This was bad. Their cheating conspiracy had been caught red-handed by the official Chief Examiner.
That icy hand tightened its fingers, and an invisible force lifted Sparkle bodily from her chair.
Sparkle's feet left the ground, and she flailed wildly in midair, kicking helplessly like a struggling doll forcibly snatched up by a claw machine.
Looking down, Sparkle realized that what had grabbed her head was not Chen Li's hand, but a phantom-like giant hand.
The phantom hand lifted Sparkle before Chen Li, making her face his utterly impassive expression.
Less than a foot separated them.
"Ahaha... um, Dad, let me explain." Dangling in midair, Sparkle forced out a fawning smile even uglier than a crying face.
"Go ahead. I'm listening." Chen Li folded his arms, his expression terrifyingly calm.
Sparkle opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Because she realized she really had no explanation.
"Exploiting loopholes... isn't that also an indispensable part of the Holy Grail War?" After hesitating for a long while, Sparkle finally offered a weak defense.
Just as Sparkle thought Chen Li was about to pin her across his lap and give her an Ansai Waist Drum beating, Chen Li spoke.
"That's true." Chen Li nodded as though he agreed completely.
"Then you agree?!" Sparkle's eyes flew wide open, her face lighting up with delight.
"No. I mean, you should also know what punishment awaits you when exploiting loopholes fails, right?" Chen Li shook his head, a dangerous smile curling across his lips.
Sparkle, flailing in the air, reflexively covered her backside with both hands.
Then she froze.
Why had she instinctively assumed Chen Li was going to spank her?
But Sparkle had no time to ponder such a profound question.
Because the next second, the phantom hand abruptly flipped Sparkle around, ruthlessly pinning her