Night fell. Lin Yide stood on the rooftop of the West Factory office building, his gaze cutting through the sparse lights and falling upon the distant, bustling, brightly lit street. The scene before him made him feel as if he had traveled through time, returning to his distant past life. Back then, he also often stood in the shadows, watching the prosperity in the distance that had nothing to do with him.
Just then, the familiar system voice echoed in his mind again: "Congratulations, Host, for completing the Experience Event - Fudé Port Phase 2 Construction Complete. You have gained 6400 Experience Points."
Now, his Experience Points totaled [Number] points. He was only 1500 points away from activating C3 and C4. He began thinking about how to quickly obtain these last 1500 points. Wait for Dottore's segments to be delivered? As soon as this thought emerged, he resolutely dismissed it. The reason was simple: this method would take at least another month. He might be able to wait patiently, but the people of Inazuma City could not wait any longer. According to the latest intelligence, the Shogunate's excessive taxation and cruel plunder had already led to famine spreading within Inazuma City. If the delay continued, countless people in Inazuma would perish due to this man-made disaster.
Just as Lin Yide was immersed in thought, faint footsteps suddenly came from behind. He quickly turned around, a hint of surprise flashing across his face—the person who appeared before him was Chiori, whom he had met less frequently recently. Ever since Furina's visit, Chiori seemed to have consciously maintained a certain distance, reducing their interactions significantly. Lin Yide was well aware of this. He greatly appreciated Chiori's feelings, but his heart was already entirely occupied by a certain fool.
" Director Yide, I heard you were attacked again today?" Chiori's voice carried a hint of unconcealed concern. Lin Yide smiled, responding in a relaxed tone, "Still the same old opponent. So many assassination attempts, yet absolutely no progress."
"I'm a bit confused. You are perfectly capable of putting pressure on Snezhnaya to force them to stop the assassination attempts," Chiori asked, her brows furrowed in bewilderment. Lin Yide gently waved his hand, saying indifferently, "Actually, there's no need to do that." Seeing this, Chiori did not delve further into the topic, but instead changed the subject, asking, "Then when do you plan to attack Inazuma City?"
"A month at the most," Lin Yide gave a clear answer. After hearing this, Chiori fell into thought and said nothing more. For a moment, the air seemed to solidify. A subtle silence fell between the two.
After a long while, Chiori broke the silence, her voice slightly hesitant: "Yide, can I ask you a question?" Against the backdrop of the moonlight, her face appeared even more pure and ethereal.
Lin Yide gazed at Chiori, a complex emotion welling up in his heart. He sighed softly. "You already have the answer to this question in your heart, so why ask it?"
Chiori clasped her hands tightly, trying to control her expression so as not to let the sadness in her heart show. She looked directly at Lin Yide with stubborn eyes, her voice revealing determination and persistence: "Because, even if there is only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I am willing to try."
"I'm sorry." After saying this, Lin Yide turned around, thereby indicating his stance. When it comes to matters of the heart, if one is indecisive, it will only end up hurting more people. Love is love, and not loving is not loving.
Chiori took a deep breath and said calmly, "After the Inazuma matter is concluded, I will return to Fontaine and reopen my Chioriya Boutique." Before she finished speaking, she resolutely turned and walked straight away.
...
The next morning, Lin Yide boarded a passenger ship and sailed towards Seirai Island to the east. His target was the Thunder Manifestation, which is the lingering resentment of the Thunderbird. Even a hundred li away from Seirai Island, Lin Yide could already see the violent lightning occasionally striking down from the sky.
Seirai Island, many years ago, was a beautiful island suitable for human habitation. Now it has become like a doomsday hell, and all of this is "thanks" to two women: Raiden Ei and Asase Hibiki. Hundreds of years ago, the ancient beast, the Thunderbird, left Tsurumi Island, which had saddened it after losing its friend. While passing by Seirai Island, it was shot and killed by an arrow from Raiden Ei. The Thunderbird's resentment after death transformed into the Thunder Manifestation, plunging the entire Seirai Island into continuous thunderstorms, and the land became barren as a result.
Later, the Grand Narukami Shrine established warding stones here, successfully calming the raging thunderstorms. However, despite the cessation of the thunderstorms, Seirai Island's land remained barren, unable to recover its former fertility.
Many desperate residents of Seirai Island were forced to embark on their Age of Exploration, becoming pirates and plundering passing ships around Inazuma. Soon after, the Inazuma Shogunate began launching campaigns against these pirates. During a fierce campaign, Asase Hibiki, the former shrine maiden of the Grand Narukami Shrine, in order to protect the pirate Hyakume, who closely resembled her former lover, resolutely removed the island's warding stone. This action resulted in catastrophic consequences. Countless Shogunate soldiers and Seirai Island residents perished in that sudden lightning disaster, and the entire Seirai Island thus became unsuitable for human habitation.
Lin Yide truly wanted to investigate what kind of logic these two had, to do something like this?
The passenger ship sailed for another half day on the sea, reaching its destination. After disembarking from the ship, Lin Yide headed straight for Asase Shrine. The scene before him was the same as in his memory; only the black cat Neko was lonely guarding the nearly abandoned shrine. When Neko saw Lin Yide arrive, it pleaded, "Human, can you help me clean up the shrine? If Hibiki comes back and sees the shrine so dilapidated, she will be sad."
Lin Yide wasn't a cat slave; he was too lazy to clean for it. "I need to go fix Seirai Island's warding stones and deal with the Thunder Manifestation there. Tell me how."
"If you clean this place up, I'll tell you," Neko said.
Lin Yide unceremoniously kicked the shrine's counter, smashing it. "Don't force me to tear down this shrine of yours. Don't you realize what kind of absurd thing Asase Hibiki did?" Neko was startled by Lin Yide's action, then showed a despondent expression. "I'm sorry! This servant will tell you the method for fixing the warding stones right now."
Under Neko's guidance, he quickly ascended to the highest point of Seirai Island.