With Yamanbagiri Kunihiro’s help, Lin Ge scattered the seeds across the designated plots of land.

To witness the growth of the ‘magical plants’, Lin Ge stayed right there after sowing the seeds. He dragged over a small stool and sat on the bare ground, watching the plants grow every minute and every second, his eyes recording their development.

Yamanbagiri Kunihiro stood behind him, expressionlessly staring at the rapidly sprouting plants.

I must be broken, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro thought. Perhaps the blade was nicked during a previous sparring session? Otherwise, why would he be here, watching sweet potatoes grow like he’s brain-damaged?

Yamanbagiri Kunihiro doubted his own sanity.

—

Three days can be fast or slow. After harvesting several batches of sweet potatoes and radishes, Lin Ge’s interest in magical plants waned, and he only harvested them routinely.

The Honmaru was vast, but Yamanbagiri Kunihiro only appeared during harvest time. With no one else around, Lin Ge found no joy in wandering around the Honmaru.

Watching Lin Ge, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro thought to himself that this might be the first time a Judge had ever farmed so diligently.

After a few mature crops were harvested, the sweet potatoes and radishes quickly piled into a small mountain. Since they were too many, Lin Ge had no choice but to sell these crops to the market.

Sweet potatoes were five small coins per pound, radishes eight small coins per pound.

With thousands of pounds of crops, Lin Ge made a small fortune, recouping the money he’d spent on renovating his house.

Seeing the glittering coins, Lin Ge suddenly felt a strong urge to farm again. After selling the crops, new seeds were unlocked in the market. One was watermelon, the other was a small Feng watermelon, or yellow-flesh watermelon.

The maturity time for the two types of watermelons was six and eight hours, respectively.

Remembering the joy of eating watermelons and savoring their sweetness, Lin Ge, excited, didn’t hesitate to plant all the available land with melons.

Watching Lin Ge evolve from a vegetable farmer to a melon farmer, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro was speechless and rolled up his sleeves to get to work.

After sowing all the seeds, Lin Ge stopped Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, who was about to leave after finishing his work. He rummaged through his system’s storage and pulled out a black gift box.

“A gift,” he said.

With the money he had, Lin Ge immediately bought a suitable gift for Yamanbagiri Kunihiro from the market—a brand new cloak. It was still white but now had beautiful beige patterns printed on the bottom.

The reason for choosing this cloak was noted in a sales comment: “Number one in purchases within the last half month.” The reviews were unanimously positive, with comments like ‘my baby loves it’ and ‘he put it on right away, and I’ve never seen him wear the old one again.’

Indeed, over the past three days, Lin Ge had realized that golden-haired angels like Yamanbagiri Kunihiro existed in other Honmaru as well. He was a tsukumogami, transformed from a sword. No wonder he looked so dreamlike.

Hearing unfamiliar terms, Yamanbagiri Kunihiro was taken aback. He didn’t look at the beautifully wrapped new cloak; instead, his beautiful eyes stared intently at Lin Ge.

After a moment, “Why… would you give me a gift?” he asked. The concept of ‘gift’ was too foreign to him.

In this Honmaru, since his birth, all Yamanbagiri Kunihiro had experienced from the previous Judge were dark, negative emotions. Gifts… were they really okay?

•

His expression didn’t look happy.

Lin Ge scratched the back of his head, troubled. Could it be that the market here was like Taobao back home, where positive reviews were manipulated?

Darn, I was naive. Full five-star reviews do have their share of falsehoods.

“You’ve always been helping me, and I’m grateful,” Lin Ge said earnestly. “I happened upon this in the market and bought it.”

“I saw it had a lot of good reviews… Do you not like the color? There’s a seven-day return policy; I can buy you a new one,” he said, about to put the gift box away, ready to exchange it for a light blue cloak that ranked fifth in sales.

But halfway through, his wrist was caught. The hand that grabbed him was slender and cool. When Yamanbagiri Kunihiro grabbed Lin Ge, a few strange emotions flashed through his mind.

“I…” “Like it,” he said softly, the last three words barely audible yet emphatic.

He stepped forward, closing the distance between them. “I would get it dirty if I wore the new cloak into battle today.”

His ears turned red, and he cautiously looked at Lin Ge: “Can I… change into it when I get back?”

Lin Ge: “…”

Ah, an angel. This is an angel! And way too cute!

In his excitement, Lin Ge opened the market app and quickly ordered five different cloaks, sweeping the top five ranks.

He handed the pile of cloaks to Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, very generously: “Change now, today! Our family has money!”

He was serious: “Wear one, toss one, buy a new one when it’s gone!” Perhaps this is what being wealthy is like.

Lin Ge was pleased with himself. Before long, I’ll be the guy who only licks yogurt lids.

It seems that farming is indeed the key to making a fortune.

…

As they arrived at the deployment point, another tsukumogami who had arrived earlier was waiting. This tsukumogami had the appearance of a young boy with silver hair and blue eyes, and two long locks of hair draped in front of his chest. His original form appeared to be a sword; Lin Ge had seen his information in an encyclopedia and vaguely remembered his name as Hakusan Yoshimitsu.

He was about one meter fifty, dressed in what seemed like a military uniform, but the sleeves were modified to be very large, hanging down and embroidered with red lines and patterns. He also wore a cute little hat.

He looked even more like a model than a model; standing there, he seemed like a moving CG character.

Hakusan Yoshimitsu was the only tsukumogami in the Honmaru whose original form was a sword. Unlike the mature and handsome features of Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, he was more delicate and exquisite.

In just two words, dreamy.

It’s a pity Lin Ge didn’t choose humanities in college; otherwise, he could have plucked some nice phrases from classical poetry.

Looking at Yamanbagiri Kunihiro in his new cloak and then at the quietly standing Hakusan Yoshimitsu, Lin Ge felt his eyes were cleansed. This is the beauty tsukumogami should possess. Not like him, woken up by his own ugliness every day.

Hakusan Yoshimitsu made his entrance accompanied by a small white fox with ice-blue ears and tail, which quietly lay on his shoulder, its eyes whirling around.

When the new Judge looked at him, Hakusan Yoshimitsu nodded slightly. He noticed the change in Yamanbagiri Kunihiro’s attire, which seemed to radiate an emotion called happiness.

…Unfathomable.

“Hakusan Yoshimitsu is skilled in healing; with him here, this mission will be much safer,” Yamanbagiri Kunihiro explained the reason for the other’s presence.

Lin Ge nodded and smiled warmly at Hakusan Yoshimitsu: “Thanks for the hard work.”

The latter nodded, his expression impassive, even a bit cold: “It’s what I should do,” he said, pausing, “my lord.”

When this overly formal address came from the exquisite youth’s mouth, Lin Ge felt a complete disconnect, even as if he were about to freeze.

…This kid shouldn’t be called Hakusan Yoshimitsu. He should be called Snow Mountain Yoshimitsu.

The teleportation array slowly activated, and beams of golden light fell, enveloping the three of them.

During the transport to the battlefield, Lin Ge felt a slight discomfort. The warping of space left him feeling weak, his throat parched, and the smell of blood in the air made his stomach rumble with hunger.

He had specifically eaten five pounds of sweet potatoes before coming.

Lin Ge suspected that his stomach was connected to another dimension because he was undeniably a newbie. This time he was just here to tag along.

The experienced Judges had already cleared most of the battlefield, leaving a few stragglers for the newcomers to pick up some experience.

“I’ll scout ahead,” Yamanbagiri Kunihiro said.

Lin Ge shook his head, disagreeing. “Let’s stick together.”

To have him and Hakusan Yoshimitsu alone together… Ah, no, can’t think about that. It would be too awkward.

This kid was like an ice sprite, exuding a chilly aura all over.

Yamanbagiri Kunihiro paused, then nodded lightly after a moment of hesitation.

After groping their way through the battlefield for three or four minutes with Yamanbagiri Kunihiro and Hakusan Yoshimitsu, three monsters emitting a green glow appeared in Lin Ge’s vision.

Their skeletons were grotesquely protruding, armed with weapons, exuding a smell of blood.

What caught Lin Ge’s attention was not their appearance.

He discovered… these Trace Army soldiers seemed to emit an incomparable, strange aroma.

This scent continually toyed with his sanity, and his empty stomach clamored to devour it.

Wait. Turning into a monster is one thing, but now I’ve developed pica?

Watching the Trace Army’s monstrous forms, Lin Ge felt tears streaming down from his mouth.

Yamanbagiri Kunihiro, unaware of his anomaly, calmly drew his blade from its scabbard, instructing, “Please stand behind me.”

Hakusan Yoshimitsu stepped forward half a step, his ice-blue pupils indifferently observing the ugly monsters.

Lin Ge, protected by the beautiful youths: “…”

It’s inappropriate to say this now. But I feel like I’m drooling.

Slurp.

The battle was about to erupt.

Three seconds later, the two tsukumogami swiftly advanced, clashing with the three Trace Army soldiers, the sounds of their swords colliding incessantly.

Amid the flashes of blades, Lin Ge gulped.

…

Compared to fighting, Hakusan Yoshimitsu was better at healing.

He had only been forged not long ago, and when the previous Judge left, his level hadn’t been systematically trained.

This made it difficult for Hakusan Yoshimitsu to handle the Trace Army soldiers of his own level.

He lacked practical experience and, during the recent battle, was accidentally wounded in the waist by a weapon from the Trace Army.

The wound slowed down Hakusan Yoshimitsu’s movements. Already slow, his vulnerability was now glaringly apparent.

Just as the Trace Army was about to strike again, Hakusan Yoshimitsu raised his sword to block, but then heard a clang! The Trace Army soldier in front of him mysteriously disappeared.

No… actually, there was a trace.

Hakusan Yoshimitsu’s gaze shifted to their new Judge.

The other party was still frail and slender.

But it was this harmless guy who had just swallowed a Trace Army soldier whole.

Recalling the process of the Trace Army being devoured, Hakusan Yoshimitsu’s ice-blue pupils slightly widened, his brain nearly crashing.

Facing Hakusan Yoshimitsu’s gaze, Lin Ge touched his stomach, not daring to look up.

Hehe. Seems like I stole a kill.

He didn’t know how he did it.

But after swallowing the Trace Army soldier, he felt a strange satisfaction.

The persistent hunger that tormented him seemed… lighter?

Lin Ge’s eyes brightened.

He looked towards the other two remaining Trace Army soldiers.