The pale gold slit pupils appeared for only a moment before gradually fading, and then Gorou and Thoma's eyes returned to their original state.
However, at this moment, obvious joy was revealed in both their eyes; they felt that they had become stronger.
"Tsk tsk, so-so at best. Your talent in this area is too poor."
The miniature version of Daphne commented from Gorou's shoulder.
"You're much worse than me, and besides, I only learned it casually."
The two, who were originally extremely excited, were thrown a bucket of cold water by Daphne. They quickly calmed down a bit, awkward smiles appearing on their faces, but their hearts were still very excited.
Among the few of them, Daphne even shook her head at Sangonomiya Kokomi's talent. Since everyone was considered incompetent, they wouldn't be discouraged. In fact, they even felt a bit comforted.
How fortunate it was to receive the same evaluation as the leader of Watatsumi Island!
"Lady Sangonomiya, I feel like my strength has at least doubled!"
Gorou spoke to Sangonomiya Kokomi in pleasant surprise. Sangonomiya Kokomi, who also hadn't expected the results to be so good, hurriedly asked.
"Gorou, do you feel any discomfort in your body?"
"I feel wonderful right now!"
Thoma, standing beside him, also spoke in astonishment.
"Not only do I feel my strength has increased, but I seem to have mastered a new power."
After saying this, Thoma opened his right hand, and a bolt of purple lightning appeared in his palm. The people present were all shocked.
Thoma, just like a monster, was able to control Electro Elemental Power without relying on a Vision.
Although this Electro Elemental Power didn't seem very strong right now, this was just the beginning for Thoma! Ah!
With the bloodline refinement method provided by Daphne, Thoma would only grow stronger in the future.
And was it really useless?
Thoma's expression shifted slightly, then he threw the lightning in his hand far away.
"Blazing Barrier !"
Pyro Elemental Power erupted from Thoma's body, and a wave of fire quickly caught up to the lightning he had thrown. The two collided, causing a violent explosion, but the impact was completely blocked by Thoma's Pyro Elemental Shield.
To prevent the research institute from being destroyed, the group had specifically moved to an open field for testing, so this explosion didn't cause much damage. However, the expression on Thoma's face became noticeably more surprised and delighted.
He now possessed a formidable attack method, which would allow him to adopt more tactics in future battles.
Seeing this, Gorou's spirits also lifted, but he soon realized that the element he had mastered was Geo, and his mood immediately sank again.
At this moment, Yue, who was standing nearby, also spoke.
"Their physical condition is very stable, and no rejection or absorption has occurred. However, to further confirm the risks, we still need to draw their blood for testing."
After hearing Yue's words, the two naturally did not refuse. They had volunteered to be guinea pigs in the first place.
Not long after, the blood test results came out. Everything else was normal, except for the increase in the energy contained within.
"You already have some strength, so the possibility of problems arising from that small amount of Dragon Blood is not high."
"Once your bodies further adapt, you can try injecting more Dragon Blood."
"However, given your talents, I suggest that the Dragon Blood concentration should temporarily not exceed 30%. It is best to rely on your own efforts to refine it step by step."
"As long as you persevere and completely refine the bloodlines throughout your entire body, there will be no major problems even if the Dragon Blood concentration exceeds 50%."
"Moreover, as the Dragon Blood concentration increases, some powerful abilities will gradually awaken."
After hearing Daphne's words, Gorou and Thoma were both excited, while Sangonomiya Kokomi asked in surprise.
"Daphne, even if the Dragon Blood concentration exceeds half, it will not affect them?"
"Yes, as I said before, the reason why backlash occurs as Dragon Blood concentration increases is fundamentally because the body itself is too weak."
"As long as you can continuously refine your bloodlines throughout your entire body, you can continuously enhance your own strength, thereby allowing you to carry a higher concentration of Dragon Blood."
"After all, the quality of the Dragon Blood is fixed, while the individual's strength is constantly growing."
"Eventually, a situation may even occur where your own bloodlines reverse-absorb the Dragon Blood. At that point, it will be even more impossible to suffer a backlash from it."
After hearing Daphne's explanation, Sangonomiya Kokomi gradually relaxed. Only then did she truly understand for the first time what Daphne meant by Transcendence.
"Daphne, the world you were in before must have been very exciting!"
Daphne smiled and nodded.
"You could say that. Even with my strength, I have only just crossed the threshold of the powerful. There are more than a million experts above me."
Hearing Daphne's words, everyone present felt it had become difficult to breathe.
There were actually so many beings more powerful than Daphne?
"Of course, they're all just old bones who only know how to bully the weak. There are fewer than ten with talent stronger than mine!"
Daphne suddenly spoke with a surge of confidence.
"If there is a chance, I want to go see it with my own eyes," Sangonomiya Kokomi sighed.
"Actually, there's nothing good about it. Even if I had the chance, I wouldn't bother going back."
As Daphne said this, her expression turned a bit desolate.
Seeing this, no one asked her how she died, as they could tell she was deliberately avoiding the topic.
However, even without asking, everyone could roughly guess what kind of blow Daphne had suffered. She must have had family and friends in that world, yet she spoke these words without any lingering attachment.
Sangonomiya Kokomi sighed silently in her heart, then looked at Yue and asked.
"Miss Yue, I would like to ask how much time is needed to extract enough Dragon Blood for everyone in all of Inazuma to use?"
"It would have taken at least half a year, but with the method Miss Daphne provided, the speed has greatly increased. It's estimated to take about a week."
"As for the Dragon Blood to supply everyone in Enkanomiya, it can be extracted in just one day."
Hearing this answer, Sangonomiya Kokomi's heart filled with joy.
At this moment, her greatest worry was not being able to keep up with the worsening situation. She hadn't expected the efficiency to improve so much. Daphne could truly be called the savior of Inazuma.
Of course, a week is still a long time. I'm afraid many people in Inazuma will still die this time. I hope the Raiden Shogun can buy as much time as possible.
Of course, Sangonomiya Kokomi didn't expect the Raiden Shogun to be able to solve this disaster, after all, the Musoujin Gorge had been there for thousands of years.
"Then, I will trouble you during this time, Miss Yue."
"Please make sure to do it as quickly as possible!"
Yue nodded, then turned and left.
"Gorou, Thoma, you both need to work hard on tempering your own bloodlines..."
"Right now, you are the first to obtain this new power, and in the future, everyone will probably still need to learn from your experience."
Sangonomiya Kokomi looked at the two of them and spoke slowly, and Gorou and Thoma both nodded repeatedly.
"Yes, Lady Sangonomiya!"
The two of them performed very enthusiastically. Seeing this scene, Sangonomiya Kokomi left directly.
While Gorou and Thoma immediately began to continue tempering their bloodlines, but this time the speed was like a tortoise crawling compared to before.
"A simple truth, the difficulty of taking an exam and getting 30 points from a zero-egg score is incomparably different from taking it and getting 60 points from 30 points."
Daphne's words dispelled the two's fantasy of soaring to the sky in a short period of time.
"Daphne, if you were to temper your bloodline, you would be faster than me, right?"
Suddenly, Gorou thought that Daphne shared a body with him, so he had the idea of taking a shortcut. After all, would a fool not use a cheat when they had one?
"Are you sure you're letting me do it?"
The miniature version of Daphne smiled as she looked at Gorou.
"If I use my soul to shape this body, even after I leave it, you won't be able to change back."
At this moment, a little devil's smile appeared on Daphne's face.
"Choose: on one side are the brother who has accompanied you for many years and your male dignity, and on the other is strength at least ten times greater than what you have now. Pick one!"
Daphne's words caused Gorou's body to tremble violently, and his legs clamped shut instantly.
Becoming like this for a short period was already enough to make him collapse. To live as Miss Hina for the rest of his life? He might as well just kill him!
However, possessing power at least ten times stronger than his current strength was also a fatal temptation for Gorou.
With his current strength, if he became more than ten times stronger, he would probably be close to the Archon-level.
After possessing such power, how many people could he save?!
At this moment, a fierce battle was raging in Gorou's mind. On one side was, "You only lost the little Gorou who has accompanied you for many years, but others have lost their lives," and on the other side was, "You can't agree to this, you haven't even used it yet."
Gorou felt like his head was going to explode. In the end, he refused to let Daphne give him a "cheat."
"Everything in the unseen world already has its price marked. How could one easily obtain anything without paying a price?"
Daphne shook her head with a look of regret.
"What's more, the price for this isn't even severe. It's just changing the image you present to others. And this image should be much more popular than your previous one, right? I think there would be more people who would prefer to see you continue to exist in this form."
An arrow shot directly into Gorou's chest. The image he had built up over all these years of commanding armies in battle was far less popular than Miss Hina's image, which indeed dealt him a considerable blow.
"With just a small sacrifice, you could have such powerful strength. What a great opportunity. You'd be completely making a profit."
"And think carefully about how much you would need to prepare when you want to marry a wife in the future. But if you are the one being married off, wouldn't that be much easier?"
Thoma couldn't help but retreat a good distance away from Daphne. The smile on her face right now was simply too terrifying, and he had better take temporary shelter for now.
As for Gorou, Thoma could only say sorry.
It wasn't that he, as a brother, didn't want to save him, but he was afraid of being targeted by Daphne and getting duped so badly he'd end up becoming Gorou's sister.
So he could only throw his brother under the bus.
In the end, however, Gorou held his ground and defended his final line. Mainly, the situation hadn't reached the most critical point yet; if it ever did, even Gorou didn't know if he could resist Daphne's temptation.
After all, compared to the crisis facing the nation and its people, personal gains and losses seemed insignificant.
"If you won't agree, then fine. I'm going to get some sleep. Don't disturb me unless it's important."
After saying that, the miniature-sized Daphne yawned, and then her body reverted to a ball of clay, falling to the ground.
The only people left at the scene were Gorou and Thoma, who relaxed a little.
However, one question continued to trouble Gorou.
"If I keep this image, the real Miss Hina will definitely be very distressed, won't she?!"
Hearing Gorou mutter to himself, a strange expression appeared on Thoma's face. He hadn't expected Gorou still to not have realized the truth, and a sense of guilt sprouted in his heart.
Should he tell Gorou the truth that Miss Hina actually is him?
-
Keqing had a long nightmare. In the dream, she encountered many powerful monsters, and she was swinging her Lion's Roar to tickle them.
Of course, this was not Keqing's intention, but even when she used all her strength to attack those monsters, the sword blade in her hand could only leave shallow marks on their bodies.
Her speed was indeed very fast, and many monsters couldn't keep up with her at all, but later on, those monsters simply ignored her and went straight to kill the people she knew.
"No!"
Keqing let out a desperate roar. The sword light in her hand had reached the extreme of speed, scraping sparks off the monsters' bodies, yet she still couldn't break through their defenses. Just like that, she watched as those familiar faces completely disappeared before her eyes.
Extreme speed, extreme tickling, this scene directly plunged Keqing into deep despair.
Was the path she pursued wrong?
Was speed really useless?
Keqing refused to believe it countless times, rushing forward to attack with all her might, only to be ruthlessly slapped in the face by reality in the end.
The enemy could slaughter those familiar faces at will, yet she could do nothing to stop it, powerless against everything.
For some reason, Keqing suddenly thought of a Demon Sword of world-shaking power. Before that sword, her pride and confidence were ruthlessly shattered, for every strike possessed the terrifying might to destroy the world.
If she possessed that Demon Sword, her attacks would no longer be mere tickles, but bone-scraping strikes, wouldn't they?
A hint of longing flickered in Keqing's eyes. With that Demon Sword, she believed she would have the power to protect everyone!
At that moment, Keqing felt something stir. Then, the world before her began to violently shake, tremble, and crumble.
Suddenly, a strange yet familiar laugh echoed in Keqing's ear.
"Ha-ha, ha-ha!"
"Poor little worm, do you crave power?"
"Accept me, and you shall have everything!"
The Demon Sword, radiating terrifying power, now floated before Keqing. It contained a chilling killing intent and an aura of destruction, yet at this moment, it was exceptionally quiet, awaiting Keqing's answer.