Inside the hotel, Yaxiu opened his eyes, feeling a biting chill against his back and ice-cold arms—the dampness of underground floors was truly intense.
Wait, why was he lying on the floor?
Yaxiu sat up and saw Lisi, clad in her seal bathrobe, sprawled out in a star shape across the entire single bed. There was no question about it: he had been kicked off.
Watching those little feet constantly tugging and kicking the quilt outward, Yaxiu could vividly picture how he had been shoved bit by bit right off the mattress by the little rascal.
Tucking the blanket over the little seal, Yaxiu sat down on an adjacent chair. Without turning on the light, he summoned the Secret Poison Diary and began writing from the back to record tonight's experiences and gains. The front held his chronological adventures, while the back was reserved for major life events that he felt needed immediate recording. The sorcerer who had found the replica of his diary seemed to enjoy reading it, as the diary's view count had been steadily climbing.
Even though it was a diary read by only a single person, Yaxiu wrote in meticulous detail. His prose might be clumsy, but his attitude was undeniably earnest.
"...The spiraling flames pierced the sky like a lance, dispersing the reverse golden rain across the entire area. Colossal vines and towering trees rapidly sprang from the earth illuminated by the fire. Even though we were already far away, the sports car was knocked onto its side by the shockwave, sending all of us flying with the momentum. I shielded the Witch with the Sword Body Barrier, and could only roll while holding the Sword Princess tightly..."
"This is likely the miracle commanded by the Oasis. Unlike the spatial teleportation of the Spider Web, its standard effect is an anti-city miracle. Then came a spectacle that I probably won't—or at least shouldn't—witness many times in my life: an entire main city plunged toward the earth, with us directly beneath it. It's worth mentioning that the Sword Princess was so terrified that she curled into a ball and softly sang in my ear. I can definitely tease her about this in the future."
"Of course, the main city didn't crash straight down, or they would have been smashed to pieces themselves. It ultimately halted dozens of meters in the air. When we looked up, we could see this astounding inverted main city, filled with gleaming orange sunflowers. The Garden was true to its name; its color palette matched the reverse golden rain so closely that it was no wonder it was completely invisible from the ground..."
"Unlike other main cities, and perhaps as the price for perching in the sky, the Garden's main city possesses no defensive capabilities. A single upward volley from Spider Tower and Oasis wiped out a tenth of the flowers, which were clearly vital resources for the Garden's main city. The initiative on the battlefield thus shifted to the invaders, forcing the Garden's legion to descend to the ground and clash with Spider Tower and Oasis... That makes sense, really. If the Garden could float and defend itself while other legions had to fly up just to invade, its advantage would simply be too overwhelming, making it practically invincible."
"Although this world has no balance mechanics, it's not as if the gods can't flip the table. If you're unfair, they will make you fair."
"Thanks to the chaotic melee, we successfully snatched three Commander's Handbooks, four Soul Summoning sorcery spirits, and maps of both the Garden and Spider Tower, retreating smoothly before the Refraction Curtain Wall shattered. Among the Soul Summoning sorcery spirits, three were from the Garden and one was from Spider Tower. My Soul Summoning sorcery spirit lit up orange and purple, upgrading our special unit, the Three-Colored Anchor, into the Five-Colored Anchor... It's a pity we didn't get the Oasis map. I'm now just two maps away from illuminating the entire Time Continent."
"We each took one Commander's Handbook. Actually, I wanted to give two to the Sword Princess and one to the Witch, since I'm fairly casual about my mastery over factions, but I was worried the Witch might feel treated unfairly. Maybe the Witch doesn't care, but I can't help minding it. It feels like raising two daughters; I have to be constantly mindful of treating them equally... At least neither of them would kick me out of the car."
"Looking back carefully, I feel like I said some pretty embarrassing things to the Sword Princess tonight, but I won't write them down. I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in reading them anyway."
Closing the Secret Poison Diary, Yaxiu sank into deep thought.
There was actually something he hadn't recorded in the diary: on the battlefield, they had forcibly eliminated a Spider Tower commander. For that, both the Sword Princess and the Witch were equipped with Tier 6 units, the Star Flinger Warriors. Under the effect of the Secret Incarnation's Mystery Authority, Spider Tower regarded them as neutral units, allowing them to infiltrate smoothly right beside the Spider Tower commander and launch a surprise assault.
Otherwise, with Spider Tower and Oasis ganging up to crush the Garden in an overwhelming rout, unless the Garden also unleashed a miracle, how could a Spider Tower commander possibly have been slain?
The reason Yaxiu and the others had taken such a massive risk was precisely to unlock the Secret Incarnation's second authority. There was no better assassination opportunity than on a battlefield. Fortunately, Yaxiu had temporarily upgraded the Refraction Curtain Wall to Level 11; otherwise, they truly wouldn't have escaped the battlefield.
However, the authority unlocked through such arduous effort was somewhat subtle—
"Secret-Keeping Authority: You keep your lips sealed, and none shall know the deepest secrets of your heart; yet those secrets also protect your soul. You cannot speak the secret you hold dearest, and the more you yearn to confide it, the stronger the secret-keeping effect becomes."
And on the Watcher's personal interface, Yaxiu also saw an additional effect:
"Secret-Keeping (Confession Urge 13%): Your mental resistance is increased by 13%, and your soul's adaptability to gods of related factions is increased by 13%."
Yaxiu was immediately reminded of the intel they had obtained from the mermaids: the reason Harvey would be able to command a god in the future was that he had obtained a necromancy-related Concept Incarnation on the Time Continent. Back then, Yaxiu had wondered if the Secret Incarnation would have a similar effect; he hadn't expected it would be unlocked like this.
The Secret-Keeping Authority was truly formidable. After all, increasing adaptability to commanding a god was a ladder to heaven, the path of angels. Yet for Yaxiu and his companions, it held little immediate significance—never mind that they were merely Two-Winged Gold Sorcerers; even Three-Winged Sanctuary sorcerers were still a long way from reaching gods!
In MMO terms, this was like a low-level player possessing the ability to equip divine gear—the problem was, where was the divine gear?!
At the thought, Yaxiu couldn't help but feel how insidious the gods were. The people who needed Concept Incarnations most were undoubtedly Four-Winged Legendary Sorcerers, yet Concept Incarnations seemingly only appeared on the Time Continent. Back then, those Legendary Sorcerers had been nothing more than weak Two-Winged fledglings who had to flee at the sight of a Heroic Spirit Legion. It was truly a case of 'meeting the best version of you at an age when I had nothing to offer'—miss it, and you'd never get another chance.
What Yaxiu was actually more curious about was: exactly which secret had the Secret-Keeping Authority locked away?
Transmigration? The Sorcerer Handbook? Kinks so perverse even a Veela would find them abnormal? Or perhaps his heart's will...?
The Sword Princess and the Witch had enthusiastically offered to help him test it out, but Yaxiu had seen right through them—they just wanted to dig up his embarrassing history. Naturally, he had made a quick escape.
Still, with the Confession Urge at only 13%, meaning he had never intended to speak of it in the first place, overthinking it was pointless. Come to think of it, the mechanics of the Secret-Keeping Authority were rather perverse: the more dear the secret, the more you wanted to confide it, the more it forbade you from speaking, and the greater the attribute bonuses it provided. It felt like only assassins or secret lovers could unleash this authority's true potential.
With that thought, Yaxiu summoned the Gospel Book and flipped to Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook—Supply Procurement.
After uploading the cheap sorcery spirits the Sword Princess hadn't wanted tonight, Yaxiu's points finally broke the 328 milestone!
In other words, he could purchase the Box of Origin Crystals worth 328 points, which would trigger the first-time purchase double bonus!
However, Yaxiu didn't have much interest in the gacha pulls. After all, the limited search pool Dancing with Swords and Dragons had ended long ago, leaving him no chance to pull the limited outfit Bridal Sword Princess.
Not that he particularly wanted to see it—he mostly just wanted to buy the Sword Princess an outfit to reward her.
Even though Yaxiu could use the Gospel Book to reinforce his heart's will and draw what he needed even from the standard pool, the problem was that he had nothing he specifically desired right now—since the bridal outfit was unobtainable anyway.
Infiltrating the royal palace to assassinate the princess was certainly dangerous, but the standard pool contained no items that could rapidly boost his combat power. As for a new operator... honestly, these past few days were completely unsuitable for onboarding a new operator. At least wait until the Weaving Ceremony concluded, when he could take Lisi and serve as Igola's dowry maidservants to sponge off the Berdette family like freeloaders; only then would he have the energy to manage more complicated interpersonal relationships.
It would be best if another limited pool came out; only then would Yaxiu feel a strong urge to whale. Even without Bridal, swimsuits, qipaos, clergy robes, Veela outfits, maid outfits, or anything along those lines could all be arranged!
Therefore, Yaxiu continued hoarding these points, waiting until the urge to pull welled up.
Without even the passion to pull, how could anyone get a featured drop?!
At that moment, Lisi pawed twice at the bed. Grasping nothing, she rubbed her eyes and sat up. Bleary-eyed, she glanced around before spotting Yaxiu, then yawned, flopped back down, patted the mattress a few times, and let out an urgent humming sound through her nose.
"What is it?"
"Come sleep..."
"I'm already awake."
"Then I'm not sleeping either." Lisi padded over and sat on the chair beside him.
"Kids who don't get enough sleep won't grow tall, you know!"
"I'm not scared!"
"Speaking of which, something just crossed my mind," Yaxiu said. "After the Weaving Ceremony ends, can you still go back to being a princess?"
"Huh?"
"Whether the operation succeeds or fails, you won't have any reason to stay outside anymore. Besides, you're the sole remaining bloodline of the Isu royal family. The Isu royals won't just leave you wandering among commoners, will they? Will you return to the imperial palace to continue being a princess then?"
In the dark, Lisi opened her eyes wide and stared at Yaxiu. "Daddy, are you trying to abandon me?"
"No—"
"Then why are you asking! You said before that after the Weaving Ceremony ends, we'd live together!"
"Therein lies the problem," Yaxiu said. "Where would we live?"
"Eh?" Lisi froze, the question being a bit too profound for her.
"Once we leave Funeral, I won't have any connections, any real estate, or even a job. I feel like our quality of life is going to fall off a cliff. And besides, 'Princess of Isu' sounds way more impressive than 'Yaxiu's daughter' anyway—"
"Who says so! The second one is clearly super-duper-invincibly awesome!"
"That makes things a bit troublesome then," Yaxiu scratched his head. "If it were just me, sleeping in a cardboard box under an overpass would be fine, but with you around, I'll have to put in a little effort. For a happy life, I've got three rough proposals—"
"First: I sell my looks and beg Annan to support us as her kept pets."
Lisi looked down, swinging her little legs. "I don't really want a stepmom anymore..."
"Second: We beg Igola to sell his looks and have Berdette support us."
"That one sounds good," Lisi said. "But Auntie Bogin has never seemed willing."
"Then we can only go with Option Three," Yaxiu said. "Send the substitute body out to work a job and bring home the bacon."
"Can a substitute body even earn much money?" Lisi pondered for a moment. "Doesn't matter, though. As long as I'm with Daddy, being a little poor is totally fine with Lisi—"
"No way! No matter how hard life gets, the kids shouldn't suffer. Even if it's just for your happy life, I will work hard!" Yaxiu declared with resounding conviction.
Chapter 459