"Before you all make a decision, would you like to hear the intelligence I have?" Holmes popped out from nowhere and said with a smile.
"Mr. Holmes, you certainly move fast." Jean Stardust asked directly.
"It is urgent intelligence after all, so I rushed over without stopping."
Jean Stardust herself had ridden a motorcycle in a nearly straight line to get here; although she was delayed for a bit, it had only taken about ten minutes.
However, for Holmes, who had claimed to be off investigating something, to suddenly appear at this camp was suspicious in itself.
Yet, facing Jean Stardust's questioning gaze, Holmes remained perfectly composed.
"According to the latest intelligence, Talulah is currently driving Chernobog, preparing to crash it into Lungmen."
As soon as the news came out, the scene erupted in an uproar.
Some cheered, some were worried, and those from Lungmen screamed; in short, the scene was in complete chaos.
Jean Stardust looked speechlessly at the cheerful Holmes; this guy was definitely causing a scene on purpose.
Seeing this, Jean Stardust casually conjured a wind sphere and dispersed it in the middle of the area, instantly sending sand and dust flying, leaving everyone, except for Frostnova who was protected by Jean Stardust, covered in grime.
"Lungmen profanity, what are you doing?" The hot-tempered Ch'en immediately drew her sword.
"Naturally, it is to make you all calm down. Everything needs to be carefully examined, for instance, whether Talulah is truly standing on the side of the Infected, or if it is some Ursus army that wants to start a war? What do you say, Mr. Holmes?"
Jean Stardust's goal was to prevent these people from supporting Talulah's actions. Followers of a leader are often very blind; even if they know that this matter is harmful to the Infected, they will still support Talulah. Unless there is a problem with Talulah herself, but the Black Snake incident cannot be explained at all, so she had to use her cooperation with the Third Army as the point of contention.
The proportion of Ursus people in the Reunion Movement is relatively high, so after hearing Jean Stardust's words, they all quieted down, and some members who were good at thinking had already begun to consider the situation that the Infected would face.
"Hahaha, indeed, there is the shadow of the Third Army behind Talulah. Originally, I thought it was friendly funding, but considering the hatred some of its members have for Lungmen, the motive becomes less than pure."
Holmes smiled, but his eyes remained fixed on Jean Stardust. Although Jean Stardust noticed this, she had more important things to attend to at the moment.
She kept looking around, sensing everyone's emotions, but one person's emotional color was the strangest: fear, joy of acquisition, and the desire to escape.
Then she saw one person in the group slowly backing away. "Hey! You!" At Jean Stardust's call-out, this person chose to flee rapidly.
A normal intelligence operative would certainly not make such a choice, but his speed was indeed far beyond that of an ordinary person; it seemed his Originium Arts might be related to speed.
Unfortunately, no matter how fast he ran, he could not outrun the wind. With a simple trip caused by her manipulation of elemental power, the man fell to the ground, and Crownslayer reacted immediately, taking him into custody.
It just so happened that among the Infected in Lungmen, there was someone with a truth-telling ability, which was used to confirm that he had been planted by the Ursus army.
However, he did not know any extra intelligence; it only confirmed that Ursus was involved in this incident.
But this alone changed the atmosphere of the entire camp; it was roughly, 'Talulah, you betrayed the Infected class, F*** you.jpg'—Ch'en, who was nearby, was caught in the crossfire.
Those with a bit of insight began to consider the consequences of the collision. Regardless of whether Ursus or Lungmen wins this time, the Infected will be branded as the ones who incited the war between the two countries.
The final conclusion reached was:
"We cannot let the Ursus Empire do whatever it wants." — Crownslayer.
"We must stop Talulah (Sister)." — Ch'en.
"We cannot let the Guerilla Squad become pawns of the Imperial Legion." — Snow Monster Squad.
"Jean Stardust?" — Frostnova.
Good grief, not a single one of them was truly thinking about the big picture for the Infected.
'These people won't accomplish anything.' This was Jean Stardust's first impression, but the fact that Frostnova was asking for her opinion was truly pleasing.
"Let's go find Patriot; this was part of the contract to begin with. As for Talulah, I can't say for sure what her current state is, but it's very likely that these are not her wishes, and it's even possible that she is no longer herself."
Jean Stardust still revealed the matter about Talulah. Although selfishly, Jean Stardust did not want Frostnova to keep thinking about Talulah, she also did not want to hide it from her.
"Thank you, Jean Stardust, for telling me this, but in any case, Talulah can no longer serve as the leader of the Reunion Movement." Frostnova also made up her mind.
---
Next was selecting the personnel to depart; this was none of Jean Stardust's business.
Supporting Frostnova, and guided by members of the Snow Monster Squad, she came to a tent to rest.
"The situation ahead is a bit complicated; I might not be able to keep supplying you with life force." Jean Stardust said to Frostnova with a serious face.
Frostnova also nodded seriously.
"So I need to feed you blood one more time; as long as you don't use your Originium Arts again, there won't be any problems in the short term." At this moment, Jean Stardust revealed her true nature as a seasoned flirt.
"Can… can we change the method?" Frostnova asked in a low voice.
"Of course not; this is confidential, and others cannot know about it." Suppressing a smile, Jean Stardust answered with a straight face.
Frostnova did not object any further; instead, she closed her eyes, leaned her face in, and even slightly pursed her lips.
And the successful pervert Jean Stardust naturally would not let this opportunity pass, feeding her blood in the same way again.
Throughout the entire process, Frostnova's ears twitched, and her cheeks flushed red.
'Ah, why can she be so cute?' Jean Stardust was completely satisfied at this moment.
Several minutes later, the two separated. A significantly larger amount of blood than last time had been injected into Frostnova's body, and the subsequent surge of life force left her feeling dazed.
Jean Stardust let her take the opportunity to rest. This location was right near Chernobog's path; restricted by transportation, resting for a while before setting off would actually be faster.
She rummaged through her items, checking which ones could be useful, while thinking about what would happen next.
Although Jean Stardust had invested almost all her points into her sword and abilities, the Tower of the Other Shore, which she was climbing, provided reward items every certain number of floors. Because the words "Other Shore" themselves represented the final change in identity—meaning those who cleared it could shed their status as a Reincarnator—the items it provided could be taken outside the world.
However, the Tower of the Other Shore had 9,999 floors, and Jean Stardust, who had only climbed to the 350th floor, had only received a pile of junk—for example, the Anemo Slime blanket from the 50th floor and the printed stainless steel thermos from the 100th floor; calling them rewards was more like calling them souvenirs.
Fortunately, she had obtained a blank Trap Card at the 333rd floor, which was currently the most valuable consumable item Jean Stardust possessed.
This Trap Card allowed her to write down one of her own abilities (limited to the Yu-Gi-Oh! series); as long as the activation conditions were met, it could be used forcibly. Enduring the heartache, Jean Stardust wrote a name on it.
---
— — Qie City Mini-Theater — —
(After handing the forged key to Patriot, Talulah opened the door to the secret room inside the room, where Mephisto, covered in green blood and with twisted limbs, was wailing.)
Mephisto: (Looking up) Ta, Talulah, I have already done as you said, but Sasha still died! Why!
Talulah (?): Heh, Faust died for you, Mephisto. If not for you failing to resist the temptation and performing the ritual, how would you have ended up like this?
Mephisto: Yes... it was me... it was my own hands that... Hahahahahahahahahaha...
Talulah (?): (Reaching forward) Rest assured, you will eventually meet again, in your dreams.
Mephisto: (The pain of his entire body twisting) Aaaaaah!!!
Talulah (?): You completed your mission very successfully, Mephisto. After all, even if the ritual had been retrieved in its entirety, it was meant to be used on you; there is no difference, is there? Hehehe.
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