Wouldn’t that be a loophole bug?”

Xie Ruoxi was at a loss for words. She knew it was impossible; her nonsense was just to shut Chen Lingyun up and keep her from talking further.

“I… I have absolutely no interest in Yan Yu in that way!” Lin Ning felt that a simple denial was not enough and added, “I see Yan Yu as our captain, and I only have the feelings of comradeship and friendship for him. That replica was spouting nonsense, and I was afraid you and the captain might misunderstand. So, I’m explaining again here—don’t overthink it, okay?”

“I don’t want to be some sort of grand wife either!” Zhao Yuanzhen likewise protested, “My view on marriage is very traditional and conservative. I can only accept one husband for life and would insist on dismantling the whole harem even if I married an emperor. It’s absolutely impossible for me to accept having several more ‘sisters’ at home.”

“So the replicas’ statements are all false,” Chen Lingyun concluded, “Yan Yu also never thought about having a harem. The most likely scenario is that the Zhenhai Team was previously hyped by outsiders on gender issues. Though he didn’t care, he might have been somewhat uncomfortable, and then the replica read his mind, intentionally saying those things to fiercely break his defenses. But it failed.”

“Exactly,” “It should be so,” “There’s no other explanation,” the other three girls quickly nodded in agreement.

Of course, agreeing in the voice transmission channel was one thing; what they actually thought in their hearts was another matter.

Because this was actually a very simple logical conundrum: as long as my replica tells the truth, Yan Yu’s replica does too; if my replica lies, Yan Yu’s replica lies as well.@@novelbin@@

So is what my own replica says true or false? In any case, everyone knows the truth deep down, but no one would openly admit it.

They had to be lies!

Since they were all lies, there was no need for everyone to discuss and strategize with each other. The group sullenly followed Yan Yu, and the atmosphere visibly darkened.

“What’s wrong with you?” Yan Yu turned back in puzzlement when he noticed the low morale, “You are not still secretly messaging to dwell on the replica incident, are you?”

“No, not at all,” “Those were all unfounded lies,” “We’re just wondering when the mysterious realm will come to an end,” the girls hurriedly explained.

“Oh.” Yan Yu didn’t press them, but simply nodded calmly and said, “That’s good.”

Seeing his straightforwardness, the girls felt even more aggrieved.

Couldn’t you say something to prove your innocence too? Even if you just said “My replica was lying,” whether true or false, it would at least make us feel a bit better after hearing it!

Zhao Yuanzhen couldn’t hold back and directly asked:

“Yan Yu, do you intend to have a harem in the future?”

“How would I know what will happen in the future?” Yan Yu retorted.

“What about now?” Lin Ning pressed on.

“Of course, I don’t have such thoughts now,” Yan Yu responded with a sneer, “I don’t even plan to find a girlfriend, let alone start a harem. Isn’t asking such questions laughable? It’s like someone who doesn’t even buy lottery tickets dreaming about ‘what I would do if I won ten million’ every day.”

Hearing his admission of “not intending to start a harem,” the girls collectively breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.

But then it hit them, the captain doesn’t even plan to find a girlfriend…

So the atmosphere turned even colder, and everyone was somewhat downhearted, unable to lift their spirits.

Leading the group, Yan Yu made sure they checked every room in the depths of the Mirror Lake Divine Palace. Apart from many useless pieces of furniture and utensils, they indeed found a smattering of magical treasures, Elixir Medicines, Spirit Grass, and so on, finally discovering the control center of the mysterious realm—a beautifully crafted small bronze mirror—in one of the rooms.

“Ningning, take the others and tidy up the items. Ling Yun, come and refine this mirror,” Yan Yu ordered, then suddenly looked perplexed, “Why do you all seem so spiritless?”

“No, it’s just some fatigue after tackling the mysterious realm,” the group replied listlessly.