Chapter 108: White Moonlight, Scarlet Vermilion

Chapter 108: White Moonlight, Scarlet Vermilion

As the red cloth was lifted, Corton instinctively stood on tiptoe, his eyes widening.

The metal construct before Lord Ajef sparked intense curiosity in him, making him realize that the parts they had been producing all this time were meant for this very creation.

At this moment, Yu Sheng'an stared at the bicycle before him, his mind momentarily adrift.

It was as if he had returned to Blue Star.

He still remembered getting his first bicycle back in middle school, didn’t he?

Back then, he had often fantasized about riding through campus streets with a girl.

Ah, but those memories were too embarrassing to dwell on.

"Hah, so this is where you’ve been hiding lately! What is this thing?" A clear, feminine voice interrupted Yu Sheng'an’s thoughts.

He turned his head and saw Aphnora standing behind him, having appeared without notice.

She adored the color red—her elegant figure was entirely concealed beneath a crimson robe embroidered with gold, paired with deerskin boots. Her snow-white hair had turned black.

Was she deliberately masking her features, or was she imitating Yu Sheng'an’s hair color?

Yu Sheng'an grinned. "Perfect timing! Why don’t we test out this great invention together?"

With that, he walked over to the bicycle, swung his leg over it with practiced ease, hooked his foot onto the pedal, and raised it to the optimal angle for pushing off.

Then, with a single push, the bicycle zipped right up to Aphnora.

"Front or back?"

Tilting his head, he deliberately gave her a choice, as if reliving his youth.

"Neither!"

Aphnora’s delicate face turned frosty, though a faint blush crept up her cheeks. She turned on her heel and strode away.

The moment Yu Sheng'an mounted the bicycle and started pedaling, she immediately understood its purpose.

But his words, as always, were… infuriating!

A scoundrel would always be a scoundrel!

"Hey, wait!"

Yu Sheng'an wasn’t about to let her go. Abandoning the massive factory behind him, he pedaled furiously after her.

Sir Bai Ruide watched as Lord Ajef chased after her with a cheeky grin, his own smile stiffening, his body turning to stone.

Was this really the same Internet God whose divine majesty had once seemed unfathomable?

Wait a minute—

If the Internet God treated her with such casual equality, did that mean… that woman was also a god?

At this realization, Sir Bai Ruide’s pupils dilated, his limbs turning ice-cold.

Was this world truly so dangerous? Were gods now running around without a shred of dignity?

By now, Aphnora had already stepped out of the factory.

She was furious.

When Keville had been attacked by the Five Great Righteous Gods, she had contributed greatly to the effort.

Distributing Propaganda Leaflets, relaying intelligence, persuading nations, forming alliances to pressure Saint Todd—she had done countless things.

Though many of her efforts hadn’t yielded obvious results, that didn’t erase her contributions.

Yet after the war, Yu Sheng'an hadn’t even thanked her before vanishing.

Fine, at first she told herself that with Keville in ruins after the battle, he must have been too busy rebuilding.

But as time passed, even the Interconnected Bank was launched, and still, there was no sign of him.

Aphnora was livid.

He had time to update the Interconnected Bank but couldn’t spare a moment to say thanks?

Was splitting off a single divine projection really that difficult?

The more she thought about it, the more irritated she became, so she decided to seek him out herself.

She wanted to see exactly what he had been so busy with.

"Are you angry? Don't be. Everything I'm doing is actually for your own good," Yu Sheng'an explained, tilting his head as he pedaled the bicycle.

"For my own good?" Aphnora looked puzzled. Had she really misunderstood him?

"Do you know why music hasn't become widespread?"

Aphnora shook her head.

"Because productivity isn't high enough. At the end of the day, all forms of artistic creation—including music—are born from having full bellies and idle time."

Here we go again!

This guy was back to his heretical nonsense!

Aphnora rolled her eyes.

"Think about it. If people can't even fill their stomachs and spend every day scrambling for three meals, will they have time to stop and hum a tune, let alone compose music? Will they consider the Music God indispensable?"

Aphnora froze.

"So only when commoners have full bellies and leisure time will they start caring about things beyond survival—like music," Yu Sheng'an concluded.

"What does that have to do with this thing?" Aphnora retorted.

"Of course it does! This is called a bicycle—a means of transportation. It uses the lever principle to save effort! It doesn’t require magic to operate; any ordinary person can ride it easily."

"Compared to horses, it doesn’t need fodder, stables, or worry about falling ill. Even if it breaks, you just replace a few insignificant parts. For commoners, its invention will be epoch-making."

"With it, commoners can transport goods in less time and with less effort. The time they save—couldn’t they use it to listen to songs, or even create music?"

"Listen to songs? You’re doing this for yourself, aren’t you?" Aphnora pursed her lips, her expression softening.

"What’s mine is yours. If it’s for me, isn’t it also for you?" Yu Sheng'an grinned.

"Silver-tongued devil!" Aphnora turned her face away, refusing to look at him.

"Come on, give it a try! Before long, these will be all over the streets of Vias. As a god, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you didn’t even understand it?"

His words seemed to sway Aphnora, though she still struggled with her pride.

Seeing this, Yu Sheng'an quickly stopped the bike, took her arm, and coaxed her: "Alright, since you’re shy, I won’t make you sit in front. Sit sideways on the back instead. Yeah, just like that."

With some reluctance, Aphnora finally settled sideways onto the bicycle’s rear seat.

Yu Sheng'an chuckled, swung his leg over the bike, and called out, "Hold on tight! Here we go!"

With that, he stomped on the pedals and wobbled forward.

"Relax your body and feel the bike’s balance. How does it feel? Not bad, right?"

Aphnora, who had been tense, gradually loosened up under his guidance.

The wind rushed past her ears, lifting strands of her hair. The sheer novelty of the experience made her heart pound wildly.

Then, Yu Sheng'an suddenly squeezed the handbrake.

The abrupt stop sent Aphnora, who had just relaxed, lurching forward. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his back.

Her delicate face flushed crimson.

"Sorry, there was someone ahead," Yu Sheng'an said.

"Stop spouting nonsense, we're still in the factory! Where are the people you're talking about?"

"Hold on tight, we're setting off!"

Feeling the warmth against his back, Yu Sheng'an grinned and pedaled the bicycle once more, charging out of the factory.

The streets were a sea of people.

The emergence of the internet had invisibly spurred tremendous productivity growth in Keville.

Shops lined both sides, street vendors shouted their wares, and the clamor never ceased. The virtual screens grew increasingly extravagant.

Yu Sheng'an pedaled the bicycle, weaving through the crowd with practiced ease like the wind.

He deliberately sped over the bumpiest paths!

Virtual screens flashed past his ears, gradually dissolving into streaks of dazzling light!

The bicycle raced like the wind, its rider youthful as ever.

At that moment, his white training robes gleamed like moonlight, his crimson cape as vivid as cinnabar.

"What is that?"

"Isn't that Lord Ajef?"

As the bicycle swept down the long street, the entire avenue erupted in excitement!