Chapter 927: Showering Calm…
“Alright, thousand year lifespan aside…how long until this device of yours get out of the prototype phase and into practice?,” Zhen Shi asked his grandson.
“Uh…about…a day? Maybe two?”
“Holy shit…”
“Also, how much longer do I meditate under here?,” Zhen Hou interjected. “Not that this isn’t pleasant, but I got other plans to do today. Wait, I’m not gonna explode if I linger under this thing for too long, right?”
“Honestly, whenever,” Zhen Liu answered his uncle. “With the way I set up the shower, any unabsorbed aether will just cycle back into the reservoir below. You also won’t explode because of that little cycle.”
“Excellent.”
“Follow up question,” Zhen Shi continued after mulling over an idea in his head while his son and grandson conversed. “Would having multiple of these showers shorten the efficacy of the pearl?”
“Barely. Why?”
“Hmmm…”
_______Several days later…_______________
Shortly after getting approval from his grandfather to make the [Tempering Spirit Shower], Zhen Liu proceeded to convert the prototype into a proper looking shower booth complete with mottled glass doors, and construct four additional units.
Zhen Liu was initially gonna construct four, but was reminded that it was technical considered bad luck to be near four sources of flowing water, which these showers technically counted as.
In a (literal) past life, Zhen Liu would have ignored such superstitions, but in this world where reality was more of a suggest than a rule…he didn’t want to take any more chances than he was already taking in general.
Regardless, it took a few days for the Zhen Clan as a whole to warm up to the idea of these strange shower contraptions that Zhen Liu had established. However, once they realized that not only did it contain the effect of the [Giant Tempering Spirit Amber Pearl] in a much more controlled fashion, but was also pretty damn relaxing, they took to it like flies to honey.
Leading to some conversations that Zhen Liu couldn’t help but find both familiar and a little funny.
…
“Are you done in there yet? You’ve been showering for so long I’ve read my copper novel, twice!”
“Just five more minutes.”
“You said that fifteen minutes ago!”
“Then read your book again!”
“Bah!”
…
“Whoa…why do you look like you’ve been hitting the hard stuff in the morning? I thought you were trying to cut back on that stuff.”
“I am, and I did. I decided to fiddle with that shower head setting thing that Xiao Liu mentioned, found one that caused the water to come down a lot more forcefully.”
“How…how did it feel?”
“Like a top tier massage.”
“Huh…”
…
“I honestly can’t tell if this was more or equally as effective as us just wading in the [Tempering Spirit Pond]…but I do know it’s more pleasant.”
“I think it’s more effective, I mean, the aether in the water gets distributed in little bursts instead of a huge deluge. Much easier to digest.”
“True…”
…
“Miss Jinju-”
“Please, Rianna. Call me Ren.”
“Okay…Ren…it’s not that I doubt your words about wanting to bond, but are you sure showering together is the way to do so? I thought most people bathe together at most.”
“Oh please, my jungle giantess, experiencing new and novel things together is also a surefire way to get closer. This shower thing is essentially combining those two things into one. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“Whatever you say…”
“Now then…damn, I honestly forgot how…big, you are in comparison to little ole me. What’d you eat to get this big?”
“Giant crickets, mostly.”
“Huh…remind me to hit you up for some recipes later.”
…
“Not that I mind these past few days of calm and being able to fully enjoy these shower things to the fullest…but wasn’t the teleportation array to Roaring Tide supposed to be established by now?”
…
With the cultivation shower booths constructed, this would’ve been the part where Zhen Liu would go on to do other things such as training, studying or running the worst case scenarios in his head about what would happen when the teleportation arrays finally connect with one another.
However…
“Young Master.”
“Hmm? What’s up Lace-Lucille, Aranea. Something I can help you two with?”
“Well, not necessarily me, more like the boys in the butchering facilities.”
“Oh?”
“As well as all the servants around the complex.”
“I see…”
Shortly after that little exchange, Zhen Liu found himself constructing a few more mundane showers in order to elevate the cleanliness of the clan as a whole.
Was it unnecessary?
Probably.
Did it give Zhen Liu an alibi for all the weird and underhanded shit that he tasked his kaijin to do while he was busy playing construction worker?
Indeed.
Since Zhen Liu created Blazejudicator, a kaijin that perpetually exists inside him, he had grown more comfortable with the idea of having no kaijin accessories on his person. As such, he sent them out to go and address some things he had been neglecting.
Of which, there were…a lot.
________________________________________
‘I will not lie, turning what should’ve originally been a singular pill into a multiuse shower was not on my list of things I expected to do in my lifetime.’
‘Get married, get rich, write a novel and punch a politician in the face.’
=Rather basic, but respectable.=
‘I…wait, when did I punch a politician in the face?’
<=Does royalty count?=>
‘Uhh…’
[Apologies, milord. Are we interrupting something?]
‘No, Nepherage. You’re fine.’
[Alright, then.]
‘Seeing as y’all are contacting me like this, means y’all finished those tasks I assigned ya?’
[Indeed, milord.]
‘Alright, gimme a rundown.’
[Well-]
[Hey Nepherage, no fair! Screamira and I just finished our task too and wanted to share the results!]
[You can go after, Hurricroak.]
[But- wait a minute, Frosttusk, have you been squatting in the Oasis Teapot reservoir again? You sound normal paced.]
[Maybe.]
[Is now a bad time to mention that we have finished our task too?,] Spring Brawler asked.
[Probably.]
‘Alright, enough,’ Zhen Liu interrupted all of the kaijin chatting in his head. ‘I know y’all are eager to report your activities, but please keep it one at a time. Overlapping thoughts should only be used to fuck with kind readers. Now then, Nepherage since you spoke first, you can go first. First come, first serve.’
[Thank you, milord.]
[Boo~.]
________________________________________
Nepherage’s duty: Darlings of the Private Eye.
[I see y’all have been developing nicely.]
[Yup, yup!]
[Our darlings being giving us all of their love and desires. Everything a growing zakos needs.]
[Progress is slow, but I think we figured out more solid names than “material” GalEm.]
[I see…]
[Wanna hear em?]
[Sure.]
A few days back, Zhen Liu had managed to force the trio known as Victor, Simos and Graff to betray their original employers via a combination of threats, rewards and honeypot zakos that may or may not actually be in love with them.
Regardless, with their assistance, Zhen Liu proceeded to feed the Night Parade, an organization that he had accidentally pissed off, some false information.
Zhen Liu had sent Nepherage to go and check on the status of the trio, and maybe see if the false information went anywhere. However, when she arrived at the campsite where those three should’ve been, she instead found the honeypot zakos in their human guises cleaning and cooking.
Apparently, as a means to maintain their already blown cover, the “detective” trio had decided to take up jobs as hunters and escorts in the area, while leaving the girls (zakos) behind.
A part of Nepherage found it dumb that they left half of their fighting force behind like this, the other part wanted to see how close these girls were to becoming kaijin. Starting with the fact that they had names now.
Sort of.
[So your human names are…]
[Hazel, Galatea and Bella.]
[Which is an adaptation of your chosen names which are…]
[Hazelbelle, Marbelle and Jezebell.]
[Okay, since we’re speaking to each other via telepathy, I can see the spelling of these names, so I have some questions.]
[Go ahead.]
[Firstly, Jezebell.]
[Yuppers?]
[Why does your name lack an “e” at the end of it?]
[Because I’m technically a copper bell zako, so it doesn’t make much sense for me to have an “e” at the end,] Jezebell explained.
[Makes sense…now, Marbelle?]
[Yeah?]
[Why is your human name so drastically different from your identity?]
[Well…I was gonna call myself Mabel or Marla or something, but I remembered reading this book on stories from the Crafter’s old world. In one of them, there was a king who fell in love with a statue that the goddess of love brought to life for him. So, I figured I would carry on that name here.]
[Galatea?]
[That’s the one.]
[Okay, then.]
Satisifed with the answers, Nepherage finally brought the conversation back to the brass tacks.
Namely…
[So, has the Night Parade made contact yet?]
