Whilst Author was... milking the previous scene for all it was worth,
Itvasme and Ly Ly had been debating how to deal with Lazarus. Should they risk taking the laidback ARSES agent on, or should they instead focus on capturing Sally?
Ordinarily, they would have preferred a wait and see approach - hoping that Itvashim and Hugo would succeed in obtaining the Blueprints from Jemima and possibly Fergus too, but time was also a factor - Sally would likely leave the Secret Island complex once she had completed getting all the essential components to successfully launch the Ex Vitro Pregnancy EVP program.
As a result, they figured that the right play was to send some forces out with the aim to at least delay Sally, even if they couldn't capture her - so that they could gain more time to steal the rest of the EVP Blueprints from the other bunch of ARSES…
___
Meanwhile, Empress Bing, Bob and Old Man Li were also strategizing.
First off, taking an overarching view of the scene in front of us…
The Anti-Rizz Realm was able to separate professional from personal business, and at the end of the day - thanks to Bob's skilled Rizz, and also Empress Bing's willingness to see the big picture - the two parties had temporarily set aside their differences to collaborate, owing to the urgent nature of the current situation.
Simply put, the dangers of allowing the EVP technology to fall into the Dark Rizzard's grasp were great, and in the event the ARSES were... soundly spanked, then they would need someone to 'wipe' and clean up after them - particularly if things went to sh*t…
This was where Bob's Rizzmaster assistance would come in!
Of course though, as we knew from Bob's earlier business deals… it wouldn't be for free!
That said, Bob knew that in this instance, it wasn't actually about the money.
Particularly as thanks to his alter-egos, as well as the success of the Become-A-Hero company, he was actually reasonably well off financially, having come a long way since his days of getting canteen money, and even from when the football captain Jake had been signed up for his special membership!
Bob tapped into his Level 134 [Expanded Awareness] and activated his Level 143 [Flawless Perception, Flawless Judgement] ability, backed by his Level 367 [Systems Understanding and Creation], in order to figure out the best course of action.
First of all, the ARSES had been made to appreciate the Power of Rizz way back in Chapter 20.
His alter ego Valentine and the Future of Humanity Project also had a vested interest in making sure that Sally's EVP Technology was kept safe.
As a result, Bob knew that this was a great opportunity - not for monetary gain, but to build a better relationship with the Anti-Rizz Realm!
At the same time, he knew from Old Man Li's earlier explanation in Chapter 46 that the Dark Rizzards were the natural opponents of the Rizzmasters and so needed to be dealt with, in one way or another...
___
At the same time…
Bob, although he was pretty good, wasn't fully OP, and didn't know that in fact, Empress Bing was also hitting several birds with one stone.
Indeed. Sally (and most recently, Rowena) had told Empress Bing some extremely interesting information about a certain… "Bob".
As a result, Her purpose was not only to support Sally and the ARSES, but also to utilize her divine Anti-Rizz gift, [Women's Intuition] in order to figure out whether or not a certain… "Bob" that she had heard so much about… was someone to be trusted!
___
The plans within plans didn't end there though.
-Old Man Li had originally come along to enjoy the Secret Island holiday life, and at the same time, to get some more intel on the Dark Rizzards - particularly Itvasme Diogenes, one of the Rizzmasters' most wanted.
His deep, profound knowledge of rice wine and hotpot, like a bottomless well, (and drain on resources), handed down from generation to generation, had come in handy, helping warm up Clive's cold heart - although not in that degenerate way, come on! (although... for the right number of power stones...🫢)
At the same time, Bob had read the stories and knew the Classics. Old Man Li mustn't be allowed to get anywhere near an actual enemy, or indeed, anything with actual stakes other than BBQ skewers, otherwise he would run the risk of getting hit at the crucial moment by a devious, low, underhanded Dark Rizzard tactic in the climax of the battle, whereupon he would stagger back with a look of shock, looking at the blood seeping his (bath)robes in disbelief, even as Bob had figured it out and had cried out a warning, but was still oh! just a little too late to stop it, and then as Bob caught him, even as he dealt with the devious Dark Rizzard that had done the despicable deed, Old Man Li would mutter some last words like "live well and be a good guy, worthy of a true Rizzmaster!" and breathe his last, in the pouring rain, before a closeup of Old Man Li's face showed his eyes gradually lose their 'inner light' and then in slow-motion his head would slump lifelessly to the side creating an insane plot progression device!!!
According to Bob's calculations, there was also a 67% chance that Old Man Li's own son, Zhang Lu, would be in some way responsible for his Old Man's death, and there would be shock, gravitas, edge of the seat stuff as the plot suddenly took a turn into immortal masterpiece territory, with countless mixed reviews, some hailing the chapter as a masterpiece and the turning point of the whole Webnovel, where it allegedly went from 'good to great to timeless classic', whereas others would ragequit due to such a wonderful character getting killed off for no reason other than for entertainment purposes…
Bob knew that this couldn't be allowed to happen.
Plans within plans…
___
And yet.
At the same time, Clive…
…
...
Well, he was just enjoying his hotpot…!