mygo, but Cthulhu

"I know what you're thinking, Lixi. I completely understand you. There's not much worth staying in this city for me."

Hailing nodded gently, and the next moment her expression was unusually complicated. She sighed and slowly squeezed out a sound.

"but……"

"but?"

"I hope you won't go to Xiangzi right away. She just needs some time to think about it. She will make a decision soon."

"...So, this is why you came here. You knew how I would react. Did you come here specifically to persuade me? Was this an order from Xiangzi?"

After a moment of silence, Li Xi's expression suddenly turned cold. She looked at her friend in front of her expressionlessly and spoke softly, while Hai Ling also frowned slightly and shook her head.

"Don't say that, Lixi. You know she and I aren't in a superior-subordinate relationship, and she didn't ask me for anything. I just came here because I didn't want you to quarrel with her."

"Really? Are you so sure I'll argue with her? So the reason she hasn't chosen to leave Japan yet is because of what I guessed, right?"

Li Xi walked up to Hailing, shook off Aiyin's hand who was trying to persuade her, and stared into Hailing's eyes with gritted teeth.

"She still can't let go of Yutenji's death, right? She still wants to hunt down Kurata Mashiro and complete her revenge. Once she's satisfied, she'll take us away, right?"

"Lixi..."

"Answer my question first. Is that what she thinks?"

Li Xi raised his voice in a cold tone, and Hai Ling was silent for a moment and then sighed.

"I don't know, I don't know what she thinks.

But as her teammate, I'm willing to trust her and give her as much time as possible... She's lost a lot, and Mujica is no longer complete after Ruomai's death. She just needs a break, Lixi."

"Once we leave Japan, she can rest as long as she likes. We won't have to worry about her getting into any danger then. If she stays here, she's gambling with all of our lives!"

"If possible, I hope you can try to listen to my explanation, Lixi."

Li Xi raised his voice angrily, and before Hai Ling could answer, the voice of the person they were talking about came from the side. She was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Toyokawa Shoko who was walking slowly, and the blue-haired girl nodded to her slightly, indicating that she would take over next.

"Okay, I'm happy to hear your explanation. Now tell me, why don't we leave Japan as soon as possible? This place has clearly become a center of danger, and the longer we stay here, the more danger we'll face... Tell me the reason, Xiangzi."

Li Xi turned his gaze towards her, and Xiangzi sighed after a moment of silence.

"Because of the Toyokawa family's pursuit, they have been trying to bring Mu back to perform the ceremony again. We must eliminate them before we leave, otherwise they will catch up sooner or later."

"Really? Then why not just launch a surprise attack? Their ability to summon the Yellow King is also restricted by the astrological signs. These few days should be opportunities to take action. Why not just kill them all?"

"..."

Li Xi continued to ask questions relentlessly, and Toyokawa Shoko pursed her lips and lowered her head silently. She didn't know what to say for a moment, so she could only try hard to think of a way to delay the conversation.

As Li Xi said, they could take action against the Toyokawa family at any time in the next few days... However, after confirming that they would have to wait at least ten days before summoning the King in Yellow again, Toyokawa Shoko hesitated.

Of course, she didn't care about those so-called family members who were only related to her by blood. She realized that if she killed them all directly, she would have no excuse to avoid Li Xi's questioning.

...Just as Lixi suspected, she really couldn't let go of her hatred. She still remembered every cruel scene of Ruomai's death. She also remembered how she sacrificed herself to protect her, and how she reluctantly said goodbye to her... She knew that leaving was the best choice, but she couldn't forget Ruomai, and she couldn't give up revenge.

…She once had parents, and then she discovered that she was the source of their pain. She once had crychic, but destroyed it with her own hands due to family changes. She once had avemujica, but even this last warm home of hers was no longer complete. A corner of her memories had been stained with blood and shattered, and could never be repaired.

On that day of despair, the doll named Amoris died, and Oblivionis could do nothing but suffer and feel powerless. She failed to protect her companions, so she forced Toyokawa Shoko to avenge her. She whispered in Shoko's ear with hatred, and her voice was burning with desperate hatred, which made the girl unable and unwilling to refuse.

"Because... we still need to find out if the Toyokawa family has other means. They are a powerful family that masters magic. We need to observe for a while to be safe."

After a long silence, Toyokawa Shoko managed to squeeze out some perfunctory words that she herself found ridiculous, and Li Xi was not fooled by her. Her expression became increasingly cold as she walked closer to Shoko, her face beginning to twist with incomprehensible anger.

"Xiangzi, if you want to fool me, you should at least find a better excuse, right? Are you treating me like a fool by saying this now?"

"We already faced the Toyokawa family head-on last time to rescue Mu. Besides the Yellow King being exceptionally difficult, did the Toyokawa family employ any special tactics? No, right? If they weren't a threat at their master's most important wedding, why do you still think we can't kill them all? Why do you still have such concerns?"

"...Because I'm a selfish person, even if there's only a slight chance, I still want revenge."

When Xiangzi responded softly, she was even surprised at her own calmness. Lixi was stunned for a moment and then clenched her teeth. Hearing that her guess was finally confirmed, she could no longer suppress her anger and directly grabbed Xiangzi's collar, staring into her eyes and roaring loudly.

"Even if we might die because of your revenge?!"

"No...I never thought of it that way,"

Toyokawa Shoko met her eyes seriously. She shook her head at Chuhua who wanted to come forward, raised her hand and held Lixi's hand which was throbbing with anger, and spoke slowly and sincerely,

"Ritsuki, I do want revenge, but I've never gambled with your lives. There are still more than ten days until the Toyokawa family can summon the Yellow King again. I just hope to find Kurata Mashiro within this deadline and make her pay... But if I fail, I will destroy the Toyokawa family before they can perform the summoning ceremony. I can assure you of that."

"...You'd better tell the truth, Toyokawa Shoko,"

After a moment's silence, Lixi gritted her teeth and squeezed out a sound. She suppressed her annoyance and let go of Xiangzi. Before she could speak, Xiangzi turned and left, leaving only a cold word.

"And even if you don't think so, if you choose to wait a little longer for revenge, this decision is already treating us as a gamble."

"If fate is a store, then revenge is the most expensive luxury. You and I have both seen people who are desperate for revenge, but in the end they only lose more... I sincerely hope you won't repeat the same mistake."

Chapter 286 Mastering the String Scroll

"Xin, what are you thinking about?"

In the car, Ozawa Misaki looked at the thoughtful Genmaki Shin who closed her eyes and couldn't help but ask curiously. The blonde girl slowly opened her eyes and met her gaze. After a moment, she suddenly uttered words that Misaki didn't expect.

"Misaki, what do you think Charlotte is planning to do right now?"

"Charlie? She should be dealing with her own affairs now..."

"No, I can tell that she's actually concerned about our situation... After hearing what I told her, the expression on her face wasn't surprising. She's clearly preparing some plans, and she doesn't want us to know about it."

After thinking for a while, Genjumakako nodded slightly, then quickly took out her mobile phone and started operating it. Misaki subconsciously took a look and found that she was summarizing all the recent events into a table, and then combining it with the current situation in Tokyo... Even if Misaki could only understand part of it, she could understand how precarious Japan's current economic situation was.

After doing all this, Xian Juanxin calmly took out her cell phone and sent the summary to the board of directors, then took out her cell phone and called Charlotte. After the call was connected, her slightly surprised voice came from the other end.

"Xin, you should be planning to go see the directors of your company right now, right? Why did you suddenly call me?"

"Before I get there, those directors who are planning to oppose me will probably be killed immediately, right? Charlotte, I appreciate your help... But don't be so hasty. Have your people wait a moment."

"...Xin, I don't understand why you won't let me do this?"

After a moment's silence, Charlotte's voice became confused and unintelligible.

"Those guys are obviously looking at you

Your father is dead, so they colluded with the Toyokawa family to deprive you of your rightful power. You shouldn't indulge them. I know you don't want to take your life, but even if I come, you won't accept it? So many things have happened..."

"You misunderstood, Charlotte. I didn't mean to stop you. I just wanted you to wait a moment."

"Didi,"

Xian Juanxin responded calmly and softly, and just as she finished her words, the other mobile phone she had specially prepared rang. She curled her lips in anticipation, touched the call and answered it, then she heard the panicked voice of the company's shareholder.

"Miss Xin, are the results of your analysis true? Is Japan really going to collapse? Is the Japanese yen also going to collapse completely?!"

"If you didn't believe me, you wouldn't be so frightened. Sir, you probably consulted your advisors and got a positive response from them, which is why you called me so frantically."

Xian Juanxin did not hang up the phone with Charlotte, but responded softly with a smile. The girl on the other side was also stunned to hear the conversation here. She was confused for a moment and subconsciously chose to remain silent.

"If that were all, it wouldn't matter. We could just sell all the yen as soon as possible... But, in your summary, you said our losses would be so severe?! We're one of the world's leading financial groups, so this shouldn't be the case, right?"

The shareholder continued to ask questions nervously, but Xian Juanxin just responded calmly.

"That's just the most optimistic estimate, sir. The greater possibility is that once we leave Japan, we'll all be killed by unidentified terrorists. Then, various countries will rush to take over our assets, completely destroying the Genjumaki Group."

"After all, what happened in Japan was a horrific event beyond human imagination. Over a million people died from an inexplicable virus, and agents from various countries were frantically tracking down a mysterious force... Even if we had a lot of money, other countries wouldn't give us the opportunity to use it."

"..."

There was dead silence on the other end of the phone. The shareholder simply hadn't thought of this before, but when she pointed out the terrible danger involved, he immediately understood what he and others were about to face, and fell into deep despair.

Even though the Xianjuan Group is a top-tier consortium, it is still too weak in the face of something that all countries are frantically investigating. From the unknown data storm sweeping the world to the mysterious power beyond human original cognition, no country can let go of any forces involved... Now they haven't taken action only because they are still waiting and watching, but if he and other senior executives leave Japan, they probably won't wait any longer.

"Miss Xin... I apologize for my previous rudeness. Please, save us. We can do whatever you need us to do. Please..."

After realizing this, the shareholder couldn't help but tremble and desperately asked for help. Since he climbed to this position, he felt the long-lost extreme fear for the first time. He couldn't even stand steadily and fell heavily to the ground.

"Sir, I remember you have a daughter, right?"

Xian Juanxin did not respond to his words, but spoke quietly and calmly, and the other end of the phone fell into silence. Even the shareholder's originally rapid breathing stopped instantly. After a moment, he squeezed out a trembling voice that was trying hard to suppress his anger.

"What do you want to say?"

"I don't want to save you, but I can save her. In exchange, I need you to kill all the other shareholders and complete the corresponding share transfer. You must leave a will transferring all the shares to my name, and then commit suicide."

Xian Juanxin chuckled.

"How about it? Is this deal okay?"

"You... aren't you afraid that I'll die with you?! I have some people under my command, and I'm not afraid of your bodyguards!"

The shareholder roared with gritted teeth, but Xian Juanxin still shrugged calmly. She slowly picked up the red wine in the compartment next to her, opened the bottle cap, poured it into the glass, took a sip, then sighed and shook her head slightly at the unfamiliar sour taste.

"Please, you can break with me, then you can join other shareholders and continue hiding in Japan. You can wait until the patience of other countries runs out and they send their troops, then they'll arrest you one by one and publicly execute you... By then, I don't know what will happen to your daughter. A quick death would probably be a luxury for her."

"you……"

The voice on the other end trembled, with an unconcealable deep despair. Xian Juanxin nonchalantly added some cola to the red wine, took another sip, and curled up the corners of her mouth at the improved taste.

"Well? Have you thought it over, sir? My patience is limited."

"...I understand. I hope you can keep your promise and take good care of my daughter."

After a moment of silence, a weak voice came from the other end. Xian Juanxin hung up the phone directly, then smiled and spoke softly to Charlotte,

"Now you understand why I asked you to wait, right? Being too rough isn't conducive to management. Furthermore, this gentleman is intelligent, which means he understands my conclusion. If he didn't love his daughter, he would have many options... Unfortunately, he's a good father, so he has no choice but to accept my proposal."

"Because he can't change the current situation, he can only pin his hopes on you... Xin, when did you collect his information?"

Charlotte was extremely surprised by the means she displayed. She murmured to herself and asked subconsciously, while Xian Juanxin just smiled casually.

"It was probably right after I was resurrected. I could already guess their moves then. After all, my father was dead, and I had been so incompetent before. It was only natural that they would want to take away my power."

"However, they didn't know that I had changed, and this became the cause of their death."

"boom!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a huge flame and roar suddenly erupted from the headquarters of the Genjumaki Group not far away. Genjumaki Xin happily waved to the surprised driver, signaling him to continue driving forward, then poured another glass of red wine and handed it to Ozawa Misaki with a smile.

"Misaki, would you like a drink? I know we're not supposed to drink alcohol, but after all that's happened... or would you prefer a cola version?"

"Heart... I didn't expect all this was part of your plan."

Misaki hesitated for a moment before finally accepting the wine. She looked up at her friend, who seemed a little unfamiliar to her, with a complicated expression, and the blonde girl just smiled and clinked the glass with hers.

"Actually, Charlotte's plan was beyond my expectations, but I just analyzed the situation and made the best choice. It's not difficult for me now."

"Are you doing this just to take control of the Xianjuan Group?"

"That's right. We can't have even the slightest bit of interference from now on. And at this point in time when the chaos hasn't subsided, it's much easier to take back all the shares than in peacetime."

Xian Juanxin nodded slightly, and then she seemed to suddenly remember something and whispered to Misaki tentatively,

"Also, my next move cannot be interfered with in the slightest, so I can't let them continue to exist... This is also for our protection. You shouldn't have any objections to this, right? Misaki?"

"I...I don't mean to object to you, but I don't know what Hanane and Kaoru will think."

Ozawa Misaki pursed her lips and shook her head silently. Seeing her reaction, Genmaki Shin also smiled in relief.

"Don't worry. Since you agree with my approach, I think they will agree too... By the way, Charlotte, what forces have you reached a cooperation with? Your family's power alone shouldn't be able to gather specific information so quickly, right?"

"I bought the information from the Church of the Deep Ones... and, Xin, can you... call me Charlie again?"

Charlotte responded slowly with a complicated voice, and Xin was stunned for a moment before nodding quickly, her tone full of apology.

"Oh, sorry, Charlie, I wasn't paying attention for a moment. I promise I won't make the same mistake again."

"You don't have to say that. I just don't want to hear you calling me so distantly..."

"Well, of course I won't alienate you, Charlie... So, can you tell me more about the Deep Ones Church?"

Xianjuanxin drank the red wine in her hand, then threw the glass out of the window. It shattered all over the ground behind her. Ozawa Misaki silently looked at her serious expression when she asked Charlotte, and suddenly felt a little stuffy in her chest.

She looked down at the red wine in her hand, hesitated for a moment, and decided to finish it. However, to her surprise, even though she had added cola to it, the red wine was still extremely bitter, making her feel inexplicably uncomfortable.

Misaki Ozawa looked at the broken glass reflected in the rearview mirror and clenched the cup in her hand tightly. She turned her head to look at Kokoro Genmaki who was concentrating on asking questions, opened her mouth hesitantly, but in the end no sound came out.

Forget it... She is doing this to protect us. Even if it is threats, calculations and indifference, these things that have nothing to do with her, she has to accept them... This is all for us.

Misaki thought so and silently lowered her head, but the strength in her hand holding the glass became stronger and stronger. Her genetically reorganized body squeezed it into a clear crack, making her eyes reflected in the glass look particularly depressed, making her a little breathless.

...Since they couldn't do anything for Xin, then the only thing they could do was probably to stay by her side, right? This was only natural.

So, stop thinking about these trivial things and focus, Misaki Ozawa... All of this can no longer be turned back to the past, and you know that.

Chapter 287 Three Gardens of Light

"Look, my old friend, the change in her heart has exceeded all of our expectations, hasn't it?"

Looking at the explosion in the distance, Mizono Watari looked back at Hiroi Akinari with a smile, but the old man just looked at him silently without giving any comment.