Chapter 498: Extra, extra

"Teacher Pathos..."

<Yes, Janice?>

"Why is Lord Zhen Liu staring at that clothing rack with such intensity?"

<Hmmm...good question...>

"Pathos, shouldn’t you be teaching the kids in a classroom setting?," Zhen Liu noted as he picked up an outfit from the rack that reminded him of a mobster’s suit. He admired it for a moment before placing it back on the rack, it felt a bit much given the situation.

<To be fair milord, I am of the philosophy that learning can occur at any place, at any time.>

"Including my dressing room?"

<Including your dressing room.>

"Of course..."

After deciding that lying through his teeth was necessary once more, Zhen Liu found himself back in the dressing room that Logos had prepared for him the last time he pretended to be some ominous super expert hiding behind a smokescreen.

However, unlike last time where he was mostly alone with only Logos present to help him prepare for his performance, this time he was accompanied by Pathos and the two adopted(?) children, Jasper and Janice, as well.

A part of Zhen Liu was thankful that underwear was still a thing in this world, another part of him was still incredibly embarrassed that he was changing under the watch of an emotional spirit thing and a pair of kids.

Seriously, what kind of lesson did Pathos want to instill in them? How to make a grown man feel embarrassed?

<Ah! I think I have an answer to your question, dear Janice.>

"Oh? What’s the answer?"

<The answer to why our lord is staring at that clothing rack with such intensity is because…he is incredibly extra and is trying to be a show-off again.>

"Really?"

<Yes.>

"What a weird answer," Janice concluded.

"Wait, what do you mean by again?," Jasper asked, noticing the phrasing.

<Well Jasper, a couple weeks back, we had to->

=Pathos, quit filling the children’s mind with nonsense and disrespectful thoughts about our lord,= Logos interjected as they returned from heaven’s know where with a black jeweled amulet that was that perfect mix of regal and intimidating.

=Besides, you aren’t exactly allowed to disparage our lord about "being extra" or did you forget about the oasis thing?=

<Boo~>

=And you two, go back to your calligraphy homework. I will be there shortly to check on your progress.=

"Okay..."

Reminded of their pending assignments, Jasper and Janice exited the dressing room albeit reluctantly so.

They really wanted to see Zhen Liu’s chosen costume.

Pathos for their part lingered around for a bit before being told by Logos to go with the kids.

<Oh come on, I can’t stick around and watch?>

=No, someone needs to keep an eye on the children to make sure they do their homework and not play with the coloring books, again.=

<Fine...Captain No Fun.>

Once Pathos left the room, Logos let out a sigh of relief before finally presenting Zhen Liu the new amulet.

=Here milord, what about this?=

"Oh that can work. Thanks, Logos."

=Anytime.=

As Zhen Liu took the provided accessory and compared it to the outfits on the rack, he decidedly picked one up and proceeded to change into it as quick as a wink.

"How do I look?"

=Like an evil sorcerer.=

"Excellent."

The outfit/costume Zhen Liu had chosen was similar to a black Chinese style suit from his old world, of course it might be more accurate to call it a "Roaring Tide" style suit, complete with a simple, white featureless mask.

Combined with the black stone amulet he was provided by Logos, Zhen Liu did indeed look like an evil sorcerer, or at least someone who had a bastardized understanding of the concepts of yin and yang.

Once he made sure everything fitted properly, he proceeded to go over the script in his head one last time before psyching himself up.

"Alright...showtime."

Donning the mask to complete the look, Zhen Liu exited the dressing room and entered an oh-so familiar theater.

_____________________________________________

"I’m sorry, but... he’s done this before?"

"Yup."

"And instead of us helping him do...whatever he is planning to do, we’re just supposed to..."

"Sit here, eat snacks and enjoy whatever weird performance Xiao Liu is going to put on to mess with people, yes."

"Huh..."

Jin Fang had a feeling of deja Vu as she sat in the same room where she, Alicia, Matilda and Bellona had first watched Zhen Liu’s attempt at being a domineering force of persuasive evil.

Only this time around, she was accompanied by Rianna.

The chitin wearing amazoness looked around the room with curiosity, being careful not to break anything.

"What’s that weird red box?"

"Oh, that’s called a ’popcorn machine’. Apparently it can turn maize into those fluffy looking flower things. It’s quite tasty with salt and butter."

"Okay...but how?"

"Honestly? No idea."

As the two young women continued to make small talk, the voice of Pathos eventually interrupted their conversation in order to make an announcement.

<Attention ladies, the kaijin lord is about to enter the production stage, please take your seats and enjoy yet another installment of "Zhen Liu being an edge lord". Thank you.>

"What’s an ’edge lord’?," Rianna asked as she took up the seat closest to herself.

"You’re about to see."

_____________________________________________

"Gah...my fucking head...what the fuck happened?," Zhen Li groaned as he rubbed his temples in pain, "and what’s making that jingling noi-oh what the fuck?!"

It took a few moments for Zhen Li’s consciousness to become fully roused, but once it was, a feeling of absolute shock with a little tinge of panic kicked in.

He wasn’t entirely sure how, when or why, but his wrists had manacles attached to them that felt as if they were chained to a spot distant from himself.

The only reason why he couldn’t confirm it visually was due to surrounding darkness making it hard for him to see anything.

’Wait, calm down, remember your training…what was the last thing I can remember clearly…’

The last thing Zhen Li could remember with clarity was being outside, sunlight streaming down his face, the scent of river water and murderous otters floating in the air.

In other words, he was home.

’Now compare it with my current settings…’

The first thing Zhen Li immediately noticed was that he was in a cold, dark room, with a dry yet musty smell filling his nostrils.

Clearly he wasn’t back home any more, but he wasn’t sure where "here" was either.

’Okay…somehow that makes this situation worse…,’ Zhen Li thought to himself as he experimentally moved his body about, only to find that even more of his person was locked up than what he thought.

’And there’re even more restraints, what the fuck?!’

While he couldn’t see what kind of restraints were used on him, he could at least feel them.

Aside from the wrist manacles, Zhen Li felt that around his ankles were a pair of metal bands, holding them against the legs of a chair he couldn’t lift himself off of. The reason for that being the metal restraint around his stomach.

On the plus side, the chair was surprisingly comfy.

’Hmmm. I’m not sensing any guards, bestial or otherwise, nor am I sensing any aether disturbances suggesting defensive measures…,’ Zhen Li noted as he stretched his aether senses.

He found it a bit surprising that whomever kidnapped him didn’t also make sure to limit his aether flow, but he could chalk that up to the offending party either underestimating him or being arrogant.

’Okay, no big deal then,’ Zhen Li thought to himself as he pulled against the manacles holding his ankles to the chair’s legs, ’I just need to circulate my aether a bit more and I can break…why isn’t anything happening?’

In a moment that defied his expectations and understanding of reality, Zhen Li couldn’t break through what he sensed were simple manacles despite circulating his aether and strengthening his limbs.

’What the fuck?’

It wasn’t as if the manacles were exceptionally strong, nor did it feel like he was pushing against some powerful aether formation that was actively suppressing his ability to use aether. It didn’t even feel like his aether was being actively drained like what the royal family did for its prisoners.

Instead, it felt like he was trying to break free from an object that was an immutable concept of reality.

It didn’t make any sense, but that was the only explanation that could apply here.

’Why can’t I bre-?’

"Are you done trying to play Houdini yet, or do you need another minute?"

"Huh?"

*THOOM!*

"AH, BRIGHT LIGHT!"

In the middle of Zhen Li’s attempt to break free, a blindingly powerful light appeared from above and focused on him, illuminating him and some of the general area around him.

With the brightness of this new light source, Zhen Li could not confirm that he was indeed trapped in a room, but the details were not what he expected.

"What the…am I on stage?"

Zhen Li found himself bound to a wooden chair with a cushion, manacles on his arms and legs, with the chair itself sitting in the middle of what appeared to be a theater stage made of clay, sand and dirt.

At least he could now confirm he wasn’t in Roaring Tide anymore.

"Wait, why does this feel familiar?," Zhen Li asked himself, only to be met with a chuckle.

"Heheh. Because, my young friend. We’ve had the displeasure of meeting before," a sinisterly smooth voice echoed around Zhen Li, answering his question.

The young man’s eyes went wide and stomach shrank as his brain put together where he had heard that voice before.

"No…"