Danmaku, my skills refresh weekly.

Halfway through her speech, she noticed that Grace's name was recorded—

"Ciel... how could this be?"

Ryu threw herself onto the bed, her gaze unfocused, lost in thought.

From their unpleasant first meeting, to their friendly demeanor upon reunion, and then... guided by justice, a great struggle, a casino raid, the 27th floor of nightmares, a war game...

Before they knew it, the two had gone through a lot.

But once you imagine Ciel Phantomhive as the Joker, a strange sense of incongruity arises...

"Has Ciel been lying to me all along?"

"Could it be that Kaguya Lyra's initial intuition was right, and I've been the one who was wrong all along?"

“No, back then, Ciel couldn’t even beat Lyra! He looked so miserable that he could die at any moment, it couldn’t be faked.” Ryu frowned deeply.

"Yes... did we drive Charles to this point? But... in just six months, he's grown from level 1 to level 4..."

"That's not right either. The Joker should have transformation magic... or the ability to steal other people's magic... so why can't we find Grace?"

"And what is a [Godslayer]...? Sharl, have you ever killed a god? Who? Soma?"

As the Ciel panel unfolded, Ryu found even more things she couldn't understand.

The familiar world has become fragmented, as if everything is an illusion.

She even began to suspect that their soul swap might also be part of the Joker's plan.

She tried to strangle herself, intending to end it all, but she stopped.

"No, no!"

"I have more important things to do, I can't die here!" Ryu thought of her body.

Since she's using Ciel's body now, what about herself? Ciel... no, is the Joker over there? What is he planning to do? Could he be harmful to Lady Riveria?

and also……

"Whether this body belongs to Ciel or the Joker, and whether they are the same person, needs to be verified." Ryu forced herself to calm down.

Slowly search the room.

She found a clown-patterned coat, a hood, and a black and white clown mask in the closet.

Inside the safe were two long maces, and Ryu also discovered the beast-taming bracelet that Ciel used. This evidence further confirmed Ciel's identity.

"...Why is this happening?"

The unbelievable information overwhelmed her reason, leaving her unable to think clearly. Ryu could only use 'Rivilia's' safety as a reminder to temporarily forget these things.

She prided herself on no longer being that little girl who cried and made a fuss because her 'friend' left.

After the frenzy, calm gradually sets in.

She put on a mask and a cloak, glanced at the double maces and the shield and axe, and finally chose the shield and axe to hang on her back.

When she picked up the shield axe, she felt that her strength was also abnormal, much stronger than her level 4 counterpart.

"So strong..."

Only after truly mastering this body did Ryu realize just how terrifying the Joker really was.

Her mental energy swept across, instantly covering a range of 1400 meters. Then, with a flash of thought, a stone appeared in the room, while Liu was already standing 1400 meters away, inside the maze's passage.

"I need to confirm my current location first... As the Joker, that shouldn't be difficult."

His spiritual power spread out again, causing the space to flash.

Soon, she stood in front of a workshop filled with petri dishes.

In the petri dish, various creatures of different shapes float with their eyes closed, looking eerie and unsettling under the green light.

"What...is this?" Ryu, hidden behind the mask, was extremely shocked.

"This is... a new monster called 'Roasted Whole Pig.' It's a new species parasitized by a hybrid of 'Fighting Wild Boar' and 'Lava Monster,' a kind of 'self-cooking' wild boar. Its meat has a herb-like aroma. If Lord Sharl were to pour his delicious sauce over it..., the taste would be..."

Liu turned her head and stared blankly at a large black and white dog wearing a white coat, its tongue lolling out and drooling.

"A dog? It spoke?"

Chapter 429 Liu Astrea (Revised)

"Yes, Hasqi."

To Liu's astonishment, the large black and white dog that had been lying on the ground wagging its tail roared and transformed into a dog-man, standing up.

She took out her glasses from her white coat, put them on, and coughed. "So, boss. How's my new beast-transformation ability? Surprised, aren't you?"

"He's changed...he's become a human!"

Liu couldn't help but speak up, but quickly shut her mouth and coughed, asking, "Where is this place?"

"The food cultivation room, boss?" Hasqi wasn't surprised; they might change the room's function at any time for research.

"These are places where high-quality ingredients are cultivated. I don't know how strong they are, but the meat is definitely delicious."

That's not what I was asking...

Liu glanced at the wild boar that had roasted her in the petri dish and clicked her tongue in amazement.

She dared not ask any more questions. From the black and white dog named "Hasqi," she had already confirmed that Ciel held a high position in this area. She even knew that Ciel was the Joker...

Ryu's heart sank. To avoid being noticed by her subordinates, she exchanged a few simple pleasantries and headed towards another room.

"Wait, boss, I'll show you the way..." Haschi reverted to her silly dog ​​form, her big blue eyes looking at Ryu with a blank expression.

"I've modified this maze a lot, so you might not be able to find your way."

Staring at the adorable big dog with its wagging tail, Liu felt a slight stirring in her heart, but the thought that someone had actually experimented on her and the dog sent chills down her spine.

"Where are you going?"

"Let's go to the upper floors," Liu replied, concealing his true intentions.

“The dungeon has been a bit restless lately, so the shaft has been moved to the east, far away from the dungeon.” Haski said, lying down on the ground and raising her nose: “Come on, boss, get on my back. It’s quite a distance, I’ll take you there.”

Liu hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the wolf's fur and flipped over onto it.

Hasqi wagged its tail and swung its limbs as it frolicked, quickly navigating the maze tunnels.

A moment later...

"We've arrived! Hehe, how about it, boss? This posture is quite convenient for traveling, isn't it?"

"Ha..." Ryu looked at the device in front of him, which resembled the floating magic staircase inside the Tower of Babel, and was slightly surprised.

With Hasqi's welcoming words, Ryu cautiously entered the Demon Staircase and closed the gate.

There was no way around it; it felt too much like a prison cell. Ryu, terrified of being exposed, only breathed a slight sigh of relief after the room was closed.

He gritted his teeth, put down the message to confirm again, and looked at the numbers on the button.

The number displaying the 27th floor is lit up, extending all the way to the 18th floor.

“There are no higher floors... and the 27th floor... it's different from the information Lady Astrea gave me.” She muttered to herself and clicked 18.

The magic staircase slowly rose. She held her breath, calmed herself, and imitated the Joker's usual demeanor, revealing an arrogant expression.

The magic staircase opened, and Ryu heard a series of noisy sounds.

A quick glance revealed another, much larger freight elevator about 30 meters away, with a group of people escorting boxes of dark red stones through the passageway.

"Hehe, hurry up, everyone. This is the last batch. This time, I had Valetta use an undercover agent from the guild to arrange a special show. We can't afford any accidents."

With a sinister look on his face, Jaluo ordered the soldiers around him to push boxes of firestones into the freight elevator.

He seemed to sense someone watching him, and his eyes met Ryu's...

Jaluo approached with a smile:

"Hey, Xia... oh, no, it's Mr. Joker, what a coincidence."

Liu frowned. Was he just about to mention Charles...?

"Ah, what's this?" Liu asked in a low, calm voice.

“Perfect timing.” Jaluo boasted, “Didn’t I promise you last time that I’d let you see the opening ceremony of my new pet? This time, we’ve specially invited the Astrea Familia to attend. How about you come and support us, little brother?”

"Hehehe, they'll definitely love the fireworks I prepared for my little darling!"

Jaluo laughed wildly, as if he were about to win the lottery.

"You... what are you planning to do?" Liu Qiang suppressed the shock churning inside him, clenching his fists under his cloak, wishing he could punch the cat-man to death right away.

But she held back.

We need to... gather more information.

“I understand now. To summon the Destroyer, the entire floor must be destroyed. When the underground city cannot be repaired in time, the Calamity will appear.”

With his arms outstretched, Jaluo proclaimed his discovery like a fanatic: "I've prepared tens of thousands of fire stones this time, so it's bound to succeed. Therefore, to avoid wasting this beautiful fireworks display, I've invited those righteous bitches to witness the birth of my little baby."

Tens of thousands of fire stones... enough to destroy the entire floor in an explosion!

Ryu's pupils contracted sharply. She hadn't expected to overhear a plan targeting Alyssa and her group on the way.

"If you invite them, will they come?" Liu asked cautiously.

“Of course.” Jaluo was very confident: “I even had a mole in the guild specially send out the intelligence that ‘[Slave Cat] has kidnapped a thousand citizens and is escorting them to the dungeon.’ With those righteous bitches’ personalities, even if they are covered in wounds, they will still rush into the trap without hesitation. Who told them to be such incorrigible hypocrites and saints?”

Even knowing it's a trap, wouldn't they be foolish enough to jump in?

"..." Liu remained silent.

She clenched her fists, but glanced at the freight elevator that was still in operation.

Tens of thousands of fire stones should already be in ambush. Even if we kill Jaluo now, it might not be enough to stop the plan...

We need to go and tell Alicia and the others this information!

But then she remembered the Loki Familia who had been targeted, and Riveria.

Damn it, it's the mining cart problem again?

If it were Charles first...