Chapter 699: Good Night

"The Heavenly Emperor?" Watazumi Fengji froze: "Of the Heavenly Realm?"

Su Lin remained silent, staring at the watermelon in his hand, realizing all eyes had inexplicably fixed on him.

The corners of his mouth seemed pulled by some rule-bound force, but his facial muscles ultimately held greater control.

√→V

From "Capturing the Fugitive Princess from the Moon Capital" to "The Heavenly Emperor Returns to the Fantasy Realm," the seamless switch from shoujo to shonen was far too rapid.

"Hahaha," Kaguya still laughed without a care, hands clasped over her mouth as if stifling unrestrainable mirth: "Forgive me, I merely recalled something delightful."

"Did your wife just go into labor?" Xing asked.

"I'm from Penglai—I can't bear children, hahaha."

Realizing the Moon Capital might have misunderstood, compounded by the current atmosphere and Xing's punchline, Kaguya covered her face with her sleeve and chuckled softly.

The Moon Capital soldiers, who had arrived with only a single starship, froze on the spot at the sight of this massive, swarming interstellar fleet.

Rows of towering golden golems, puppet warriors, and black-armored vassal soldiers stood assembled mid-air over the cliff, kneeling on one knee, awaiting further orders.

"Mm."

Su Lin dispelled the historical projection in his hand, changing the words stuck in his throat—"Why are you all here?"—to: "Relax, don't be formal."

Hearing this, Tenzan Lixiang visibly relaxed. "Good—I was just worried Chaldea might be kicked out for having too many people."

Did you just move the gacha pool and the satellites in the sky back to Chaldea?!

Su Lin's eyelid twitched—he realized he hadn't returned to the Source; prolonged absenteeism might hurt the company's annual recharge revenue.

"Actually, after Weigong Shilang's invitation arrived," Tenzan Lixiang scratched his cheek sheepishly, avoiding eye contact:

"Gilgamesh and Qin Shi Huang directly switched their Cosmic Spiritual Bases—it seems the news spread over there, so all the Heroic Spirits of the Azure Silver Galaxy registered their Spiritual Bases with Chaldea."

Impressive. Impressive.

Su Lin nodded with a pleasant expression, a smile tugging at his lips: 'When we get back to work, I'll assign you a hellish Reality Crisis.'

But something felt off…

"Lixiang, how did you get here?" Weigong Shilang had originally planned to return and bring along his contacted friends.

That's it.

They weren't even in the same dimension, had no coordinates or the Cause of All Results to guide them—how did they get here?

"Um."

Tenzan Lixiang opened his mouth to speak, but Gilgamesh chuckled smugly and cut in.

"I swore I would never reveal any of his information."

"Amon. Zhao Leiloki is here too." Each name Su Lin uttered made Weigong Shilang and Lu Mingfei's faces grow paler.

Gilgamesh blinked: "Have your injuries and Omniscience been restored?"

Gilgamesh was taken aback: "Your injuries and Omniscience and Omnipotence have recovered?"

Su Lin and the others said nothing, only gazing at Merlin, who wore a monocle over his right eye, leaning against the torii gate, flipping through the "Eastern Series" manga while rolling two dice.

"No wonder, my lord Kuishizhu!" they chorused in praise.

"As expected of the Bishop, my lord~" they praised in unison.

At this, Weigong Shilang and Lu Mingfei's faces were cloaked in gloom, dark lines hanging from their brows, expressions like they wore masks of agony.

The appearance of the Ten-Thousand-Worlds Communication Token has introduced a new hidden threat to all realms.

No one may be able to suppress them anymore.

"Master, I brewed you a pot of Source Essence to replenish your body."

"My lord, are you hungry? Aha is heartbroken—please eat some Scented Dry Cheese. Oops, this seems to be a Spacetime Prism? Doesn't matter, just take a bite."

"Boss Tianfu, I heard you're getting married?"

"Mr. President, the wedding carriage and snipers are all ready."

Several Moon Capital soldiers surrounding Su Lin now bore distinctive objects on their hands or faces.

To Mianyue Watazumi Fengji, this bizarre scene felt like Su Lin's silent retaliation for her earlier words and actions—having quietly taken control of the Moon Clan soldiers.

Su Lin's posture—fingers interlaced, propping up his head—and his grave expression were proof enough.

'Probably when I created the Spell Cards earlier—even though I shoved Aha back immediately, He still got a fix on this location.'

I should've guessed when I saw that group chat of joykillers—they'd inevitably cause a ruckus, especially after sending Gilgamesh back.

"Should we clean them out?" Su Lin asked beside him: "They came uninvited."

Whether Jitou Four or Ha Four, none of them are Chaldea members—they have legitimate grounds for expulsion.

Whether it was Kitou Si or Ha Si Qi, none of them were people from Chaldea, so there was a legitimate reason to expel them.

Mianyue Watazumi Fengji's gaze turned cold; she gripped the fan at her waist, watching warily as the man called "Heavenly Emperor" and the watching Mianyue Yiji on the ship synchronized their expressions.

Before they could act further, a figure walked forward from behind the crowd.

"I asked these friends for help."

A young man in a loose T-shirt, messy hair, and flip-flops waved a Ten-Thousand-Worlds Communication Token at everyone: "They only came along to give me a ride—I invited them."

"You're the only one with a conscience, my dear Li Jiatu!" Aha, having completed his self-deception, wiped nonexistent tears from the Moon Capital soldier:

"I've been wondering—after my lord reclaimed his lost authority across other worlds, is he now just pure divinity?"

What kind of shitty movie plot is this? You're calling me heartless, are you?

After logging a note against Aha, Su Lin turned to look at Old Lu, who had opened his arms as if preparing to embrace everyone, with Lu Mingze trailing behind him.

This little devil was unusually calm today—silent, motionless, dressed in a black evening suit with a white rose pinned to his chest, his gaze complex: disdain, perhaps, or pity.

After making a mental note against Aha, Su Lin looked toward Old Lu over there, who had his arms spread open as if about to give everyone a big hug, with Lu Mingze following behind him.

This little devil was unusually quiet today, neither speaking nor making any unnecessary movements; wearing a sleek black evening gown with a white rose pinned to its chest, his gaze was complex—seeming both contemptuous and pitying.

"What, don't welcome me?"

Old Lu grinned at Lu Mingfei over there, walking through between Gilgamesh, who had his arms crossed, and Qin Shi Huang, who stood with his hands behind his back.

"You've got your circle, I've got my own friend group—honestly, these guys are loyal as hell. Even Su Lao-ge has vanished lately; I can't reach him at all."

"Thanks, Brother Zheng, thanks, Wang Jier. Next time, let's evade taxes again."

"My wedding hasn't even started yet—why are you here now?" Lu Mingfei froze.

His arrangement with Weigong Shilang was much the same: both planned to return only after the venue was set up. But among these Type-Moon spirits were Old Lu and Lu Mingze.

"I've always wanted to come to this land full of beautiful girls—every day I stay less is a loss."

Old Lu, excited, glanced at Watanabe Mino's hair color and hat and said, "Magisa! I've admired you for a long time—pleased to meet you!"

"."

The worst thing is when the air suddenly falls silent.

Old Lu was a mood-killer, utterly ignoring the surrounding stares, making a mistaken confession with the wrong name.

"That's Watanabe Mino."

Lu Mingfei suppressed the urge to let out a long, skyward sigh.

"Isn't she in the Moon Capital?" Old Lu asked, astonished.

"The incident with Su Tianfu and Princess Hui Liyi has blown up—the Moon King sent them to bring Su Tianfu back to the Moon Capital as his son-in-law."

Said the Moon-dweller possessing Zhao Lei.

Su Lin: "Huowang."

"Fuck the Dao of Oblivion!" Li Huowang understood instantly.

He delivered a flying kick to the Moon-dweller, then brutally beat him with a bench materialized from primordial qi—by the force, it clearly carried personal grudges.

"I knew you were a purebred Mongolian stallion too," Old Lu teased, then suddenly fell silent.

Because he saw Hui Liyi holding a small notebook toward Su Lin, on which was written: 【My family is coming to take me back. If I don't go, I'll drag Su Lingsama down with me.】

Those ink-black eyes reflected the sunlight.

She tilted her head, staring at Su Lin, a strand of jet-black hair falling from her ear.

Old Lu's smile vanished; his gaze grew hollow, as if his spirit had wandered far away, frozen in place.

Even though "Hui Liyi" stood right there, dressed in a bridal gown, beside Lu Mingfei, he couldn't tear his eyes away from this clumsy, deliberate joke.

"Take her and run," Old Lu opened his mouth. He felt as if he'd returned to the bravest moment of his life—but then he snapped out of this absurd déjà vu, his enthusiasm gone, and said:

"You don't need to run. You can cut straight to her homeland and make Tsukuyomi understand who rules the Fantasy Realm."

"You can run too—take her on a grand escape beneath the moonlight."

"Brothers, you're all lucky. All choices rest in your hands—you have enough time to waste, to squander opportunity after opportunity."

His gaze swept over the group, finally settling on Lu Mingfei and Hui Liyi.

Did your little era's youthful pain flare up again?

Su Lin should've greeted him with that—but now he stared expressionlessly at the young man before him, who looked exactly like Lu Mingfei but was even more carefree.

Old Lu's face broke into a faint smile: "I've come today to deliver your wedding gift."

"You can give the gift later—it's not even time yet," Lu Mingfei's tone shifted slightly, a flicker of panic in his eyes: "Let's talk in two days."

"I'm not suited to appear in that scene," Old Lu fumbled through his clothes again.

"Lu Mingze, I didn't bring my phone."

"I have one, Brother," Lu Mingze smiled silently, pulling out a pure-black N96 phone and playing the song "Love Story Suddenly Happens" by Kazumasa Oda.

"Finally willing to call me Brother?" Old Lu was surprised.

"I have to give you some comfort," Lu Mingze smiled faintly. "Like a stray dog on the street—you can't adopt it, but you still feel pity."

"You little shit."

Old Lu pulled from the void a book entirely crimson, its cover inscribed in silver characters: 【The River of Nancy】.

It was a tool Su Lin had purchased long ago from the System Store, its effect: temporal stasis.

"The item's decent—an absolute godsend for someone clinging to life—but otherwise, it's useless."

"Sorry, Old Su, but you'll have to make him pay."

Those hands didn't pause a moment—just a slight tug, and the book tore into shreds. The petals swirling around instantly froze, then, carried by the translucent crimson light born from the fragments, were swept upward into the sky.

【Don't know where to begin—time slips away silently.】

"Sakura?" Hui Liyi reached out toward Old Lu's thin, translucent figure, helplessly glancing at Lu Mingfei beside her.

"Are you crazy?!" Lu Mingfei rushed forward.

But he realized he had no power to act—his eyes instinctively turned to Su Lin, pleading: "Su—"

"Coward! Look over here!!!"

The Horned Sihou's roar carried release—those golden eyes, ignited beyond the radiance of the sun, locked unblinkingly onto Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei froze, all sound filtered away. A chill touched his nose—he looked up at the rain-slicked sky.

His mind "remembered" the wine cellar, "remembered" the call log, "remembered" that rainy night—the past that bound all timelines, yet remained forever unrelenting.

It was the bravest day of his life—not because he was cornered, but because he dared to run away with a yakuza heiress, while being hunted across all Tokyo.

It was the most cowardly choice he ever made: he should've traded a quarter of his life for power, yet foolishly believed she'd boarded a flight to Korea, naively thinking someone else would handle the disaster—yet everyone had bet everything on him!

Do you love that girl enough to die for her? Maybe not.

But memories ferment with time.

Those wounds, those lost souls, that red leather suitcase filled with "Lu Mingfei" belonging to Hui Liyi, the tango danced by Zero and Renata.

The Wang Zuo remained cold, hard, and unforgiving—but a false softness lingered in his arms.

"I should've died long ago—with all of them, all the sacrifices—in that Antarctic ice tomb!"

The scaled, barely human shape before him whispered: "I can always ask others for help, beg for pity—I have nothing. But you… you're stronger than me."

"Still possess all of this."

"You said before that one day you would help me change the ending of the story?"

"Wake up—the false ending must vanish, becoming nourishment for the true one. Lu Mingze was right: I am nothing but fragments stitched together after countless rewinds."

Rain filled heaven and earth; white threads blanketed everywhere. The rain washed the blood from the ground, as a fearsome black dragon opened its golden dragon eyes, fixing them tightly on that youthful, slightly vacant face.

"There cannot be two Lu Mingfes at Hui Liyi's wedding. I do not need your pity."

The black dragon held out a golden sphere engraved with a dragon pattern before Lu Mingfei: "You are me."

The vermilion torii cut the sky's scenery into fragments; the hanging shimenawa swayed gently in the wind.

Tiny Spiritlight Grass sprouted from the cracks in the surrounding stone steps, blooming and withering along the path of the shrine maiden's broom.

"A person's anniversary of death cannot fall on the same day as a great joy," Lu Mingze paused his phone's playback, gazing at the golden cocoon, and whispered: "Good night, brother."

The cocoon emitted a heartbeat moments later, then swiftly split open before all eyes—he watched Lu Mingfei step out, his upper body branded with the golden mark of the World Tree.

After a moment, a heartbeat came from the silk cocoon, and right before everyone's eyes it quickly split open, and he watched Lu Mingfei walk out, the upper half of his body branded with the mark of a golden World Tree.

"Good morning, Brother."