After the performance ended, Fu Zhu reappeared beside Sparkle, who had been watching from a distance, and clapped her on the shoulder.
"Ah!"
The sudden action made Sparkle jump in fright. When she turned and saw it was another version of herself, she let out a relieved breath and whined, "You even scare your own people!"
Fu Zhu watched her clutch her chest, feigning terror, and said with a look of disdain, "And you call yourself a Masked Fool? You're far too timid for that."
"None of your business!" Sparkle huffed, pouting as she turned away.
Fu Zhu rolled his eyes, not bothering to needle her further on the point. He got straight to business. "Alright, now it's your turn to go to the real world and hide the 'victim.' Remember, don't actually hurt them. We have no quarrel with them, after all."
"Fine, fine~"
Sparkle agreed, then promptly vanished from Fu Zhu's sight, clearly having "logged off" to find the person.
Fu Zhu stared at the spot where Sparkle had disappeared, hesitating for a moment. He wondered if he should follow her to see if she was secretly plotting against him.
"You don't trust her that much?"
Silver Wolf's projection suddenly appeared beside him. Fu Zhu, already used to her unique entrances, didn't say much, merely nodding.
"She's too obedient, suspiciously so. It's hard not to suspect she's secretly planning some trouble for me. By the way, is your part finished?"
"It's done."
Silver Wolf projected a virtual screen in front of Fu Zhu. The screen showed Penacony's official website, and the homepage was dominated by a headline that looked explosive at a glance.
[SHOCKING! The Random Pillar of Light Murders! To be chosen is to die, with the body vanishing from reality! Two victims so far!]
Fu Zhu clicked on the news story. Inside was a video Silver Wolf had surreptitiously filmed from another angle, disguised as a bystander's recording. The video showed the entire process of Fu Zhu's "performance," and Silver Wolf had even added a dramatic close-up of the moment the pillar of light descended.
"Not bad."
Fu Zhu gave a high praise after watching the video. "It would be even better if you could add some post-production effects to enhance the horror atmosphere."
Silver Wolf's face immediately fell upon hearing Fu Zhu's request. "Are you the client or am I? It's your job to solve the problem, right? I'm just helping."
"The problem is, you're the one worried about Firefly's life, not me. I've never even met her."
Silver Wolf opened her mouth to retort but couldn't find the words. What Fu Zhu said was true; he had no connection to Firefly whatsoever. The fact that he was willing to believe her and help was already far beyond her expectations.
"Fine, I get it."
Silver Wolf sighed deeply, bottling up her frustration, and accepted the video's post-production editing work.
"I'll leave it to you, then. I'm going to check on Sparkle."
Fu Zhu then switched to Observer Mode and left the dream world directly. This was one of the conveniences of Observer Mode—the ability to freely travel between two different worlds without needing a portal. For him, traversing worlds was as simple as turning the page of a book.
After returning to the real world, Fu Zhu opened his minimap and quickly found Sparkle's icon. She was heading towards the victim's room, just as planned.
Fu Zhu immediately flew in that direction. A moment later, he found Sparkle humming a tune, skipping and hopping as she turned into a men's restroom.
A short while later, Fu Zhu saw another "himself" walk out of the restroom. However, the icon on the minimap still identified "him" as Sparkle.
"So that's it. What a cheap prank."
Seeing Sparkle transform into him, Fu Zhu had a pretty good idea of what she was planning. It was nothing more than an attempt at revenge, to tarnish his name and disgust him a little.
Fu Zhu followed Sparkle as she made her way to the "victim's" room. Sparkle first went to the room of the Hound Family member he had killed in the dream. As luck would have it, just as Sparkle entered, the Hound Family member was climbing out of the Dream Pool, reaching for his phone to report the situation. But Sparkle was a step faster, sending the phone flying with a kick.
"Who are you?!"
The Hound Family member was instantly on alert upon seeing a strange man barge into his room.
Sparkle giggled, then placed her hands on her hips and introduced herself. "I'm the Nameless, Fu Zhu, from the Astral Express! And you are now my hostage!"
"A hostage?!"
Sparkle had no intention of answering his question. She pulled out a pink revolver and fired a shot at his head.
Bang!
A large welt swelled up on the Hound Family member's forehead, and he passed out. Sparkle immediately and efficiently tied the man up, then began dragging him out by his legs with a grunt.
---o---
Fu Zhu watched this scene and shook his head with a sense of speechlessness. Sparkle's prank was certainly distasteful, but she seemed to have overlooked one thing.
Would The Family be more inclined to believe Sparkle, a Masked Fool who had just committed a series of murders, or a Nameless who was renowned throughout the cosmos?
The answer was obvious.
After confirming that Sparkle was indeed doing her job, Fu Zhu lost all interest in following her. He rewound time, returning to the moment just before he had parted ways with Silver Wolf.
The moment Fu Zhu returned, he heard Silver Wolf's all-too-familiar sigh.
"Fine, I get it."
Silver Wolf sighed deeply, bottling up her frustration, and accepted the video's post-production editing work.
"Good, I'll trouble you with that then. Report the news article's click count to me every twenty minutes. If this news doesn't gain enough traction, we'll have to be more deliberate in choosing our next 'victims'—for example, some celebrities."
"Got it." Silver Wolf acknowledged, and her projection vanished.
Fu Zhu, meanwhile, found Trailblazer and Firefly's icons on his minimap, then flew to a tall building not far from them. He sat down and quietly waited for the next "victim" to appear.
Two system hours later, Sunday, who was already stressed to his limits dealing with the Charmony Festival, was suddenly approached by a member of the Hound Family.
"Lord Sunday, this is terrible."
Sunday raised an eyebrow, looking at the panicked Hound Family member who had just burst through the door. He immediately applied the Harmony's Chord to the man, allowing his agitated heart to gradually calm down.
"Calm yourself. What has happened that you would forget to even knock before rushing in so hastily?"
The now-calm Hound Family member gathered his thoughts before speaking to Sunday.
"Lord Sunday, here's what happened. Three system hours ago, a bizarre incident occurred in the Golden Hour. A member of the Hound Family was on patrol when he was suddenly enveloped by a pillar of light. Then, a woman calling herself the Masked Fool, Sparkle, appeared and killed him. What's even stranger is that our people tried to contact that member in the real world afterward, but we couldn't reach him. We couldn't even find him."
After hearing this, Sunday's brow furrowed. He immediately questioned the man, "What about the surveillance?"
"The surveillance footage is completely normal."
"Normal?"
Sunday was surprised. How could the surveillance be completely normal under these circumstances, without capturing a single clue?
The Hound Family member saw Sunday fall into deep thought and couldn't help but remind him quietly, "My lord, the incident isn't over. May I continue?"
This made Sunday's frown deepen. He nodded his head. "Continue."
"Yes. After that, every five to thirty minutes, another pillar of light descends somewhere in the dream world and selects a new victim. As of now, five people have been killed. Like the first Hound Family member, their real bodies cannot be found. It's as if they've vanished into thin air. Now, people all over the dream world are saying that the pillar of light is a curse, that anyone chosen by it will die for sure. What should we do, Lord Sunday?"
"What about the woman who calls herself a Masked Fool? Any leads on her?"
"Just one. Every time she appears to kill someone, she always leaves a message at the scene: 'In the name of the God of Elation, I bestow upon the lucky children of this dream world an impossible experience.' Lord Sunday, the impossible experience she's talking about... it couldn't be... death, could it?"
The Hound Family member, who had been calmed by Sunday's Harmony's Chord, began to tremble with fear again. The dream world, which they had always believed to be absolutely safe, had now seen six consecutive deaths!
"Calm down. Don't believe the words of a Masked Fool. It's just a smokescreen. Continue searching for the victims' whereabouts. Also, have the news suppressed."
"Yes, Lord Sunday."
The Hound Family member took his leave, immediately heading out to relay Sunday's orders.
Alone in his office, Sunday leaned back in his chair, contemplating the day's events. Before that Nameless, Mr. Fu Zhu, had "died" in the dream world, such a thing as death had never occurred.
Moreover, the fact that Mr. Fu Zhu had entered the dream world with his physical body was also highly peculiar. Could it be that the Masked Fool had conducted some experiment on Mr. Fu Zhu, allowing him to enter with his physical body, and after confirming the success of the experiment, used the same method on those "victims"?
But, as of now, Sunday still couldn't find any connection between the victims. If the killings were random, then the trouble would be immense.
This would not only affect Penacony's reputation but would also impact his personal plans.
"Sigh, it's just one damn thing after another..."