Chapter 267
“No.1.”
A silver-white light burst forth, dispelling the darkness before Xia Er.
...
[Future Date]
[Year 741 of the Holy Era, July 26, 18:00]
[Countdown - 23:59:59]
The elegant strains of salon music floated in the distance, mingling with the sounds of lively chatter.
A cool evening breeze brushed against Xia Er's face, carrying with it the tantalizing aroma of grilled meat.
Xia Er quickly opened her eyes. Two hundred meters away, a throng of people surged, the well-dressed nobles and wealthy merchants gathered around a drunken businessman who was demonstrating a comical dance, eliciting bursts of laughter from the crowd.
The atmosphere was vibrant and festive, filling the air with excitement.
Is this... a banquet?
Has the banquet started as scheduled? Why hasn’t it been called off?
She looked up towards the manor; indeed, she was standing on the lawn outside the Aivina estate...
Boring.
Xia Er's lips turned down, her displeasure evident on her face.
So, they’ve resolved everything? What about me? Am I just here to watch your victory lap and then make dumplings?
Impatiently, she scanned her surroundings, searching for Aivina.
She didn’t even bother looking for a notebook on her person, knowing that if it were her, she wouldn’t have left one behind—under circumstances where nothing could possibly go wrong.
Amidst the crowd, there was no sign of Aivina. Just as Xia Er was about to head towards the manor, a hand gently patted her on the back.
Xia Er turned around.
An unexpected figure appeared before her.
It was Leticia, dressed in formal attire, nervously tugging at the hem of Xia Er's clothing. She whispered, “Captain, it’s already started... Why did you change your clothes and hairstyle?”
Captain?
What captain?
Who? Me?
Seeing the girl with a single ponytail in front of her, a smile finally broke across Xia Er's face.
So, you’ve already been promoted to a “Dream Thief,” the version of me in the simulation.
But why, even as a second-tier “Dream Thief,” haven’t you managed to drive these revelers out of Bole City?
Is there some compelling reason for them to remain in Bole City?
The fact that it has already started means...
Boom—
A deafening explosion echoed through the sky, flames and debris scattering in all directions, the heat wave and air currents whipping Xia Er's long hair into a frenzy.
Xia Er stared blankly at the explosion and fire before her, a question flickering through her mind.
How could the explosion...
No, the explosions in the previous simulations were never this intense. The manor had been intact last time, but this massive blast had nearly demolished half of it.
What terrifying power... Did they stack all the siege explosives together?
Amidst the heat and flames, a charred square iron box flew through the air, crashing down onto Xia Er's toes with a loud thud.
A sharp, bone-crushing pain shot through her foot, causing Xia Er to crouch down almost instantly.
Just as she bent down, the lid of the iron box sprang open, and a spring-loaded clown head popped out, hitting her squarely on the nose and sending her tumbling to the ground.
The comical clown swayed against the backdrop of the flames, while inside the box lay a beautifully crafted notebook, well-protected.
“We need to go, Captain,” came the girl’s urging voice.
Xia Er gritted her teeth, reached for the notebook, and muttered a curse under her breath.
“Fine, you win...”
Chapter 155: The Double Jump Plan of the “Instigator.”
(Amended a bug from the previous chapter; the first explosion did not occur at Aivina's manor.)
In the Jue Shi Bridge district, a carriage moved slowly down the road, trailing behind it a sky of flames and astonished onlookers.
They were all rushing towards the site of the explosion, oblivious to the carriage discreetly leaving the scene.
Not far from the entrance of Manor No. 5, the carriage came to a stop, and two girls stepped down.
One of them, a girl with red hair, held a notebook, her face serious as she flipped through its pages. She walked with a slight limp, as if her right foot was injured.
[Supplementary Preface]
[Does it hurt? It should, because I haven’t had enough fun yet, haha.]
[Year 741 of the Holy Era, July 4]
[The “Instigator” potion arrived quickly, but Adele was a bit stubborn; she had to drink the potion before I could convince her to come back. Kids who don’t listen really need some discipline.]
[The list of the Orlando Republican Army is in my hands... But is it really necessary to arrest everyone in advance? If one piece is lost, another will take its place. Without addressing the root of the problem, it can’t be solved.]
[For now, my task is still to trace back to the source and see if I can find the members of the Revelers’ Society. I’ll start looking tomorrow.]
[Once I find their location, I’ll share it with you.]
[However, drinking the “Instigator” potion seems to have left Aivina with some reservations, but it’s not a big deal. I made a save in front of her, and that solved the problem easily.]
[Year 741 of the Holy Era, July 5, 10:00 AM]
[Do you remember the middle-aged female doctor Adele once recommended, who installed poison in teeth? That poor soul who left the Redemption Society because she lacked the “Doctor” talent—thankfully, she met me.]
[With my perfect eloquence, she successfully drank the “Coroner” potion and completed the digestion. She’s not unsuited to be a doctor; she’s just more suited to being a forensic doctor.]
[You ask who she used as material to complete the ritual?]
[Who else but me, the one who recognized her talent? If it weren’t for the fact that I revealed myself at Aivina’s banquet, making it an unchangeable fact, would I have to go this far... Guess who I changed my face to?]
[Haha, not telling you.]
[Year 741 of the Holy Era, July 5, 4:00 PM]
[To be honest, I didn’t expect it to go this smoothly. That doctor turned out to be the personal physician of the owner of Manor No. 5, and she’s also the private doctor for many nobles. No wonder the clinic was closed to new patients before. I just pretended to be an assistant and went with her to Manor No. 5.]
[Guess who I saw inside?]
[You won’t believe it—Opode!]
[He was the instigator of the banquet in the simulation, and the location was the manor he rented in the Jue Shi Bridge district. Now he’s here in Manor No. 5... During the interrogation, he didn’t lie, but his memories must have been tampered with.]
[Following him would be a great choice; perhaps I can trace the Revelers’ Society from there.]
[Year 741 of the Holy Era, July 5, 4:01 PM]
[Okay, this post ends here. I just saw “Leticia.”]
Xia Er stared expressionlessly at the notebook in her hands. Even though the version of herself in the simulation was pulling pranks, she couldn’t muster a smile. She quickly glanced down, eager to know what happened next.
But the more she read, the more her frown relaxed, eventually breaking into a smile.
The version of herself in the simulation... had been laying the groundwork all along.
When she first entered the simulation and saw the explosion and “Leticia,” Xia Er had thought that it was her simulated self who had been promoted to “Dream Thief” and found the members of the Revelers’ Society, brainwashing them in reverse.
A second-tier “Dream Thief” brainwashing the entire Revelers’ team? While it sounded absurd, it wasn’t entirely impossible.
But reality was even more outrageous than Xia Er had imagined.
The version of herself in the simulation had, from start to finish, only been an “Instigator,” never promoted to Dream Thief.
She had infiltrated the Revelers’ team and even become the so-called “Captain,” not through brainwashing.
She had genuinely risen through her own strength, becoming the decision-maker of the Revelers’ team in Bole City in just twenty days.
After encountering “Leticia”... no, it should be Merritt at Manor No. 5, the version of herself in the simulation began to interact with her, successfully persuading her to take the simulated self directly to meet the members of the Revelers’ Society.
This bold move naturally raised the alertness of the Revelers’ Society. The simulated self was even briefly detained, but she remained calm, using the information in her mind to directly expose all their subversive plans and predict their failure.
The assassination would not succeed and would be thwarted by another organization—the organization mentioned by the simulated self was, of course, fabricated, previously used to deceive Aivina, the “Mysterious Organization.”
With the vivid descriptions from the simulated self and corroborating evidence from earlier events, the existence of this non-existent organization had been believed by the members of the Revelers’ Society.
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