The atmosphere was becoming tense. Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita's tone, which suggested she would not allow anyone to block her path, successfully antagonized all the Phantom Thieves except Taichi.
As for Taichi, his Phantom Thief identity was just a mask, a cover to hide his identity as Ultraman X's pilot. He didn't really care about this "job" since it was a volunteer position. Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita's ambition to become a god had nothing to do with him. After all, she just wanted to protect her sister, not destroy the world. The brain trust meeting between him and X confirmed this; X didn't say anything, while Mordred just made comments about Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita's ambition. X's silence was a clear sign that Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita's ambition was not within his scope of duty. The only way it would be is if her obsession went out of control and she went from wanting to protect her sister to wanting to destroy all of humanity except her.
"I think we can cooperate." Just as Ryuji was about to say something to start the fight, Taichi spoke up first.
"Cooperate?" Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita was stunned for a moment, then looked at Taichi with a bewildered expression.
"Knight! What are you talking about!" Ryuji stared at Taichi in shock. "Are you betraying us?!"
"Skull, calm down!" Ann put a hand on Ryuji's shoulder and glared at him, then turned to Taichi. "Knight, tell us what you're thinking."
"Yes, I'd like to hear it too," Ren said, putting a hand on Ryuji's other shoulder.
"It's simple," Taichi said, looking at everyone. "Our goal is to change Kamoshida's heart by stealing his treasure from his Treasure Room. Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita wants to devour his Palace and take a step towards becoming a 'King of a Prison.' There's no conflict of interest between us. On the contrary, our target is the same: Shadow Kamoshida. So why can't we cooperate?" Taichi asked.
"But she's also a Palace ruler!" Ryuji retorted.
"So?" Taichi asked, blinking. "Her goal is to gain power to protect her sister from the increasingly dangerous real world, and she plans to climb the ladder to godhood step by step. What's wrong with such an inspirational and loving wish?"
"Oh, if there's a twisted part to it, it's that she never asked her sister if she needed her protection... But that's what an older sister is. Is there anything wrong with an older sister believing it's her duty to protect her younger sister?"
"I agree!" Yui Yuigahama, a complete outsider, raised her hand enthusiastically. "I think what this Knight guy said makes perfect sense!"
"You don't have a conflict of interest. On the contrary, your goals are the same. Why can't you cooperate?"
"That makes a lot of sense, but what happens to Shadow Kamoshida after he loses his Palace?" Ren asked Morgana, lowering his head.
"I don't know," Morgana said, shrugging. "Kamoshida's Palace is the first one I've ever dealt with. I have no experience."
"If you succeed in acquiring Kamoshida's Palace, will you have the authority to expel Shadow Kamoshida from the Palace and send him back to the Metaverse as a regular Shadow?" Taichi asked Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita.
"...If you hand over Kamoshida's 'Treasure' to me, the authority will be entirely mine. I'll naturally have that power," although she was a Shadow, Haruno Yukinoshita was Haruno Yukinoshita. In an instant, she reached a decision that was "all good and no bad" for her. She even reflected on herself. Why didn't she think of this idea in the first place? Looking at her sister, Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita knew the reason for her slowness. The schemes and calculations of a socialite are not as important as her sister.
"Giving the stolen Treasure to another Palace ruler..." Morgana frowned. "I feel like this would make us Phantom Thieves a little unfocused."
"What if we treat it as a request?" Ren suggested. "If we consider 'stealing Kamoshida's Treasure' as a task entrusted to us by the Shadow Queen, wouldn't that work?"
"Hmm, I feel like I've lost the motivation I had when we first decided to go after Kamoshida's Palace," Ryuji muttered, a little unhappy.
"No, it's not a request. It's mutual aid," Taichi suddenly interrupted Ryuji's self-psyching. "We need Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita's forces to find the Treasure Room. After all, she has more Shadows under her command than we do, and they can search all day long. Otherwise, it would take us days to find Kamoshida's Treasure Room since we can only spare a little time each day."
"All we need to do is steal the Treasure from the Treasure Room and give it to Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita."
"This repays her for helping us find the Treasure Room and accomplishes our original goal. It's a win-win situation!"
Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama stared at Taichi, stunned. Ann wasn't moved, but she was excited about the chance to change Kamoshida's heart sooner and get her revenge. Ryuji frowned, pondering Taichi's words.
"Damn it, the more I think about it, the more I feel like what Knight said makes a lot of sense. And I'm getting this strange urge to thank Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita?" Ryuji, feeling his brain starting to work for the first time in a while, immediately stopped thinking and held his head.
"No, he's right," Morgana said, looking up at Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita. He then nodded in agreement. "It completely makes up for our lack of manpower and combat power."
"And the Treasure... after all, stealing the Treasure is just a means to change a heart. The Treasure itself doesn't give us any benefits."
But he could sell it for money. Taichi suppressed the urge to say this materialistic thought aloud, just nodding vigorously instead.
"But we have no basis of trust between us," Ren said, still calm. He looked at Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita with a composed expression. "The Shadow Queen must have the same thought."
"Yes, you're right," Shadow Haruno Yukinoshita said with a nod. "If it were just Yuki-chan and the boy who came up with this idea, there would be no need to worry. But you're here too... especially that boy who acts impulsively, doesn't use his brain, and might become suspicious of me and ruin a good situation. I don't have high expectations for your trustworthiness."
Ryuji, who had just been dissed, blinked in confusion. He felt like he had just been roasted.