"So, when a Manjuu is exposed to both me and a Wisdom Cube at the same time, it undergoes a mental breakthrough and evolves into a Bulin?"
After a lengthy explanation from the sly merchant Akashi, Lin Lan finally understood what was going on.
He let the adorable white-haired Little Bulin sit on his arm and accepted this setting...
Like hell he would!
"If Bulins evolve from Manjuus, then where did all those Bulins used as enhancement materials go?!"
"And what about Prototype Bulin MKII and Specialized Bulin MKIII? Where did they come from? Explain that properly!"
Lin Lan was in complete disarray, throwing out questions one after another.
The cat-eared swindler remained calm in the face of the commander's interrogation, her expression carrying a subtle, mischievous smile as she shrugged and explained:
"Bulin's main role, aside from handling more complex tasks than Manjuus, is to transfer the pure energy accumulated in their ship rigging to ours, allowing for breakthroughs, nya~"
"Once they finish transferring energy, they revert back into Manjuus and return to my or other factions' management, nya~"
"Also, if the commander is absent for too long, Bulins will naturally revert back into Manjuus, nya~"
After finishing her explanation, Akashi looked at Lin Lan with a hint of amusement in her eyes:
"As for Prototype Bulin MKII and Specialized Bulin MKIII, the longer a Universal Bulin stays with you, the more likely she is to continue evolving, nya."
The amount of information in Akashi's words overwhelmed Lin Lan, making him momentarily forget about the cute Little Bulin sitting on his arm, clinging to his neck.
In the game, the three Bulin sisters were acquired through official events, weekly missions, and so on.
But now that he had crossed into this world, Akashi's explanation made everything seem so logical.
No wonder he hadn't seen a Bulin since arriving.
As the lively white-haired little girl snuggled closer, practically hugging his head, Lin Lan had no choice but to gently place her on the ground.
A fresh milky scent lingered around him—Bulin smelled surprisingly nice...
Realizing that he had been holding Bulin's actual form for so long, Lin Lan's face flushed red.
"What, I thought you knew, and that's why you were holding a Manjuu for so long~"
Lützow's teasing voice reached his ears, making Lin Lan even more embarrassed.
Thankfully, the Universal Bulin herself was a clueless and innocent little girl, completely unbothered by his actions.
"But Bulin evolved at just the right time, nya~ Bulin, come help me with this signal pole, nya~"
"Buli! Green cat, leave it to me!"
At Akashi's request, the energetic little girl jumped in place, and a wrench rigging longer than she was tall appeared in her hands.
Seeing Bulin summon her rigging, Lin Lan felt a sense of familiarity—this was exactly like the official game artwork of Bulin.
Just as he was wondering how Universal Bulin planned to solve the problem, the little girl suddenly gripped her wrench with both hands and swung it at the tall signal pole...
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out.
The signal pole, made of solid concrete and firmly planted in the ground, was instantly smashed to the ground by the tiny little girl wielding a wrench!
Witnessing this brutal scene, Lin Lan suddenly realized the biggest difference between Bulins and Manjuus—Bulins had ship rigging!
In fact, in the game, the Bulin sisters could level up and even participate in battles like shipgirls.
Regardless of their combat effectiveness, they were leagues stronger than Manjuus.
"Watch as Bulin-chan buli this thing back up!"
Holding her wrench, the white-haired Little Bulin started hammering away at the fallen signal pole with expert precision.
Seeing her confident and professional movements, Lin Lan couldn't help but look forward to the result.
As an evolved form of Manjuu, her technical skills had to be top-notch, right?
However, as Bulin's relentless hammering reduced the fallen signal pole to a pile of debris, Lin Lan realized... this wasn't professional work.
This was pure, unrestrained destruction.
"Done buli!"
After smashing all of Akashi's prepared signal poles into rubble, Bulin planted her giant wrench into the ground and clapped her hands proudly.
"...That's it?"
As the surrounding Manjuus brought out brooms to clean up the remains, Lin Lan stared blankly at Akashi.
Even the sly merchant herself seemed uncertain as she watched Bulin's wild approach to problem-solving.
"Nya, it should be done, nya?"
"If you didn't sound so unsure, I might've actually believed you."
Just as Lin Lan was about to question Bulin, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.
Pulling it out and unlocking the screen, he was so shocked that he nearly dropped it.
News updates and missed messages flooded in—and at the top of the screen, the signal bar was completely full!
"???"
How did this even work?
Lin Lan put his trembling phone back into his pocket and looked at Bulin in astonishment.
"Nya~ Commander, don't worry about the details. Just know that Bulins are super reliable, nya!"
The sly merchant let out a relieved sigh and grinned mischievously.
"Commander, about the signal connection fee... don't you think it's time to settle that, nya?"
Seeing Akashi's business-like smile, Lin Lan chuckled.
Well, no matter what, the materials for the signal pole came from Akashi, so it was only fair to pay her.
Besides, his account balance had suddenly gained a seven-to-eight-figure boost—this amount was nothing.
As for how the signal actually got connected through Bulin's hammering, he decided not to think too hard about it.
Better not to question the logic of another world.
"Commander, by the way, I've already sorted out the specialty products from the Teaching Nation, nya~ Want to come check them out at my shop, nya~?"
With nothing else to do, Lin Lan glanced at Lützow.
Tomorrow, he was leaving for Dongyun City, and all his preparations had been completed with Lützow's help in the morning.
"Hmm~ The shop sounds like a nice place for a date with the commander. We can go take a look~"
Hugging her Ironblood shark plushie, Lützow elegantly clung to Lin Lan's arm.
Lin Lan was surprised—he had expected Lützow to refuse and insist on going back to sleep.
This lazy battlecruiser from the High Seas Fleet was noticeably more energetic today than before.
Since Lützow had no objections, Lin Lan let her hold onto him as they followed Akashi and her group of Manjuus toward the port shop.
Naturally, Bulin-chan followed along as well.
Along the way, Lin Lan made arrangements with Akashi to take care of Bulin.
After all, carrying a Manjuu around was easy, but having a Bulin with him at all times would be much less convenient.
With Bulin's future settled, he opened his phone and quickly browsed through the news updates.
He wanted to see if there were any reports about other factions in his port.
Unfortunately, just like back at the academy, the news articles were all meaningless fluff.
Closing the news app, he noticed a few messages from Luo Tao and other classmates, sent several days ago.
"Guess it's time to let them know—my village finally has internet."
A smile tugged at Lin Lan's lips as he began replying to each message one-handed.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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