Zeri hadn't forgotten that the reason she was so... so strange last night was because she had consumed an excessive amount of joy factor during the raid on the factory. This caused immense mental pressure when she needed to pay the price, leading to her uncontrollable masturbation...
"You're not still thinking about last night, are you!" Zeri covered her little belly in disbelief and said, "Just... you could have told me directly, why did you..."
"Hold on, let's calm down." Faen extended his hand, then explained:
"Ashlesh's blessing is comprehensive for me. This enhancement isn't just simply strengthening my physical body, but making me a special life form that is half-spiritual and half-material. In other words, even if the current Ashlesh died completely, my body would still generate a steady stream of joy factor because it has been integrated into my metabolism."
After being blessed, the first thing Faen did was to understand his brand-new body. Because only by understanding could he master it.
And after the ascension of his life level, Faen's body strength far exceeded that of so-called magical beasts—Zeri's bulging little belly now was the best proof.
A steady stream of energy could be drawn from the spirit realm at will. That 'massive amount', which would be a bit ridiculous even in anime, was enough to drain a person dry.
But for Faen... it was okay. A few breaths were enough to recover almost completely.
Instead, because of this wondrous experience that touched both heart and kidneys, he felt his body filled with an eager impulse...
Hearing Faen's explanation, Zeri's face was filled with confusion and incomprehension.
Ionia was different from other regions of Runeterra. In Ionia, the veil between the spirit realm and the material realm was very thin. According to Faen's guess, this should be related to Ionia's history.
About ten thousand years ago, unknown giants descended from the distant starry sky onto the First Lands of Ionia. To fight these giants, some Ionians voluntarily accepted the power of the spirit realm, transforming into the Vastayashai'rei to harness the energy of the spirit realm and the power of the material realm to defeat the giants, sealing their flesh and blood into rock.
Since then, Ionia's spirit realm has been more active than other regions of Runeterra, and spirits from the spirit realm can even directly influence the operation and composition of the material realm. For this reason, Ionians advocate harmony with all spirits, because Ionia really has all spirits.
This was a benefit, allowing Ionia to enjoy peace for thousands of years. But it was also a disadvantage. The most obvious point was that after Noxus invaded Ionia, what truly caused the greatest damage to Ionia wasn't Noxus itself, but the disruption of the balance between good and evil in the spirit realm, leading to the emergence of a large number of evil spirits...
It was precisely because of the thin veil that, as an Ionian, Faen could more or less perceive the changes and differences occurring in himself.
Simply put, the mental changes, catalyzed by Ashlesh, allowed Faen to influence his physical composition.
This allowed Faen's body to ascend, integrating conceptual powers from the spirit realm into his blood—joy being one of them.
"But... there shouldn't be any problem." Touching Zeri's little belly, amidst the girl's nervous expression, Faen said thoughtfully:
"The plasma I voluntarily gave you contained joy factor highly concentrated under my subjective consciousness, so it could quickly boost your mood and combat state. But what's in your stomach now is life essence I released by actively relaxing my essence gate so you wouldn't be sad. Although it also contains some joy factor, apart from making you feel happy and slightly sensitive to some of my things, it just has a higher energy density and will accelerate your physical growth."
Faen said, "Similar to a nutrient solution with some harmless side effects? This component from the spirit realm can help you absorb and grow better, such as increasing body density, bone strength, magic adaptability, and so on."
Where exactly an individual stands within the totality of the spirit realm and the material realm has always been a key point of discussion, research, and study for many academies, monasteries, and sanctuaries in Ionia. Although there is no accurate conclusion yet due to individual differences, one thing is certain. That is, for individuals, the power of the spirit realm can better allow the body in the material realm to grow and develop.
This can be confirmed from the various monsters and deities existing on the land of Ionia.
Hearing Faen's explanation, Zeri blinked half-believingly. She didn't doubt too much because their time together had already convinced Zeri that Faen wasn't the kind of jerk who would take advantage of a crisis... After all, from Faen's hardness, it could be inferred that if Faen really had bad intentions, she would definitely have been done for last night.
Thinking this, Zeri blinked, then poked Faen's chest with dissatisfaction and said, "Let's consider this matter passed... then tell me, what do you mean by relaxing the essence gate so I wouldn't be sad..."
To this, Faen spread his hands helplessly: "You definitely wouldn't be willing if I didn't tell you, but you're unhappy when I do..."
Hearing this, Zeri pursed her lips, knowing Faen was telling the truth. After all, she worked hard for so long last night and Faen still had no reaction. Muttering indignantly, "I'll make you pay sooner or later," she stopped dwelling on this matter too much and asked, "What do we plan to do next?"
"Change to a secret base, and by the way, let's have a good chat about how to change Zaun."
"Mmhmm." Zeri nodded.
Faen then put on his clothes and controlled the water flow to pack up the things they needed to take away—actually, there wasn't much, as most things in the secret base were scrap metal Faen and Zeri recycled from the junkyard.
Although Zeri learned mechanical engineering from her mother since childhood and could effectively utilize these scraps that others looked down upon. But given a choice, who would want to use these defective products... let alone rust, wear and tear, and such. Having been discarded at the garbage station, even if confirmed usable, the wear, precision, and durability of these things themselves were far less than before. Now with money in hand, Zeri also began thinking about whether to hand-craft a new set of equipment.
After simply tidying up, Faen patted Zeri's little butt and said, "Alright, let's go. On the way, I'll tell you some of my thoughts on Zaun."
Because of what happened last night and early this morning, Zeri was now completely shrunk inside her slightly heavy electric jacket, giving a particularly autistic feeling. Faen's sudden slap startled Zeri. She didn't mind too much, just rubbed her butt and rolled her eyes at Faen, then said:
"I don't understand very well either, but if I feel confused, I will ask. You can't be annoyed with me."
"Haha, I'm just afraid you won't understand but force yourself to pretend you do."
"I'm not that kind of idiot." Zeri wrinkled her nose and said, "If I did that, wouldn't it lead to something like what happened at the factory yesterday again..."
Hearing this, Faen rubbed Zeri's hair understandingly. Obviously, rushing excitedly to destroy the factory's energy workshop but being begged by the chem-slaves to stop had a deep impact on Zeri.
This was a good thing, because Zeri realized that some things couldn't be solved simply by destroying or overthrowing.
Zeri didn't have much reaction to Faen's touch, just subconsciously glanced at Faen. Seeing the smile and encouragement in Faen's eyes, she quickly pulled herself together.
"No matter what! We must make Zaun happy!"
Looking at Zeri's firm little eyes, Faen cooperatively gave a thumbs up.
Although a transmigrator, growing up again in Ionia in this world, Faen was inevitably influenced by some of this world's culture while getting familiar with it. For example, Ionia's expression of beauty—beautiful skins are all the same, but a pure and noble soul is the most precious thing for a human being.
Of course, this was Faen's big head thinking. The little head held the opposite opinion—but in many cases, this didn't conflict, and Zeri was a very good example.
In a hellhole like Zaun, money makes the world go round. Although this large amount of wealth would inevitably attract the attention of some interested people, the good thing was that Faen had enough power. But even so, when it came time to actually buy a house, Faen had some other ideas.
At breakfast time, Zeri had no demand for breakfast. The milk in her stomach hadn't been digested yet, and just as Faen said, Zeri could feel her state becoming a bit strange along with the digestion. Her body was inexplicably hot and feverish, and she was always subtly paying attention to Faen's every move. When looking at each other, she would feel some places squirming constantly, secreting some thick bodily fluids.
Fortunately, this feeling wasn't enough to affect Zeri's daily life, just making Zeri care more about Faen.
Thinking this, just ordering a drink, Zeri swallowed. The warm-up ending in the morning was a bit intense; although it didn't hurt, it left some strange feelings. This should have made her feel dissatisfied, but Zeri found she didn't have much discomfort, instead faintly feeling some aftertaste and expectation...
What am I expecting? It can't be tonight, or expecting other places?
...
Wait, why am I thinking like this?!
Realizing something, Zeri started staring hatefully at Faen again. But that indignant little look didn't seem like complaining, but more like acting coquettishly.
Faen was obviously used to Zeri's daily hissing—her arc sparks as magic power were directly linked to her emotional state. While her emotions influenced her magic, her magic was also influencing Zeri's personality.
This is also why guys who use black magic are often gloomy creeps—magic in Runeterra really possesses self-awareness. Things like World Runes can even directly twist people's thinking.
And arc sparks were obviously magic leaning towards sunshine, complementing Zeri's own personality. For Zeri, if she really felt dissatisfied or angry, she would definitely say it immediately, not holding it in and letting people guess. Like this little complaint in her eyes now, it was more of an escapist psychology generated from the conflict between realizing what she truly desired deep down and her moral values.
Basically, realizing what she truly craved, but finding it conflicting with her morals, she adopted the mentality that every injustice has its perpetrator and every debt has its debtor to stare down the initiator.
As someone who had mastered the user manual for Zeri without a teacher, Faen didn't take the bait at all facing Zeri's little look while sitting at the dining table. Instead, he naturally followed Zeri's escapist psychology and changed the subject: "Do you have any ideas about the house and our future career?"
Faen's question almost immediately diverted Zeri's attention. After thinking briefly for a while, Zeri said, "For the house, it must be a big house with a dedicated workshop, otherwise it's too messy to pile everything in one room. And it needs to be hidden enough, safe enough, because once we have a little fame, the Chem-Barons will definitely gang up to deal with us! Then there's the bedroom... for the bedroom... two?"
When mentioning the bedroom, Zeri became bashful.
Seeing this, Faen said, "One is enough, save money, steady stream flows long~"
"Bad guy! But indeed we have to save money..." Zeri hummed and said no more. But from the electric arcs faintly lighting up on her hair tips, it could be seen that Faen's proactive request made her exceptionally happy. It was just that the girl's reserve prevented her from showing corresponding joy on her face; only the faint curve of her mouth and the swinging feet under the table proved Zeri's hidden delight.
It's a pity Zeri isn't a Vastaya, otherwise her little tail would probably be wagging happily now.
After chatting about the bedroom issue, Zeri didn't continue discussing related things. After all, regarding the future base, apart from the bedroom configuration, there wasn't much else to chat about... Wait, why would she think like this?
Just as Zeri was preparing to hiss again, Faen on the side said, "Rather than the secret base, let's discuss what we should do next."
"Oh oh, okay." Hearing this, knowing they were discussing serious business, Zeri interrupted her hissing cast, turned serious and said, "I don't have any clues yet... you say first, if there's anything wrong I'll ask you, we can discuss together."
"Good." Faen nodded, then took out a piece of paper and handed it to Zeri.
What was written on it was very simple—Ideological Mobilization, Organization Establishment, Struggle Strategy.