Cipher finished hugging Derick, his face still holding a hint of youthfulness, her movements gentle, even with a touch of maternal care in it.
"There, there, with me here, nothing bad will happen." She said this, holding Derick in her arms.
Feeling the warm aura and soft touch of Cipher's body, Derick's mood felt much more comfortable.
Those memories were, after all, just things of the past. The current Cipher was holding him in her arms.
"Cipher, please don't leave, okay…?" Derick whispered softly to Cipher in a voice almost like a dream.
"Don't worry, Derick, I won't leave. Never, ever leave."
Normally, Cipher would have happily embraced Derick and made teasing gestures. But in the current situation, Cipher merely smiled, hugged him tighter, and stroked his handsome cheek, soothing his emotions.
Under Cipher's comforting, Derick fell asleep again.
Last night's "nightmare" had made him feel a spiritual fatigue, requiring a brief sleep to recover. With Cipher by his side, Derick could also sleep peacefully.
Watching Derick fall asleep, Cipher's gaze turned to Jingliu.
First, using the authority of the Trickery Titan, she transformed Jingliu into Castorice's appearance, then opened her mouth to ask her: "What exactly happened to Derick for him to become like this?"
"I'm not clear on the specifics myself. I only know that this matter is related to you. Last night…" Jingliu began to recount last night's events to Cipher.
Hearing that Derick had a nightmare, nearly became Mara-Struck, and that the fluctuations were related to them, Cipher looked puzzled, genuinely unsure what had happened.
"Miss Jingliu, do you have any thoughts on Derick's situation?" Cipher asked Jingliu.
"The solution to this matter ultimately depends on you all." Jingliu looked at Cipher.
"Alright, I understand." Cipher nodded, continuing to hold Derick tightly, and said to Jingliu: "During this time, I will take good care of Derick."
"Mhm." Jingliu nodded: "If you all can't do it, then I'll have no choice but to infuse him with sword intent."
"That, let's talk about it then." Thinking of Jingliu's method, Cipher quickly shook her head, rejecting the suggestion.
However, then she thought of something else and said to Jingliu: "Oh, right, regarding Derick's situation, if I alone can't comfort him, and we haven't finished things and returned to the Lofu Xianzhou, what should we do? Miss Jingliu, aren't you disguised as Castorice? Can't you…"
Hearing Cipher say this, Jingliu spread her hands: "If I could, I wouldn't mind. However, my demeanor is very different from Castorice's. While those Borisin might not be able to tell, Derick, even in a state of mental confusion, would recognize it."
"Indeed, once Derick becomes suspicious, my Trickery Titan disguise can't be maintained either." Cipher nodded helplessly.
And at this moment, Jingliu and Cipher seemed to think of something at the same time, exchanging glances.
"There seems to be someone who, regardless of appearance or figure, is almost identical to Castorice, not fake. At the same time, she is very familiar with Castorice's demeanor, so disguising as Castorice wouldn't be difficult." Cipher slowly said.
The difficulty for twins to disguise as each other is inherently extremely low, and Polyxia has observed Castorice for thousands of years, so imitating Castorice is actually not difficult.
"Then, you go and talk to her."
"Of course."
Cipher smiled and nodded.
Derick lay in Cipher's arms for a long time before waking up.
Rubbing his eyes, he thanked Cipher: ""Thank you so much today."
"Is that so? Thanks shouldn't just be spoken." Seeing Derick return to normal, Cipher's mouth returned to her usual playful smile.
She firmly grabbed Derick's chest and said to him: "If you want to show gratitude, then don't just speak empty words. I don't want anything else, just take off your pants now and offer yourself."
"No!" Derick glared at Cipher, breaking free from her embrace.
He straightened his clothes, and walked outside.
"I'm going to take care of my business."
Cipher watched Derick's motion, which was akin to fleeing, and she couldn't help but "hehe" laugh twice.
Derick heard Cipher's laughter, felt a bit embarrassed, and quickened his steps towards the beast-ship's command room.
As Derick walked through the beast-ship, he happened to encounter a Borisin maid carrying red tea.
Seeing Derick appear, her expression instantly panicked, and she immediately dropped the teacup on the floor.
"Lord Derick, I'm sorry!" The Borisin maid knelt down and continuously apologized to Derick.
Moldu appeared at this moment, raising his arm as if to strike the maid: "You wretch, to be so disrespectful in front of Lord Derick, I'll kill you!"
Derick was in a good mood and stopped him.
"It's alright, it's nothing, just tell her to be more careful next time."
Moldu was astonished by Derick's intervention, his face showing surprise.
Since when was Lord Derick so easy to talk to among the Borisin?
"It was indeed the right decision to send that universally renowned singer to Lord Derick yesterday. Today, Lord Derick's mood is clearly much better."
Moldu thought to himself.
Leaving Moldu and the Borisin maid, Derick hummed a little tune, wandering around the beast-ship.
Anyway, there was nothing else to do, so a walk helped improve his mood.
Meanwhile, Cipher found Polyxia.
"Miss Cipher, what's wrong?" Polyxia asked confusedly upon seeing Cipher arrive.
"Polyxia, it's like this…" Cipher recounted the situation Derick encountered to Polyxia.
She also told Polyxia how she had comforted Derick.
"What!?"
Hearing Cipher finish recounting Derick's situation, Polyxia stood up nervously.
Her body had long been transformed by Derick, and there was actually nothing wrong with it. Sitting in a wheelchair was just a habit she had developed. At this moment, in her anxious state, she naturally stood up.
Polyxia quickly asked Cipher: "How should we help Derick? Or perhaps we should just kill all these Borisin on the beast-ship now, and hurry back to the Lofu Xianzhou to find others to treat Derick."
For Polyxia, Borisin, or Abundance abominations, were all less important than Derick and her sister, Castorice. Now that Derick was in danger, she naturally wanted to abandon everything.
"If we miss this hard-won opportunity, Derick would also feel very regretful." Cipher said to Polyxia.
This time, both the Lofu Xianzhou and Yaoqing Xianzhou had mobilized large armies. If Derick's side messed up, even Feixiao and Jing Yuan would have trouble explaining it to the Xianzhou Alliance. At the same time, it would inevitably have a huge impact on saving Amphoreus in the future.
This was Cipher's reason for not wanting to give up.
"We plan to first try to solve it ourselves, just a few of us. If not, then we'll return to the Lofu Xianzhou." Cipher said to Polyxia.
"Besides, Derick's situation might not be that bad. Perhaps after this matter is over, he won't experience this kind of situation again."
"Mhm." Polyxia nodded slightly.
However, she wasn't so at ease in her heart.
Since the situation had already occurred, whatever they did, they should plan for the worst-case scenario.
"What do you need me to do in all this?" Polyxia asked Cipher.
"Hmph hmph, you are the most crucial." Cipher's gaze swept over Polyxia: "Although I'm reluctant, I also know that in Derick's heart right now, your sister holds the most important position. To stabilize his mind, the most important thing is to have Castorice by his side."
"And in the current situation, Castorice can't come over. And the Castorice that Jingliu disguised as can be recognized by Derick at a glance. So, the only one who can transform into Castorice to comfort Derick is you."
"Me? Disguise as my sister?"
Polyxia's eyes widened, shocked by Cipher's idea.
She had never expected Cipher and Jingliu to propose such a thing.
"Yes, besides you, no one else can do it." Cipher nodded.
Polyxia lowered her head, her face flushed, and her body temperature slightly rising.
"Polyxia, what do you say?" Cipher asked Polyxia again.
"If Derick needs it, I will try my best to do it. I… I just fear I won't do it well." Polyxia said shyly in a low voice.
"Don't worry, you've been observing your sister for so long, you'll definitely do great." Cipher patted Polyxia's shoulder, encouraging her.
"Mhm, I will do it well."
Hearing Cipher say this, Polyxia lowered her head and said.
At the same time, her heart couldn't stop pounding.
Not only was she worried about not doing well, but at the same time, she also vaguely felt some anticipation in her heart.
Cipher had just told her how she had comforted Derick. If it were her turn, could she also hug him to sleep? Could her actions be even more intimate?
After all, she was disguised as her sister.
Not counting when she was a giant dragon, when she transformed into human form, she didn't have much physical contact with Derick. Now, thinking that she could use this opportunity for intimate contact with Derick, Polyxia's mind became a mess.
Cipher looked at Polyxia like this, and speechlessly tapped the hand-shaped decoration on her cheek.
"Oh, right, this decoration can be taken off, right? Don't tell me it can't be taken off, or you won't be able to disguise as your sister."
"Oh, this is just an ornament, it can be taken off anytime." Polyxia took it off.
At this moment, she resembled Castorice even more.
Aside from her lower legs and feet being a bit thin, there was almost no difference.
However, this was also easy to solve; wearing stockings could reduce this difference.
______
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