While the Lord's castle remained in eternal night, the rest of the territory was in broad daylight.
Cangxuan and Danzhu were currently in the middle of a heated research session, studying the Anti-Entropy mechs. Unlike the scraps found in reality, once they asked Luo Hong for research material, he waved his hand and presented every single model of Anti-Entropy mech before them—even the gargantuan "Father" unit.
They had plenty to work with. But because of this, the duty of attending to the Lord tonight fell solely on Bronya.
"Sister..." Danzhu paused her work on a circuit board, a look of guilt crossing her face. "Is it really okay to leave Bronya like this? It feels wrong."
She was having fun with the mechs, but once she mastered the basics, she couldn't help but think of Bronya, who was currently "sacrificing" herself for them.
"It's fine," Cangxuan replied without stopping her work. She shook her head calmly. "In fact, Bronya might even be happier without us there."
"Huh?" Danzhu looked stunned. "Sister... do you really think Bronya has already fallen for him? She hasn't known him much longer than we have."
Danzhu believed Bronya's "reward" the previous night was more about gratitude than love. Even if Danzhu didn't hate Luo Hong now, she didn't think she was in love with him either; it was just about duty and debt.
"Is 'love at first sight' not a common thing?" Cangxuan shrugged. She stopped what she was doing and stretched, her lithe waist arching as she let out a long yawn. Working all night had made her a bit weary. "Besides, Bronya is a girl who lacks love, and the Lord's silver tongue is quite effective. It's only natural for her to succumb."
Though she had only recently met Bronya, Cangxuan's "Insight" had already pinpointed her weakness: As long as you are genuinely kind to her, she will quickly view you as a friend!
"That... makes sense," Danzhu admitted.
"Wait, did you really think it was because of the mark on our bellies?" Cangxuan continued. "The Lord might use a little hypnosis for 'mood enhancement,' but he doesn't rely on such things for the big picture. Otherwise, he would have hypnotized us the moment we arrived instead of trading with us."
Though their time with him was short, logical deduction told Cangxuan everything she needed to know about Luo Hong's essence.
—He isn't exactly "evil," but he sure is "lecherous"!
"True," Danzhu agreed. "He's a man of his word; at least he hasn't lied to us. I just hope that when Hua and Ji Xuanyuan come here, he'll be as gentle as he is with Miss Mei." Recalling his treatment of Mei versus them, Danzhu felt a bit of resentment. The difference is just too much!
"Hard to say," Cangxuan shook her head. "He's very capricious. But his goal is to conquer our hearts, so he tailors his approach to each person. For someone like Miss Mei, even if he conquered her body, he could never conquer her heart that way—so he takes the 'romance' route."
"Sister..." Danzhu felt something was off. "Does that mean... since he's conquering our bodies first, our hearts will eventually follow?"
"Not necessarily." Cangxuan shook her head. "We were brought back to life by him; we owe him a debt. Plus, he holds the information we need, so we are naturally tied to him. As for how long it takes for our hearts to fall... he probably doesn't care. He has the confidence that as long as the time is long enough, he will win us over."
She spoke about herself with the same detached calm she used for others.
"Then, Sister... what should we do?"
"I don't know." After giving the "perfect" answer, Cangxuan reached down to touch her abdomen. She said in a strange tone, "Right now, I only hope what he said is true—that once this number hits zero, we really will fall hopelessly in love with him. That way, we won't have to keep playing this tug-of-war."
Having seen the inevitable conclusion, she knew she couldn't escape the net he had woven. In fact, the more she struggled, the more excited he got. But she wasn't the type to just give up immediately either, so the "tug-of-war" was unavoidable.
"Hm?"
With a look of shock, Danzhu stared at Cangxuan's abdomen. "Sister, do you think he lied to us?"
"It's just a suspicion." Cangxuan gently rubbed her own belly, feeling the faint stimulation from the mark. "After all, what's the difference between doing this and just hypnotizing us directly?"
"Do you really think that if he wanted to clear the numbers on our bellies, we'd have any power to resist?" she continued expressionlessly. "I suspect this is just a 'reason' he's giving us so we can justify giving in to him."
"And if anyone actually falls for it—believing they've truly fallen in love once the number hits zero—he'll probably reveal the truth with a smug grin just to make them feel utterly humiliated."
She gazed into the distance as if seeing the future. The "someone" she referred to was naturally Bronya. Of course, if she hadn't spoken up now, that "someone" would likely have included her foolish sister as well.
"Ugh..." Danzhu shivered at the description. "That guy is absolutely despicable!"
"Considering his twisted personality, it's definitely a possibility... in fact, a very high one!" Being just as brilliant as her sister, Danzhu immediately accepted this as the truth.
"Anyway—" Cangxuan's gaze softened as it landed on Danzhu. "I'm just glad to be with you again. As for whether there's an extra 'him' by our side, I don't really care."
"Sister..." Danzhu stood up and hugged Cangxuan tightly. "Yes, as long as we're together." For these sisters whose souls were supposed to have faded away, being reunited was the ultimate happiness. Their acceptance of Luo Hong was built entirely upon that debt of gratitude.