Chapter 64: Art Is Patrick Star

Night fell over Tokyo, and the neon lights along the streets lit up one by one in sequence; this city of wine and want pulsed with temptation.

Some stood in a luxurious room on the top floor of a skyscraper, looking down on the masses; others struggled to survive in narrow, damp alleys.

Prosperity often takes the ordinary as its dancing partner.

Inside Genji Weight, that colossal black beast.

On the terrace of "Awakening God Temple," tatami mats had been laid out, and on a long table several meters long lay a two-hundred-kilogram Pacific bluefin tuna.

The chef's skill was masterful; a gleaming kitchen knife slit open the fish's belly, the fatty flesh spreading to either side, the meat as tempting as pink marble.

Surrounding this main course were teriyaki pufferfish, charcoal-grilled shishamo smelt, and botan shrimp sashimi—these were all dishes meant to garnish the main course.

The head chef had also specially chosen sashimi of a blue lobster air-shipped from France; in an ice bucket nearby sat a flask of sake, the finest grade, with a mellow body and a long, lingering finish.

Tonight's head chef was a cook from the headquarters of the Snake Eight Families, said to be on a level even higher than a three-Michelin-star chef.

His disciples were spread across every famous restaurant in Tokyo.

The dish was called "Life Like a Summer Flower," its name drawn from the poetic sentiment of Tagore's Stray Birds, but in Yuan Zhisheng's eyes it was like lecturing the illiterate—some sort of literary salon nonsense.

These dishes, so full of thought and metaphor, if served at the table, would most likely earn nothing more from those three idiots than a clumsy "sugoi" (amazing).

"These three blockheads…" Yuan Zhisheng muttered to himself.

One played with his phone, another fiddled with souvenirs studying them, and they occasionally exchanged a few words about their travel experiences.

Tasting a dish calls for the harmony of color, aroma, and taste; compared to the visual feast the chef had prepared, these three blockheads cared far more about their figures and swapping notes on Adult Products shop sightseeing experiences…

What a waste…

Yuan Zhisheng felt it would be better to just find some random shop on the street and treat them to oden or yakitori, then give them some cheap beer or sake.

Just say it's a local cultural specialty and they'll be satisfied.

But the Japan branch's vanity project always had to be done properly.

"Head of House, something's happened." Yabuki Sakura jogged over and held a tablet in front of Yuan Zhisheng.

"What?" Yuan Zhisheng's heart tightened—tomorrow night they were to begin deep-sea diving exploration; at this critical juncture, nothing must affect tomorrow night's dive.

The marine scientific research permit applied for from the government was only valid for twelve hours, from six tomorrow evening until six the following morning.

On the tablet Yabuki Sakura had brought over was a live broadcast from Tokyo Television.

In the broadcast frame stood a man with golden hair, a slanted long fringe covering one eye, wearing a black-based coat with red clouds on it.

The man stood on the rooftop of a building; the camera shot from a high-angle looking down, and behind him was a park? Judging by the nearby architecture, it was still within Tokyo's boundaries.

"…."

Yuan Zhisheng looked at his personal secretary and assistant. "Sakura, if you want to watch this kind of real-life cosplay show, you should find Hui Liyi to chat with in your spare time. If she has any female friends she can talk to, I'd be very happy."

He was still puzzling over when his assistant had taken to liking such things.

Not far off, Lu Mingfei heard Hui Liyi's name, raised his head in a daze, and looked around.

"Sorry to trouble you, Lu Mingze." Su Lin took out a red-cloud robe from the Akatsuki organization in the Naruto anime and draped it over himself.

"No need for pleasantries—you're brother's friend, so whatever you need, I'll do my best to satisfy you." Lu Mingze, dressed in a Western-style formal suit, said calmly and elegantly.

Actually, he hadn't expected this man named Su Lin to come in and make such a huge commotion right away.

Quite the unusual taste.

But for him, these matters were trivial.

Not long ago—that morning—he had sensed some changes in Lu Mingfei.

Before long, suddenly another identical Lu Mingfei, even more powerful, appeared and clung to him, rubbing against him everywhere.

Although he was happy that Lu Mingfei was willing to be so close to him, the information transmitted over left him a bit helpless.

"Have fun." Lu Mingze turned, became transparent, and vanished on the spot.

"Fun? This is called art." Su Lin gathered spiritual energy onto his face, his features shifting—a mere small spell.

The cameraman was already in position, aided by the "tiny bit" of information technology support he had exchanged for.

Probably information technology from the year 2100.

Su Enxi was frantically hammering away at a keyboard in a spacious room; to her left sat an opened bag of Lay's chips, and before her were several monitors, the bytes and code on the screens flickering and shifting constantly.

She was now so busy she didn't even have time for her beloved chips.

She had no idea where the boss had found this kind of artificial-intelligence-like thing, nor all this information technology…

"Tokyo Television's signal has been hijacked…" Yabuki Sakura was mid-sentence when an urgent message came through her earpiece; her expression changed drastically. "Latest update—television stations worldwide, all their signals have been hijacked… what the young master is seeing now is a global broadcast."

?!

Yuan Zhisheng, hearing this, quickly picked up the tablet in his hands and reassessed the situation.

The man in the video spread his arms wide as familiar background music began to play.

The man cosplaying as Deidara raised the corners of his mouth on both sides.

"Audience of the world! Hello to you all!" Deidara greeted the camera loudly; on screen, his words were translated into subtitles in the language of the country receiving the signal. "Cheer, for you shall be honored to witness the first grand art spectacle of my Deidara's transmigration into this world! Un!"

"What's this, a Japanese variety show?" Caesar curiously poked his head out from behind Yuan Zhisheng.

Seeing Yuan Zhisheng looking tense, they had all come over to see what was going on.

They hadn't expected Yuan Zhisheng to be holding a tablet watching a live broadcast.

The TV watermark on it was Tokyo Television's watermark.

"Isn't that Deidara?" Lu Mingfei said curiously. "Is tonight a Naruto special, a live-action show?"

"Cosplay performance—real people imitating anime characters, staging a play in reality." Chu Zihang added from the side. Before coming, he had heard from Lu Mingfei that Japan's signature industry was anime, and that afternoon, while accompanying Lu Mingfei around Akihabara, he had also seen similar character imitations.

That girl called Xia Mi also liked anime quite a bit; Chu Zihang, in his spare time, had finished watching The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, because that girl had once dressed up like one of the characters in it.

"Didn't expect a prime-time slot dedicated to this kind of stage play—truly a national industry." Caesar stroked his chin, looking as though he had broadened his horizons.

"…" Yuan Zhisheng hadn't noticed that these fellows had actually set aside their discussion about whether their figure dolls were sexy or not, and turned their attention to what was happening on his side.

Sure enough, these three fellows were still pretty sharp at any sign of trouble—not entirely absent-minded after all.

He naturally couldn't have imagined that it was because he had triggered someone's keyword search, thereby drawing their attention over.

"Television signals worldwide have been hijacked by this guy," Yuan Zhisheng explained to the Kassel trio. "Right now, every TV channel on the planet is broadcasting this guy's livestream."

"What?" Caesar instantly grew solemn — he hadn't expected such a serious sudden incident.

Chu Zihang said nothing more, focusing intently on the livestream playing on his tablet.

A certain troublemaker suddenly flashed through Lu Mingfei's mind…

Speaking of which… back on that other Earth, he had heard others mention…

No need to doubt it — if not for that guy, he, Lu Mingfei, would have eaten that entire tuna fish.

He looked like a very honest, very steady, clean-cut young man; beneath that face that seemed forever calm and unruffled lurked a fellow who would, without a word, hit you with a massive commotion.

"He flew up?!" Caesar exclaimed in surprise.

"A hybrid!" Yuan Zhisheng's expression changed drastically, and he immediately said to Shibanuri Sakura beside him: "Send people to the address in the video right now!"

You won't make it in time…

Lu Mingfei thought silently to himself.

"What is art?"

The camera showed Deidara leap backward — yet instead of falling from the skyscraper's rooftop, he floated in the air in a posture that defied the laws of physics, drifting toward the park with a small hill behind him.

The camera's lens pulled back.

Deidara spread his limbs wide, forming a "大" shape against the sky.

"Art is an explosion!"