"…Oh my god, I've become small. Am I dreaming?"
Aventurine looked down at his shrunken self in disbelief, then raised his head to glance at Dr. Ratio, who now stood like a giant among towering buildings, and couldn't help exclaiming.
"You are."
Ratio was speechless. Weren't they currently in Penacony's dreamscape? If this wasn't a dream, what was it?
"Professor, you've become so tall! I actually entered the sandbox and became this small."
"I have an idea. Why don't we leave just like this? You find another chance to stuff me into Sunday's collar. We can infiltrate the Family this way, how about it?"
Dr. Ratio: '...…'
"Hahaha, alright Professor, I was just joking!"
Aventurine laughed heartily and shrugged, not dwelling on the topic any further.
"Let me see. First, find a way to open the door. This is crucial…"
Aventurine looked around the Golden Hour cornerstone model, then began walking through the center of the sandbox.
"Hm? There are actually staff members in such a small sandbox?" After searching around the Aideen Park model for a while, a strangely moving 'human' suddenly entered his sight.
"Oh, how disappointing. It's just an NPC."
Aventurine approached the doll. When he got closer, the doll mechanically turned around and spoke respectfully.
"Hello, esteemed guest. I am an 'Oak Puppet Soldier,' responsible for guiding your tour of the Golden Hour cornerstone model. I wish you a pleasant time. How may I assist you?"
"Yo, it's actually quite smart. Then let me see your guiding functions."
Aventurine raised an eyebrow, placed one hand on his waist, and examined the Oak Puppet Soldier with interest.
"Welcome welcome welcome to the Golden Hour cornerstone mo mo mo mo mo——"
Aventurine: '...…'
Glitchy AI, huh, little blackie?
So in the end, this thing was actually an artificial retard? Sure enough, one should never hold any expectations for the Family's creations.
Thinking this, Aventurine raised his leg and kicked the Oak Puppet Soldier hard.
"Glad glad glad to serve you, currently gener gener generating——!"
"Forget it. I shouldn't have held any hope for this thing."
Aventurine facepalmed, then stopped paying attention to this artificial retard produced by the Family. How exactly was this thing made? Was it trying to scam him? As expected of their product, huh?
After leaving the broken Oak Puppet Soldier, Aventurine continued searching around. About a minute later, his gaze finally landed on the center of Aideen Park, where a huge gashapon machine stood.
"Professor, do me a favor and turn the crank on the gashapon machine for me."
Aventurine waved vigorously at Ratio, cupping his hands around his mouth like a loudspeaker, and shouted loudly.
"Tch, so troublesome."
Although Ratio complained, his body honestly helped Aventurine turn the crank on the gashapon machine.
"A puzzle piece? Looks like there should be a few more."
Seeing the puzzle piece dispensed from the gashapon machine, Aventurine seemed to understand something. He then began searching for the other puzzle pieces within the cornerstone model.
After spending about a quarter of an hour, the clever Aventurine finally collected three puzzle pieces. As expected, the Family had used dreamscape technology to hide the door within these fragments.
"The pleasant journey through Toy Town is about to end. What an interesting trip it was."
After successfully finding the hidden door, Aventurine naturally had no reason to stay in Toy Town any longer. Though he felt a tiny bit of reluctance, he still resolutely left the dreamy toy castle.
"I feel deeply regretful that you managed to leave the sandbox alive."
Ratio crossed his arms, shook his head as if regretful, and continued.
"Sunday should be right behind this door. By general rationality, becoming the head of the Oak Family—which governs politics among the five major families—he is definitely not an easy opponent. His methods must be as hard as steel. Are you ready?"
"Hahaha, of course. I believe the one who needs to be prepared is him." Aventurine smiled calmly, his expression sincere.
"One reminder: excessive confidence is never a good thing. Only fools are blindly confident."
Seeing Aventurine like this, Ratio frowned slightly.
"Have you ever heard this saying? Smart people hesitate, while fools are resolute."
"Hm? What does that mean?"
Aventurine grew interested in Ratio's seemingly nonsensical statement. Instead of pushing open the door immediately, he stopped and waited for Dr. Ratio to continue.
"Because when a smart person faces something, many thoughts flood their mind. That is to say, they realize their actions might be wrong, so they hesitate."
"However, fools do not realize this. They believe they are right and firmly hold onto that belief, making mistake after mistake."
Hearing Ratio's words, the smile on Aventurine's face remained unchanged, as if these words had nothing to do with him. As for the implied meaning in Ratio's words, he selectively ignored it.
"Hahaha, Professor, you really are an interesting person."
"…Tell me your plan, you damn gambler."
"Plan? I have no plan. Adapting to circumstances is my best plan." At this point, a slightly cold expression appeared on Aventurine's face.
"This will be a grand game. I already hold three 'chips' in my hand, and these three 'chips' are enough."
"Three 'chips'—all or nothing."
— — — —
Inside the reception hall of Dewlight Pavilion…
'Tap, tap, tap…'
Aventurine and Ratio walked at a leisurely pace, one after the other, into this magnificent hall.
As the main reception and conference hall of Dewlight Pavilion, this heavenly space covered hundreds of square meters.
From the direction of the main door, a huge white round table sat in the center of the hall, surrounded by exactly five high-backed chairs—corresponding perfectly to Penacony's five major families.
The Iris Family, which governs culture; the Hound Family, responsible for security and maintaining order; the Oak Family, which commands politics; the Night Raven Family, responsible for construction; and the Clover Family, which controls wealth and the economy.
Directly in front of the round table was a massive wall engraved with a strange-looking relief sculpture. Below the relief, a blue-gray-haired man stood with his hands behind his back, facing the wall, seemingly waiting quietly for something.