Chapter 665: The Most Dazzling Eastern Style

"The witch's integrity is like clouds on the horizon—once the wind blows, it never returns~"

"Singing softly the most dazzling Eastern style~~~"

Today, Shinmyoumaru Mon was in excellent spirits, cheerfully singing a fantasy-world song imported from the outside world, adding lingering delight to her harvest of sensational news.

"This news will definitely be wildly popular—why not turn it into a serial right away?"

I dumped all the explosive material at once—what do I do for the rest of the week?

Adhering to the principle of seeking truth from facts, she planned to return and appropriately "fill in" key information, enrich the content, and turn it into a long-form news serial.

"Kikiki~~~ Slow and steady is the real rule."

I'm truly a genius!

Thinking of something and immediately acting on it, the unstoppable Shinmyoumaru pulled out a marker and began writing on her small notebook.

Sizzle

In the cloudless sky, a flash of electricity surged, followed by a thunderous boom—she felt an ominous wind brush past the feathers of her black wings.

Almost in the blink of an eye.

With pupils narrowing, the Crow Tengu dodged the brilliant blue beam that grazed her cheek, a strand of hair from her right earlobe snapping off, leaving a small hole.

"Brother," Shinmyoumaru Mon wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, asking: "Are you trying to kill me?"

Wild dragon qi surged; Su Lin and Meng Qi's historical projections stepped forward and backward, nine dragon shadows flickering faintly around them.

"Tsk. I believe in your speed as a Hong Kong journalist."

So agile it was as if she'd predicted the attack in advance—agility maxed out.

"I'm a fantasy-world journalist!" Shinmyoumaru retorted.

Su Lin glanced at the small notebook in her hand and said: "In our world, those who love rumors and gossip are called paparazzi."

"That's a malicious term—but this is truly rare," Shinmyoumaru suddenly had an idea:

"I heard dragons are naturally lustful? It makes sense then, Mr. Dragon."

This kind of troublemaking crow, unrepentant and reckless—she felt she'd seen one before, perhaps a bankrupt wealthy woman who kept some group member as a pet.

All crows are equally black; the ancients didn't lie.

"Though I don't care much about my reputation, I'm still terrified of being exposed on some blog or book and getting doxxed online."

Eighteen years old and afraid of online harassment, Su Lin reached out and proposed: "If you honestly publish a retraction and include a full bow of apology, we'll call it even, how about that?"

"Are you trying to deprive the public of their right to know the truth?!" Shinmyoumaru's eyes hardened: "On the professional integrity of a journalist—I refuse!"

Hum—!

A rapidly spinning longsword returned from beyond the heavens, piercing through the demon girl's chest—but as it landed in Su Lin's hand, the Crow Tengu shattered like a reflection in water or a mirage: just an afterimage.

The demon girl darted through space, weaving chaotic, disordered storms, convinced she had escaped—until suddenly she saw those two figures, appearing everywhere without fail, like a ghostly loop, and she forced a smile.

Tick. Tick.

Starlight-like spiritual rain fell gently; the air grew damp, blurring everything around her, as if she were inside a dream.

Yet within this dream, it seemed a dragon trod crimson qi, galloping through clouds and mist, humming low.

"Even in a fantasy world where yin outweighs yang, you shouldn't harass women like this, sir."

Realizing her interview subject might be dangerous, the instinct honed by years of surviving manhunts over fabricated gossip and scandal warned her: it was time to pull out all her real skills and flee.

"Wind Spirit Girl!"

Amidst violent tremors, chaos, and hyper-speed particle motion, certain laws seemed disrupted; black storms converged into a single point, the void suddenly shattering, then slowly healing.

"No matter how fast you are, how can you outpace the cause of all outcomes?"

Su Lin shrugged at Meng Qi's emotionless projection: "Sorry—I'm not talking about your speed."

If the original had heard that, she'd have slashed him already. The projection said nothing, only let the chains of causal secrets stir and carve a path leading nowhere known.

The girl prayed.

Youkai Mountain has, since ancient times, been home to many youkai, housing a tightly integrated society of kappa and tengu.

Once famous as a highly active volcano, it has remained in prolonged dormancy since its last eruption; even today, smoke continuously rises from within the mountain.

Under normal circumstances, Youkai Mountain does not welcome outsiders—whether humans or youkai from other lands.

Besides being exclusionary, there is another reason.

Untrodden Gorge

"The race course runs from here to the Nine Heavens Waterfall," announced a kappa youkai, holding a cucumber-shaped microphone; a banner above read in youkai script: 【Kappa Tech, World's Best】:

"Kappa Heavy Industries Fifth Body System Technology Competition!"

"Countdown: 3… 2… 1…"

"Begin!"

The voice echoed through speakers; after a brief pause, the optical camouflage curtain was ripped away, revealing a massive arena of steel and concrete nestled within the forest, surrounded by mountains.

On the arena floor stood several steel-alloy machines, as tengu and kappa youkai entered them.

Then, as if monstrous beasts roared, explosive roars erupted—and the steel transformed into different configurations.

With cold, metallic exteriors, streamlined fuselages forged from special steel, and metallic scale-feathered wings spread wide, each machine's front stood a girl with blue hair, blue dress, and a green sunhat.

"Variables normal," she murmured, holding a device:

"Phase space reconstruction complete. Initiate."

Boom!

The smoke from the starter pistol had barely risen before being scattered by gales; machines shot skyward at absurd speeds.

The surrounding physical space warped like a mirage, becoming untouchable and infinitely extended within a specific range.

"This way, we won't get beaten up by that red-and-white shrine maiden for disturbing the peace—using the power of a living god for research is so convenient, truly a miracle of physics!"

The kappa was extremely satisfied with this achievement.

"Sanae, why don't you join us and do science research? Science is the primary productive force in Gensokyo!"

"Heh. I don't call something science if it ignores the process and just produces results."

Lying under a tree, a green-haired girl in an outside-world high school uniform was parched, praying that once or twice was enough—daily participation in their games would be exhausting.

With no other choice, as an outsider, building good relations with the neighbors of Youkai Mountain was a required course.

Precisely for this reason, after some thought, Sanae Fukai agreed to the kappa's invitation: to use her Genjin-shin power to assist the youkai in scientific research.

Then again,

Can a robot powered by a sun furnace built from a mess of youkai magic, spells, and Yatagarasu energy really be called science?

If not for a miracle, it would've exploded long ago!

Watching the machines racing through the sky to test their performance, Sanae Fukai felt an inexplicable unease.

"This match is no contest," remarked a watching tengu, favoring her own kind: "Compared to sluggish kappas, tengu pilots have faster reaction speeds."

Instantly, a voice of dissent arose.

"What's left to say?" the tengu said, staring at the afterimage on the screen:

"When it comes to pilot individual quality, it's definitely Inubashiri Kae."

That special lower-tier sentinel tengu with the Clairvoyance ability—her dynamic vision was indeed formidable.

She could see the opponent exploiting her familiarity with the Nine Heavens Waterfall to shake off several kappa machines—but in the blink of an eye,

Boom—!

Several mushroom clouds rose slowly as a blue steel mecha emblazoned with cucumber dumplings spun out.

【Kotatsu, you—】

【Naive. Weapons are part of the test too.】

The green sunhat girl grinned wickedly inside the cockpit.

The kappas laughed in response to the tengu's furious glares: "Kotatsu's victory is well-deserved—after all, she's the main designer."

But before those words finished, the cockpit screen of the blue mecha began to shake.

【Shameimaru?!】

【I knew something was wrong getting back—no time to explain, run!】

"If we're talking pure speed, Shameimaru Aya isn't out of the question."

"But that's not even her mecha, is it?"

Using her wind manipulation, Shameimaru Aya seized control, infused the machine with youki, and climbed upstream against the silver waterfall cascading from the heavens.

In less than a few breaths, two men appeared in the previous location.

Su Lin glanced around for a moment, staring at the mechas in bewilderment: "What the hell did they do to me?"

Is this the battlefield of Zeon and Celestial Being?

【All non-test personnel must immediately evacuate the arena!】 More mechas and youkai surrounded them from below.

"No problem," Su Lin immediately agreed to cooperate.

He considered himself a quiet, law-abiding person who always followed local rules wherever he went and never caused trouble for strangers.

"Pedophile's mouth twisted."

"Unicorn!!!"

A Unicorn Gundam powered by alchemy from Heiwang Tech, but after previous modifications—including but not limited to Immortal Metal, Divine Iron, magical runes, and engraved divine patterns—for the Handcart Racing Championship, it had long surpassed its original limits and could handle multiple scenarios.

At this moment, his innate Pure Light Dao Body was unwell, preventing him from extracting his Jin Dan to serve as a power core—if he wanted to enhance performance,

Su Lin slashed his palm and flung blood onto the unicorn mecha; the instant he entered the cockpit, nine dragon souls surged into the machine.

"Man follows Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows Dao—Dragon Souls Return to Origin."

Blood qi infused spiritual light to carry the dragon souls; the crimson, monstrous mecha shattered its barriers and erupted like a red comet, flying upward against the Nine Heavens Waterfall into the clouds.

【Achievement Unlocked: Perfectly Integrated Outsider of Gensokyo】

It seemed like a hallucination of an achievement notification.

No modified tractor races, no insane villains who destroyed worlds at will, no endless world bugs or crowned responsibilities.

Only mecha warfare of gun barrels and cannon fire.

Suddenly, he felt his recent Form-Soul Annihilation was totally worth it!

After adjusting to the weakness from falling from heaven to earth, Su Lin pushed the lever: "I'm going out in Red-Horned Triple Speed mode!"

Light wings unfolded.

Faster and sharper than anyone could have expected, the unicorn mecha swung its blade and tore open the encirclement.

"Who's piloting that mecha?!"

"That outsider Su Lin, whom Higan no Kaguya secretly wrote about in her diary!"

"Who's Su Lin?"

"Haven't you read my latest newspaper?!"

So again, someone wrote fake news and got hunted down by the subject.

"Has outside-world technology grown this far?!"

Kotatsu, crammed in the cockpit, stared at the mecha wrapped in gray dragon-shadow effects, radiating crimson red light.

Everywhere it passed, only steel arms and legs remained—the cockpit itself remained intact.

Human-stick sword technique?

"Not vector thrust—this kinetic control is pure art."

Kotatsu, who considered herself the best in Gensokyo, fell into a daze—but quickly snapped back, slamming a button in frustration:

"My design can't possibly lose to something like that!"

The back of the Kappa-Hao ejected a series of cucumber-shaped objects, and the unicorn below casually slashed at them.

A chain of explosions manifested between heaven and earth, cold light sealing every crevice.

"You did well, Kachō!" Shaminguan Wen sighed in relief as the mecha was halted, knowing the Tengu House above the Nine Heavens Waterfall would soon reach the finish line via the track.

This one's a tough nut, but luckily I got curious and looked into the Kappa and Tengu's mecha operation procedures beforehand.

Even if it's a tough nut, it won't interfere with the public's right to know in Gensokyo.

As Shaminguan Wen was moved by her own professional spirit, a projection appeared inside the cockpit, displaying traditional Chinese characters: 【High-energy reaction detected behind】.

"Are all external mechs monsters?!" Kachō paled as she stared at the emptied weapons bay.

"Don't worry, this mecha can't even touch my feathers," Shaminguan boasted.

"Don't you dare insult science!"

With the aid of wind, the Kappa-Hao vanished beyond the range of naked-eye observation.

Su Lin's external launch device opened its barrel, allowing Meng Qi's historical projection to walk into the launch position, gripping the Absolute Blade:

"Human Cannon, Level One ready."

Whether it was an illusion or not, Meng Qi's historical projection's face twitched imperceptibly, but as the hatch sealed, violent, Xuan Chong Chi destruction-filled purple lightning gathered inside the barrel.

"All Fruits of Cause loaded."

The apertures containing the cosmic embryo collapsed entirely; the projection, at the cost of its own annihilation, summoned a shimmering, illusory river—no origin, no destination.

The Nine Heavens Waterfall overlapped with the illusory river; countless figures converged from other universes, and in the fleeting instant, silent, illusory violet lightning-blade light slashed forth.

——The final slash of Kuangdao Bawang's Six Slashes.

"Fire."

Zilaa—a sound like fabric being torn, or nails scraping a chalkboard.

Inside the Kappa-Hao, reduced to only half its cockpit, Shaminguan Wen stared blankly at the shattered phase space and the vanished upper half of the mecha, cold sweat tracing down her cheeks.

She stared for two seconds at the Unicorn Gundam now behind her, its reloaded barrel aimed at her:

"My lord Tianmo! Help me!!!"

The Human Cannon, enchanted with All Fruits of Cause, inflicted damage far beyond Su Lin's expectations; Meng Qi, merely at the Earth Immortal stage, had become this powerful—he suspected the bastard had been pretending to be weak all along.

But it doesn't matter.

【Fool·Loaded】 complete

"It'll hurt a bit at first, maybe some tentacles will appear—don't worry."

Su Lin's front screen captured a dynamic image, locking onto the demon girl whose eyes gradually grew vacant, sinking into foolish stupidity: "We'll just do a hypnosis later."

He reached to pull the trigger, but a red dot on the screen kept zooming in—something threatening was flying at high speed outside the damaged phase space?

Zoom in. Zoom in again.

A red-and-white shrine maiden flew through the air, her head embedded with blue steel fragments; unlike ordinary shrine maidens, her upper garment split at the shoulders, with wide white sleeves secured to her upper arms by straps.

Then.

The screen turned to static.

The girl prayed.

Beneath the torii of the Hōrai Shrine.

"Reimu, is it done?" Marisa asked.

"These idiots from Youkai Mountain! Just fight with spell cards already!"

On Reimu's beautiful face, anger flickered; she glanced at Lu Mingfei and the others holding offering money, then immediately wiped the expression and resumed her standard smile.

"Where were we?"

Several young men resembling tourists stared blankly, their gazes returning from the giant white lump of crushed scrap metal tossed at the shrine's entrance.

"The recent events and anomalies in Gensokyo," Huai Shi picked up the thread.

He didn't understand why others showed emotional reactions upon seeing that lump of scrap.

After arriving at the Hōrai Shrine, the three remembered they hadn't confirmed the timeline with Kaguya, so they used the offering money to purchase a shrine maiden's chat service.

"Oh yes, that's right," Reimu nodded. "The recent anomalies…"

"Some people from other Gensokyo worlds and other realms came here looking for something called Seal Crystals."

Huai Shi: "?"

Lu Mingfei: "?"