Chapter 117 Temporary Measures

Lili was placed in a body adjustment pod while everyone watched. As the pod lid slowly closed, Hao Ren felt a weight lift from his heart.

"So, this should work, right?" He looked at Raven 12345, who was currently holding a manual and studying it intently. Seeing her unreliable demeanor, Hao Ren's heart immediately rose again. "Are you sure you know how to use this thing?"

"Oh, you're so annoying. Even if I don't know how to use it, I'm still more reliable than you, right? Using the data terminal as a brick, and you still have the nerve to talk about me," Raven 12345 glared at Hao Ren, then turned to look at the adjustment pod Lili was lying in. "Don't worry, it's fully automatic. I'm just making sure the indicator signals match what's written in the manual."

"So, her uncontrolled state can be controlled this way?" Vivian curiously touched the silver-white alloy device. In her eyes, this high-tech gadget was quite incredible. "Just lying down for a while is enough?"

Raven 12345 waved her hand. "This is a temporary measure. It can temporarily stabilize her mind. After a few days, her body will reach an evolutionary critical point. At that time, you just need to find a spacious enough place to let her explode all at once. Don't worry, with this adjustment, even during the evolutionary outburst, she will be conscious. At most, her body will revert to wolf form, but she will never hurt anyone."

This was the "treatment plan" that Raven 12345 had arranged for Lili. In her words, Lili's growth was an inevitable process, and a good thing at that. Only a fool would try to stop it, so all she had to do was help Lili smoothly get through these few days of physical restlessness. And this only required a small adjustment; the equipment here could fully meet the need.

With the help of the body adjustment pod, Lili's mental state could be temporarily suppressed to normal levels, and her body would be brought under control again. Meanwhile, her "growth and development" would still proceed normally. Today's body adjustment would allow her to safely get through this period of accumulation, and everything would be fine once she exploded at the growth critical point.

Of course, when "exploding," they had to find a sufficiently safe environment. According to Raven 12345's prediction, an immature werewolf like Lili would easily lose control of her form during her first power outburst. She might completely transform into a beast, or even become a true monster, like a canine the size of Xia Li—obviously, they couldn't let her transform in the living room.

Hao Ren had already thought of a place. The southern suburbs had plenty of open and deserted wilderness. From the back door of his house, there was wasteland, and not far away was a stretch of undulating hills. That place was so desolate that there wasn't even a path, let alone people. He would let Lili transform there, and even if she ran wild all night, he wouldn't have to worry about disturbing the neighbors.

"But, come to think of it, werewolves are really amazing," Hao Ren looked at the coffin-like adjustment pod, feeling that Lili lying inside was full of funny moments, so he could only forcibly change the subject. "Seriously, she can turn into a wolf? That girl usually looks so innocent and cute, it's hard to imagine what she'd be like when her bestial nature is unleashed."

"Ignorance is bliss…" Vivian saw the curious expression on Hao Ren's face and couldn't help rubbing her forehead. "When werewolves fully revert to their wild form, they're complete lunatics. Do you think they're like those lazy dogs at the door who lie on the ground pretending to be dead when the sun comes out? I was there when Fenrir bit Odin to death. The blood spurted out seven or eight meters… That's why even high-level bloodkin don't want to provoke fully transformed werewolves. Even if they're usually airheads, they're definitely not to be trifled with after transforming."

Hao Ren didn't dare to ask about the specific details of Fenrir biting Odin to death. He knew this must be another thrilling dark history of Vivian's. He just patted his chest with relief. "Raven has guaranteed that Lili will remain rational when she transforms. I'll trust her this time. And, honestly, aren't you curious about what Lili will look like as a wolf? You know how big the gap in cuteness would be!"

Vivian's expression was strange. "Is that interesting? I turn into a bunch of bats and fly around helping you wipe the corners of the walls and the chandeliers every now and then. I've never seen you pay attention to that?"

Hao Ren was suddenly stunned. "Hey, that's right. How did I never notice that?"

Just as Hao Ren and Vivian's conversation was getting more and more abnormal, Raven 12345 finally chimed in. "Have you said enough nonsense? If you have, you should go in and lie down. I'll install the translation plug-ins for you."

Hao Ren had almost forgotten about this. Now that Raven reminded him, he remembered that he had to face another coffin disaster, and the expression on his face became subtle. "Um, didn't you say it would take two more days…"

"Don't talk so much nonsense. Since you're here today, let's just get it done today," Raven 12345 snapped her fingers casually, and the ground not far away cracked open, with three new body adjustment pods slowly rising from the floor. "Anyway, I suggest you go in and lie down. Using the data terminal as a translator is ultimately using a tool, which is not very convenient. But this body adjustment can directly modify your minds, so that in the future you can communicate with any race within the Empire without barriers. You can decide which is more convenient. Oh, right, Izhaks, you use the one on the far right. It's a special model, and the internal space can be automatically adjusted according to the user's figure. It doesn't look big, but it can definitely hold you."

Vivian was the first to nod. She wasn't at all resistant to the coffin-shaped adjustment pod. "Just lie down, right? I'll go first!"

"This is a coffin!" Hao Ren quickly reminded her, but all he got was a very indifferent smile from Vivian. "So what if it's a coffin? It's not like I haven't slept in a real coffin before. There was a time when the bloodkin were all the rage for sleeping in coffins, saying it suited their status and demeanor. I even scraped together money to buy myself a walnut one with a cross decoration, but unfortunately, it was lost during the war in Europe."

As Vivian spoke, she had already come to the body adjustment pod closest to her. She stroked the silver-white alloy shell, a look of reminiscence on her face. "This shape… this style… it's really nostalgic. I used to love sleeping in coffins of this shape."

Hao Ren felt cold sweat break out all over his body when he heard this, and he was even more unwilling to go in and lie down.

However, his own protest didn't seem to have much effect. By the time he realized it, Vivian and Izhaks had already each found a "coffin" and gone in to lie down, leaving him alone in the room, staring wide-eyed at the sinister-looking Raven 12345.

That "sinister-looking" might not just be his imagination…

"Are you going in yourself, or is this old lady going to stuff you in?" Raven pointed at the adjustment pod next to her. "If this goddess does it herself…"

Before Raven 12345 could finish speaking, Hao Ren had already slipped into the coffin: I'll just treat this as performance art!

After the sliding lid of the adjustment pod slowly closed, Hao Ren quickly lost consciousness.

In a series of illusory hallucinations, he seemed to have a dream.

He dreamed that he was standing on a calm body of water, which was illogical, but he was standing there firmly. Hao Ren looked around in the dream and saw various familiar scenes on the shore, including slightly outdated old-fashioned buildings, lively and bustling small markets, and mountains and rivers that he had never seen before but felt very familiar with.

Various scenes were arranged on the shore near the water surface, constantly changing like a revolving lantern. Hao Ren watched all of this in amazement. He clearly knew that he was dreaming, which was something he hadn't encountered when he was lying in the adjustment pod last time.

Then, he suddenly felt a tremor under his feet. Looking down, he saw a huge black shadow slowly rising from underwater.

An inexplicable sense of fear suddenly came from all directions. Hao Ren felt that a vicious beast was slowly rising from a deep abyss. It was the black shadow underwater, and this shadow was about to devour everything on the water—including all the scenery on the shore and Hao Ren himself, who was watching these scenes.

"Boom!"

A loud noise rang in his mind, and Hao Ren found that all the illusions around him had disappeared in an instant. He was floating in a chaotic and empty dark space, which was the normal sensory situation during the body adjustment phase.

The previous brief dream seemed to disappear without a trace like a meaningless stream-of-consciousness short film.

Raven 12345's voice came from not far away: "...I shouldn't have pressed the wrong button, right? Why did the red light suddenly turn on?"

Hao Ren: "…"

He felt that the only reason he hadn't been killed by this crazy goddess yet was because he was lucky!