At Mei's home.
Having prepared a table full of dishes, Mei was waiting for her father to return home.
Glancing at the time, Mei knew her father should be arriving soon.
So she took out her communicator, pulled up Kiana in her contacts, and instinctively wanted to invite Kiana over for dinner.
However, just as she was about to press the call button, Mei stopped.
"Never mind, I seem to have invited her quite a lot this month. If this continues, Kiana will probably find it troublesome too, won't she?"
Mei put down her communicator, deciding not to invite Kiana today.
At that moment, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance.
Mei stood up to look while greeting.
"Father... Kiana?"
Seeing who entered, Mei froze for a moment, because the first person to step through the door was Kiana, whose face showed a mixture of embarrassment and distress.
Only after her came her own father, Ryoma.
"I ran into my dear niece on the road, so I brought her along for dinner."
After explaining to Mei, Ryoma invited Mei and Kiana to sit down and eat.
It was still the usual home-cooked meal, and aside from potentially sending people across the Sanzu River to meet their great-grandmother, everything was fine.
Dinner passed by harmoniously and pleasantly.
Kiana used her chopsticks to pick up a piece of tofu covered in blue-green sauce, which emitted an eerie green glow.
Meeting Mei's expectant gaze, she steeled herself and swallowed it in one bite.
"Boom!"
The spiciness instantly spread through her stomach, while simultaneously rushing through her taste buds straight to her brain.
Kiana felt as if a mushroom cloud was exploding in her mind. Her pupils began to dilate, and the hand gripping her chopsticks trembled continuously.
Forcibly suppressing the churning in her stomach, Kiana put down her chopsticks and gave Mei a thumbs up.
"De...delicious... Mei's cooking skills... have improved again..."
Hearing this, Mei's face lit up with joy.
After recovering for a moment, Kiana had the energy to look elsewhere. Then she saw Ryoma eating heartily.
In an instant, a certain sense of admiration spread through her chest.
However, as she watched, Kiana furrowed her brows.
For some reason, even though they were two people with completely different appearances, she couldn't shake the feeling that this "Ryoma" before her gave her an extremely strong sense of déjà vu.
No, it should be called a sense of familiarity, giving her the same feeling as when facing her good brother Lucius.
If she didn't know this person was Mei's father, she would almost suspect that Lucius had disguised himself as Ryoma to play a trick on her.
Sensing Kiana's gaze, Ryoma looked over, and Kiana smiled and looked away.
How could it be her good brother? He can't transform into Mei's father...
As she thought about it, Kiana suddenly froze and stared intently at Ryoma.
She remembered all the various strange abilities Lucius possessed... Was there really no way he could transform into another person?
Kiana looked at Ryoma suspiciously, and the more she looked, the more he resembled her good brother.
At this moment, she felt another gaze looking at her. Kiana looked over and found that Mei was watching her.
Only then did she realize that staring at someone else's father was indeed impolite, so she quickly averted her gaze.
But thinking of the absurd speculation rising in her heart, a curiosity kept scratching at her little heart, making her look over again and again.
So strange.
Looking again, still strange.
Is it really that guy Lucius?
But what Kiana didn't know was that her every action fell completely into Mei's eyes.
Watching Kiana glance at her father from time to time, Mei's small face turned pale, and the chopsticks in her hand trembled continuously.
Just as Kiana was pondering whether the Ryoma across from her was actually her good brother in disguise playing a prank, a terrifying thought also arose in Mei's mind.
She recalled how her father had been persistently urging her to invite Kiana over for dinner. She had originally thought this was just her father worrying about her being antisocial, wanting to help her build relationships with classmates.
But watching Kiana, who thought she was being discreet in observing Ryoma but was completely obvious in Mei's eyes...
And thinking of her father's abnormal enthusiasm about inviting Kiana to eat at home recently...
"Crack!"
The crisp sound attracted Ryoma and Kiana's attention. Both looked at Mei and discovered that the chopsticks in her hand had actually broken.
Meeting their gazes, Mei smiled unnaturally.
"Sorry, the quality of these chopsticks isn't very good. I'll go get another pair."
After saying this, she stood up and walked into the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Mei's small face instantly turned deathly pale, as if her blood had been drained.
"Does Father inviting Kiana over as a guest really mean he wants me to improve my relationship with classmates? Or is it..."
A horrifying image surfaced in her mind.
One day, she brings Kiana home for dinner, and suddenly her father tells her: "From now on, you two will address each other accordingly. She'll call you Classmate Mei, and you'll call her Mom..."
Mei suddenly clutched her head, her expression horrified. Just thinking about this scene made her feel like her brain was trembling.
"No, that's not right..."
Mei shook her head forcefully, throwing this terrible thought out of her mind.
"Kiana is my best friend. She wouldn't be that kind of person. How could I think such an impolite thing!"
"But still, I can't help being concerned..."
Soon, Mei returned to the dining table with a pair of chopsticks, everything seemingly as usual.
However, whether it was an illusion or not...
Kiana felt that Mei's gaze upon her had become more profound, but looking carefully, she found that Mei was still smiling just as gently.
Kiana shook her head. She simply dismissed it as her own imagination.
Soon, the meal was finished.
[Check-in completed: Raiden Mei's Dinner, Reward Crystals x10]
[Crystal Balance: 3000]
Including the crystals from completing tasks and the crystals from eating Mei's cooking three meals a day, after deducting the crystals used to purchase knowledge and technology to develop MEI Company, the balance had finally reached the 3000 mark.
And with three thousand crystals, he could already purchase experience cards for all Herrschers except Finality and Origin.
Looking at the crystal balance on the system interface, Lucius revealed a blissful smile.
Hehe! Hehehe!!!
Excellent. I, who possess worldly wisdom, now finally have worldly power.
Now, he lacked nothing.
...
After finishing dinner and seeing Kiana off, Lucius began browsing the news as usual.
Soon, Lucius's expression became strange.
Because he saw:
[Breaking News: Today, the framework of the newly constructed experimental building at the United Government's First Research Institute collapsed, causing multiple casualties.]
[Councilor Nicholas expressed shock and outrage, demanding that law enforcement immediately investigate thoroughly and give citizens an explanation.]
[...]
Looking at this news, Lucius knew it was time to meet with Mobius.
What he wanted could only be found by that woman.
---
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