Sparkle came closer, still intending to impersonate Cipher.
"Good evening~" She took Derick's hand, trying to lean her head on his shoulder in an intimate gesture.
And then—
"Ouch! Stop grabbing my thigh, you'll bruise it again."
Looking at Derick's hand on her thigh, Sparkle couldn't help but cry out in pain. This wasn't the dreamscape, but the real world, making it much harder for Sparkle to recover.
Derick silently removed his hand from Sparkle's leg and said irritably, "You deserved it. Who told you to go around impersonating other people for no reason?"
Hearing this, Sparkle puffed out her chest and retorted indignantly, "Who did I impersonate? I'm the real one. I haven't even confronted you guys for impersonating me, and here you are, accusing me!"
"Do I really need to spell out what you were trying to do with that pose just now?" Derick replied, not holding back at all.
Sparkle rubbed her thigh while pressing her knee against Derick's, continuing, "So what! I'm here to demand justice. I was only in the Great Crater for a few days, and when I get back, everyone's saying I'm involved with you. Don't you think I have a right to demand an explanation?"
"And what about you plotting against me in the Great Crater? Shouldn't I be demanding an explanation from you for that?" Derick said, placing his hand firmly on Sparkle's shoulder.
"And by the way, if you dare argue any further, I'll snap your shoulder."
Feeling the force on her shoulder, Sparkle repeatedly patted the back of Derick's hand, begging for mercy. "Hey, hey, hey, it hurts! I get it, I get it, I won't argue with you anymore. If you told me to warm your bed tonight, I'd nod and agree."
"I have no such interest," Derick said, releasing his grip, retorting speechlessly.
However, his tone lacked conviction. Setting aside the situation with Yunli, just thinking about Sparkle alone... Derick had been with Cipher when she was in Sparkle's form. He found Sparkle's body type quite stimulating.
"Oh? Really?" Sparkle shot back at Derick, her eyes filled with provocation.
Smack!
Derick landed a slap on Sparkle's bottom.
"Cut the crap. If you have something to say, say it."
"Alright, alright, why so rough?" Sparkle said, rubbing her behind. Seeing Derick raise his hand again, she quickly added, "I'll talk, I'll talk! It's about capturing those pitch-black monsters. I want you to help me catch one."
"First of all, I don't know where to find them. Secondly, even if I could, you don't have any bargaining chips left to trade with me. You said you knew the whereabouts of those Garden of Recollection Memokeepers, but they've all been dealt with now. You have nothing left to offer," Derick told Sparkle.
Hearing this, Sparkle covered her bottom and stood on her tiptoes. "Who says I don't have any chips? I've figured it out. You're the one who released those pitch-black monsters, aren't you? You're their master..."
"Mr. Derick, you wouldn't want anyone else to find out about this, would you?"
Have to admit, coming from someone from Edo Star, that line sounded truly authentic.
Derick was a bit surprised to hear this. He hadn't expected Sparkle to have discovered the connection between him and the pitch-black monsters. He blamed himself for being a little too reckless when controlling his Fifth Clone, exposing too much.
However, Derick wasn't too worried about it. Different levels of strength meant different abilities to solve problems. Some things would have been a big deal for him before, but now that he was an Emanator, they seemed far less important.
So what if he was exposed? At worst, he'd have to act cute and grovel a bit to get Yukong and the others to forgive him for hiding it. As for anyone else, Derick really couldn't care less if they minded.
Seeing Derick's expression, Sparkle realized this too. She had been so focused on her calculations that she'd forgotten about Derick's rapid increase in power, which made her threat much less effective.
So, Sparkle immediately switched to a fawning expression. "Well, it would still be a hassle if it got out, right? You have a lot to do, and wasting time wouldn't be good."
"So what do you want?" Derick asked her.
"Give me one of the pitch-black monsters."
Hearing this, Derick turned and walked away.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't go, don't go." Sparkle quickly caught up to him. "If that's a no-go, then how about you let me tag along with you? There are some things I can help you with."
Derick stopped and looked at her, puzzled.
"What are you really after?"
"For Elation, of course!" Sparkle replied righteously. "You've set so much in motion, it's obvious you're planning something big enough to affect the entire universe. Under these circumstances, if I don't get involved, can I even call myself a Masked Fool?"
As she spoke, Sparkle grabbed Derick's arm and said in a pleading tone, "Brother Derick, please, please take me with you. Not only can I warm your bed, but I can also help you with lots of things."
"I don't need you to warm my bed," Derick refused flatly.
"I understand."
Hearing Derick's words, Sparkle wasn't disappointed. Instead, her eyes lit up. She understood the subtext: she could join him in his shenanigans.
And that was indeed what Derick meant. Having a Masked Fool around could be helpful for many things, and a great asset in dealing with the Amphoreus problem.
Besides, while Sparkle had caused a lot of trouble, she had also helped him before. She wasn't exactly an enemy. Derick could rough her up a bit, but he couldn't bring himself to actually kill her.
And Sparkle hadn't guessed the most crucial, fatal point. The source of his immortality. Derick guessed that the secret of his immortality was likely on the level of an Aeon. Under these circumstances, not even Sparkle, and probably not even Ruan Mei, could possibly figure it out.
As long as this most critical secret wasn't exposed, Derick didn't really care.
Looking at how happy Sparkle was, Derick couldn't help but remember the scene where Cipher, disguised as Sparkle, had... done that with him. The thought was truly thrilling.
Derick pointed to the side and said to Sparkle, "Alright, I'm leaving. I'll let you know when we're about to depart."
"Okay."
Having gotten a satisfactory result, Sparkle prepared to leave and treat her injuries. She limped away, looking rather pathetic.
Derick watched Sparkle leave.
"Speaking of which, I should have Cipher learn some Masked Fool tricks later. I'm sure she'd be interested in that," Derick thought to himself.
After Sparkle had completely disappeared, Derick turned and walked towards The Reverie Hotel lobby, planning to have a non-alcoholic drink before resting.
He had been drinking for a short while when, before he could finish, someone else came to stand beside him. Derick looked up and saw it was Acheron.
"Miss Acheron, did you need something? Would you like a drink as well?"
"Let's not rush. We can drink after we've taken care of business." Acheron said to Derick, a hint of expectation in her eyes.
"I was looking for you earlier today. Regarding your devouring ability, I want to know if it has grown stronger." Acheron asked.
If his devouring ability had grown stronger...
"It should have increased quite a bit." Derick sensed the devouring power within his body and answered Acheron's question.
"Then shall we test it, by devouring the Nihility within my body?"
"Alright."
Derick nodded.
The two then went to a deserted open area outside The Reverie Hotel. Acheron wasn't one for many words. Seeing that Derick was ready, she immediately channeled a portion of the "Nihility" from her body into him, maintaining control and not releasing too much.
Derick immediately began to devour it. Finally, after some time to digest it, Derick successfully dealt with that portion of Nihility.
Seeing him finish, Acheron walked up to him and asked, "How do you feel now?"
"I feel fine. What about you?" Derick asked in return.
Hearing his question, a smile appeared on Acheron's lips as she replied, "Some of the problem within my body has been resolved. I feel much lighter."
Acheron was telling the truth. Derick's current devouring ability could now halt the progression of Nihility's influence on her. Acheron was a Self-Annihilator; although she relied on her own power to mitigate it as much as possible, she was still unavoidably heading towards being consumed by "Nihility".
But now, Derick's devouring could keep pace with the speed of "Nihility's" influence. Even if her condition didn't improve, it wouldn't get any worse.
"If Derick improves further in the future, could he possibly reverse my condition?" Acheron thought to herself.
But for Derick to improve his strength any further now would be incredibly difficult.
On Derick's side, he also smiled upon hearing Acheron's words. With Acheron by his side, she could help him solve many problems, guaranteed to help him deal with at least one Emanator-level powerhouse. Take that Lears, for example. Derick felt that if he fought him now, there was a risk of them taking each other out.
But if it were Acheron, Lears would have only one ending: being diced to pieces. Acheron could bring him so much convenience, so naturally, Derick wanted to do something for her in return. He felt pretty good about being able to help her like this.
"Let's go, then. I'll buy you another drink when we get back."
"Okay."
Acheron readily agreed. After Derick's absorption, she could feel that her sense of taste had recovered quite a bit, and she wanted to savor the taste of the drink.
...
In a room in The Reverie Hotel, General Huaiyan was placing a call to Feixiao. Although Huaiyan had arrived in a hurry without an invitation, given his status, who in Penacony would dare to disrespect him?
The call connected quickly. Feixiao looked at Huaiyan's furious face with a puzzled expression.
Feixiao asked Huaiyan, "Old Huaiyan, what's the matter? Looking at you, has the Zhuming Xianzhou been attacked? If you need my help, I'll bring people to support you immediately."
"It's not about the Zhuming Xianzhou. It's about Yunli."
"Little Yunli's matter?" Feixiao's face showed confusion, unsure what Old Huaiyan meant.
Huaiyan squeezed a few words out through gritted teeth.
"Yunli is pregnant. With your student Derick's child."
"What!?" Feixiao stared at Huaiyan in shock, trying to see if he was joking. But looking at his expression, she knew he wasn't lying.
"How did that girl Yunli get ahead of schedule," Feixiao muttered under her breath.
"Hm!? What did you say!?"
"Nothing. I mean, Derick and Yukong have been together for a long time without any children, yet he has a child with your granddaughter after such a short time together. This proves that your granddaughter and my student are fated to be together, Old Huaiyan," Feixiao said quickly.
Although the news about Yunli was surprising, Feixiao thought about it and decided it was a good thing. As for Yunli and Derick's relationship... she herself had an ambiguous relationship with Derick, so what was the big deal with Yunli?
Other masters might worry about the negative impact of their student having a harem and try to stop it. But Feixiao and Derick's master-student relationship was anything but normal.
A harem, what's wrong with a harem!?
"Why are you master and student both the same, always taking advantage of others!" Huaiyan glared at Feixiao.
"Hehe..." Feixiao was about to play dumb, but then she reacted and asked Huaiyan nervously, "Wait, Old Huaiyan, you saw Derick? You didn't do anything to him, did you?"
A beating would be fine, just don't do anything too excessive.
Hearing this only made Huaiyan more frustrated.
"No. Not only did I not hit him, I even helped him..."
Feixiao asked, confused, "Helped him? Old Huaiyan, what are you talking about?"
"It's like this..."
Huaiyan recounted everything that had happened in Penacony to Feixiao. Hearing that her student had become an Emanator-level powerhouse, Feixiao's eyes lit up.
"Not bad. He's my student, after all," she said happily.
"Ahem..." Huaiyan coughed a few times, then said irritably to Feixiao, "So tell me now, what are you going to do about Yunli and Derick? And what about the others? What are your thoughts?"
"What to do? Just have him marry them all," Feixiao muttered under her breath.
Huaiyan glared at Feixiao.
Seeing Huaiyan's expression, Feixiao quickly said, "Don't worry, I will give you a proper explanation, Old Huaiyan. I promise that by the time Derick marries that girl Yunli, his status will have risen again. I guarantee he'll be worthy."
"Risen again?" Huaiyan looked at her in shock.
Derick's military rank on the Yaoqing Xianzhou was already extremely high. If he were to be promoted again, there was only one position left on the Yaoqing.
"That's right. General of the Yaoqing Xianzhou. How about it?" Feixiao said, looking at Huaiyan.
Derick's strength was already at the Emanator level. If the power of the Yaoqing General's authority was added to that, Feixiao was truly eager to see the heights he could reach. Could he fight on par with Marshal Hua, or the Lord Ravager Zephyro?
______
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