Free Web NovelChapter 1744: Chapter 1291: Vishi’s Change
From Gospel to Blood Moon, Vishi only made a hasty transfer at Star Bridge Hall. Now, returning to the old place, she discovered that Star Bridge Hall is not only the logistics hub of the Five Nations but also the cultural exchange exposition of the Five Nations.
The overall layout of Star Bridge Hall resembles an ever-expanding circle. Excluding the five Permanent Void Gates at the center, the second ring is filled with Technique Spirit boutiques from the Five Nations, the third ring with luxury clothing stores, the fourth ring is a street of gourmet food, and the fifth ring, intended for business offices of the Five Nations, is recruiting investments. Companies from each nation can directly set up branch offices in Star Bridge Hall for convenient contract signing and negotiations, eliminating significant cross-border communication costs while accelerating the technological exchange and resource integration among the Five Nations.
Star Bridge Hall is bound to become the financial center of the Five Nations. The massive monetary transactions are enough to create countless economic anomalies. Vishi casually thought of many ways to harvest the world’s resources at Star Bridge Hall. For example, creating a non-existent company, developing a sensational foreign product, and using extremely high dividend rates to attract informal capital from the Five Nations. Once the scale reaches a certain level, everyone has to vouch for it, then find a perfect opportunity to burst the bubble. The void realm resonance triggered by the accumulated resentment and fear of millions could give birth to the concept she anticipates...
One cold-blooded heartless plan after another rapidly took shape in her mind, but she quickly pushed them aside, walking lightly through the gourmet street. A beautiful elf like her should draw attention anywhere, yet she was not conspicuous here: ogres from Blood Moon, interspecies couples from Earth Abyss, Curse Elves from Paradise, nobles from Dazzling Star, Red Hats from Gospel... whether in small groups or traveling alone, the street was packed, and every moment was a brand-new experience for all. The beautiful Ghost Prophet was just another amazing stranger among countless others.
Vishi’s steps were suddenly halted by the aroma of baked eggs. Following the scent, she spotted a dessert shop selling what appeared to be cotton candy, but with a creamy yellow filling flowing out continuously. The shop was named "Cloud Melt" and was extremely popular, with long lines of people waiting.
She walked straight to the front of the line, took out a gold coin, and tossed it to the Dazzling Star youth in the front. "Give me your spot, scram."
The Dazzling Star youth, with a long sword at his waist and dressed in luxurious clothes, seemed to be a Sword Master and naturally wouldn’t lack a few gold coins. He was about to get angry but turned to see Vishi’s beautiful profile, and his anger softened immediately. It seemed he wanted to chat a bit more, but under Vishi’s cold sideways glance, he obediently left the line, like a dog doused with cold water.
"I’ll have one of each of the three popular recommendations," Vishi said glancing at the menu. "How much is it?"
"May I ask if the customer is an elf?" The shopkeeper asked politely.
"Sort of."
"Then you don’t need to pay," the shopkeeper said, handing her a business card with a smile. "All purchases by elf customers in our store are sponsored by the ’Elf Development Association.’"
Vishi took a look at the card, raising an eyebrow slightly. Aside from the free food and drinks, she could use this card to receive guidance and advice at the Elf Reception Centers in Blood Moon, Gospel, and Paradise. The Elf Development Association is a platform for mutual aid, cooperation, and win-win situations among elves. It provides assistance with a range of societal affairs, such as changing nationality, finding jobs, and dealing with daily life matters.
Racism? This is a traditional delicacy that must be tasted.
There were seats nearby to dine, and Vishi used a fork to scrape a small piece of Cloud Melt into her mouth. She could feel different layers of sweetness continuously melting on her taste buds, so good that it made her eyes squint, toes grip the ground, and her heart feel warm and sweet.
She bit the fork and took a photo of the Cloud Melt, intending to send it to Diya after finding the Witch in her contacts since Diya was the only one in their group who shared her liking for sweets.
But her finger paused before hitting the send button.
Vishi glanced at her chat history with Diya. Although they usually spent every day together in daily life, they often chatted online, mostly sharing some food videos, sending emoticons, and ranting about the Sword Maiden and Silver Lamp.
Yes, though it sounds odd, Diya actually came to Vishi to complain about the other two. If anything, Diya and Vishi should be the worst pair in their group. Initially, Diya hadn’t intended to interact with Vishi; she’d been riled up by Vishi’s daytime trolling, becoming angrier and organizing her thoughts to retaliate online—she didn’t even dare storm into Vishi’s room for a direct confrontation.
Vishi thoroughly enjoyed teasing the otherwise non-aggressive Diya. She never seriously rebutted her but instead used fallacies and slippery slope arguments to wear her out, leaving Diya exhausted and vexed. Yet, Diya’s resilience surpassed Vishi’s expectations, and after a month of back-and-forth sparring, they inexplicably began to talk about other things.
Once, when Vishi complained about the Sword Maiden, Diya’s joy was palpable even across the light screen: "Hey, can we make fun of Sonia?"
Still, in reality, Vishi continued to show Diya a cold face. Diya’s laziness, lack of ambition, and indulgence aggravated Vishi to no end. Just seeing Diya slacking off got on her nerves. Occasionally online, she thought Diya was rather cute, but offline, she felt differently; Diya’s cuteness only existed in emojis.
At this moment, a new message suddenly popped up from the Witch’s chat interface:
"I’m back in Gospel now, don’t you dare come and cause trouble in my country! If you do, just come directly to the Imperial Palace. I’ll reluctantly leave half the bed for you."
Vishi snorted, sending the photo of Cloud Melt along with a comment: "Delicious, and you can’t have any."
No matter how many messages Diya sent in response, Vishi closed the light screen, happily finishing all three servings of Cloud Melt.
Ash Heath, you are truly a terrifying man, Vishi thought.
It wasn’t until that moment that Vishi realized how much she had changed. She had always been cautious, carefully concealing her tracks—not because of strength or weakness—but because the "unseen" state gave her a great sense of security. Now, she no longer bothered to hide, allowing herself to be openly seen by others.
She had never queued before, nor would she have bought anything. For her, transactions only occurred between mages of equal status, and for the weaker ones, she, the Ghost Prophet, simply plundered—take as she pleased, and dare to disagree, she’d take their souls too. Now, not only did she spend money on purchases, queue patiently but also didn’t mind giving a gold coin for someone at the front to leave, polite to the point of becoming somewhat anthropomorphic.
More frightening was that she actually had friends now.
Someone like Diya, who had been insulting from the start, Vishi would’ve sought revenge, at the very least, wanting to grind Diya into dust. But somehow, along the way, she found Diya less disagreeable, even willing to engage with her, sharing her life... Not only did Diya let down her guard, but Vishi herself also lowered her defenses.
She was willing to let others into her comfort zone.
Apart from this, she had developed a liking for sweets and TV shows. Though she had these interests before, if she had greater goals, she could immediately forsake them. Now, she found herself strolling leisurely on a food street, taking a break when she should be seizing every moment to grow stronger.
She had changed, changed into someone unlike herself.
