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

Chapter 348 Asuna "This is my last Ripple!"

Walter and the robin have messed up. On Sunday, when they questioned Gopher with the "Harmony" baptism, the ordering power disguised as Harmony had already enveloped the two of them.

Sunday is a day to openly draw upon power, and he is also standing beside the two of them.

Leaving aside the robin, Walter still made a careless mistake here.

However, this was also because Sunday acted well, and his previous behavior had earned him some trust.

Furthermore, in front of Gopher, Welt couldn't prematurely manifest the power of destiny and appear ready to fight, because before Gopher's stance was confirmed, such behavior could be misinterpreted as the Sunday siblings bringing outsiders to force a coup.

However, their carelessness resulted in the two being forcibly hypnotized by the power of order without any resistance, and they fell asleep immediately.

Asna was directly bound by Metatron's holy light and couldn't move at all.

Gopher, in the form of a raven, approached Asuna, his eyes filled with a hint of nostalgia, and said...
"The Holy Grail War is truly amazing. I never expected that I would have the chance to see my old friend alive and well again."

Asna looked at Gofemu's fierce expression and said bluntly...

"Stop pretending. You stood by and watched when I was being persecuted."

When I was banished to the wilderness and died at the hands of a meme monster, you didn't come to my rescue.

Faced with Asna's accusations, Gopher did not argue, but instead said...
"I'm so sorry, really, I sincerely apologize to you."

After what happened to you, I fully realized how morbid the relationships within the family were, and that my personal power was insufficient to prevent a tragedy from occurring within Pinocone.

Therefore, I feel obligated to find a way to change all of this.

Gopher's words did not quell Asna's anger; she remained cold and continued...
"So, your way of changing all this is to team up with your adopted son to knock out your adopted daughter who opposes you?"

Are you trying to emulate that guy Otti, stripping the robin of everything, using gossip to drive her out of Pinocchio, and leaving her to survive alone in the wilderness?

Gophermu shook his head and said bluntly.

"No, I'm not even going to use her to threaten you."

Pinocone is not dead today.

To be honest, the power of order protects this place. The low death rate in Pinocchio's dreams is all thanks to the power of order.

Upon hearing the power of order, Asna's anger vanished instantly, replaced by surprise and bewilderment.

She said with a grim expression
“Back then, it was you who brought the faith of harmony to Pinocchio. We formed a family and gathered under the banner of harmony to pursue true happiness.”

And yet, it was you who betrayed harmony. Why?

Gopher didn't deceive Asna here, but spoke frankly.

"Actually, bringing the Pinocchio faith into harmony was part of my original plan."

I want harmony and order to compete fairly, so that people can choose order over harmony.

Moreover, my desire to make Pinocchio a city of dreams embracing freedom has never changed.

People's immersion in their dreams is a choice of their own will, and I have never interfered with it by any other means.

I've gotten everything back for you, and you're free now, aren't you?"

Asna had gradually calmed down from her anger, and she no longer hated Gopher as much as she did Old Odi.

Ultimately, she was just blaming Gopher, who had helped her build Pinocchio from scratch, for not coming to her aid.

While the watchmaker was busy leading people to explore the dream world, he had no time to care about what was behind him. As the leader of the Pinocchio family, Gopher was the real manager.

As a result, this manager showed no mercy and watched as he was driven to his death by the old man, Aude.

So, Asna, having calmed down a bit, asked...
"Are you telling me all this to try and get me on your side?"

Gopher Wood nodded and said directly.

"If possible, I hope you can inform the Starry Sky Train crew that the Robin has reached a new agreement with the family and will sing on stage at the Harmonious Music Festival."

They're rehearsing intensively right now. As for Mr. Walter, let's just say he's rehearsing with Miss Robin.

Asna directly refused Gopher's request, saying...

“You really haven’t changed at all. You still think of me as the singer you can manipulate at will.”

So, I refuse. "

After saying that, she turned to Sunday and said...
"No matter how much evidence points to you, the robin never doubted that you were a traitor to Pinocchio."

She has far more suspicions about Danlei than you do. You were a real disappointment on Sunday.

As the robin once said, I am the mother of the iris and the creator of the Pinocchio entertainment industry.

At Pinocchio, I enjoy the biggest bonus.

"Your heroic spirit is powerful, but can it truly bind my soul?"

After she finished speaking, Asuna began to radiate the light of her Noble Phantasm.

Seeing this, Sunday said directly

"By burning your own spirit origin to forcibly activate your Noble Phantasm, you will die."

Asna said this with great relief.
"I'm already dead, so what's wrong with dying again?"

All I can do, being someone who's been left behind by the times, is pave the way for future successors.

Let the curtain fall, this mediocre man's fleeting life... *cough cough*

Asuna's Noble Phantasm was only halfway activated when a beam of holy light pierced directly through her spirit core.

Metatron, who killed Asna, stated bluntly...

"To activate a Noble Phantasm in front of me is an insult."

With her spirit core destroyed, Asuna was speechless and could only watch helplessly as the Gopherwood dissipated.

Looking at Asna's dazed expression, Gopher murmured...

"Goodbye, Asna. I'll come find you soon."

"When the time comes, you can hit or scold me as you please."

Asna couldn't speak, but her mouth moved slightly; lip-reading would have meant...

"Get out, I don't want to see you, you traitor."

The next second, it vanished into Pinocchio, disappearing completely.

Seeing this, Gopher said to Sunday
"Let's go to the Pinocchio Theatre, the Harmony Ceremony is about to begin."

Our allies will soon be attending as spectators.

These two should be discussed in the VIP lounge of the Grand Theatre.

Let them witness all of this together in their dreams.

……

The first seven systems before the start of the Harmonious Music Ceremony.

On the other side, just like in the game, the train crew has brought Misha back to Memory Bubble, and Xing has obtained the watchmaker's hat, inheriting his will.

Galah had vanished, transformed into a hound statue beside the clockmaker's meme corpse.

The Assassin Greedy within Mianmian also withdrew due to the Master's dissipation, disappearing quietly like his original life.

Meanwhile, the Starry Sky Train crew and the Firefly had merged and confirmed their joint operation. At this point, one system-wide time had passed since Walter lost contact. After dialing his number again and receiving the message "The number you dialed is not answered," Himeko deduced...
"Bad news. Based on the phone call and my intuition, Walter has likely been imprisoned by the family."

Upon hearing this, March 7th immediately asked with concern.

"Sister Ji, can you sense where Uncle Yang is being held captive? Let's hurry and rescue him."

Regarding this question, Himeko pointed to the Pinocchio Grand Theatre with a grim expression and said...

“I have a feeling that Walter is over there.”

Paimon looked at the grand theater suspended in the sky and asked in confusion.
"Using a grand theater to imprison people, that's inconvenient, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Ying replied immediately.
"During my investigation of Pinocchio, I learned that the Pinocchio Grand Theatre was supposedly converted from the central prison of the original Pinocchio Prison."

Upon hearing that such a luxurious theater was a converted prison, Paimon exclaimed in surprise.

"It's a prison converted! No wonder they're keeping people inside."

Xing concluded after listening.

"In short, we need to rescue Uncle Yang, but we definitely can't force our way in. We need to find some allies."

It would be best to find a formal, legal reason to enter the Pinocchio Theatre.

Himeko was very pleased that Hoshi hadn't thought of acting recklessly, so she smiled.
"That's natural, but unfortunately, it's hard to find a reasonable and legal reason now."

Previously, the winner of the Hot Sands audition was able to perform at the Pinocchio Grand Theatre ahead of time.

Now that the Hot Sands Selection has been replaced by the Holy Grail War, it's no longer possible to advance ahead of time.

Unless we speedrun the Holy Grail War right now.

However, that's clearly impossible; we don't have that much time to find other Heroic Spirits.

Upon hearing Himeko's words, March 7th clapped his hands and said...

"Okay, let's split up and look for them. That pure and beautiful knight, Silver Branch, should be able to help. And Dan Lei... Dan Lei, is that alright?"

Seeing that March 7th hesitated, Himeko didn't say much and simply stated...

"I'll go find Danlei. In March, don't bother looking for Yinzhi. Just bring Danheng on the train and remember to take the Alliance Jade Sign."

When Walter last contacted us, he said he was in front of the Golden Hour Daydream Hotel.

"You, Ying, Paimon, and Liuying, go over there and investigate the situation to see if there are any clues."

No one else had any objections to Ji Zi's arrangement. She could go to see Dan Lei alone without any problem, because if Dan Lei was really hostile, any of the people here who went would be killed.

Himeko asked Mitsuki to take the omen of the alliance in order to prevent the worst-case scenario.

Dan Lei is still a native of Luofu in the Immortal Boat, and he must acknowledge the alliance jade oath of Shangluofu.

If things really can't be done, this thing should be able to make Danlei back down.

Therefore, the train crew immediately set to work in three groups.

The group that reaped the rewards first was Xing.

Arriving in front of the Golden Moment Daydream Hotel, the Grammer Ironclad, now stripped of his armor and transformed into a short-haired rider in a tight-fitting pilot suit, bent down to inspect the ground and said...
"There are no signs of battle, so there shouldn't have been any fighting here."

However, at this moment, Ying, who had activated her elemental vision, said...
"Wait, someone left something here!!"

After saying that, she walked to a brick that appeared to be bare, and slowly extended water elemental power from her hand. Before long, a dream bubble suddenly appeared.

Upon seeing this, Xing immediately read the dream bubble and discovered that it contained the entire negotiation process recorded from Asna's perspective, including the scene of her own death.

After reading the dream bubble, Asna left a message inside, saying...

"If you are fortunate enough to see this dream bubble, and you are not a member of the Starry Sky Train crew, please hand it over to a member of the Starry Sky Train crew."

I left a transfer contract in the Dream Bubble. As long as you transfer this Dream Bubble to a member of the Starry Sky Train, all ownership of the songs and plays under my name as the first head of the Iris Flower family will belong to you.

These items may not be worth much on today's market, but the Iris family will buy them back at a high price, with the profit not less than eight figures.

Finally, to the Star Train, this is the last thing I can do. I don't demand that you help Pinocchio drive out the forces of order.

I only ask that you spread this truth throughout the universe.

After reading Dream Bubble, Firefly analyzed...
"It seems that Miss Asuna has completely withdrawn from the scene. Her final forced activation of her Noble Phantasm was not to turn the tide, but to leave behind this memory bubble."

Clearly, she used all her power to hide this memory bubble.

But the power of being without roots will eventually disappear. After she leaves the stage, the concealment effect will become weaker and weaker until she is completely exposed.

Fortunately, we arrived quickly enough that the memory bubble wasn't picked up by an ordinary person.

Of course, the efforts of ordinary people to pick up Miss Asna will not be in vain.

Regardless of whether the memory bubble eventually reached the train crew, as long as it didn't end up in the hands of the Oak family, even if it did fall into the hands of the Hound family, they wouldn't remain silent after learning of the Oak family's betrayal of the Harmony.

After listening to Liuying's analysis, Xing sighed slightly, reaffirming her resolve, and said...

"For the sake of the victims, we must stop the Oak family from ruling Pinocchio with order."

Let's go find Mitsuki and meet up with Himeko.

However, just as Hoshi was about to leave, Hanabi suddenly appeared holding two large buttons and ran up to Hoshi to sell them.

"Don't rush off, take a look at this 'mutual destruction' button."

Just press it, and the entire Pinocchio will explode into the sky! Facing the Oak family, shouldn't we use this as insurance and a trump card?

……

Meanwhile, Himeko found Danlei fishing with Artoria and Yomi during the Blues.

Seeing Ji Zi approach, Dan Lei didn't even turn his head and said directly...
"You came here alone, it seems something has happened to Mr. Walter."

Himeko nodded and said directly.

"Yes, he disappeared while negotiating with the dream master and should be detained at the Pinocchio Grand Theatre now."

At that moment, Dan Lei lifted his fishing rod, and a large fish was pulled out of the water and landed precisely in the fish basket.

Danlei skillfully helped the fish unhook and said...

"As expected, in the Twelve Hours Dream, you are complete outsiders. The watchmakers have long since lost all their influence here. You are not on the side of favorable timing, location, or popular support."

Tell me, what do you want me to do for you?

If it's just about getting Walter out of trouble, I don't actually need to intervene. All you need to do is promise not to interfere in Pinocone's internal affairs and leave Pinocone immediately.

They'll definitely give you face and release Walter after the Harmonious Music Festival begins.

Himeko knew that as long as the train crew was willing to give up, the five major families of Pinocchio would definitely adopt the attitude of "better to avoid trouble" and release Walter, allowing the train crew to leave.

But now Pinocchio's problem is a clash of ideologies, and the train crew that carries on Mikhail's legacy cannot easily give up.

So Himeko said directly

"I hope you can help us get on the Pinocchio Theatre."

Dan Lei did not refuse this request and spoke directly to Artoria beside him.
"Artoria, why don't you accompany Himeko? With you leading the way, the Oak family should be able to let us through."

After you drop Himeko and the others off at the Pinocchio Grand Theatre, come straight back. We're just spectators from now on.

Please pass on a message to the people at the Grand Theatre: if you want to realize your dreams, you must face the doubts of others.

(End of this chapter)