At dusk on July 18th, inside the Roppongi Grand Hotel, the setting sun cast rows of windowpane shadows across the floor of the room while white curtains swayed in the breeze.
Host Body One, Gu Wenyu, woke up in bed. He rolled over groggily, opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling, and fished out his mobile phone to check an incoming text ssage.
[Li Qingping: Are you coming out or what? Let's hang out while I still have so free ti.]
[Li Qingping: I have things to do tonight. This is the only free ti I'll have these next few days. Don't tell
you dropped dead again?]
Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow. 'You really take the cake, Li Qingping,' he thought. It was obvious that the guy was neglecting his duties, sneaking out while the Second Prince was asleep.
He got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. 'If the Second Prince gets attacked while Li Qingping is sneaking around, then when Li Qingping returns to Whalegarden, he'd be stripped of his position at best,' he pondered. 'At worst, wouldn't his entire family be executed?'
Thinking of this, Ji Minghuan made a rare decision to be a good person for once and replied to the ssage.
[Gu Wenyu: Since you're so busy, let's just forget it. We can get together after we return to the country. The sumr vacation is still long, anyway.]
[Li Qingping: It's fine. It's rare for us to co to Japan together, it would be a sha not to et up.]
Ji Minghuan wiped his face with a towel while reading the text, suddenly feeling a bit more awake. 'Either Li Qingping truly considers him a best friend, or he doesn't care about the Anecdote Envoy business at all,' he grumbled internally.
Managing to squeeze out ti to hang out with him in the middle of such an important mission was like a sports champion suddenly asking you out for alcohol and a chat the night before the world finals.
You'd tell them to forget it and worry about ssing up tomorrow's match, but they would just wave it off and say: "It's just the finals. How could that be more important than drinking with a brother? Worst case, I just won't compete."
[Gu Wenyu: Where are we eting?]
[Li Qingping: The beach. I just sent you the address.]
Ji Minghuan casually summoned a Restraining Band Avatar, left the hotel, and hopped onto a tram heading toward a coastal corner of the Minato Ward. He got off a short while later, followed the navigation on his phone for a bit, and finally stopped on the Coastal Highway.
Turning his head, he saw Li Qingping standing alone by the sea. The young man picked up a flat stone from the beach and chucked it toward the turbulent, rolling waves.
The stone skipped rapidly across the water, bouncing over the crashing tide ti and ti again. It flew forward for dozens of ters, kicking up small splashes of water before finally sinking into the ocean depths and vanishing from sight.
"Skipping stones on a high tide... You're not even willing to pretend to be normal, are you?"
Staring at the stone that had shot across the sea like a bullet, Ji Minghuan felt secondhand embarrassnt for his best friend. 'It really wasn't easy for an AI like Gu Wenyu to go all these years without noticing Li Qingping's oddities,' he thought in exasperation.
'I suppose that's exactly what you'd expect from artificial intelligence?'
'But it's also possible that Li Qingping is just in a bad mood and has started letting himself go,' Ji Minghuan mused. The guy didn't seem to like the world of the Anecdote Envoys and Whalegarden much to begin with. Being forced to accompany the Second Prince to the Auction these past few days would naturally breed so rebellious feelings.
With that in mind, Ji Minghuan hopped over the guardrail of the Coastal Highway and slid down the slope.
His shoes hit the sandy beach, and he walked toward Li Qingping, who was still skipping stones by the water.
"It's rare for you to be so punctual," Li Qingping said without turning his head.
He tossed another stone, this ti with much less force, and it was instantly swallowed by the crashing waves.
"So, you asked
out just to look at the ocean?" Ji Minghuan walked over. "What have you been so busy with lately? You've been acting all secretive."
He stopped beside Li Qingping, gazing out at the sun-drenched sea alongside him.
Li Qingping was acting a bit out of character today. He lacked his usual carefree, cheeky grin.
The sea breeze was strong. Ji Minghuan narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the silhouettes of a couple of sailboats bobbing along the horizon.
Li Qingping suddenly bent down, picked up another flat stone from the sand, and casually asked,
"Say... if there was sothing you absolutely hated, but you had to do it anyway, what would you do?"
"Then don't do it," Ji Minghuan replied. "You only live once. What's there to think about?"
"But it's not that simple. Because this matter involves more than just you."
"Then tell , what exactly is it? If you keep beating around the bush, how is your best friend supposed to give you any advice?"
Li Qingping fell silent for a mont. He took a deep breath, then violently whipped the flat stone in his hand toward the ocean.
"Never mind."
"Just do whatever you want to do."
Ji Minghuan spoke while picking up a stone of his own from the beach, casually tossing it into the water. "Basically, just don't do anything you'll regret. Humans only live for a short ti anyway. When you're lying in a coffin with your eyes shut forever, you won't rember the right things or the wrong things you did. You'll only rember... the things you never got around to doing."
He watched the stone he threw get swallowed by the white crest of a wave as a couple of snow-white seagulls flew over the rolling sea.
"Even if doing it cos with a heavy price?" Li Qingping asked, watching the ships coming and going as the incoming tide soaked his pant legs.
"Even if everyone in the whole world dies." Ji Minghuan shoved his hands into his pockets, then added, "As long as you think it's the right thing to do, it's worth it."
Li Qingping stayed silent for a mont. Suddenly, the corners of his lips quirked up into a smirk, his tied-up black hair swaying in the wind. "You're right."
"So, what is it exactly?" Ji Minghuan shrugged. "If you're planning on doing sothing shady, then pretend I never said any of that. I don't want to get slapped with the cri of aiding and abetting."
"Co on, do I look like that kind of person?" Li Qingping chuckled. "I have to head back soon. Thanks... I feel a lot better after talking with you."
Ji Minghuan rolled his eyes at him. "Seriously? I ca all the way out here, we talked for less than ten sentences, and now you're running off? I thought I could at least score a free al out of this."
"Consider this revenge for the ti you stood
up," Li Qingping smiled, gently bumping his shoulder against Ji Minghuan's.
"Alright, alright, holding a grudge, are we?" Ji Minghuan replied, bumping his shoulder back with much more force.
Li Qingping stumbled backward a few steps, leaving a trail of footprints in the sand. He was pretty good at playing pretend in monts like this; it was as if his acting skills had suddenly returned.
Ji Minghuan looked at his absentminded expression. "If you have sothing urgent to do, go ahead and head back. See you next ti."
"Bye," Li Qingping grinned.
"Bye," Ji Minghuan said. Li Qingping turned around, marched up the slope, and hopped over the guardrail back onto the Coastal Highway, waving over his shoulder as he walked away.
Ji Minghuan stood on the beach, watching Li Qingping's silhouette fade into the distance. 'You better not die at the Auction, kid,' he thought. 'If I ever end up creating an Anecdote Envoy character later, I'll still need you to cover for
in Whalegarden.'
Not long after, dusk began to fade. The golden sea slowly darkened, and the setting sun stretched the shadows of playing children across the sandy beach.
Li Qingping walked along the Coastal Highway with his hands stuffed in his pockets, his face entirely expressionless.
Suddenly, he slowed to a halt. Glancing up, he saw an enormous, pitch-black cocoon hanging upside down beneath a ginkgo tree.
A mont later, he silently withdrew his gaze and walked right past the giant cocoon, completely ignoring it.
But right at that mont, the massive cocoon slowly peeled open. A humanoid figure wrapped from head to toe in pitch-black Restraining Bands and wearing a pair of sunglasses wriggled out like a mummy, suspending itself upside down from the ginkgo tree.
"Mr. Li Qingping, I have sothing I need to discuss with you."
Black Cocoon spoke with lowered eyes, holding a book titled "The Correct Way to Use the Friendship-Shattering Punch" in his hands.
Li Qingping paused his steps. "How do you know my na?" he asked without looking back.
"Who knows?" Black Cocoon replied. "I also know you have a best friend nad Gu Wenyu."
In that instant, Li Qingping's expression turned slightly cold. At so point, he had pulled his right hand out of his pocket, and a card etched with complex, intricate patterns had materialized between his fingers.
"Octoprism," he murmured softly, crushing the card.
A crisp 'crack' echoed through the air. Eight crystal prisms ford in midair and violently shot toward Black Cocoon, instantly assembling into a massive octagonal cage.
Black Cocoon's body was trapped inside.
The Restraining Band holding him from above had been severed, yet his figure remained suspended in midair alongside the octagonal cage. Every facet of the prison was a prism, refracting the last rays of fading dusk and illuminating the surface of the Coastal Highway with a brilliant clarity.
"I see... So this is how Anecdote Envoys fight. You call them Anecdote Fragnts, but they actually take the form of cards. What's the difference between this and online shopping expectations versus reality?"
Black Cocoon adjusted his sunglasses, quietly assessing the prism cage surrounding him before slowly adding, "Uh... what I an is, is there a chance you've overestimated my strength? With your level of skill, you could have just rushed over, given
a gentle shove, and I would have collapsed on the ground, completely immobilized. There was really no need to use the power of an Anecdote Fragnt. Isn't this a bit too cautious? It doesn't quite suit soone of your caliber."
Li Qingping turned around and slowly walked toward Black Cocoon, his eyes as cold as ice.
"Tell ," he demanded, enunciating every word. "How do you know the na 'Gu Wenyu'?"
"Why wouldn't I know?" Black Cocoon asked. "Perhaps he and I are also best friends."
"I'll repeat myself one more ti," Li Qingping stated. "Answer my question."
As his voice fell, every single prism shrank inward by a fraction, squeezing Black Cocoon's space. An ordinary person would have shrieked in terror long ago; it was no different from having a massive wall pressing down right on top of you. Every bone in his body bore imnse pressure, threatening to snap at any second.
But Black Cocoon's reaction remained calm, as if he couldn't feel any pain. "Whoa... Mr. Li Qingping, is Ghost Bell your daddy or sothing? Why are you being as violent as a supercriminal?"
Li Qingping kept his hands tucked in his pockets, tilted his head, and replied,
"Ghost Bell is your daddy."
"Alright... Regardless of whose daddy Ghost Bell is, let's put the jokes aside for now and get down to business." Black Cocoon raised a single finger within the prism space. "Mr. Li Qingping... You're currently protecting the Second Prince, aren't you?"
Li Qingping remained silent, gazing calmly into his eyes as his tied-up hair swayed in the wind. "What of it?"
Black Cocoon spoke slowly, "I can help you. The ensuing battle at the Auction is going to be utter chaos. Ghost Bell, Blue Arc, and even people from Lake Hunt might show up on the battlefield... Factor in the White Raven Brigade on top of that, and there will be nearly ten Near-Calamity Tier individuals participating in this chaotic war."
He paused. "And with a burden like the Second Prince dragging you down, I'm afraid you'll barely be able to protect yourself."
"Oh... And?" Li Qingping remained expressionless.
"I can help you protect the Second Prince. I think Anecdote Envoys should also learn to integrate into human society. Like ordinary people, you should learn to buy a little 'life insurance' or sothing, and I just so happen to be an insurance salesman... How about purchasing a policy while you still can?"
"Boring."
Li Qingping turned around and walked away without looking back.
Imdiately after, the Octoprism behind him abruptly contracted inward until it was the size of a palm. Black Cocoon's body should have been squashed into a puddle of bloody mush like a tomato run over by a steamroller. Instead, it dissolved into a mass of black Restraining Bands that flowed smoothly toward the ground in a rustling cascade.
'Why does he know my na... and the situation with the Second Prince?'
Li Qingping kept his head lowered, silently pondering with his hands in his pockets. Right then, a na slowly surfaced in his mind. 'Wenyu? No, it couldn't possibly be him.'
At that exact mont, Li Qingping suddenly froze.
He wasn't shocked because the Black Cocoon behind him had turned into a bizarre puddle of Restraining Bands, but because a figure was walking down the highway straight toward him.
The person was approaching him while playing on a mobile phone.
A brief mont later, the approaching Gu Wenyu slowly lifted his head from his phone.
He took a look at Li Qingping, then glanced at the palm-sized Octoprism behind him, as well as the black Restraining Bands continuously spilling out from the gaps in the prism.
Gu Wenyu stared blankly, finally resting his gaze on Li Qingping's face.
Li Qingping also looked up in a daze, eting Gu Wenyu's eyes with an expression of pure bewildernt.
"Li Qingping?"
Gu Wenyu slowly spoke, breaking the dead silence resting over the Coastal Highway.
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