I want your answer as Riko Amanai

As Tan Man drew closer to Riko Amanai, she got a clear look at his face.

Her first impression of this man was that he was handsome. His features hardly looked like those she would expect to see among Japanese people, and his eyes in particular, gleaming like gold, were both dangerous and beautiful.

Tan Man calmly introduced himself to Riko Amanai. "You're currently in the Zenin Clan's residence. You should know something about us. My name is Tan Man Zenin. You can think of me as one of the people with the greatest say in this clan."

Riko Amanai retorted indignantly.

"You don't even look that old, and you claim you're one of the most important people in the clan? What a joke, you despicable bandit!"

Tan Man sighed. He disliked this sort of unreasonable behavior when he was trying to have a serious conversation.

"At least for now, I mean you no harm. I only want to talk to you for a bit. But if that's going to be your attitude, I can't guarantee I'll continue to mean you no harm."

"You're one to talk! Who wants to chat with a bandit?" Riko Amanai had clearly let his words go in one ear and out the other.

"Have you ever seen hell?"

"What are you talk...ing..."

Tan Man's Golden Eyes flashed. As he activated the Evil Eye's illusion, he effortlessly took Riko Amanai into the eight hot hells for a one-minute tour of hell.

The experience of hell was far too overwhelming. Though it lasted only a minute, to Riko Amanai, that single glimpse felt like an eternity. It had been all too real.

Once the illusion ended, Riko Amanai wanted nothing more than to scream, but Tan Man immediately made a gesture for silence and spoke seriously.

"What you just saw was only an illusion. It wasn't real. But if you start screaming and refuse to cooperate, I might let you experience real hell."

Though Tan Man had frightened Riko Amanai enough to keep her from shouting, she still pointed at him and spoke as if trying to bolster her courage.

"Listen here! Lady Tengen is me, and I am Lady Tengen! How dare you treat me so disrespectfully..."

Tan Man merely replied calmly, "Your merger with Tengen hasn't happened yet, so you can't be called Lady Tengen. But is merging with Tengen really such an honor to you?"

Riko Amanai gradually calmed down. From their brief exchange, she had realized that Tan Man was even more restrained than she had imagined. He did seem to be a bandit she could actually talk to.

"Your name is Tan Man, right? Mr. Tan Man the bandit, what exactly do you want to do?"

"I don't want to do anything. Or rather, what I do next will depend entirely on the answer you give me," Tan Man told Riko Amanai calmly.

"What answer do you want from me?" Riko Amanai still couldn't understand anything he was saying.

Tan Man spoke as though explaining things to Riko Amanai, yet also as though he were talking to himself. "In a sense, our experiences have been quite similar. That's why I'm so interested in what you would choose."

"Quite similar?"

Unable to understand what Tan Man meant, Riko Amanai repeated his words.

In truth, Tan Man envied Riko Amanai because she had always been needed. Whether for her value as bait or as the Star Plasma Vessel used for assimilation, at least people had clear expectations of her.

She didn't have to think about anything or worry about making mistakes. All she had to do was live as the Star Plasma Vessel, and she could meet everyone's expectations.

Tan Man wanted to know what it felt like to live in that kind of "happiness." He wanted to know how Riko Amanai would react once the whole truth was laid bare.

Tan Man didn't answer Riko Amanai's question. He simply spoke seriously.

"Suppose I told you that, if events take their normal course, you will die on the day of your assimilation with Tengen, no matter what you choose. Would you still choose to sacrifice yourself? To let yourself die for nothing?"

Riko Amanai froze briefly at his words.

"What are you talking about?"

Tan Man explained the two ways Riko Amanai could die.

"One possibility is that you merge with Tengen as planned, then enjoy endless solitude, losing control of your body and becoming a mere trace of consciousness within Tengen. To me, at least, that's no different from dying. The other is that Tengen uses you as bait, drawing in those who don't want the Star Plasma Vessel to assimilate with her so they'll kill you."

Riko Amanai asked in confusion.

"What do you mean, bait?"

"You're actually not the only Star Plasma Vessel. But you'll be the only one exposed and brought into the spotlight, drawing in enemies who intend to disrupt the assimilation ritual. A Star Plasma Vessel used as bait."

This was the first Riko Amanai had heard of any of it, whether the existence of other Star Plasma Vessels suitable for the merger or the fact that she was being used as bait.

Riko Amanai simply couldn't believe these bewildering things this man of unknown origins had suddenly told her.

"That's impossible. Impossible! What are you talking about?"

Tan Man carefully observed every subtle change in Riko Amanai as he continued revealing the truth to her.

"There's another truth I need to tell you now. Even if you draw away the people trying to interfere and they ultimately kill you, Tengen could choose to assimilate with the backup Star Plasma Vessel, but she will still abandon assimilation in the end. In other words, they decided from the very beginning to throw your life away completely."

"No... That's impossible... How could something like that happen?" Riko Amanai's expression gradually went blank.

"There are quite a few other Star Plasma Vessels. I know of at least two. One of them explicitly refused to assimilate with Tengen, which is why the responsibility was pushed onto the two of you. And you're the more suitable of the two. You lost your parents when you were young, so under their instruction, you could become the obedient girl they needed."

"Shut up! Stop saying things I don't understand!" The terrifying truths Tan Man revealed left Riko Amanai panicking.

"Is your willingness to accept assimilation truly your own will as Riko Amanai? Or is it an idea they cultivated and instilled in you?"

Tan Man slowly walked toward Riko Amanai and pulled her hands away from her ears, then continued his questioning, stressing each word.

"I'll ask you one more time. Now that you know all this, do you still choose to accept their arrangements and die as the Star Plasma Vessel? I'm asking for your answer as Riko Amanai, not your answer as the Star Plasma Vessel."