The Banquet (Part 2)

Thinking about it carefully, while Liu Zicai's plan sounded fantastical, it did have a sliver of feasibility.

First, Sandora came under the guise of studying abroad, which meant her current identity wasn't just that of a foreign princess, but also a regular high school senior. Whether it was to experience life or genuinely study, this meant she had to lower her profile and interact with ordinary people. In this situation, a reverse Cinderella story was possible, albeit with a very low probability. But what normal man could resist the temptation of winning over a real princess?

Ahem, I'm a special case, not within the scope of consideration from the start...

Qian Qian and I looked around and noticed quite a few so-called young talents with slicked-back hair and refined manners. These people were seemingly engaged in enthusiastic conversation with each other, while also subtly comparing and competing. Needless to say, they were also here for that elusive chance to ascend to the heavens. To put it another way, even if they couldn't truly fly away with the princess as a couple, having a romance with a beautiful foreign girl would still be a gain, wouldn't it?

After scanning the area, Qian Qian and I immediately felt that the Pig Head Liu Shao's luck was truly terrible. Of all things he could have done, he chose to provoke Sandora. Now he was beaten into a pig head. Forget a princess, even a normal girl would probably feel nauseous seeing that face, right?

But then again, even if this guy hadn't been beaten into a pig head, Sandora wouldn't have taken a liking to him...

When Sandora announced that she would be studying abroad in China, she only mentioned that she would be attending school in K City, without specifying which school. This seemed to give the outside world a signal: the largest aristocratic school in K City was Canglan Private High School. If a princess were to study abroad in China, Canglan seemed to be the only possible choice. Therefore, the young masters from Canglan had already considered themselves future classmates of the princess and held the absolute upper hand in the subtle competition happening everywhere here.

"Truly foolish Carbon-Based Lifeforms," Sandora's voice suddenly echoed in my mind, carrying undisguised contempt.

I said innocently, "Sandora, you're AOEing..."

"There's nothing interesting about staying here," I said. This place was full of elites with fake smiles and pretentious manners, and young masters strutting around like peacocks displaying their feathers. This environment was not to my taste. I really wondered how Sandora could endure until the entire welcome banquet ended – speaking of which, when would she, the actual host of the banquet, finally make an appearance?

Just as I was puzzled by Sandora's nonchalant wandering through the crowd, a deep male voice suddenly rang out: "Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to take up a little of your valuable time."

I looked up and saw a tall, strong man standing in the center of the venue, holding a microphone. I recognized this person; he was Carmen, the Shilin Defensive Heavy Infantry I had saved back then. It seemed he wasn't just an ordinary soldier now. The fact that Sandora let him speak at this moment showed that he was at least a mid-level Shilin officer.

No wonder he was able to hold out for so long in the beast tide with only 49 soldiers that day. A high-level Shilin Apostle had the ability to turn the tide of an entire battle.

Now, Carmen had shed his heavy alloy armor and put on a black tailcoat, with perfectly pressed trousers and a meticulously tied bow tie. He was dressed like a gentleman, but combined with his tall physique and imposing face, he looked like a special forces bodyguard disguised as a butler, awkward no matter how you looked at him.

Seeing that everyone's attention was focused on him, Carmen nodded with satisfaction and said, "First of all, it is a great pleasure to meet everyone at this grand banquet. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the host of this banquet and also the captain of Her Royal Highness's guard. I will be spending the rest of the time with everyone.

"I believe everyone must be very curious as to why the banquet has been going on for so long without the protagonist of this gathering – Her Royal Highness the Princess – appearing. Here, I will reveal a small secret: In fact, Her Royal Highness has already arrived at this square! And, she is hidden among you!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people around immediately started a low murmur, then looked around at the foreign girls, seeing if they could spot a creature suspected of being the princess. Of course, many glances also swept over Sandora, but this wild girl, who was always in a state of hunger, had already thrown herself into a new round of food battles. Her indiscriminate eating scared everyone away at first glance.

Carmen waited for everyone to quiet down a little, then continued, "Of course, since Her Royal Highness wants to play this game with everyone, she must have a way to prevent herself from being discovered so easily. From now until the banquet enters the next part, there is about an hour. During this time, the princess will not leave the square. Whether you can find the princess's figure depends on everyone's eyesight and luck... Of course, even if the time is up and no one has found the princess's location, the princess will also appear when the banquet enters the next phase, but by then, there will probably be much less surprise..."

I couldn't tell, this Carmen, who seemed only suitable for being a soldier, actually had such good eloquence. Sandora's subordinates were truly full of hidden talents...

Before Carmen's words even finished, several impatient young people stepped forward and asked loudly, "Then if we find the princess, do we get any reward?"

Seeing the rash actions of a few nouveau riche-like guys, I secretly shook my head. People like this, who clearly wouldn't amount to much, were only suitable for paving the way for others in this situation.

Carmen just smiled slightly at the questions of the few rash guys and said, "Then what kind of reward do you gentlemen hope to receive?"

Carmen's counter-question was indeed clever. In this situation, could they really open their mouths and make demands?

The few rash young people retreated awkwardly. Carmen smiled slightly and raised the microphone: "Now, the game begins – everyone, open your eyes wide and look for the princess among you!"

As soon as the words fell, the young masters who had been feigning enthusiastic conversation the second before immediately dropped their fake smiles and began searching everywhere for the mysterious princess.

I looked at Sandora with curious eyes. I really didn't expect her to be interested in playing such a boring game with humans.

Sandora noticed my gaze, smiled slightly, and continued to battle with the cake in her hand. Qian Qian suddenly shoved a small piece of pudding from her hand into my mouth and pouted, saying, "Really, even if there's a reason, please don't look at each other so affectionately in front of me, okay?"

There were quite a few foreign girls present. Some were local residents who came to join the fun, and more were Sandora's entourage. Of course, there were also many Shilin female soldiers disguised as ordinary people mixed in. Now, each of them was surrounded by multiple young people from prominent families. Everyone had reached a consensus: as long as she was a foreign girl, she could be the princess!

In front of me, a blonde girl was surrounded by several young men. These people annoyed the girl so much that she finally couldn't help but burst out, speaking in authentic Beijing dialect: "What are you guys doing? Is it wrong for me to dye my hair too?"

Such scenes were everywhere, which fully proved that dyeing hair could cause harm to both body and mind...

Since every foreign girl or suspected foreign girl present received attention, Sandora was naturally no exception. I watched beside her, and in just a short while, no less than ten well-dressed and elegant young masters came over under the guise of cultural exchange to get close. Unfortunately, Sandora's eating habits were truly exaggerated, and every young master who came to get close was eventually scared away.

"I say, aren't you full yet?" When Sandora swallowed an entire plate of chocolate cake in ten seconds, I finally couldn't help but use the mental link.

Sandora's voice echoed in my mind: "Don't measure the appetite of a Shilin Apostle by the standards of a Carbon-Based Lifeform..."

...It seems that among the Shilin Apostles I know, only your appetite is so exaggerated, right?

"Oh right," Sandora's voice rang out in my mind, "Your trusted troops should also be in this world, right? Why haven't I seen them? Besides Pandora and Siweisi, the one who's a teacher, I've hardly seen any of your subordinates."

"This... Actually, I don't like those messy things, so I let the commanders under me go do what they like."

"Oh—" Sandora understood. She knew my fear of trouble.

Just then, the corner of my eye suddenly caught sight of someone who absolutely should not have been here.

A resolute and righteous face, an outfit like something out of The Matrix, and a black leather bag slung over his shoulder.

"Brother, want a disc?" The man in black asked everyone he met.

...Selling pirated discs in this place, should I say this guy is truly talented?!

"Something they like..." Sandora sighed with a look of exasperation.

I'm going to shoot this guy!