Quadruple split.

Chapter 2761 Interlude: Tenderness
Game time AM03:27
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"Sound and sound, sound and sound, sound and sound—!!!"

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Welcome back, Tanmo, the chaotic neutrality. You are about to enter the realm of innocence. Goodnight.

"Who is Tan Mo? Call me Big Flower Morning Glory!"

……

Blood Barbarian Territory, western part of the Steelmane Tribe Kingdom, in front of a certain village
"Oh dear, oh dear~ Oh dear, oh dear~"

Although he had just logged off, Mo Tan, who had just logged back in, licked the corner of his mouth and revealed a very exaggerated grin, which made Monica, who had just woken up from Sleeping Beauty, shiver and hug herself tightly in a strong chill as she grinned mischievously.

It has to be said, that was really bad.

"Hey Hey hey!"

Having become quite familiar with 'Tanmo', and having long since completely abandoned the notion that he was a noble person with a close personal relationship with His Highness the Regent, Monica Stewart now saw him entirely as a shameless pervert who had bound her to his side. Increasingly impolite, Ms. Stewart immediately floated back half a meter, asking with a frightened expression, "What's wrong with you?"

"He's having a serious attack!"

Mo Tan covered the lower half of her face, laughing so hard she was shaking (?), and said with great amusement, "I feel like I've discovered a lot of amazing things, tsk tsk, putting everything else aside, at least the entertainment value is absolutely off the charts."

Monica chuckled dryly and said irritably, "If you're not going to say something I can understand, then keep going crazy here. I'm going back to Sleeping Beauty to sleep."

"Oh dear, don't say that. Even if you slept to death in Sleeping Beauty, you would at most become a 'sleeping dead person' or a 'dead pig,' and it would be difficult for you to become a 'Sleeping Beauty' in the literal sense."

Mo Tan chuckled, then coughed lightly before Monica could return to the dagger to sulk. With a sly grin, he called out to his only confidante at this stage, saying, "In terms you can understand, I now have more than ten ways to play, and each way can lead to completely different results. There are even a few super hidden routes that could cause extreme consequences. You can imagine how exciting that is!"

Monica looked at Mo Tan expressionlessly: "For example?"

"For example, I can now change course and go directly to the Gray Plains, giving up on talking about dreams with those stupid, blind, herd-like, bandwagon-like, passionate, high-spirited, and parrot-like masses, and have some fun in that place that can be called the largest armory in the entire Blood Barbarian region."

Mo Tan flashed a smile that revealed eight teeth and said cheerfully, "There's something interesting hidden inside, and what's more, it seems to have a connection with both of us."

Monica paused for a moment, then asked in surprise, "The two of us? What about me?"

"I guess so. In short, it does provide me with a considerable amount of entertainment."

Mo Tan clicked her tongue, then changed the subject and shrugged, "It's a pity that going there is not cost-effective. After all, my time is limited. Although it's not impossible to sneak in legitimately, the preparation time would probably be quite long, and I've never been a particularly patient person, so... tsk, I'd better forget about it."

Monica, whose curiosity had just been piqued but was immediately dashed, gritted her teeth and barely managed to suppress the urge to swear. She asked irritably, "So?"

"So I'm considering whether I should just leave."

Mo Tan whistled and said with a playful smile, "You don't know this, but after all the trouble we went through, a certain high-ranking and influential guy here worked through the night to revise a series of plans, all to cooperate with that elusive 'Big Morning Glory,' who only leaves behind his deeds and no name. So here's the question: if I just quit and leave under these circumstances... what do you think the consequences would be?"

Monica shook her head indifferently: "Not interested, don't want to guess."

"Haha, hahahahaha, the consequence is that the guy who seems to be strategizing and winning battles might get so angry that he has a stroke."

After a sudden burst of maniacal laughter, Mo Tan exaggeratedly raised both fingers to his cheeks and said with a grin, "Don't you think this is the best prank ever?"

click-

Click! Click! Click!

"Ok?"

Not missing the seemingly illusory cracking sound beside her ear, Mo Tan shook her head cheerfully and said in a teasing tone, "Just kidding~ just kidding, I wouldn't be so hard on myself..."

Bah!
Unfortunately, he didn't finish speaking before he fell straight to the ground, slamming his entire body onto the ground. The instant Monica let out a soft cry, he turned into a white light and disappeared.

……

Game time AM03:43
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"..."

[Reconnection initiated, loading character information—]

Welcome back, Ink of Chaos and Evil, soon to be transported to the Realm of Innocence. Goodnight.

……

Onic City, Central Administrative District, The Sinful King's Mansion, Three-Story Study

"Ok?"

Despite having the largest room in the entire mansion, she mostly stayed in this study when she wasn't on missions, trying to dispel a lingering sense of loneliness amidst the unsettling atmosphere. The dark elf girl, with beautiful silver hair that was completely different from her in-game appearance and a cool demeanor, suddenly frowned slightly and turned to look at the shadows opposite the fireplace: "Are you alright?"

"..."

Having returned to the body named 'Mo' in the [Realm of Innocence], and increasingly referred to as the 'King of Sin' by many, the man who was the first to forget that he was once Mo Tan slowly opened his eyes, and after a long while, shook his head with an almost imperceptible movement.

"fine?"

The girl, who hadn't missed this small detail, put down the book of bard poems in her hand, walked slowly to the long table, met the eyes of the King of Sin sitting behind her, and stared into his abyss-like eyes as she asked, "Still not good?"

That's not something you should be concerned about.

Slightly tightening his cloak, named "Broken Cage," which was invisible to ordinary people, the Sin King casually shifted his gaze from the other party's blood-red eyes, and looked down at the intelligence summary on the table, which had been carefully organized by Gavin and then briefly filtered by the dark elf in front of him. He picked up a sheet at random, as if examining its contents.

"Something's wrong with you, Mo."

Although there was no evidence, Ji Xiaodao knew that the other party was not paying attention to the document at this moment. He stared at the King of Sin with a strong expression: "...Something is very wrong."

"Ah."

Surprisingly, the latter simply nodded and casually asked, "So?"

"So...you..."

Ji Xiaodao, who had expected the King of Sin to remain silent or force him to leave with a hostile attitude, paused for a moment before pursing his lips and finally asking seriously, "Would you like to rest for a bit?"

What am I even saying...?

The moment she finished speaking, the girl began to regret it.

however--

"it is good."

Completely to Ji Xiaodao's surprise, the King of Sin nodded and replied with that sentence, then closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Before Ji Xiaodao could speak, he said indifferently, "Get out."

"What do you mean?"

Ji Xiaodao's gaze sharpened slightly as she glared at the gloomy masked man in front of her, her tone unpleasant.

"I plan to take your advice and rest for a while."

The King of Sin did not open his eyes, but simply said, "So, get out."

"..."

Although he was very unhappy, Ji Xiaodao still glared at the King of Sin in the shadows behind the table before turning and leaving, at most conveying a little dissatisfaction by closing the door a little louder.

After all... there's also the possibility that only when you leave can that person truly rest and not have to plan or think about so many things.

"Humph."

After leaving the study, the girl went straight to the garden downstairs, sat on the bench with the best lighting, casually grabbed a docile [Sin Butterfly] and put it on her shoulder, letting out a snort of annoyance.

As the King of Sin's first 'traveling companion,' Ji Xiaodao knew very well how difficult his journey had been.

Admittedly, the somewhat complimentary word "not easy" seems incongruous when applied to that person, but it's the truth. Despite possessing bizarre, unpredictable, and powerful abilities—even capable of causing NPCs to be consumed by their own original sin and awaken into obedient servants or...partners—this path is still a tightrope walk where a single misstep could lead to utter ruin. Yet, he has walked this path, transforming himself from a solitary wanderer into the [King of Sin] he is today.

It was a cold and insane road built from countless schemes and plots, woven from countless dark conspiracies, and paved with tens of thousands of corpses.

This is by no means the right path, nor is it a path that deserves others' approval.

It is not a path that a gentle person should tread.

【……gentle?】

Ji Xiaodao paused for a moment, then chuckled self-deprecatingly and shook his head gently.

She didn't know why she thought of those two words at this moment, but she knew very well that there was probably no word in the world more unsuitable for that person than 'gentle'.

Moreover, she actually doesn't understand her own mindset and state of mind at this moment.

Stockholm syndrome? Or some other similar mental illness?

Ji Xiaodao had also wondered if she was suffering from this illness, but after a self-examination that was not professional but detailed enough, she quickly rejected this seemingly reliable conjecture.

There is nothing wrong with my mental state, or rather, the problem with me is not my so-called 'mental state'.

It wasn't a pathological loss of control, but something more abstract, something difficult to describe in words...

The only thing that's certain is that she has no intention of leaving this place.

In fact, deep down, Ji Xiaodao always harbored a faint, illogical sense of crisis, constantly reminding her that if she took a wrong step, everything would fall into an irreversible situation.

She ignored that sense of crisis without hesitation, constantly erasing it from her thoughts with the most indifferent attitude.

The reason is simple: the girl never considered herself a noble person, nor did she think she was the kind of person who could sacrifice herself for so-called "righteousness" and endure humiliation.

Therefore, she knew very well that the so-called sense of crisis was never the reason why she stayed here and ignored the well-intentioned advice of those madmen.

She knew even better that she wasn't staying here because of that 'King of Sin'.

She... did it all for herself.

For that 'peace of mind' that goes against the literal meaning, for that peace and tranquility that can be described as 'torture'.

Ji Xiaodao had no doubt that she was sick, but she was still unable to see the lesions on her body.

"What a terrible person."

She lowered her eyes, chuckled softly, and shook her head, having described herself in this way countless times.

but--

"What's absolutely terrible?"

A delicately sculpted, adorable face suddenly appeared in view. It was Wenqiu, who had somehow appeared online, staring intently at 'Sister Jidao' from close range, asking curiously, "Is that Brother Mo? Or Brother Lei? Sister Jiawen? Grandpa Merlin? Wenqiu?"

"Yes, all of them."

Ji Xiaodao gently poked Wenqiu's nose, revealing a smile that was both rare and incredibly beautiful, tinged with a faint sadness: "Everyone, including little Wenqiu, is in a terrible state."

"Waaaah! Sister Jidao is bullying me!"

The girl covered her nose and ran several meters away, then jogged back to Ji Xiaodao's side with a grin, sat down next to her on the bench, and said with a smile, "But what you said is true, everyone is really terrible, Wenqiu... well, although Wenqiu is super cute, she's also terrible!"

"That's what they say, but my sister was just complaining about herself."

Ji Xiaodao patted the girl's head and said softly, "I always feel that compared to you, my sister is worse off."

"is it?"

Wenqiu leaned against Ji Xiaodao, fiddling with the butterfly on the latter's shoulder while blinking her big, watery eyes: "But Wenqiu thinks that sister is amazing, not bad at all!"

"You have such a sweet tongue, child."

"Wenqiu is serious! Because you're different from us. We might have been bad people from the start, but you've never been a bad person."

"Even if it wasn't like that in the past, it is now."

"why?"

"Because I've always stood with you, haven't I?"

"What's the matter?"

"...It's nothing, I shouldn't have been telling you all this nonsense. Want some candy?"

"I want to eat! But can Qiu understand me? Does your sister think she's incredibly useless because she hasn't done anything?"

"...Who knows."

But Qiu thinks her older sister is amazing!

"Haha, is it a fight?"

"No, uh, although my sister is also very good at fighting, she's only second to Brother Mo and that big, dumb robot on the leaderboard."

"what is that?"

"That's because, well, because Brother Mo is so amazing!"

"What's it to him?"

"But if you're here, he... isn't that great!"

"...?"

"To make someone so powerful not so powerful, isn't your sister very powerful?"

"I don't understand..."

"Sister, haven't you always been gently accompanying Brother Mo, allowing him to always be a kind and gentle older brother to Wenqiu?"

"..."

"Without Sister Jidao, Brother Mo definitely wouldn't be the Brother Mo that Wenqiu likes so much!"

"..."

"He's sick, just like Wenqiu."

"..."

"But he can even laugh! He can joke with Arthur and conjure up beautiful butterflies to play with Wenqiu!"

"..."

Thank you so much.

"you……"

"Asking about Autumn?"

"Who is it!"

The next instant, a dark sword light shattered the tranquility of the garden.

Chapter 2752: The End