Akihabara District, fifth floor of the Hidden Management Department garrison.
Luo Shu placed the washing machine in its designated spot while recalling what Nia Honjo had said to him when he left his apartment earlier:
If Spirit Blood is to be obtained from Eriri's body, regardless of the method, her own strength must first be enhanced.
And among all existing enhancement methods, none is as dramatic as acquiring a Class.
So, although his promise to make Eriri stronger had come from an emotional place, it actually aligned perfectly with rationality—even from a purely practical perspective.
It seemed that after reaching Hero Rank, the supplementary prerequisites for his Class had been continuously strengthening his spiritual awareness. Otherwise, such an instinctive, optimal choice would never have emerged.
"So the prerequisite for obtaining Spirit Blood is having Eriri acquire a Class to strengthen her essence..."
Muttering to himself, Luo Shu lightly flicked his right hand, causing the Mist Ring on his index finger to ignite with indigo flames.
Amidst the indigo flame's light, a dryer materialised and was stacked atop the washing machine in its assigned position.
After a quick glance to confirm correct placement, Luo Shu turned and headed towards the living room.
The fifth floor of the Akihabara garrison served as the Familia residential area. Each unit spanned over 80 square metres, initially designed with three bedrooms, one living room, two bathrooms, and a kitchen, complete with pre-allocated spaces for appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers.
Thanks to this, Luo Shu only needed to place furniture stored in his Mist Ring into designated spots—Nia could handle the remaining tasks herself.
After positioning the final sofa, Luo Shu glanced at the bedroom cluttered with cardboard boxes but wisely refrained from assisting with Nia's wardrobe organisation. Instead, he went straight to the fridge, retrieved a beer, cracked it open, and settled onto the sofa while taking a sip:
"But the prerequisite for Eriri's Class change actually being the Aldegia Kingdom's Soul Summoning Art... that's rather troublesome."
The Aldegia Kingdom, plus a princess named La Folia Rihavein.
Combining these two facts immediately reminded Luo Shu of that white-haired princess from a particular Vampire Primogenitor anime who threw herself at the protagonist.
"Except I'm not the Fourth Primogenitor—no way she'd throw herself at me. Even if I were, it's not guaranteed Aldegia would hand over their most guarded techniques."
"So... an exchange of benefits then?"
Luo Shu gulped down more beer, narrowing his eyes in contemplation.
If obtainable through mutually beneficial terms at reasonable cost, he'd gladly pay—after all, this concerned both his own advancement and Eriri's Class transition. As for Eriri's share of compensation, that was a matter between her and himself.
But if the Aldegia Kingdom proved uncooperative... then dirty tricks might be his only option.
"So, try diplomacy first, force second?"
As this thought crossed his mind, Luo Shu swiped downward in the air, summoning the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System interface.
Thanks to continuous adjustments by numerous Familia members, the system's interface now increasingly resembled chat apps like LINE or QQ. What amused Luo Shu most was Sharon—she practically lived inside the system, constantly adding all sorts of bizarre features.
Like how a chat window can 'poke' someone to force a notification.
And features like the so-called face-to-face video call, which projects the other person's image through neural interfaces, allowing real-time meetings in the mind using the Divine Pantheon Reconstruction System—all were her creations.
After being promoted to Hero Rank, did she really have nothing better to do? Spending 16 out of 24 hours a day playing around here?
You're a nun, not an internet-addicted girl.
Jokes aside, Luo Shu had to admit one thing—the functions of the Divine Pantheon were becoming increasingly user-friendly.
Luo Shu opened Meer's chat window and tried the 'poke' feature, quickly receiving a response. Then, he directly activated the face-to-face function, which was soon answered.
In a daze, Meer's figure appeared within Luo Shu's retina.
At that moment, Meer had tied her pink hair into uneven twin tails and was wearing a thin white silk nightgown. Since she was lounging sideways on the sofa, the opaque fabric accentuated her alluring curves with striking clarity.
Once their figures appeared in each other's vision, Meer raised a hand to cover a yawn, her eyes glistening with tears as she affectionately called out:
"Good morning~ Shu-kun~"
Hearing this, Luo Shu chuckled and replied:
"It's 8 PM in Tokyo right now."
"But I'm in America right now..." Meer muttered, wiping her eyes before grinning and blinking at Luo Shu. "But if Shu-kun is feeling lonely, I can rush back to keep you company~"
Luo Shu's expression turned slightly odd at that:
"I recall you're currently in America, standing in for Lacus in public appearances, aren't you?"
As one of Lacus Clyne's doppelgangers, Meer occasionally had to assume her identity for external engagements.
With Lacus currently stationed in Copernicus, overseeing spatial ring research with the help of Mukuro Hoshimiya's abilities, Meer naturally had to replace her in the Americas.
So, if Meer were to suddenly fly back to Tokyo to spend the night with Luo Shu, the outside world might misinterpret it as Lacus herself rushing back for a secret rendezvous.
The Supreme Chairwoman of the SDS taking a last-minute flight back to Tokyo for an overnight meeting with the Director of the Hidden Management Department?
Seriously?
"Meer, does Lacus know you're playing this risky?"
"Lacus won't mind—at least, not outwardly."
Meer giggled, her expression resembling a sly little fox sneaking treats:
"Besides, don't you think this could help stabilise Lacus's mental state, Shu-kun?"
With a mischievous grin, she added, "So, should I teleport back via the Star Gate?"
'You're not trying to stabilise her mental state—you're trying to provoke her...' Luo Shu thought dryly before sighing helplessly:
"If the Star Gate gets exposed because of something like this, we'll be facing internal censure."
"Alright, stop teasing me. You can't even leave your room right now. Besides, I have actual business to discuss."
Though unspoken, both Meer and Luo Shu were well aware of how many people were monitoring the Supreme Chairwoman's every move.
The reason the conversation had derailed like this was simply because Meer was being mischievous.
"Shu-kun is so mean, even though I'm being so proactive~"
Meer pretended to sniffle, her eyes clearly laughing, making it impossible for Luo Shu not to comment.
"Next time you want to cry, remember to prepare some onions first."
With that, Luo Shu waved his hand helplessly and said:
"Alright, I actually have serious business to discuss with you this time, not just idle phone chatter."
"Oh~" Meer only grew more languid upon hearing this, carelessly reclining on the sofa without a care for modesty, her skirt failing to conceal the alluring, snow-white thighs that swayed lightly.
Seeing her like this, Luo Shu's eyelid twitched slightly as he forcibly maintained his composure and asked:
"How much does the intelligence department know about the Aldegia Kingdom?"
Hearing this, Meer blinked, then gave Luo Shu a meaningful look.
Just as Luo Shu was puzzled by her strange expression, Meer suddenly smiled and said:
"Actually, the princess of Aldegia Kingdom, La Folia Rihavein, is Lacus's very good friend~"
"As for how close they are..."
"Hmm, let's just say if one of them were male, they'd be willing to marry the other~"
Hearing this, Luo Shu froze.
There was actually such a thing?
So... he and La Folia were actually love rivals?