Reborn with Steve Stand

Chapter 696: Netflix and Chill

Since Logan had other important matters to attend to, Fang Mo did not stay long. He exchanged a few casual words with Logan and then left.

After saying goodbye to Logan, Fang Mo did not return but instead took Xiao Yao out of X Academy for a brief tour of nearby New York City. After all, this little homebody had never been abroad, so it was a chance to broaden her horizons.

However, mentioning the characteristics of the United States inevitably brings to mind things like robberies, drug use, and school shootings. Yet, Fang Mo noticed that Xiao Yao seemed uninterested. Even when he took her to go shopping, she still appeared unenthusiastic.

Curious, Fang Mo asked Xiao Yao, "You don't like it here?"

"Uh huh..." Xiao Yao yawned lazily in response. "Hmm... it's not as interesting as Uncle Wolf."

"Alright, I get it." Fang Mo snapped his fingers and turned to leave. "I'll go beat him to his knees and drag him back for you..."

"Shut up!" Xiao Yao punched Fang Mo hard. "You've never been to the Seawolf world, so stop pretending with a few lines of dialogue!"

"Hey, it's not like I succeeded." Fang Mo didn't dodge, knowing her punch wouldn't hurt him. "When we get back, I'll be more serious and collect more Book of Era, then we can explore different worlds. The first one could be the world of Titans; I want to mess with Eren."

"No way," Xiao Yao sighed. "Do your thing... just don't drag me along, okay?"

"So, is there any world you're particularly interested in?" Fang Mo asked out of curiosity. "You seem indifferent to all this, always busy with machines and arrays, working yourself to the bone..."

"A world I'm interested in?" Xiao Yao thought seriously. "Well, the worlds I'm interested in are quite strange, so I haven't given it much thought."

"Oh, tell me about them." Fang Mo couldn't help but pinch her cheeks.

"Uh, does the Red Alert world count? I want to ride the Kirov airship..." Xiao Yao pouted, swatting Fang Mo's hand away. "Yeah, I also want to drive a demolition truck."

"... Driving a demolition truck, seriously?" Fang Mo almost laughed. "What, you want to be a magnetic rod too?"

"If not, the world of Chenghai 3C is fine too," Xiao Yao continued. "But that world might be hard to enter. It's supposed to be a parallel world of Warcraft, but the map is too small. Who knows if it will generate an independent world."

"Chenghai 3C?" Fang Mo pondered. "Wait, isn't that the world mentioned in the Sword Saint novel by Tian Can Tu Dou?"

"Yes, that's right," Xiao Yao nodded vigorously. "But that book is probably a black mark in his career."

"Hey, every author has a few blemishes." Fang Mo laughed. "Let me tell you, Lei Xiang and Mo Yue were my early influencers. It's a shame Da Tang dismantled the bridge after crossing the river. You wouldn't know the glory days of online literature. I used to go through a pack of tissues in one night reading novels. Now, I'm on blood pressure meds..."

"I've heard about it," Xiao Yao shrugged. "That's just how the internet trends go. The golden age has passed, and many things are deteriorating... So I'm really happy to be here with you."

"Really?" Fang Mo was pleased. "Then did I pull you out of a pit?"

"Well, you're not wrong..." Xiao Yao's eyes twitched. "But don't forget, you're also racking your brains to dive back into that pit."

"Alright, no more talk of pits. Let's discuss the Book of Era instead."

Fang Mo wiped his face upon hearing the words and immediately changed the topic: "Speaking of which... those worlds you just mentioned don't seem like things girls would usually be interested in. Couldn't you have ended up in a shoujo manga or something? If not that, then at least something like Nuan Nuan, Sword Three, or some other era book?"

"Why would I want to cross into a shoujo manga?"

Xiao Yao glanced at Fang Mo: "Most of what I read are BL mangas. If you go there and start chatting with them as buddies, you'll find out your buddies are... something you won't like. Would you still want to go?"

"No, no way."

Fang Mo shook his head vigorously: "Suddenly, the instances you mentioned earlier sound much better... really."

"You don't get it; it's all about nostalgia."

Xiao Yao sighed nostalgically: "When I was young and naive, I used to skip class and go to the internet cafe with the troublemakers to play games. They played stuff like Red Alert, CS, DNF, StarCraft, and Warcraft. I didn't understand it, so I just followed along and played..."

"And then?"

Fang Mo asked.

"Then?" Xiao Yao pouted, seemingly displeased: "Then they couldn't beat me and switched to dancing games, dyeing their hair all sorts of colors... That's when I got into Minecraft and met you."

"Couldn't beat you, huh?"

Fang Mo chuckled: "But DNF is pretty good. I'd love to visit the Arad Continent. I want to crap in Kaili's mouth."

"Count me in this time!"

Xiao Yao suddenly gritted her teeth: "I want to crap in that woman's mouth too!"

"Hahahaha!!!"

Seeing his partner's furious expression, Fang Mo laughed heartily.

After chatting for a while, since Xiao Yao wasn't interested in New York, Fang Mo soon took her back to X Academy.

By now, it was starting to get dark.

Due to their busy schedules, the X-Men were still hustling around.

However, Fang Mo's guest room was warm and peaceful. Ah Xue was in a good mood, humming while preparing dinner.

The little Cheems was helping cut vegetables with a miserable look on his face.

Meanwhile, Fang Mo and Xiao Yao were watching TV with Xiao MoMo.

Since Xiao MoMo had only taken the feminizing core in the X-Men instance, it was Xiao Yao's first time seeing her change.

According to her little partner, she was indeed surprised because the feminized Xiao MoMo was really cute, resembling a dark version of Kanna. Humans are ultimately visual creatures... Fang Mo and Xiao Yao couldn't escape this rule, so they tacitly treated Xiao MoMo as their child.

"Oh, by the way, Xiao Yao."

While watching TV, Fang Mo suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead before taking out a bright pink hexagonal gemstone: "This is for you."

"What is it?"

Xiao Yao, holding Xiao Mo Mo while watching TV, glanced at the gem without taking it.

"It seems to be something called an Eternal Life Gem."

Fang Mo explained briefly: "I got it from a lucky block earlier. I didn't know what it was for, so I materialized it. It seems to grant immortality, able to regenerate even from ashes. You should keep it for longevity."

"Sounds like I'm dying soon..."

Xiao Yao rolled her eyes: "I recognize this mod. Its logic only prevents item drops upon death. Haven't you modified the server permissions? We already don't drop items when we die, so why would we need this?"

"Huh?"

Fang Mo was taken aback: "You know this mod too?"

"It should be the Pendant of Life. I've played it before."

Xiao Yao summarized: "It's a lightweight mod with just two items. It translates to Life Stone or Life Pendant."

"Uh, my translation seems to be Eternal Life Gem."

Fang Mo scratched his head.

"The mod translators often embellish things. It's normal." Xiao Yao waved dismissively: "The Life Stone in this mod is usually non-craftable and found in dungeon chests. Wearing it prevents item drops upon death."

"But regular Life Stones are one-time-use items. Only enchanted ones are permanent."

Xiao Yao absentmindedly stroked Xiao Mo Mo's head: "So, in the game, wearing this is like having death drop protection. As for materializing it... maybe it does grant immortality as you said."

"Is that so?"

Fang Mo pondered while looking at the Immortal Gem: "So it's useless for us?"

"Give it to Ah Xue."

Xiao Yao looked up at the busy figure in the kitchen and said, "She is an MC organism, not like us players who are immortal. She isn't as strong as us, so she needs this the most."

"Yes, that's true," Fang Mo nodded in agreement. "I'll mention it to her later."

"Alright."

Their conversation didn't take long, and after watching TV for a while, Ah Xue soon finished preparing dinner.

Naturally, it was then time for dinner.

During the meal, Fang Mo casually mentioned the matter to Ah Xue.

Of course, just wearing the item wouldn't be safe, as it could be stolen. The best way was to implant it inside the body. According to Fang Mo's previous tests on Jason, the Eternal Life Gem would merge with the body, preventing it from being taken away.

Since it needed to be implanted, it obviously couldn't be done at the dinner table.

Thus, Fang Mo thought for a while and finally came up with a discreet way to express it.

"Ah Xue, after dinner, come to the room with me. I have something special to show you," Fang Mo said. "As for cleaning up the table... let Xiao Yao handle it. You've been busy for quite a while today, so take a break."

"Pfft..." Ah Xue covered her mouth and laughed softly but didn't say anything. She just nodded gently, "Alright, master, I understand."

Dinner soon ended.

Being impatient, Fang Mo immediately pulled Ah Xue into the room.

Xiao Yao rolled her eyes but understood that Fang Mo was handling serious business, so she started to clean up. To her surprise, Xiao Momo also stood on tiptoe, grabbed two bowls, and followed her to the kitchen.

"I want to help Daddy wash the dishes," Xiao Momo said, wagging her big tail.

"Good child," Xiao Yao said, a bit surprised. She patted Xiao Momo's head, then pulled over a small stool. After some hesitation, she said softly, "Next time... just call me Mom."

"Okay, Mom..." Little Momo hesitated.

"You can call him Dad."

"Oh, right! I can do that... Mom, you're so smart!" Xiao Momo exclaimed.

Just then, painful moans came from the nearby room, catching Xiao Momo's attention. She turned towards the room and looked at Xiao Yao with a puzzled expression, "Mom, did Aunt Xue do something wrong?"

"She..." Xiao Yao covered her forehead with her hand, "She's just tired. Your dad is giving her a shoulder massage, but he's using too much strength, so it might hurt a bit."

"Oh, I see," Xiao Momo nodded, then ran to the door, knocked twice, and shouted, "Daddy, be gentle! Don't use so much force on Aunt Xue..."

But before she could finish, Xiao Yao covered her mouth and dragged her back to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Fang Mo emerged from the room with a dark expression. He now understood why many families became discordant after having children.

Xiao Yao glanced at him, but they both kept silent.

The housework wasn't much, and washing dishes was quickly done. It was nighttime by then, and Fang Mo learned his lesson this time. He put Xiao Momo to sleep first before secretly pulling Xiao Yao into the master bedroom.

This time, he had serious work to do, specifically operating in the dream world. Since Fang Mo had been killed early on, there was a gap in information between him and Xiao Yao.

Tonight was the perfect time to catch up, which could be seen as a form of binge-watching.

The night passed without further events.

The next morning, Fang Mo was still immersed in the shock of the previous night's revelations, like Chainsaw Man Season 2, Thousand-Year Blood War arc, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Loki, and the Council of Kangs.

However, his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who the hell..." Fang Mo grumbled as he got out of bed and walked to the door. Opening it, he found Logan standing outside, holding two bottles of wine and a large platter. "Uh... why are you here?"

Logan wasn't empty-handed. He carried the wine in his left hand and the platter in his right. Raising an eyebrow at Fang Mo's question, he said, "What, not welcome?"

"Oh, it's not that," Fang Mo shook his head and quickly invited Logan in.

Logan walked to the dining table, placed the platter on it, and found two wine glasses. "Have you eaten? If not, try my punch?"

"Harry, you're using my own magic against me?" Fang Mo retorted.

"So, you're leaving today?" Logan ignored the retort, opened the platter revealing steaming steaks, and poured himself a glass of wine. "When exactly?"

"I planned to leave after waking up this morning," Fang Mo said, looking at the steaks. The rising steam reminded him of their first battle, when he treated Logan to steak. Decades seemed to have come full circle. Smiling, he added, "But now I've changed my mind. I'll leave after breakfast…"

~~~

Ok wtf Fang? so wholesome all of a sudden?