"Seven hundred empowerment points, that's a huge sum."
"It's a shame it's still not enough for the Primal Empowerment: Thunder Art." Looking at the seven hundred empowerment points on the panel, Lin Yan glanced at the Golden Light Mantra he had just empowered, ultimately spending fifty points on a Chaotic Empowerment.
Chaotic Empowerment, to put it plainly, was basically like a lottery draw.
The number of traits it produced was random, and the traits themselves were divided into six colors: gray, white, blue, purple, gold, and rainbow.
Gray traits were purely negative. White was a 'neutral adjustment,' which could be positive or negative. Blue and above were positive traits, with rarity and the difficulty of appearing increasing with each color.
A gray light emerged.
A gray-colored trait instantly appeared after the Golden Light Mantra.
[Golden Light Mantra • Difficult Qi Flow: Every activation of the golden light is exceptionally slow, its speed drastically reduced.]
Extending his palm, Lin Yan activated the golden light within his body.
The light, which should have covered his hand in an instant, now took a full three seconds.
"..."
"Re-empower."
[Empowerment Points -100]
This time, a blue light and a white light appeared.
"Two traits at once?"
[Golden Light Mantra • Sentient Golden Light • Slowed Cultivation
Sentient Golden Light (Blue) — The golden light within your body will automatically protect its master upon sensing danger, covering the area under attack and counter-attacking.
Slowed Cultivation (White) — You can no longer actively cultivate the Golden Light Mantra, but it will now cultivate itself perpetually at 95% of your normal cultivation speed.]
"This time is pretty good. One hundred and fifty empowerment points well spent."
With the golden light now having an auto-guardian feature, he at least wouldn't have to worry about being backstabbed or knocked out from behind.
Zaun wasn't like Piltover. A death here was nothing. Robbery, theft, and brawling were practically daily occurrences in Zaun.
It was almost impossible to survive in Zaun without some skills.
This was also why Lin Yan had just watched the bridge incident unfold quietly instead of swaggering out to stop it with the arrogance of a 'transmigrator.'
As he was mentally sorting through the storyline of Arcane: League of Legends, a few noises came from outside the room.
Walking out of his room, Lin Yan saw Vi, clutching a baseball bat with an exceptionally vigilant expression, and Powder, hiding timidly behind her.
"Who are you! Where's Vander?!" Vi asked, wary of Lin Yan.
Thump...
Lin Yan took a step forward, which provoked a huge reaction from Vi.
She was like a frightened kitten with its fur on end.
Though terrified, she still waved her claws, trying to threaten the 'beast' approaching her.
Seeing Lin Yan place his raised foot back down, the small-statured Vi opened her mouth as if to say something, but she couldn't quell the fear in her heart.
She kept backing away until she was shielding Powder against the wall, her eyes still filled with vigilance.
Seeing her like this, Lin Yan knew she was having an acute stress reaction.
He pulled a chair from the side, sat down against the wall, took two lollipops from a nearby drawer, and slid them across the floor to Vi's feet. Only then did Lin Yan speak. "I'm a friend of Vander's. He's the one who left you here."
"Then where is he?!" Vi pressed.
Hiding behind her, Powder looked down at the lollipops by her feet, silently picked them up and hugged them, bit open a wrapper, and sniffed the cola-flavored candy inside before quietly stuffing the other one into Vi's pocket.
"You mean Vander? He went to handle some things in the undercity."
"It's safe here. You can relax," Lin Yan said faintly, sitting on the chair.
Seeing that Vi was just staring at him warily without answering, Lin Yan continued, "Vander also told me both your names. One is Vi, and the other is Powder.
I was friends with your mother, Felicia. You can feel completely at ease staying here."
"You're lying! Piltie!"
"My mom would never know someone like you!"
"Hey! What's wrong with people like me?"
"You can be careless about what you eat, but not about what you say."
"I'm giving you a place to live and rest! The bed you two slept on has freshly changed sheets! I haven't even complained about you two being dirty, and now you're pointing fingers at me?" Lin Yan retorted. "And Vi, use your head and think! If I really had ill intentions toward you, why would I have waited until now?"
"Besides, what do you two have that's worth my scheming?"
Lin Yan's words were logical and helped Vi, whose mind had been clouded by hatred and fear, to calm down.
Children from poor families mature faster. In a place like Zaun, kids' minds matured much more quickly than those on the outside.
She turned her head to look at the clean white walls and neat furnishings of the guest room, and then at the two large, dark smudges on the bedsheets. Looking back at herself, so out of place here, she thought for a moment before slowly lowering the baseball bat.
Seeing that Vi had finally grasped the situation, Lin Yan took two cups of instant noodles from the drawer, prepared them, and brought them over.
Vi looked down at the instant noodles floating in red chili oil in the paper bowl, sniffed it, and then nodded toward Powder.
Only then did Powder pick up a fork and bring a few strands to her mouth.
The springy noodles and the rich, meaty aroma made Powder's eyes, already wide with hunger, grow even wider.
Ignoring the heat, Powder lifted the paper bowl and slurped everything down.
When she put the bowl down again, not even the soup was left.
"Are you full?"
"N-no..." Powder said in a small whisper. Frail, timid, a little unhinged, but a big eater.
"Powder, you can have my bowl," Vi said, putting her bowl down and pushing the nearly empty noodles toward Powder.
Seeing this, Lin Yan sighed helplessly and pushed the bowl back in front of Vi. "Vi, you eat yours."
"I can't make promises about much else, but as long as you're in this house, I guarantee you'll have enough to eat."
After all, as long as he was in the shelter, the food would refresh daily.
With that said, Lin Yan took out two bags of beef jerky, two boxes of chocolate, and two cans of cola from the fridge. He also made two more cups of instant noodles with ham, letting the two of them eat their fill.
Once they had eaten and drunk, Lin Yan told them to go take a shower.
When Vi heard Lin Yan tell them to shower, the expression on her face instantly became extremely 'colorful.'
She had heard that rich people had unspeakable perversions, and having a thing for children was one of them. For this man to be so good to her and Powder... could it be...
Noticing Vi's strange look, the corner of Lin Yan's mouth twitched. "Wipe that weird look off your face."
"As you can see, everything here is very clean."
"The food, the drinks, the clothes, the utilities... so I don't want two people with dirty bodies and clothes walking around my room."
"Vander entrusted you to my care, so you have to follow my 'rules'."
"Go take a shower."
Saying this, Lin Yan opened the bathroom door, turned on the light, and showed them how the shower worked.
Once the two little ones entered the bathroom, their natural curiosity as children took over, and they began looking around, examining the modernly decorated bathroom.
Inside, Powder looked at the 'magnificent' decor, looking here and touching there.
Meanwhile Vi, being older, sank back into the sorrow of her parents' deaths now that she had calmed down.
But soon, she roused her spirits again.
Turning to look at the tiny Powder beside her, Vi made a silent vow. From now on, she would take her mother's place and protect her little sister!