The Memokeepers continued to close in on Sparkle.
Sparkle hummed a little tune.
"If Derick and the others hadn't come out of Amphoreus, the situation over there probably would have never been known to anyone. An unknown Imperial Scepter, left to perform calculations for who knows how long. And finally, without anyone knowing, a new Lord Ravager would be born."
"This is certainly something the Antimatter Legion would want, and even the Aeon of Destruction has its eyes on that place. But your faction of Memokeepers also wants to observe this process and record the data. You people really will stop at nothing for the sake of observation. You've even kept this hidden from the other Memokeepers of the Garden of Recollection."
"And now, your plan has a major flaw." At some point, Sparkle had taken a clown-nose-like decoration out of her pocket, and she tried to press it onto one of the Memokeepers.
Unsurprisingly, the Memokeepers paid no mind to Sparkle's actions, allowing her to put the clown nose on them.
"Derick's appearance let the entire universe know of a place called Amphoreus in some unknown region. His power and performance were also beyond your expectations. The Xianzhou Alliance, the Genius Society, the Astral Express, and possibly even the Interastral Peace Corporation have all set their sights on Amphoreus. With all these factions focused on Amphoreus, let alone a Lord Ravager not appearing, even if one did, it would only face its own demise under their combined assault."
A Memokeeper nodded. "Yes, Miss Sparkle, you are not wrong."
"That's because I'm the brilliant Sparkle," Sparkle said smugly, then continued, "So now, with Nanook and the Swarm Fiend's Antimatter Legion not mobilizing on a large scale, there's only one way left to solve the Amphoreus problem and ensure your plan succeeds—"
"Modify Derick's memories, have him obtain the power of Destruction from Amphoreus, and become the Lord Ravager, Irontomb. You don't care who becomes the Lord Ravager, you just want one to be born."
As Sparkle spoke, the surrounding Memokeepers had already surrounded her.
As if she hadn't seen them, Sparkle continued, "And to change a person's personality and memories, you need a massive amount of Memoria to work with. Plus, to prevent him from being influenced by those around him, it's best to modify his lover's personality as well. All that adds up to needing an even greater quantity of Memoria. There isn't that much in other places, and you don't have that much either, but here in Penacony, the amount of Memoria is more than sufficient…"
The moment her words fell, the Memokeepers attacked her in unison.
The Reverie Reef was also a dreamscape, so the Memokeepers of the Garden of Recollection could launch attacks.
Sparkle weaved through the crowd of Memokeepers, unleashing her own attacks. Her slender legs lifted high, smashing into the Memokeepers' bodies. Before they could react, they were sent flying by her kicks. Sparkle's strength was considerable, and her blows inflicted no small amount of damage.
A good number of Memokeepers were lying on the ground.
However, there were still many Memokeepers present. Though Sparkle was strong, as the fight wore on, she began to feel overwhelmed. Seeing that the remaining Memokeepers intended to swarm her, Sparkle felt the power within her body and immediately raised her arms.
"Stop, stop, stop! No more fighting! I surrender, I surrender!" she exclaimed hastily.
If she didn't surrender, getting a real beating wouldn't be worth it.
Seeing Sparkle choose to surrender, the Memokeepers immediately produced ropes made of energy and bound her hands. They did not resort to any other form of abuse. They were only focused on their goal and would not waste energy on their emotions.
As for killing Sparkle, that was something they couldn't do. The Reverie Reef was, after all, a world within a dreamscape. They would have to attack Sparkle's real body to truly kill her.
But kill Sparkle in the real-world Reverie Hotel?! The Memokeepers didn't have that kind of ability. Did they really think The Family's Bloodhound Family was just for show?!
So, the best course of action for the Memokeepers was to imprison Sparkle. After restraining her, they began to move towards the Great Crater. To avoid being discovered by the people of the Reverie Reef, the Memokeepers also planned to prepare their operation within the Great Crater.
Dragging Sparkle along, the Memokeepers headed for the Great Crater.
At the entrance to the Great Crater, the observer named Comey was still on watch.
"Strange, why have the Memoria fluctuations in the Great Crater been a bit off lately?" Comey muttered to herself as she observed.
Just as she said that, to prevent her from discovering the bound Sparkle, the Memokeepers once again came up behind Comey and knocked her unconscious.
After knocking her out, the Memokeepers took Sparkle into the Great Crater.
It was only after Sparkle and the others had entered the Great Crater that Comey slowly came to.
"What happened? Why have I been fainting so often lately?" Comey rubbed her head, a look of confusion on her face. "Looks like I'll have to check my physical condition more carefully in a while…"
The Memokeepers brought Sparkle into the Great Crater.
Because the Fifth Clone had absorbed a massive amount of Memoria energy, it had adjusted its body to match the energy fluctuations of the surrounding crater. Hiding in this state, it went undetected by both the Memokeepers and Sparkle.
Better yet, since the clone had a third-person perspective, Derick could observe without even needing to look in Sparkle's direction.
Seeing Sparkle enter, Derick at first thought she was up to something in the Great Crater. He even suspected that she might have discovered the whereabouts of his clone.
But then, Derick noticed the restraints on Sparkle's hands, as well as the Garden of Recollection Memokeepers by her side.
Well now, has she been captured by the Memokeepers? But speaking of which, these must be the Memokeepers Sparkle mentioned were after me, right? Alright, let's see what you're really up to, Derick thought to himself.
In any case, with his Fifth Clone as an anchor, Derick's main body could come to the Reverie Reef at any time. Even if all these Memokeepers banded together, they would be no match for him.
Derick was adjusting his Fifth Clone to find a better observation point.
At the same time, a quick scan revealed that while Sparkle's face wore an expression of someone who had lost a bet and was accepting their fate, there was an unusual fluctuation in her pupils.
The Memokeepers couldn't detect this fluctuation, but Derick's sharp eyes caught it clearly.
"This girl Sparkle is pretending to be caught, but she's actually ready to backstab these Memokeepers at any moment. Interesting, interesting. Both sides think they're the hunter," Derick mused.
But thinking about his own situation, he couldn't help but laugh internally. They say when the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits. Derick felt like he was about to become that fisherman.
"I'll watch Sparkle and the Memokeepers' moves first, then decide what to do," Derick thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Sparkle watched as the Memokeepers began to process the Memoria in the Great Crater. She immediately put on a miserable face and said, "You've already tied me up. Making me stand like this will make my back and legs ache. You don't have a habit of torturing prisoners, do you? Get me somewhere I can sit."
A Memokeeper created a bed out of energy.
"Sit there. If you want to rest, just lie down."
Sparkle walked over to the 'bed' and lay down, crossing her legs as she watched the Memokeepers at work.
After watching for a while, she spoke to them again, "Hey, do you guys provide meals for your prisoners? Can you give me something to eat? I'm hungry."
"No. We do not require sustenance, and neither do you," one of the Memokeepers said, glancing at Sparkle.
"I object! This is prisoner abuse!"
Sparkle shouted a few more times, but seeing that the Memokeepers remained unmoved, she dropped the act.
"These guys are so boring. They'll casually make a bed, but they won't agree to waste time buying food. Hmph, when their mission is done, I'm going to scramble their memories," Sparkle thought to herself.
Sparkle had a backup plan. Getting captured was intentional, all so she could see what the Memokeepers were up to.
The allure of altering someone's memories was far greater for the Masked Fools than it was for the Memokeepers.
"Hee hee, when the time comes, I won't let you Memokeepers alter Derick's memories. I'll do it myself. Let me think, what kind of setting should I add? Maybe make him think I'm his little sister and that he has a sister complex? Or make him think I'm his daughter and he has a daughter complex? Or maybe make him call me mommy…"
Never mind, never mind. I have no interest in being called mommy.
Sparkle's mind raced with various modification plans, but on the surface, she maintained the appearance of a captive.
As Derick was observing, he suddenly felt a kick to his calf.
His consciousness returned to his main body, just in time to see Cipher, disguised as Sparkle, looking at him from across the table.
"Why were you spacing out for so long?" Cipher asked Derick.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking about this whole thing with Sparkle," Derick said to Cipher.
Cipher waved her hand dismissively. "Why think about that? You're not in charge of Penacony. That's their problem to worry about."
Having said that, she thought for a moment, then changed her tone. "But speaking of which, it might be a good idea for us to go and chat with the Bloodhound Family."
"So you can find out their security and patrol arrangements, right?"
Derick saw right through Cipher's intentions.
_____
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