Chapter 1 Shopping

Hao Ren walked down the street with the list Vivian had given him, followed by Lily, who was looking around with great interest, and Lolita, who had transformed back into human form using magic. It was Lolita's first time seeing the everyday life of humans on Earth, so she seemed particularly curious. Although her innate restraint prevented her from being as unrestrained as Lily, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander. Everything on this street was incredibly new to her.

Hao Ren looked back at the two of them and asked Lily, amused, "Didn't you say you were going to give Dou Dou psychological counseling? Why did you come shopping with me?"

"No rush, no rush. That little rascal has been kicked out for over half a month now, so psychological counseling isn't urgent," Lily said, waving her hands. "It's rare for Lolita to visit Earth, so I'm showing her around."

"You're the one who wants to go shopping, aren't you?" Hao Ren couldn't help but give the husky a sidelong glance. As the saying goes, you have to walk a dog, and even more so a husky. This one usually pestered people to take her out for a walk every day. She said it was shopping, but Hao Ren always felt like he was the one being walked. "By the way, Lolita, what do you think of shopping on Earth for the first time?"

"It's lively, but not as prosperous as I imagined," Lolita said honestly. "When I heard you describe Earth as having at least seven billion people, I was shocked. I thought it would be an incredibly crowded planet, but it looks about the same as Holletta's capital."

Hao Ren smiled. "Seven billion people are spread out, some areas are dense and others are sparse. Where I live is considered the suburbs, and the population can't compare to the city center. I'll take you to the city center next time, and then you'll know what a population crisis means."

"Population crisis... I didn't expect you to have that concept too," Lolita suddenly looked nostalgic. "Back when the Magic Empire was at its peak, we had nearly ten billion people crowded onto a single planet. The cities we built could reach into the clouds, and even the seabed was covered with continuously operating migrant cities, but that still wasn't enough to cope with the ever-expanding population. So we even built colonies on the moon... At that time, everyone thought our civilization was unstoppable and would soon rush into the depths of the universe... Sigh."

After hearing Lolita's sigh, Lily's eyes suddenly lit up, and she happily shook Lolita's arm. "Hey, hey, I suddenly realized that we should be considered colleagues!"

"Colleagues?" Lolita looked at the creature that was said to be a husky who had cultivated into a spirit with confusion. "Are you also a queen?"

"I'm also a former emperor!" Lily looked particularly happy. "I was the leader of the Demon Hunters in my previous life, and then I died. You were the Elf Queen in your previous life, and then your empire was gone. So we're both 'former emperors.' Oh, you're a replica of the Elf Queen, but you have the same memories, so it's almost the same thing."

Lolita: "..."

So "former emperor" was a profession?

At this time, Lily continued to sigh. "Alas, to be honest, I wasn't exactly poor in my previous life either. Back then, I was the boss of the Demon Hunters. Although our lives were a bit hard, at least we didn't do anything but fight every day like other races. We just lived near the Arctic Circle, minding our own business, and at least we were well-fed. Later, we obtained a different dimension called Corpus, and suddenly we had territory, houses, and even unlimited energy. At that time, everyone thought the Demon Hunters were about to soar, but they didn't expect... Alas."

Then the two of them sighed in unison, "My empire... just disappeared like that..."

Hao Ren got goosebumps all over his body listening from the side. "Okay, okay, you two are suddenly getting sentimental—it's understandable for Lolita to lament her former empire, but what are you joining in for, Lily? Can you really remember things from your previous life?"

"Didn't I recover a little memory fragment last time?" Lily said with her hands on her hips, righteously. "Landlord, let me tell you, I can sometimes dream of returning to court! Do you know how glorious I was back then!"

Seeing Hao Ren's expression that said, "Go on, keep bragging, I'm listening," Lily turned her head away angrily. "Forget it, you can't explain it to a mortal like you. It's good for us two former emperors to chat. Lolita, tell me about your experiences as a queen?"

Lolita shook her head helplessly. "Experiences as a queen? Those aren't my experiences. I'm just a replica, and I never thought that those inherited memories were my own—although I often confuse them. In my own memories, there was nothing but experiments, and a lot of people gave me orders, including the real Elf Queen. Ah, replica number one does this, replica number one does that. Most of the time, they wouldn't even call me by my name, because even that name wasn't mine. Sometimes I feel like I have split personality, half of me is the Elf Queen, I have her memories, I have part of her personality, but that part seems like a book in a library, sealed up in silence, without any signs of activity. I occasionally go to read them, as if I'm watching a stranger from a cold, third-party perspective; the other half is a replica who was just created, used to following orders and arrangements, not thinking about where she came from, or considering the meaning of her existence, because considering those questions is useless anyway."

As Lily listened, she shed her cheerful appearance. She looked a little sad. "Sounds so pitiful."

"Is that so?" Lolita looked indifferent. "Actually, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, because I've been like this since I had memories. Maybe by your standards... it's not a good life. Whatever, it's all in the past anyway. Now no one gives me orders, and no one arranges my schedule for tomorrow. I'm trying to learn how to arrange my own life, and it feels pretty good."

At this time, Hao Ren suddenly thought of a question. "By the way, Lolita, according to your own perception, how old are you now?"

Lolita casually replied, "One and a half years old, why?"

Hao Ren: "..."

Not to mention Hao Ren, even Lily, who always had bizarre ideas, was a little confused. The two of them stood there without saying a word. Lolita was confused by their reactions. "Why aren't you two talking? Is it wrong for me to be one and a half years old?"

Hao Ren struggled to say a word after a long time. "It's okay, after all, you've been in suspended animation for the past ten thousand years, it's just that one and a half years old is a bit different from your appearance..."

Lolita lowered her head to look at her body, raised her head, and looked innocent. "I can't help it, I was born like this."

"Okay, one and a half years old it is," Hao Ren waved his hand helplessly. "You'll have to call Dou Dou 'elder sister' when you see her later."

Lolita obviously hadn't thought about this before. She was stunned for a moment, and then muttered, "That's true... If we're really calculating age, I'm the youngest."

"Not the youngest," Hao Ren waved his hand. "There's someone even younger at home."

"Even younger?!" Lolita was shocked. "Isn't that fish small enough?"

Hao Ren sighed. "Ruo Ji won't be a year old for a few more months, what do you think? When the house was noisy at the beginning, I always thought I was running a kindergarten. Just now I realized that I'm simply running a nursery..."

Lolita, Lily: "..."

And so, as they walked and chatted, the three of them wandered around the market for a full half day before finally buying all the things listed by Vivian—Hao Ren hadn't noticed it when he glanced at the list earlier, but after buying everything, he realized that the things Vivian had listed were actually such a big pile. He almost felt like he could open a fruit and vegetable store when he got home, and he wouldn't have to stock up for the first half month. Lily helped carry two large bags of things, and while walking, she muttered, "The bat is definitely up to no good. Maybe only a small part of the things we bought are materials for the ritual, and the rest is her making us buy all the vegetables for our house for the next half month at once..."

Hao Ren was also carrying two bags of things. He didn't have any objections. "If we really bought half a month's worth of vegetables, then you should be happy, which means you can start eating them when you get back."

Saying this to a husky was indeed effective, and Lily instantly felt that it made a lot of sense, and then she didn't complain at all.

"Speaking of which, don't you have that portable space thing? Why do we have to carry things like ordinary people?" Lolita discovered something else she couldn't understand. "And you were bargaining with the vendors just now, aren't you a Pope?"

"Life, do you know what life is?" Hao Ren looked at Lolita with a particularly old-fashioned tone. "You have to learn to enjoy these peaceful days, otherwise you'll miss out on half the fun in your life. I spend more than two hundred days a year outside exploding... no, performing tasks. It's rare to go home for a few days, so even going out to pay the water and electricity bills is a kind of enjoyment, understand?"

"I don't understand," Lolita shook her head matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I'm only one and a half years old."

Hao Ren: "..."

He had only one thought in his mind: Sister, it's embarrassing for people to hear you say this with the face of an adult! And you're the one who said you were one and a half years old, right?

The three of them returned home. As soon as they entered the door, Vivian saw the large bags they were carrying and quickly went up to meet them. "Ah, you've worked hard, I didn't expect there to be so much after buying it... Hao Ren, why are you carrying it yourself? Just let Lily carry it, she's strong anyway."

While handing the things over, Hao Ren muttered, "I wanted to do that, but she bites."

"Tch, she eats more than anyone else at mealtime." Vivian curled her lips, summoned a group of small bats to move the things back by pulling, dragging, carrying, and kicking. Lily watched carefully from behind, and suddenly jumped up. "Landlord, look! She really moved them to the kitchen, really moved them to the kitchen!"

Hao Ren: "...With so much food, where else would you put it besides the kitchen, in your room?"

Lily thought for a while and continued to jump. "Good, good!"

Hao Ren: "..."