May 19, 9:30 PM, 150 minutes until the 20th.
On the 72nd floor of the Sennheiser Building, in a virtual entertainment zone normally frequented only by reclusive gamers, a gathering of social monsters was now packed together.
"Aidifeier, Philip, Bosh, Biers, Suo Taotian..."
Wright lifted his red hat, revealing a mop of messy red hair and his miracle eye inscribed with a magic circle. His laugh held a tinge of madness. "To meet six crest patriarchs of Fanmula at the same time—I doubt even a Legendary Sorcerer gets this kind of treatment?"
"Indeed," the man in the trench coat said. "The last time the six patriarchs met was the last time."
"That must have been several centuries ago, right?" a woman with a ponytail said. "How is it that nothing happened during the reigns of the previous patriarchs, but right when it's my turn, such a huge mess breaks out?"
"Isn't this great?" A lazy man wearing a bucket hat chuckled. "Biers, you must have only recently become patriarch, right? Someone like me who's been a patriarch for decades actually looks forward to little interludes like this that bring change to an otherwise monotonous life."
"Or it could just be pure noise." A bespectacled man took out a comb to tidy his bangs. "Be careful not to harm Sennheiser's family. Let's finish them off quickly."
Looking at the men and women before him, Banjie momentarily suppressed his grievances toward Igola, replaced by the shock of witnessing living legends.
The Six Emblem patriarchs!
The helmsmen of Fanmula, spokespersons of eight million citizens, heirs to millennial dynasties! Even across the entire Gospel Country, they were formidable figures not to be underestimated—overlords holding sway over their own domain!
Among outsiders who had witnessed Fanmula's current state firsthand, the Six Emblem patriarchs were even regarded as powerful governors second only to Empress Yisu. Although outside of Fanmula the influence of the Six Emblems was virtually nil, Fanmula was Gospel's largest production center for mermaid fish-mint. In various city organization rankings, Fanmula consistently ranked near the top, and its annual gross municipal product had never fallen out of the top five!
If one were to separate the six families of Fanmula, each family's gross output would far exceed that of an ordinary second-tier city, and could even go toe-to-toe with a first-tier city! Furthermore, because a crest family's resources were centrally allocated, the patriarch could freely mobilize the entire clan's productive resources—in a literal sense, 'One is all, all is one'!
Thus, the patriarchs before Banjie's eyes were not merely patriarchs; they were virtually the incarnations of their families, the mortal vessels of the city, carrying the weight of a million clansmen in every gesture. This was by no means mere hyperbole; they truly possessed the ability to convert their clansmen's resources into power—
*Whoosh—*
Accompanied by the rustling sound of turning pages, five Books of Gospel appeared before the patriarchs. To small, modest households like Annan's, the Book of Gospel was naturally an aloof, conservative advisory platform. But before crest patriarchs whose Gospel points were measured in the millions, the openness of the Book of Gospel was beyond anything ordinary people could imagine.
Sanctuary!
Two Sanctuaries instantly unfolded, shielding the Red Hat squad members. Though no tangible attack could be seen, anyone who witnessed the dense, torrential ripples across the Sanctuary barriers knew that sorcerers could hardly match the Gospel, and being rich truly reigned supreme.
Cleios's expression turned exceedingly grim. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, and she bit her lip aggrievedly. "Wright, looks like we're going to fail this time..."
"We cannot fail."
Wright also summoned his Book of Gospel. "I reiterate once more: we are here solely to arrest imperial fugitive Yaxiu Heath. We have no intention whatsoever of infringing upon Fanmula. Once Yaxiu Heath is in custody, we will depart immediately. The white mist was not our doing, and afterward, we will apologize to the Fanmula Red Hats for our procedural irregularities... No, my deepest apologies, Patriarchs. I beg your forgiveness for our recklessness."
He suddenly bowed deeply to the patriarchs and said with his head lowered, "According to information revealed by the Weaving Ceremony, Yaxiu Heath is intimately tied to the apocalypse fifty years from now. He must never be allowed to remain at large! I am willing to hand over all my earnings from this incident to the Fanmula Six Emblems. We can leave the others alone, but Yaxiu Heath must be turned over for us to take back and interrogate!"
The man in the trench coat snorted. "You think Fanmula is a public restroom? Coming and going as you please—"
"Wait," the bespectacled man said. "Sennheiser, what do you think? The Fanmula Six Emblems stand together through thick and thin, but fighting Sanctuary Sorcerers and even offending the Isu royal family for the sake of an outsider does not align with our family values."
Yaxiu looked nervously at Qinna. Qinna glanced back at him, her expression contemplative.
He was done for!
Truth be told, if their roles were reversed, Yaxiu certainly wouldn't risk everything to protect an imperial fugitive, let alone one who seemed to be the culprit behind the apocalypse.
Although Qinna had signed a Contract with Annan and was theoretically obligated to shelter them or face being banned by the Void Realm, first of all, the one standing before them was 'Nona' and not 'Qinna'—Yaxiu wasn't sure if the Contract could detect Qinna logging in from another device or account. Second, Qinna valued her family far more than herself; if she truly believed he posed a danger to Sennheiser, the so-called Contract would be nothing more than a sunk cost she was willing to absorb.
Threaten Qinna with the Contract? Absolutely not. Qinna was prideful to the bone and would never take threats kindly; it would only backfire. Yaxiu still remembered how, just for saying an offensive word, Qinna had traced his outline with gun bullets.
Persuade Qinna using Annan? Claim that he was vital to Annan to appeal to Qinna's maternal compassion? That didn't seem likely to work either...
Suddenly, Yaxiu felt a tug on his trouser cuff. Glancing down out of the corner of his eye, he saw Igola, sprawled on the ground, mouthing words to him.
*Annan and Nona.*
Yaxiu suddenly remembered that Annan had constantly spoken of how close she was to her aunt Nona. Her journey to Fanmula this time had been based entirely on her conviction that she could secure Nona's support, which was why she had brought her entire household to seek refuge with her aunt.
Unfortunately, Aunt Nona had dirt held against her by Qinna, forcing them to cooperate with Qinna instead; otherwise, they would have long since infiltrated Fanmula without a hitch.
In Annan's narrative, Nona was the wonderful aunt who would stand up to her elder sister for her niece's sake, the only relative in Sennheiser she could confide in, the brightest light of a little girl's childhood.
Yet the reality was that Nona harbored the split soul of her elder sister, Qinna. When Qinna was trapped in the Void Realm, the very first spare body activated had been Nona—the bond between the sisters Qinna and Nona was undoubtedly far closer than that between the mother and daughter, Qinna and Annan.
Yaxiu now also recognized that the only two characters featured in the event illustration of the "Sennheiser Dreamscape" were none other than Qinna and Nona! Qinna sat in a chair overlooking Fanmula, while Nona leaned close, whispering in her ear—a textbook sister combo of 'the brawny elder sister and the brainy younger sister'!
In other words, the 'good aunt Nona' in Annan's mind was likely just the good cop deliberately orchestrated by Qinna. According to parenting theories, Qinna playing bad cop while Nona played good cop was indeed a textbook method of raising a child.
Qinna might not necessarily love Annan, but she undoubtedly cared about her deeply.
Yaxiu recalled once more his encounter with Qinna in the elevator. He sensed that deep down, Qinna was actually a relatively kind and gentle person.
*So the right strategy for me here should be...*
Steeling his resolve, Yaxiu threw his arms around Qinna!
"Patriarch Qinna, I'm Annan's fiancé! I'm marrying into the Sennheiser family in the future!" Yaxiu buried his face in her chest, not daring to look the female patriarch in the eye. "Save me!"
He hadn't yet mastered the art of lying through his teeth; his facial expressions would only give him away, so he could only rely on physical action to sell the performance.
Sprawled on the floor, Igola coughed up a mouthful of tainted blood, his eyes wide with utter shock. He didn't even dare breathe too loudly, afraid of ruining Yaxiu's performance.
This was undeniably an extreme gamble. Even now, they hadn't completely deciphered the complicated dynamic between mother and daughter. If he entered the wrong password, Yaxiu's move would only provoke Qinna's disgust!
The air went dead silent. Everyone was waiting for Patriarch Sennheiser's response.
"You say you're Annan's fiancé?"
*Is she suspicious? Does she think I'm lying? Did I get the password wrong?*
Yet having come this far, Yaxiu could only bite the bullet: "Yes... Do you not approve?"
"No, I approve very much. In fact, it couldn't be better."
Yaxiu's chin was tipped up, forcing him to meet Patriarch Sennheiser's gaze. Qinna's golden eyes brimmed with amusement and anticipation, reminding Yaxiu of a half-sated fox eyeing its next prey.
"However, you still have to call me Sister Qinna from now on."
Yaxiu blinked. "...Sister Qinna?"
"Good boy." Qinna noticed a drop of blood on Yaxiu's left cheek and tapped her own face. "There's blood."
Yaxiu instinctively touched his right cheek. Qinna shook her head and leaned down toward him.
Just when Yaxiu thought Qinna was going to wipe away the blood for him, he felt a slick tongue lick his cheek.
A violent shiver ran through him. His body nearly turned to mush, slumping into Qinna's embrace as she gently held him.
Nearby, Igola saw their interaction with utter clarity. Compared to the agony of shattered ribs, this spectacle shook the Swindler's wall of the heart far more violently.
*Yaxiu, what the hell kind of password did you just punch in?!*
*The way Qinna's treating you doesn't look in the slightest like someone dealing with her daughter's partner!*
*I may be a Blood Mooner, but I've watched plenty of family drama films here, and I've never seen anything like this!*
*It's too bizarre. Let me look again.*
Chapter 348