"Benefactor, come!"
"Allow me to offer you another toast!"
Throughout the banquet, Tingyun never stopped raising her wine cup.
Her intentions couldn't have been more obvious.
She was determined to drink Su Ran under the table.
Everyone at the table could tell.
Yet no one objected.
After all, it was obvious Tingyun still had plenty of pent-up frustration to vent.
Since Su Ran was the sole target, and no one else was being dragged into it, everyone wisely stayed out of the matter.
Meanwhile, Stelle was busy stuffing herself.
Whatever else could be said, the cuisine of the Xianzhou was absolutely delicious.
It had completely conquered her stomach.
Her chopsticks simply never stopped moving.
"Slow down."
"No one's going to steal your food."
Watching Stelle eat like that, March 7th couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
They were traveling together.
Seeing her companion behaving like this, March felt secondhand embarrassment even though nobody else seemed to mind.
Fortunately, everyone's attention remained focused on Tingyun and Su Ran.
"...You're really not angry?"
Su Ran emptied another cup of wine.
Alcohol no longer had any effect on him.
He had long since ceased to be an ordinary person.
"Does Benefactor truly think..."
"...that Tingyun is such a petty woman?"
As she spoke, she once again put on a pitiful, tearful expression, one that would have made anyone feel sorry for her.
Unfortunately, no one present bought it.
Stelle and March 7th still associated Tingyun with the Lord Ravager Phantylia.
As for Yukong, she knew Tingyun far too well.
She understood that the girl was simply plotting her revenge.
Fu Xuan cared even less.
Her divination had already revealed Tingyun's intentions.
Only Su Ran remained beyond the scope of her calculations, preventing her from foreseeing the final outcome.
Still, she had confidence in Tingyun.
She knew the Foxian's character.
No matter how mischievous she became, she would never cross the line to the point of making an Emanator of Nous develop hostility toward the Xianzhou.
So...
Fu Xuan simply let her continue.
Things would never truly spiral out of control.
Before that, however, there was something else she wanted to ask.
"Mr. Su Ran."
"I've already encountered the opportunity you mentioned before."
"I'm simply wondering..."
"When will I encounter another such opportunity?"
"Or perhaps..."
"When will I truly become the General?"
Knowing what Tingyun was planning didn't mean Fu Xuan intended to yield the conversation to her.
The moment Fu Xuan spoke, Tingyun could only pause her efforts.
After all, she was merely a humble Sky-Faring Commission envoy.
One of the Six Charioteers stood far above someone of her rank.
Even if Fu Xuan wasn't her direct superior, she certainly wasn't someone Tingyun could offend.
"...That."
"That's difficult to say."
As things currently stood, Fu Xuan was already the designated successor to become the Luofu's next General.
Her greatest weakness was simply that she was still somewhat immature.
If Su Ran had to summarize it...her temperament hadn't fully matured.
Despite being much older than him, Fu Xuan still seemed rather childlike in his eyes.
"...Difficult to say?"
"You mean..."
"General Jing Yuan doesn't intend to pass the position to me?"
March 7th suddenly stopped eating.
...Should outsiders really be listening to this conversation?
"Of course not."
"It's simply that Lady Fu is still too inexperienced."
"You don't yet possess enough strength to withstand the pressures facing the Luofu."
If anyone else had said such a thing, Fu Xuan would undoubtedly have become furious
and argued at length.
But Su Ran was different.
He was the man who had captured a Lord Ravager, benefited the Xianzhou, and demonstrated foresight even greater than her own.
She trusted his judgment.
As for the "pressures" Su Ran referred to...
Fu Xuan understood them perfectly well.
They were burdens
that even the Marshal found troublesome.
"...Then what would you do in my place?"
Yukong looked at Fu Xuan in surprise.
That question was unlike the Fu Xuan she usually knew.
"I'd make those people suffer multiple stab wounds..."
"...and then rule their deaths as suicide."
Su Ran's methods had always been straightforward.
He disliked Jing Yuan's balancing act.
It was too slow.
Of course, Jing Yuan only acted that way because he had the confidence to pull it off.
When it came to strategy, Su Ran didn't believe he could actually surpass Jing Yuan.
"But..."
"How would you silence public opinion?"
"How many people across the universe do you think would openly question the judgment of a Genius?"
That...
was the importance of status.
Everyone throughout the cosmos knew how terrifying the capabilities of a Genius were.
People might criticize them behind closed doors.
But publicly, few dared oppose a Genius's decisions.
Naturally, notorious criminals were exceptions.
Someone like Dr. Primitive, for instance.
"Even if I killed every single person who opposed me..."
"...once the news spread, most people would simply assume those people were at fault."
"That's the importance of reputation."
That was why, back in Belobog, he had crushed all opposition through overwhelming force.
Likewise, when he first arrived in Inazuma, he had directly defeated the Raiden Shogun.
Did no one witness that?
Of course they did.
But who in Inazuma still talked about it now?
Everyone behaved as though it had never happened.
Reality had proven that sometimes a fist worked better than a brain.
As for silencing public opinion...
Questioning a Genius's decisions?
At the very least, one ought to become a Genius first.
Otherwise, why would anyone choose to believe you over someone whose wisdom had been acknowledged by Nous?
Fu Xuan could only sigh inwardly.
She simply couldn't imitate that.
She truly couldn't.
Becoming a Genius wasn't something one achieved through effort alone.
Across the entire universe, only eighty-five people had ever joined the Genius Society.
Seeing that Fu Xuan had no further questions, Tingyun once again began pouring wine for Su Ran.
"Tingyun."
"There's something I should tell you."
"I'm physiologically immune to the effects of alcohol now."
"I can't get drunk."
He felt it was only fair to inform her.
If her entire plan was simply to intoxicate him, there really wasn't much point.
Yet, even after hearing that, Tingyun didn't stop pouring.
"As the Xianzhou has an old saying..."
"'A wise man submits to circumstances?'" Su Ran finished with a grin.
Tingyun shot him an annoyed glare.
"No."
"It's wine doesn't intoxicate people—people intoxicate themselves."
A wise man submits to circumstances?
That made it sound as though she were some terrifying villain.
If Benefactor truly knew how to read the situation...
then he should hurry up and get drunk on his own!
—------------------------------
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