BaoBao's Origin 3 Love Among The Holy War

Luna opened her eyes and found herself back in the same dark black space. 

"Luna?" 

"..."

"Luna? Are you okay?" BaoBao was worried that being impaled reminded her of the way she died in the second world.

"Mm." Luna did not feel like talking and simply floated in space with a spaced out look. 

"Luna? You can sleep like the last time if you need to." BaoBao remembered that she did not have much rest in the night before the final showdown with FenFang.

Luna finally noticed BaoBao's worries so she reassured him, "I'm fine BaoBao. That death was nothing compared to the second world's. Also, it was more torturous fighting the fake LongFei. This death is really not too bad."

"Then... What's wrong?" BaoBao looked at her with worried eyes and gently touched her forearm.

Luna blinked her eyes in surprise. Although she was not thinking about anything in particular and had told him that she was fine, BaoBao was now able to sense that something was not right with the way she was feeling.

She smiled wryly. She was glad that BaoBao's emotional intelligence was improving but this meant that she could no longer avoid conversations about her feelings, especially if she started thinking about things.

"This world was just a little... overwhelming for me. Did LongFei do as I asked?" Luna suddenly asked instead.

"Ah! Yes he did! He carried out your orders perfectly and even gave MengYao herbs that acted as painkillers for the thrashing he put MengYao through."

Luna nodded then solemnly asked, "... So how are the results of this world?" She was not feeling optimistic about the results. 

"Now that you asked... It's strange. The administrators told me to wait as it would take longer to assess our performance this time." BaoBao felt disgruntled. If it was up to him, he would easily judge Luna's performance as marvelous, perfect even!

She sighed and went quiet again. She closed her eyes and continued to float in space. Luna was truly feeling overwhelmed. Not only was it the most emotional she had been for a long while, she also had to rely on LongFei's assistance to the end. LongFei actually listened to her, and she somehow accomplished something that was against the plot.

/What could all these mean? Did he listen to me or did he simply revert back to his character after I left the world? Did I cause some disturbance in the world?/

BaoBao heard all of her worries but had no answer to it, so he kept silent and hung his head low. He had still thought too simply in the end. There he was, feeling happy about all the things Luna had accomplished, yet neglecting the consequences of her actions. He had also gotten carried away earlier and felt aggrieved when Luna asked LongFei to support the lead couple. Even BaoBao did not know what would happen to them now.

/... Desmond... My family... I wonder how happy they would be if they knew about this.../

BaoBao cocked his head slightly then asked innocently, "What about you, Luna? Are you happy?"

Luna's eyes flew wide open in response to BaoBao's question. "Me? I..." 

Her hands slowly clenched and she looked away from BaoBao's direction to avoid making eye contact. 

After a short pause, she spoke. 

"I haven't really thought about it. You know what? Maybe it was a mistake. I shouldn't have done something like this so willfully. I knew all along that the goal was to be average yet..."

"Lu- Luna?" BaoBao reached out a hand and slowly approached Luna. He sensed that something was wrong. It made him feel afraid. 

"Yet I was so easily shaken like that. Killing FenFang was also only possible due to LongFei's intervention. Ha... I'm still as pathetic as ever." 

Luna then continued in an extremely soft whisper, "To think that I was hoping it'd make me a little more worthy..."

"Luna?" BaoBao called out again in a shaky voice. 

Luna did not respond for awhile. She then took a deep breath before turning around with a small apologetic smile. "Sorry BaoBao, just ignore my ramblings. I'm fine."

On the contrary, BaoBao felt like things were anything but fine. The way Luna smiled now reminded him of how she was when he first met her. Her smile did not reach her eyes. Her eyes looked devoid of emotions. Like she was jaded. "It's- it's okay Luna... You did nothing wrong..." 

Luna continued to put on a kind smile and patted BaoBao's head. "Thank you."

BaoBao's eyes teared up and he bit his lips in frustration as he lowered his head. He felt that his words did not make it through to her. 

[What can I do for her?] BaoBao thought to himself. At the same time, he received news of the results.

"Ah!!" BaoBao exclaimed out in shock.

Luna looked at him quizzically.

"Our- Our- Our gr- grade!" BaoBao stuttered with wide round eyes and a wide smile on his face.

Luna was able to gather from his reaction that their grades really satisfied him, which meant that it must be very good. So her eyes slowly grew wider in surprise too.

"Don't tell me..."

"An S grade!!"

Luna's jaw went slack.

"Not only that! The evaluation for our performance is an S too!!" BaoBao squealed in excitement. He felt like Luna finally got the result she deserved. He then began talking rapidly to explain the results.

"They were impressed that you not only found the truth behind your brother's death and dealt with the culprits, you also sought out the mastermind and dealt with her! That appeased the original soul so much and her story was rich enough to be made into a proper supporting character. The original soul's emotions had been so strong that it was causing significant instability in the world's consciousness, such that the payoff from the power consumed from upgrading her role in the story was still better than leaving the world in that state! Furthermore, you discovered the history of that world and contributed to our library of knowledge!"

By the end of his speech, BaoBao was not even breathless and waited for Luna's reaction with big round hopeful eyes.

"Ooookay... What's the catch?" Luna just could not believe that she got something good just like that.

BaoBao's enthusiasm sunk like a rock to the bottom of the ocean. "Well, there was a stern warning but that's not the focus here..." He pouted a little.

"What warning?" Luna preferred to focus on what was important. She truly was not convinced that her performance this time round was that commendable since she was assisted from the start.

BaoBao sighed softly then answered her question. "Apparently the changes made to the plot caused several things to happen. The world's consciousness had wavered and waned each time we did something significantly different from the plot. The concerning part was that it almost disappeared when LongFei thrashed MengYao. Only after the thrashing stopped, you died, and LongFei fulfilled his promise to you, did the world's consciousness stabilise. But it seemed different at the same time. So the administrators had to take awhile to investigate the difference in the world's consciousness.

They found that on top of the lead couple spreading a welcoming atmosphere across the world for the mystical beings with their village's help, your destruction of the bandits' village helped to attain some peace. This reduced the number of unknown characters dying with strong grievances, so calmed down the world's consciousness to the point that it looked completely different. It also seemed different because it was a little weaker from upgrading BaiXue to a supporting role. This has been done automatically by the world's consciousness due to BaiXue's involvement in the plot.

They ended up rewriting the book and giving you a stern warning to not go over the limit of the things that could be changed in the plot or there will be consequences."

Luna was about to ask about the consequences but noticed that BaoBao looked sullen. She smiled sadly knowing that it was because of her. She rubbed his head and talked gently. "Isn't it wonderful that we got such an awesome result? This is something you've always wanted right?"

BaoBao nodded. He was indeed happy that if they kept this up, he would be well in line to be upgraded into a more advanced system. But this had not crossed his mind until she mentioned it. He had not noticed when but being of use to Luna, no matter how advanced he was, had became his focus instead. He looked at Luna and saw her apologetic smile yet again.

[No! I can't be like this, it won't be of help to her! I'll only make her feel worse!]

BaoBao violently shook his head, then beamed and threw up his arms to wave them around as he continued his announcement. "That's not all, Luna! We've been granted another feature!"

Luna raised her eyebrows.

"It's the system market!"

Luna grinned and teased BaoBao, "The one you let slip before?"

BaoBao turned red in the face then lightly coughed and continued, "The system market is really a market. But it's superior in the sense that it sells almost anything and everything you'd ever need! Things are ranked from SS to D according to their usefulness and quality. Based on your performance, the administrators are free to award you any number of redemption at their discretion. For our contribution to the library of knowledge, we get to redeem one ranked SS item. For our overall performance, we get to redeem one S ranked item!"

"What are the SS ranked items?"

"Invulnerability shield, perfect disguise, invisibility cloak, complete defense armor, cloaking ring, full rejuvenation pill, Frankenstein potion, life sustaining pill, ..."

BaoBao continued rattling off with gust at the speed of a machine gun. There were things for protection and defense, for attack, for combat, for investigation, for living, and many other purposes one could come up with. 

It was only 5 minutes later that BaoBao was done. Luna had intended to ask about the S ranked items after the SS ranked items but she could not imagine how long it would take when there were already that many SS ranked items.

"When do I have to make the redemption?"

"Oh, it's any time you want! Now, or after you read the world book, or after you enter the next world! Ah, of course you got to do it discreetly. It won't be good if something materialises out of nothing in front of a person in a world, especially if such a thing happening is unheard of in that world."

"There are no other limitations or conditions to be met before something can be summoned?"

"Nope!"

"Strange... How do you conjure up something that is not part of that world?"

"We have the knowledge of the composition of each and every item. With that, we can materialise the item using the atoms and molecules of that world. If it does not belong to that world, we can still materialise the item and transport them from where I come from, just like how I am able to have a physical form."

"Does this mean your world has all the elements required for creating every single item?"

"Nope! We get the resources from the different worlds and make them then store them in this system market that every system has access to! It's like a fair exchange between us and the worlds. Without the worlds, we lack the knowledge and resources. Without us acting like doctors, they'd eventually disappear."

"Doesn't this mean that you have a whole plethora of weapons and such in your world? If a war breaks out, won't the effects be devastating?"

"Exactly! But war has never happened and will never happen! It's disadvantageous for everyone if a war breaks out and everyone knows that. No one desires for anything else but to upgrade and become a more advanced system to contribute to expanding possibilities for our kind."

"How wonderful it is to not have human emotions leading to irrational actions."

"Yes!" BaoBao felt proud of his identity, but he soon remembered something that made his ego deflate back to normal. "But... I've learnt that our nature has led us to undermine the effects of emotions thus reducing the accuracy in our predictions..."

"Isn't it good that you've started learning about emotions then?" Luna comforted with a soft smile.

BaoBao nodded resolutely. He was eager about sharing his findings with the administrators once he was done with his research.

"Alright, back to business." Luna declared. 

BaoBao nodded in response then they waited for a book to appear. Luna felt that it was taking slightly longer than the previous times for a world to be assigned. BaoBao however was quietly and patiently waiting with a slightly spaced out look on his face. 

Finally, a black book with silver bindings appeared in front of Luna and she took it without hesitation.

/ Love Among the Holy War... /

This is a world where the existence of angels and demons is common knowledge among the common people. Some angels live in heaven while some stay on earth to evangelise and protect. Some demons live in hell while some stay on earth to spread sins and tempt humans. 

As deception is seen as a sin, only the demons are able to camouflage themselves among the humans, while the angels appear before humans in their truest form. As such, humans are able to tell who are the angels but not who the demons are. Only the more powerful angels who has the ability to perceive one's aura is able to identify the hiding demons. Humans have a murky mud and earthy colour to their aura. Demons have grey to black auras, depending on the level of their power. The extremities of humans' and demons' auras changes colour according to their emotions. 

The book is set during a time when the angels and demons are at war.

The story centers around an angel called Angela who lives on earth. She is known to be a gentle, demure, and kind angel who helps the poor and starving, settle disputes, and promote fairness. Peace and happiness are always left in her wake. 

A powerful demon lord called Vlad would occasionally come up to earth out of boredom from managing the thousands of demons under him and the territory allocated to him. Although he found it more fun to participate in the spreading of sins on earth, everyone knew him as the unfeeling, cool, and charismatic leader. He decided to keep up the facade as it was a more effective persona for that role. As a result, he would have to be in disguise whenever he comes up to earth. 

On one of his visits, he chanced upon Angela who was hiding in the forest to sulk and release her frustrations. She was quite a renowned angel so he had been pleasantly surprised to see her kicking around, mumbling, and cursing the fact that she had to stay on earth. She desired to stay in Heaven and manage things from there. She had grown tired of having to deal with the daily trifles humans seemed to like to get themselves into and trying to change the hearts of resistant humans. In her opinion, they should let humans be and judge them for the kind of person they chose to be instead of trying to change them. 

Realising that they were in similar situations despite having different origins got Vlad very interested in her. He presented himself to her with his true mischievous nature and called her by "fake angel". It was his way of loving both sides of her. On the other hand, Angela absolutely abhorred Vlad and his nickname for her, because she disliked this unmerciful side to her. It was something Vlad could never understand because both sides were still her. Angela could not do anything to Vlad though because he would never come around when the more powerful angels were in the vicinity and they could never track down his whereabouts. 

After some time, they entered a state of war but Vlad never stopped loving her. If anything, he worked hard to subtly direct the demons under him away from wherever she was at. In the meantime, Angela used this chance to be as merciless as she wanted. She purged villages that had reports of demons and killed off any bad characters regardless of whether they are human or demon. There were several instances when she was held back by people who claim that her target was human but she would give the excuse that the demon has corrupted his soul and that his only salvation was to be slain by her. Only a few have managed to survive and run away while she was held back by the good people. Each time that happened, she would isolate herself in the forest to vent her anger. One of those times, an injured archangel called Michael was seeking refuge in the area and witnessed the entire scene. 

Angela only realised she was found out when the sound of Michael collapsing caught her attention. While she nursed him back to health, Michael did not rebuff her for being merciless but he did not support nor encourage this side to her. He patiently taught and mentored her the ways to be merciful. He patiently cleared any doubts and eased any frustrations she had. Angela felt accepted and supported by Michael and eventually fell in love. Michael liked her drive and maturity to change and improve her character, so he also fell in love with her.

Meanwhile, a succubus called Rosa, who worshiped Vlad's cold and aloof nature, found out about his soft spot for Angela. She maintained how they were simply incompatible and constantly tried to seduce Vlad to have him for herself. When that did not work, she resorted to corrupting Angela by making her become a sex addict. Rosa informed Vlad's most loyal follower and trusted vampire friend that an angel was using the honey trap on Vlad. She easily believed Rosa due to her existing negative prejudice against the angels so they worked out a plan to ruin Rosa together. Rosa gathered and managed the demons who would rape Angela while the female vampire would act as a bait to lure Angela. Just before they could execute the plan, Vlad found out about it and raged as he knew how it would have surely broke Angela inside and out. Vlad appeared to wreck everything and claim their lives.

In the final showdown, Vlad had been assisting a young demon when they would encounter Michael and Angela. Angela quickly dealt with the weaker demon while Michael engaged Vlad in a fierce fight. Angela finds out that it was Vlad who had severely injured Michael from before so would hate him even more. She joined in the fight but Vlad could not bring himself to hurt her. He put on a show as if he was slowly losing then let himself be stabbed to death. As it would turn out, Vlad was the strongest demon lord and a key player in the war. Her deed was then recognised and she would return to heaven together with Michael at the end of the war.

Luna closed the book then went deep into thought. She had to predict what could be useful for her in this world while guessing which side character she would be transmigrating into this time. If she followed the pattern from the previous world, a character that was significant but insignificant at the same time was Vlad's most loyal follower. 

BaoBao who was aware of her thoughts immediately addressed her concern without waiting for her to question him. "There are indeed too many things in the system market for you to know of everything and choose from on the spot. I can filter out relevant ones and only tell you my recommendations!" BaoBao said proudly.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "What are your recommendations based on?"

Luna's question reminded him of his weakness and his ego deflated. He squatted down and drew circles on the invisible ground while mumbling, "The data of the history of purchases in worlds of similar genres..." He no longer felt as confident because his data had not always been helpful or accurate.

Luna grinned a little. She was pleased to see that he seemed to be maturing and growing smarter. "That's better than nothing. Instead of browsing, I'll entrust the redemption to you BaoBao."

"Huh?" BaoBao's head tilted up sharply to look at her with incredulous eyes.

"Browsing now risks getting something I don't really need in the end. Browsing later takes up too much time even with a filter. You'll know what I need when I do need something out of nothing. You'll save me when I'm in a pinch. I'm relying on you BaoBao." 

BaoBao's eyes slowly grew wider as Luna talked and his eyes sparkled as tears welled up in his eyes. BaoBao could not find the words that could express the new feeling he was experiencing now. [She still trusts me. She's willing to entrust such an important decision at such a crucial time to me.] 

"Mm!" BaoBao nodded firmly while pursing his lips and holding his tears back. 

Luna prepared herself for the painful effect of transmigrating. "I'm ready, let's go."