Ah, to be young—you can just pass out and sleep anywhere.
In the end, Su Enxi had to be carried out by her two teammates.
After spacing out in the room and realizing their part of the mission was already done, Jotoku Mai and Zero—one tall, one short—hoisted the unconscious otaku auntie up by her head and feet and walked out with her like they were carrying a corpse.
Zero, as always, remained expressionless.
Jotoku Mai, on the other hand, put on a show of fake sympathy, brushing Su Enxi's face dramatically as she whispered:
"Su-Enxi, I'm so sorry… I misjudged you. I thought you were just surrendering, but it turns out you were playing the long game with hidden wisdom. Alas, this mission was supposed to be shared among us three… and in the end, you shouldered it all alone."
"…." Had Su Enxi not been lost in unconsciousness, she absolutely would've shot up, gnashing her teeth, and brawled with Jotoku Mai for a solid three hundred rounds.
Before leaving, the trio arranged a new meeting location and contact protocol with the Zhou family. Both sides would begin their respective preparations for the upcoming operation.
"Preparations?"
"Yeah, like contacting the other noble families to join. Ugh, we've got days of verbal battles ahead."
On the way back, Nuwa-hime discussed it with Shirou, sighing with a bit of a headache. As the main bloodline of Nuwa in the Chu region, the Zhou family was considered the ruling house among the Shenzhou aristocrats—but that didn't mean the other families were pushovers.
For small matters, the other families would respect Zhou's status and let them take the lead. But when it came to putting their own people and resources on the line to fight a troublesome family like the Chen?
Forget it. Unless there was a righteous cause and serious compensation on the table, most of them would just posture, wave flags, and cheer from the sidelines. As for actual combat? Zhou family could handle that themselves.
Nuwa-hime considered, "Revealing the Magic Circuit system might be acceptable—it's highly dependent on individual aptitude anyway. As for the ideological model Shirou mentioned… it might be useful to bait them further."
———
In the following days, the Zhou family discreetly reached out to other noble houses to discuss cooperation against the Chen family. Nuwa-hime's charm and might were on full display—she clashed verbally with family heads in a dazzling war of words.
Back then, she'd debated for two straight days with a dragon soul sealed within Danryūtai (Severing Dragon Platform) and came out victorious. Did these mixed-blood noble punks really think they could take her down?
As she verbally sparred with them full-throttle, she also found time to pressure the nanny trio to speed up their preparations.
According to them, their strategy hinged on sending in their infiltration expert—Jotoku Mai—to meet with an insider mole they'd planted within the Chen family…
Nuwa-hime found this quite intriguing. The Chen family was known for being bristly and dangerous, like a porcupine—yet somehow the trio had managed to plant a high-level mole inside?
With this, all forces agreed on a plan—three moves to bring the Chen family to ruin:
First move: The nanny trio would collaborate with the mole to gather evidence of the Chen family's shady research and more details on their underground facility.
Second move: The Zhou family would rally as many houses as possible to isolate and sever ties with the Chen family, then encircle their estate and seal off the lab on D-Day.
Final move: The Zhou family's elite strike force would smash through resistance inside the base and destroy any Dead Apostle-related products.
Nuwa-hime politely declined the eager offers from other families to participate in the base raid. After all, they were just eyeing the Chen family's research. Having too many factions involved would just lead to infighting and a chaotic grab for credit.
As for Emiya Shirou, he was holed up in his room, making his own battle preparations—
"Trace on."
With a soft hum, his alchemy field—much more refined than before—spread out, and two bronze blades nearly identical to Kaneshige and Mōgyoku slowly formed in the void.
If Jotoku Mai had witnessed this, she'd probably be stunned with déjà vu—her boss, Lu Mingze, had once conjured two legendary swords from thin air as well: Ame-no-Habakiri and Futsu-no-Mitama, gifting them to her for battle.
In terms of this world's alchemical system, Shirou was barely brushing the edge of the high-level domain known as the "Seven Great Kingdoms."
But it was still surface-level. The reason became clear—
"BZZZT—" Shirou tried channeling magical energy into the projected weapon, aiming to trigger the Noble Phantasm effect. Light shimmered along the blade, but there was no mystical response.
"This level… it's just a pseudo-Noble Phantasm."
A pseudo-Noble Phantasm referred to a downgraded copy—not the original. Such weapons couldn't unleash their True Name abilities.
Suppressing his frustration, Shirou focused on the positives: pseudo-Phantasms were quick to project, cost little energy, and provided powerful ranged support.
That was Archer's signature strategy: spam pseudo-Noble Phantasms like Caladbolg II as tactical missiles from a distance.
Just then, Lao Tang barged in, eyes baggy and looking like hell—clearly sleep-deprived.
"Hey bro, about that split personality thing you mentioned—I gave it a shot, but the guy in me won't even acknowledge me! I mean come on, I'm young, rich, and good-looking now. You're telling me me doesn't like me?"
Once, he'd been a poor bastard scraping by on welfare in Brooklyn. His wildest ambition was taking a Greyhound bus across North America to ogle girls and live like Indiana Jones.
But now, trailing behind Shirou, he'd snagged a secure post with one of Shenzhou's top families and awakened insane magical talent…
Still, the dragon inside him wouldn't answer.
Lao Tang clutched his chest in mock heartbreak, looking like he'd just been dumped.
"Wait, I only mentioned the split personality theory yesterday. You seriously spent all night trying it?"
"Of course! You said it, bro—I believe everything you say!"
To Lao Tang, Shirou was the one who opened the door to the "Inner World." All his knowledge of mystical matters came from Shirou, whose every word was treated like gospel.
In his eyes, Shirou understood far more than any of those mixed-blood aristocrats.
The Zhou family doesn't even get how magic circuits work! They're still fumbling through it. They have to ask my bro Shirou for help!
"Ahem, it was just a guess," Shirou said. "There are indeed methods to intentionally create alternate personas—it might help you uncover your mystery."
Lao Tang scratched his head. "I mean, I always thought split personalities were just mental disorders. They actually have benefits?"
"Lao Tang, do you know about alchemy?"
"Oh sure! I've picked up a bit since joining the Zhou family. There's the Western kind, turning lead into gold and all that Philosopher's Stone stuff, and the Eastern kind with tools and pills—"
"No, I'm talking about something different—ancient alchemy from Atlas Institute. The technique of dividing thought processes to create multiple personas is part of their training method."
(End of Chapter)
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