Dimensional Slime Rancher-Chapter 15: Boss Ren! My sister didn’t mean to attack the shop!
Gu Tian lightly breathed out a puff of actual, visible steam as he finally finished inspecting the Searing Mana Cube’s effect.
He fully acknowledged the terrifying fact that the beast and the consumable were of the absolute highest quality, far more potent than the mass-produced garbage the Beast Tamer Sect relied on.
"Shopkeeper, I am leaving. I will reserve whatever new combat item you synthesize for tomorrow as well," Gu Tian said to Ren as he placed a glowing, high-tier Spirit Stone onto the table as a down payment.
Then, with a cruel, satisfied smile, he put his bamboo hat back on and hooked his heavy beast-whip back onto his belt.
"Hmm, whatever," Ren lazily nodded, picking up his tea.
"Gu Tian! Are you just going to walk out of here like that?!" Luo Qing’s voice rang out, shattering the quiet.
Her voice was no longer cool and composed like wind chimes; it was a terrifying mixture of absolute rage and suffocating killing intent.
Gu Tian’s heavy figure, which had already reached the entrance, paused for a moment and turned around.
His scarred face was concealed by the shadow of his hat, but his cruel smile was clearly visible.
"What about it, little cousin? Do you think you have the strength to make me stay?" There was a heavy, suffocating hint of mockery in Gu Tian’s hoarse voice. That disdainful tone caused Luo Qing’s icy pupils to violently constrict as pure, unadulterated anger covered her beautiful face.
Luo Lan’s temper was even more explosive than his sister’s, and he was completely unable to endure seeing the man who crippled his mother act so arrogantly.
He aggressively gathered his true energy and charged directly toward Gu Tian, entirely forgetting the shop’s rules.
"Ah! You fucking bastard! Die!" Luo Lan howled with bloodshot eyes as he swung his fist, enveloped in freezing Qi, with a powerful, desperate force.
Bam!
Gu Tian casually lifted his scarred hand and caught Luo Lan’s freezing fist with his bare palm.
However, despite Luo Lan putting every ounce of his Foundation Establishment strength into the blow, Gu Tian’s hand did not budge in the slightest.
The ice Qi simply melted against his skin.
"Early-stage Foundation Establishment? Your talent is still absolute trash compared to your mother’s." Gu Tian laughed a raspy laugh as a powerful, bloody force burst out from his palm.
The wave of foul energy scattered in all directions and sent Luo Lan’s body violently flying backward.
Luo Qing smoothly caught Luo Lan’s body in mid-air, her expression having already turned into a mask of pure, murderous frost.
Zhao Feng was staring at Gu Tian while his eyes were flashing with political calculation.
On the other hand, the Three Bears of Ouyang were standing at a distance, shaking their heads while gripping their weapons...
They were allies of the Luo Clan, but they could not recklessly interfere in a blood feud against a Beast Tamer Sect elder without their grandfather’s direct orders.
After placing the coughing Luo Lan down gently, Luo Qing’s eyes seemed to become completely empty, as her long hair, propelled by an invisible, terrifying force, began to hover wildly in the air.
Ever since that bloody incident five years ago, she had been diligently, painfully cultivating day after day just for this exact moment.
She froze her own emotions so that she could personally execute the monster that destroyed her family.
A pale blue, glowing lotus mark appeared on her flawless forehead and began to spread as intricate, freezing lines gradually covered her beautiful face.
"The ’Absolute Zero Blood-Art’? You actually dared to learn the forbidden technique that permanently burns your own life force... It seems my little cousin really hates me."
Gu Tian’s expression underneath the bamboo hat twisted into a dark grin as his hoarse voice resounded around the store.
Zhao Feng’s pupils constricted as he thought in horror,
"Absolute Zero Blood-Art! That’s a suicidal technique that converts the user’s lifespan into a tremendous, uncontrollable burst of power! Its users can easily slaughter cultivators two realms above them, but they always die afterward! Luo Qing actually learned such a mad technique?!"
"Gu Tian, it is time for you to pay with your life!" The current Luo Qing was completely cold and ruthless, and each of her words dropped the temperature in the room below freezing.
However, just when she was about to draw her sword and unleash the suicidal strike, a slender, warm hand suddenly landed firmly on her trembling shoulder, and an incredibly bored, lazy voice rang out from right behind her.
"Excuse me, but leaking suicidal killing intent is strictly prohibited within the Dimensional Ranch. If you want to throw your life away, please do it in the alley. I don’t want to clean up blood today. Thank you."
Everyone in the room was violently startled as they looked at Ren with incredibly odd, horrified expressions on their faces.
This lazy shopkeeper... Was he completely devoid of self-preservation instincts?
With such a grim, suffocating mood where anyone could detect the apocalyptic murderous intent, it was obvious that a brutal, suicidal battle was about to occur. What was a lowly merchant doing stepping into the crossfire?!
Luo Qing’s glowing blue pupils slightly shifted, and her absolutely cold gaze focused on Ren’s expressionless, lazy face.
"Are you going to get in my way, Boss Ren?" Her voice was as cold as a glacial tomb, carrying a chill that would cause any veteran cultivator to shiver in terror.
Even Ren slightly frowned when he heard her tone.
He stared at the glowing blue lotus on Luo Qing’s forehead and could clearly feel a vigorous, beautiful life force violently boiling away into nothingness.
A powerful blast of freezing force knocked Ren’s arm away as Luo Qing completely ignored his warning and took a desperate step forward.
Her toes lightly tapped the ground, and her figure swiftly, gracefully glided toward the sneering Gu Tian like an avenging angel.
Ren simply took a step backward, sighed heavily, and lightly called out, "Unit 01. Non-lethal suppression."
As the massive brass golem instantly appeared next to him, Ren pointed at Luo Qing and said, "Stop her from doing something stupid."
Unit 01’s mechanical optical sensors flashed a rapid sequence of blue and red, then it vanished from where it stood, instantly reappearing directly in the path of Luo Qing’s suicidal charge.
"Get the fuck out of my way!" Luo Qing’s beautiful face suddenly turned ferociously desperate as she violently swung her sword, unleashing a massive, room-freezing burst of Absolute Zero Qi directly toward the golem blocking her path.
She had already set her mind on killing Gu Tian today, even if it cost her soul, so absolutely no one was going to stop her!
Unit 01’s mechanical eyes locked onto the incoming attack.
It simply lifted its massive, reinforced brass hand.
Clang!
Completely ignoring the suicidal burst of freezing true energy, Unit 01’s heavy hand bypassed the sword and landed a precise, calculated strike on Luo Qing’s shoulder, jarring her entire nervous system.
Luo Qing was flung backward, her sword clattering to the floor as she miserably landed next to her brother.
The glowing blue lotus on her forehead made a crisp, shattering sound as it immediately broke into pieces like fragile glass.
Her forbidden, suicidal secret technique was actually effortlessly dispelled by a single, perfectly calculated strike from the machine!
Gu Tian narrowed his scarred eyes as he gravely looked toward Unit 01. He thought,
"This golem is more than just a bouncer. To be able to forcibly dispel a blood-art without killing the user... the engineering is terrifying."
"Shopkeeper, I am leaving. Don’t forget to keep that new synthesis for me," Gu Tian laughed a raspy, mocking laugh toward Ren.
Then he turned around and disappeared into the misty, rainy alleyway, entirely unbothered by the chaos he left behind.
"Hostile Entity suppressed. Commencing public humiliation protocol." As Gu Tian disappeared, Unit 01’s mechanical voice rang out, its heavy footsteps moving toward the collapsed Luo Qing.
"Boss Ren! My sister didn’t mean to attack the shop! She really didn’t! She was just aiming for that bastard!" Luo Lan’s expression completely drained of color as he quickly hugged Luo Qing’s unconscious body and anxiously yelled at Ren.
What an absolute nightmare! How could Luo Lan possibly allow a robot to strip his sister, the Ice Goddess of the capital, and throw her into the mud?
It wouldn’t just end with a scandal; the Luo Clan Patriarch would literally level the entire district in a blind rage!
Ren slightly hesitated, scratching his head as he felt that the kid’s panicked words held some actual logic.
[Alert: The subject’s forbidden secret technique being forcibly dispelled has led to a catastrophic destabilization of her core and a severe loss of life force.
The subject is currently in a life-endangering state. Considering that Unit 01 critically injured the VIP customer due to the Host’s direct orders, an Emergency Mission shall be issued.]
[Emergency Mission: The Host must synthesize the ’Luminous Spirit-Lotus Elixir’ using the Workshop within three days to repair the subject’s shattered core and rescue the life of the dying VIP.]
[(Since ancient times, reckless cultivators end in misery. Young man, use your capitalistic tools to prevent a PR disaster for the shop.)]
[Mission Reward: Blueprint for ’Spatial Storage Rings’ - highly profitable merchandise.]
The System’s solemn voice suddenly rang out in Ren’s mind, causing him to space out completely.
Emergency mission? Repair a shattered core to avoid a PR disaster?
"You literally programmed the robot to attack her!" Ren was completely dumbfounded as the corner of his mouth twitched violently.
[After thorough analysis, it is concluded that Luo Qing’s actions were directed entirely at another customer, not the establishment itself. Therefore, the deployment of Unit 01 was an excessive use of force by the Host,] the System seriously replied, completely shifting the blame.
Ren felt as if his chest had been pierced by a massive, invisible arrow of sheer bureaucratic bullshit...
"Fine, you greedy AI. I’ll fix her."
"Boss Ren! My sister... She... What’s wrong with her?! She’s freezing!"
Luo Lan’s horrified, cracking voice pulled Ren back into reality.
Ren walked around the counter toward Luo Qing. Her usually pristine face was deathly pale, and her rosy lips had turned a terrifying shade of blue. It was as if her internal life energy was rapidly leaking out onto the floor.
The System was definitely not lying to him.
She was in a critical, life-endangering situation after having a forbidden blood-art violently interrupted.
"It’s fine. She’s just suffering from a temporary core destabilization. Cultivators go through this all the time when they throw tantrums,"
Ren simply said, expressionlessly concealing his massive internal panic and guilty conscience.
Luo Lan, Zhao Feng, and the Three Bears were absolutely stunned. They thought, "Is... it really fine?! Her pulse is literally fading!"
"Trust me, it’s fine. Take her home and put her in a warm bed. However, you must absolutely bring her back here in exactly three days. I’ll prepare a specialized synthesis for her core. She’ll fully recover once she absorbs it," Ren earnestly exhorted, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"Young Master Luo, you should quickly bring Lady Luo back to the manor and let the Clan Elders look at her first. With their profound abilities, they should be able to stabilize her condition until the shopkeeper finishes his work," Ouyang Zhen gently reminded the panicked boy.
Luo Lan was immediately woken up by the practical reminder. He hastily scrambled up, carefully gathered Luo Qing in his arms, and sprinted out of the store into the rain without another word.
Zhao Feng and the Ouyang brothers quietly left as well.
The chaotic, terrifying incident today had left a massive impact on all of them.
The fact that the Traitor of the Luo Clan, Gu Tian, had openly appeared within the imperial city, backed by the Beast Tamer Sect, was incredibly dangerous information.
A bloody clan war was definitely brewing in the shadows of the Sect’s exhibition.
"Smelly Boss... is Sister Luo really going to be okay?" Xiaoyi doubtfully looked up at Ren, her large eyes filled with unshed tears, clutching her feather duster.
"She’ll be fine. I don’t lose VIP customers. Be a good girl and go home for the day," Ren said softly, gently stroking Xiaoyi’s hair.
Once everyone had finally left the shop, Ren quickly locked the heavy metal door, flipped the sign, and ended the chaotic business for the day.
"System, what will actually happen if I don’t manage to successfully synthesize that Luminous Lotus thing within three days?" Ren quietly asked, leaning heavily against the counter.
The System solemnly replied,
[There is a 99.9% probability that the Host will be physically torn into small, bloody pieces by the furious Patriarch of the Luo Clan, followed by the complete destruction of the Dimensional Ranch.]
"Uh, System... for the noble sake of rescuing a beautiful, high-paying VIP customer, I will work incredibly hard! Hurry up and download the synthesis formula into my brain! Hurry!"
Ren announced in a highly righteous, panicked tone as he sprinted toward the Workshop.
