Chapter 1529

NO．144：Turned into a Mess

At the same time, the control room of the Grand Puppet Theatre.

「Don't act rashly, musician. 」

Flying knives, sharp and slender throwing weapons, can also serve as blades themselves, were pinched between the man's fingers and hung on the neck of the black-haired angel trying to pull the lever.

「You're dragging unrelated people into this, playwright. 」

The threatened angel remained calm, voice steady, gaze sweeping over those coworkers who were looking this way but had no intention of lending a hand; unsurprisingly.

The professional atmosphere of the Granjaniere Theatre usually splits into two phases: one is harmonious during off-hours, the other is colluding in wrongdoing during work periods.

But there are neutral people like Arturo who neither fit in nor have their own faction; however, neutral folks also won't lend a hand, everyone is an island unto themselves, not worrying about being drowned by the ebb and flow.

Unless an accident like this occurs now.

「You blocked my permission? 」

The lever was yanked down by the black-haired angel acting headstrong, yet the figure in the image wasn't immediately logged off; witnessing this, the angel's voice remained quite gentle.

The owl-faced man was the same, merely beneath his calm lay a hint of chaos.

「Heh, what permission do you think you have, musician? 」

「Is it the permission to create? Or to display creation? In such a world, what unrealistic development are you expecting? 」

Sizzle!!

The result of friction between the bow and blade should be obvious, but the successive sparks flying up clearly indicate the fact that the weapons are evenly matched.

Meanwhile, with the string tone pressed by the fingertips, the owl-faced playwright, with astonishing agility, backflipped to increase distance; the flying knives between his fingers revealed then concealed, only tilting his head upon landing.

「Hmm, like that. 」

Having seemingly reached some conclusion, his words made Arturo instinctively turn his head to the screen, where he saw that the scene formerly showing four women facing off against one man had now become a chaotic battlefield of flames and blade light intertwined.

「Looks like I guessed wrong. 」 the playwright said lightly.

「What do you mean? 」 the musician asked.

Once the note is pulled, the turbid emotions naturally flow into the heart; the musician had long grown accustomed to calling the playwright a bird-person while keeping distance, but only during work hours would she, as before, address him by the title 'playwright'.

Because only during work hours are everyone truly professionals.

Professional, focused, earnest, and able to offer profound insights from each's distinct sharp angle; this often includes value she cannot ignore.

「That man probably doesn't like fairy tales, nor does he have that guy's indulgent desires. 」

「I really can't be bothered to ask who 'that guy' refers to, but if you want to include us employees in the drama, shouldn't you also consider federal law and give us a relatively respectful development? 」 Looking at the screen showing himself and other faces, Arturo picked up his cello again and placed the bow on it.

Arguing with this bird-person is pointless, and destroying the stage isn't what I want; better to simply use the most sincere music to show apology and sincerity.

「Of course there is, look, now you all are those twisted beasts, 」 as the playwright's words went, the faces on the screen one by one swelled, burst their original skins, becoming the new monsters awaiting beside the wantonly destructive ominous giant, 「This is my deconstruction of that man's inner beast; your part is the mirror, musician. 」

「Should I thank you for giving me this role? 」 Arturo raised an eyebrow, also in these words catching the relaxing background tone, instantly the music displayed replaced the AI, yet also turned those devil-whisper-like shifting notes into thunder like an earthquake tremor.

As if flying swiftly.

At this moment, all the staff in the control room, within themselves that were already trembling nonstop in work, felt a surge of vibrating shock.

That vibration echoed in their hearts, making countless staff manipulating the 'puppets' even more frenzied, even starting to howl and roar, causing the playwright to unconsciously shake his head, a patch of downy feathers trembling.

「Crazy, crazy, coo-coo. There's a pigeon, a black pigeon, a hateful pigeon bringing countless sorrows, making the theater manager's soundproof devices for each post useless. 」

「But you love listening to these people's calls; the black joy stream is truly easy to distinguish from others. 」

Arturo, able to speak while playing the cello thanks to high-performance sound pickup, slightly closed his eyes, letting the gradually easing rhythm become even faster, letting the low-pitched melody shift from galloping toward unavoidable destruction.

From within that destruction, even the playwright seemed moved by the music, his owl-faced visage bent at 160° to gaze at the screen, muttering 'No, not enough, fundamentally unable to create the seeds of fear; the difficulty should be increased.'

His attention remained on the test version of the drama, though this demand might be too strict, after all the testers they welcomed were a group of pure monsters.

"——" Means just a dash line. We'll output "【38】 ——". Keep same.

As shown above.

For a long time, monster bodies driven by human hearts have rarely had the chance to truly be implanted with a beast's heart.

But then, the outcome of this drama would only have one possibility.

——A shift to beast-fighting tokusatsu.

The colossal feathered serpent, the roaring demon, the huge lion statue...

Although letting a tiger ride a lion-type monster seems somewhat humorous, the falling flower water monster that had been active in the hands of Gui She, Aomo, the badger, and monster-user Apon: Burbainde, is indeed the most suitable monster for the badger at present.

Unlike the sorrow-and-joy monster that can only forcibly control everyone including itself, and unlike the ever-changing monster that, although having a mechanism (turning 3D objects into 2D planes) and strength (having electric drills and spikes), still lacks the cathartic release.

Burbainde, as a lion-type giant idol modeled after King Qiangbo, focuses on destructive power and dual control.

Although a certain mascot is not a monster-user, Apon and Aomo have both shown that with high purity, one person can reach the upper limit of control; now, the badger, whose pent-up resentment is fully released under the music, infinitely approaches the realm those two once had, while also giving the equally frantic teammate at this moment a self-made control lever.

This is enough.

Because whether it's the badger or Bixiketuxe·Shihuaiya, the emotions repressed deep inside are the same.

One is someone without a past, only the present; their life since memory has unconsciously been half-involved by someone else, and they have too much idle time to think about their relationship with that person.

One is someone who has long been busy to the point of not being supposed to think about those things, especially during work hours; even a momentary distraction must be quickly suppressed, lest it affect work efficiency, and even more so to avoid causing subordinates and innocents to suffer.

Their confusion, repression, and the resentment released from having no progress in reality, truly is a thoroughgoing destructive desire.

What is wanted is to vent the pent-up feelings in the chest!

What is wanted is the wide-area bombardment of resentment!

What is wanted is the public broadcast of grievances!

But at that moment when even someone supporting their forehead goes blank, there is still a heavyweight called Hol Haiya.

Even Aomo never imagined, she manifested in the form of that colossal feathered serpent not to destroy, but to bind her newly completed Niji Kalisis with her astonishing length of over a hundred meters.

Like twisting, like glue.

And that same voice emitted over the public channel, carrying obvious urgency, faint desire, and unfathomable defiance of heaven.

It's a bit too heaven-defying...

Hearing those words that made one wonder if they were ambiguous, the Rainbow Snake God, who had already endured plenty of harassment, didn't think it was ambiguous at all—just, with a sweaty‑soybean expression, it ripped off that massive ASMR generator.

For Nikajalis, who already had maxed-out brute strength, this wasn't difficult; although it would hurt the opponent, the biggest advantage of this monster transformation for Aomo was precisely not having to worry about whether the opponent would get hurt.

Even if you unleash a transformation, you won't die—unless you still remember to finish the blow.

So Aomo, who had been extremely restrained in previous moves, could instead launch a heavy punch in this monster stage—of course, the main major factor was still that the Dance Typhoon had changed.

Not only did the associated monster of the Month-chi Symbol appear, but the musical style also shifted—Tianlangxing, Xiqi Feng, and Feidelike, whose directions had previously been consistent, now showed an obvious turn.

On the contrary, Shihuaiya, He, and Huoerhaiya showed no change in direction before and after the musical shift; they only became more intense, leaving him somewhat silent.

All that can be said is that it's a very complicated unexpected gain, making him somewhat hesitant about whether to save it for later or deal with it now; even pulling off the feathered snake on his body and throwing it away, he couldn't help but add, "We'll talk about it later."

Without a doubt, if this is the result of Miss Aertuluo's full exertion, then he indeed shouldn't bring out the previously perfunctory attitude toward Tianlangxing.

Moreover, the Hei'an Lujiai'er driven by Tianlangxing, although it fought alongside the Hei'an Zha ji—though the latter is merely a simulated illusion and its strength differs greatly from the real body—the former still shows a clear disadvantage… logically, he should help.

But he originally came to observe the psychological changes of the Month-chi Symbol and gather information along the way; jumping straight into battle is putting the cart before the horse.

On the contrary, Tianlangxing's impulsive sortie… isn't a hindrance; rather, it's a nice provocation.

Because that simulated illusion was giving her feedback.

That feedback was even somewhat intense; the angry words mixed into the killing‑intent‑filled assault and roars could truly be called an unexpected delight.

And Tianlangxing's equally killing‑intent‑filled response is also why Aomo hesitates.

This might be her own battle.

It is where her unresolved heart‑knot lies, untouched by herself, and also the continuation of that unfinished battle.

Either I help her after she falls into a complete disadvantage, or I merely ensure she survives so she can fight to the end……

Choosing which side requires further observation before a conclusion can be drawn, but right now the feathered snake incessantly twining around the armor and neck, rubbing the sideburns, is also a problem, making it indeed inconvenient for him to lend immediate support.

What the heck is all this…… When he tries to think like that, he also ends up recalling something.

He had indeed entrusted two people to act if he lost contact, and regardless of why there are now three, he's indeed shooting himself in the foot.

Actual karmic retribution.