"The current Prime Minister of Sakura Nation..." Hermit murmured, glancing at the list in his hand as he located the first name.
What struck him as odd was the address listed beside the Prime Minister's name: a remote, abandoned warehouse. Hadn't this same Prime Minister recently issued a declaration of surrender?
Slightly puzzled, Hermit entered the warehouse. Inside, he found the Prime Minister bound to a chair, his mouth sealed with duct tape—a classic kidnapping scene.
And sitting beside the Prime Minister, idly twirling her pigtails, was Sparkle.
"Oh, you're finally here! I've been waiting forever!" Sparkle waved at Hermit. "By the way, make sure you follow the addresses on the list exactly. Don't kill the wrong person!"
"What are you doing here? And... what do you mean by 'kill the wrong person'?" Hermit asked, his confusion deepening. But Sparkle ignored his questions and vanished without a trace after delivering her warning.
"Ugh—ugh—!" The Prime Minister's eyes widened as he struggled against his restraints. Hermit considered for a moment, decided he had no interest in listening to the man's pleas, and swiftly eliminated him before moving on to the next target.
The second location on the list was even more bizarre, specifying the exact place, house, room, and even the second cabinet to the left within that room.
When Hermit arrived at the destination, still cloaked in invisibility, he first saw five or six men arguing in the living room. They appeared to be officials from the Sakura Nation, questioning why the surrender order had been issued so abruptly.
Among them was a bespectacled man in his fifties with a relatively high-ranking position, constantly repeating phrases like, "I don't know either," "I've already reported this to my superiors," and "Don't panic."
This man was Hermit's target. However, Hermit now understood what Sparkle meant when she warned him, "Don't kill the wrong person."
Ignoring the arguing officials, Hermit entered the bedroom, opened the cabinet, and found exactly what he expected: a man bound tightly and unconscious, who looked identical to the high-ranking official outside.
At that moment, it became clear that the Sakura Nation's leadership had been completely infiltrated and replaced by Sparkle. This explained how she had managed to force the nation's unconditional surrender.
This country wasn't an empire where the Prime Minister's word was law. Even if he was determined to surrender, the lower officials would never agree.
Besides, even in an empire, if the emperor tried to surrender during wartime, a horde of ministers would threaten to die if he didn't reconsider.
Solving this problem was simple: just ensure everyone who might object "agreed." Not all high-ranking officials were Evolvers, and even those who were, unless their power rivaled that of the White Eagle Eight, Sparkle could handle them with ease.
In a way, the Deputy Director was the last high-ranking official who hadn't been "replaced." He was only kept around for amusement.
One could argue that this nation had become Sparkle's personal fiefdom—or perhaps her "one-woman court"?
(TL Note- Her..."Monodrama!" badum tss)
However, she had no interest in governing it. She was merely going through the motions, planning to hand over power to the White Eagle forces when they arrived.
Soon, this country would be formally absorbed into White Eagle's dominion, becoming one of their provinces.
Time passed, and three days later, Sparkle held her phone, watching a viral video that had taken the internet by storm.
"I'm Miss Sparkle's dog! Miss Sparkle, step on me!"
"Woof! Woof woof woof! Awooo woof woof!"
"With this, forcing White Eagle to cease hostilities will be a piece of cake!"
The video showed the Deputy Director of Sakura Nation cradling a ludicrous yellow plush cushion like a priceless treasure, his eyes gleaming with unadulterated delight.
Meanwhile, a torrent of bullet comments flooded the screen. Without filtering them, the video would be nearly impossible to see. But Sparkle had already watched it countless times; this time, she was only interested in the comments:
[LOL! I've rewatched this a hundred times, and it's still hilarious!]
[Ever since this video went viral, sales of those silly cushions have skyrocketed online! After all, it's basically a superweapon capable of instantly nuking an entire country—everyone needs to stockpile one!]
[Seriously, when he shouted that line, his eyes were so pure and familiar... Hmm, that's exactly how my dog looks when I feed him.]
[Wow, this Deputy Director is utterly useless! Seriously? Getting toyed with by a body pillow like this? Tsk tsk.]
The vast majority of bullet comments were purely for entertainment, and these viewers contributed significantly to Sparkle's Elation percentage. However, a small minority remained more rational.
[No, no, no. How could a Deputy Director among professionals in an entire nation be so utterly incompetent? Instead of mocking his incompetence, shouldn't we be more curious about who this so-called "Miss Sparkle" really is?]
[Everything about this seems like Sparkle used some method to bewitch and manipulate the Deputy Director. Plus, Sakura Nation's sudden, unheralded surrender is highly suspicious. There might be a hidden conspiracy we're unaware of.]
[This so-called "Miss Sparkle" is likely an incredibly powerful and dangerously unstable individual!]
[I know! I know the answer! By reverse-engineering the Deputy Director's words, we can deduce that Sparkle's true identity is... the owner of this dog!]
[Holy shit, that actually makes a lot of sense!]
[No, I'm not joking! No matter how you look at it, this Sparkle person is definitely dangerous!]
Naturally, the video of Sparkle deceiving the Deputy Director had sparked intense curiosity. However, Sparkle hadn't appeared for even a second in the entire video, not even her voice could be heard. Trying to extract any information about her from it was nearly impossible.
While rational voices existed online, attempting to reason with the masses eager for amusement about the true danger of Sparkle was a futile endeavor.
Besides, Sparkle herself had already left the Sakura Nation, leaving only her clones behind. She was currently in the European Union, at Firefly's home.
In fact, at that very moment, she was lying on Firefly's lap, relishing the sensation of giving herself a lap pillow.