As Aizen in Naruto and Joined a Chat Group Chapter 597: The Conversion Crystal

Machete Girl: Whoa whoa whoa, Sis Mochou is meeting the parents too?!

Scarlet Lotus Fairy: My apologies. Li Qingluo, that bargain-bin sister of mine, is simply too curious. If Anzen-gongzi minds, pretend I never asked.

Because of Li Qingluo’s burning curiosity, she wished to meet the “immortal beloved” her sister spoke of. Hounded past endurance, Li Mochou could only appeal to a certain group leader in the group chat.

Of course.

Truthfully, she herself was brimming with anticipation, but her mouth would never admit it.

This is an Actor: I don’t mind. But are you certain Li Qingluo will be able to accept it?

Machete Girl: Why wouldn’t she?

Doujin Artist: Silly girl, have you forgotten Anzen-san’s actual age? If Li Qingluo saw that her little sister’s beloved is a mere youth, what would she think?

Lazy Kitten: My, my, little sister plays for keeps, doesn’t she? An old cow grazing on tender grass!

Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Pfft!

Doujin Artist: Luolu-chan, spouting brutal truths like that, aren’t you afraid Sis Mochou will slap you into the next life?

Lazy Kitten: Cough, I’m only playing with the meme!

Scarlet Lotus Fairy: It’s no trouble. Simply come, and that is enough.

Li Mochou let out a breath of relief, the corner of her mouth curling up. In truth, she didn’t care in the slightest what Li Qingluo would think of her once she saw the group leader. The only opinion she cared about was the group leader’s own.

He hadn’t refused her. That alone made Li Mochou happy. Turning her gaze to the expectant Li Qingluo, she smiled. “He agreed. In half a year’s time, he will come to the manor.”

He agreed?

Li Qingluo froze, her face a portrait of astonishment. Agreed how? By what means? There was no one for miles around, just what in the world was her sister playing at? Could she have lost her mind?

And with that thought, Li Qingluo fancied she had seen the truth. If one explained it as madness, everything did fall into place. The immortal beloved, the promise to make her the Princess of Zhennan, all of it was the delusion of a sick woman.

Ah. It was all her own fault.

Li Qingluo’s heart wrung itself with self-reproach. If she hadn’t run off with Duan Zhengchun back then, her little sister might never have become like this.

My poor, poor sister…

Her thoughts whirling, Li Qingluo’s gaze upon her sister grew ever gentler. “Very well. As long as you’re happy. When he comes, the Manor of Myriad Flowers will sweep the mats clean to welcome him.”

“I have the feeling you’re imagining something dreadful.” Being looked at like that made Li Mochou’s scalp prickle, and she said it awkwardly.

“Nothing of the sort. You must be imagining things.” Li Qingluo would never, ever admit it. She knew perfectly well that the mad were delicate creatures at heart. If her sister’s illness worsened, she would be a criminal against history itself.

“Fine.” Li Mochou frowned slightly but let it go. “Enough of this. Let’s discuss Yan-er’s training…”

Amegakure Village’s Angel: Must be nice, you all have parents to meet. I don’t even have parents to meet. I’m jealous.

Soul Society’s Villain: Mm-hm.

Amegakure Village’s Angel: ? Did Hua-jie catch a cold?

Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Hahahaha, a spirit body catching a cold, of all things. Wait… it might actually work? Shinigami spirit bodies do seem to be different from other spirits.

Lazy Kitten: Not only can they catch colds, they can bleed, too.

Thinking of those Shinigami slashing away at each other with swords, blood spraying everywhere, Qi Luoli found it rather absurd. A soul is, by definition, an existence that has left its flesh behind. How does it bleed?

Doujin Artist: I think Hua-jie’s “mm-hm” wasn’t about catching a cold at all. She’s telling Konan-jie that she IS the parent?

Soul Society’s Villain: Well done, Eriri. Sharp as ever.

Amegakure Village’s Angel: Hua-jie, you’re awful! Taking advantage of me!

Soul Society’s Villain: I am your master. How does that not count as family?

Amegakure Village’s Angel: Heh heh. In the pecking order of the backyard, you only count as the little sister.

Soul Society’s Villain: Extra training tonight.

Amegakure Village’s Angel: …No, big sister, please.

Machete Girl: Unbelievable. “No, big sister, please”!

Lazy Kitten: Konan-jie’s “no, big sister, please” just stirred up a long-buried memory. A very old memory. I think it was a meme.

This is an Actor: “No, Je-ge, please”?

Lazy Kitten: Ah yes yes yes, that’s the one! I’d almost forgotten. To think Anzen-onii-san still remembers it!

This is an Actor: Back at the research institute, the interns used to play that one constantly.

Doujin Artist: Hey, meet my parents too, then. @This is an Actor

Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Whoa!

Machete Girl: Incredible, Eriri-chan is taking this step all on her own.

Curly-haired Guy: Tsk tsk. That’s a genuine surprise, actually.

Doujin Artist: Enough! I didn’t ask any of you!

Eriri’s face at that moment was red as a monkey’s backside, her heart a storm of nerves. But she wasn’t running from it, and she didn’t want to run. The instant she saw the group leader’s reply, “sure”, she exhaled like a prisoner granted pardon, the corners of her mouth curling into a sweet, sweet smile.

Well, she had known all along that someone would never refuse the excellent her. But a tiny knot in her chest had kept twisting and untwisting all the same, and only now was that knot finally undone.

Mm-hm. The most important business settled. Now then, time to attend to other matters.

Patting her cheeks lightly, Eriri took out a blackish-red rhomboid crystal and set it on the table before her.

At the motion, Ashley blinked in curiosity. “Mr. Shinigami, what is that?”

“A conversion crystal.” Eriri glanced at her and smiled. “It projects whatever the surveillance bacteria see into the crystal, forming a live image.”

It was an improved product of a certain group leader’s making, magic fused with the surveillance bacteria. No need for any cumbersome array of instruments: a single conversion crystal could serve as a surveillance monitor.

???

Ashley understood every word individually, but strung together they left her completely lost. What was “surveillance bacteria”? What did “forming a live image” mean? What was this thing even for?

“Just watch closely.” Eriri didn’t bother explaining further. She extended a hand toward the crystal and formed a seal. “Image, reveal!”

Humm.

The conversion crystal bloomed with blackish-violet light, and a translucent screen of light sprang forth. Within that screen appeared a scene that left Ashley astonished.

It was a sumptuous, resplendent hall. At its very center stood a man in white robes, a crown upon his head.

Ashley recognized the man in an instant, her eyes going wide. “The War Church’s Pope, Lalder Thorque?!”