Chapter 108: Juno

All roads lead to Rome, yet some are born in Rome itself. Qian Yaoyao was one such person.

She had never experienced the heroic homeland war decades ago, living instead in an era of peace. In the metropolis she called home, she owned dozens of properties. Not to mention the annual exorbitant rents from high-end malls, even the income from renting out small apartments each month was enough to keep her well-fed and clothed for life.

Just like many second-generation wealthy heirs.

Once financial freedom was achieved, one either indulged in hedonism or devoted themselves to meaningful pursuits.

Qian Yaoyao was somewhere in between.

She wasn’t exactly a party girl leading a decadent life; at most, she dabbled in cosplay or spent lavishly watching livestreams, enjoying the lively atmosphere atop streamers’ cars. Nightclubs, villa parties—Qian Yaoyao kept her distance. And the chaotic, unpleasant projects of overseas students? Not her scene at all.

But meaningful endeavors? Hardly. Did she count her love of the anime world?

Being wealthy, she had seen a lot. Growing up, she had encountered all sorts of people drawn by money—young and old, men and women alike. This bred a deep internal conflict within her, a twisting struggle between herself and herself. It also shaped her bizarre, almost otherworldly standards for choosing a partner.

Because of this,

At nearly twenty-nine, she was still single.

If no suitable person came along, she planned to remain so... but who was she kidding? She was human too. She wanted love beyond her parents. She did not want to lose the ability to love, to look upon the world through the eyes of a beloved child. She wouldn’t mind having ten or eight such children.

But there was no one.

Alas, true anime-like men were incredibly hard to find.

When would she ever meet a man like Sephiroth or Vergil—the ultimate alpha, the alpha of alphas? Though, this lifetime seemed unlikely.

Huh? What’s that?

Qian Yaoyao stirred her milk tea at a riverside café, enjoying a moment of refined leisure, when her eyes suddenly brightened.

“That handsome guy.”

“He’s been by the river for quite some time.”

“The more I look, the more he really resembles Lord Sephiroth or Brother V!”

Tall and strong, even a large trench coat couldn’t hide his perfectly balanced, beautiful figure. His shoulder-length white hair didn’t soften his aura into something effeminate; instead, it emitted an overwhelming ‘I am who I am’ dominance, as if he cared for nothing, yet carried the weight of countless indescribable stories.

Presence!

Yes, presence!

He was like someone stepped right out of a movie—no, even more vivid and tangible than the lifeless dolls on screen—truly embodying what it meant to be a warrior from another dimension! His aura was simply breathtaking!

The wealthy heiress’s heart pounded fiercely, her breaths quickened.

If she missed this chance, she had no idea when she’d meet such a man again.

Charge! Charge! Charge!

How did one even start a conversation?

Before Qian Yaoyao could finish her rapid-fire mental guide on flirting, she found herself amidst a circle of others holding up their phones, standing beside Lan Yi. Clearly, in the hours he had stood by the snowy riverbank, countless admirers had approached him, streaming like fish crossing a river.

His looks and presence perfectly matched contemporary aesthetics.

You never realize how much a goddess you worship is treated like a sycophant by others.

“Hi, handsome, wanna hang out? Ahem, I mean dinner,” she blurted out, accidentally revealing her true feelings and quickly trying to recover.

Her words caused a burst of laughter from the crowd.

The scene resembled the mockery of Kong Yiji.

“Damn it! I’m going all in!”

Clearing her throat, she pulled out a thick stack of black supreme credit cards from her Doraemon wallet.

Lan Yi’s gaze remained fixed ahead, seemingly lost in thought, indifferent to the commotion around him.

Like someone deep in work, oblivious to the ants scurrying at their feet.

‘So this doesn’t work either? Fine! As expected of the man I fancy—treating money like dirt! Now, how will you respond to this move?’

With nothing to lose, Qian Yaoyao boldly pressed her phone against Lan Yi’s chest muscle.

Not that she didn’t want to raise it higher.

Wearing leather boots and standing 188 cm tall, Lan Yi now towered over two meters.

Even on tiptoes, she couldn’t place the phone near his face.

“How about this? Heh heh, all these cosplay photos were taken at home by me alone: 2B, Saint Louis, Lucy, Esdeath, the Harpist. No one but you has seen them~~ I’ve got many more beautiful ones to help you grow up~~”

“Tell me, which of my houses do you want to visit?”

“Even if you change houses every day, you’d need to switch for at least half a year. Kids? How many do you want? We can discuss their names. As for marriage, we’ll honeymoon domestically—it’s too tiring to go abroad...”

By the end, her face flushed deeply, betraying her rambling heart’s secret.

Finally, Lan Yi reacted. Slowly turning his head, his chiseled, steel-like, cold and stern face almost took her breath away. She loved that disdainful glance as if he was looking at trash!

He looked at me! He finally noticed me!

“Oh my, what a cute child. Jupiter, you’re so mean—no response at all. Even as the chief god, while maintaining authority, you should still love mankind.”

Suddenly, a richly noble, spine-tingling voice rang out behind Qian Yaoyao.

If Lan Yi was the sun—thunder and imperial majesty—then the woman who had appeared behind her was the sun’s companion star, a loving mother, a queen of magnificent nobility.

Even in this deep winter,

She wore a cool white dress like a Greek goddess, her figure even more exaggerated than a supermodel’s. Golden hair and blue eyes crowned with a golden diadem adorned with pomegranate blossoms. In her hand played a wise, rational white raven.

Juno.

One of the twelve chief gods of Oceanic Civilization.

She was the original Juno, also a psychomancer involved in the 2055 Artificial Divine Realm. In truth, she and Lan Yi had little intersection. When Lan Yi, the Dark Lord, had once sought to conquer Juno, she had long abdicated her throne, stepping down from her chief god status, contributing little to the resistance against Lan Yi’s apocalyptic ambitions.

She was shrouded in mystery—mysterious to the point of death.

“How is it? Have you found any anomalies in this world?” Lan Yi asked in a low voice.

“Very unfortunate. They’re hidden too deeply, like pearls inside an oyster. Extracting them will require some effort,” Juno replied with a regretful tilt of her delicate head. The white raven mimicked her gesture.

Huh? What anomalies in this world?

Caught between the two, Qian Yaoyao suddenly felt a profound, indescribable absurdity.

Were these two... really gods?