Soon, Mei brought out the prepared dishes.
Visually stunning and fragrant—at a glance it was clearly exquisite cuisine.
"Your daughter's cooking skills are truly impressive. Food like this I've only seen from top-tier chefs."
Looking at the abundant dishes on the table, Cocolia expressed admiration.
But she didn't notice that aside from herself and Mei, everyone else's eyes showed the dead look of someone who had given up on life.
Mei's face wore a perfectly beautiful smile as she personally ladled a bowl of milky-white fish soup for Cocolia.
"Aunt Cocolia flatters me. I've heard your name from Father, and I'm grateful for your support of Father and MEI Company."
"This is fish soup I carefully prepared. It's extremely delicious. Please do taste it."
Cocolia didn't notice the strange look on Mei's face, nor did she notice the eerie silence that had fallen around her. Smelling the clear fragrance from the fish soup, her appetite surged.
"Since you put it that way, I won't stand on ceremony."
Cocolia scooped up a spoonful of fish soup and, under everyone's silent gazes, gently brought it to her lips.
"Thud!"
Cocolia fell to the floor, eyes rolling back, foam frothing at her mouth.
Lucius and Kiana exchanged glances, saying nothing.
But Bronya's eyes lit up at the sight. She immediately jumped down from her chair and rushed to Cocolia's side.
"Mom Cocolia has been overworking herself lately and has collapsed from exhaustion. It seems she won't be able to stay for the meal. I'll take her back to rest."
Saying this, she grabbed Cocolia and was about to leave.
However, before she could take a step, she felt a powerful hand press down on her head.
Bronya's body stiffened. She mechanically turned around, only to find Lucius had one hand on her little head, his face carrying a sunny smile.
"It's fine. I'll have someone send Ms. Cocolia back. You stay."
Soon, Cocolia was carried away by a group of people in white lab coats, and Bronya returned to her seat with a bitter expression.
For a moment, everyone resumed a harmonious atmosphere.
And among them, none was more delighted than Mei.
When Cocolia was sent away, she had specifically observed her father's expression and found he hadn't shown any concern.
It seemed their relationship was normal. This really had been a regular dinner gathering.
As for why Lucius showed such indifference to Cocolia's collapse, it was because Cocolia was just a minor supporting character in this gathering.
Cocolia wasn't important—but Cocolia bringing Bronya along was important.
Once she brought Bronya and the gathering took place, her purpose was fulfilled. Whether she stayed no longer mattered.
Because...
[Mission: Complete the First Gathering of the Starter Trio, Reward: A-rank Stigmata Selection Box, Crystals 300]
[Mission Status: Completed]
Seeing the mission complete notification on the system interface, Lucius was enormously pleased. He stood up and ladled a large bowl of fish soup for both Kiana and Bronya.
However, what astonished Lucius was that after Bronya received the fish soup, she actually downed it in one go, and even seemed to want more afterward.
This left Lucius and Kiana confused.
Could it be... Mei had finally managed to make something edible?
Thinking this, Lucius took a light taste, and then experienced his taste buds crying out and a sharp explosion reverberating through his brain.
Watching Lucius fall into a stupor, the corners of Bronya's mouth revealed a smug smile.
She possessed the Herrscher of Reason's construction ability. The moment she swallowed, she had redirected the fish soup into a separate stomach she had just constructed.
Hehe... I, who possess the power of the Herrscher of Reason, am invincible!
And compared to Bronya's composure, things were much worse on Kiana's side.
Looking at the fish soup before her, Kiana's face turned white. At the same time, the gaze she fixed on Lucius was filled with resentment.
After learning that Ryoma was Lucius in disguise, she had lost all respect for Lucius, and naturally had no more awkwardness around him either.
Upon seeing the abundant dishes before her, an idea flashed in her mind. She grabbed the serving chopsticks and began piling various dishes onto the empty plate in front of Lucius.
"This one's good, eat more. And this one, and this one..."
By the time Lucius noticed, he found his plate had accumulated quite a lot of food.
He looked at Kiana and found her grinning maliciously.
Lucius glared at her, his gaze conveying a message: "You actually ambushed me!"
Kiana returned his gaze with a smile: "We're even."
Lucius looked at her, then suddenly let out a cold laugh and equally began piling dishes onto the empty plate in front of her.
"Big niece, you're still growing. Eat more."
Then he gave her a look, facing the pale-faced Kiana.
Kiana understood his meaning.
"Bring it on! Mutual destruction! Whoever backs down first is the loser!"
Kiana's fighting spirit rose too, piling even more dishes over to Lucius.
The two went back and forth, competing with great enthusiasm.
However, absorbed in their own world, neither of them noticed that a pair of violet eyes was watching their interaction, and that the gentle smile on that face had been frozen for quite some time.
After confirming that her father truly had no romantic interest in Cocolia, Mei had thought she could finally breathe a long sigh of relief.
But just after Cocolia was sent away, she saw Kiana and her father exchanging glances and bantering—so intimate it was completely unlike a senior and junior relationship, more like old friends who had known each other for ages!
In an instant, Mei's brilliant brain deployed its worldly wisdom again, and an absurd speculation surfaced in her mind.
Could it be that the earlier restraint between the two had been an act performed for her benefit? In order to prevent her from becoming suspicious?
Or was she herself just one piece in their little game?
Watching Lucius and Kiana's back-and-forth, the cold in Mei's eyes became terrifying.
You two... couldn't possibly actually be doing something behind my back, could you?!!
"Bang!"
An explosive sound drew the attention of Lucius and Kiana, who had been busily piling food onto each other's plates.
In Mei's palm, fragments of a porcelain bowl were slowly sliding off.
Meeting Lucius and Kiana's puzzled gazes, Mei smiled gently and said: "I'm sorry. The bowl's quality was too poor. I accidentally broke it. I'll go get another one from the kitchen."
She stood up and hurried into the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Mei braced both hands against the wall. The face that had been wearing a perfect smile twisted into something ferocious.
"No, impossible. Father is not that kind of person."
"Kiana is my best friend. How could she do something like this behind my back?"
"I must be overthinking. I must be... bang bang bang!"
As Mei reassured herself, she repeatedly headbutted the wall, trying to clear her mind this way.
The violent impacts even cracked the wall.
And this commotion naturally startled Lucius and Kiana.
Just as the two were about to stand up and check on the kitchen, they saw Mei had already walked out from the kitchen holding a brand new porcelain bowl.
Her face still carried a gentle smile. Aside from a slight redness on her forehead, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
"Mei, what was that just now?" Lucius asked.
"Nothing, Father. I was worried there wasn't enough fish soup, so I prepared another fish."
Seeing Mei sit back down, neither Lucius nor Kiana noticed anything unusual. Only Bronya, who had been sitting quietly to one side the entire time, lowered her head and forcefully suppressed the smile pulling at her lips.
Hehe... I want to see rivers of blood!
Soon, dinner was over.
Mei tidied things up in the kitchen, while Kiana and Bronya huddled in front of the game console playing together.
And Lucius was thinking about the next plan.
The stage in Nagazora City was nearly fully set. It was time to bring Himeko on board.
This wasn't a difficult problem for him. Through the information obtained from Asakura Miyuki's communicator, he knew that Himeko was currently troubled by Fire Moth's overdue compensation payments for fallen comrades.
At this point, if he simply deployed financial leverage, he could most likely recruit her. But that would only get him Himeko—not Himeko.
To make Himeko become 'Himeko,' he had to give her the corresponding backstory. But that was difficult—possibly even harder than establishing MEI Company.
Himeko's backstory involved a degree from Caltech, the conflict between Anti-Entropy's leader and Infinite Abyss's Ryusui, the machinations of the Shicksal clan, the invasion of the Sky People... it was complicated to the extreme.
But unfortunately, if he wanted the Herrscher of Finality to be soundly defeated, no matter how many difficulties there were, he had to push through!
Fortunately, he already had a potentially viable plan.
So, facing Kiana and Bronya before him, Lucius said: "Kiana, Bronya, are you interested in making a movie?"
...
"La la la! La!! La!!!"
"Stop! I said stop!!!"
The Far East, inside an audition room.
The audition director tremblingly removed his eyeglass frame whose lenses had been shattered, and looked around him.
The large dressing mirror had been shattered by the vibrations. The display screen of the recording equipment had cracked into pieces. Virtually all the ceiling lightbulbs had been destroyed, leaving only emergency lighting flickering continuously.
On the floor, the sound engineer who had been his partner for over a decade lay unconscious amidst glass debris, foaming at the mouth with fingers twitching continuously.
Even he himself felt his brain buzzing with a strong nausea rising in his heart.
And the cause of all this... he looked at the girl standing before the microphone.
It was a girl wearing a white cinched dress and black over-the-knee stockings, her ice-blue waist-length hair tied in a high ponytail falling behind her, a pair of equally ice-blue eyes carrying deep confusion.
No matter how one looked at her, this was a girl with quite striking good looks.
But the director just wanted this young lady to leave as soon as possible.
He gritted his teeth, pointed at the door leading out of the studio, and said: "Miss Shigure Kira, I'm sorry but you don't meet our requirements. You may leave now."
Hearing this, the girl named Shigure Kira's eyes went wide.
"Sir, I... I really want to become a singer. Could you give me one more chance?"
In response to the girl's request, the director was actually laughing from anger. Taking a deep breath, he roared: "Your singing voice could serve as a sonic weapon! Military industrial enterprises are more suited to you. Stop tormenting us in the music industry! Get out!!!"
Outside the front doors of a music production company, Shigure Kira was thrown out.
"Bang!" The company's front door was firmly shut.
Facing the closed door, Shigure Kira beat on it forcefully.
"Wait, I just didn't perform at my best earlier. Let me try again!"
But unfortunately, no matter how long she called out like this, the company's door showed no signs of opening.
Shigure Kira lowered her door-pounding hands and turned away feeling dejected. Her whole being seemed to dim a few shades.
"Heh heh... I knew it... I just knew it..."
Muttering vaguely meaningless words under her breath, Shigure Kira walked down the street in a daze.
And at this moment, a slightly surprised voice suddenly reached her ears.
"Oh, this young lady—I can see you have quite a remarkable talent!"
Shigure Kira turned around and found it was a young man with short black hair, a streak of white running through the black hair at his forehead, currently examining her with sunglasses on.
It was none other than Lucius.
Shigure Kira looked left and right, found there seemed to be no one else around, then pointed at herself and asked: "Are you calling to me?"
Lucius looked Shigure Kira up and down, his face extremely satisfied.
"Young lady, I'm a talent scout from Schicksal Entertainment. Interested in having a chat?"
"A talent scout?!" Hearing Lucius's introduction, Shigure Kira's eyes lit up. "You've spotted my singing talent?"
"No, I'm here to look for actors."
Hearing this, Shigure Kira turned and walked away, leaving only her back for Lucius.
"Not interested. I only want to become a singer."
"Sigh... what a headache. We still haven't found a singer to perform our film's theme song. Where on earth can we find a suitable singer..."
The words fell, and with a gust of wind, Shigure Kira was standing before Lucius again, a perfect smile on her face.
She rubbed her hands together and said:
"On reflection, although becoming a singer is my dream, it seems becoming an actress has better development prospects! Actually, I've always wanted to become an actress."
As if worried Lucius might change his mind, Shigure Kira quickly asked: "By the way, what's our film called? What genre is it?"
In response, Lucius adjusted his sunglasses with one hand, smiled confidently, then produced a poster from somewhere and handed it to Shigure Kira.
"This is a co-production between our Schicksal Entertainment and Anti-Entropy Pictures. It's a science fiction suspense battle-of-wits superpowers urban blockbuster with the theme of alien arrival!"
"We've named it..."
"—Star Wars: Schicksal vs. the Sky People"
"This script looks like a sure-fire flop... no, I mean it clearly has the potential to be a massive hit." Shigure Kira rubbed her hands together and looked at Lucius expectantly. "By the way, am I your female lead?"
"Oh, no. You're just a background extra."
---
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