Jiang Pengji hadn’t agreed to the System’s deal for her own sake.
Having grown accustomed to the gore of the battlefield, she had long since become indifferent to life and death.
For someone who should have already died, being able to shoot the shit with the System here meant every word she spoke now was a bonus.
She didn’t mind her own fate, but watching those delicate beauties suffer humiliation…
How could she bear to stand by with the power to save them?
(/ω╲)
System: “Signing Streamer Contract…
Officially searching for connectable planes…
Confirming coordinates…
Stream starting!”
The transparent panel, which had just been buzzing, spun its loading icon several times before suddenly displaying a full-perspective live feed.
Through the screen, she saw her current body being hoisted over the shoulder of a burly man, then thrown to the ground with a thud.
All the captured noblewomen were locked in this small, musty room.
After trekking up a mountain path, these pampered ladies had truly suffered.
Now, they sat in silence, heads bowed, listening to the lewd, sinister laughter of the bandits outside.
Everyone knew that once the bandits were ready, none of them would escape the fate of being defiled.
Jiang Pengji waited quietly, counting every single second, until a line of white text with a question mark floated across the screen—Finally, an audience member!
“System!”
She gritted her pearly white teeth.
How dare they throw me around?
Heh, if I don’t teach them a lesson, they’ll really think I, Jiang Pengji, am some pushover they can just knead and flatten at will.
The System was very honest.
The moment it gained a single point of popularity, it immediately helped Jiang Pengji accelerate her adaptation to this body.
As for the rest, it could only say it was powerless.
To put it bluntly, with so little usable popularity at the moment, there was very little the System could do.
If Jiang Pengji couldn’t save herself, the outcome would still be the same.
Of course, the System had great confidence in Jiang Pengji.
Not for any other reason, but because of that string of attributes: [Fusion Martial Power +30].
The so-called Fusion Martial Power was actually the quantification of the soul’s martial prowess from its previous life, which was then fused into the current body.
This was also one of the Host’s advantages—winning at the starting line.
It quietly glanced at Jiang Pengji’s Fusion Degree, which was at a pitifully low 0.3%.
—But, pay attention, here’s the key point!
Yet, the final Fusion Martial Power boost was a whopping 30 points!
A mere 0.3% Fusion Degree had granted her a 30-point bonus to her Martial Power.
Look at the original owner of this body, Liu Lanting.
Her Martial Power was only 5 points…
a textbook definition of a weakling!
From this, the System quietly did the math.
It could basically calculate Jiang Pengji’s Martial Power from her past life—and the number was so high it didn’t even dare to look (/ω╲)
Adding the body’s base Martial Power to the Fusion bonus, her final attribute was only 35 points, which was roughly equivalent to an average adult man of this era.
If you put it that way, Jiang Pengji seemed terribly vulnerable.
Against a crowd, she might just have to surrender.
But in reality, Jiang Pengji had a huge advantage.
How could a woman with such a brutal Martial Power in her past life not know how to fight?
My dear readers, when a 35-point Martial Power backed by rich combat experience meets a bunch of disorganized adult men, isn’t it just a total stomp?
Although the first live stream was already bloody and decidedly unladylike…
maybe a more eccentric style would attract more viewers?
The System pondered whether it should cultivate an Empress with a truly unique style…
The system’s efficiency was truly impressive.
Before long, Jiang Pengji felt the stiffness in her limbs diminish significantly, though her range of motion remained woefully limited…
Still, this is someone else’s body, she reminded herself.
I can’t expect too much.
She tried moving a little, and the results were promising.
She couldn’t help but let out a silent sigh of relief.
To avoid any trouble, the bandits had tied the noble ladies’ hands behind their backs when forcing them off the carriages, and Jiang Pengji, even while unconscious and feverish, had been no exception.
She opened her eyes, sat up from the ground, and frowned as she worked her wrists.
The rabbit-like girl from earlier was the first to notice her movement.
Her voice trembled with a mix of joy and sobs, her large, round eyes brimming with tears.
“Brother Lanting…
Sister…
You, you’re finally awake…
Thank goodness…”
Jiang Pengji looked toward the voice.
According to the memories of Liu Lanting loaded by the system plugin, this girl was a close friend of hers.
“Yes, I’m awake.” She offered the girl a reassuring smile.
She had never been stingy with her expressions when it came to beautiful women.
However, a jarring voice sliced through the harmonious atmosphere.
Wei Jingxian sat huddled in the corner, her hands bound behind her back.
She let out a cold snort, her tone sharp and tinged with an indescribable sense of exasperation.
“Why did you have to wake up now?
You’re just a burden…”
If I had just stayed unconscious, she thought bitterly, maybe those thugs would have found me too repulsive to touch and let me be for a while…
maybe I could have waited for rescue.
Wei Jingxian pressed her lips together stubbornly, trying to hide her true emotions.
But the next second, she met Jiang Pengji’s knowing, half-smiling gaze, and her pretty face couldn’t help but flush.
However, she quickly recovered, her face turning pale again.
With a huff, she simply turned her back to the wall, deciding that if she couldn’t see them, they didn’t exist.
Seeing Wei Jingxian’s reaction, a flicker of interest sparked in Jiang Pengji’s eyes.
Oh, so she’s a little classical beauty with a tsundere streak.
Right up my alley.
She had no other hobbies in life, but this was one thing she could never give up—she was a face-con, and she only had eyes for beautiful women!
Just then, another line of white text with a string of question marks flew across the screen.
It was the same viewer who had sent the first message, and they still seemed completely bewildered by what was happening.
However, perhaps the sheer beauty of the room full of lolis was enough to keep them from leaving.
The rabbit-girl glanced hesitantly at Jiang Pengji, then at Wei Jingxian, who was sulking and ignoring everyone.
She didn’t know who to turn to.
Just then, Jiang Pengji tried twisting her wrist again.
Seeing this, the rabbit-girl said in a very discouraged tone, “Brother Lanting…
I know you’re a sister, but I’m still used to calling you that…
Those villains tied you up so tightly, you can’t possibly break free…”
Jiang Pengji secretly rolled her eyes.
If I couldn’t even break free from simple bindings like this, how could I have ever taken the top spot in the Seventh Legion?
This was the most basic escape training; even a young child starting school could undo these knots.
Still, she didn’t break free immediately.
Instead, she chose to maintain her “original state.”
“Don’t be afraid, Wan’er.
Brother’s right here.”
After she spoke, a few muffled snickers echoed through the room.
They seemed to be mocking Jiang Pengji for her delusions of grandeur—and for calling herself “Big Brother,” no less.
She paid no mind to the malice.
As one of the lambs led to the slaughter, she knew her words must have sounded ridiculous.
Yet, in her eyes, the eleven-year-old Shangguan Wan was still just a weaned cub in need of gentle comfort.
“But…
I’m still scared…
hic…
I’m so scared…”
Shangguan Wan was a little girl who took great pride in her appearance.
As the youngest daughter of the Shangguan clan’s main line, she was the family’s precious treasure.
Pampered and cherished since birth, how could she have ever endured such humiliation?
For this Spring Outing Poetry Gathering, she had specially styled her hair into adorable double-loop buns.
Now, with her tresses disheveled, she looked utterly pitiful.
Jiang Pengji sat down beside Shangguan Wan and asked with a smile, “Then…
will Big Brother help you chase all these bullies away?”