*Whoosh!*
Lucian felt as though the scene before his eyes had suddenly been put on fast-forward as the dazzling nightscape of Dolos and Cipher's beautiful bare back rapidly faded, blurred, and dissipated into countless indistinct fragments.
In their place appeared the familiar afternoon scenery of Izumo, calm and quiet as ever, yet a faint trace of Amphoreus's fresh, earthy scent still lingered clearly within his nose, as though the world he had just left behind had not completely faded from his senses yet.
"I only disappeared for ten years this time, so not much time should've passed in reality, right?"
Lucian casually glanced around the room and quickly noticed that everything was exactly the same as before he had left. Nothing had been moved, no living aura of anyone else's presence remained behind, and evidently, no one had come during those ten short minutes.
From what he remembered, all of his wives had already gone out to attend to national affairs and fulfill their respective responsibilities.
Needless to say, this was the drawback of being a completely hands-off boss.
Everyone else was busy running around handling important matters, while he, as the biggest boss behind everything, could only lie around all day with nothing to do, drowning in boredom.
All of a sudden, as a faint sense of loneliness quietly arose within his heart, Lucian subconsciously reached toward his chest, intending to pet his cat out of habit. Yet upon touching nothing at all, only then did he suddenly realize that his beloved cat was not in Izumo with him.
He fell silent for a brief moment before softly sighing to himself, and then, in a low voice, he murmured to the empty air.
"System, open the panel."
...
[Host: Lucian]
[Ability: Disarm, Absolute Hit, Godly Bandage, Immortal Kneel, Sham Diviner, BGM, Law of Calamity, River God, Omnisteal]
[Follower: Tribios 1, Mortis 1, Feixiao 1, Yueyu 1, Castorice 1, Polyxia 1, Jingliu 1, Baiheng 1, Fu Xuan 1, Robin 1, Serfina 1, Acheron 1, Izumo's Guardians 12/12, Hysilens 1, Cipher 1]
[Script: 0]
...
Lucian merely gave it a brief glance, only confirming the status of the followers for a moment, and upon seeing that no one displayed a 0, the slight tension in his heart finally eased somewhat.
*Buzz-Buzz—*
Just then, the phone resting nearby suddenly vibrated twice.
Lucian casually reached over, picked up the phone from the table beside him, and turned on the screen, only to see that the incoming call was from Bronya.
[Lord Lucian, do you have time to come back for a moment?]
As soon as the call connected, Bronya's voice rang out from the other side, but unlike her usual calm and composed tone, it carried a rare trace of urgency.
[Apparently, the energy core in the third laboratory of the research institute leaked, triggering a chain explosion that killed twelve top researchers on the spot, including the doctors dispatched by the IPC.]
[Ms. Natasha is currently unable to do anything about it and has asked me to contact you immediately.]
[They are extremely important to Belobog's future technological development, so... could you please resurrect them?]
Hearing that it was merely an accident that had occurred during research work, Lucian quietly let out a breath of relief, the vigilance in his mind immediately relaxing once more.
"Ah, just a small problem. Gather up all the body parts first. I'll be back in a bit."
To civilizations pursuing technological advancement, such accidents were far too common. Explosions, energy leaks, experimental failures, and various dangerous research incidents were practically unavoidable risks on the road to technological development.
Besides, with Lucian acting as their backer, even if those researchers died accidentally, they could simply be resurrected afterward, so the overall situation was not particularly serious.
Right after ending the call, Lucian slowly rose from his seat and gave his body a slight stretch before sending a brief message to Acheron, informing her that he was heading to Jarilo-VI and likely would not be returning for the next few days.
Only after finishing everything did Lucian activate Absolute Hit, causing his figure to instantly disappear from the room as he teleported himself toward Jarilo-VI.
===
Amphoreus, Aglaea's Weaving Workshop.
Aglaea had been quietly guarding the sleeping Cipher, who remained in that strange 'untouchable' state, patiently waiting for the moment she would finally wake up.
During this time, she watched the Cipher in this special state cry one moment and laugh the next, her delicate expressions constantly shifting as though she were trapped within an incredibly vivid dream.
At times, her brows trembled faintly with sorrow.
At other times, the corners of her lips curled upward into an unconcealed smile, as if she had just experienced something capable of making her genuinely happy.
"To make Cifera cry and laugh like that, Mr. Lucian truly is quite an impressive man..."
Aglaea had only just finished sighing softly when she suddenly noticed Cipher's eyelashes tremble slightly before her eyes slowly opened.
"I... just fell asleep...?" Cipher murmured in a daze, her voice still carrying traces of confusion as she turned to look at Aglaea. "Ah? Seamstress, why are you in my cat fortress?"
"Cat fortress? What's that?" Aglaea asked with an amused smile. "Look carefully—we're in my workshop."
Cipher blinked slowly and looked around at her surroundings. Only then did she realize that they truly were inside Aglaea's weaving workshop.
However, at that very moment, a sharp pain suddenly surged through Cipher's head, causing her to abruptly grab it while frowning deeply.
"Hiss, I think... I remember now..."
At this moment, the memories of an entire ten years suddenly surged into Cipher's mind like an unstoppable tide, and in that instant, the slyness and greed that had once filled her blue eyes completely vanished.
Replacing them was a depth, complexity, longing, and sorrow that seemed to have accumulated over an unimaginably long span of time.
Countless images...
Countless voices...
Countless emotions...
Like a bursting dam, they violently crashed through the sealed gates of her memories.
Lucian's smile, Lucian's embrace, Lucian's kiss, Lucian's gentleness, Lucian's teasing, Lucian's departure, and that unbearably long wait, where longing itself had been piled up together with treasure over countless lonely days and nights—everything had been deeply etched into the very depths of her soul with absolute clarity, like an eternal brand that could never be erased.
Every memory felt incomparably real.
Every emotion felt incomparably vivid.
It was as though she had truly lived through a second life beside him, yet at the very same time, everything also felt so distant and surreal that it seemed like nothing more than a beautiful, fragile dream.
In that dream, she had just stolen a diamond larger than her own body and was preparing to carefully place it into the last empty corner of her enormous fortress. Once she did, she believed Lucian would finally return to her side.
Unfortunately, just as she was about to continue after resting for a while, everything suddenly came to an abrupt end. As a result, the fortress had not yet been completely filled, yet the dream had already collapsed without any warning.
"So... I got chosen by Lucian, just like Big Sis Tribbie, Hysilens, and Princess Homebody..."
Inside Cipher's mind, two sets of memories, two entirely different lives, coexisted while remaining clearly distinct from one another, neither interfering with the other in the slightest. And with several precedents having already occurred, she no longer doubted the authenticity of those memories at all.
If she had to choose between the two lives, then she would definitely choose the one where Lucian existed, because in that life, everything had been exactly the way she had always liked it.
Carefree, peaceful, and tranquil—everyone had lived happily together.
Unlike now, when countless people had nearly been wiped out by disaster and chaos.
Not to mention her homeland, Dolos, which had already completely disappeared.
"Seamstress, Lucian totally tricked me... He straight-up said that if I filled the fortress with treasure, he'd come back to my side, but right when I was about to completely fill it, the dream suddenly ended... this has gotta be some kinda scheme of his..."
Cipher suddenly lowered her head slightly, her expression turning sorrowful as she became convinced that Lucian had deliberately made things difficult for her just to tease her.
Regardless, she still had no intention of giving up.
At worst, she would simply rebuild the fortress from the beginning and fill it with treasure all over again.
"Don't be so pessimistic, Cifera..." Aglaea said gently, her voice carrying a rare trace of warmth as she tried to comfort Cipher. "In your heart, is he truly someone worthy of your trust?"
"Of course!" Cipher answered without even the slightest hesitation. "During those ten years, he was the only guy I truly trusted. I love him more than I love myself. Whatever he says, I'm gonna believe him without even doubting it!"
Upon hearing such a decisive and unwavering answer, even Aglaea could not help but become slightly startled for a brief moment.
'I have to admit, this is beyond impressive... Mr. Lucian truly is something else... He'd actually trained this kitty to become so obedient?'
Aglaea thought inwardly in amazement.
A true master cat trainer!
It seemed that the day Lucian finally returned would also be the very same day this cat completely changed owners.
"Since you trust him so much, why dwell so much on this one promise?" Aglaea said while gently hugging Cipher and patting her head in a comforting manner. "Perhaps something unexpected delayed him, or perhaps he simply could not find the way back?"
"I know..."
Cipher replied softly before letting out a quiet sigh, then slipped out of Aglaea's embrace and slowly walked toward the window to breathe in some fresh air and calm herself down.
"Lucian gave me a happy life, and honestly, I'm already pretty satisfied with that. Even if he really did trick me, I still wouldn't blame him for it. I was just kinda complaining earlier, that's all—don't tell him, or he'll definitely make me pay for it later."
"Oh?" Aglaea's brows lifted slightly as she immediately caught the hidden implication behind Cipher's words, and a faintly amused smile soon appeared on her face. "Can you elaborate a little more on this 'deal with' thing?"
"Ah? N-No, that's really not necessary!"
Cipher immediately blushed from embarrassment and hurriedly waved both hands in panic, clearly refusing to continue the topic any further.
However, just as her words fell, a cold and indifferent voice suddenly sounded from outside the window without the slightest warning.
"You kitten fish, so you were hiding here."
Both Aglaea and Cipher could tell immediately from that familiar tone alone—it was Hysilens!
"Eek!"
Cipher jolted violently in fright, her entire body trembling slightly as she hurriedly moved away from the window before quickly hiding herself behind Aglaea like a frightened kitten.
"I knew the golden trout would cover for you."
Earlier, Hysilens had not actually gone far at all, merely pretending to be fooled while deliberately concealing her presence as she patiently waited for a while before quietly returning to launch a surprise attack.
And just as she had predicted, Cipher was indeed hiding here.
Seeing Hysilens suddenly appear, Aglaea merely revealed a calm, unhurried smile without saying a single word, because her golden threads had already sensed Hysilens's every movement from the very beginning.
In other words, from the moment Hysilens had secretly circled back, Aglaea had been fully aware of her presence the entire time.
As for why she had deliberately chosen not to expose Hysilens to Cipher, they were, after all, merely playing around with each other. Nothing truly serious was happening, so there was no need to spoil the fun.
Just then, to everyone's surprise, the instant Hysilens came within one meter of Cipher, a red light and a green light simultaneously bloomed from their lower abdomens before flickering softly yet distinctly, reflecting one another as though resonating together, each responding to the other's blessing, which shared the same origin—both blessings having been bestowed by the same man.
Both lights pulsed in perfect harmony, quietly illuminating the space between them and making the connection impossible to ignore.
In that instant, the atmosphere in the workshop immediately became subtle.
Realizing exactly what this phenomenon meant, Hysilens's expression instantly changed, her brows knitting tightly together as disbelief and realization flashed across her eyes.
"What's going on? Why do you have Lucian's blessing too?"
Hysilens demanded sternly, her sharp gaze instantly locking onto Cipher.
However, the moment the words left her mouth, it was as though she had suddenly realized something utterly unbelievable, and her eyes widened slightly in disbelief.
"Hold on... could it be that you already...? No way! It's only been a few minutes, and not only did you steal my fish, you even stole my man!"
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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