Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

"There's no one else but you, Asphie! From the day you became vice-captain, we've been preparing for you to take over as captain!" Falgar said solemnly, "Although it's happened too soon, you must pull yourself together and lead us in battle!"

“Ugh—, Oyster Dayo—” Asifi crouched down, clutching her head.

Right now, she's not yet the kind of overworked office worker she'll become; she's a newbie in the workplace who's suddenly become a leader.

Hermes squinted and teased, "Asphi, why is it that at the same age as you, your neighbor Charles is in the same situation, but he remains calm and composed?"

Standing to the side, watching the drama unfold, Xia Er pointed to himself: "Me? I'm different, aren't I? My main god has passed away, so I don't need to be the captain anymore."

Asphie held her head in her hands: "How can I compare to Jester?"

Jester? Who? Me? Charles narrowed his eyes, staring at Hermes, and the atmosphere became strange.

Were you exposed? No, it was the scene where you said goodbye to Belle that was seen? How much do you know?

"You spy on me?"

Asphie realized she had inadvertently given herself away and quickly covered her mouth.

"..." Hermes paused for a moment, then pulled down his hat brim: "Sir Ciel, would it be convenient for us to talk alone?"

"Now? It's not convenient?" Charles smiled wryly. "Lord Finn has given strict orders."

“This is my personal request,” Hermes said sincerely.

Ciel's identity is too special. Now that the information has been exposed, Hermes, as a god who knows part of the inside story, feels it is necessary to have an in-depth conversation with this young man.

……

An empty workspace.

Hermes leaned against the door, rubbing his fingers in silence.

Ciel waited quietly for the other party's question.

"Mr. Charles, what is your relationship with Alfia?" Hermes asked bluntly.

Charles warned:

"I don't really like this method of interrogation..."

Hermes patted Charles on the shoulder with a smile:

"I'm sorry, I was too hasty. This was just a heart-to-heart talk between allies."

Analyzing Hermes' attitude, Charles tentatively replied, "She's a relative of the Jester... As a substitute for the Jester, it's only natural that she would transfer her feelings to me."

“As you know, I’m Jester’s supporter, so it’s only right that I clean up his mess.”

"Hmm..." Hermes pondered Charles's words.

He quickly gleaned a few pieces of information.

1. Jester is related to Zeus and Hera's kin, and his identity is almost certain. Whether he is the "Last Hero" is yet to be determined.

2. Memory confusion led Alfia to mistakenly believe that Ciel and Jester were in a relationship.

3. It is very likely that Jester had contacted Alfia before, or perhaps Jester revealed some information about the future, which led Alfia to choose to join the Dark Faction.

Based on the above information, Hermes has deduced part of the truth, but he needs more concrete evidence.

Hermes continued to ask:

"Do you know Alfia and her group's purpose? Tell me anything you know, even the smallest details."

He needed to know their attitudes, otherwise Orario would surely die.

Charles rubbed his temples. "I can't quite remember. But I think I heard them say something about 'disappointment'... something about a pedal..."

"Ah! He also mentioned promoting the incubation of heroes and such." Charles shrugged. "I can't think of anything else, and he wouldn't tell me anything important anyway."

Charles breathed a sigh of relief...

It seems Hermes doesn't know much either. Judging from his current attitude towards me, the identity of the Jester Stand has additional uses.

Hermes stroked his chin, and finally seemed to understand something, a look of delight spreading across his face: "So that's how it is, that's what that guy was planning!"

He and Erebus were friends in the heavens. As far as Hermes knew, he believed in the "underworld" and the "underworld," and was by no means a god who pursued "evil" and "killing."

After being prompted by Charles, Hermes finally understood the significance of Erebus's actions.

Because the future is certain, are you determined to disrupt Orario's stalled clock without hesitation?

Unwilling to let Belle bear the final mission, he chose to give up his life?

No, that's not right.

If Chardo were still terminally ill, this would be understandable, but now that he has been confirmed to have advanced to level 8, what is the point of doing this?

Hermes considered another possibility...

If even releasing the sea results in an accidental death, then let's just overthrow Orario and force the era to produce heroes ahead of time.

A cold sweat broke out all over my face.

"Hey, if you don't take this seriously, this match-fixing might actually turn into a real one..."

Hermes, too, used divine will to create heroic figures; he understood Erebus's approach.

"Lord Hermes?" Charles called out, "Is there anything else you wish to ask?"

"Ah... I'm sorry." Hermes pulled himself out of his thoughts, pulled down his hat brim, and said in a low voice, "There's one last question."

After a pause,

Hermes gave a seductive smile and said in a friendly tone:

"Sharlal, can you hold off Alfia by yourself? Given her feelings for you, she shouldn't kill you. Well, the fate of Orario rests on your shoulders."

Ciel's face turned deathly pale: "Huh? Are you kidding me?!"

……

Of course, Charles would never agree to Hermes' request to let a level 1 player solo a level 7 player. Who came up with this brilliant plan?

Hermes then suggested that Charles help persuade Asphie, while he himself would leisurely stroll around with his guards.

Charles composed himself. Knowing the attitudes of the two overlords, Hermes would likely take the initiative to push things to happen in order to increase Orario's chances of winning.

Charles breathed a sigh of relief: "This is too difficult for me. I have to do everything I can to leak information so that the opponent can win."

If I had known, I wouldn't have fattened Alfia and Chardo up so much. Now I have to worry about accidentally killing Finn and the others.

“Sigh—” Charles sighed as he sat at his workstation.

A short while later, Asphie also came in, sighing.

"Sigh—" X2

The two looked at each other, as if they had found a fellow sufferer.

Asphie leaned back in her chair and looked up, asking, "Hey, Ciel-kun, how did you adapt to all these different roles so quickly?"

Chapter 187 The Secrets to Being a Leader

"Hmm, how do I quickly adapt to this identity?" Charles also tilted his head back in thought.

I thought to myself... Isn't this the most basic quality of counterfeit alcohol?

Sometimes he's a kind older brother passing by a crime scene, sometimes a ruthless criminal, sometimes a street cleaner judging villains, and sometimes...

"Well... I don't know either, but there's always something pushing you forward. If you don't adapt, you'll die. So you have no choice but to adapt."

Asphie remained bewildered: "Wouldn't it be a matter of dying if I didn't adapt to my partners? Wouldn't someone else be better than me?"

Dingxia knew that he couldn't finish his work without solving Asphie's problem, so he sighed.

"While I don't have a secret to quickly adapting to my new role, I do know how to be a good bad leader."

Asphie turned her head and asked in surprise, "Bad?"

“Yes, you bad captain.” Charles shrugged. “Would you like to hear it?”

"you say?"

Charles straightened his back and held up three fingers towards Asphie: "I have three secrets!"

"First, don't speak like a human being. There are some things that you shouldn't explain clearly if you can avoid making them explicit. Let your subordinates guess what you're thinking."

Asphie: "Understood, the instructions need to be direct."

Charles raised an eyebrow and lowered a finger: "Second, we need to invest in building relationships and make it seem like the members have a good bond. Push all the tasks onto Palu... ah, I mean, onto the members."

Asphie: "Understood. You must do everything yourself! You'll share the work with the other members, and make sure you complete your own tasks on time!"

Charles leaned back tactically, retracting two fingers: "Third, encourage competition among members. Divert their discontent with you, let the members fight amongst themselves, and you can withdraw unscathed."

Asif suddenly realized: "Take the blame willingly!"

She waved her finger: "Being straightforward, doing things personally, and taking the blame! These are the three secrets to being a good leader! Excellent, Ciel, you are indeed as wise as Leon said. No wonder even Lord Jester needs you as his supporter."

"Hiss—" Charles gasped, giving a thumbs up: "As expected of the Innate Working Body! Your understanding is spot on!"

“Hey~” Asif pushed up her glasses.

Young lady, you haven't realized how serious the problem is!

Charles turned around stiffly, pointing to the materials on the table, and said, "Don't overthink it. Compared to Finn and Hermes making such outrageous demands, becoming the captain is something you can just whistle and get away with!"

Finn's task for them was to create projectiles powerful enough to harm Gluttony and Silence.

The plan is to accumulate a sufficient number of [Explosive Potion] to form a trap, luring Chardor into it and causing massive damage first.

To deal with [Silence], we need to use the impact of the explosion to replace the magic sword as a threat to her and delay her actions.

Both sides had stringent requirements regarding the power and quantity of gunpowder.

Even though Asphie had managed to create some finished products, they were still slightly lacking in meeting Finn's requirements.

Ugh, this is so hard for me...

Charles couldn't help but mentally complain about Orario in this era once again; with even a slight increase in intensity, it was already struggling to keep up.

Left with no other choice, he had to bring out his privately held secret mantra, the essential formula for time travel.