Remaining calm in extreme situations is a skill.
Raiden Mei didn't consider herself particularly adept at it, nor did she ever expect a moment where she would be the one playing the role of calmly questioning the enemy in front of all these intelligent people.
But there was no other way. Whether it was the cunning leaders of Schicksal or the wise heroes who had survived from the Previous Era, none of them seemed capable of staying calm right now.
It wasn't that Raiden Mei couldn't understand them. After all, if she put herself in their shoes, if Kiana's life was in the enemy's hands at this moment, her state might be even more irrational than theirs…
"...What exactly is your purpose?"
"Good question. Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? What exactly do you all want to do?"
Li Bei sneered. "A bunch of rats from the outside, barging into someone else's home uninvited is bad enough, but you even rummage through everything, acting recklessly. I've already given you enough patience, yet you keep pushing your luck, constantly prying into the master's privacy… Now I'm standing right in front of you. If you want to do something, why don't you just do it."
It wasn't that the people on the ground didn't want to act, but at this moment, locked down by immense pressure, they couldn't even move a finger.
Under the dual threat of Twilight and the designated items Li Bei had spent a fortune on from the system store, they could only watch as Li Bei stood above them, delivering this mocking declaration.
"They're just a few creations sent out to gather information. I really don't know why you're all so interested in them."
"Creations… for gathering information?"
Looking at the stunned faces of the crowd, Li Bei wore a malicious smile, like a villain who had just seen what he wanted to see. "What else? You don't actually think these things are living people, do you?"
With a casual snap of his fingers, he summoned the remaining Lee and Shoko. Li Bei glanced at his several clones with an expression as if he were inspecting machines.
"Your damned worlds are crashing into the Blue Earth, and after contact, they bring your unique troubles to the Blue Earth, just like now… Would anyone land on a completely unknown planet without any prior knowledge? Even incompletely evolved apes wouldn't do that. So, dispatching something to gather intelligence is necessary—like them."
"You're full of sh*t! Lihua grew up with me since she was a child! What does she have to do with you?!"
"Hah, I won't bother with your rudeness, because the curses of those at their wit's end only sound laughable."
Li Bei looked at Otto with contempt. "Why do you think she was born in your world? If I hadn't thrown such a seed into that world with my power, Lihua wouldn't even exist in your world. According to your world's original progression, you should have ended up falling in love with that woman next to you, not that creation—heh, though things turning out like this is also within my expectations."
"It's not just him, but all of you…" Li Bei shifted his gaze to the others, the mischievous glint in his smile growing. "After all, the purpose for which these creations were made from the very beginning was to be sent to figures like you, who have a significant impact on your worlds, to gather intelligence. You might think you have a profound relationship with them, but I regret to inform you—their hearts are fake. Their emotions were preset by me from the start!"
"?!!"
Wow, even with the situation like this, he could still earn energy this way? Looking at the faces that were either shocked or horrified, but all filled with intense emotions, Li Bei felt a subtle feeling in his heart.
He hadn't expected to be able to fleece these people even when his clones were in AFK mode. In just these few sentences, he felt like he had almost recouped the energy spent on this final showdown…
As for how the clones would face these people after this whole thing was over… Please, they've been severed. Of course, they'd handle it themselves~
"Creating a few souls, giving them some basic knowledge, then tossing them into other worlds to grow up absorbing information from those worlds, and then retrieving them after they die with a large amount of intelligence—isn't it like throwing a baited fish trap into the water and just waiting to pull up the net? Don't you think it's an efficient and labor-saving method?"
"The reason they appeared by your side is simply because I set them up from the beginning to approach the center of world events, as that's how they can gather the most intelligence. In this regard, they've all completed their tasks quite well… There's only one thing that annoys me, and that's you lot, trailing behind them like persistent ghosts!"
At this point, annoyance finally showed in Li Bei's eyes. He glared fiercely at the people below, his tone venomous. "They're just a few creations! If they die, they die. It's nothing extraordinary. Why did you have to come looking for them? Can't you just stay obediently in your own worlds?! It's because you're running around everywhere that the speed at which your worlds are approaching has also increased!"
"I've tolerated you again and again… You came to this world, fine. You reunited with the creations, fine. But you still wanted to push your luck, to delve deeper, even threatening this planet… Since that's the case, I cannot allow you to live in this world."
Looking at the endlessly chattering Li Bei in the sky, Elysia couldn't maintain her usual gentle smile, a hint of sarcasm appearing on her face. "Hehe, the little coward who was hiding like a turtle before is now quite talkative…"
"Is it that hard to understand? Because you all have to die here. Dead men tell no tales." Despite being mocked, Li Bei's face showed only disdain. He waved his hand dismissively. "Enough nonsense. I've seen enough of your stupid faces. Number Four, make your move."
Upon hearing Li Bei's command, Twilight, who had been waiting on standby, silently floated downwards. The next instant, a terrifying power that made everyone on the ground almost unable to breathe emanated from her.
Even for an Aeon that traversed worlds as if in a myth, apart from other Aeons in the entire universe, it would be hard to find an existence as powerful as Twilight. And Aeons rarely directed such pressure and killing intent towards individuals.
Even the well-traveled Himeko had never experienced anything like it.
So now, facing this unprecedented terror, everyone could only grit their teeth and hold on, trying not to lose courage before the fight even began—although they had no idea how they could even fight when they couldn't even move.
"Twi, Twilight…"