[If Father gets knifed and the Express still has his functions replaced, you'd behave even more.]
[???]
[What kind of devil are you? Too busy pulling for characters, forgot to pull for you!]
[Don't do that!]
[Didn't you see it from the mining area when he spread his wings to block the attack? Total top-tier protective bro!]
[This spicy flavor's pretty good—I'm digging it.]
[So, here's the question: who's the top-tier protective gal?]
[Do you even need to ask? Mama Kafka!]
While players were buzzing, Sampo stood frozen in place.
The wine Leon offered?
No—
A terrifying shadow!
The memory of being tricked, leading to his imprisonment, was still vivid.
He swore he'd never drunk anything with such high alcohol content… wait a sec!!
Recalling how he passed out drunk, got caught, thrown in jail, then met Leon and struck a deal…
The whole sequence reeked of interconnected schemes.
It was as if… Leon had dug the pit from the start, just waiting for him to fall in…
No, no way, right?
I, old Sampo, don't even know the script's final direction, yet I fell into someone else's carefully laid trap?
What's Leon's deal? He's downright uncanny!
Sure, there's no rule saying a director can't be an actor, but it still felt like he was completely outplayed.
No normal Masked Fool liked this feeling.
Except for the not-so-normal ones.
Like that double-ponytail, crazy shorty.
Thinking of that face, Sampo could almost hear her maniacal laughter in his ears.
"Isn't it even more joyous for the director to be outplayed, mmmhehehe~~~"
No, no, stop thinking about it!
"Almost forgot—Brother Sampo's still recovering from his injuries, so no drinking. My bad, my bad."
Leon, smiling brightly, downed the wine he'd offered Sampo in one gulp.
Then he pulled out a dark brown drink.
"Here, good buddy. You got hurt helping our Trailblaze team, so I bear some responsibility…"
"I'll drink wine, but you have this cup of oolong tea—how about tea instead of wine?"
Sampo was almost moved to tears.
He'd been judging a gentleman's heart with a villain's mind—how could he think that way about Leon?
It was all coincidence and his own misdeeds.
If he hadn't schemed against the Trailblaze team from the start, selling them out, Leon wouldn't have helped the Silvermane Guards arrest him.
If he hadn't been arrested, he wouldn't have gone to jail.
If he hadn't gone to jail, he'd be the one thanking the Trailblaze team for helping him escape when Cocolia ordered their arrest.
It was supposed to be a heroic act of justice, not him owing Leon a favor now.
Ugh!
What a mess!
The script had gone completely upside down.
But at least it hadn't derailed from the main storyline.
Fine, fine—just treat it as being forced to make a fool of himself on stage.
If joy was always predictable, where's the fun in that?
"Good brother! Thanks for being so considerate! No need to apologize for this—I'll drink, you do you!"
Sampo grabbed the teacup and chugged it down.
The curve of Leon's lips widened.
See?
He's gotta thank me for it.
Sampo barely took two sips before nearly spitting the liquid out.
But with Leon standing right there, he didn't dare.
Forcing it down—
He swallowed it back.
"Brother Leon, this… this isn't right, is it? Oolong tea doesn't taste like this… Did you grab the wrong one?"
Sampo's face flushed, his neck red, even turning blue from suppressing the urge to choke.
A scream echoed in his heart: If this is oolong tea, he'd livestream eating it!
Leon tilted his head, asking with pure innocence,
"What're you talking about? Doesn't it look the same color as oolong tea?"
Sampo: "…Well, yeah, it does, but—"
"And not just the color—it can catch fire too."
Leon cut Sampo off, flicking a lighter on.
Flames rose from the teacup in Sampo's hand.
Sampo: "…Oolong tea catching fire? That's, uh, pretty novel, cough cough. Got a patent for that?"
"Probably counts as one." Leon's smile grew richer. "Tastes great, doesn't it?"
[Laughed out loud in the middle of the day!]
[Leon's got that Memory Bubble vibe—you're telling me he's not from the Elation faction? Not buying it this time.]
[But he's a Nameless.]
[No rule says you can only follow one Path, right?]
Many veteran otakus recognized this scene.
Isn't this a nod to the classic "flammable oolong tea" meme?
Back in the day, that gag was huge for a while.
"Whether he's Elation or not doesn't matter…"
"Angelic, holy wings and looks, with a devilish, cunning contrast…"
"Ehe… ehehe… black-hearted angel Leon, my absolute favorite…"
The livestream audience, having heard too many of Ah Xian's wild fangirl rants today, barely reacted to her relatively normal comment.
Yup, this was normal by comparison.
Didn't even register as low-wattage fangirling.
[Poor Sampo. Trailing's one thing, but getting caught and executed on the spot?]
[Personally, I think his protective streak's just shy of yandere. In the 2D world, you know what happens to people who cross yanderes, right?]
[Relax, it's not an otome game—male yanderes don't show up.]
[Why not?]
[Because without locking the protagonist, they can't exist. Female yanderes, maybe.]
[Shaking with rage—male yanderes did nothing wrong! I'm throwing punches!]
Sampo's expression was comically exaggerated. "It's really amazing…!"
"Cheers!"
Leon downed his drink, then smiled at Sampo.
The meaning was clear.
Not finishing it means you're not treating me as a brother, not accepting my apology.
Was Sampo touched?
He didn't dare move!
If he did, he could only raise the cup again, steeling himself to chug the "oolong tea" down.
Then, he prayed he wouldn't black out like last time.
"Brother Sampo's got some serious guts. Respect, respect."
Leon squinted with a smile, giving a thumbs-up.
Sampo's eyes twitched repeatedly, forcing a grin. "Oh, come on, praising old Sampo like that—I'm embarrassed…"
Leon's eyes still didn't open.
"Good buddy, can I ask you something? I'll treat you to fine wine as thanks for your answer."
Fine wine?
Thanks?
Sampo nearly jumped out of his skin, his hands waving so fast they blurred.
"No, no, no, no need for thanks! I'm a sunny, helpful guy—ask away, brother, I'll answer everything!"
His quivering, quail-like fear made every player watching this scene clutch their stomachs with laughter.
Help.
Can't hold it in!
"It's not a big deal. Since you brought us here, there's one thing I still haven't gotten a clear answer on."
Leon's eyes slowly opened.
"The underground's people are clearly trying to save themselves, yet no one's mentioned banding together to break through the surface's blockade."
"That secret passage of yours is your own channel—I won't meddle in why you haven't told the underground about it."
"I just want to know: in this underground world, is the person—or entity—stopping Wildfire from breaking the blockade Svarog?"