Florida Man in Magus World: Unleashing Liberty and Freedom

Behind him, a red beam shot up from the beacon, piercing through the tent and reaching the sky. It went further, shattering a broadcasting screen overhead.

The sudden commotion roused the spectators and families of the examinees, who all turned their attention to the ominous light.

The beacon's appearance also startled Saucon, Tanaka, and the two retainers. They looked up, puzzled by the beam's origin and purpose. The emperor, unable to comprehend the mysterious light or detect any mana, turned to his retainers for answers.

"Tanaka, Xavior, Martin! Do you know what that is?"

Martin, the mysterious man in a hooded cloak standing next to Tanaka, activated the magic circuits in his eyes to analyze the pattern of the lights. As he stared at the beacon in astonishment, he revealed his findings.

"That's not mana—it's an electrical current... a damn laser!"

"WHAT?!" Tanaka and Xavior flinched, recognizing the term they hadn't heard in ages. Tanaka, eager to learn more about modern Earth's technology, was growing weary of the ancient world's lack of hygiene. Xavior, on the other hand, was overjoyed by the appearance of anything resembling modern electric appliances.

"What is a LASER?" Saucon, irritated by their jargon and surprises, demanded an explanation.

Before they could continue, a 10-foot-long, fish-like metal object fell from the sky, crashing into the slave trade tent. For a moment, everything was silent.

"..."

"..."

They were just about to ask what had landed when the object answered for them.

*BOOM*

…

Suddenly, the entire field brightened as a massive explosion erupted behind Felix, creating a towering mushroom cloud. A shockwave followed, sending a powerful gust of hot wind that knocked Felix and everyone nearby off their feet.

The loud noise should have shattered Felix's eardrums, but he felt fine. Felix staggered forward, only to see a dome of orange flames rushing past him. His thoughts immediately turned to the blind princess and her warrior companion.

In a split second, a piece of metal shrapnel from the tent flew through the air and pierced Felix's back, impaling his right lung and exiting through his chest. Nearby, a large chunk of debris struck the lamia princess, while a burst of flames engulfed her warrior.

The warrior screamed in agony as the flames seared her flesh. The princess, thrown to the ground by the impact, gritted her teeth and summoned a dome of water around herself. The barrier doused the flames and began healing her injuries.

Ignoring the metal pipe lodged in his body, Felix noticed the two girls caught in the explosion. He quickly pulled out a dozen healing potions from his inventory and poured them over the injured lamias, using the liquid to ease their pain and extinguish the fire.

The red potion worked as intended, healing the burns and restoring damaged flesh instantly. However, the lost limbs of the lamia warrior could not be regenerated.

The flames quickly died down, leaving behind a scene of devastation. Everything within a 100-yard radius was charred black. Although the explosive was large, the nearby stalls only suffered minor damage from the shockwave, and the people in the vicinity escaped with minor injuries.

Inside the circus tent, however, visitors and merchants were reduced to charred remains. Yet, surprisingly, all the slaves in glass rooms and monster cages were unharmed. They were surrounded by a green light that acted as a protective barrier against the blast.

The plant woman Felix had noticed earlier still stood in her torn cage. Seven magic circles spun beneath her flowered body, connecting green threads that extended to the other slaves, providing them with basic protection.

As Felix looked at the flower girl—an alraune—she met his gaze and winked before withdrawing the green mana lines and sinking into the ground.

"Huh?" Felix rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. The alraune had plunged her roots through the steel plate of her cage and vanished into the ground.

"What the hell?" Felix was so surprised that he momentarily forgot about the metal pipe in his chest.

The lamia princess slowly rose, scooping up the remaining potion liquid on her body and licking it to restore some of her stamina and vitality. Once she regained her strength, she poked Felix.

"Lord Alpha, by chance, do you have any more of that liquid? If I drink enough, I can restore my mana and regenerate my eyes."

"Oh, sure," Felix replied, retrieving ten more potion vials from his inventory and handing them to the pink-haired princess. "Share with your friend, too. She seems to be in bad shape. By the way, what's your name again?"

"Zhu Ji, my lord."

"Sounds complicated. I'll just call you Jiji then."

At that moment, Jessica couldn't contain herself and pretended to cough.

<Ah, yes. Jiji. Nice naming sense, Son Goku.>

Felix smiled wryly, wanting to retort, but the pipe in his chest was making it difficult to speak. Annoyed, he reached for it, preparing to pull it out.

<Don't pull that out unless you want to die from blood loss.>

"..."

Felix scoffed and drank three more potion vials before going through with it anyway.

"I'm confident in my vitality."

<Ah, yes, the hubris. You should have failed that pride test.>

"Shut up!"

*SWOOSH*

Without hesitation, Felix pulled the 3-foot-long metal pipe from his chest, even though it would have been easier to pull it out from the back. As soon as it was removed, blood gushed from the wound.

Calmly, Felix sat down and splashed more red potion liquid onto the wound while drinking five more. He reached into his inventory for more healing pots, but he had used up the last vial.

"..."

The wound in his chest and back had sealed, but the hole in his lung was barely patched, and flames leaked from the injury, heating his other internal organs. Felix could feel that his heart was slightly scorched.

Fortunately, Jiji had finished patching up her bodyguard. She approached Felix, placing her hand on his back to assess the wound. After determining its size and shape, she straightened her index finger and stabbed it into the wound.

"OW! HEY, LADY, WHAT THE HELL?!"

Felix felt a surge of betrayal and instinctively reached for his gun. But before he could act, Jiji began channeling cold mana into his body.

"My lord," Jiji said, trying to maintain a neutral tone, "your body temperature is higher than that of most people. I can feel my finger burning."

Felix rolled his eyes. "And what exactly are you doing?"

"I'm healing you. Could you redirect your mana away from my finger for a moment? It's burning me."

"…Sure."

Felix held his breath and focused on manipulating his blood cells and mana away from the wounded areas. The temperature in that zone dropped instantly.

Jiji noticed the change and smiled faintly. "As expected of an alpha. You're gifted at this."

"…Just hurry up and finish. People will be coming soon, and I need to get you two out of here ASAP."

"You don't have to worry about that," Jiji replied.

As they spoke, Jiji completed her work, injecting water mana into Felix's unhealed wounds and broken bones. The areas glowed blue for a moment before the water mana turned red.

Jiji withdrew her finger from Felix's wound, then licked it, her skin slightly reddened by the heat. After wetting her finger, she reached out and touched Felix's cheek, smearing his face with moisture.

Jiji's bodyguard slowly got up, her burnt skin partially healed, though she was still in bad shape. She tried to slither closer to Felix.

Just as the three were drawing closer, a loud voice echoed from the distant crowd.

"MONSTERS!"

People had spotted Jiji and her bodyguard. Mistaking Felix for a victim being attacked by lamias, a hundred armed men, including local soldiers, rushed toward them.

Felix turned and saw the misunderstanding. His expression darkened as he warned the two lamias. "Hurry. You're free. Just go!"

But Jiji had another plan. Locating Felix's exact position, she revealed her fangs and bit his neck.

Her bodyguard, however, didn't follow suit. Instead, she positioned herself between Felix and the approaching crowd, using her body as a shield. She glanced back and smiled.

"Your Highness, this servant shall depart first. I'll be waiting for you in Paradise."

With those final words, the soldiers' spears struck her. Although they only scratched her scales, unable to penetrate her skin, her blue blood splashed onto the ground.

The nameless bodyguard lunged at the nearest soldier and bit his arm, injecting him with poison. He screamed and tried to yank her away.

But among the soldiers were aura knights. One knight, his sword glowing with a yellow aura, swung horizontally, beheading the lamia bodyguard. Yet, even in death, she smiled, satisfied with her sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Felix was left in confusion. The scene felt eerily familiar, as though he had experienced something similar before—minus the self-sacrificing bodyguard.

Suddenly, Felix's body ignited in flames, and Jiji's form transformed into a mass of water, merging with him. A message from Jessica appeared, just like it had with Eins.

<Zhu "Jiji" Ji wishes to become your familiar. Will you form a contract with her?>

Felix finally understood why he had been feeling a sense of déjà vu. He bitterly laughed.

"Fine. If it saves her life, I'll do it. I might be a hypocrite, but at least let me save lives—even if it costs the crooked ones."

<Affirmative. Adding Zhu "Jiji" Ji as your second familiar.>