I Have an Idea. (Continued)

The powerful Originium Arts extracted the metal and quickly forged it into shape according to their requirements.

The blacksmiths in the city needed a month's work, but the girl finished forging it all by herself in just a few hours.

Such power left onlookers speechless.

But Sui didn't care about this. After finishing everything, she didn't even want the reward and went straight back to the inn to find Maria.

"Phew~"

With a long sigh, Sui returned to her room, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes with a smile.

"How interesting..."

"Um?"

After Maria finished lighting the incense, she sat down at the table by the window and heard Sui's voice. She turned her head in confusion and looked at Sui beside her.

"Your opinion of them... has changed a little?"

"I have no idea."

Although she appears as a mysterious and unpredictable master to others, in front of Maria, she remains as innocent and adorable as a little girl.

"I still think these people are throwing their lives away, they're crazy, they're overestimating themselves... But one thing I'm certain of."

With a soft "hey," Sui slowly rolled over on the bed and looked at Maria.

"I'm a little curious, what do they plan to use to stop the Great Beast...?"

"You forged weapons for them, didn't you know what they were planning to do?"

Maria was somewhat puzzled.

Because she knew nothing about forging, she didn't go to the forging workshop with the girl, but left beforehand.

Therefore, she had no idea what Sui had forged.

Sui was clearly unaware of what he had done.

While her metalworking skills were unparalleled, she was clearly lacking in innovation.

"They just wanted me to forge some weird parts, I did it, and that was it... To be honest, I don't understand what they were planning to do."

The little boy lay on the bed, propping his head up with his hands and wagging his tail.

Maria frowned as she looked at the extinguished incense in front of her, then picked up a thin wooden stick, went to the girl's side, and grabbed the girl's tail.

It was being heated by the thin flames on its tail.

"This thing is fake; it doesn't have any temperature, but you can have it if you want."

Sui didn't mind Maria holding her tail, but... she felt something was off.

She stood up and took the incense from Maria's hands.

With just a breath, the tip of the incense slowly began to burn.

Thin wisps of smoke curled up in front of the two of them.

Watching Maria turn her head to insert the incense sticks into the incense burner, she smiled and shook her head.

"However, you are indeed right. Although humans are weak, there are still arrogant people among them..."

"Having a strong personality but lacking ability can easily lead to one's own downfall."

Maria shook her head slightly, seemingly somewhat worried.

But this time, it was the young girl who refuted Maria.

No, that's not true.

"Um?"

"It's not that having power leads to having ambition... but rather that having ambition, combined with power, is what leads to everything else."

The boy sat cross-legged on the bed and looked intently at Maria.

"I wasn't always this capable... It's just that I've always been defiant of everyone. I learned forging, painting, and all sorts of things, all to prove that I'm stronger than other Great Beast... But later I realized that beating them up is a more direct approach."

"But none of that matters."

The man waved his patterned fingers, his smile undiminished, now tinged with a hint of arrogance.

What I'm trying to say is that willpower isn't a byproduct of strength... On the contrary, it's merely a catalyst for strength. Those who lack it aren't necessarily weak, but those who possess it will certainly be stronger!

The boy stared at Maria with his eyes wide open, his golden-red vertical pupils fixed on her.

"Those who strive for self-improvement will strive for self-improvement."

"A strong will is essential for the weak to become strong!"

"..."

Maria blinked. "I don't understand."

"Ah?"

"I don't understand these things..."

"Then you're so powerful..."

"I simply killed everything that stood in my way."

Maria's voice was very soft, and the words she uttered were so strange, yet so natural...

Maria truly didn't understand these things.

Her strength was entirely forged through hardship... She didn't think she deliberately pursued anything; it was just that in Yharnam... if she didn't want to sink like everyone else, she had no choice but to grit her teeth and move forward.

Of course, Maria's initiative played a part, but a large part was forced upon her...

The only thing she felt she had done was that, during those days, she hadn't gone mad, but instead was thinking about how to escape.

"I don't know if this is right or wrong... but that's just how I feel."

Looking at Maria's appearance, the man suddenly began to doubt the theories he had always believed in.

She knew Maria was stronger than her, but she hadn't expected Maria to have different ideas...

Based on the facts... well, what problems might there be with my own theoretical estimation?

However, she didn't pay much attention to these things, but finally asked Maria one question.

"Can we stay here for a while?"

"... Do you want to see how these people end up?"

"Certainly."

Sui raised an eyebrow, "After all, they've already taken action... Whether they fail or they actually succeed beyond my expectations, I should watch the whole thing..."

"Besides, haven't you always tried to make me believe that what you're saying is true?"

He smiled.

"Maybe after witnessing this battle, my opinion of these despicable people will change?"

"... You will."

Maria was silent for a moment, then looked out the wooden window.

Today, the city wall of South River City is brightly lit.

Countless black dots are working together, striving to assemble something.

The patrolling guards would pass by the inn where Maria was staying almost every ten minutes.

The entire city has been placed under martial law...

Everyone was on high alert, preparing for the worst-case scenario.

Maria naturally saw many people sneaking away as well.

But most people simply wait.

And Maria, there, silently closed her eyes.

"You definitely will..."

A corner of South River City.

A man draped in a dark cloak carefully avoided the patrolling guards, his brow furrowed.

After a few more moments, he carefully approached the door of a house that was not lit and gently knocked...

There was no response from inside the room.

But the man didn't find it strange at all; instead, he continued speaking as if it were commonplace.

"Father, Mother, I'm coming in..."

As he spoke, he pushed the door open himself and entered, making sure no one was following him before carefully closing the door and finally looking into the dimly lit corner of the room.

"Safety..."

At this point, several dazed figures in the dark shadows finally lowered their guard.

One of them got up and went to the man's side.

After a brief body search, the other party nodded slightly to the others.

"The head of the department is in the basement..."

"I see."

The man nodded slightly, and following the other person's instructions, quickly opened a cabinet in an inconspicuous corner on the first floor, then crawled inside.

After crawling for a while, he finally arrived at the settlement.

Over here, several people dressed similarly to him are waiting anxiously.

"Any news?"

When the man returned, everyone couldn't help but ask him questions.

The man simply shook his head slightly.

"Still nothing... Li Zhenfang has imposed martial law on the entire team. The people who went to install the tools are all his cronies. The people we arranged before couldn't infiltrate at all, let alone figure out what they were doing."

"You still don't know?"

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned and looked troubled.

After their previous attack on Li Zhenfang failed, they almost immediately realized that their situation was going to worsen.

There's nothing we can do about it.

The reason they had spent so much effort trying to win over and corrupt Li Zhenfang's two children was because they were not confident in dealing with Li Zhenfang.

That man... was very decisive.

He had no special abilities or extraordinary wisdom; he was just an ordinary person who presented himself to others and then gathered them together one by one.

He has too many talented people around him.

Because of these people, their plan encountered great trouble from the very beginning.

After all, the biggest purpose of their operation this time was to spread the word to the world that the Shanhai Assembly existed and that they were not yet extinct.

Therefore, they demand that fear be spread as much as possible.

While Great Beast attacking a city is certainly terrifying, without publicity, people will only think of it as an extremely unfortunate accident.

Therefore, they needed to make their presence known before the Great Beast descended... and to incite as much panic as possible.

People don't remember joy; they only etch their cowardice and fear into their flesh and blood.

According to their plan, they should first let Li Zhenfang's youngest son escape to distract him. Then, when Li Chang returned and took responsibility, he would assassinate Li Zhenfang in public. At that time, they would also create an alibi for Li Chang.

Before the Imperial Court issues its orders, Li Chang will likely be elected as the temporary leader by Li Zhenfang's personal guards. At that time, they can cooperate internally and externally to eventually lure the Great Beast into the city.

Their plan was perfect... After all, they had spent a long time researching Li Zhenfang's personality beforehand, knowing that he was a person who valued loyalty and righteousness.

But they didn't expect that Maria and her group would suddenly appear midway through.

They never imagined that in Li Zhenfang's heart, his own son was less important than anyone else in South River City...