SWNOVELXO Chapter 137 - Begin the experiment
The overly blunt “request”—a statement that fully exposed his true thoughts—came straight from YouYu’s mouth.
But… rather than being shocked, they found it somewhat ‘troublesome’.
After all, they knew YouYu’s personality well. Once he made up his mind about something, there was hardly any way to change it.
Just like before.
“…So, YouYu, what you mean is, you want us to provide you with power similar to this card—and then you’ll go fight those enemies?”
“That’s right.”
“This…”
Hearing YouYu’s decisive response, WuYue opened her mouth, but for a moment, she didn’t know what to say.
If YouYu had made this request for self-defense, she would have agreed without hesitation.
But… if it was to fight those enemies, then—how was she supposed to handle this request…?
“Alright.”
Before she could finish sorting out her thoughts, Bai Yu spoke up.
WuYue turned her head in surprise, only to see that Bai Yu’s expression remained completely unwavering.
It really seemed… like she had made up her mind.
“If this is something you need, YouYu, and if it’s truly what you want to do, then it’s not a problem.”
“This kind of power—I will absolutely—”
“…Do you really not care? Not even a bit of hesitation?”
Before Bai Yu could finish, Liu Meng, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
Feeling their gazes shift toward her, Liu Meng sighed, smoothing out her furrowed brows as she tried to keep her voice steady.
“…Listen, Bai Yu. I’m not trying to stop you from giving YouYu ‘power.’ After all, those enemies are going to come for us sooner or later. Strengthening our combat power early isn’t a bad idea.”
“But what I don’t understand is—why are you saying this now?”
“You know what kind of situation YouYu is in right now, don’t you?”
She turned her gaze toward YouYu, who was rubbing his chin in thought, then continued:
“He’s only just obtained that power. He hasn’t even had many chances to use it yet, let alone tested for any side effects.”
“…If something unexpected happens during real combat—”
“If we regret it then, it’ll already be too late…”
“Have you thought about that?”
“I have.”
Bai Yu answered immediately.
“Even though I’ve only had about ten seconds to think, I have thought it through.”
She took a deep breath, meeting Liu Meng’s sharp red eyes head-on, unwavering.
“I will support YouYu’s decision.”
“…And I will fight alongside him.”
“As for why…”
“……”
Bai Yu’s thoughts drifted back to the past.
To the time when her hesitation had led to disaster.
After a brief silence, she continued:
“…Because this time, I don’t want to ‘hesitate’ anymore.”
“In the past, my doubts and concerns caused a lot of trouble.”
“I was always afraid—afraid that taking action would lead to terrible consequences. So I kept overthinking things, delaying and delaying, until everything spiraled beyond control. By the time I finally moved…”
“It was already too late.”
“So this time—”
“I want to trust my own judgment. My own choice.”
“And I want to trust YouYu’s plan.”
“…And if something goes wrong?”
“If something goes wrong…”
Bai Yu’s voice was firm.
“Then I’ll take full responsibility—no matter what happens.”
“…”
Hearing Bai Yu’s answer, Liu Meng looked into her eyes for a long moment, then let out a deep sigh, murmuring,
“…What have you even changed?”
“……”
Muttering to herself, she fell silent for a while before finally nodding with a trace of resignation in her voice.
“…Fine. Bai Yu, I understand your stance now.”
“If you’re determined to do this—”
She glanced at YouYu, then continued:
“Then make sure you watch over him properly.”
“I will,” Bai Yu replied seriously, nodding.
“…So why do I feel like I’ve been left out of the conversation?”
“…Ah! Right, I almost forgot about you…”
Hearing WuYue’s sudden interjection, Liu Meng snapped back to reality and turned to her.
“So, WuYue, what’s your opinion?”
“…Same as Bai Yu’s.”
WuYue sighed.
“After all… YouYu is as stubborn as ever.”
“If we can’t stop him, then all we can do is try our best to prevent any accidents.”
“…That’s true.”
Liu Meng recalled the last time YouYu went up against an enemy and nodded.
Then, she sighed again and turned to the one who had been silent all this time—YouYu.
“So… YouYu, do you really have nothing to say?”
“…Well, the final decision was always yours to make. I had no say in it. And besides, this kind of power… doesn’t it usually only work if it’s fueled by your wishes? If I forced you to do it, it might not even work.”
“That’s why I left it up to you—to decide whether or not to go through with this plan.”
“…I see.”
“Then, let’s not waste any more time.”
Taking a deep breath, YouYu set the golden card down on the table.
“Now—let’s give it a try.”
“Replicating the structure of this card and creating a similar one shouldn’t be too difficult for you two, right?”
“I’m counting on you.”
“Alright.”
Nodding, WuYue and Bai Yu turned their attention to the golden card, fully focused on crafting something similar.
…
A few minutes later, a pink card and a blue card took shape in their hands.
As YouYu took the two cards, he murmured a soft “thank you.”
Then… he fell into deep thought as he examined them.
“It’s normal that they don’t match Liu Meng’s card… but these two are different from each other as well?”
Something about this felt… significant.
But no matter what—
The only way to know for sure was to test it.
“Alright then—”
“Let’s begin the experiment.”