Chapter 65: Fireworks of Art (Seeking Recommendations, Seeking Follows)

Accompanied by Deidara’s cry before the camera.

Before the eyes of billions of viewers worldwide, the park, the small hill, and even the “toilet” built for decades behind the shrine on the hill—strange to most nations, but deeply familiar to islanders.

Boom—

Boom—!!!

It was a scene straight out of a movie special effect.

The blast’s radius perfectly covered the entire park’s wooded area—ninety thousand square meters—while a pillar of flame, over a hundred meters tall, erupted instantly, turning Tokyo’s night sky blood-red; the intense heat left surrounding buildings unharmed, all physical effects of the explosion contained solely within that patch of land.

As if heaven had deliberately delivered divine punishment.

Within several kilometers, countless people emerged from homes or stood on rooftops, stunned, watching this impossible spectacle; under an invisible external force, the top of the flame pillar began to sharpen into a cone, while on both sides of its middle section, twin fire tornadoes stretched outward, their own tips also sharpening.

Like a giant flame cone, with two additional cones attached to its sides.

On television screens across the globe, cameras switched rapidly from every angle—ground, rooftops, aerial, front, back, left, right—zooming in and pulling back, letting everyone marvel at this fantasy painting forged by divine power made manifest.

Only after dozens of seconds did people gradually snap out of the live broadcast’s spell; on screen, the flame-formed “starfish” slowly raised its arms, as if cheering in celebration of its own masterpiece.

In the island nation, some shattered their faith, some screamed wildly and smashed their TVs, some remained unmoved, some became fanatically obsessed—emotional reactions varied wildly.

In nations with no historical ties to the island, viewers merely felt they’d watched a Hollywood blockbuster; some suspected a hacker group had pulled a prank, while others, awestruck by the power displayed on screen, began investigating whether it was real.

“Wuhu!”

“So awesome!!!”

“Blow the damn thing up!”

“The greatest art of the 21st century!”

Across numerous Asian nations, except for a tiny minority, the vast majority banged drums and gongs; social media platforms flooded with posts, turning the internet into a scene of festive celebration, like New Year’s Day.

“Regardless of whether it’s real, I declare the greatest art of this century has been born! Who agrees? Who disagrees?!!!”

“I agree!”

“I agree!”

“Starting today, I’m Deidara’s diehard fan!”

“What is art?! THIS is art!!!”

“Doesn’t anyone care this is superhuman?! Superpowers have appeared!”

Aside from half-breeds, very few ordinary humans knew such transcendent abilities existed in this world; Su Lin’s livestream marked the first time such extraordinary power was revealed to the public.

“Didn’t he say he came from another world?”

“He seems to be a character from Naruto. My little brother watches it all the time.”

“Isn’t that a Japanese creation?”

“Yeah, but their own character blew up their toilet?!”

“I laughed so hard I peed myself, folks.”

“Same here, let’s go change our pants, hahaha.”

“Deidara’s figurines have skyrocketed in price...”

“Damn, I’ve got three at home!”

Someone noticed prices for Deidara-related figurines and merchandise on major e-commerce platforms had surged dramatically; in fact, as soon as people realized the TV signal had been hijacked, many sharp-minded individuals had already begun hoarding or adjusting product prices.

The world never lacks sharp-eyed speculators.

“People from Korea have started donating free canned kimchi printed with the ‘masterpiece of art’ online to Japan.”

“For the first time, I think Korea has some real grandeur (regarding this incident).”

“+1”

“+1”

Less than ten minutes later, the residual flames on the charred earth gradually died out; within the ninety-thousand-square-meter area, not a single building or plant remained—only a sunken crater, its black-brown soil flowing with molten lava.

The sky around was filled with helicopters; fighter jets circled overhead; in the distance, Tokyo’s main streets had been cleared of pedestrians and vehicles, as tanks and armored vehicles rolled steadily toward the site.

U.S. military forces, upon receiving orders, also moved toward the location.

“Ha.” Su Lin’s physical body, watching this from the rift of history, sneered: “I’m impressed I managed to hold back from launching a full-scale modern war.”

Prepared cultivators and unprepared cultivators are two entirely different levels of combat power.

Thanks to the pre-arranged arrays, tonight’s fireworks display lasted several minutes.

During that time, every person in Tokyo could witness a hundred-meter-tall red “Patrick Star” waving at them.

In truth, it wasn’t Su Lin being creative—he was merely recreating Deidara’s final art from the source material; the scene after that jutsu exploded looked exactly like this.

Later, a phrase began circulating online: “Art is Patrick Star.”

Deidara, before the camera, admired his masterpiece.

He delivered his closing remarks.

“That’s it. Appreciate my art. Hmm.”

On helicopters, snipers stood ready, aiming at Su Lin’s head from every direction.

“A1 ready.”

“A3 ready.”

“C2 ready...”

Through the helmet cameras of reconnaissance troops, personnel in the command center saw several cameras flying through the air, filming without human control?

“They’re really flying...”

“No good—we can’t find any trace of them. We’ve lost control.”

“Don’t spook them yet!”

Su Lin wouldn’t give them time to follow procedure; as expected, the next step would be a loudspeaker plea to surrender.

He watched his system points surge from under 700 to over a thousand in an explosive spike.

Though pleased, it wasn’t what he’d expected—he’d thought this would net him far more.

‘So viewer count isn’t the key factor...’ Su Lin mused, having studied the system’s point acquisition mechanism since returning to Earth from the Pirate World.

On occasion, performing in central city squares with thousands—even tens of thousands—of spectators, he’d earned fewer points than a single act of bravery.

After subtracting his original points, this haul barely broke even.

‘What’s different here?’

‘Scale and crowd size aren’t the key... causality? No, that doesn’t fit either...’

Su Lin felt he’d grasped something—but a thin veil of mist still obscured it.

‘Could it be a requirement to alter the course of history? Is this not enough? And why must it be a public display?’

Forget it. Su Lin decided to drop the thought for now—he could figure it out later. Time to withdraw.

He wasn’t some insatiable greedhound; a full ten thousand in funds had returned, rounded up.

This was only his first day in the Dragon Clan world; the road ahead was long. Su Lin’s adrenaline surged, his heart leaping with joy—he felt as if the script of a wish-fulfillment protagonist was waving at him.

Before the camera, Deidara, ecstatic, ignored whether his cosplay was ruined, roaring with laughter as he vented his inner emotion.

“Sai kou ni hai te da! Hahaha!” (I’m having the time of my life!)

Before viewers could grasp what had just happened, Deidara transformed into a streak of rainbow light, shooting straight into the sky as the camera chased after him.

Boom—

The rainbow scattered.

A massive firework exploded above Tokyo.

Then, fireworks pre-placed across Tokyo’s every corner ignited, forming words in Chinese characters across the sky.

“Celebrate the Birth of Art with Fireworks!”

From every corner of Tokyo, the climax of an unfamiliar song echoed.

Suddenly glowing and blooming

With a flash, it bloomed

Watching the fireworks

Watching the fireworks

Surely the summer that isn’t over yet

The summer that surely isn’t over yet

In an apartment somewhere in Tokyo, a musician with hair long enough to cover his eyes paid no attention to the TV screen.

Someone had just rung the doorbell; when he opened it, only a thick envelope remained. Sitting on his living room sofa, he stared at the cash inside, puzzled.

Suddenly, music interrupted his thoughts—Tokyo felt like one giant party, fireworks and music everywhere.

“This song’s pretty good.”

He opened his computer and began transcribing the lyrics.