The mascot of the wishing shop is a cat.

“(⊙o⊙)…Okay, here you go.”

Lingyan respectfully handed the crystal cluster to Meros.

Meros lowered his head and bit down on the crystal cluster, then tilted his head back and put the entire crystal cluster in his mouth.

"Click-clack—click-clack—"

With a crisp crackling sound, Meros was chewing on the crystal cluster.

This crystal cluster, which should have been, and indeed should have been, very hard, was eaten like a giant potato chip in Meros's mouth, crunching and crunching with a satisfying crunch.

While Meros was eating the crystal cluster, Lingyan, feeling that his life was no longer in danger, sat down to the side without any regard for appearances. He even transformed his entire body into an elemental form again.

It wasn't that he was afraid of being beaten; if Meros wanted to kill him, he wouldn't stand a chance of survival. His only reason for doing this was—he had no clothes to wear. In front of an intelligent being, especially one that recognized him, he couldn't possibly be shameless enough to run around naked, especially since this was a man!

"!!!"

Despite knowing that Meros was very strong, Lingyan was still shocked when she heard him chewing the crystal clusters like he was chewing potato chips.

He had tested how hard this thing was during a previous experiment. He squeezed the crystal cluster with the force that could easily crush steel, and the thing remained completely undamaged.

"Crack-crack—crack—plop"

Meros chewed easily for a few moments, then swallowed the entire crystal cluster.

"Fu... Fugui! What does this taste like...? Don't, don't look at me like that... I, I don't even know your name! And... and besides, isn't that what Boss Lin calls you...?"

Lingyan couldn't help but ask, but after uttering the question, his voice grew softer and softer under Moros's threatening gaze. Even so, he still managed to say everything he wanted to say.

My name is Meros. :(

Meros glared at him fiercely.

"Oh, okay, okay, Mr. Meros. Could you please enlighten me? (〃′-w?)"

Lingyan readily agreed and changed his tune.

"It has no taste. This is the power I lost; I've simply taken it back."

Meros didn't dwell too much on the name of the Spirit Flame; as long as it didn't call him "Wealthy," it was fine with him.

"Wow! Well, nothing's changed."

Lingyan mustered her courage and looked Molos up and down, her eyes filled with doubt and curiosity.

"..."

Meros pursed his lips and remained silent.

Because this change didn't happen on his side, but on Lin Xiyue's side.

"Alright, alright, I won't ask anymore. But could you please come with me so we can register something?"

Lingyan realized that Molos hadn't said anything, so she wisely refrained from pressing him for an answer and instead made another request.

"That's fine, but we need to take care of this area first."

Meros seemed to be in a good mood and even offered to help clean up the mess.

"Huh? This place is all scorched earth, what else needs to be done?"

Ling Yan was completely bewildered. He stood up and looked around. All he could see was scorched earth, a result of the explosion and the intense heat. Some of the houses, which might have originally been made of metal, had their frames mostly melted away.

You could say that there's nothing of value here, not even if you were to collect scraps or recycle them.

"Yes, this little thing is well hidden."

Meros walked to the point at a 45-degree angle to the left of where he discovered the crystal cluster, and walked about ten meters.

There was only a small piece of steel bars that had almost completely melted, and a few protruding mounds of crystallized soil.

"Shh-"

Without saying a word, Meros extended its sharp claws and grabbed at the right side of the mound.

"Ow—!"

A faint cry of pain rang out as Meros's claws struck.

"!! There really is one! Let me see what it is!! (⊙x⊙;)"

Upon hearing the sound, Lingyan rushed over, excited to see what it was.

"Huh? So small!"

Lingyan saw clearly what Moros had pulled out with a single claw.

That thing was just a tiny lump, so tiny that it was only about the size and height of an adult's thumb joint.

And because it is so small, you can't even see any details about it. You can only see a small, purplish-red blob, with five or six bright red, tentacle-like things extending from under the fleshy ball. On top of that, it even emits a faint purplish-red glow.

Because of these characteristics, this little fleshy growth is even somewhat cute, like a tiny jellyfish floating on Meros's claws.

"Hmm, what is this? The real form of that tumor from before? ゛('◇')?"

Lingyan was very humble and eager to learn.

"You could say that. That big tumor was something it left behind to attract attention when it fled, and it's basically harmless. This is its true form. If it were to inhabit a human body, it could reproduce such a large population again within ten days. Hmm... to put it in a way that's easier for you to understand, the big tumor you destroyed is like the tail a gecko leaves behind when it encounters danger."

Moros gave a brief explanation, and even described it to Lingyan to make do with his limited understanding.

"Oh! I see. Hehe (≧◇≦)ㄏ So what do we do next?"

Lingyan suddenly realized something, and then, as if it were a habit, asked what to do next.

"...I'll take control of him. You can take him to your place for interrogation or whatever. I don't care."

Melos rubbed his forehead. He always felt that talking to Lingyan was just as difficult as talking to Earl.

"Oh, oh, oh! What about you! Shall we go together?"

Lingyan obediently followed Meros's orders and got up to head back.

"Yes, I'll go back with you, but don't mention me in front of Lin Xiyue."

Meros nodded and got up to walk towards the camp.

"Huh? You're not telling her? You haven't told her yet?! You can't do this! You'll be so embarrassed when she finds a boyfriend. (⊙﹏⊙)b"

Lingyan talked as he walked, but as soon as he finished talking about Lin Xiyue finding a boyfriend, he felt immense pressure from behind.

"(⊙o⊙)...You like Boss Lin?!! No wonder...when I got close to Boss Lin before, you stared at me so scary."

Lingyan only realized the problem after feeling that pressure.

"Do you think you can win someone over like that? You need to be at least a decent person for her to consider dating you! Otherwise, she'll just be your mom at best! Look at me, I've been with Lingji for a long time, and she loves me! She loves to touch my abs every time we finish our break at night. ヾ(?°?°?)??"

Lingyan proudly shared his experience.

"And let me tell you something very important, you must remember these two sentences. A man who doesn't respect himself is like a rotten leafy vegetable! Chastity is a man's best cosmetic procedure! This is the most important thing, that's how I won over Lingji! Don't let my usual flirtatious manner fool you, I pay close attention to these things. (o?▽?)o"

……