The infinite sword system has been mastered, and you say this is the dragon clan?

Chapter 461 My lord, it's getting cold, please put on a yellow robe!
When the words were spoken, the entire workshop space fell silent.

Beyond the glowing text recording panel, the room was shrouded in darkness, as if a giant, dark night net had enveloped the surroundings. In the vast workshop, almost all that could be heard were the faint sounds of the three people breathing in and out of their nostrils.

Old Tang swallowed hard and couldn't help but ask, "To be honest, I don't quite understand. This workshop is pitch black. Can't we just turn on a couple more lights?"

Every time, he would inadvertently recall the days when he lived in Brooklyn and watched pirated movies. The villains' meetings were always held in the same dark and mysterious environment... That clever director probably thought that this would highlight the villains' mystery and danger, but who actually does that in real life? Could it be to save a couple of kilowatt-hours of electricity?
Caesar glanced at him—the light was too dim, and Old Tang only felt the director's breathing become slightly heavier—he cleared his throat before speaking:

"After all, we've been out of contact with the Hidden Ones platform for a long time, so we have to consider whether our communications have alerted the Alien Gods. We're communicating here because this workshop has a very high level of security."

"In its initial design, in order to enhance protection, no pipes, wires, or circuits were allowed to be connected or buried within three meters of the wall surface and even the surrounding walls."

"Later, I examined the overall layout of Chaldea and concluded that while the design appeared safe, it was actually more likely to attract attention. Therefore, I arranged for Leonardo da Vinci and other leading researchers to use a matrix arrangement combining magic and alchemy to surround the area, which served functions such as camouflage, shielding, and interference."

"Of course, nothing is foolproof, and overly meticulous security measures can also make electrical appliance installation difficult."

After listening, Old Tang clapped his hands, his tone exaggerated like a stand-up comedian, "Good heavens, a locked room! It reminds me of the perfect, eerie crime scene in detective novels! No wonder you're the station chief, you really have the right atmosphere!"

"?" Caesar frowned, feeling that this was not a compliment but rather a sarcastic remark.

"...Your flattery has completely backfired," Su Xiaoqiang rolled her eyes at Old Tang. Does this guy even know how to talk? Is his smooth life all thanks to clinging to Emiya's coattails and currying favor?
She crossed her legs, flicked her wrist to clip her small belongings to the edge of the table with a small clip, and pressed a button. A bright white light shone directly onto Old Tang's long face. "A low-powered desk lamp. Didn't you think it was too dim? Just make do with it."

"Alright, thank you for your generosity, heroine!"

Old Tang's eyes were suddenly blinded by the light, and he quickly shook his head to avoid the glare. "Let's get back to the main topic. What exactly does Charlotte's intermittent message mean?"

Su Xiaoqiang answered quickly and accurately this time, "The key point should be on the 'substitution of human reason and supernatural phenomena'. My teacher and I have tried to study and explore this using data from the 'Tokyo Singularity', especially the data from the 'Root of Fantasy'."

Caesar said, "I remember... when Ashiya Dōman was the first apostle, his method was to use the Tokyo Holy Grail War to build the 'Impure Land Castle,' sacrificing everything that distorted the ley lines to create the Root of Illusion."

"Well, as things stand, the aliens' cultivation techniques seem to be more refined now, even skipping the steps of controlling the Holy Grail and ley lines. Fortunately, my teacher summarized a lot of theories when the Imaginary Tree was still in its infancy..."

Su Xiaoqiang was frustrated by her own stuttering. When she explained to Caesar, she faced the same dilemma as Lao Tang—how to explain things to a non-technical person.

"Yes, let's understand it according to the Nibelungian template—"

"cough!"

Old Tang almost lost his composure when he heard this opening. He had previously explained the mythological ritual to Caesar using the observer effect from quantum theory, giving the director the illusion that everything was observable.

This time, Su Xiaoqiang started using Nibelung roots to explain the Imaginary Tree.

Damn, you didn't interpret this as 'the world is a giant Nibelungen', did you?
"Hmm?" Su Xiaoqiang turned to look at this idiot. What's wrong with him now?

"It's okay, I just choked on my own saliva. You can continue, you can continue."

"Okay, in layman's terms, Nibelungen is a kind of alternate dimension constructed by dragons, hidden in another dimension. Many cultures around the world have legends of 'suddenly disappeared ancient civilizations,' such as Atlantis, Remuria, and Mu, which cannot be found on the current map of Earth because they are hidden in Nibelungen."

Sure enough, Su Xiaoqiang's next sentence was exactly what Lao Tang had predicted:

"So, Director, you can think of the Fairy Kingdom as a lost ancient civilization, and the Lostbelt as a large, hidden Nibelungen! There are seven such Nibelungens! Similarly, singularities, as abnormally distorted historical timelines, can also be considered as Nibelungens hidden at different time coordinates!"

Caesar rubbed his temples, feeling a bit overwhelmed. He remembered that according to Old Tang's explanation, the Demon Pillars interfered with history and created distortions through the numerous eyeballs on their bodies, based on the observer effect. But Su Xiaoqiang had described it as the Nibelungen...

That's amazing! It turns out that science and magic have the same goal, right?
"Let's move on to deciphering the message Charlotte left behind."

"In fact, once you understand Nibelungen, it's not hard to understand the Lostbelt phenomenon. The alien god's actions this time are very likely to erode reality through the Imaginary Tree."

Su Xiaoqiang gestured briefly, "It's like how humans or other things chosen by the Nibelungen are silently teleported into the Nibelungen's territory, and conversely—"

Caesar immediately chimed in, "Things within the Nibelungen can also be sent outside; this manifests as an erosion of reality!"

"It might not be something concrete, it could be some random metaphysical laws. When the teacher talked about the Fairy Kingdom, she repeatedly mentioned 'calamity.' I guess this Lostbelt invasion will send some terrible and troublesome phenomena from there to the outside world."

With his confusion somewhat resolved, Caesar's brow relaxed a little. "But she also seemed to have mentioned 'the substitution of human reason and supernatural phenomena'? Substitution is...?"

"It's very simple, a literal substitution. Nibelungen... I mean Lostbelt. If things inside are sent out, then things outside can naturally be sent in as well. The manifestation of this is substitution."

Old Tang's face showed difficulty upon hearing this. "It sounds outrageous. It seems the situation in Britain is more serious than we imagined. Moreover, our personnel might encounter very unfavorable circumstances and troubles when they arrive..."

Caesar folded his hands to conceal his expression. "Besides, the alien god suddenly made a move, and there's the future of world destruction... I don't believe this is a coincidence. That old guy must be plotting against our Chaldea."

Su Xiaoqiang brushed a few strands of hair that had fallen across her cheek behind her ear, blinked, and said, "Speaking of which, I remember that Emiya and the others were almost finished with their work on conquering the previous singularity? They should be back by now, but it seems like they're currently doing..."

Caesar raised an eyebrow. "It's not that there's anything I can't say, because this singularity actually evolved from a Nibelungen, and they seem to be planning to repair it and bring that alternate dimension back. What? Aren't you from the front lines? Why are you suddenly interested in this?"

Old Tang, quick-witted, punched one hand with his other, immediately grasping the deeper meaning, and his long, comical face contorted in a funny expression:

"Hehe! I completely understand now, Miss Su, you've got your eye on my good brother Emiya. Well, it's normal to start having romantic feelings at this age, and it just so happens that you have a lot of research on Charlotte that can be helpful in the recent events in Britain, hehe! If you're asking me, I'm not entirely unwilling to swallow my pride and beg Brother Emiya to add an extra spot to the front-line team—hiss!"

Old Tang's lewd smile quickly faded, his features contorting into a pained expression.

Su Xiaoqiang silently withdrew the kick she had just delivered, maintaining her capable and composed demeanor as she calmly said, "You're overthinking it. I just heard similar rumors in the Chaldea research group and felt that we could use the Nibelungen we obtained in this package to come up with a good contingency plan when dealing with the British incident."

"A contingency plan? What do you mean?" Caesar didn't even glance at the silently groaning Old Tang; he really couldn't comment on this idiot's outburst.

"Just like the Nibelungen theory I explained before, their Lostbelts are eroding reality, and we're also bringing an alternate dimension to conduct countermeasures. But we haven't figured out the specific actions yet; we'll only be able to determine them once we get to Britain." Su Xiaoqiang's words were impeccable and seamless, displaying a completely businesslike attitude and leaving no room for personal desires.

Caesar gave her a scrutinizing look, but said nothing more. “Alright, write an application, and I’ll give it special approval for you. I’ll have Emiya review it when he gets back.”

Su Xiaoqiang nodded, and a smile finally appeared on her alluring face in the darkness.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Knock knock knock~! Congratulations on your fortune! Congratulations on your wonderful day~!" "Good luck, I wish you good luck!"

As Emiya got off the train at Shadow Border and reached out to lift the wide-eyed, curious Sesshouin Lily off the train, he heard various festive songs playing loudly in the Servant compartment behind him, the volume of which was deafening.

"I was wondering why Andy Lau's digital life account was unfrozen before the New Year?"

Upon hearing this, BB immediately floated out, "What? Chaldea has this kind of AI?"

Sesshouin Lily listened, confused, "What is digital life?"

Emiya, with a straight face, spouted nonsense: "Digital life forms are those cyber immortal beings. Once certain conditions are met, they are unsealed and spread into reality as memes, causing large-scale meme contamination through human-to-human transmission."

"How terrifying!" Sesshouin Lily exclaimed in horror.

BB was speechless. "The memes you're talking about... you don't mean...?"

"May you be happy and prosperous."

Nuwa jumped down as well, laughing so hard she almost bent over. "Who doesn't say a few auspicious words when offering New Year's greetings? The way you explained it, you might scare Lily!"

Emiya chuckled twice, patted Sesshouin Lily's head, and the little girl, realizing she'd been tricked, puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

He changed the subject, "So, what kind of festive event are those Servants putting on?"

"There's no show, they just want to get some good luck! They want to try their luck with the superstition before drawing cards." This time, it was Nono who jumped down, followed by Erii humming the tune of "Gong Xi Fa Cai" behind her.

"Draw a card?"

"Don't tell me you forgot, those events held during the singularity also accumulate points that can be used by Servants to redeem goods and participate in lotteries."

"Oh, that's true. I remember that headquarters was responsible for compiling the information and reporting it to Su Enxi and the finance department to prepare the prize pool items!"

Emiya scratched the back of his head, then realized something was amiss—wait, Chaldea is so quiet. Last time he returned, there was a grand triumphal ceremony. Is Caesar not going to do it this time?

"Oh dear, Director Caesar, that's a bit rude! Lord Emiya is a great hero who repaired the Singularity and successfully brought the entire world back. With a single command, he can command 100,000 Servants to expand his territory! How dare he be treated so coldly! Those scoundrels are incompetent and immoral, yet they have usurped the position of Director!"

Plerati darted to Emiya's side with cat-like steps, her voice high-pitched, and a yellow robe suddenly appeared in her hand. "Lord Emiya, it's getting cold, you should put this on—"

"?"

Emiya stared wide-eyed at Plerati. "You dare to make me take on that hot potato? What kind of position is the Director of Chaldea? Will I have to work overtime every day like him? I knew you, you dark magician, had no good intentions!"
"Thank you, I don't feel cold. Tone down your act. Our Chaldea surveillance system is very comprehensive, and we don't have female judges. Plerati, you'll be invited for tea if you deliberately provoke internal conflicts like this."

Plerati grinned, seemingly unfazed, and asked, "What kind of tea would you like?"

"Major inspection."

Emiya kicked her away, and Nuwa, who was beside him, understood. She snapped her fingers twice, and the outspoken black magician was hoisted into the air by long chains made of pure elements.

Plerati was tightly bound in mid-air by the long chains that seemed to be constructed of solidified flames. Her gothic skirt, which initially tried to droop, was then wrapped and tightened by the ropes, almost binding her like a dumpling. The fact that she could fully experience the burning sensation without suffering burns speaks volumes about Nuwa's skill.

However, Plerati is good at playing the victim, exclaiming, "Ahhh, it's so hot!"

Erii shook her head upon hearing this, and casually added, "Damn it!"

"Wow!" Sesshouin Lily's face flushed red, her large eyes fixed on Prierati's flushed and pained expression as she was tightly bound. How stimulating! This method of punishing someone with a long weapon...

Then Nono covered his eyes.

"Children shouldn't watch too much."

"why?"

"That weird auntie is mentally unstable; she can't stand not saying weird things. Little Lily, don't imitate her."

"Lily wouldn't do that! Even Emiya-nii praised her, Lily is really good with words!"

"……what?"

"Lily wasn't lying. Lily is a great conversationalist and has a sweet tongue. What happened to Sister Nuonuo?"

"That's okay."

Emiya watched with amusement as Prieratti, suspended in mid-air, was sent by Nuwa to the magician's workshop. After taking only a few steps, he turned around and was greeted by Caesar, Old Tang, and... uh? Su Xiaoqiang's group?
Old Tang leaped forward, shouting, "...You're finally back! My good brother, no, we all welcome Lord Emiya's triumphant return!"

Emiya froze, glancing at Prierati, who hadn't yet flown back to the workshop. "You two's crazy moments happened at the same time?"
(End of this chapter)