Chapter 170: Chapter 169: Slap Slap Slap with Fiancée
Richard said that, although creating the game had upset Pandora, the process of making it had nevertheless revealed a great deal. At the very least, it had proven that “Richard’s unknown potion” had a significant effect. Due to the greatly increased neural transmission speed, it yielded a shorter reaction time, making it easy to dodge attacks.
Now, the potion could be renamed “Prototype Acuity Potion.” If it really could be combined with “Pearce’s Nerve Sensitivity Technique,” its effects could be unimaginable.
However, that being said, it had only been proven to be effective in dodging, but what about during an attack?
Just now, to prevent Pandora from losing control, he had only allowed Pandora to be the one hitting the back of the hand in the game, never taking the role of the one getting hit. It seemed another test was necessary.
But Pandora was still angry. Going back to her now would surely result in rejection, so who else could he continue this test game with?
Richard’s eyes twinkled, and in a moment, he had made up his mind. He turned in the corridor just outside the cabin and headed to the left, striding quickly to Gro’s cabin.
Knocking, “Bang, bang, bang.”
“Who is it?” Gro answered sleepily, rubbing his eyes as he opened the door.
Richard stepped in and got straight to the point, “Play a game.”
“Huh? A game in the middle of the night? Ha—yawn!” Gro, clearly not fully awake, yawned and looked perplexed.
Indeed, in the middle of the night, alone in a room with another man, what sort of game?
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Before long, the cabin echoed with the continuous “smack smack smack” sound, interspersed with Gro’s cries of pain.
“Lord Richard, stop!”
“Lord Richard, please let me go.”
“Lord Richard, it hurts, I really can’t take it anymore.”
The noise lasted a long while before ceasing, and Gro’s voice sounded relieved, gasping, “Whew, is it finally over?”
Then came a resentful voice, “I mean, Lord Richard, you come here in the middle of the night, not to sleep, but to play this with me? You’ve swollen me up so much, it probably won’t go down for days. What on earth are you trying to do…”
With a “squeak,” Richard walked out of Gro’s cabin with satisfaction, with Gro following behind to see him out. Gro wanted to wave goodbye, but as soon as he raised his hand, the incredibly swollen back of it caused such intense pain that he almost burst into tears.
Therefore, out of indignation, Gro didn’t even say goodbye and hastened back into the cabin before slamming the door shut with a “bang.”
Looking at the closed door, Richard shook his head.
Admittedly, Gro had suffered, but Richard had obtained some valuable test data—in the game’s three hundred-plus rounds, Gro had never won once.
As the attacker, he could sense Gro’s movements and strike at the moment Gro was most vulnerable, leaving Gro unable to react in time. Even though he used very little force each time to prevent Gro from breaking down early, he still caused Gro to scream continuously.
It seemed that the increased speed of neural information transmission indeed made attacking exceptionally easy.
Gro’s swollen hand was some evidence supporting this conclusion, a sacrifice for science on Gro’s part. If he told Gro the truth, Gro might actually be pleased. Well, probably…
As Richard thought about these things, he turned and walked away, not heading back to his own cabin, but toward the deck for some fresh air. After all, researching through the night was somewhat taxing on the mind. He needed to breathe in some fresh air.
“Squeak, creak,” Richard climbed the stairs, eventually emerging onto the deck.
According to the time, there was still a while before the true dawn on the mainland, but at sea, without any mountains to block it, the sun rose much earlier.
Standing on the deck and looking toward the horizon where sky met sea, there was a faint glow of dawn breaking through, forming a silver arc like a giant, bright crescent moon floating on the distant sea, contrasting sharply against the dark water, together creating a picturesque backdrop like an oil painting.
The huge ship sailed, like a black silhouette moving against the painted background, in utter silence.
Standing on the deck, with the cool sea breeze blowing in, Richard felt a slight revivification of his spirit. He looked around and was somewhat surprised to find he was not alone.
A person, a girl, was on the deck practicing swordsmanship with a longsword, making various movements that produced “whooshing” sounds, her black hair flowing with her body’s motion like the notes on a score of music.
“Swish, swish, swish!”
With a final lunge, the other party stopped their movement, as if noticing something, turned their head around, and their eyes met.
“You’re up early,” said Richard.
“So are you,” replied Nancy.
“Huh,” Richard chuckled lightly, offering no explanation. He said, “I don’t quite understand. You should be aware that as one learns spells, the value of swordsmanship continually decreases, right? Since you have considerable wizard talent, why still practice swordsmanship? If you invested this time in learning spells, wouldn’t that be of greater value?”
“Why do you practice swordsmanship then? And why is your swordsmanship so excellent?” Instead of answering, Nancy countered with a question.
Richard shrugged. “Simple, swordsmanship is the only path I have.”
“But why do I feel that what you’re saying isn’t right? If you only have swordsmanship as your path, how can you remain so composed?”
“Perhaps it’s just my nature?”
“No, I think you have secrets.”
“I’m not sure, it’s just a guess,” said Nancy. “In reality, I think everyone should have their own secrets, whether big or small.”
“So, you have secrets too,” said Richard calmly.
“Of course, I have secrets,” replied Nancy, stepping forward, sitting down beside Richard, placing her sword to one side, and looking at him, “Interested in hearing one of my secrets?”
Richard frowned slightly, watching Nancy, unsure of her motives.
Was she simply seeking to vent some pent-up emotion? Or was it a test?
After a moment of silence, Richard spoke, “If you’re willing, then of course, I’d like to hear it.”
“Okay then,” Nancy said with a light laugh, without much hesitation, she began, “You may have heard that I’m a princess.”
“Mhm,” Richard nodded.
“In fact, I am indeed a princess, but of a very small kingdom. My kingdom is known as Oren, pitifully small compared to the Jade Kingdom. You’ve probably never heard of it.”
“Actually, I’ve heard… a little,” Richard said, his eyebrows raising slightly.
“Then you really haven’t heard of it,” Nancy said bluntly. “I know you boarded the ship from the Jade Kingdom, far from Oren Palace, at least a thousand miles away, so it’s impossible for you to know much about it.”
“Well then, let’s say I haven’t heard of it. Continue,” Richard did not argue over this.
Nancy continued, “Oren is a tiny kingdom. It’s surrounded by several nations, bordered in four directions by the Blue Lion Kingdom, Black Mountain Kingdom, Talin Kingdom, and Ze Xi Kingdom. Among these, the Blue Lion Kingdom is the most powerful and the most despicable.”
“Because the Blue Lion Kingdom constantly harassed Oren, my father had to make various reparations, signing several unfair treaties,” Nancy’s voice grew heavier.
“Uh…” Richard said again, his gaze drifting out to the sea beyond the deck.
“The most outrageous was an incident over ten years ago,” Nancy continued. “I had just been born not long before when the Blue Lion Kingdom launched a large-scale invasion of Oren, pushing all the way to the royal capital and forcing my father to cede a large piece of territory. That demon of a man, King Donnas of the Blue Lion Kingdom, demanded that I be taken as a hostage, to one day become a princess for his then-unborn son, to maintain eternal peace between our nations.”
“Then, your father did not agree,” Richard turned his gaze back to Nancy, his eyes flashing as he asked.
“No,” Nancy shook her head, her face stiffened. “My father agreed.”