I created a foundation

He held the steel plate in front of Kaguya and Hayasaka.

Under the two people's gazes filled with horror and confusion, Lin Qing's five fingers slowly closed together.

No sound was made.

No energy fluctuations were seen.

There is only a pure and brutal physical force that exceeds the limits of human imagination.

The special alloy steel plate that was strong enough to withstand the frontal impact of armor-piercing bullets looked like a piece of cheap yellow plasticine placed in warm water in his hands, which did not look particularly strong.

It began, slowly and silently, to twist and deform in a way that completely violated the physical properties of metal.

Five deep dents appeared on the hard surface under his finger pressure. Then, the entire steel plate began to emit a teeth-grinding "crunching" sound as he forcefully, bit by bit, pinched and squeezed it towards the center.

In the end, under the dull gaze of Kaguya and Hayasaka Ai, who had completely lost the ability to think, the huge, indestructible alloy steel plate turned into a dense, irregular, violently aesthetically pleasing scrap iron ball covered with clear fingerprints.

Lin Qing threw the scrap iron ball onto the ground as if it were garbage.

"Boom--!"

The dull, heavy sound echoed in the silent medical room, and it was like a heavy hammer, hitting Hui Dye and Hayasaka Ai's hearts hard.

Lin Qing spread out his hands and put that warm, harmless smile back on his face.

He looked at the daughter of Japan's top chaebol, who was completely speechless due to excessive shock, and asked the last question in a relaxed tone, as if asking "What are you eating tonight?"

"Now, how credible do you think my promise is?"

Chapter 0035: I, Kaguya Shinomiya, am willing to pledge allegiance!

At this moment, time seems to be infinitely stretched.

In the silent medical room, the only sounds that could be heard were the two girls' slightly rapid breathing and the twisted metal ball that was casually thrown on the ground, occasionally making a slight "creaking" sound due to uneven internal stress.

That ugly scrap iron ball covered with clear fingerprints was like a magical work of art, which attracted the full attention of Kaguya Shinomiya and Hayasaka Ai.

It silently and cruelly showed them a completely new power system that completely overturned all their previous cognition.

In front of this system, everything they are familiar with and proud of seems so fragile, so... insignificant.

In Kaguya's mind, the most violent storm in her life, a tsunami-like storm, was set off.

Those bloody and real videos that were covered up by the authorities proved that the world was not as peaceful and orderly as they thought.

The man before her had revealed her deepest secrets and ambitions regarding the family succession war, proving that he possessed incomprehensible intelligence capabilities.

And the scalding scrap iron ball made of special alloy steel plates on the ground proved to her in the most brutal and unreasonable way that he possessed divine personal power that was enough to crush all rules and conspiracies.

Intelligence, power, and awareness of the "real side" of the world.

He is in control of everything.

And she, Kaguya Shinomiya, felt her own insignificance for the first time.

This feeling caused a crack to appear for the first time in her proud heart, which had been polished as hard as a diamond by "imperial studies" and "elite education" since birth.

Hayasaka Ai looked at her eldest daughter's ever-changing, pale face, and her heart was filled with worry. She knew what kind of painful inner struggle Kaguya-sama was going through at the moment.

As the most loyal attendant, she must give the most rational advice at this time.

She slowly walked to Kaguya's side, leaned over, and analyzed quickly and calmly in her ear in a voice that only the two of them could hear.

"Miss, we... no longer have the room to refuse."

"From the moment we were brought here, we've been separated from all familiar rules. Here, the name of the Shinomiya family means nothing. The fate of resistance is likely to be... the erasure of all related memories, even, of existence itself."

"But..." Hayasaka Ai's voice paused, and there was a hint of hidden excitement in her tone that even she found incredible.

"But the reward for obedience is... the entire Shinomiya family! It's the throne you've always dreamed of!"

Her words were like a key, accurately inserting into the lock called "ambition" in Kaguya's heart.

"My lady," Hayasaka Ai continued in her calm voice, dissecting Kaguya's inner soft spot, "Excuse me, but is the Shinomiya household truly a warm haven for you? It's filled with cold calculations, brothers who are like wolves, and a father who treats you like a tool. It's more like a gorgeous, solid cage from which you cannot escape."

"And this man before me..." Her eyes involuntarily glanced at Lin Qing, who was leisurely waiting for the final outcome. "...He may be mysterious, dangerous, and unfathomable. But the power he displays may also be... your only chance to break free from that cage."

"Following him might be more dangerous than staying in that cold home, but it's also... more free."

free……

The last word was like a thunderclap, fiercely splitting open all the fog in Kaguya's heart.

She thought of the place called "home" which was actually like a battlefield.

She remembered her father's eyes, which were always cold and weighing the pros and cons.

She remembered her brothers' hypocritical faces filled with greed, jealousy and calculation.

She remembered the heavy mask called "Ice Kaguya" that she had to wear in order to survive and win.

Are you really free?

In comparison, the man in front of him, although overbearing, strong, and unreasonable, was frighteningly straightforward.

He made no secret of his purpose and was not shy about showing off his power. In the most direct way, he proposed to her a fair "deal" full of devilish temptation.

Loyalty in exchange for the throne.

Surrender in exchange for power.

Abandon false pride in exchange for true... freedom.

All pride, all calculations, all hesitations and struggles, at this moment, were turned to dust in the face of the purest and absolute desire for victory and freedom.

Kaguya Shinomiya's red eyes, which seemed a little distracted due to confusion, began to light up again, little by little.

It is a light that breaks down and then rebuilds, abandons all retreat routes, and is extremely firm and resolute.

She slowly stood up from the medical bed.

She adjusted her unfamiliar, pure white research coat, as if she were performing an extremely sacred ritual.

Then, under Hayasaka Ai's complex gaze filled with shock and understanding, and under Lin Qing's smile filled with amusement and appreciation.

She walked in front of Lin Qing.

Slowly, in an ancient, ritualistic gesture of a knight swearing an oath to his king, he knelt on one knee.

She lowered her extremely proud head, which had never been lowered to anyone or any force since she was born.

She solemnly announced her decision in an extremely clear and firm voice, as if to brand her soul into it.

"I, Kaguya Shinomiya, accept your terms."

"From this moment on, I pledge my loyalty to you."

"Everything in the Shinomiya family will be at the disposal of the foundation."

Chapter 0036: Dong, Dong, Dong...Open the door, I'm coming to see you

The night was as dark as solidified ink.

Eriri's room was lit only by a single desk lamp and the cold glow of a computer screen. Her golden eyes, bloodshot, stared intently at the endless scroll of messages about "Mary's call" on the screen.

Posts on forums, archives on paranormal websites, research by curious people... She was like a drowning sponge, madly and unfilteredly absorbing all the information she could find, trying to find a life-saving straw.

But what she found, apart from the so-called "cracking methods" that had long been proven to be nonsense, were only more and more detailed horrific descriptions of the victims' tragic end.

Behind her, Itamaki Kiyo was wrapped up in the quilt, huddled at the foot of the bed, shivering. She had long lost the chic, feisty energy she had during the day. The sheer terror and torture of the night had left her as fragile as a taut spider's thread, and the slightest movement would send her screaming.

Eriri didn't even dare to look back at her. She was afraid that if she did, the strong sense of responsibility she had built up with great difficulty would instantly crumble.

She forced herself to calm down and think like a real "investigator".

A rule-based anomaly...cannot be eliminated by conventional means...the core is the medium of the curse...

She glanced at Itamaki Kiyo's cell phone, which she had covered with a white cloth. It lay quietly on the corner of the table like a time bomb, emitting an ominous aura.

Time passed minute by minute in the suffocating silence. Every tick of the clock's hands was like a hammer hitting the two girls' fragile nerves.

As midnight approached, the air in the room seemed to become colder and stickier.

"Little... Little Yingli..." Itamaki Kiyu, curled up in bed, asked in a weak voice with tears in his eyes, "Is it... is it... not coming? It's... it's been a long time..."

There was a hint of false, self-deceiving hope in her words.

Eriri didn't answer. She hoped so, but her faint sixth sense, born from her gift of "body and soul at one," was frantically warning her.

Danger is approaching.

Just as Itamaki Kiyo finished speaking.

Just when that false hope was about to paralyze their nerves.

The phone on the corner of the table, which had been as silent as a dead object, suddenly lit up without any warning!

A dark green, ghost-fire-like light appeared extremely dazzling and strange in the dim room.

The two girls' breathing stopped instantly.

Their eyes, like iron filings attracted to a magnet, were fixed on the glowing screen, unable to move.

A distorted, cold, girl's voice, as if coming from the abyss, slowly and enunciatedly flowed out from the speaker of the mobile phone. In the dead silent room, it was so clear that it was shocking.

"I……"

“…I’m…at…your…door…oh…”