"You don't seem very happy?"

On the way back, Freymia linked arms with Shen Sui, sensing his gloomy mood.

"I thought we would all have fun together, but it turns out they were just performing to please you. It's frustrating for anyone," Shen Sui mumbled.

The timing of the last strike was something Shen Sui was particularly concerned about.

Examining past finals footage where You Wenqi lost, it's not hard to notice that there were many odd moments like this.

It wasn't Shen Sui who figured it out; there had been countless online discussions about You Wenqi's numerous world championships. This peculiar timing was among them, and rumors about You Wenqi throwing matches even spread online for a while, as such experiences and results were simply too dubious.

Initially, Shen Sui didn't pay much attention to this information, as encountering a situation where victory is impossible, even when activating a card's effects, is quite common in card games. When a loss is certain, unnecessary actions are pointless, and forgoing such opportunities is a normal decision.

"What's that card he's holding?"

Shen Sui muttered to himself; this kind of victory wasn't what he wanted.

Regardless of whether You Wenqi had his own reasons, not defeating him in his strongest state remained a regret.

Why, when I clearly won, do I have this feeling of "it's a pity you didn't give it your all"?

This is what frustrated Shen Sui the most.

"Which soul card world is You Wenqi's?" Shen Sui asked abruptly.

This was a bad habit of his; he often asked questions he already knew the answers to. If he didn't receive a response, it bothered him.

"World No. 3," Freymia replied, "It seems like an Astrological World."

Shen Sui was taken aback; he didn't expect Freymia to know.

Freymia smiled gently. Although her thought process was unique, she was indeed the most gentle among them. Her presence always managed to make Shen Sui feel better.

Sometimes it was through the heart, sometimes through physical comfort, but the effect was the same.

"Maybe the answer lies in the Soul Card World," Shen Sui murmured, touching his chin, "More than one person has said that there are no soul cards in You Wenqi's deck; maybe that timing was when his soul card was supposed to show up."

"If he doesn't want to activate it, why add it to his deck?"

"Card players always have obsessions," Shen Sui said, "I used to obsess over arranging five corpse pieces with Torrential Burial on the field. Sometimes, victory isn't everything to a card player; achieving a certain goal already means winning a lot."

"Uh..." A vivid image popped into Freymia's mind, and she found it quite abstract.

Why, even without knowing about five corpse pieces and Torrential Burial, can I still imagine it...

[When Alice returned to Roland City, the reconstruction of the church had already begun.]

[Although the Dragon Valley trip had its unpleasant moments, the Dragon God Sect still showed enough respect toward Alice.]

[After successfully 'accidentally' resolving an opponent, Alice now faced only three competitors on her path to becoming Pope.]

[They were mainly from different factions within the Church of the Master of Thunder.]

[Adoma's twelfth-tier ranking was seemingly the weakest on paper.]

[However, after the explosion in Roland City, everyone reevaluated Bishop Adoma's strength.]

[Upon Alice's return to her loyal Roland City, she immediately received an invitation from Catherine.]

[The princess of the empire hosted a grand banquet to honor Alice.]

["This is to build momentum for your election, Lady Adoma," Catherine raised her glass in toast to Alice.]

[Once the crowd dispersed, Alice looked at Catherine and asked, "Has the aristocratic faction tilted in my favor?"]

[Though Alice was reluctant to partake in such smokeless battles, having reached this stage, staying naive would disappoint many.]

"Alice's current state of mind seems quite similar to yours," Freymia remarked.

Shen Sui was puzzled.

"It's like you've nurtured Alice. Now Alice seems to see taking care of the Twilight Legion's growth as her responsibility," Freymia, despite being an inexperienced mother, had an accurate grasp on her daughter's psychology.

Shen Sui paused, but upon reflection, it was true.

If it weren't for creating a survival space for the Twilight Legion, Alice had no need to remain in the dangerous Roland City and infiltrate the Church of the Master of Thunder. She did want to end the Church of the Master of Thunder, but it wasn't an urgency.

Shen Sui recalled the conversation he had with Alice that day.

She seemed to feel that if the Twilight Legion were to be wiped out, it would disgrace the former Twilight Council and let herself and Vivian down.

At the time, Shen Sui didn't pay much attention to these words and only marveled at how Alice had grown.

But now, considering Alice's current engagement in the conflicts within Roland City, this perspective was indeed part of the reason.

"She's no longer that carefree little girl," Shen Sui remarked, "She's started having concerns of her own."

Freymia fluttered her eyelids and gently rubbed Shen Sui's earlobe with her warm, tender hands: "Alice has never been completely carefree. You're always viewing things from your perspective. In the eyes of the invincible Mr. Claude, all of Alice's actions seem foolish, so you naturally perceive her as carefree."

Shen Sui hadn't expected Freymia to say that.

But upon further thought, her words did make sense.

In the Dawn Continent, Shen Sui was invincible, and in his eyes, no danger existed. Alice's antics required no consequences, as he always had her back. Thus, from Shen Sui's viewpoint, all Alice's actions and choices naturally appeared capricious.

However, upon careful reflection, were Alice's actions truly frivolous?

Nearly all her actions were reasoned and logical.

She rarely acted on whims; most seemingly outrageous tactics were responses to the challenges she was facing.

Moreover, over time, Alice gradually developed the ability to solve problems. Shen Sui could watch on without a care, yet he was still swayed by inertia, seeing Alice as a child under his protection.

But the truth was, in recent incidents, Alice often did not rely on him.

While she did use outside help, whether it was Qishala, Freymia, or Oshana, disregarding Shen Sui's influence, they would have assisted Alice due to her aid to them.

Besides, unbeknownst to her, Alice had already become an eighth-tier mage, a formidable practitioner on the Dawn Continent.

"Imagine what would happen if Alice were without our protection?" Freymia raised an intriguing topic.

"Uh, without our protection, Alice would die over three hundred times a day," Shen Sui replied, and the two fell silent.

"Alright, she does seem quite capricious," Freymia had to admit the truth.

Just then, the dueling device chimed.

Shen Sui glanced down:

[Alice stood on the stage, waving her fists passionately and ardently shouting to the priests below:]

["The covenant of the gods has long been invalid! The Daylight Church was the first to breach the pact of non-aggression among the gods!"]

["The Master of the Fierce Sun is dead! He was killed by Daylight's conspiracy!"]

["Daylight aims to realize their plot to become the sole dominator through a false peace among the gods!"]

["No! The Master of Thunder is the true dominator of this world! The reign of Daylight and the War God should come to an end! The great Master of Thunder shall stand atop the pantheon!"]

["He was once great!"]

["What we need to do is make our lord great again!"]

["It's time for Daylight and the War God to experience the power of Thunder and Justice!"]

["We shall declare war upon them! A war of thought! A war of civilization!"]

["We have the strength to do so! That's exactly what we should do!"]

[Ding! You've obtained a Spell Card: War Mobilization]

"????"

"Alright, she does seem quite capricious," Freymia concluded.

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