Bang bang bang bang bang—
On the enormous arena stage, more than a dozen gun barrels on Herta's puppet fired imaginary number rays with terrifying power all at once. The omnidirectional, no-blind-spot attack completely covered Jingliu, showing a clear trend of blasting her into slag in the next second.
Herta puppet (Screwllum): "This. Power. Made. Based. On. Emanator."
"Same. As. Me. Genius. Pride!"
"I. Surpassed. All. Humans!"
Translator: "The power of this body was manufactured based on the foundation of an Emanator. Do not pity my current appearance. This is the crystallization of genius wisdom, the pride of a genius!"
"I have surpassed all humans!"
In the spectator stands, March 7th couldn't help breaking into a cold sweat for Jingliu upon seeing this scene. "Mr. Screwllum won't lose control and beat Miss Jingliu to death, right?"
Stelle was shocked: "Don't jinx it, March!"
"Relax."
Although Jingliu was already in a dangerous situation, Jing Yuan leisurely took a sip of iced black tea and calmly said: "With Jingliu's strength, she shouldn't fall so quickly. Her power is still reliable during the daytime, so…"
—"Hmph hahahahaha!"
Before Jing Yuan could finish speaking, Jingliu on the arena suddenly burst into wild laughter. She ripped off her eyepatch, covered her right eye, and revealed a blood-red pupil through the gaps between her fingers. In an instant, her figure became illusory and dodged the ray attacks.
In the next second, she flashed behind the Herta puppet, raised her hand to condense a heavy ice sword, started with a basic attack to control the opponent, and followed up with continuous slashes pouring on damage…
"Pfft!"
Seeing this scene, Jing Yuan spat out the iced black tea in his mouth on the spot. He forcefully patted his chest as panic appeared on his usually calm face for the first time: "How could this be?! Why is it the nighttime version of the madwoman? Isn't it daytime right now?"
"She can actually bathe under sunlight!"
Stelle and March 7th asked in confusion: "Old Jing, what's wrong with you? What do you mean by daytime and nighttime?"
Jing Yuan wiped the corner of his mouth with a grave expression. "To tell you the truth, Jingliu actually suffers from severe dissociative identity disorder. Every time she falls asleep at night, her second personality awakens. It's extremely terrifying. I suffered a lot because of it back then."
"So many years have passed, yet not only has her condition not improved, this second personality has actually appeared during the daytime."
"I can't stay any longer, you two. I need to run first, otherwise I definitely won't have a good outcome later."
Jing Yuan hurriedly said his goodbyes and left without looking back. But a few seconds later, he came back again and said: "Ah, right. If Jingliu wins later, remember to help me collect the winning bet bonus. Thank you."
...
Meanwhile, the battle situation grew increasingly intense. After taking a full combo from Jingliu, the Herta puppet seized a momentary opening when Jingliu slipped up. It started with the diamond hammer "Spin in Circles," directly knocking Jingliu into the air, then followed up with the ultimate heavy hammer pouring on damage…
It was exactly like a peak showdown operation from a certain four-letter game!
Inside the puppet, Screwllum's fingers operated at lightning speed on the screen. He had deeply realized how difficult the opponent was and had to concentrate fully. Even the slightest detail had to be grasped perfectly…
Buzz—
At this moment, the battle screen suddenly lagged. Then the battle screen automatically exited, the screen rotated, and displayed: Friend "Herta" is inviting you to a video call.
Screwllum: ...
"Hahahahaha!"
The moment Screwllum disconnected, Jingliu kicked the puppet flying, mounted it, and frantically stabbed with her sword. The ruthlessness of her attacks was unbearable to watch.
—"Mom! This is so violent!"
—"Holy crap! The attacks are way too savage!"
—"Just watching it feels satisfying…"
The audience discussed animatedly. Even Owlbert was stunned by the scene and only reacted after several seconds:
["Referee! Where's the referee?! Quickly separate them!"]
The referees were Sushang and the other two from the Luofu Intelligence Team. They rushed forward together, hugging Jingliu's arms and legs respectively in an attempt to pull her away. As a result, with a single powerful shake from Jingliu, all three were flung away together.
Jingliu was clearly worked up.
—"Jingliu! Stop right now!"
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, a gentle voice suddenly rang out. A woman wearing a cheongsam jumped down from the spectator stands. "You dared to come to the match without taking your medicine. I really need to discipline you properly later."
"Hm?!"
When Stelle saw that woman, her eyes instantly narrowed: Ruan Mei? Why would she appear here? What kind of plot development is this again?
Can Ruan Mei and Jingliu form a Pair? Then Herta… oh right, Herta already has Silver Wolf.
"Hm?"
Hearing Ruan Mei's voice, Jingliu's movements paused. She grabbed her sword and charged over: "Prepare to die!"
Ruan Mei helplessly sighed, took out a bottle of spray-type potion from her pocket, and smashed it at Jingliu's feet with a "crack" once she entered range.
Jingliu immediately stood at attention, her gaze turning dazed. Under everyone's watchful eyes, she made a peace sign at Ruan Mei: "Ciallo~"
Ruan Mei firmly knocked on Jingliu's forehead: "Disobedient, bad! Come with me!"
Jingliu nodded blankly: "Oh…"
And just like that, Ruan Mei took Jingliu away.
In the spectator stands, Stelle / March 7th / Jing Yuan saw this scene and: "Nani?!"
Stelle was stunned for a moment. She turned back to look at Jing Yuan, who had somehow returned, and complained: "Weren't you running away?"
Jing Yuan's gaze was fixed firmly on the arena, his tone shocked: "How could I miss this once-in-a-millennium scene? What method did that woman use? She actually managed to subdue the madwoman in her frenzied state?! I want to learn it too!"
March 7th also nodded in agreement: "I'm really curious about the method that can make someone instantly obedient!"
Stelle: "..."
March 7th: "Old Jing, why don't we go to the preparation area together? You haven't seen your master for many years. You must miss her a lot, right?"
Jing Yuan hesitated: "Uh, this… I do miss her, but…"
March 7th: "In that case, let's hurry and set off? Otherwise, if we're late, we might not catch them."
Stelle and Jing Yuan exchanged a glance and sighed in unison.
...
Preparation room.
"…What just happened?"
As time passed, Jingliu gradually regained her senses. She rubbed her brow with some headache and asked.
"Didn't you take your medicine today? You suddenly entered the mara-struck state. If I hadn't arrived in time, I might have had to bail you out of the Shackling Prison."
Ruan Mei recorded the data from Jingliu's earlier episode while answering.
"I take the medicine on time every day," Jingliu said.
Ruan Mei thought for a moment: "Then it was probably returning to her old home. All the old memories surged up, causing her body to trigger its instincts… It's best not to come into contact with anything related to the past in the near future, otherwise the mara-struck symptoms may appear again."
Jingliu nodded slightly: "Mm, I understand. But the Luofu has basically become a place I no longer recognize. Unless someone comes to me on their own initiative, it's impossible…"
Knock knock knock—
Before she finished speaking, a knocking sound came from the door of the preparation room.