Chapter 697

“Put me down!” Remilia kicked her short legs in midair.

“Wow, Remi’s so good, waking up so fast!” Su Lin lifted Remilia higher: “Here’s a super high reward~ Pfft.”

Su Lin turned his head, took two deep breaths, and managed to rein in the corner of his mouth, restoring his sunny, warm smile.

“Miss Remilia is the greatest, absolutely the best!”

At this moment, Remilia’s face was crimson as if dripping blood; the satin ribbons of her bow suddenly erupted with scarlet 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 froze, then dissipated.

“Flandre?!”

She blinked, realizing she was at the center of a library surrounded by towering bookshelves, while around her were Satori, Patchouli, 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 was happening, Remilia realized: she had woken up surrounded by people, and everyone had just witnessed what had just happened.

Her eyes glazed over; she chose to give up thinking.

“Looks like you broke her.” Kaguya shook her head.

“I can understand your excitement about the Fantasy Land transformation plan reaching the Red Moon Manor, but to show no mercy toward such a tiny Remilia? How terrible.”

“Fantasy Land transformation 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.

Remilia instinctively turned away, gripping her hat, crouching beside the bed with her head in her hands, pupils trembling—as if unwilling to accept the reality before her.

‘Dear God, where did this cuteness even come from?’ Su Lin secretly pulled out his phone from his sleeve and began rapid-fire photo-taking.

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

“Sister, Lanlanlu made food—come eat!”

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

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

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

Authority, after all…

It’s safe to say that from now on, it’ll vanish forever—just like Reimu’s modesty.

“Satori! Why did you let a stranger into the Red Moon Manor?!” Remilia abruptly changed the subject, shifting blame toward others; she pointed at Su Lin: “Who is this human?!”

“Miss, the blood you drank…” Satori, likely having used time-stop to clean up the mess, reappeared instantly beside Remilia, crouching to whisper in her ear.

“Miss, the blood you drank.”—likely having used her time-stop ability to clean up the mess, Sakuya appeared instantly beside Remilia, crouched beside her ear, and whispered an explanation.

“Huh?”

“Me?!”

“Ah…”

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

Patchouli, dressed in a robe like a nightgown, her purple eyes swept over the food Remilia was eating—and the little demon cowering in the library’s corner, trembling, back pressed against the wall, legs trying to push herself farther away.

“May I ask…” she finally couldn’t suppress her curiosity:

“I tested both blood samples—found nothing unusual. But aside from this effect of spiritual power 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 she enjoying this kids’ meal just fine?

“They can’t consume anyone else’s blood,” Patchouli said.

“Vampires grow weak without regular blood intake.”

“Even Remilia and Flandre are no exception. If they can only drink your blood from now on, it’ll be a serious problem.”

She phrased it gently, but this was a hidden threat—meaning the Red Moon sisters would henceforth be dependent on this stranger.

“Big Brother can just stay in the Red Moon Manor forever! Then he can play games with me every day!” Flandre beamed.

Kaguya mused: “So this is the plot: arriving in the Fantasy Land, starting at the Red Moon Manor, being treated as a blood bag and toy due to special blood, then seducing everyone into submission?”

“After all, it’s one of the common tropes. At Eientei, you’d only be my plaything or Yin’s test subject for potions.”

“So this is what’s called ‘attribute demand’?”

*Rattle. Click.*

Kline loaded and chambered a round in his revolver, then handed it to Lu Mingfei, whose eyes burned with fury, teeth clenched as if desperate to spit out some contemptuous words.

Kleine loaded and chambered the revolver from behind, then handed it to Lu Mingfei—the man’s eyes blazing with anger, teeth clenched, as if desperate to spit out some scornful words.

“When did it start?” Su Lin asked.

Once-a-week hunger marketing on Crazy Thursday is enough. If you’re fighting the McDonald’s clown every day, you might as well go next door to Krabby Patty.

“Since the anomaly began a few days ago, when all light sources in the Fantasy Land failed.”

“There was another one today,” Patchouli said.

That brief moment after taking the medicine…

Playing games with Flandre in the dream was also after the first dose—had the mystical connection been briefly reset?

The blood triggering the Stand awakening is definitely tied to this.

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

After clarifying the logic simply, Su Lin said:

“No injury means no need to drink blood. If you’re hungry, eat regular food. Sleep at night, wake in the morning. Don’t stay up late. Go outside and get some sun.”

“Oh, and eat more fruits and vegetables. Drink more milk.”

“Regular food?” Patchouli froze.

Meng Qi, who had been closely observing Remilia, frowned: “Fine, I’ll accept the Stand—but how is she using my cultivation methods?”

If ordinary blood alone could let her use my techniques, that’d be too cheap—this isn’t Shi Hao’s “Transforming into Ten Thousand Eons.”

“Probably because that little blood couldn’t form a Stand, yet her spiritual power remained active,” Su Lin asked:

“The time this issue appeared—weren’t you just registering your soul in Heaven?”

“She seems to have control over cause and fate. During Stand cultivation, your blood was inside her—perhaps the two forces mixed?”

“This form she took might be the result of your blood replacing her original essence.”

“That…” Meng Qi recalled the moment he opened the door to the Dousheng Palace in Heaven—it matched almost exactly the time the Red Moon Manor’s anomaly began.

Fine. He’d take one-third of the blame for the Red Mist Anomaly 2.0.

As for other possible causes—he’d investigate after completing his mortal incarnation.

“Wait! I didn’t sense any ‘Stand’ ability you’re talking about.”

Remilia’s expression twisted; she carefully felt that strange sense of intimacy, disbelief in her voice: “And all the blood I drank was just food—how could this…?”

She looked at Su Lin, then at Meng Qi, who felt the same sensation—but weaker.

She looked at Su Lin, then at Meng Qi, who felt the same but less intensely.

Su Lin: “?”

“You turned me into a blood descendant?!”

Remilia was nearly breaking down. She usually drank very little blood—couldn’t take much, and most of it remained in the host’s body.

Those she drank from didn’t die or become vampires—only became anemic. And since she refused raw blood, she’d never succeeded in creating more of her kind.

It was a shame. Now, not only had she failed to expand her clan, she’d been…

Affected by human blood.

Before Remilia could say more, the two men beside her switched expressions rapidly—then Su Lin snatched the revolver from Lu Mingfei and fired at Kline, who was smirking.

Before Remilia could say more, the two of them switched expressions wildly; Su Lin snatched the revolver from Lu Mingfei’s hand and fired it at Kleine, who had raised an eyebrow.

A blood hole instantly appeared in Kline’s forehead—he collapsed with a thud.

“Wu Liang Tian Zun!”

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

Only after emptying the magazine did Meng Qi, panting from exhaustion, watch as Kline stepped out from a temporal rift, holding a cup of coffee.

“Strange… my blood hasn’t changed?” Remilia, biting her fingertip, stared at the blood droplet.

“Use your brains,” Kline said to the two relaxed men:

“Since her spiritual body absorbed your blood’s power and mutated, the effect must be on the spiritual and soul level. 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 later? That’s another matter.”

The last sentence was directed at Su Lin.

Even so, Meng Qi could only sigh helplessly.

He walked over to Remilia, still checking herself, and said: “I am the Patriarch of Yuxu Palace. If you wish, you may join my Yuxu Palace to cultivate. Biyou Palace is also acceptable—I teach all without discrimination.”

As she finished speaking, amid Remilia’s dazed confusion, Meng Qi stepped back and patted the sleeping Bluehorn Ox.

It wasn’t that he’d been infected by 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 Dousheng Palace’s furnace. Get up, let’s go.”

Meng Qi chuckled irritably, flipped onto the ox’s back, and rode off.

“Doesn’t he realize Miss Remilia’s aesthetic is completely different?” Lu Mingfei said.

"Don't you think the Young Mistress's style is completely different?" said Lu Mingfei.

Beside him, Song Shu, seeing someone speak for him, nodded in unison with the squirrel on his shoulder; if it came to visual compatibility, it was still over there.

Both squirrels turned their gaze simultaneously toward Su Lin.

“Though this isn’t a spell card game, at least the anomaly has been resolved—leave the cleanup here to you, shrine maiden,” Su Lin said.

“Technically, you’re the source of the anomaly,” Reimu waved dismissively. “Never mind, just don’t try to take advantage of me.”

“Aren’t you the one who doesn’t believe the Crow Tengu’s newspaper?” Su Lin’s lip twitched.

He took the hamburger handed to him by Flandre, ruffled her head, then rose to leave.

“Wait—cough! Cough! Cough!” Patchouli covered her mouth and coughed for a long while.

“The vampire’s bloodlust curse is a divine punishment—it can only be suppressed, never removed, let alone—”

BOOM!

Under Sakuya’s guidance, Remilia, focusing her mind to summon her Stand, suddenly erupted in a burst of holy light; those around her froze in place.

Patchouli glanced at the holy light in Remilia’s hands.

“Are you from the Vatican Church?!”

Numerous grimoires flipped open automatically to pages detailing spells, glowing with magical energy; the previously calm Red Magic Mansion now brimmed with tension.

“No,” Su Lin’s eyelid twitched.

Just as he was about to speak, Sakuya’s voice turned urgent.

“Miss?!”

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

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

Remilia remained where she stood, but in midair behind her, a shadow resembling her face hovered, crowned with blood-red auspicious clouds, its blood-colored wings fluttering as it gazed at them all.

“Sister?”

“Remilia?”

“There really is a Stand.”

Remilia turned to look at the thing linked to her spirit. “This isn’t an angel?!”

“I’m not from the Church.”

Su Lin pulled out the Five-Second Manifestation Pill and swallowed it: “But their faith has some connection to me.”

The light faded, heaven and earth darkened, leaving only the deep tolling of a bell—those few seconds felt like enduring primordial chaos, until the figure emerged, bringing forth the myriad phenomena of the universe.

“What divine punishment or not,” when the scene inside the Red Magic Mansion returned to normal, Su Lin pressed the white ruffled bonnet onto Remilia’s head. “You are innocent.”

The next second, Remilia clutched the hat, hunched over with her head in her hands, trembling violently.

Nearby, the little demon rolled her eyes and slid down the wall to the floor.

Patchouli didn’t move, but when Marisa lightly touched her, she collapsed instantly. “Patchy?!”

Red Magic Mansion: defeated.

“The principle of visual compatibility-based elemental advantage works like this,” Kaguya shrugged. “You might as well claim you’re the Pope—at least then, humans would actually chase you.”

“.”

Su Lin took a bite of the hamburger and walked away in silence, not even noticing a Crow Tengu flying off above his head.

“Thank you, my counterpart from another Gensokyo,” Sanae Kanako glanced at her camera, satisfied. “You’ve passed. For now, we’ll jointly provide exposés on the true source of Gensokyo’s mysteries.”

“By the way, how should I address you?”

“Call me Monmon—it’s all for the sake of a journalist’s mission and professional ethics,” Monmon declared with unwavering resolve.

“Good,” Sanae Kanako nodded. “Tianmo’s sacrifice must not be wasted.”

“What happened to Tianmo?” Monmon asked, puzzled.

“The Crimson Murderer, now in Su Lin’s harem, killed him. The Demon Mountain is now leaderless,” Sanae Kanako lamented bitterly. “Journalism is a dangerous profession—I hope you’re prepared.”

“Of course,” Monmon frantically scribbled in her notebook while aiming her high-tech metallic camera forward.

“Are you prepared?”

“Always ready!” both Crow Tengus answered in unison.

But after replying, they sensed something was off and looked up together.

“Who’s speaking?” x2

Both turned toward the sound’s source—and saw Tianmo, battered and bleeding, crawling in amid a starry void, his body oozing lava.

“I’ve returned from hell!”

Tianmo stared at the two Crow Tengus before him. “Look at the mess you’ve caused me, Sanae!”

“Wait, I’m not from this side!”

“Shut up!”

That night, above the Nine Heavens Waterfall on Demon Mountain, stars fell like rain.

【Recording halted】

Chen Jun: “.”

Day one of the war correspondent in Gensokyo Zero: killed in action.