One, two, three… under Pei Guang's arrangements, all the Cat Cakes had accepted missions suited to them and set out on their expeditions.
For safety reasons, except in rare cases, Pei Guang had them go out in pairs… in pairs of Cat Cakes.
As he saw the last Cat Cake off, Pei Guang felt a bit sentimental. "Little one, be careful out there. I do want all sorts of materials, but the most important thing is that you all come back happy and safe."
Every player deeply trusts the lives they create, but even with that trust, when seeing the risks of certain missions, most normal players can't help but feel worried.
Clearly, Pei Guang didn't notice that the Cat Cakes he and Stelle had created were fundamentally different. As creations made by a player using player materials, they had inherited certain unique traits from the player.
On the starskiff heading to the battlefield, Yaoshi Cake clasped its little paws and looked out at the universe. As a Cat Cake that radiated golden light at birth, its creation had cost Pei Guang a considerable amount.
At the same time, influenced by the top-tier materials Pei Guang used and by Doctor Cake's understanding of the universe, Yaoshi Cake felt its existence held a certain meaning.
And after receiving the commission from the Xianzhou, it found its purpose.
As a Yaoshi Cat Cake that gained the attention of the Aeon Yaoshi the moment it was born, its inner nature exhibited all the traits of the Path of Abundance—selflessness, altruism, healing—engraved into its very DNA.
As for those traits, Ruan Mei insisted it wasn't her doing. She hadn't put any strange modifications into its DNA: it had clearly inherited them from Pei Guang.
But of course, as a creation made by a player using his materials, it had inherited part of the player's attributes.
Does the player have a side aligned with Abundance? Yes, very much so.
Not to mention all the healers Pei Guang had trained in various games—healer moms, healer dads, healer lolis, healer swordsmen, healer pugilists—and all the times he played as pure support in MOBAs, completely selfless.
All of it made Yaoshi Cake itch to get going.
As a Cat Cake inheriting part of the player's traits, it had naturally inherited this side too. And because of that, despite its short time since birth, Yaoshi Cake had already come to understand one truth:
"To kill in order to protect life, to sever karma rather than people!"
As a proper healer, if it just killed all the enemies, wouldn't that be protecting the universe?
Mm, this is peak player logic. For players who main healers or supports, there are a few levels of enlightenment:
First level: Competing for kills and loot as a support, not actually supporting, and winning or losing all depends on how strong the teammates are.
Second level: Being everyone's guardian angel, enabling the team to dish out the highest DPS and survive every situation.
Third level: What are healers and supports for? To help teammates survive and win, right? So if you just kill everyone else, doesn't that accomplish both?
This Cat Cake is not an Aeon: it's just a cute little Cat Cake made by a player.
Influenced by that player, it strives to carry out its own unique interpretation of the Path of Abundance.
As for the Cat Cake's interpretation of Abundance, Aha gave it a thumbs up. He didn't care how the Cat Cake understood things, it was fun to watch.
Even Pei Guang himself didn't know what it meant for a Cat Cake to emit golden light at birth. Take Yaoshi Cake for example: it possessed bits and pieces from the healing, altruistic, and selfless systems of some of the games Pei Guang had played.
Normally, without power, a Cat Cake couldn't use those abilities. And from its own perception, it wasn't especially powerful.
But thanks to the mystical traits inherited from the player, it felt it could use them, though doing so would greatly harm its body.
Still, as a follower of the Path of Abundance, Yaoshi Cake believed that since it was born into this world, it had to do something.
While lost in thought, the special starskiff completed several jumps and arrived at the battlefield against the Abominations of Abundance.
On the battlefield, with the Yaoqing Xianzhou leading the charge, the Cloud Knights fought fiercely against the aberrants.
In the skies, Luofu's star ùskiffs engaged the airborne Abominations of Abundance. On the ground, the assault squads launched wave after wave of attacks.
But compared to past offensives, the current battle methods used by the Cloud Knights… were a bit humiliating.
Because of their alliance with players, the Cloud Knights could now use buffs from the player's dance aura.
And what did a 10% all-stats buff mean?
From firsthand experience, the Cloud Knights found out: this 10% didn't mean nine people became as strong as ten. It meant two or three people could equal what used to take ten.
This was reality, not a game. In games, stat buffs just meant bigger numbers, but in real life, a 10% increase in reaction speed and intelligence was already insane.
And it wasn't just one stat: it was all of them. Weapons and armor were treated as part of a player's overall stats, so they were buffed too.
As a result, dancing on the battlefield became a required skill for every Cloud Knight. Luckily, Pei Guang's aura was very easy to trigger, just move your body and the buff kicked in.
With a 10% boost, the Cloud Knights could really cut loose.
But the buff wasn't free, you had to dance for it.
So a problem emerged: during battle, many soldiers weren't fighting, they were dancing! The Abominations of Abundance didn't know why the Xianzhou warriors were suddenly so powerful, but when they saw people dancing mid-fight, it made them feel utterly mocked.
And to make things worse, some prankster on the battlefield thought dancing wasn't enough and started blasting music too, maxing out the taunt factor.
So now, the battle against the Abominations of Abundance had basically turned into a performance: this one dances, that one joins in, this one falls, another takes their place.
The Abominations of Abundance felt utterly disrespected. Whenever they saw someone dancing, they'd go straight for that high-taunt target. Back and forth, it made the battlefield look downright comical.
But only relatively speaking.
The Xianzhou folks didn't care about comedy or not: if it worked, it worked. With the buff, clearing out the abominations really had become smoother.
But on this day, just as the Cloud Knights of the Yaoqing Xianzhou were cutting them down with ease, a starskiff shot into the enemy lines at terrifying speed.
The one piloting the starskiff was a seasoned member of the Foxian race. But today, she received a downright absurd order: to escort an adorable little Cat Cake to the front lines of the battlefield—at any cost?
Her love for cute creatures made this mission all the more painful. She couldn't understand why such an adorable little thing needed to be sent into battle.
Was the plan to kill the enemy with sheer cuteness?
Yet on the battlefield, as a soldier, even if she didn't understand her superior's orders, she would still carry them out faithfully.
Countless battles had already proven one thing: no matter how incomprehensible, her superior's orders always affected the outcome of the battle. A mistake on her part could even lead to a major loss for the entire Xianzhou Alliance.
Because of that, she piloted the starskiff with a level of skill no ordinary person could muster and delivered Cat Cake to the battlefield.
Upon reaching the designated location, a Cat Cake meowed at her.
"Meow~"
"Uwahhh! So cute!"
Her voice choked slightly. She could already imagine what would happen if such an adorable little creature were discovered by the Abominations of Abundance.
The lovable Yaoshi Cake leapt out of the starskiff, and the moment it did, some of the Abominations of Abundance on the ground spotted it. Seeing this incredibly cute creature descending from the sky, they grew excited.
The power of Abundance radiating from Yaoshi Cake thrilled them. They didn't understand why this little thing held such pure Abundance power, but regardless of the reason, they knew one thing: there was dessert on the battlefield today.
Sensing the Aberrants' predatory stares, Yaoshi Cake meowed once, then sighed.
At that moment, Yaoshi Cake released its power.
It wasn't an Aeon's Emanator, nor did it possess any formidable Imaginary energy, but as a creation of a player, some of its skills carried strange traits inherited from that player, like full-map effects, for instance...
"Meow meow meow meow~"
NOTE: Hello guys, I'm going on holiday for 7–10 days, so I'll be posting one chapter a day instead of two during that time! Have a great summer, everyone!