Extra: I Love You (1)

“See that foreigner? Looks easy to fleece,” the blond guy draped an arm over his buddy, a street cat sizing up scraps in the rain.

His buddy nodded, greed flashing like a fish in muddy water. “Then let’s hit him hard, one clean score.”

“Eh—wait? Where’d the foreigner go?” Blond swung back, and the couple by the path had vanished like mist under sun.

In the pavilion, Eli lounged with his hands behind his head, smile easy as a lake in spring, watching Edlyn play with childlike glee.

Edlyn turned, eyes lingering like moths to a lantern, then snorted a laugh. “Ah. This is so weird.”

“What?” Eli rubbed his face, grin crooked like a moon sliver. “Do I look ugly?”

“Not ugly, just… kind of roguish,” she said, laughter bubbling like a brook. “With your personality—pfft, I can’t—”

Eli shrugged, arms looping around her like a warm shawl, catching her as she collapsed laughing.

They were in his old homeland, and his face had settled back into its old contours, the clear lines of Luxiao’s features.

“What’s it matter? The one you love is me,” he said, voice light as wind through bamboo. “I just swapped the mask. Besides, this was mine first.”

Edlyn hooked her fingers behind his neck, smile sly as foxfire. “So? Sulking yet?”

He tapped her delicate nose, touch soft as falling petals. “No way.”

“Kidding. You’re handsome. Very handsome,” she said, kneading his cheek like warm dough.

Eli only patted her back, palm steady as a heartbeat against her.

Off to the side, a young man with Eli’s exact face spat out a stalk of straw and grinned, sunlight breaking through clouds. “Save the fireworks, you two. My eyes aren’t safety glasses.”

“What, as if you’re single,” Eli said, flicking a plastic bottle that arced like a lazy comet toward him. “Where’s the little Angel you kidnapped?”

He caught it and tossed it into the bin, motion casual as a pebble into a pond. “The girl’s preparing to have a baby. Didn’t come.”

“What about Birand and his wife?” Eli asked, voice drifting like smoke.

“Them? No clue. Didn’t say. What, can’t handle a quiet night?” The man’s laugh was a knuckle tap on a doorframe.

Eli straightened, a wolfish grin flashing. “You’re asking for a beating.”

The man chuckled and stood, dusting off like a sparrow shaking rain. “What do you two want to eat? Let me host. Guests deserve a proper table.”

He was the third avatar that once walked off with his own will, and the little Angel he’d spirited away now wore the word wife like morning dew.

Perched on Eli’s lap, Edlyn tilted her head, mischief bright as lantern light. “Then how about a family gathering later? Call everyone. Chaos tastes better.”

“Yeah. A house full of gods, all grilling meat—just imagining it feels absurd,” Luxiao palmed his face, wobbling off like a tipsy pine in wind.

Eli and Edlyn glanced down at each other, laughter rising like twin kites on the same breeze.

True enough, their whole brood were monsters by any measure. A barbecue felt hilariously wrong, like dragons sipping milk tea.

“We’ve stayed here long enough. Time to wander,” Eli said, voice a road unrolling to the horizon. “Edlyn, where to?”

“Anywhere,” she said, a twinkle like starlight on water. “Didn’t you promise me the Five Sacred Peaks? Let’s go.”

“Great. First stop… Mount Tai!”

“...Mm. Mount. Tai.”

“Repeat after me. Te ai tai. Shi an shan—Taishan!”

“Uh… somehow you’re not suited to teach language,” Edlyn said, expression tragicomedy, a wilted flower trying to stand.

The poor guy coughed twice, eyes elsewhere like distant thunder, and let it slide.

Truth be told, his grades back then were only middling—a breeze that never quite turned into a gale.

It’d been so long; who remembers all that? He straightened his collar like a soldier fixing armor and went to buy flights to Mount Tai.

Birand frowned at the invitation in his hands, lines gathering like crows at dusk.

What was Eli’s family plotting now?

“Dad, what’s that?” A girl pounced, arms around Birand’s neck like ivy on stone.

“Mm… nothing much. Your Uncle Eli’s inviting us for barbecue,” Birand said, glancing at Icarina and their daughter. “A family gathering. You two in?”

“Of course,” Icarina laughed, voice crisp as bells. “Rare chance to mooch off Eli. How could we not?”

“Oh! And I’ll call the other elders of my Elf Race. If it’s family, the maiden’s clan should come too, right?”

Birand’s mouth twitched, a crack in baked clay. His wife still held a grudge for Eli wrecking their family’s reputation that one time.

“Fine by me,” he chuckled. Those old codgers were bored anyway. Edlyn had money to burn. Eating their meat was no crime, like larceny under moonlight.

Yuna watched her parents’ matching wicked grins and shivered, a cold wind down an open collar.

In private, she got along great with Anna and Alice. Uncle Eli was about to bleed cash.

She thought it, smirked, then let it go like a leaf to the stream. Soon she’d be playing with Anna again. Why worry?

Elsewhere, Abyss Edward and Celestial God Yulia lounged on a luxury cruise, sea spread like silk under sunlight.

A pigeon spiraled down from the blue and landed on Edward’s shoulder, a splash of ink on snow. He blinked, smiled. “What are the kids up to now?”

Yulia took the bird. It melted into a letter like frost becoming water, leaving them both momentarily stunned.

“That brat’s getting stronger,” Edward said, a secretive smile like a blade under velvet. “Didn’t think he could do this.”

“Looks like he’s not far from being another Zero in truth,” she murmured, voice a cloud passing the sun.

“Yeah. He destroyed Zero. Now he must carry Zero’s burden,” Edward said, calm as a mountain.

Yulia hesitated, the pause a held breath before rain. “Do you think he might…”

“You mean, become a second Zero?” Edward laughed softly, dawn warming stone.

“Yes. Is it possible? Last time I saw him, he felt like the universe’s center—something eerie and vast. One wave of his hand and we would…”

“Don’t fret, Aya. After all this time, don’t you get him?” Edward’s smile was a lantern in fog.

She paused, then nodded. “Sigh. Sorry. It’s on me.”

“I know. The native world’s had anomalies, shadows flitting like bats at dusk,” he said. “Relax. I checked. The land itself is mutating. Though, yes, it’s tied to Eli.”

“Huh?”

“Because he is the new Rule. Things will be born from his will, like stars from dark sea,” Edward said, eyes bright as steel.

“You mean…”

“Yeah. Maybe we’ll see a new race of gods step into this cosmos, guiding life to grow,” he said, confident as a steady tide.

Out of trust, he didn’t say the rest: those beings were already born, minds sharp as winter air.

How else could Eli keep running off to play? He’d become a hands-off monarch, sleeves clean, world turning.

Yulia opened the letter, expression odd, then laughed like chimes in wind. “That brat invited us to a barbecue.”

“Only he would,” Abyss chuckled. “Looks like he’ll call a crowd. Birand’s wife is an Elf. Plenty of old fossils survived.”

“And thanks to Eli’s new rules, their lifespans doubled,” Yulia added, wry as tea with a bitter aftertaste. “They’re probably bored stiff.”

“Then let’s invite all the remnants of the old era,” Edward boomed, sweeping his hand. A cloud of pigeons burst outward like a white storm.

“All right. Let’s see how he entertains guests.”

In the true seat of power for the Demon Race—

“What! The Demonic Lord is throwing a party? All high-ranking names must attend!” Angelo slapped the table, leaping up like a lit fuse.

Reni sighed, voice as flat as a calm pond. “Marshal, you just want to slack off again…”

“Huh??? Reni! Do you not want your salary this month?”

“Don’t! Marshal, I was wrong. I won’t do it again! Dock more pay and I can’t even eat!”

Then the day arrived.

Winnie and Yale came home from school, bags swinging like pendulums.

The sprawling Ostol estate buzzed like a hive, lanterns and laughter filling the air.

Winnie glanced at Yale, doubt a little bird in her chest.

He smiled, warm as afternoon sun. “Don’t worry. Family gathering. Wanna come?”

Her cheeks pinked like peach blossoms. “I… Is that really okay?”

“Relax. I invited Harry and the others too.”

“Ugh. You dummy,” Winnie muttered, biting the words like a plum, eyes meeting his and holding.

“Huh? What’s that got to do with me?”

“Yo, little bro! Got yourself a girlfriend?” After greeting Winnie, Anna, posted at the door to welcome relatives, whistled like a street sparrow.

“Come on, sis. Don’t tease me,” Yale sighed, a helpless shrug like drooping willow.

“Haha. Your EQ’s hopeless. Didn’t inherit Dad’s best bits,” Anna said, hooking his neck, playful as summer rain.

…Honestly, your dad’s EQ wasn’t high either…

After a while, the broad backyard of the Ostol house was full, voices rising like a festival tide.

Eli sat by a fire pit, watching it all with a rueful smile, smoke curling up like quiet thoughts.

“I wanted a small meet-up. Look how many came,” he said, palms open to the night.

“What’s it matter?”