…Was this what he thought it was?!
Indeed.
Hotpot?!?!
Rice Wine?!?!
And was that… Empress Bing Qi Ling heaping up a steaming hot bowl of freshly cooked foods and telling him to eat while it was hot?!?!
What was going on?!
"Stop staring. It's rude."
"W-wha-?"
"Shut up. And eat."
Clive felt like he was in a dream. Empress… was telling him to eat and serving him food?
"Your punishment for losing the Blueprint would come later."
Oh. Yeah. That was more like it.
He could also see an extremely good looking (comparable to the esteemed audience), self-insertable, main-character-esque guy at the stove cooking some meats…
___
After the Dark Rizzards had dealt so … chillingly with Clive, and moved on to collect the next pieces of the EVP Blueprint, a few things had happened.
First of all, once Jon had updated Sally, and Clive had checked in prior to going offline, Sally herself had decided to discuss her thoughts and get another opinion about the best course of action to take from her Mentor, the one and only Empress, Auntie Bing.
"Yes, I know Auntie… the ARSES are definitely… crack commandos… but there is a chance that they may be falling… behind… which is a bit of a bummer."
"… Oh? Yeah, Yeah, for sure. I know Jon's not the best dealing with large numbers…
But he says he's going to study up for real… yeah it does sound a bit unreal I suppose…"
"…and Clive… yeah I know I basically haven't even interacted with him at all in this story, but technically he is one of us…?!"
"…Mmm all right. Sounds good. Thanks Auntie~ ✨ Yeah, I'll make sure I'm eating on time. Thanks for packing me those dim sum. Okay. Bye~"
Sally hung up whilst Rowena and Tristen to their credit acted like true professionals and they hadn't heard anything of the convo during this important operation concerning the future of the world as they knew it, and concentrated on acting like they were keeping busy, which at this point consisted of analyzing potential combat scenarios and strategic points, setting traps, securing escape routes, and watching the key EVP documents download bar inch slowly upwards…
Truth be told, they probably could have just left and played it safe, but after the last battle, Tristen was actually still on a high and wanted to experience the thrill of winning again.
Not to mention, there were so many booby traps in their central lab, and their security system had cost money to install. Wasn't this a great chance to actually use the investment?
In fact, Sally had, in a surprising development, expressed her concerns regarding the ARSES' welfare, and the possibility of helping them, to Empress Bing Qi Ling, and the Empress had immediately understood the situation.
"My dear… that's fine. It is time you experienced more freedom and also experienced the responsibility that comes with it.
"What do I think…? Well, in the end, The decision is yours… ok, if that's what you decided, Don't worry Your Auntie will support you… Make sure you eat on time… yes, I packed some of your favourite dim sum..."
There was a pause.
Empress Bing permitted herself a soft smile as she found herself dabbing some moisture from her eyes with a flawlessly embroidered, ice-cooled napkin.
T-they grew up so fast! She could still remember when little Sally was still sitting on her knee proving Férmat's Last Theorem on her own, having written her doctoral thesis on the complete works of Shakespearé, and learning to wrap her own wontons!!!
It hadn't been easy for Sally to make real friends, and she had grown up brilliant, but somehow… alone.
And yet, for all her brilliance, there was still no substitute for real Human Experience. A belief in connection, and care for others wasn't something that could truly be taught from a textbook - rather, it had to be felt, internalized, and chosen for oneself from experience.
This was the difference between someone playing a different piece on the piano with no soul, and a great master that conveyed a depth of emotions from the heart - both were necessary, but sometimes things could not necessarily be taught or imparted externally, but realised, internally.
Empress Bing and the Anti-Rizz Realm's ideals valued Autonomy - the freedom and sovereignty to make one's own decisions, as well as Personal Excellence, but this was not to say that they didn't believe in cooperation and teamwork.
Rather, it was more that they believed that trust was something that could not be rushed.
As a result, commitment was not something that could be coerced or instilled, but instead, something that had to be understood and chosen by oneself.
This was something that no one could teach you - but Empress was very pleased that Sally had finally realised and decided on her own, after all this time, that it wasn't just the ends, but the means, that also mattered.
As a result, Empress had immediately sent out some reinforcements to help out, and that was when she had happened upon Clive...