They won the Holy Grail War, but this turned out to be the Virtual Tree Universe.

Chapter 316 Everyone Wants to Be the Mantis Stalker
Dan Lei's meaning was simple: if you don't cooperate, you're the enemy; I'll eliminate you and find someone who's obedient to cooperate with.

This statement could be considered a threat, but it was a necessary one.

Danlei had no contact with Sunday and Gophermus, nor did they have enough trust in each other, so they had no reason to follow Danlei's ideas in their plans.

Because everything Dan Lei promised was verbal, neither of them had any real sense of the Holy Grail's power.

Therefore, if Danlei doesn't want to get into a tug-of-war with Sunday and Gofemu, he has to use both the carrot and the stick.

Let them understand that if they don't cooperate, things will turn sour.

A plan that carries some risk, but if it yields results, the outcome will be better than the original plan.

A path taken in the name of dignity, yet almost inevitably leading to the failure of a grand plan and displacement.

The choice between the two is obvious to both Sunday and Gopher.

Of course, Sunday and Gopher Wood did not want to relinquish the initiative so easily, so the matter still needed to be discussed.

Gopher's Shadow Night Thrush clone jumped from Sunday's shoulder onto the table in front of Dan Lei and said...

"Mr. Danlei, please don't misunderstand, we naturally hope to cooperate with you."

Your arrival fills the gap in our lack of high-end combat power and provides a better solution. We have no reason to refuse.

However, the resurrection of the Star God of Order is the culmination of a thousand years of planning and effort by our Oak family. You are asking us to implement your plan based solely on a scheme we cannot verify; this makes us extremely uneasy.

Gopher is actually stalling for time by questioning the effectiveness of the Holy Grail.

As Dan Lei just mentioned, the plan clearly states that the Holy Grail requires a large amount of Pinocchio's willpower to be officially activated, which is obviously not something that can be done in a short time.

Dan Lei knew that if Sunday and Gopher wouldn't get a taste of the good fortune, they wouldn't really bet on the Holy Grail.

To be precise, given this semi-threatening cooperation, it's inevitable that they'll have one set of rules openly and another behind the scenes.

However, for Danlei, as long as he grasps one thing, no matter how much Sunday and Gofemu jump, they can't escape his grasp.

Therefore, in response to Gopherwood's doubts, Danlei smiled and said

“Mr. Gopher, I do need to answer your concerns.”

You will naturally want to verify the efficacy of the Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail has been initially activated, and the wish power collection mode has been initiated. Only a portion of the wish power is needed.

No human sacrifice is needed; only 107,336 steadfast believers praying to the Holy Grail are required.

Dan Lei accurately stated the number 107,336, and Gopher Wood only turned into a bird, otherwise his expression would have been quite something.

To know how many followers of the Pinocchio Oak lineage are, is a secret even Sunday doesn't know.

As one of the five major families of Pinocchio, the Oak family is very large, managing the entire planet, with more than 107,336 people in total.

Therefore, after the gopher wood was sacrificed and the robin was captured on Sunday, the robin had to immediately take its place.

Otherwise, the oak family line would soon fall apart.

These 107,336 people are all Order followers secretly developed by Gopher, and only he himself knows the exact number.

Now that Danlei has accurately reported the numbers, it proves that Danlei has locked onto all of Pinocone's followers of Order.

And it was done within a single day.

If it weren't for the fact that only he knew the detailed list of Order Followers in the Oak family, Gopher would have suspected there was a traitor within their ranks.

Just as Danlei predicted, it doesn't matter who the tuner who harmonizes the souls is, the embryo that carries the star god.

As long as the rank is high enough, anyone can be replaced.

This is also why, in the game's storyline, Gopher didn't object to the temporary change of tuner on Sunday, replacing the robin with himself, but instead decisively sacrificed himself.

The most important thing in resurrecting the Star God of Order is these 107,336 souls with unwavering faith.

By identifying these individuals, Dan Lei essentially seized the Achilles' heel of the Pinocchio Order.

Knowing that Danlei had grasped his weakness, Gofemu knew he could no longer refuse Danlei's decision to merely ask for a wish, and could only say...
"Understood, Mr. Danlei. Please hand over the Holy Grail to me."

I will place it in the Pinocchio Cathedral tomorrow so that the faithful can pray to it.

Danlei had no objection to handing over the Holy Grail. He had already secretly marked the Holy Grail with his own mark. If Gopher and Sunday dared to play any tricks, he would immediately turn on them and force them to summon the Qixiang Choir for a final gamble.

Anyway, the outcome won't change. Huang Quan can sever the dream of order, and I will also use Tirnan's bullet relic. Then we can face off head-on.

For Dan Lei, as long as the 107,336 steadfast believers poured their prayers into the Holy Grail, the plan would be 80% successful.

The miraculous power of the Holy Grail is real; Gopher and Sunday will naturally make the right choice.

Moreover, by then, they won't be able to betray Danlei using the original plan to summon the Qixiang Choir.

Once the power of order enters the Holy Grail along with faith, it is transformed by the power of destiny, just as the Holy Grail carrying Danlei out of the Root was transformed into the Spirit of Memory by the Star God of Memory.

At that time, the Holy Grail will also exhibit the characteristics of order.

After all, it's a consensus in the Type-Moon universe that the Holy Grail is easily influenced by other forces; An Angola Mainyu alone could turn the Holy Grail into the Black Grail.

It's perfectly normal for the power of order to transform this Holy Grail into the Holy Grail of Order.

Given the restrictive nature of order, if these 107,336 believers wanted to sacrifice anything else, their souls would likely be intercepted by the Holy Grail halfway through.

So Danlei manipulated the surrounding memory matter to lift the Holy Grail and present it to Sunday, then smiled.
"On Sunday, the Holy Grail will be entrusted to you for safekeeping for the time being."

By the way, make good use of the fact that this dream world is maintained by the star core; it's a great way to distract yourself.

Sunday and Gopherwood were already numb. Danlei already knew how many followers of the Oak Family Order were, so knowing that the dream was maintained by the Star Core was no longer important to him.

On Sunday, looking at the Holy Grail in his hand, out of curiosity, he asked a question unrelated to the collaboration.
"Mr. Danlei, how long have you been planning the order in Pinocene?"

The question on Sunday was meaningless; he had no way of verifying whether Danlei's answer was correct.

However, Dan Lei said this with a mix of truth and joking.
"It takes about four systems."

I'm not afraid to tell you, although I already knew through other channels that Pinocchio had remnants of the Order.

But at first I didn't know how things had developed.

I'm here for the Holy Grail in your hands, Pinocchio.

To be honest, I never expected that I would so easily obtain the Holy Grail from the Fool.

I only decided to help you guys after confirming that the Holy Grail's effects matched the legends.

Because there are many obstacles to resurrecting immortality, and the Holy Grail's appearance in Pinocchio was of an inappropriate place, I believe it was a sign of destiny.

Dan Lei's statement is true only in terms of planning and the Holy Grail being obtained from the Fool.

After all, Danlei never intended to resurrect the immortals, but rather to become the new immortals himself.

I gave two pieces of true information because if I went back on Sunday and carefully investigated Danlei's whereabouts, I would know that the incident at the World's End Bar couldn't be kept secret.

Therefore, Danlei spoke up in advance to avoid any unfounded thoughts after receiving the information on Sunday, which could affect the activation of the Holy Grail.

Sure enough, upon hearing on Sunday that Dan Lei's plan was just a last-minute arrangement, his distrust reached its peak, and he said seriously...
“Mr. Danlei, isn’t your plan, which only considers four systems, a bit too sloppy?”

In response to Sunday's criticism, Dan Lei simply smiled and replied, "Whether a plan is rigorous or not is never determined by the time spent thinking about it."

Instead, it depends on the completeness of the knowledge and intelligence accumulated for this plan.

Although I did not specifically accumulate knowledge or gather intelligence for this plan.

But what was needed had already been obtained through other means.

Therefore, four systems are sufficient.

It's like building a spaceship; you don't necessarily need to design the parts from scratch after you've already thought of the spaceship design.

Instead, readily available parts can be used. If enough parts are available, assembling a spaceship doesn't actually take much time.

Most importantly, you can judge for yourself whether this plan will work or not after activating the Holy Grail. Now the Holy Grail is in your hands, isn't it?

Dan Lei's words made Sunday frown, and he wanted to refute them on the spot.

However, Gopher Wood, being a seasoned veteran, had already seen through the situation.

The activation of the Holy Grail is inevitable and must be activated by the will of believers in Order.

Otherwise, you'll never get past Dan Lei.

There is room for maneuver only when the Holy Grail War and the stage of replenishing willpower are entered.

So, before Sunday could speak, Gopher immediately made the decision.

"Since Mr. Danlei says so, we are willing to believe you."

How is the contract signed? Do we need to prepare a contract document?

When the issue of Gopherwood arose, Danlei naturally responded by directly using the path-dependent self-mandated proof.

It stipulates the obligations and cooperation details that both parties need to fulfill.

In this contract, the specific operation of the Holy Grail is a matter for Gopher and Sunday.

For Danlei, all he needed to do was hand over the Holy Grail, ensure that it wouldn't cause trouble before the orderly fetus was complete, and protect the Holy Grail during the ritual.

Of course, Dan Lei specifically stated that he only guaranteed the successful birth of the Order Star God embryo into the Holy Grail, and made no other guarantees.

Gopher and Sunday had no objection to this, since it was unrealistic to expect Danlei to guarantee that the Star God of Order would be resurrected.

Their own plans couldn't guarantee the resurrection of the Star God of Order.

As for the person who finally signed the self-mandatory certificate with Danlei, it was naturally Sunday.

The Hidden Night Thrush, which Gopher Wood transformed into, was just an avatar, so signing a contract was completely useless.

Moreover, in Gopher's plan, the person chosen to summon the Qi Xiang Choir was the Robin, so he had no objection to signing this kind of soul contract with Dan Lei on Sunday.

Dan Lei knew that Robin would definitely not be sacrificed on Sunday, and that he would eventually control the Holy Grail, so he naturally wanted to sign a contract with him.

Danlei and Gofemu were of the same mind. Even if Zhou Ri was unwilling, he had no choice but to sign the self-mandatory certificate with Danlei, officially confirming their cooperation.

With the collaboration finalized, Danlei handed over the Grand Duke of Hellfire's Crown, which he had previously mentioned in a live stream, to Sunday, then left satisfied to enjoy himself at Golden Moment.

Gopher and Sunday returned to the Morning Dew Mansion.

In the empty council round table hall, Sunday spoke to Gopher, who was standing on the back of a chair.
"I still think that working with Danlei is too risky."

I feel he has ulterior motives and cannot be trusted.

On Sunday, Gopher did not deny Danlei's criticism, but he did say...

“My child, your judgment is correct.”

Everyone who comes to Pinocchio has a purpose, and this immortal dragon lord is clearly not entirely on the side of order.

But reality often doesn't go in the direction we correctly predict.

That immortal dragon lord has unknowingly discovered most of our plans. We are now at his mercy, with no room for negotiation.

Activating the Holy Grail in your hands is inevitable, but we still have room for maneuver in the subsequent Holy Grail War.

However, the next stage will be about responding to different situations and adapting accordingly, which will test our flexibility and resourcefulness.

Gopher's words silenced Sunday. He had no effective way to avoid Danlei's interference, so he couldn't refute them.

After failing to reach a conclusion, on Sunday, instead of addressing Danlei's question, they asked...
“Mr. Gopher, what’s the situation with Robin now? Danley gave her information that there’s something wrong with the Grand Theatre, and she will be launching an investigation soon.”

Gopher must consider Sunday's ideas regarding the robin's arrangements.

If you lay a hand on a robin, Sunday will definitely turn on you on the spot.

The robin's sense of security on Sunday must be higher than his belief in order.

So, Gopher answered
"We can only continue to keep it a secret from the robin, but since the trouble was caused by that dragon lord, let him solve it."

Our decision to place the Holy Grail at the Pinocchio Grand Theatre was intended to be public information.

Our task is to gather Pinocchio's wishes into the Holy Grail.

So let's treat the Holy Grail War as a preliminary selection event for this Sordar Hot Sands.

To make this Harmonious Music Ceremony even more lively, Danlei Longzun provided the family with an immortal treasure: a Holy Grail that can grant any wish.

The Holy Grail's wish-granting opportunity and the Crown of the Eternal Flame Mansion will be the rewards for this year's superstar. Let's use his reputation to generate buzz for the event.

And to distract those who had been led there by the watchmaker.

Upon hearing Gopher's words, Sunday's eyes lit up, and he smiled.
"This is indeed a good idea. The power of the Pinocchio Dreamer's will can effectively conceal other forces within."

Moreover, the company sent people here, which is a perfect opportunity to leverage Danlei's reputation to support us.

Seeing that Sunday was fine, Gophermu went along with what he said.

"That Dragon Lord probably never imagined that the person who would ultimately carry out the plan would not be you, but the robin."

If that Holy Grail really works, then following his plan isn't out of the question.

If it doesn't work, the fact that he signed a contract with you won't affect our plans.

In short, don't be fooled by his current swagger and his attempt to use our plan to help him achieve his goals.

In fact, on our territory, even a dragon has to lie down; we are the true masters.

Sunday did not refute Gopher's words, but simply murmured to himself.

"Yes, everyone wants to be the oriole, but someone has to be the cicada and the mantis, which is so unfair to both of them."

Only absolute order can solve this problem.

　It wasn't until Sunday, when he decided to personally summon Dominix, that he learned the number 107,336.

　　Because this is the number of souls to which he sacrificed his soul and merged into one.
　　On Sunday, Gopher addresses him as "Mr." and the two have a dialogue during the sacrifice storyline.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)