The next morning.
Chu Qingqing slowly woke up from her sleep, feeling aches in her shoulders and neck.
Sleeping bag... not as comfortable as a bed and pillow after all. Looking at Wang Wanrou and Xing Yuanzhi sleeping soundly in bed, she couldn't help but regret.
If only she had been a bit more shameless last night and squeezed in with Wang Wanrou, as long as she didn't touch him, it would have been fine.
Cheng Jinyang also got up, seeing Chu Qingqing already awake, he raised a finger to his lips, indicating for her not to wake the two girls.
Not everyone can enjoy the constant high-pressure battles and killings. After the dream ends, these two girls often need an extra 10-20 minutes of sleep, slowly waking up after calming their tumultuous emotions.
Cheng Jinyang himself is already accustomed to this. After all, before mastering his abilities, he had fought against these monsters with his own body and cold weapons for three years. That was truly considering battles as commonplace, and pressure as necessary as drinking water and breathing.
However, Chu Qingqing's quick awakening surprised him. Upon reflection, this girl had indeed experienced such things before, with a somewhat twisted mentality of 'finding pleasure in killing,' so it wasn't surprising that she adapted quickly.
He got out of bed, went to the bathroom to change clothes, and after finishing washing up, returned to the living room to find Chu Qingqing had also changed clothes in the bedroom and walked out.
"What should we have for breakfast?" she said, yawning.
"Fried pancakes and fried dough sticks?" Cheng Jinyang put on his shoes, ready to go downstairs to buy.
"Sure." Chu Qingqing blinked, "I'll go with you."
Cheng Jinyang understood the meaning of this girl's attempt to please him very well. The setting of slaying demons and gaining experience was indeed appealing. At first, when she entered the nightmare, she would disdainfully leave the others behind and charge ahead alone, but later on, she would often say, "Jinyang, let's hurry."
As Cheng Jinyang went downstairs, Miss Qingqing followed closely behind him, skipping down the steps with her hands behind her back, seeming very cheerful.
Finding a place where she could both vent her killing intent and level up, of course, made her happy...
There was a restaurant by the side of the road outside the residential area, an old, well-known establishment that Cheng Jinyang and Ah Zhi used to frequent. They served a variety of breakfast items such as pan-fried dumplings, wontons, fried dough sticks, and more. The owner and Cheng Jinyang were also old acquaintances, so he specially picked out freshly fried dough sticks and placed them between the layers of the fried pancakes.
When the boss was picking out the fourth dough stick with chopsticks, Chu Qingqing suddenly said, "I don't want to eat fried dough sticks anymore."
"What do you want to eat then?" Cheng Jinyang asked.
"Dumplings." Chu Qingqing smiled and then went to find a seat in the shop.
"Alright, then we'll have a bowl of dumplings," Cheng Jinyang told the boss.
"Okay." The boss casually put the dough sticks into a nearby bamboo basket, then turned to pour water into the pot, and casually asked, "Xiao Cheng, did you get a new girlfriend again?"
"Ah?" Cheng Jinyang was stunned for a moment, explaining, "No, just a regular friend."
"Oh, you need to work harder then," the boss nodded, "I can see she's quite interested in you, there's a good chance."
Cheng Jinyang: ???
"How did you figure that out?" he asked inexplicably.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" the boss wore a weathered expression, "She suddenly switched from takeout to dine-in, just to get you to sit with her a bit longer. I could tell from her expression, she must have something to tell you."
Grabbing a small plate and putting two pan-fried dumplings on it, the boss roughly handed it to Cheng Jinyang:
"Off you go, this is on the house for you, don't keep the little girl waiting too long."
Cheng Jinyang: ........
Feeling somewhat bewildered, he walked into the shop with the pan-fried dumplings in hand, and saw Chu Qingqing sitting in the corner, waving at him with a smile on her face.
Today, the girl was still wearing a light blue dress, sandals, revealing her fair and smooth arms and shoulders, with an extremely enthusiastic, cheerful, and charmingly fake smile on her face.
If Cheng Jinyang hadn't delved into her dreams before and known what kind of person this girl Qingqing actually was, he might have been fooled.
"Hey, how did you know I wanted to eat pan-fried buns?" After he sat down, Chu Qingqing smiled and picked up a pair of chopsticks, picking up a pan-fried bun and placing it on her plate.
"The boss sent them," Cheng Jinyang said.
"Why would the boss send these?" Chu Qingqing was a little puzzled. "Does he know you?"
"Wujiang Town isn't that big, just a few people. After living here for a while, everyone knows each other," Cheng Jinyang took a bite of the pan-fried bun, and then suddenly, the soup burst out from the thin skin in front.
Chu Qingqing didn't dodge. The stainless steel plate in front of her suddenly melted and rose up, blocking all the sprayed soup.
"Sorry, sorry. Are you okay?" Cheng Jinyang also got splashed by the soup, quickly putting down the pan-fried buns and standing up. Only then did he see Chu Qingqing wasn't splashed. The metal barrier that just blocked the soup slowly fell down, solidifying back into the shape of a plate.
"It's okay." She blinked and handed him a tissue.
"Your ability is really useful," Cheng Jinyang took it and wiped his mouth. "Can you control all metals?"
"As long as they are atomic crystals connected by metal bonds," Chu Qingqing replied.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Jinyang pondered:
If the mass effect can enhance the lethality of universal gravity, then metal manipulation enhancement is the versatility of universal gravity.
Yesterday's nightmare had already proven Chu Qingqing's ability to melt any metal objects around her through metal manipulation, then quickly reshape and solidify them into the form he needed. In this respect, it indeed complemented the compatibility with universal gravity.
Of course, the issue of the initial slow speed of universal gravitation itself remains unresolved. However, looking at it from a different perspective, if enemies were to exploit this weakness, they would have to swiftly close the distance.
Once they are within range, there's no need for universal gravitation anymore; they can be directly obliterated using Miss Qingqing's metallic weapon—combined with Ah Zhi's ability, amplifying the mass, a gigantic metal hammer could shatter even military tank armor.
The real weakness of metal manipulation lies in its difficulty to strike distant enemies, which universal gravitation perfectly addresses... So strictly speaking, Ah Zhi should be considered my accelerator, while Miss Qingqing is my talisman.
He was lost in thought, forgetting even to eat his pan-fried buns.
Meanwhile, Chu Qingqing was quietly eating dumplings, while subtly observing him with the corner of her eye.
Judging from of last night's nightmare experience, the relationship within the small group consisting of Cheng Jinyang, Xing Yuanzhi, and Wang Wanrou appears to be somewhat complicated.
Among the three, undoubtedly, Wang Wanrou holds the highest status.
As a member of the prestigious Five Great Clans and a noblewoman, she should rightfully hold a leadership position in any small circle, being the absolute core.
However, according to Chu Qingqing's observations last night, this Miss Wang often seems to slack off and daydream, as if staying on Cheng Jinyang's back is very safe and comfortable, which results in her having a weak presence in the team for the most part, except for occasionally making strikingly insightful remarks.
Fulfilling this part of the role is Xing Yuanzhi. Many times when Miss Wang is too lazy to speak, she offers opinions, supplementary suggestions, and so on. As Cheng Jinyang's partner in Tianluo, he also trusts her a lot, hardly ever refuting her proposals.
Lastly, there's Cheng Jinyang himself. Although most of the time, he readily accepts suggestions from the two girls, even giving the impression of being 'directed' by them, but...
Just by virtue of this ability originating from him, no one can override him or snatch away the core decision-making power from him.
In other words, as long as I can elevate my status in his eyes, I can take the initiative in the team moving forward.
After finishing the last dumplings gracefully, Chu Qingqing wiped her mouth, having already calculated the current situation.
Wang Wanrou's family background is her advantage, but also her disadvantage; the Taiyuan Wang family absolutely won't allow her to be with someone from a fifth-grade noble family.
Xing Yuanzhi is a bit troublesome; after all, the Cheng and Xing families are closely related. If the two of them really marry, then her position within the team will be almost unshakeable.
Hmm, so...
"I'm done eating," she patted her skirt and stood up, smiling brightly, "Jinyang, shall we head back?"