Chapter 696

"Put me down!" Remilia kicked her tiny legs in midair.

"Wow, Remi is so good, waking up so fast!" Su Lin lifted Remilia higher: "Here's a super high reward~ Puff."

Su Lin turned his head, took two deep breaths, and controlled his mouth corner before restoring his sunny, warm smile.

"Young Lady Remilia is the strongest, absolutely the best!"

At this moment, Remilia's face was as red as if dripping blood; the satin bow on her dress suddenly erupted with crimson energy, wrapping around the surroundings and even Su Lin himself.

"Kill! Do you think I won't kill you?!"

"Sister, don't attack Big Brother."

Remilia looked at the golden-haired little head peeking out from behind Su Lin, and the energy radiating from her body instantly halted and dissipated.

"Flandre?!"

She blinked, realizing she was at the center of a library surrounded by towering bookshelves, while around her were Satsuki and Patchouli and the little demon, all holding handkerchiefs to their noses, along with Kaguya, Reimu, Marisa from Eientei, and a crowd of unfamiliar faces.

Before she could ponder why this situation had occurred, Remilia realized that upon waking, she was surrounded by people—and everyone had just witnessed what had just happened.

Her eyes glazed over, and she chose to give up thinking.

"Looks like you broke her." Kaguya shook her head beside her.

"I can understand your excitement about the Fantasy Landification Plan reaching the Red Masquerade, but to show no mercy toward such a tiny Remilia? How terrible."

"Fantasy Landification Plan?!" Reimu gasped, alert: "So the next target is the Hakurei Shrine?!"

"When did this plan start?" Su Lin set the blue-haired child vampire down on the ground.

Remilia instinctively turned away, grabbed her hat in panic, crouched beside the bed with her head in her hands, her pupils trembling, seemingly unwilling to accept the reality before her.

'Oh God, where did this cuteness even come from?' Su Lin secretly pulled out his phone from his sleeve and rapidly snapped photos.

He glanced at the silver-haired maid lying unconscious on the floor, and suddenly understood why this human, suspected to be a vampire hunter, remained so loyal to Remilia.

"Sister, Blue Road made food—come eat now~"

Flandre stepped forward, took Remilia's hand, and pulled her up: "Turns out fulfilling a wish wakes you up. Good thing I overheard you complaining lately that no one praised you—your authority has been fading these past few years."

"I never said that! Flandre, what are you talking about?!"

Her innocent words pierced through her defenses like blades; her panicked gaze and tone betrayed the truth.

Authority, after all…

It's safe to say that from today onward, it'll vanish forever, just like Reimu's sense of propriety.

"Satsuki!

Why did you let an outsider into the Red Masquerade?!" Remilia abruptly changed the subject, directing the blame elsewhere; she pointed at Su Lin and demanded: "Who is this human?!"

"Young Lady, the blood you drank…" Satsuki, likely using time-stop to clean up the mess, reappeared instantly beside Remilia, crouching to whisper in her ear.

"Him?"

"Huh?"

"Me?!"

"Ah…"

Remilia stood frozen, her mind overwhelmed by processing the current situation; beside her, Flandre picked up a french fry, dipped it in ketchup, and fed it to her mouth—she automatically began chewing and swallowing.

Patchouli Noire, dressed in a robe like a nightgown, her purple eyes swept over Remilia's food and the little demon cowering in the library's corner, trembling, back pressed against the wall, legs straining to retreat farther away.

"May I ask…" She finally couldn't suppress her curiosity and spoke up:

"I tested both blood samples and found nothing unusual, yet aside from this effect of spiritual energy materializing, I still don't understand why Remilia and Flandre have developed loss of appetite and behavioral changes."

Su Lin glanced at the tiny vampire, whose mouth never stopped moving.

Isn't this kid's meal going down just fine?

"They can't swallow anyone else's blood," Patchouli said.

"Vampires grow weak if they go too long without consuming blood."

"Even vampires like Remilia and Flandre are no exception—if from now on they can only consume your blood, it'll be a serious problem."

She phrased it gently, but this was in fact a hidden threat: it meant the two Red Masquerade sisters would henceforth be dependent on this stranger.

"Then why doesn't Big Brother just stay in the Red Masquerade forever? That way, I can play games with him every day!" Flandre beamed.

Kaguya mused: "So this is the typical plot: arriving in the Fantasy Land and starting at the Red Masquerade, being treated as a blood bag and toy due to special blood, then conquering everyone?"

"In Eientei, you'd only be my plaything or Yuyin's test subject for drug trials."

"So this is what's called 'attribute demand'?"

Whoosh. Crack.

Kline, from behind, reloaded and chambered a round in his revolver, then handed the pistol to Lu, whose eyes burned with fury at Su Lin, teeth clenched as if desperate to spit out some contemptuous words.

Lu Mingfei: "No need."

"When did it start?" Su Lin asked.

A weekly "Crazy Thursday" hunger marketing campaign is enough—fighting the McDonald's clown every day? Better go next door to the Krabby Patty King.

"It began when all light sources in the Fantasy Land malfunctioned a few days ago…"

"There was another one today," Patchouli said.

That brief recovery after taking the drug…

Was playing games with Flandre in the dream also the first time the mystical connection was temporarily reset?

The blood-triggered Stand awakening is also tied to this.

Because Flandre drank enough blood at that time, her Stand formed directly after the dream, unlike Remilia and Jiu Yeye, who remained stuck in an unstable state.

After clarifying the logic simply, Su Lin said:

"No injury means no need to drink blood—when you're hungry, just eat regular food. Sleep at night, wake in the morning, don't stay up late, and get plenty of sunlight during the day."

"Oh, and eat more fruits and vegetables, drink more milk."

"Ordinary food?" Patchouli blinked in surprise.

Meng Qi, who had been watching Remilia closely, frowned: "Even if this is a proxy, how did she manage to use my cultivation methods?"

If mere ordinary blood could activate my techniques, that would be too cheap—this isn't Shi Hao's Transformation of Ten Thousand Eons.

"Perhaps that small amount of blood couldn't form a proxy, but her spiritual energy was still active," Su Lin asked:

"Didn't you just register your soul in the Heavenly Realm around the time this problem appeared?"

"She seems to possess the ability to manipulate cause and fate. During proxy cultivation, your blood was inside her—perhaps the two forces mixed in some way?"

"This form she took may be the result of your blood serving as a substitute."

"This..." Meng Qi recalled the moment he pushed open the door of the Star Dou Sheng Palace in the Heavenly Realm—it matched the timing of the Red Mansion's anomaly.

Fine, he'd take one-third of the blame for Red Mist Anomaly 2.0.

As for other possible causes, he'd investigate only after completing his mortal incarnation.

"Wait! I didn't sense any such ability you're calling a proxy."

Remilia's expression twisted as she carefully felt that strange sense of intimacy, disbelief in her voice: "And all the blood I drink is food—how could this happen?"

She looked at Su Lin, then at Meng Qi, who shared the same feeling, though weaker.

Meng Qi: "?"

Su Lin: "?"

"Have you turned me into a blood descendant?!?!"

Remilia was nearly broken—she normally drank very little blood, unable to consume much, and most of it remained in the host's body.

Those she drank from didn't die or become vampires—only suffered anemia. And since she refused to drink raw blood, she'd never succeeded in increasing her kind.

It was a disgrace. Now, not only had she failed to grow her lineage, she'd instead

been influenced by human blood.

Before Remilia could say more, the two men's faces shifted through a kaleidoscope of expressions—then Su Lin snatched the revolver from Lu Mingfei's hand and fired at Kleine, who was smirking.

Bang!

A blood hole instantly appeared in Kleine's forehead—he collapsed with a thud.

"Unmeasurable Tianzun!"

Meng Qi kicked Kleine on the ground hard, while Su Lin kept firing.

Only after emptying the magazine did Meng Qi, panting from exhaustion, see Kleine step out from a historical rift, holding a cup of coffee.

"Strange, my blood hasn't changed?" Remilia said, watching a drop of blood well from her bitten fingertip.

"Use your brains," Kleine told the two relaxed men.

"Since her spiritual body absorbed your blood's power and mutated, the effect must be on the spiritual and soul levels. Spiritual essence originates from the spiritual body—that's the most fundamental essence."

"This is basic occult knowledge, my friends."

"But the blood you fed her afterward may be different."

The last remark was directed at Su Lin.

Even so, Meng Qi could only sigh and shake his head.

He walked over to Remilia, still checking herself, and said: "I am the Zhang Sect of Yu Xu. If you wish, you may cultivate under me in Yu Xu Palace—or Biyou Palace. I teach all without discrimination."

After saying this, in the midst of Remilia's daze, Meng Qi stepped back and patted the pretending-sleeping Board-Horned Blue Ox.

It wasn't that he'd been infected by Teacher Yan Sen—just a coincidence had led to this situation, forming a karmic bond.

"Master, I heard nothing."

"If you mention this again, I'll throw you into the Star Dou Sheng Palace furnace. Get up and move."

Meng Qi scowled and cursed, then flipped onto the ox's back—the Board-Horned Blue Ox carried him off at a trot.

"Doesn't he realize the Young Lady's aesthetic is completely different?" Lu Mingfei said.

Beside him, Song Shuhang, glad someone spoke for him, nodded in unison with the squirrel on his shoulder—if matching aesthetics was the question, it was still the other side's

Both squirrels turned their gaze to Su Lin.

"Though not a spell card game, at least the anomaly's resolved. You, witch, handle the cleanup here," Su Lin said.

"Technically, you're the origin of the anomaly," Byakuren Lingmeng waved dismissively. "Forget it—just don't target me."

"Aren't you the one who doesn't believe the Crow Tengu's newspaper?" Su Lin's eye twitched.

He took the hamburger from Flan's hand, ruffled her head, then rose to leave.

"Wait—cough! cough! cough!" Patchouli covered her mouth, coughing for a long while.

"Vampire bloodlust is a divine punishment—it can only be suppressed, never removed, let alone—"

Boom!

Under Satsuki's guidance, Remilia, focusing intently to summon her proxy, suddenly unleashed a burst of holy light from her hand—everyone nearby froze.

Patchouli stared at the holy light in Remilia's hand.

"Are you from the Vatican Church?!"

Dozens of grimoires flipped open automatically to spell sections, glowing with magical energy—the previously calm Red Mansion now crackled with tension.

"No—" Su Lin's eyelid twitched.

Just as he opened his mouth, Satsuki's voice cut in urgently.

"Young Lady?!"

Remilia's bat wings suddenly swelled, tearing through the back of her dress, blazing crimson light erupting—the stained-glass ceiling of the library instantly vaporized.

In mere breaths, a white ruffled bonnet floated in the sky, moonlight slanting through the charred window frames.

Remilia remained where she stood, but above her, a spectral figure resembling her hovered, crowned with crimson auspicious clouds, swaying crimson wings as it gazed at them all.

"Sister?"

"Remi?"

"There really is a stand."

Remilia turned her head to look at the thing connected to her spirit, "Isn't this an angel?!"

"I'm not with the Church."

Su Lin took out that Five-Second Manifestation Pill and tossed it into his mouth: "But their faith has something to do with me."

The light faded, the world plunged into Dian Dian, leaving only the deep toll of a bell. Those brief seconds felt like passing through primordial chaos, until that figure of light stepped out and brought with it all the myriad phenomena of the world.

"What divine punishment or whatever—" Once the scene inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion recovered, Su Lin pressed the white ruffled bonnet down onto Remilia's head, "You're innocent."

The next second, Remilia grabbed the bonnet, clutched her head, and crouched on the ground, shivering.

The little demon nearby rolled her eyes back and slid down the wall to the floor.

Patchouli didn't move, but when Marisa lightly touched her, she immediately collapsed limply. "Patchy!?"

Scarlet Devil Mansion, successfully breached.

"So that's how attribute countering works when the art styles match." Kaguya shrugged and said: "You might as well say you're the Pope—at least those two habits get humans hunting you down."

"."

Su Lin took a bite of his hamburger and left the place in silence, not even sparing a glance at the crow tengu flying off overhead.

"You've worked hard, the other me from Gensokyo." Aya glanced at the camera in her hand, satisfied: "You pass. From now on, the two of us will be providing scoops for Gensokyo's source of truth together."

"By the way, what should I call you?"

"Just call me Aya, it's all in the name of a reporter's duty and professional ethics." Aya's gaze was firm.

"Very good." Aya nodded: "The Celestial's sacrifice must not be wasted."

"What happened to the Celestial?" Aya asked, puzzled.

"Killed by the scarlet killer demon Su Lin took into his harem. Now Youkai Mountain has no one in charge." Aya said, heartbroken: "Being a reporter is a dangerous job. I hope you're prepared."

"Of course." Aya scribbled furiously in her little notebook, while pointing her high-tech metallic camera forward.

"Are you prepared?"

"Always ready!" the two crow tengu answered in unison.

But after answering, they sensed something was off, and looked up at the same time.

"Who's speaking?" x2

The two looked toward the source of the voice at the same time, only to find the battered Celestial, surrounded by a field of stars, crawling in with lava flowing over his body.

"I've returned from hell!"

The Celestial stared at the two crow tengu before him: "Look at the mess you've made for me, Shameimaru!"

"Wait, I'm not from this side!"

"Shut up!"

Tonight, above the Nine Heavens Waterfall of Youkai Mountain, stars fell like rain.

【Filming Halted】

Chen Jun: "."

The war correspondent's first day at Gensokyo Zero: KIA.