Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 697 - 85: Cat Alliance (Part 2)

He checked the paid apps on his phone, completed the bank card binding, and had sufficient credit, meaning he wouldn't need to worry about expenses for a while. He took Lindong with him, the black cat cried and protested about staying home, so reluctantly, Lindong could only hold the black cat in front of her chest, otherwise, the cat would try to occupy her rightful place—Ethan's shoulder.

The shadow was not satisfied, its eyes darted around continuously.

Predictably, from the moment they entered the elevator, Lindong became the center of attention. In modern society, white hair and red eyes are exceedingly rare features. Here, there were no Northern Clans or Ice Element Shapers, so people would only assume Lindong was a cosplay enthusiast. However, her hair and eye color were naturally harmonious, and from the moment she stepped into the elevator, the chatty uncles and aunties in the apartment building couldn't contain their enthusiasm for gossip, expressing warm curiosity towards Lindong, a girl suspected to be from abroad.

Fortunately, there was no language barrier. Ethan guessed this was a side effect of the dream, allowing them not to waste too much time on language.

Lindong behaved quite openly, holding the black cat, her behavior was like the hostess of the house. Ethan had never realized how socially adept Lindong was until today. She managed, in the short time going up and down the building, to earn the heartfelt blessings from the apartment residents for her and Ethan.

Only the black cat in her arms seemed somewhat uncomfortable, but even when protesting, it could only weakly "meow" a few times at the end of the conversation to express its opposition, just as Ethan had anticipated, the superficial sisterhood between Shadow and Lindong couldn't last long.

The destination of this trip was the lingerie shop across the street.

Ethan had considered going in himself to help Lindong buy lingerie, but he was too shy. To avoid being regarded as a pervert by the shop owner, he had to let Lindong visit the shop personally.

The store manager was a woman who appeared to be in her early forties. As they entered, the radio on the counter was broadcasting the latest city news.

This morning, a spokesperson for Pioneer Technology Company stated at a press conference that the company is researching a new virtual reality technology, which would bring a revolution to people. It won't be long before they have the chance to move into the virtual world.

This is a realm set in the Victorian Era.

Steam technology, magic, and familiar detective stories would surely provide any experiencer with a brand-new experience.

Ethan let Lindong select her lingerie in the store while he stayed at the counter listening to the news report about Pioneer Technology.

"Sounds like they're selling dreams."

He started chatting casually with the store manager, who appeared quite fashionable, almost immediately unlocking her conversation gate. She confidently said, "This is 100% hype. Pioneer Technology's stock prices will surely soar."

She seemed to be an experienced stock trader.

This inevitably stirred unpleasant memories for Ethan. His luck in stocks was poor; in a blink of an eye, half of his hard-earned savings over several years disappeared. He still remembered that dusk when he almost joined his friends who leveraged too much on the roof of the tallest building in the city—the Pioneer Technology building, which for a long time became a bungee jumping hotspot without protection measures.

Because of this, the company headquarters prohibited outsiders' access to the building for a significant period.

Ethan propped his left elbow on the counter, in this peculiar dreamscape, he vaguely recalled something.

All related to Pioneer Technology, he was quite certain he eventually passed Pioneer Company's interview and was immediately assigned to a relevant project group. Combined with the company's press release today, all of this was connected to their publicly declared virtual reality technology, and he was suspected of helping Pioneer Technology on the technical level.

A vague outline appeared in his mind, yet specific details remained shrouded in mist.

Ethan had a premonition; if this dream continued, he would inevitably need to contact Zhuang Xiao, the HR manager in this reality. He would also have to go for an interview at the Pioneer Technology Company; only then could he get closer to those hidden secrets.

The memories of King of Gold and Crimson Queen all pointed towards that mysterious "company" owner. Now it seems, the company appearing in their memories was Pioneer Technology.

An outstanding city enterprise, the dream sanctuary for countless employees.

This was also the place where he completed projects.

Returning to the dreamscape, Ethan had more conjectures. With Pioneer Company's power and technology, removing parts of his knowledge wasn't difficult, and they had ample reasons to do so...

Ethan's train of thought was quickly interrupted.

Lindong had finished selecting clothes, even picking a set for Little Dark.

"Teacher…"

Ethan looked at the thick stack of socks hanging from Lindong's arm and fell into contemplation.

Long ones, short ones, black, white, and colorful.

"What does this mean?"

"Your girlfriend has great taste."

The clothing store owner's face bore an ambiguous smile, almost visibly noting "these youngsters today really play wildly" in her thoughts.

She raised an eyebrow, "Teacher-student romance?"

"Uh, sort of."

"I know, I know, learning a foreign language, it's natural to become a pair."

She discreetly gave Ethan a thumbs-up.

After the earlier interaction, she had developed quite a fond impression of Ethan, the young man.

A foreign girlfriend, especially one with rare white hair and red eyes.

Ethan didn't know how to explain it at the moment. If he bluntly told her that the course content was Elemental Shaping Magic, he'd probably be seen as a lunatic youth.

The shop owner said again, "I'll give you a 30% discount." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Thank you, madam."

Ethan expressed his gratitude, scanned a QR code to pay, and packed the purchased clothes into a bag, after which he still needed to teach Lindong and Little Dark more about the knowledge of this era.

The use of daily electronic devices, ordering takeout, and simple entertainment methods. If he passed the interview at the Pioneer Company soon, Lindong and Little Dark would have quite some time staying at home.

He would often appear here after falling asleep.

A strong foreboding emerged deep in Ethan's heart.

The two humans and one cat left the clothing store under the enthusiastic send-off of the store owner. Ethan carried the shopping bags, and Lindong naturally linked her arm through his and leaned on him, attracting many sidelong glances from passersby.

Next, he planned to let Lindong taste modern cuisine. Although the Other Shore and Miss Keroy showed enough enthusiasm, the Victorian Era's knowledge of cuisine was far inferior to modern society, combined with the Empire's fitting description as a "food desert." He believed Lindong and Little Dark would soon be overwhelmed by modern cuisine.

"Look at this."

Ethan pulled up nearby restaurants on his phone to show Lindong and Little Dark, "Is there anything you're interested in?"

Since this was a dream world, he felt much more confident spending money.

"This one."

The black cat in Lindong's arms was the first to extend a paw, placing it on the screen of a fancy-looking hot pot restaurant; the red oil base was a flavor Ethan was familiar with.

Neither the Imperial Capital nor the entire continent had similar establishments.

"I agree."

Lindong was also attracted by the fancy advertisement, having never seen such a spectacle in the Empire, with almost no resistance to modern advertisements.

This was a good start, Ethan hoped Lindong and Little Dark could grow to love the lifestyle here, for in his vision of the future, one day the Empire would also complete modernization, which was Ethan's imagination of a civilized society.

After those two "transmigrators" joined, the Empire's modernization process had already been put on the agenda.

However, not everyone thought so.

As soon as Ethan set a location on his phone, a white van parked by the roadside, and suspicious individuals dressed in black clothes and sunglasses opened the van door, at first sight confirming, "Mr. Ethan?"

"What's the matter?"

"Please come with us."

They came with ill intentions.

This was evident as the man in black deliberately lifted the corner of his coat, revealing a gun tucked at his waist.

A threatening invitation. If it were the previous Ethan, he would have panicked.

On the first day of returning to modern society, they encountered a kidnapping attempt.