They've already fought their way through the Holy Grail War, and you still call them dragons?

"Oh? I'd like to hear the details."

"From our previous research into Odin's 'Hall of Valor' plan, we can basically tell that he's completely following destiny to rebel against the Black Supreme. While we don't know if Odin will change his mind after the Holy Grail War, his previous plans definitely followed the 'traditional plan,' including Odin's calculations against the White King."

When Norton heard the words "traditional layout," his eyes narrowed, and he immediately understood Odin's intention—that was an old path Norton had long since abandoned. "...You mean Odin is just planning to devour the White King?"

"Perhaps Odin had other ideas involved, but ultimately, this is undeniable. However, we all know this... Odin has clearly captured the White King's soul in Shenzhou, yet this fellow still covets Japan. There must be something else going on. Perhaps, besides our Greater Holy Grail, there exists another 'White King' in this realm."

Norton showed a surprised expression. "There are two White Kings? ... No, we only control the 'soul'. In other words, does the 'body' also exist?"

"Yes, just as the Black Supreme once divided the four complete powers among four pairs of twins, each representing 'power and strength'. The White King is the being closest to the Black King, and she likely possesses the ability to divide her own power as well."

In fact, Xia Mi was not completely sure. After all, the dragon clan all remembered clearly how the Black King Nidhogg imprisoned the White King's body, tortured it until it was destroyed, and then killed and ate it.

But as the controller of spiritual elements and the priest of the Black King, it is reasonable for the White King to escape from the prison in advance in the form of his soul.

However, we can’t just watch this huge body disappear... Or does the White King have some other way to escape...?

"..."

The deadlocked conversation solidified into a dead silence in the vast void, as if even the air had become sticky.

"There's no point in daydreaming like this," Xia Mi's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence. "Perhaps this part of the White King's 'flesh' has been deliberately hidden. Perhaps useful clues can be found among the White King's descendants in this country."

Norton's voice came from the Mercury Veil, deep and tinged with sarcasm: "Investigating half-bloods? That sounds troublesome and time-consuming... Jörmungandr, you should also think about how many years you've spent trying to integrate into human society."

"Hey! I was doing that to learn and adapt to human society! It's definitely less time than the decades you spent!"

As Xia Mi retorted, she almost wanted to stomp her feet to crush the alchemy array.

At this moment, a spark of thought suddenly burst out from an unknown corner of her mind, "A half-blood of the White King's bloodline... the investigation will take a long time... Wait, I think I can guess what Odin is doing..."

She muttered to herself, a look of sudden realization in her eyes.

"Since Odin's collection contains the souls of deceased Japanese, it means this guy woke up early enough. The drawback of a long investigation period doesn't exist for him. It's entirely possible for him to infiltrate the White King's bloodline families and obtain information about the hidden White King's body!"

Norton was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly, "Indeed, but I don't think Odin would do it so personally."

"It doesn't necessarily have to be done personally! Think about Odin's style—he's always liked to 'cooperate' with humans, right? So, rather than doing it himself, manipulating a pawn to lurk in the half-blood family and carry out his plans is more in line with Odin's style!"

Xia Mi seemed to have seen the chessboard carefully arranged by Odin. "It is very likely that Odin's way of exploring the secrets of the White King's body is to manipulate the chess pieces he has arranged... But our Holy Grail War also allows us to choose the Master. This is an opportunity to disrupt Odin's plan!"

----

"The Holy Grail War, the winner must be me!"

Emiya's fingers hovered above the mechanical keyboard, and he clicked the mouse, logging into a chat room after a long time.

However, just as the chat interface finished loading, Charlotte's ID flashed with a gilded special effect, so that as soon as he came in, he saw Miss Charlotte's arrogant declaration, as if the goddess of victory had smiled brightly at her.

Emiya twitched his lips. He hadn't looked at this chat group in a long time. He'd only noticed it because it was an employer group related to Hunter.net. He'd suddenly remembered his own small group today while browsing the Hunter.net leaderboard.

With the Holy Grail War having become a hot topic lately, "Holy Grail," "Heroic Spirit," "Command Seals"... Emiya discovered that Hunter's website was flooded with discussions about the Holy Grail War using these strange, coded terms...

Not all of these people are eager to participate and become masters. In fact, most of them are just following the trend to make a profit. Their discussion threads floating in the deep sea are like sharks attracted by the smell of blood.

For example, Su Enxi or middlemen are selling beautifully packaged "key information", some are selling fake shrouds soaked in holy oil, and some are auctioning parchment scrolls said to be stained with the breath of King Solomon... It seems that most of them are the routine of reselling fake antiques and claiming them to be authentic holy relics.

For example, some more daring individuals attempted to summon Heroic Spirits and bind them for research... They thought, after all, they had the Command Seals, right? A mere Servant was nothing more than an obedient dog...

As for those who hold this last thought, Emiya can only say that ignorance is bliss. If such idiots who call themselves animal tamers really participate, they will at least be "Holy Grail War speedrunners"... After all, dying is also a way of speedrunning.

"Miss, you didn't waste your money on a fake antique, did you? Be careful not to end up with a trinket from the Louvre souvenir shop." Emiya typed a line on the keyboard.

"Hey! Who are you? When did this person appear in our chat room?" Charlotte's shocked tone didn't seem fake. "Governor of Gaul, who is this unknown person? Do you know him? If not, we might as well just kick him out!"

The most popular character in the entire chat room, the Governor of Gaul who seemed to rarely surf the Internet, was also online.

"Hey, long time no see! You finally showed up. Charlotte always mentions you, saying you probably feel like she's making rapid progress in the Clock Tower and has finally overtaken you, so you're deliberately not online so she doesn't have the chance to show off and slap her in the face."

"Hey, hey (#`O′)! We agreed to play this guy together, and you immediately betrayed me and acted like a fool!"

Charlotte sent an emoji to express her dissatisfaction.

"Let me make it clear, I'm not the same person I was before! I'm both virtuous and academically excellent, with exceptional talent and fruitful research achievements, earning me the nickname 'Prodigy'! My Mercury AI has reached its third generation, and has recently added a perfect, elegant British maid form. It's no less capable than you!"

After that, she quickly posted a bunch of pictures. A female figure in a maid outfit with a mercury texture was standing upright beside her, holding a silver tea tray with a row of celadon tea sets on it. Charlotte was also photographed on one side of the photo, her golden hair neat and smooth.

Emiya thought to himself, wow, this configuration of yours looks so familiar to me. What is your relationship with Reinis of the El-Melloi family?

But before Emiya could answer, the Governor of Gaul interrupted and refuted, expressing his disagreement with Charlotte's words - for some reason, he had become Emiya's mouthpiece today.

"I don't agree with that. There's still a huge gap between you and others! Your reputation hasn't even reached your grandfather yet. It's just your reputation within the Clock Tower. If you hadn't boasted about it in the chat room every day, I wouldn't even know about this situation..."

"But!" the Governor of Gaul spoke with such cadence that it was as if he were reciting a hymn. "The one we welcome today is the highly anticipated and unrivaled 'Godslayer,' the man who slew the gods himself!"

The chat room suddenly fell into an eerie silence, as if stunned by the tone that seemed to be either childish or a serious compliment.

Emiya was also stunned for three seconds, his hair standing on end at the tone of voice, and then he came to his senses... God Slayer, that's the title he got for killing Odin not long ago... But he didn't use his real name online, so how could his real name be exposed like this?

"I don't seem to understand what you are talking about..."

"Brother, stop pretending! I recently heard that there's a tactic in 'Shenzhou Online Literature' called 'playing the pig to eat the tiger,' which is exactly what's going on with you. But if you think about it for a moment, you'll know it doesn't actually work."

Emiya scratched his head when he heard this word out of the blue. Nowadays, even young nobles from the West have started to follow Eastern cultivation novels?

"Because the reality is often very different. In the information age, it's very difficult to hide what has been done... For some large families with more connections, it's not difficult to obtain certain specific information."

The Governor of Gaul gave a little "finger-wagging" expression.

"What's more, it's impossible for the major families to not know about someone like you who has accomplished such legendary feats. If nothing else, they'd at least know about your habits and preferences, so they can avoid offending you or easily win you over. Humph, these twists and turns are part of their survival strategy."

I'm super, box!

Chapter 163 When did you become friends with my sister?

Emiya tried to play it safe, but it failed. The conversation turned to something he didn't want - everyone started chatting and gossiping about various things related to Emiya.

"Oh my god, where did you get such abnormal strength? It's too abnormal!"

As soon as Miss Charlotte opened her mouth, Emiya couldn't even tell whether she was scolding or praising him.

"If I were as skilled as you, I would definitely hang my grandfather up and beat him!"

It tastes just right. This familiar taste is just right.

At least Emiya could see that the eldest daughter had not changed. She was still the filial daughter who had deep resentment towards the parents who pushed their children too hard.

"Forget about having the level of a God Slayer. If it were me, I'd only have 30% of that level. 30% is enough for me to hang that stud dad up and beat him up."

The Governor of Gaul sent a "hehe" smiley face, and Charlotte followed suit. There was a sense in his words that "filial piety leads to strength."

Oh my god, don't you have a normal family? Forget about happiness and harmony, at least try to protect your family! Why do you always want "fathers to be kind and sons to be filial"?

His fingers were hovering over the keyboard keys, just as he was about to type the next line of complaints, when Emiya changed his mind and realized something was wrong.

It seems that few people in his circle of friends come from normal families.

Nono... the Chen family is gone, leaving her an orphan... Melyuchina, not a human, skip... Old Tang... an orphan in Brooklyn.

Xia Mi...seems to have both parents and a mentally retarded brother, but it's quite abstract that she has to work to support her family at such a young age.

Eri... well, her family is a very normal super family, but she herself still seems particularly abnormal because of her special environment and treatment.

As for the Su Enxi trio, I don’t know their family situations, but Emiya himself is an orphan anyway.

"Well, it turns out everyone's family background is dysfunctional. That's fine then."

So everyone tacitly shifted the topic away from this weird topic involving parents and discussed the hottest trend of the past few days, the Holy Grail War.

Emiya typed out a simple line of words, "Are you all participating?"

"Participate, you must participate!" Charlotte's words could not hide her excitement, as if she was a little kid who loved to fantasize all day long and was about to step into a battle to save the world by driving a Gundam or transforming into a Kamen Rider. She was not nervous at all, and her expression of excitement almost overflowed.

"Seize the Holy Grail, become the victor, and spread your fame throughout the world!"

Miss Charlotte seems to have no interest in the wish-granting function of the Holy Grail, nor does she need the power of the Holy Grail to fulfill her wish of defeating her grandfather. What she wants more is the title of winner, so that she may be able to surpass Emiya, whom she has always regarded as her rival!

The Governor of Gaul had a similar attitude towards the Holy Grail; he showed little interest and had no intention of even coming. Perhaps this noble young man, living a life of luxury and comfort, had little to worry about, so he didn't even care about the Holy Grail.

"I'm not really interested. I don't think there's anything I need the Holy Grail to fulfill... By the way, can it resurrect the dead? Someone who's been dead for a long time?"

"That's impossible! It would be like magic if it could actually happen!"

Even an alchemist like Charlotte uttered the word "magic" because she really thought that being able to resurrect a dead person was extremely magical.

Then she added, "...unless you can go back in time!"

Because the Seven Kingdoms of Alchemy did have a "time reversal", but this thing was almost the most mysterious among the Seven Kingdoms. She even doubted whether any of the former dragons could truly achieve it...

For example, the Black King? But if the Black King could do it, why didn't he still end up being killed?

"And even if time is reversed, the effect is only close to resurrection, not true resurrection. Besides, the Holy Grail cannot perform this kind of magic." Emiya also added immediately.

He knew about the legendary fifth method, also known as the "Retrograde Canal", which was used by Aozaki Aoko to resurrect Shizuki Soujuro in "Magical Night". Moreover, Aozaki Aoko's operation was to throw the fact of "Soujuro's death" into the distant future, completing a disguised resurrection through time manipulation.

As for the Holy Grail, although it involves the Third Law, the Third Law only reinserts the soul of the deceased into the body, achieving an "incomplete resurrection." If the soul is already completely cold, then the Third Law is useless.

"Is that so? Forget it then. I have something to do so I'll log off first." The Governor of Gaul seemed to be in a bad mood after hearing the news and simply slipped away in a hurry.

"So, why did the God-killing Hero ask us this question?"

Emiya casually replied to Charlotte, "Just asking, since I live nearby."

"Wow, what? Are you planning to confront me offline?!" Charlotte was unexpectedly flustered. The confidence she had when bragging and mocking others on the Internet seemed to have been taken away all at once. She seemed to be brave on the surface, but actually a coward in her heart, fearing that she would be beaten up offline.

Then, as if forcing herself to speak, she continued, "Hey, let me tell you something! Once you obtain my holy relic and summon a powerful servant just for me, you'll know the price you'll pay for repeatedly underestimating me. It will be unimaginable!"

Emiya was puzzled. He felt that he was a very kind person. What on earth was the little girl opposite him thinking about all day?

"My attitude is fine. When have I ever looked down on you? Although I do feel you're quite young..."

Frog fun, oh no, I feel like this sentence really hits the other party’s sore spot!

"Ah ah ah ah ah--"

Before Charlotte could launch into a furious rant, Emiya quickly closed the chat app and logged off. Even if Charlotte really showed up, he wasn't afraid of the real person offline.

Shirou turned off his computer and opened his phone out of habit, the first thing he saw was a message.

"Genjisei wants to become a Master?"

----

Although it is said that the new headquarters building of Genji Heavy Industries has not yet been completed, the old headquarters building that is still in use is still very impressive and stands out among the elegant gray buildings.

The one who came out to greet him personally was a familiar face that Emiya had just seen before, Nanami Sakurai, who was wearing a black suit.

"I thought I would see the same scene as last time at the Sword Museum, with men in black lining the streets to welcome us." Emiya glanced at the skyscrapers standing tall and then looked away.

"Sorry, the family had already arranged to clear the area last time, but the headquarters is located in a busy area of ​​Tokyo, and there are many residents nearby."

Nanami Sakurai personally led Emiya into the hall. "The new headquarters building is still under construction, and it's being carried out by Maruyama Construction. With the recent addition of manpower, the progress is being made, and we believe the preliminary completion acceptance will be within two months."

"By then, all headquarters facilities will be moved to the new building, and the old building here will be given to our Kanto branch. If Mr. Emiya wants to experience that kind of 'gangster pomp', we can set up the new headquarters building in advance next time."

"...That's not necessary, I was just asking casually."

Emiya followed him hurriedly through the halls. The sound of hurried, chaotic footsteps could be heard everywhere. Employees came and went with documents in their arms. The chime of the elevator arrived, and the faint scent of perfume filled the air. It seemed like a completely ordinary business center building...

Nanami Sakurai added at the right moment, "These staff members are an important part of managing the family business, but their authority is very low. They are far from qualified to sit on the same level as those at the head of the family, and they are not allowed to know some important secrets. I hope Mr. Emiya will forgive me."

"It's okay, so our destination doesn't seem to be here, right? Where should I go to meet Yuan Zhisheng? Should we go upstairs?"

"Yes, the young master and all the family heads are here to welcome you."

The elevator went all the way up to the top floor, and when Emiya stepped out of the elevator, he saw Minamoto no Chisei coming up to greet him... and there were a bunch of people around him, who must be the heads of various branch families.

Nanami bowed and moved back to the group. Minamoto Chisei took over and continued to explain on Emiya's behalf, "Emiya, please come in and take a seat. I don't think I've introduced the details of the family yet. In fact, the Eight Family Heads were supposed to be present today."

"The five outer families are the Inuyama, Fuma, Miyamoto, Ryoma, and the Sakurai family, whom you've already met. However, the head of the Miyamoto family is tied up in some trivial matters and I'm afraid he can't come today."

"Fuma?" Emiya looked at the old man in a black kimono sitting at the round stone table. His hair was white but his eyes were sharp and intimidating. "What is his relationship with Fuma Kotaro from hundreds of years ago?"

"That's right, this is the direct descendant of the 'King of Ninja'. Generations of Fuma family heads are named 'Fuma Kotaro'," Gennochio led him to the other side of the stone table.

"I see. So, your previous family is not just one, but three?"

"Indeed, the Inner Three Houses are my own Minamoto clan, my sister Eri's Uesugi clan, and my adoptive father, Tachibana Masamune. They have been allies and relatives since ancient times. Although the heads of the eight clans share the same family ties, only those of the Inner Three Houses have noble bloodlines and are qualified to serve as leaders... However, Mr. Masamune is not here today, so I will lead the meeting in his place."

Gen Chisei knocked on the door next door. "Eryi, I went to call her earlier. She should need some time to change her clothes—"

Wow!

The Japanese-style sliding door was opened swiftly, and "Eri", wearing a red and white shrine maiden costume and wooden clogs, walked into the meeting room.

On the delicate and indifferent face, a pair of beautiful eyes turned around and looked around. Without waiting for Gen Chisei's instructions, she sat down next to Emiya.