"So, have you weighed yourself recently?" Lü Heng asked. "How many pounds have you gained?"
Robin gritted her teeth and retorted, "I haven't gained any weight!"
"Ah, it's fine. Just eat what you want. You can always exercise more and lose it later," Lü Heng said, pausing with a nostalgic expression. "Come to think of it, my relatives used to have this bird that ate like crazy. It was all round and so adorable..."
Robin opened her mouth, almost blurting out a curse, but she forcibly restrained herself. The flicker of anger in her eyes vanished, replaced by a sweet and charming smile. "Your concert tickets are gone!"
Yes, Robin's second concert was fast approaching.
While Firefly was diligently grinding to complete system objectives, Robin hadn't been idle either. Aside from occasionally providing Firefly with information and material support, she had been fully occupied with her own preparations: releasing her album, recording new songs, rehearsing for the concert, and countless other tasks.
It was rather ironic, really. While war threatened to erupt next door, she was putting on a concert—a macabre irony that felt like a joke straight out of Hell.
But what could she do? The concert date had been set long ago, and all the tickets were sold out. She couldn't just cancel it because of a war in a neighboring country, unless the conflict spread to the Dragon Nation itself. As long as that didn't happen, the show had to go on.
Thud!
Without a moment's hesitation, Lü Heng dropped to his knees at Robin's words, bracing himself with his hands on the ground as he wailed, "No! Please don't do this to me!"
To summarize: the concert tickets had been snatched up in an instant, and Lü Heng had no connections to secure any. This effectively sentenced him to missing the next show.
"I carried bricks and stood guard for you at your first concert! I'm a founding member! You can't treat me like this!"
"I was wrong! Please give me another chance! I'll go online right now and flame anyone who calls you bulimic!"
Lü Heng's plea was surprisingly effective. Watching his sudden display of "repentance," Robin rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright, I was just joking. Get up already."
In any case, after her routine delivery of feathers, she donned sunglasses and a hat to disguise herself and left the Bureau of Anomalous Investigations, returning home.
After that, there wasn't much to do but constantly refresh the news, as the international situation was changing by the minute.
For instance, the moment it became clear that White Eagle and Sakura Nation were on the brink of war, nearly every country immediately dispatched transport ships to Sakura Nation to evacuate their citizens.
Notably, Firefly wasn't evacuated by a Dragon Nation ship. Instead, she was taken aboard a European Union vessel, as her identity documents clearly stated she was a citizen of the European Union.
Soon after, the European Union, Great Britain, and Bear Nation simultaneously issued diplomatic protests to White Eagle, condemning its baseless and inexplicable declaration of war.
Yet, curiously, only these three nations spoke out, and even then, their response was limited to diplomatic protests. Smaller countries understandably wouldn't dare to criticize White Eagle, not even verbally. Only the other "major players" among the Five Great Powers could afford such a risk. Furthermore, the European Union, Great Britain, and Bear Nation's condemnation focused solely on White Eagle's unprovoked declaration of war itself. As for Sakura Nation, the target of the attack?
That wasn't the main point.
What was truly perplexing, however, was the Dragon Nation's complete silence on the matter.
-
In the Director's office of the Dragon Nation's Bureau of Anomalous Investigations in the capital city, Mad Lion stared at the news on his phone, scratching his head. "What the hell is this? Why are White Eagle and Sakura Nation fighting?"
The conflict traced back to Mad Lion and Kong Zhiwang's joint operation to eliminate three members of the 'Four Heavenly Kings.' Their combat styles couldn't have been more different. Mad Lion charged headfirst, absorbing all damage as his bone-jarring fists flew with thunderous force, quickly reducing his opponents to battered and bloodied messes.
Kong Zhiwang, on the other hand, flawlessly evaded every attack. His fists danced with an uncanny rhythm, striking from impossible angles. In stark contrast to the violent wind pressure generated by Mad Lion's punches, Kong Zhiwang's strikes were eerily silent. No visible injuries appeared, yet after a few blows, his enemies would collapse, spitting blood, inexplicably dead.
Witnessing this, Mad Lion exclaimed, "Is this Martial Arts? How the hell do you do that?! Teach me!"
Before his brutal defeat against SAM, Mad Lion would never have entertained such thoughts. He believed his superhuman physique was all he needed. But after being completely outmatched by SAM's even more ludicrous physical prowess, he realized he needed to find other ways to grow stronger.
Then, as if fate had intervened, the solution practically fell into his lap.
Kong Zhiwang had been refusing Mad Lion's proposal all along, but the persistent Mad Lion stubbornly clung to him. After the Dimensional Rift closed, he hitched a ride with Kong Zhiwang back to the Dragon Nation.
"So, what's your take on all this?" Kong Zhiwang asked.
Mad Lion shrugged. "What's there to say? Beats me. Just watching from the sidelines."
Kong Zhiwang's lips twitched slightly. He couldn't help but pity White Eagle for having such a leader.
He then explained, "That massive Dimensional Rift on Nawajima Island was most likely engineered by the Sakura Nation to eliminate us."
Kong Zhiwang had suspected this from the beginning, but he lacked proof. Theoretically, anyone entering a Dimensional Rift should exit in the same location. However, after Kong Zhiwang left the rift, he discovered that a significant number of people were missing: Wizard, Hunter, the Sakura Nation's Director, and his entire team—none of them had made it out.
Who was the strongest fighter in that Dimensional Rift? The Four Heavenly Kings? But Kong Zhiwang had already killed three of them! No one would believe the last one could have taken down the Wizard, the Hunter, and the Director of the Sakura Nation all by himself.
That's why the Dragon Nation hadn't condemned White Eagle's actions. After Sakura Nation's provocation, they considered White Eagle's response entirely justified.
Mad Lion listened intently, his face lighting up with understanding. "Oh, I see! In that case, I'll have to support this. I'll call Hermit later and cast my vote in favor."
Still, that was the extent of his interest. Mad Lion had no desire to wade onto the battlefield and slaughter Sakura Nation's soldiers in some "Musou-style" mowing-down game.
However, if a truly formidable opponent were to suddenly emerge from Sakura Nation's ranks during the war, Mad Lion might very well change his mind and join the fray for a worthy fight.