Chapter 48 : Chapter 48: The romantic story still lives on, but the romantic Gu Shi is truly gone!
Meanwhile, in the reality timeline.
Amphoreus, Creation Vortex Core.
"Three steps, Castorice!"
A crisp voice, tinged with a hint of indifference, rang out.
Up ahead, Dan Heng and Stelle's hands were bound by Golden Threads, rendering them unable to move.
Behind them, Castorice, standing in a standard maid's posture, began to move her feet to adjust the distance.
One step, two steps, three steps, four steps...
She moved forward step by step, and then—
"Wait, wait, Little Castorice! You've gone too far, you took an extra step!"
Tribbie's voice suddenly echoed in her ear.
Hearing the childish commotion, Castorice froze instantly.
Lowering her head, she realized she had indeed overshot. Her face flushed with nervousness, and she immediately took a step back.
"Um, no, I'm sorry..."
"Don't say it out loud, Little Castorice! We're conducting an execution right now, be serious!"
"Oh, sorr—uh, no."
Tribbie: "..."
Stelle and Dan Heng turned their heads. Seeing Castorice's stammering state, they couldn't help but exchange a glance.
"..."
Dan Heng pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately looked back at Aglaea with a firm gaze:
"To decide our life or death through a lynching... it's simply preposterous."
Beside him, Stelle nodded in agreement. "Burning bridges? After we even helped you?"
But the Aglaea before them remained indifferent, as if nothing could move her, like a block of dry ice.
She simply crossed her arms and gave the order: "Regrettably, for the sake of Okhema, I must do this."
"I shall test you with Four Questions. The Golden Thread will ultimately provide the answer. At that time, Castorice will decide whether to grant you death based on the number of times the Golden Thread vibrates..."
"Agy, Agy! Those are the wrong lines! You're saying them wrong!"
Tribbie's voice reached Aglaea's ears again from an unknown source.
A subtle change seemed to appear in her expression: "My Teacher, does it make a difference? I thought this was more concise."
"That won't do, Agy! You are the leader of the Chrysos Heirs now. You must be cold, elegant, more unshakeable, and superior!"
"The lines you speak must be both profound and implicit!"
Aglaea: "..."
Aglaea paused mid-sentence, suddenly stopping.
After a moment, as if she had reconnected, she spoke again:
"I shall test you with Four Questions. Deceitful answers will cause the Golden Thread to vibrate; sincere answers will leave it undisturbed."
"The number of times the Golden Thread vibrates shall be the number of steps the executioner must take."
"After the Four Questions, if she has not reached your backs, you will be considered to have passed the test. Otherwise, your journey ends here."
However.
By the time she finished speaking and they snapped back to reality, Dan Heng and Stelle's eyes were already a bit dazed.
Stelle couldn't help but lean closer to Dan Heng, whispering:
"Dan Heng, do you feel like Amphoreus is... dropping frames?"
"Uh..."
Dan Heng gave her a speechless look.
While he didn't want to join Stelle in her nonsense and joking, he had to admit it was indeed a bit strange.
How was this...
Looking left and right, there was nothing out of place on the scene.
Yet, why did he feel an inexplicable sense of incongruity?
Especially...
Noticing the two were already looking around, Aglaea hurriedly announced:
"The First Question."
"Outlanders—why have you come to Amphoreus?"
Fortunately.
The questioning at the threshold of life and death successfully drew Dan Heng and Stelle's attention back.
After a brief moment of thought, as expected, Stelle spoke up to respond:
"We..."
...
"This is simply amazing!"
On the balcony of the Xu Qiong Bath Palace.
Cipher lay reclined on a lounge chair, head hanging down, holding the 'stone slab' above her head. Her calves, clad in Golden Boots, were draped over the back of the chair.
Perhaps out of joy, she was constantly wiggling her toes, causing the entire chair to rock.
"Big Sister's transition, from large to small in just one jump, looks so gorgeous!"
"I wonder if I'll have a PV like this."
Cipher had seen the new PV released by Xu Qiong.
Beside her, Cyrene also had her hands behind her back, leaning in with a smile to observe.
Soon, Cipher shared this PV to the group, where it naturally received unanimous praise.
[Anaxa: Read.]
[Keluida: Appreciated.]
[Hysilens: Beautiful.]
[...]
[Cyrene: (Cyrene_Heart.jpg)]
While monitoring the outside situation, Xu Qiong moved his gaze to the cat-like girl on the chair beside him.
He noticed that after sending the video, she actually looked a bit troubled.
"It's a pity. Such a great video, and Big Sister and The Seamstress can't see it. Even Woju Princess isn't here. I don't even know who to share it with anymore."
"Say, Hui Zi, can you set up some kind of live stream so I can see what's happening inside? It's been a long time since I've seen Big Sister turn into Tribbie and become small. I actually miss it."
"Or..." Cipher tilted her head idly, "When will you arrange for me to go in too? Tricking people is what I'm best at!"
Xu Qiong shrugged helplessly and tossed her a box of dried small fish he'd gotten from somewhere:
"Won't you be able to see them when they come back?"
"Also, don't be in such a hurry. When they all return, it'll be your turn to go in. You'll be busy enough then."
Stars seemed to appear in Cipher's eyes as she caught the dried fish Xu Qiong threw her.
"True!"
"But it's my turn to go in? Does that mean I'll be making my debut in the main story soon?!"
Xu Qiong poked the mobile phone screen: "Won't you know if you keep watching?"
On the screen, the streamers were still pushing through the main story.
However, chatting with the cat-girl had left Xu Qiong a bit worried.
Come to think of it, the Chrysos Heirs were all present, but the Romantic Gushi seemed to be truly gone!
What should be done then?
Without the Romantic Gushi to play the villains, surely he couldn't have the Romantic Story play the villains instead.
Uh...
Xu Qiong glanced sideways at the innocent, kind, lovely, pure, shy, and pink-cheeked, most perfect Cyrene. It seemed like it might actually work!
Forget it, just going through the motions would be enough.
Aglaea, Castorice, and the others were very professional. Even if it was slightly different from the original main story, probably, maybe, should be, more or less...
There shouldn't be any big problems... right?
"Cyrene, I have an arduous task to entrust to you!"
Cyrene: "partner... eh?"
...
Astral Express.
Ever since the Herta plotline in the game, Himeko had become even more interested in the game in her hands.
Because at least one thing could be certain now!
Since the other party could accurately observe and predict the Astral Express, then the plot in the game was definitely not as simple as being made up.
In other words, this was the actual Trailblaze journey of those two children, Stelle and Dan Heng.
Especially at the end of the 3.0 plot, where an image of March being frozen appeared.
Himeko had just gone to the bedroom to check.
Unexpectedly—or rather, as expected now—March was indeed covered in similar ice, just like the day they had found her!
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