The Demon Crow took to the air again, this time without maintaining a steady flight. Instead, it occasionally performed a series of stunt maneuvers. When it finally landed near the destination, Ashley crossed her arms and scolded the puking reporter loli.
“You traitor! How dare you cozy up to others to scheme against me!”
“Urp…”
Chloe pretended to be too weak to stand and toppled forward, trying to puke on Ashley’s new boots—custom-made high-end cowboy boots from the leatherworker’s daughter, worn for the first time today.
But Ashley reacted swiftly, pulling her foot back and leaving Chloe to miss, landing face-first in her own vomit.
Splat!
Chloe slipped like a penguin, her little face buried in the filth.
“You jerk… How dare you do this to me… I absolutely won’t forgive you!”
But she didn’t seem to mind. She scooped up some dirt, wiped her face, and calmly cleaned off the vomit before continuing.
“You idiot, that’s a renowned medical family! Who doesn’t have sick family or friends? Besides, highly difficult surgeries can only be done by renowned physicians. So many people want to befriend the Scripps Family but get turned away. Your crappy crow only has some unformed, thin extraordinary power. What’s wrong with giving it to them? Idiot, idiot, idiot!”
“I’m not giving it, so drop it.” Though she said that, Ashley did feel a bit regretful.
This was the Third Agricultural Base, located southwest of Fountain City. Fields crisscrossed in neat plots, but the vibrant green crops had been gouged out like scoops from a tub of Häagen-Dazs, leaving deep trenches—clearly the work of Mutated Wrigglers.
From the intelligence gathered from various sources, Mutated Wrigglers only emerged from the ground when they needed to feed, devouring farmland. They preferred beans and corn, which provided direct protein and sugars.
But plant nutrition was still too sparse, so they must have craved nutrient-rich food, like… fresh and tender lolis.
“Aaah! Why am I the bait?!” Chloe dangled from a tree, kicking her little legs wildly.
“You wanted to report news from the closest distance, right? Don’t worry, I’m with you. We’ll die together if it comes to that.” Ashley prepared her equipment.
“Then… give me the shutter cord! Heh heh heh, let me capture your ugly death as you’re bitten by this worthless worm at the last moment of my life!”
“As you wish.”
Ashley positioned the camera tripod from a side angle, then handed the shutter cord to Chloe’s little hand.
Rumble rumble rumble…
A deep, thunderous roar echoed from underground, and unsettling vibrations traveled through their feet.
It was coming!
An Alarm Cicada was buried in the ten-meter radius of soil. Once triggered, it would emit a high-frequency screech.
Screeech—!
The moment the cicada’s cry pierced the air, Ashley focused intensely. Seconds later, the soil in front of her bulged and erupted upward!
Fan-like razor teeth formed a terrifying meat-grinding vortex—three layers rotating in opposite directions, outer to inner!
This massive Shield Tunneling Devil Worm’s maw was wider than the Blue-Haired Loli’s height, blotting out the sky and engulfing her tiny body. From Chloe’s rear view, it looked just like feeding fresh meat into a grinder!
What… what kind of cooking show was this?
Though Chloe trembled in fear, she yanked the cord hard!
Snap!
The flash fired as Ashley drew her Finger Gun from her waist!
The loli’s little finger lifted frame by frame in slow motion, the giant maw’s rotation slowed, and the whole world fell silent.
In an instant, a demonic flame bud bloomed from her fingertip—the arsonist’s final glimmer left on the world.
Extraordinary power erupted. A fiery vortex traced a rose pattern, exploding forward. It pierced the hungry, devouring horror of the maw, hurling the massive body backward!
The flame bullet’s core compressed ultra-high-temperature plasma. Even armored plates would melt instantly, let alone an undefended open mouth. The devil worm’s insides ballooned like a burst boiler, organs half-cooked, wisps of green smoke rising as it crashed to the ground!
“Heh heh, you useless long worm, all limp and floppy. If you’ve got the guts, get hard for this lady!”
Though drenched in cold sweat, Chloe’s eyes shone brightly as she stomped and spun on the worm’s corpse.
After dealing with the worm, the agricultural base staff treated them, loading up a cart of muddy potatoes and greens, plus sausages and ham. They even provided a cart to haul the worm corpse.
–
Back home, Ashley donated the potatoes and vegetables to the community, keeping the sausages and ham for herself. She diced them small, steamed them over rice. Lifting the lid released steam, the sausage rice glistening with enticing oily sheen.
Flora had gone from knowing nothing about cooking to learning a bit from Ashley, now able to help out.
“You’re so amazing, you can do everything,” Flora praised.
“I know a little of everything,” Ashley said modestly.
Compared to a housewife, her skills were still lacking—she only piled ingredients simply and made basic sauces—but among lolis, it was pretty good.
[Slanted Street Old Museum]
The museum was unusually packed today. The main hall teemed with people craning their necks to view the Shield Tunneling Devil Worm.
Its bloated, swollen skin, covered in bristles, encased tough fibrous connective tissue. The vortex-shaped head was soft and bizarre, pink polyps studded with arm-thick fangs.
Behind the maw stretched a long row of compound eyes; no matter the angle, the pupils always faced the observer.
Processed into a Cadaver at Blackfoot Workshop, it moved as if alive—bristles undulating in waves, tail tendrils wriggling, utterly creepy.
Observing such a ferocious behemoth safely, feeling its high body heat and L2D-like dynamic sway, intensely stimulated everyone’s morbid curiosity.
Ashley stood on the display platform, one hand on her hip, the other on her knee, with a large photo hanging beside her—though motion-blurred, it vaguely showed the little loli facing the giant monster head-on.
At the entrance, a newsstand held several issues of Fountain News from different dates, all featuring Ashley.
“The Strongest Loli in History”, “Combat: The Oppressive Presence of the Giant Worm”, “She’s So Cute, and She Rid the People of Harm”, “The Jenkins Family Has a Good Person”…
Curator Mavis gripped her wheelchair wheels, slowly pushing to the door. Seeing the surging crowd and the long ticket line, she grinned ear to ear.
Since taking over the museum, she counted peak-hour visitors daily to gauge business.
But in recent months, attendance had plummeted, and family pressure left her breathless.
Her parents urged her to sell the museum, heal her legs, become healthy, and find love.
Flowers and love letters would make a girl glow, not this silent, melancholic state.
Mavis tried counting, but there were too many. Even the usually closed side doors were open, yet it was still jammed.
Her once-despairing, anxious heart now filled with joy and hope.
At first, she wanted to protect her grandfather’s lifelong work. Later, she grew to love the museum. Even mobility-impaired, she’d wheel around, polishing exhibits spotless.
She loved kids chattering “Curator Sister” around her, tourists pausing at oddities, closing time with slanting golden sunlight in the hall, soft sad saxophone echoing.
–
In the ticket line, a black-haired loli clutched her hands nervously to her chest.
“I’m not here for her… I just wanted to visit the museum.”
Despite her excuses, Amber remained uneasy, tempted to flee several times.
Finally getting her ticket, punched at the door, she was shoved by the crowd into the noisy hall, steps hesitant. Nearby tourists surged in, creating a small counterflow.
On tiptoes, she spotted Ashley smiling and waving to visitors from the platform, and beside the Blue-Haired Loli stood an unfamiliar loli.
That loli had the same black hair, but shinier, like oiled with linseed. Delicate features, curled lashes—not just pretty, but confident and sharp in a striking way.
She had a new friend…
A wave of intense loss and emptiness surged in Amber’s heart. Her lips trembled, mind in turmoil.
