Chapter 654: Just Really Unlucky

It seems Li Ang really falls for this act—just act a little vulnerable, and he'll give you extra "privileges"~

Seeing the atmosphere was now perfect, and after investing so many rounds with little return, the Princess finally set aside her worries about the anomaly, feigning nervousness as she asked in a faint, helpless voice:

"Li Ang, are you sure nothing will happen?"

"Relax."

Tapping twice on the mirror in the private booth, Li Ang summoned out the black goat he'd hastily shoved inside, then instructed it to locate the anomaly's holder while keeping his eyes fixed on the puppet troupe onstage, soothingly reassuring her without turning:

"I just had a friend check—the audience's souls are all normal, no signs of control or possession. Simply watching the play should be safe."

"Besides, since the news broke, the Morning Star Troupe has performed over a dozen shows—if anything were going to go wrong, it would've happened by now, not wait until…"

"Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap…"

Before Li Ang could finish, a strange sound came from the stage—dozens of wooden beads, each the size of a tear, spilled uncontrollably from the female puppet's face, clattering onto the floor.

From every audience member's perspective, the female lead—who should've been smiling and accepting Elijah's invitation to begin their beautiful twelve days—suddenly began weeping unnaturally.

On Agatha's beautiful face, though a playful, radiant smile still shone, large, desperate, agonizing tears streamed uncontrollably from her bright eyes…

"…"

So… you mean nothing happens until I show up?

Watching the puppets onstage suddenly freeze and begin trembling, Li Ang truly lost his composure; below, audience members who noticed the anomaly erupted in murmurs over the female lead's sudden tears.

"Why's she crying? Did something happen to the actress's family?"

"Oh come on, we came all this way to see a play, and now it's ruined."

"Is this the level of the Morning Star Troupe's lead? Tsk tsk tsk—since Andre was blacklisted, their plays aren't worth watching anymore."

"Bastard, I traveled all this way just for this… Is this fair to us? ***! Refund my money!"

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please listen to me!"

Amid the audience's mix of curiosity, regret, and anger, the Central Cross Theatre's manager rushed out from backstage, shoved past blocking actors, and reached the microphone, bowing repeatedly with sweat-drenched cheeks:

"The actress playing Agatha has had a family emergency, so her emotions may be unstable, spoiling your experience—we sincerely apologize."

"Rest assured, our theater takes full responsibility. After the show, ticket fees will be fully refunded, and guests traveling far will receive a small gift… Quickly! Come out and apologize to everyone!"

Hearing the manager's words, the audience's anger slightly subsided.

Yet despite the manager's repeated signals, the actress playing Agatha showed no reaction whatsoever—she remained frozen in place, still weeping large tears, smiling serenely at the audience below.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She messed up and still dares to smile? Is this the quality of Morning Star actors?"

"Not just Morning Star—Master Wilde hasn't produced any sincere new works in recent years."

"True… Master Wilde's new works these past two years have been meaningless. Even the slightly better ones—given these actors—wouldn't be performed well."

"…"

"This… sorry, she's probably overwhelmed by guilt, so she's just… temporarily stunned…"

After awkwardly defending the actress, seeing the audience's renewed dissatisfaction, the portly troupe manager wiped sweat with a handkerchief and forced a pleading smile:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the stage needs resetting, and the actors need to prepare again. So… while they're preparing, could we invite Master Wilde out to speak with you for a moment?"…

The anomaly's holder must be him.

Watching the middle-aged man brought onstage to interact with the audience, Li Ang glanced at the glass of the couple's booth—and indeed, the black goat confirmed it.

So the anomaly's holder is confirmed: Master Wilde, the dramatist, with abilities related to puppets, theater, and manipulation, and no prior records of harming anyone…

Having gathered sufficient intelligence, Li Ang didn't linger—he opened the couple's booth door and pulled the Princess swiftly toward the exit corridor.

Though things seemed safe for now, given the completely unknown anomaly, it was wiser to get the Princess out first, then have her bring others to evacuate the audience as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, he himself should retreat to a distance—enough to monitor the scene but far enough to avoid immediate danger—and set up his sniper rifle, ready in case the master suddenly snapped…

"Nonsense! It's not my script that's flawed!"

Just as Li Ang and the Princess were about to enter the exit corridor, Master Wilde onstage, seemingly enraged by some audience remarks, roared down:

"It's the actors who are incompetent! My scripts are the best! But with their skill, they can't even convey the essence! They can't portray the complex, profound emotions! If Andre were still here…"

"Doubtful?"

No sooner had Master Wilde finished roaring than a middle-aged man in the front row—evidently a drama critic—snorted coldly in reply:

"Theater, by nature, is an art of compromise—how you condense a story spanning days, years, even decades into two or three hours."

"So learning to balance structure and emotion, adjusting script difficulty according to the actors' skill level—that's precisely what a playwright should master."

"Forgive me, but if your plays collapse into nothing without outstanding actors, isn't it possible… that your old-fashioned content is itself worthless?"

"…"

Damn it.

Hearing the "friendly exchange" from the stage, even without the black goat nearby to observe Master Wilde's soul state, Li Ang knew—

Something big was coming.

True to form, after hearing the man's words, Master Wilde—who had seemed mentally stable moments before—was instantly "triggered." His bloodshot eyes bulged wide, teeth clenched, as he raised his hand toward the audience.

"Worthless? I'll show you just how stupid your evaluation was!!!"

At Master Wilde's roar, over three thousand audience members in the Central Cross Theatre—including Li Ang and the Princess, who had already entered the exit corridor—shuddered simultaneously.

Next, in the terrified expressions of the three thousand spectators, they lost control of their bodies; their skin and flesh rapidly lost human form, turning into wood.

And one by one, completely transparent threads descended silently from the azure sky above the harbor city, precisely fastening to every joint of these three thousand puppets…

"This should be about right."

After inhaling a deep breath of the fresh, salty sea breeze, Master Wilde gazed at the tranquil, beautiful harbor town and its three thousand "residents" living peacefully—his weary face finally broke into a satisfied smile, and his raised right hand finally came down with a heavy swing.

"The Twelve Days Together, Act One, Scene One—begin!"

(End of Chapter)