105: Chapter 105 Arya's Sullen Mood

After chatting briefly with Customer Service Miss, Li Yuan's mood was a bit complicated.

On one hand, learning that the Zerg were actually "pollution derivatives" of a wounded god, and that his leveling up by killing monsters was essentially performing "debridement surgery" for the god.

The enemy in front of him suddenly turned from flesh-and-blood creatures into divine beings, which really made one feel a bit panicked.

And this kind of technological world's digital code god, coupled with meme contamination and creation betrayal, the script felt a bit familiar.

On the other hand, the last sentence from Customer Service Miss gave him a little expectation.

"When I earn enough life essence, I can come out to play!"

If Customer Service Miss could really appear in reality... Li Yuan calculated, this could probably be considered the "first person" he met after coming to this world!

"Master~" Laya came out of the bathroom, her wet hair draped over her shoulders, wrapped only in a bath towel, blinking her large ice-blue eyes, "What are you thinking about? You're smiling so strangely."

Li Yuan snapped back to reality, looking at Laya's appearance, and couldn't help but reach out and pull her over: "I was thinking about what a certain Customer Service Miss said about being able to come out and play in the future."

"Oh—" Laya dragged out the tone, suddenly putting her hands on her hips, the bath towel almost slipping off, she hurriedly held it down, but her face already had an "I'm very angry" expression, "Does Master think Customer Service Miss is cuter than me? Do you think her voice sounds better? Is it—"

Before she could finish, she was pulled by the waist by Li Yuan and sat on his lap.

"Jealous?" Li Yuan smiled and pinched her cheek.

"I am not!" Laya turned her head away, but the corners of her mouth were already curled up, "I'm just... just reminding Master, you can't fall in love with someone new every time you see them! Sister Elia is one thing, after all, she's our teammate, but Customer Service Miss doesn't even have a physical form!"

Li Yuan was amused by her logic: "What do you mean by 'Sister Elia is one thing'? What are you thinking about in that little head all day?"

"Thinking that Master is a playboy!" Laya turned around, cupped Li Yuan's face with both hands, and said very seriously, "Although I know Master likes Laya the most, you still have to be careful about the influence! Look, Sister Elia hasn't been coming to play with us much lately, it must be because of Master—"

Her words were blocked by Li Yuan's kiss.

After a while, Laya leaned softly in Li Yuan's arms, the bath towel had completely come undone, but she couldn't be bothered to care.

"Master is a cheater..." she muttered softly.

"Who told you to be jealous for no reason." Li Yuan hugged her and stood up, walking towards the bedroom, "Sleep, we have to continue visiting tomorrow."

"But the bath was for nothing..."

"Take another one later."

"..."

The next morning, sunlight spilled into the room through the gaps in the curtains.

When Li Yuan woke up, he found Laya wrapped around him like an octopus, sleeping soundly. Her long silver-white hair was scattered on the pillow, and her eyelashes cast tiny shadows in the morning light.

He moved slightly, and Laya immediately tightened her arms in her sleepiness: "Master... don't go..."

"I'm not going." Li Yuan laughed, reached out and ruffled her hair, "Time to get up, we still have to visit the Holy Alliance's 'Starship Manufacturing Center' today."

"Sleep for another five minutes..." Laya buried her face in his arms, "Went to sleep too late yesterday..."

"My fault?" Li Yuan raised an eyebrow.

Laya woke up immediately, looked up and glared at him: "It's all Master's fault!"

The two laughed and had a tender moment in bed until Laya's stomach let out a "gurgling" protest.

"Hungry." Laya looked at Li Yuan pitifully.

"Get up and eat." Li Yuan patted her back.

Laya suddenly remembered something, and frowned: "Master, I think Sister Elia's condition seems wrong."

Li Yuan's hand paused: "What's wrong?"

"It's just..." Laya tried to organize her words, "She's been unhappy lately, the time she spends alone has increased, even when I look for her, she says she's busy."

Li Yuan had also noticed.

Ever since his relationship with Laya went a step further, Elia had indeed kept her distance from them intentionally or unintentionally. At first, he thought it was because she was shy or felt awkward—after all, the three of them were staying in one suite, and when he and Laya were intimate, Elia might feel it was inconvenient.

But thinking about it carefully, it didn't seem to be entirely the case.

Elia's recent "unhappiness" seemed different from when they first started, more like... a kind of worry?

The change seemed to start from when Sai Wei reached the fourth rank, rather than when his relationship with Laya updated a step as he first thought.

"And," Laya continued, "I went to find her yesterday and found her staring at her talent crystal in her room. I called her three times before she reacted. When I asked her what was wrong, she just said it was nothing."

Li Yuan pondered for a moment: "Let's go talk to her later."

"Mm!" Laya nodded vigorously, "Sister Elia is our teammate, we can't let her be unhappy alone!"

---

Breakfast was eaten at the academy cafeteria.

The cafeteria of St. Alburn Glory Academy was designed with a very "sacred" feel—the high dome was painted with a mural of the starry sky, long tables were arranged neatly, students were wearing various uniforms and eating quietly, even speaking in hushed tones.

Li Yuan, Laya, Sai Wei, and Ansevier sat at one table. Luo Lan and Chen Jingyi were discussing some technical issue at another table, while Chu Xinghe was wandering around with his tray, and was eventually pulled by Yimoku to sit with the Angel Race delegation.

"Going to the Starship Manufacturing Center today," Sai Wei said while cutting his fried egg, "I heard we can see the assembly line of the 'caesar-class' battleship. Ansevier, do we have similar warships in Olympia?"

Ansevier was drinking black tea elegantly: "We have 'Zeus-class', but the design philosophy is different. The design philosophies of the three major human kingdoms are all different. The Holy Alliance's warships emphasize the multiple utilization of energy by mathematical rates. Olympia pays more attention to single-ship endurance. And the Yanlong Alliance focuses on quantity, cluster arrays, and information chain synergy."

"So, with the same resources, the Holy Alliance has the strongest firepower, the Yanlong Alliance has the largest quantity, and our warships are the strongest. But facing the Zerg, the Holy Alliance has the smallest battle damage when winning, and is basically wiped out when failing; Olympia has the smallest battle damage when failing; the Yanlong Alliance focuses on cost-effectiveness, and the losses are the cheapest when failing."

As she spoke, she glanced at Sai Wei: "When did you become interested in starships? I remember you couldn't even assemble a model when you were a child, and you even installed the turret of the 'Thunder' upside down."

Sai Wei's face instantly flushed red: "That was how many years ago!"

"Seven years old." Ansevier reported the number precisely, "Later, I helped you reassemble it."

"..."

Li Yuan held back his laughter and turned to look at the cafeteria entrance.

Elia was walking over from there.

She was wearing the dark blue uniform of North Star Academy today, with her silver hair tied into a high ponytail. But Li Yuan noticed that her eyes were a bit unfocused.

"Sister Elia!" Laya waved.

Elia came back to her senses, nodded towards them, took a simple breakfast, and walked over.

"Morning." She sat down next to Laya.

"Didn't Sister Elia sleep well last night?" Laya asked with concern, "You look a bit tired."

"It's fine." Elia answered briefly, lowering her head to start eating oatmeal.

The atmosphere was a bit subtle.

Sai Wei also noticed it and asked Li Yuan with his eyes: "What's the situation?"

Li Yuan shook his head, indicating he didn't know. Although he and Elia had a good relationship, it hadn't reached the point where he could directly ask such personal questions.

Breakfast ended in a slightly quiet atmosphere. Elia ate very quickly, and after finishing, she said she wanted to preview the content for today's visit and left first.

Watching her hurried back, Laya whispered to Li Yuan: "See, Sister Elia isn't even walking with us anymore."

Li Yuan stroked her head: "After we finish visiting today, we'll find her and have a good talk."

---

The morning's visit itinerary was the "Radiance of the Holy" Starship Manufacturing Center.

On the huge orbital assembly platform, the "caesar-class" battleship, several kilometers long, was slowly taking shape. Nanobots flowed like a swarm of bees on the hull surface, welding precise energy circuits; giant robotic arms hoisted main cannons one by one; holographic projections marked various parameters in the air.

The Guide was explaining enthusiastically: "...The 'caesar-class' adopts the latest 'Holy Light Core' reactor, with an output power 40% higher than the previous generation. Its main weapon, the 'Judgment Light' particle cannon, can finish charging in three seconds, and one shot can pierce the carapace of a leviathan mothership..."

The students looked up at this steel giant and let out bursts of amazement.

But Li Yuan's mind was not on this.

He was quietly observing Elia. She followed in the team, listening to the explanation, occasionally taking notes, looking very normal. But Li Yuan noticed that her gaze often drifted into the distance, and her fingers were unconsciously rubbing the talent crystal pendant—that was a small gadget given to every student by North Star Academy to monitor talent status.

Laya also discovered it and secretly tugged on Li Yuan's sleeve.

The visit was halfway through, and there was a fifteen-minute break.

Li Yuan gave Laya a wink, and the two of them, one on the left and one on the right, "sandwiched" Elia who was about to go to the rest area.

"?" Elia looked at them in confusion.

"Sister Elia," Laya blinked her big eyes, "Shall we find a place to talk?"

Elia hesitated for a moment, looked at Laya's sincere eyes, and finally nodded.

The three left the team and walked to a viewing platform not far away. Here you could overlook the entire assembly platform, the view was wide, and there were no people now.

Laya pulled Elia to sit on a bench, and Li Yuan sat opposite.

Four eyes stared fixedly at her.

Elia felt a bit uncomfortable being watched: "What's wrong?"

"Sister Elia has something on her mind." Laya stared into her eyes and said word by word.

Elia panicked, subconsciously shifted her gaze: "N-no. What could I have on my mind."

Her reaction was too obvious, even the cover-up seemed clumsy.

Li Yuan sighed inwardly. This girl usually looked lively and cheerful, but in some aspects, she was very simple.

"Then Sister Elia," Laya leaned closer, her voice soft, "Why have you been unhappy these past few days? You don't come to play with Laya and Brother Li Yuan much anymore."

Hearing that it was this, Elia breathed a sigh of relief, but then a complex emotion surged up.

She pursed her lips and lowered her head: "My cultivation... seems to have a problem."