Shock Points Through the Roof! Drawing the Divine Court's Second Member!
The medical room was so quiet that only the monotonous beeping of the life monitor could be heard.
The sharp smell of medical alcohol hung in the air.
Su Chen lowered his gaze.
Stelle was still clinging tightly to his leg, wrapped in black silk.
Utterly unguarded, she pressed her cheek against the invisible film of Geo, rubbing against it with her eyes closed.
Welt held his breath.
Himeko's hand froze in midair.
Everyone waited for the goddess to pass judgment.
Su Chen had no intention of handing down divine punishment.
He just felt goosebumps rising all over his body.
The crisp system notification in his head was like a lifeline.
The blind box for the Divine Court's second member had unlocked.
The Female Lord slowly raised her right hand.
Her wide black sleeve slipped down her fair forearm, revealing a wrist as smooth as white jade.
She was not angry.
A faint golden Geo glow gathered at her fingertip and touched Stelle's shoulder.
A gentle but utterly irresistible force rippled outward.
Like a weightless rag doll, Stelle slid half a meter backward.
She landed squarely on the white hospital bed.
"Huh?"
Stelle rubbed her eyes, apparently not done hugging her.
"I must meditate."
The four cool words fell against the ward's cold floor tiles.
They left no room for argument.
Su Chen gave no one a chance to speak.
The Female Lord turned around.
Her heeled boots clicked sharply against the floor.
She headed straight for the medical room door.
Welt immediately stepped aside, pressing his back against the alloy wall.
Himeko lowered her head, avoiding the goddess's gaze.
Arlan and Asta were still kneeling at the edge of the corridor.
When they saw the golden figure emerge, they bowed their heads even lower.
Without looking left or right, Su Chen retraced his steps to the VIP Lounge.
The heavy wooden door closed behind him.
Su Chen raised a hand and locked it with a click.
Locking it was not enough.
The Female Lord twitched her index finger. A ring of golden Geo crept along the doorframe and sealed the metal hinges shut.
The main lights were off.
Only the flames in the virtual fireplace flickered.
Once he was sure he was safe, Su Chen issued a command in his mind.
"Release the Avatar."
The golden light receded like a tide.
The tall, imposing warrior goddess vanished.
Su Chen's original body dropped heavily onto the black leather sofa.
He wore the pilling gray Sweatshirt he had bought before crossing over, with a pair of yellowed Canvas Shoes on his feet.
"Hiss—"
Su Chen sucked in a sharp breath.
He clutched his legs with both hands as his calves cramped violently.
He had stood in heels for an hour or two, keeping every muscle tense while pretending to be some lofty master.
It was more exhausting than gaming for three nights straight.
He sprawled on the sofa and vigorously rubbed his aching knees.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Playing a god was hard physical work.
But he had no time to rest.
Su Chen abruptly sat up straight.
He rubbed his hands together, his palms warming.
A dark-blue Holographic Screen popped up in midair.
The Shock Points balance in the upper-right corner was climbing at a terrifying rate.
[Shock Points: 87500/50000]
Welt's wariness, Himeko's shock, Asta's fervor.
Add in the collective gasp Stelle's hug had just caused.
He had blown past the target long ago.
An ancient bronze blind box sat at the center of the screen.
Gold and purple chains wound around it.
Su Chen swallowed.
His Adam's apple bobbed.
He had already made grand claims about the "Divine Court."
His first Avatar, a female Rex Lapis, had commanded everyone's attention.
But that was not enough.
The Astral Express Crew and Herta's people were far too sharp.
If all he had was a taciturn Lord, sooner or later their questions would expose a flaw.
He needed an Avatar who could stir things up.
Preferably an openly domineering male villain.
Su Chen stared at the blind box, frantically running through anime characters he had seen in his previous life.
Madara Uchiha.
If he got Lord Madara, he could go out, summon a complete Susanoo, and take on the entire Antimatter Legion alone.
The sheer pressure would be off the charts.
Or Sōsuke Aizen.
He could just stand there and adjust his black-rimmed glasses.
One line about "when did you start thinking that," and he would have those crafty old foxes on the Xianzhou Luofu completely fooled.
"Give me a powerhouse! Give me a powerhouse!"
Su Chen pressed his palms together and bowed three times to the Holographic Screen.
He jabbed the [Open Blind Box] button hard.
The ancient bronze blind box shook violently.
The chains wrapped around it shattered link by link.
A dazzling pillar of light shot upward, drowning out the glow of the virtual fireplace.
Blue.
Purple.
The light kept shifting.
At last, it settled on a blinding, brilliant gold!
SSR! A Gold Card!
Su Chen sprang up from the sofa.
His knee struck the glass edge of the coffee table, making him grimace in pain.
But he did not make a sound.
His eyes stayed fixed on the card turning within the golden light.
The card stopped spinning.
The illustration on its face slowly appeared.
There was no raging chakra from Susanoo.
Nor was there the flash of Kyōka Suigetsu shattering.
The card showed a little girl of about seven or eight.
Her fluffy, short white hair stuck up in messy tufts.
A pair of round black sunglasses sat on her face.
She had pushed them up onto her forehead, revealing large, sky-blue eyes.
The girl wore a miniature black Jujutsu High uniform.
The sleeves were too long, so she had rolled them up twice.
She held a strawberry lollipop, with a little sugar frosting at the corner of her mouth.
She was sticking her tongue out at whoever looked at the card.
A clear line of text was printed beneath the illustration.
[Satoru Gojo (gender-swapped little-girl version)]
The wild delight on Su Chen's face froze as if someone had doused him with ice water.
His jaw fell slightly open.
A half-formed wheeze escaped his throat, like air from a broken bellows.
His eyes went wide as he stared at the line of text.
A little girl?
And Satoru Gojo?!
Su Chen's legs went weak, and he dropped back onto the leather sofa.
The cushion sank deep beneath him.
He raised a hand and rubbed his eyes hard.
He lowered it and looked again.
The white-haired little girl was still making a face at him.
That cocky, infuriating expression was exactly like the original Satoru Gojo's.
Su Chen bit the tip of his tongue.
The taste of iron burst across his mouth. This was no dream.
He grabbed his messy hair with both hands and gave it two hard tugs.
Several strands snapped under the force.
"You're messing with me, aren't you?"
He growled under his breath, the words squeezed out through his fingers.
He had accepted a female Zhongli. At least she was an imposing, mature woman with a commanding presence.
But now he had a seven-year-old white-haired little girl?
He had only just boasted to the Astral Express Crew.
The Divine Court was a supreme organization that contained the rules of Destruction.
And the next moment, a kid eating a lollipop popped out of that organization?
How was he supposed to play this?
Was he supposed to bonk the Antimatter Legion over the head with a lollipop?
Su Chen punched the sofa armrest.
The leather armrest gave a dull thump.
[Avatar draw complete. Host, please fuse with it as soon as possible.]
The system screen flickered, paying no attention to his despair.
The Gold Card hovered quietly in midair.
It gave off a faint blue light.
Su Chen breathed heavily.
There was no question about Satoru Gojo's strength. Her combat power was absolutely top-tier.
With Limitless and the Six Eyes, she could dominate even in the Honkai: Star Rail universe.
But this was completely the wrong look.
That little girl was going to ruin the Divine Court's entire image.
Su Chen closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the sofa.
He needed to come up with a good story.
How could he reasonably fit this white-haired little girl into the "Imaginary Divine Court"?
Just as he racked his brain,
a faint set of footsteps suddenly sounded outside the VIP Lounge's wooden door.
Then came a knock at the door.
Someone tapped lightly on the wooden door.
Knock, knock.
Su Chen's eyes flew open.
His back snapped straight, and cold sweat slid down his temples.
"Um..."
March 7th's usually boisterous voice dropped to a deliberate whisper.
It sounded muffled through the heavy wooden door.
"Your Majesty, are you in there?"
Su Chen said nothing.
He glanced at his gray sweatshirt and canvas shoes.
He was screwed.
He had already dismissed his female Zhongli avatar.
There was no way to switch seamlessly back to the same avatar so soon.
"Himeko was worried you might not be used to the environment here."
March 7th muttered quietly outside the door.
"She asked me to bring you a blanket and some snacks."
The handle gave a faint metallic scrape.
Someone was turning it.
The door was sealed with Geo, but the sound outside sent Su Chen's heart racing.
Right now, he was an ordinary person with no fighting ability.
If they forced the door open, or Herta used her authority to cut through it...
The true identity of the "Fourth Seat of the Imaginary Divine Court" would be exposed.
In a universe full of danger, getting caught bluffing meant certain death.
He couldn't wait any longer.
Su Chen gritted his teeth.
He thrust out a hand and jabbed the Gold Card on the Holographic Screen.
He selected [Persona Fusion].
The screen shattered.
The card turned into a blinding streak of blue light and slammed into Su Chen's chest.
A thunderous crash rang through his mind.
An incalculable torrent of information forced its way into his brain.
His vision sharpened in an instant.
Then...
Chaotic, twisted, ferociously violent azure energy erupted from him.
Cursed Energy swept through every corner of the VIP Lounge like a tsunami.
With a sharp crack, the glass of the expensive coffee table shattered into a cloud of dust.