I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

"No, no, you've got it wrong."

Duke calmly put away the cake tower and then took out the remaining prop.

[Item Name: Lazy Person's Magic Wardrobe]

[Prop Description: It is said to have been designed by a legendary magician who was too lazy to choose clothes. Although this legendary professional endured the strange looks of others and wore all sorts of bizarre and abstract outfits for a whole year in order to adjust the wardrobe's movements, she eventually completed the magic wardrobe's big data calculation capabilities... But when she finally completed the magic wardrobe and the outfits finally looked normal, she unexpectedly discovered that her year-long performance art had actually led to a revolution in the fashion world.]

[Item Effect: When the user opens the wardrobe door, the most suitable clothing for that day will be automatically generated.]

This item is perfect for this witch's game. For one thing, it directly solves the Star Sisters' clothing problem. Even Duke himself can get a new set of equipment through the lousy person's magic wardrobe.

Then, a wooden wardrobe suddenly appeared in front of the two of them.

Megan sighed. She was used to Duke suddenly pulling out some strange things. She wouldn't be surprised if Duke suddenly pulled out a giant dragon from his storage item.

Duke reached out and opened the wardrobe door. Inside was only one outfit: a white tailcoat that looked like something out of a prince's robe. What was even more amazing was that when he touched the tailcoat, the clothes he was wearing naturally swapped with it.

It can even help you change clothes automatically!

It truly lives up to its reputation as a magic wardrobe for lazy people; a genuine blessing for lazy souls.

Duke gathered up the clothes he had taken off, closed the closet door, and called out to Megan, "Want to try these on?"

“We can give it a try.” Megan looked at the wooden wardrobe with curiosity. She sensed a powerful magical aura emanating from it, and she was genuinely curious about what this seemingly ordinary wardrobe could do. So, following Duke's instructions, Miss Saint reached out and opened the wardrobe door.

There was a bikini swimsuit hanging inside.

Megan closed the cabinet door expressionlessly, then looked at Duke with a cold gaze.

"...This has nothing to do with me, I can't control it. Really, you have to believe me!"

"hehe."

Duke guiltily looked away. His rationality told him that he couldn't control what clothes appeared in the magic wardrobe; it had its own internal big data calculation logic. But his emotions told him that he might have to take some of the blame. Before Megan opened the wardrobe, the thought "If only it were a bikini" flashed through Duke's mind for a moment.

The outfit that appeared was indeed a swimsuit that exposed a lot of skin—what a coincidence!

Duke clicked his tongue, put away the lazy man's magic wardrobe, and then, in an attempt to change the subject, he turned his attention back to the system's lottery interface and clicked the button.

"Let's have another tool that can decide the outcome!"

Should I use a single draw ticket?

【Yes. 】

The gashapon machine in the system interface is stuck.

Duke was slightly taken aback.

In that instant, he also heard the faint requiem. The sound was very faint, like a whisper in his ear or a soft murmur drifting from afar. But as soon as he heard the requiem, the gashapon machine stopped jamming and a dazzling purple light burst forth.

So far, Duke has drawn four different colors in four draws. The previous three were blue, gray, and gold. Based on the value of the items, the order should be gray, blue, and gold...

This time, purple should be ranked after gold, because the item obtained from this single draw is called "Deus Ex Machina".

[Item Name: Deus Ex Machina]

[Item Description: The technique of deus ex machina will break the story's logic and ruin the viewing experience, but it can save the protagonist, such as you, from a desperate situation.]

[Item Effect: Creates one "Deus Ex" (Cooldown: One Final Act).]

Upon seeing this prop, Duke finally realized that something was wrong.

Now, let's reconsider the previous items. The World Watch gave Duke the most crucial ability: a standard weapon for engaging legendary professionals. This not only allowed him to find opportunities to counterattack Talia's attacks but also directly gave him the possibility of harming her. The Lazy Man's Magic Wardrobe, on the other hand, perfectly aligned with the basic rules of this witch's game, coincidentally solving his and the Star Sisters' equipment problems, replacing the Queen's gown and the shredded sailor uniform that Talia had stolen.

The prop called Deus Ex is even more direct in its implication.

"Deus ex machina" is a theatrical technique originating from classical Greek drama. It refers to an unexpected, sudden, and far-fetched character, means, or event that is suddenly introduced into a fictional work to resolve a tense plot or scene.

In ancient Greek drama, when the plot reached a stalemate and the predicament seemed insurmountable, a powerful god would suddenly appear to resolve the problem, bringing the story to a close. Using cranes or lifts, actors playing gods were transported to the stage. This performance technique was artificial, creating an unexpected plot twist.

From a certain perspective, Duke's lottery draw before the battle, which produced so many powerful items that could directly influence the final battle, and which seemed to be crucial in every single one, with the absence of any one item leading to a different outcome, was itself a form of deus ex machina.

However, this method of deus ex machina is not too crude, at least not as revealing as the effect of this prop.

The so-called "creating a 'deus ex machina'" is, to put it simply, like Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, in Duke's previous life. He was called the "chosen one" by later generations because when he was still a lieutenant general in his early years, facing an enemy army of 420,000 besieging the city, he turned the tide with a meteorite falling from the sky in a deus ex machina-like manner.

Only stories need logic, reality doesn't. The effect of deus ex machina is to break the original logic of the story and end it irrationally.

"If I drew Deus Exusiai under normal circumstances, I would be overjoyed, but drawing an item of this level at such a delicate time... I can't say for sure."

But every gift of fate comes with a price tag attached.

The World Watch alone was one thing, but then he drew Deus Ex machina. This unexpected windfall made Duke somewhat suspicious, especially the faint sound of a requiem he heard the moment he drew the card, which made him even more uneasy.

Duke frowned, turned to look at the saintly lady, pressed his fingers to his chest, and asked solemnly:

"What kind of spell was the lucky blessing you just gave me? Can you hear the requiem?"

“I didn’t use any magic.” The saintly lady shrugged. “I can hear you.”

"what?"

Megan had no intention of hiding anything from Duke. She immediately told him everything she had discovered, and he then realized that the reason he was able to pull out so many useful items was because the remains of the all-powerful wish-granting machine "Cinderella" were on his body.

Duke was silent for a moment, and just as Megan was getting worried that he might make some dangerous decision, he suddenly pulled out the mixed berry multi-tiered cake he had put away earlier, and then called out with particular enthusiasm, "Meghan, have some!"

Megan: "?"

"Hurry up, I need to raise your affection level to intimate in one go, so I can get a 10-pull ticket to win you over, and then do another 10-pull—this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity can't be missed!"

"Sick."

Don't you even look at my soul body? Does it look like I can eat anything?

Megan glared at him speechlessly, feeling like an idiot for worrying about this moron. She then buried herself back in her Lucky Dagger, deciding to ignore Duke completely.

After angering Megan and sending her back to Lucky Dagger, Duke shook his head and put away the cake.

"Deus ex machina?"

The Cinderella Wishing Machine is not a good thing, and the Requiem is not necessarily safe enough. Although the items produced by the system are trustworthy, they make him more worried about the possible price to pay for "making a wish".

However, in order to defeat Talia, he had no choice but to take advantage of these windfalls.

"I just hope the 'cost' won't be too high."

He sighed, then muttered to himself:

"When we get back, we'll get Fei to cleanse this lousy Soul Requiem, then use an insect arrow to poke the pocket watch and create a World Requiem. Wouldn't that be much better than this 'Cinderella Requiem' (?)?"

Chapter 113 The Power of Wishes 5K

Hundreds of humanoid monsters, each three or four meters tall and carrying two or three naked, unconscious humans, formed a long line at the entrance of the Clothing Kingdom's palace. They were as calm as an army, and they entered the palace one by one in an orderly manner to pay homage to Her Majesty the Queen.

However, Her Majesty did not have much time to receive the clothing monsters. She only met with the top ten clothing monsters who had made the most gains, praised their outstanding contributions, and then left the audience hall.

In the center of the audience hall, there was a dark, bottomless pit on the floor. After Her Majesty the Queen left, the monsters threw the humans they were carrying on their shoulders into the pit one by one, and then left the audience hall following the directions of the monster guards.

The whole process was very orderly, and all the clothing monsters maintained a very high level of quality.

As for what they are doing, no one knows what they want to do, just as no one knows what is in this bottomless pit. According to Xingyin, there was no such bottomless pit before this audience hall. She guessed that this bottomless pit was related to the forbidden area under the palace.

“Perhaps this huge hole leads directly to the forbidden area…” Xingyin frowned, thinking carefully, “Mr. Amber, what do you think that devil is trying to do?”

“She wants my life, or at the very least, she wants to damage my soul and turn me into an idiot like Aba Aba.” Duke waved his hand. “Since the forbidden area is under the palace, then this bottomless pit naturally leads to the underground. The reason they transported so many humans underground is perhaps to use them as fuel in order to awaken the ‘game core’ in the forbidden area.”

After hearing Duke's words, Xingyin shut her mouth and began to think. As the Queen of the Clothing Kingdom, she did not have the habit of sharing her thoughts with others, nor was she willing to lower herself to ask Duke what the "game core" was and why he was so sure that the core was in the forbidden area.

There's an information gap between her and Duke, so it's normal that she can't understand many things.

Little Starflower, however, had no such reservations and immediately asked, "Awaken what?"

Duke glanced at her and casually made up a story: "A beautiful woman with a great figure wearing a bikini."

Xinghua pouted: "You're just giving me the runaround again!"

“If you know I’ll give you a perfunctory answer, then don’t ask questions I don’t know the answer to either.” Duke rolled his eyes at her. He only knew that there was a clear physical core in this witch game, and according to the original game process, he had to find the Star sisters to cut it off together, but he didn’t know in what form it would appear. “Little Black, get ready, we’re about to leave here.”

"Meow."

Xiao Hei lay on Xingyin's full breasts, feeling weak and hot, and only responded softly.

At this very moment, the three people and the cat were huddled together, skin to skin, in the most dangerous yet safest place in this alternate dimension—the audience hall of the Clothing Kingdom's palace! They had even already met the current Clothing Queen, Talia, and had successfully deceived her without being discovered.

That's right, at this moment, they were crammed into a "clothes monster".

The Lazy Man's Magic Wardrobe is an incredibly powerful magical artifact, even more so than Duke initially imagined, because the clothes that can be taken out of it are "most suitable for the other person's situation that day." This suitability for the other person's situation that day not only refers to the style and fashion design of the clothes, but also includes their specific practical functions.

As Talia's target, Duke needed to survive, so the prince-style tuxedo he obtained from the magic wardrobe was imbued with powerful defensive magic. Even outside of this world where clothes can be torn apart, it could help its owner withstand several powerful attacks—to use a light-based weapon as an example, this tuxedo could probably withstand three or four of her regular light cannon shots.

The Hoshino sisters were originally the "protagonists" of this witch game, and were important characters who were supposed to break through the "core" and clear the game. In the following battle, they were naturally among the main combatants, so what they got from the lazy man's magic wardrobe were two somewhat revealing and beautiful clothes.

Xinghua received a blue cheongsam, while Xingyin received a red cheongsam; the styles of their cheongsams were basically identical.

The upper body boldly exposes the shape of the shoulders and collarbones, yet it perfectly covers the beautiful, rounded curves of the young women's bodies. The fabric clings to their skin, perfectly restoring their natural curves, as if painting a picture on their beautiful bodies without any clothing. The lower body features a daring high-slit design, with only a ribbon connecting the front and back of the fabric, drawing attention to the allure that is faintly visible beneath. Further down, the black and white glimpses of the feet make the absolute area between the skirt and stockings even more eye-catching.

At Duke's quirky suggestion, both sisters styled their hair in buns, looking exactly like standard anime-style Chinese girls. In this world where the more revealing the clothing, the stronger the character, these two cheongsams granted the Xing sisters power comparable to sailor uniforms, only less durable than the world's original top-tier equipment.

However, although the two sisters wore the same clothes, the power they received was stronger in the older sister, Hoshine, who had a more mature figure.

This fact infuriated Xiaoxinghua. She painstakingly found the sailor uniform that had been cut up before, and used her hands to weave the tattered fabric into a small bracelet, which she tied to her wrist. With the last ripples of the sailor uniform, she barely managed to outdo her sister.

The "clothes monster" where the three of them were hiding at this moment was the clothes that Xiao Hei had pulled out.

That's right. Xiao Hei watched as the others received new clothes one after another, and he also tried to open the door of the magic wardrobe. The clothes he got were the key to their infiltration operation - the monster mimicry suit.

This monster-mimicking suit is different from ordinary clothes; it's more like an exoskeleton or a small robot with a hollow cockpit inside. Little Black doesn't need to wear it (in fact, it can't wear such a thing anyway), but can simply enter it to control its movements.

From the outside, it looked exactly like an ordinary monster in a suit, and its size of three or four meters was enough to accommodate Duke and the other two. So, under Duke's command and with the promise of a month's worth of fish meals, Xiao Hei agreed to let the three of them enter the monster-mimicking suit, pretend to be the monster in the suit, and secretly infiltrate the palace with them.

Instead of pretending to be ordinary monsters in their clothes and obediently queuing, they secretly killed one of the gatekeepers in the audience hall and took his place. The way these monsters communicated was incomprehensible to ordinary humans, and they couldn't even hear it.

However, Duke possessed a magical artifact called the "Voice of All Things," which allowed him to barely understand the other monsters' speech and then answer their questions with simple body language. The other clothing monsters who came into contact with Duke and his companions didn't notice anything amiss; they simply thought he was a "taciturn and inarticulate" member of their kind.

After all, the other monster costumes also contained humans as "fuel," so it wasn't strange to sense the life force of a few people within the monster costumes. Duke and his group thus successfully infiltrated the area. Even just now, when Talia herself appeared in the audience hall to receive her subordinates, she didn't notice that one of her men had been switched.

"Meow?"

What should we do next?

The black creature controlling the mimic monster suit asked a question.

“It’s simple.” Duke snapped his fingers: “We just jump into that bottomless pit!”

According to Xingyin, to enter the forbidden area beneath the palace, one must first enter the inner court from the front hall, bypass the blockade of the Empress's Guard (now the blockade of the Clothing Monster Guard), evade the hidden guards set up in the palace, manage to break into the Empress's bedroom, and then pass through the magical restrictions passed down through generations of the Xing Clan before finally being able to enter the forbidden area.