Chapter 685

No matter what you intend, the Holy Grail War will only ever produce one victor. Your actions in this farce have already turned every Servant against you. Now we stand before you, clever merchant.

A vivid red lance suddenly materialized in Lancer's grip: "All I want is to keep doing what I failed to do a few hours ago—I'm tired of fish heads; this unfulfilled, resentful, undying head is what I consider a first‑rate trophy!"

Similarly "Saber" appears later. Might skip.

Lancer, you consider this old man's head full of nasty thoughts a prize—your standards are really too low.

Listening to everyone chatter about their own deathly looks, Lao Aodi also let out a hearty laugh: "Hohoho! Looks like you're all eager to arrange my afterlife. But since this game can only have one winner, even if I lose, how will you decide the victor?"

"So let's talk about cooperation? Whoever can eliminate the others, I'll yield my qualification to make a wish to the Holy Grail to them."

——

Absolute Zone Zero

"Don't believe you, you ghost! You old bastard, you're really evil!"

In the tea house private room of Clear Radiance Plaza, Ju Fu Fu gulped down the char siu bun in her mouth while excitedly waving her chopsticks, "These copper-smelling guys are the worst! I can even hear his abacus!"

"All right, Ju Fu Fu, don't get so excited while eating, watch out for choking." Yi Xuan held her tea, gently blew on it, her gaze sweeping over the siblings opposite the low table, "Ling, Zhe, would you like anything else? I'll have Hong Dou bring it up."

Ling patted her round, full belly: "No, no, Master, I can't eat anymore..."

You guys should learn from Ju Fu Fu; every time Ju Fu Fu sees a bad person in the sky, she can't help but eat a few more bowls.

"Master, I'm not that greedy..." Ju Fu Fu muttered dissatisfiedly, her two fluffy ears instantly wilted like banana leaves beaten by rain.

"Actually, I don't think Lao Aodi is necessarily a bad person? If he were truly through-and-through bad, he wouldn't have simply given the Radiant Long Stone to the train team." Ling said lightly, "But he is indeed a profit-driven person; perhaps what he cares about isn't money itself, but the influence money brings. Now, he wants to use that influence as bait to stage——"

"Using the tiger to swallow the wolf." Yi Xuan slowly opened his eyes, took Ling's words and said, "Not bad, Ling, you really see things clearly."

"But Master, they won't really believe Lao Aodi's nonsense, will they?"

"How could it not be?" Looking at Ju Fu Fu's cute appearance as she leaned her little head over, Yi Xuan struggled to suppress the urge to put his hand on her head and pet it, smiling faintly: "Even Ju Fu Fu can see through this scheme at a glance; how could Archer and Shajin not see it?"

"Mmm, Master, are you praising me?... No, Master, you're underestimating me!"

——

"We could even sign a contract, using precisely defined, clean language to make a wish, letting the Holy Grail fulfill everyone's wish—Masters and Servants, isn't that the very moment you've been fighting for?"

"Shhh, you can't reconcile." Xing took the lead in opposing.

"A Holy Grail that demands the corruption of everyone's wishes as its price is nothing but a fake that deserves to be shattered. Am I right, Master?"

Bo Ti Ou nodded: "We should first make a big fuss, then smash this fake to pieces!"

"It's rare that we agree; I quite like this plan." Archer turned his head, "What do you say, Mr. Shajin? Occasionally being a justice partner isn't bad either."

Shajin shrugged: "I've already been made a target of everyone's wrath today… this time, I'll leave the opportunity to Mr. Lao Aodi."

"Master, it seems I can't win the Holy Grail for you." Saber slightly turned her face, "Thanks to Miss Note's dream, I can see more clearly… What matters is the process we've walked so far in order to save something, to pursue something. I don't need the Holy Grail; my unfulfilled wish will also end here."

Xing nodded: "I believe in your choice."

"Hohoho… If you all insist on pointing your spears at me, then I'll have no choice but to reluctantly serve as the final test of this event. When entering the Holy Grail War, Masters should summon a historical figure as a Servant… that's the rule. But who should I summon? This question has troubled me for a long time…"

"Is it the fallen director I sponsored? Or the legendary star whose name I bought? No, no, none of them are qualified enough…"

"A thought flashed through my mind… Why don't I summon myself? A legendary figure who has endured ten amber ages of struggle and still stands firm—isn't that right in the mirror?"

——

Attack on Titan

"What a joke…… Summon oneself? Can you even do that?"

In the Survey Corps commander's office, Levi frowned, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the Holy Grail and Lao Aodi's aged face: "This should be against the rules in the Holy Grail War, right? Who can summon themselves? Could the one sitting here be Lao Aodi's heroic spirit rather than himself?"

"No, he hasn't broken the rules; he's just making reasonable use of the Holy Grail War's summoning rules. As long as the Holy Grail doesn't forbid it, it's allowed."

Erwin's face showed no change; he placed his palm on the desk, his knuckles slowly tapping the desktop, making a "tap-tap" sound: "Besides, no matter who he summons—himself, Mikhail, or anything else—it doesn't matter. What matters is the Noble Phantasm, the power; at least the himself he summons doesn't look as formidable as Lancer or Saber at first glance, right?"

Levi, on the other hand, agreed: "Indeed, this old man doesn't look like he's skilled in close combat."

"So, the key still lies in his Noble Phantasm." Erwin's body leaned forward slightly, candlelight flickering in his ice-blue eyes: "According to them, the formation of a Noble Phantasm is related to that person's history. The two local heroic spirits from Pinokangni that have appeared both possess barrier-like abilities; Lao Aodi probably has one as well."

——

"So, using myself as a medium… I want to see how the commercial magnate Otto projected onto Pinokangni's history would respond to my summoning as a Servant—how, in history, have people actually viewed me?"

"So, do you have an answer now?" Xing asked.

"Pfft… hehehe, hahahaha——"

Lao Aodi seemed to have thought of something amusing, and suddenly burst into loud laughter.

"The answer hurts. In their eyes, I am nothing but a maggot, perched atop the oak of Pinokangni—frantically gnawing for money!"