I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

"The most important event in the floating city?"

Joseph raised an eyebrow, but instead of answering Joan's question directly, he changed the subject to something else:

"Didn't you say that your prayers for the mute have suddenly stopped being answered lately?"

Joan paused for a moment, then lowered her head and pondered for a long time before her expression finally changed: "Little Joan, what do you mean?!"

“I don’t mean anything by this. Let’s not get involved in this. No matter who we help, we’ll only be a hindrance in matters of this level, right?” Joseph shrugged, then muttered to himself curiously, “But what does Miss Natasha want with me all of a sudden?”

They stopped in their tracks, facing Natasha's residence. Joseph had met Natasha and Chloe through the Cinderella Game, but at that time, Joseph was disoriented due to losing his memory of June, and they hadn't really developed a close relationship. However, after June's return, the camaraderie forged during the Cinderella Game proved effective. Now, Joseph had become good friends with these two girls he lived with (one of whom had even come out as gay to the whole city; Joseph was genuinely curious about their relationship).

However, this was the first time that Natasha and Kazuki had asked him for a favor.

Joseph knocked on the door, and soon the door of the small building opened a crack. Geyue cautiously peeked out and looked outside to confirm the visitors: "Joseph, Joan, you're here...you weren't followed, were you?"

"...What exactly are you doing? Why are you making us get followed?" Joseph's lips twitched slightly, and then he and Joan were pulled into the house. "Geyue, aren't you going to explain?"

"We'll talk about it when we get there. Natasha and I have no other choice but to ask you to come and help us."

Geyue shook her head. To be honest, she wasn't very bright either. She only became the Rookie King because of her near-legendary level crushing everyone else. Or rather, not many demons from the bottomless abyss are smart; most are succubi... But Natasha, being an anomaly among succubi, wasn't much of a brain either. So, in an emergency, their first reaction was to find a smart person.

If Duke could still operate normally within the floating city, they would definitely be calling for that witch assassin. But he's currently wanted, and their whereabouts are unknown. Because of Amber's situation, they can't seek help from the floating city's officials. After much deliberation, Joseph is the only reliable option.

Back in the Cinderella game, besides Kazuki, Joseph had the most surviving reincarnations, even more than Cecil and Bane. What was his secret? It was his sharp mind, even if he seemed rough on the outside.

"I can't be of much help either," Joseph said modestly, waving his hand as he walked into Natasha's room with Geyue and Joan. Then he exclaimed in astonishment, "What's going on?!"

Inside the room, Natasha, her face pale, maintained the Gate of Truth and weakly greeted them.

Kazuki explained expressionlessly, "Amber has been inside for an hour."

"Where to go?"

"Go in there."

She pointed to the open door of truth.

Joseph: "?"

Chapter 323 Annie's Sweet Trap

"Friendly troops, don't make a sound!"

"Why does it sound so awful? Is it because my teaching methods are wrong?"

"If you want me to reveal the secrets of the secret unit, punish me through interrogation, not torture me like this!"

“Honey, even though you sing almost as well as Joseph the Madman, don’t be discouraged. At least you’re handsome.”

Duke looked at his teammates who were all raising objections, and with a slightly embarrassed expression, he coughed twice and asked doubtfully, "Was my singing really that bad?"

Ida, Alice, Stephanie, and Anne nodded in unison and said:

"Have!"

Duke clutched his head in disbelief.

He's a perfect handsome guy with a charm value of 25, a legendary pretty boy known as the witch killer by the floating city full of beautiful girls. He's a gigolo who can live off his looks alone for the rest of his life. How could he not know how to sing, dance, and rap?

It was yesterday that the messenger Alice brutally beat up the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse. According to Ida's orders, she was supposed to kill two of the Horsemen and cripple the remaining one to deal with later. However, Death, as the leader of the Horsemen, had accumulated enough skill over three thousand cycles of reincarnation to eventually lead two of its companions out of Alice's encirclement and escape.

However, taking them down is very simple. You don't even need to find their location. All you need to do is have Duke activate Soul Requiem, which covers the entire world, and then Alice can unleash a barrage of attacks on Soul Requiem with Quadruple Melody. Zeus can then unleash his ultimate, resulting in a WTF full-screen instant kill. The three Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who have already become defeated, have no chance of escaping.

But Duke can't learn the Soul Song, so even if Alice defeats the Apocalypse Knight instantly, it won't solve the fundamental problem.

The Quadrilogy can be played to the whole world through the Soul Requiem, but Iris can't possibly learn the "Overloaded" Soul Song—if she learns it and plays the song of hope to the whole world through the Soul Requiem, wouldn't she also give up the ability of the Soul Song? And since the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are still alive, there is no one who can deal with it.

Conversely, if she were to sing the Quadrilogy first, all the Apocalypse Knights would be wiped out, and the world would directly trigger a restart cycle, rendering all their efforts futile. Moreover, Alice was completely unaware of his and Ida's plans; the two of them hadn't dared to tell her the full details of the plan. After all, if she knew that the two of them were plotting to cripple all the merfolk's innate abilities, she might turn against them immediately.

Needless to say, Ida had already given up the ability of the Soul Song; it was clear that the same person could not give up their voice twice.

In other words, if Duke can't learn the Song of Soul, it's a complete dead end.

Unless...Annie or Stephanie learns the Song of the Soul?

Duke looked up at Anne and Stephanie. Their relationship had been a bit strange these past few days. Anne always liked to rub against Stephanie, and seemed much more intimate than Natasha, who was faking her coming out. Stephanie, on the other hand, seemed very scared, yet she couldn't escape Anne's clutches. Heaven knows what the two of them did in private—or rather, heaven knows what Anne did to Stephanie in private.

Honestly, Duke wouldn't be surprised by anything Anne does in private.

When Duke looked up at her, Anne seemed to sense it and looked up, their eyes meeting.

She looked to be in a very good mood and smiled, pointing two fingers to her dimples and making a cute face at Duke.

No, let's not let Annie carry out the plan.

Using Overload Soul Song would most likely cause the user to lose their ability to speak, just like Ida did. To put it bluntly, Duke didn't want Annie to bear such a price.

"There's no other way, I'll have to sing it myself."

Duke cleared his throat, preparing to practice again. Upon seeing his preparation, everyone's expression changed drastically. They covered their ears and scattered in all directions, disappearing in a flash. Even Ida, who was supposed to be Duke's twin soul, ran off with Alice. Only Annie, with a smile on her face, remained.

"Aren't you going to run?"

“I’m not running away. No matter how badly you sing, it’s not as filthy as the babbling of the dead.” Annie shrugged. She even sat down on the spot, rested her chin on her hand, and looked at Duke with eyes that seemed to hold the light of stars. She hummed a little tune for Duke in a good mood and generously directed, “You sing.”

By this time, she had regained her human form thanks to the transformation, and her long, white legs, completely naked, revealed their dazzling curves in the sunless depths of the sea, drawing all eyes to their slender length. However, despite the changes to her lower body structure made possible by the transformation, her body was essentially still that of a mermaid (a water elemental creature) transformed by Alice using the Song of Souls, thus allowing her to continue living normally in the deep sea.

Duke obediently began to sing, but after a short while, Annie seemed to be unable to hold back.

She, who was sitting on the ground, seemed to suddenly remember something and stood up abruptly. Her expression became somewhat subtle. She looked left and right a few times and realized that after Duke really started singing, Alice, Ida, and Stephanie showed no intention of returning. In fact, they wished they could run as far away as possible.

So, she stopped smiling, took long strides, her feet landing on the coral reefs on the seabed, and strode quickly towards Duke, reaching him in just a few steps.

Seeing that her smile had vanished, Duke assumed that his death knell had upset Annie and that she was rushing over to attack him. He immediately started waving his hands, yelling, "Don't come any closer! If you come any closer, I'll..."

Duke's words came to an abrupt end.

Because Annie walked up to him in a few steps, went into his arms, and then reached out to cup Duke's head in her hands before bringing her head and lips close to his.

Amber's initial surprise attack required her to stand on tiptoe and lower Duke's upper body, yet she still failed to kiss him. The taller Annie, on the other hand, didn't need to exert herself so much; simply leaning in was enough.

Duke looked at Annie, who was so close to him, felt her warm breath, and noticed that the corners of her mouth were turning up slightly again. Only then did he hear her soft words, filled with barely suppressed excitement and joy:

"Finally, it's just the two of us left."

Annie has been waiting since the very end of the Turtle Soup game, and now she has finally found a chance to be alone with Duke.

In this bizarre turn of events, Duke forgot that he still had the option of "pushing Annie away" and fell into the sweet trap set by Annie without any struggle.

Then, Annie kissed him.

Then, Anne stuck out her tongue.

Then, Anne fainted.

He did it all in one go; he's the king of forceful kisses.

Chapter 324 The World Will Remains in Bengbu

Duke held the unconscious Annie in his arms, lost in thought. Clearly, he was pondering why he was always being forcibly kissed.

His first kiss in this world was Natasha's forceful kiss, the Kiss of Truth, and his first kiss with Amber was also a sudden, forceful kiss from her (although Miss Amber doesn't admit it was her first kiss). Now, he's been suddenly attacked by Annie again... What's wrong with him? Is he a professional at being forcibly kissed?

This attribute sounds like something only a heroine in an otome game would have, right?

That shouldn't be the case. With his pretty-boy looks, even if he entered an otome game, he should be the one being pursued, right?

Duke pondered deeply, and soon Annie stirred in his arms, slowly waking up. When she opened her eyes, she realized that she was being held in Duke's arms. Her eyes lit up, she cheered and struggled to prepare for a second assault on Duke.

Fortunately, Duke reacted quickly and turned around to pin her down.

"Stop fooling around."

"No, I'm going to make a scene! I'm going to make a scene! Duke, come give me a kiss."

"..." Duke's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't budge an inch as he held down Annie's struggling hand. "Now is not the time to let you continue to be unconscious. Stop fooling around."

"Oh."

Anne was generally sensible (probably). After Duke reasoned with her, she obediently nodded, gave up struggling, and was released from Duke's arms. She stood obediently in front of Duke... Then, in the blink of an eye, she immediately reached out and gently touched Duke's lips.

"Huh?"

Duke looked up and saw Annie lick her lips, revealing a charming smile, and softly ask:

What do my lips taste like?

Upon hearing Annie's question, Duke couldn't help but recall that soft touch, but he quickly shrugged helplessly, offering no answer. Instead, he grinned and asked in return:

"What do my lips taste like?"

"..."

Anne paused slightly.

She began to recall, and the memories before she fell into a coma were clearly an unforgettable experience for her, the first time in her life. Even a bad woman like her was involuntarily affected, her face turning bright red, her hands covering her burning cheeks, her head lowered, and she made a sound like steam rising from boiling water.

Duke smiled.

Even if Annie is a born bad woman, she's just a naive girl who hasn't experienced anything. Does she think she can control him with such limited skills? You're kidding me. He's a famous and experienced witch assassin who easily turned the tables on her... Well, that doesn't seem like something to be proud of.

Duke's smile froze on his lips. He rubbed his temples and looked up.

They were in the deep sea, but this world wasn't just the deep sea. From spaceships that conformed to the living habits of ordinary humans to the humanoid structure of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, all the signs pointed to the conclusion that there was another civilization above the deep sea. This suddenly made Duke begin to doubt: could their plan really succeed in completing the Witch Game?

He always felt that there were still many mysteries in this witch game that had not been solved.

Alice is one of the core characters in the game, holding a position on par with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse… The cycle of reincarnation in this world is inextricably linked to these core characters; often, the sudden death of one of the characters triggers the cycle. The Soul Song and intelligent AI they represent are unknown factors capable of disrupting the world order. To maintain their balance, the world's rules have constructed this system of reincarnation.

Duke and Ida's plan, in essence, was to help the world's rules achieve their goal of destroying both sides while maintaining a balance. However, this plan had a significant flaw.

If the factors that need to be eliminated to continuously restart the cycle of reincarnation are not just the Song of Souls and intelligent AI, what other important factors are there that they cannot see? Or... what if they are considered important factors that need to be eliminated by the rules of the world?

Duke was startled, and then his heart skipped a beat. The divine body forged from the leaves of the Tree of Life issued a warning at the critical moment!

He twisted his body abruptly, and the attack from above pierced through the seawater, striking the spot where Duke had just been standing.

Space-based weapons!

Was it an attack by the Knights of Apocalypse?

No, they shouldn't take any action for the time being, given that the divine messenger Alice has a special attack effect on them. Also, although the space-based weapon has always been controlled by the Apocalypse Knights, in essence... it comes from above, that is, from beyond the sea!

The empire the Knights of the Apocalypse spoke of? Or perhaps...?