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

Chapter 322 The First Holy Grail War Begins!

Eriol gave the prophecy that the winner of the Holy Grail War would be Firefly, and Danlei believed it, though he still spoke to Firefly.

“I understand. However, I know that Eriol’s prophecy is a real possibility of the future, so Miss Firefly, you can’t rely too much on prophecy in this Holy Grail War.”

Liu Ying nodded in agreement with Dan Lei's words and replied...

"I understand. I will do everything in my power to win this Holy Grail War."

After all, I wanted to live, and I joined the Star Core Hunters in search of hope for survival.

Now that hope is before me, I will seize it with all my might.

As soon as Liu Ying finished speaking, she suddenly felt a burning pain in her left hand, and a Command Seal with flames below and a seedling above appeared on the back of her hand.

Upon seeing this, Dan Lei sighed with emotion.
"I didn't expect the Holy Grail to start choosing a master so quickly."

Are Command Seals seedlings growing in flames? That certainly suits your nature.

Liu Ying was still somewhat bewildered, staring at the back of her left hand. Hearing Dan Lei's words, she spoke in a daze, as if it were all unreal.
"I've already obtained the master qualification? According to the announcement, I still need to participate in a round of open selection to be selected as a master, right?"

But I've only submitted my application; I haven't even had a chance to participate in the preliminary rounds yet!

To this question, Dan Lei simply laughed.

"Firefly, there was never any preliminary selection process in the rules of the Holy Grail War."

Those were extra rules added by the five major factions to hype up the Holy Grail War.

After all, telling everyone right away that only a few people chosen by the Holy Grail can participate in the competition for the omnipotent wish-granting machine, and that others cannot participate, would greatly affect the popularity.

However, the Holy Grail itself does not endorse this rule, so it's best to ignore it.

As soon as Dan Lei finished speaking, as if to verify his words, a blood-red Command Seal appeared on the back of Dan Lei's left hand.

However, Danlei's Command Seals are standard Chaldea Command Seals. After all, Danlei also has a Grail memory within him, and the Command Seals given by this foreign Grail cannot bypass it.

Seeing this, Dan Lei spoke again.

"It seems that the Holy Grail has completed its charging for the Holy Grail War and has begun issuing Command Seals."

Wow, this Holy Grail is so thoughtful! It even provides one-click setup for the summoning circle and the incantation for summoning Heroic Spirits!

Yes, after Danlei obtained the Command Seals, he directly received an extra memory from the Holy Grail, which was the Heroic Spirit Summoning Incantation he already knew, as well as the method to set up a Summoning Circle with one click.

Clearly, these two items were originally engraved in the Holy Grail. Sambo somehow obtained this Holy Grail, which turned out to be a special edition.

Meanwhile, just as Danley said, the Holy Grail, now fully charged, has begun issuing Command Seals to those who are qualified in Pinocchio.

Of course, some people were pre-selected by Danlei through the mark, such as Danlei himself, Walter, and Xing.

However, due to Dan Lei's actions, the actual number of people who received Command Seals was far more than seven.

Besides Firefly and Danlei, Sand Gold and Fireworks also received Command Seals.

Due to Danlei's intervention, Sand Gold approached Fireworks much later than in the game.

It wasn't until Hanabi had tested everyone she was interested in that Sandstone finally caught up with her.

But the subsequent process was the same; the gold dust's pursuit eventually made Huohua, who couldn't shake him off, lose patience.

Although Fireworks is employed by Jade, she has no intention of making things clear with Sand Gold.

In the plaza at the entrance of the Daydream Hotel in the dream, Hanabi stopped and said without turning her head.
"Hey, let me ask you something... Is your way of attracting girls' attention to just swaggering around and following them? It's been almost half a system hour already."

The placer gold responded with unusual audacity.

"To be precise, it was 45 minutes. Pleasant times always fly by, don't they?"

Seeing that the firework was feigning ignorance and deliberately ignoring her words, she turned around and asked...

"Oh, little peacock...you have such beautiful eyes."

"Is your hometown Tsigania?"

Placer Gold neither confirmed nor denied the issue, and added...

"Want further hints? Like, am I an Evgeny?"

Seeing that Hanabi was still pretending to be naive, she decisively stopped hiding her emotions and spoke frankly.

"Well... my eyesight isn't as good as yours, but I'm not blind."

Who in the entire universe doesn't know you Tzinians? Born liars, thieves, social butterflies... truly deserving of the name "two-faced traitors."

However, it now seems a few more characteristics need to be added: a pervert, a stalker who tracks girls!

People like you are best suited to be rats in the gutter.

After saying that, Hanabi still felt unsatisfied and pointed to a manhole cover, saying...
"If you ask me, you'd be better off in the underground sewers under manhole covers than in dreams. Look, there's one over there, go on~~"

Seeing that Hanabi had already started to make sarcastic remarks, Sand Gold wasn't angry. He simply straightened his clothes and smiled.

"No need. Dark corners don't suit my temperament. This dream is more suitable for me—frivolous, vain, and flashy."

It's good that it doesn't rain here! My outfit is quite delicate; it can't withstand wind and rain.

At this point, Sand Gold was still dodging the question, and Fireworks, who had completely lost patience, stopped mocking him and spoke directly.

"Put away your playful tongue, little peacock. Go back now. We are fools, not idiots, and we don't intend to play friend games with the company's lapdogs."

Moreover, Pinocchio no longer has a stage for its company performances.

Upon hearing this, Sand Gold's expression immediately turned serious, and he followed up on Fireworks's words, asking...

"Oh, really? You've never made friends with anyone at the company?"
So, what's your basis for being so certain that there's no company to support you?

When faced with the issue of alluvial gold, Hanabi once again resorted to sarcasm, speaking in a strange tone.
"Basis? If you want to know my basis, you should deal with that chicken-winged boy in your family first."

I can give you some advice.

Little peacock, try taking off your clothes, kneeling down and apologizing to him, promising ["Waaah, the company will never touch Pinocchio"] and see what happens.

However, no matter what you do, I don't intend to use you as a bargaining chip.

Hearing what Fireworks said, Sand Gold decided to try to persuade her again, so she spread her hands and said...

"Isn't having chips a good thing? At the gambling table, only chips can prevent you from losing everything."

You see, the friends of Flowing Light Memory Court, Starry Sky Train, and Sea Patrol Knight all understand this principle; they are very smart.

However, another old friend of mine got them first.

Now... wait a minute?

As Sand Gold was speaking, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left hand, so he quickly took off his left glove to see what was wrong.

Then he saw that the blood-red Command Seal was already etched on the back of his hand.

Furthermore, the fireworks display on the opposite side was in the same situation.

Seeing this, Sand Gold said helplessly.
"Alright, now we've all become bargaining chips for our old friends."

"Fool, are you interested in becoming my friend? We can form an alliance first; as a fool, you must have a hard time finding teammates."

Despite the goldfields' request for an alliance, Hanabi remained completely unconvinced, stating bluntly...

"No, what good would it do to ally with a little peacock like you?"

If I'm going to form an alliance, I'll go to someone reliable, not a skinny little peacock like you.

Alright, so you're one of those people who've received invitations to pubs too.

Want to recruit the Masked Fool? Sure, use your brain. What exactly does the God of Fun, Aha, want?

Here's a tip: since you can't convince anyone, why not consider making friends with someone who's good at talking? At least they won't argue with you and will make you happy, haha.

So, you should go back and think carefully about whether you want to participate in this Holy Grail War. Goodbye~

After saying that, Hanabi turned around and left.

Sand Gold had already given up on following. Looking at the Command Seal in his hand, he muttered to himself...

"Thank you! I'll remember to make friends with kind-hearted people!"

Meanwhile, a sibling rivalry is also unfolding at the Chaolu Mansion.

It's extremely rare to see someone argue with a robin on a Sunday.

The siblings have rarely disagreed, let alone argued, throughout their lives.

The cause of the matter, of course, was Dan Lei, the "root of all evil" (Sunday's words).

It was impossible to keep the fact that Robin and Danlei were having a date a secret from Sunday.

Even if they don't actively inquire about Danlei and Robin's whereabouts on Sundays, if the two of them go out to eat together, it will still be reported to them by the Oak family's intelligence agents stationed in Pinocchio.

So, after Robin and Danlei finished their date, Robin arrived at Chaolu Mansion humming a song, ready to talk to her brother about his deal with Danlei, only to see her brother rubbing his temples with a headache on his face.

So the robin asked with concern...

"Brother, are you feeling dizzy or unwell? Have you been too busy with work lately? Should we call a doctor?"

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the robin return on Sunday. Thankfully, the two of them didn't go to see a movie after dinner, but instead went straight to a hotel.

Otherwise, I would collapse on the spot.

Therefore, on Sunday, in order to prevent Danlei from becoming her brother-in-law, she decided to be stricter with her sister and make sure she wasn't taken advantage of by Danlei.

So, on Sunday, he said with a serious expression...
"Robin, did you go out to eat with Danlei today?"

Robin was not surprised that she would find out about this on Sunday. She had made no attempt to hide her dinner appointment with Danlei, and her subordinates would definitely report it.

Therefore, the robin directly admitted...

"Yes, Mr. Danlei told me a lot of his previous adventure stories, which were quite interesting."

"By the way, brother, there's something I'd like to tell you about Mr. Danlei."

Upon hearing this on Sunday, a cold sweat broke out on her back. She thought, "What if Robin is going to come clean with me now, saying that she's already with Danlei? No way!!"

To prevent the robin from saying something he couldn't accept, Sunday interrupted directly.

"Robin, before you tell me anything, there is something I must tell you."

Danlei isn't a trustworthy person; you'd better avoid contact with him in the future.

Upon hearing this, the robin immediately objected, saying, "You secretly collaborated with Danlei on Sunday, and now you're telling me not to get close to him? What does that mean?"
It can't be that if you come into contact with Danlei, it's like saying, "If I don't go to hell, who will?"

Therefore, Robin here refuted Danlei's statement.

"Brother, do you have some prejudice against Mr. Danlei?"
Although he came to Pinocchio with a purpose, he doesn't seem to have any intention of causing harm here.
He was also quite good to me; he cured my throat.

If you really think there's a problem with him, at least tell me what the problem is.

The robin couldn't answer that question on Sunday. He couldn't very well tell the robin that Danlei was temporarily on his side, and that he was just worried about him taking advantage of her, so he told her not to get close to him.

Furthermore, on Sunday, he signed a self-mandatory certificate with Danlei and is not allowed to do anything against Danlei.

So, unable to refute it, Sunday could only resort to shamelessness and continue to emphasize...

"I didn't say he had a problem, I just said he's not someone you can trust."

In short, listen to me on this matter. From now on, focus on preparing for the Harmonious Music Ceremony and minimize contact with him.

Sunday's words made the robin laugh in exasperation.

Although the robin trusts Sunday, it is by no means a soft and cute little sister who only hides behind Sunday and whines.

Robin is a very opinionated and independent woman.

Now that it's Sunday, her rebellious attitude has been triggered. She says that if you don't explain things clearly today, I'll chat with Danlei every day from now on.

The robin, however, stopped smiling in front of Sunday and said seriously.
"Brother, if you don't give any reason, then I can only assume that Mr. Danlei is fine and we should have more contact in the future."

After all, no matter how I asked, he never revealed the deal he made with you, brother.

But you're speaking ill of him to me.

"Brother, have you done something wrong, or are you hiding something from me that you're afraid I'll find out from Danlei?"

Robin's words almost made Sunday break out in a cold sweat, making him wonder if his sister's sixth sense was too strong, managing to steer this completely unrelated topic towards the idea that he was hiding a secret from her.

However, just as he was trying to explain himself on Sunday, the Holy Grail came to his rescue.

On Sunday, both Sunny and Robin felt a sharp pain in their left hands. When they looked up, they saw that the Command Seals were already visible on the back of their hands.

The siblings' argument about Danlei ended instantly. They exchanged a glance and began discussing the Holy Grail War.

……

At the same time, at the hour of the sun, Walter, who was examining the history of Pinocchio in the Awakening Library, had a Command Seal appear in his hand.

Walter stared blankly at the Command Seals. The chance to go home had really come. In an instant, a mix of emotions—excitement, joy, and reluctance—surged into his heart.

At the golden moment, while experiencing the Black Swan's special Dream Bubble at Dr. Edward's Dream Shop, she woke up to find her left hand a little sore. Upon lifting it, she noticed that a Command Seal had appeared on it sometime during the night.

Also at the golden hour, in Edion Park, after chatting with Sandgold and meeting up with Silver Branch, Portio, who was playing pool and drinking, had a Command Seal appear on the back of his hand.

It's quite bizarre that Portio's metal hand has Command Seals, but in dreams, both the physical body and the mechanical nature are essentially memory matter, so it's somewhat explainable.

At Liumeng Reef, as Galah was pondering how to guide the nameless guest over, a Command Seal appeared on the back of his hand.

At the moment of the Oasis, in Sunshine Park, an old man who couldn't remember things but was certain he had forgotten something important had Command Seals appear on the back of his left hand.

This old man was the very person Dan Lei was searching for: Calderon Chadwick, the 79th member of the Genius Club.

The eleven individuals—Danlei, Liuying, Shajin, Zhigengniao, Zhouri, Huahuo, Walter, Xing, Chadwick, Potio, and Galakh—are the masters of this Pinocchio Holy Grail War.

　The conclusion that Hanabi was employed by Emerald can be derived from their voices.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)