Chest tightness, shortness of breath, weakness in the limbs, feeling like his body was hollowed out...
Setting aside the last one, the first three were indeed what Fuli was feeling right now.
Being pressed by Tribios against that pair of front armor—which was at least a D-cup—was secondary. The main issue was that her strength was simply too great.
As a completed Golden Scion, even if she wasn't adept at combat and had split a lot of her power among personalities like Tribbie, Tribios's various attributes were still top-tier among Critical-Grade entities.
Since the affection level between them wasn't high enough to trigger the "embrace your sister and kill" trope, Fuli could only suffer happily in a struggle that was better than nothing.
However, humans had limits after all.
Seeing that he was about to drown in this gentle tomb, the weak-limbed boy finally mustered his last bit of strength to open his mouth and bite the nearest soft, solid white mound.
"Ah!"
Her Royal Highness, who was enjoying watching him struggle, suddenly had her smile freeze on her lips. Her long eyelashes fluttered upwards, and a moan full of temptation escaped her throat.
The moment she realized what was happening, a bright red blush immediately colored her noble and elegant face. Even her fair toes, curled in the hot spring water, tensed into an arch from embarrassment.
Realizing that the boy in her arms intended to go further, she immediately let go and swam to the other side like a nimble fish.
Having regained his freedom, Fuli darted backward several meters, leaning against a marble pillar and panting heavily. "I-I think I understand the despair of an ordinary person being constricted to death by an anaconda..."
She nearly squeezed the Shesha Factor's Molting Rebirth right out of him!
After regulating his breathing, he looked up and saw Tribios with half her delicate body submerged in the hot spring, Tribbie hovering in mid-air, and two other little ones who had rushed over from other directions, presumably realizing something very interesting had happened.
Excluding the one on the left who covered her right eye with half her bangs and had a "bad kid" vibe but looked basically the same as Tribbie;
The quiet one on the right covered her eyes with her bangs and wore a flower wreath on her short red hair.
Examining this scene of four "Tris" in one hall, Fuli said, driven by some strange impulse:
"Dissociative Identity Disorder raising three kids?"
Wasn't this the patient Mobius mentioned before?
A wife in a couple had multiple personality disorder. Originally, four personalities lived in one body, but the wife directly gave birth to the three split personalities. Four wives turned into one wife and three daughters.
"Why is Mobius spouting nonsense!"
Tribios flew into a rage!
Fuli asked tentatively, "Then a divorcee raising three kids? Did your husband break up with you?"
"I haven't even had a boyfriend! Where would I get a husband or a divorce!"
Her Royal Highness was even angrier now. It was bad enough that the green-haired snake had a loose mouth, but why was she spreading false rumors everywhere all day long?
"For real?"
Fuli was skeptical. At this age, with this status, a superb figure, and Herrscher-level looks, who would believe she was single?
"Big Sister isn't lying to you!"
Tribbie flapped her wings and came over, helping to clarify with her childish voice: "As the first Golden Scion born into the royal family, the adults never allowed Sister to go out since she was little."
The quieter one added, "Usually, she could only learn about the outside world by reading books or listening to Mom tell stories."
The liveliest one put her hands on her hips. "Those guys were just afraid that Sister would be lovestruck like the silly, sweet princesses in knight novels and run away with a handsome guy as soon as she met one!"
Fuli retorted, "Then shouldn't they let her have normal contact with people? Don't they know what desensitization therapy is?"
Between a shut-in princess locked in a castle all day and a Royal Highness who had experienced the warmth and coldness of the world normally, the former would definitely be more eager for freedom.
The boy came back to his senses. "By the way, who are you two?"
"Hehe, Little Li finally thought to ask who we are!"
Trianne smiled mischievously and turned her head to look at Tribbie.
The latter walked forward a bit shyly, opened her arms, and struck a unique pose. "Since you asked sincerely!"
Trianne followed closely. "We will tell you out of compassion!"
Trinnon whispered, "To prevent the world from being destroyed..."
Trianne danced with joy. "To protect world peace!"
Tribbie: "We are Tribbie — the 'messenger' delivering prophecies~"
Trianne: "We are Trianne — the 'gatekeeper' traversing a hundred worlds!"
Trinnon: "We are Trinnon — the 'priest' listening to the prophecy."
Fuli: "We are Tri-Fuli — the Galaxy Ranger of 'what the hell'!"
"We are Tribios — the 'Holy Maiden of Janusopolis.' Please join us on our journey to the end of the west wind, where flowers bl—Eh?"
Halfway through their speech, the three little ones turned their heads simultaneously to look at "Little Li," who had casually joined the team.
The exposed boy walked nonchalantly to the opposite side, turned around, and assumed the posture of an observer. "You guys continue?"
"Haha!"
Trianne rolled on the floor clutching her stomach, laughing. "Little Li is so funny! Trianne likes you!"
Fuli leaned over and hugged her, realizing that the "embrace your sister and kill" trope didn't activate.
He let go, expressionless. "Scum woman."
Clearly, she didn't actually like him!
[Something would happen if she really liked you!]
Prometheus facepalmed inside his head. So physical age really affected mental state!
No, wait. Even if it didn't, her crazy host would definitely do something similar.
However, the little face of Trianne, whom he had hugged, turned red instantly with a whoosh!
"Eh? Eh eh?"
The little one with a bit of a bad-girl vibe stared at Fuli blankly for a while, then suddenly flapped the pair of small light-gold wings on her back and fled along the passage she came from.
"Trianne!"
"Wait for us."
Confused, Tribbie and Trinnon immediately chased after her, and the huge Roman hall quickly fell silent.
"Oh my."
Calmed down, Tribios touched the spot where she had been bitten earlier. The powerful self-healing ability of a Golden Scion had been working for several minutes, yet the small tooth marks were still there.
Not only that, but as time passed, the wound became increasingly itchy and unbearable.
'An ability similar to expanding wounds? It was written in the report submitted by Death Knight Iron Maiden. Worth researching.'
She quickly deduced the effect of the Forbidden Brand.
Out of the pride of a strong person and a tiny bit of curiosity, Her Royal Highness, wanting to resolve the Forbidden Brand by herself, didn't immediately ask Fuli to deactivate the Second Rated Power of Jizo Mitama.
Instead, she raised her swan-like white neck and wailed in the direction the three little ones had left:
"Oh no."
Theresa looked at her sideways. "What is it?"
Her Royal Highness wiped away tears. "Our Trianne's maiden heart has been stolen!"
"What nonsense."
Theresa curled her lips, clearly not buying it.
It was just kids playing around; where did all this drama come from!
Here is the conclusion of Chapter 46, continuing from where the previous part left off.
Tribios sighed faintly. "Putting aside their various personalities, Tribbie and the others can all be seen as 'me' when I was a child. At that time, I had almost no chance to contact outsiders. Being actively snuggled by a cute and handsome little boy like Lord Fuli, it's only natural for her heart to flutter, right?"
The Principal subconsciously took over the topic. "Her heart fluttered, so what?"
"So we need to hold a wedding!"
Her Royal Highness clasped her hands together. "Though a wedding is a bit too early. Let's have an engagement ceremony first."
"You're doing this on purpose, right! You are definitely doing this on purpose!"
The white-haired dumpling ground her teeth. This woman knew about her relationship with Fuli.
Getting engaged to her fiancé right in front of his fiancée... I didn't know you played so wild!
"Alright, the engagement part was indeed just teasing you."
Tribios looked at Fuli again, her expression turning slightly more serious. "But the idea of confirming His Excellency's status as a Lord is real."
"Lord?"
The person in question raised an eyebrow. "Talking about me?"
"Yes, have you forgotten?"
"I don't recall owning land in Britain—uh."
Halfway through his sentence, the boy stalled.
"It seems you remembered."
The beauty's smile became increasingly shrewd.
The title of a British "Lord" sounded grand, but in reality, you could buy one on Taobao for a thousand bucks or so.
A Lord, essentially, is a landowner. Ten thousand acres is land; one square meter is also land. So, some Chinese people working in the UK, having nothing better to do, listed such items on shopping websites. As long as the buyer provided their name and ID number, the merchant would buy a tiny scrap of land in the buyer's name.
Thus, the buyer's title would change from Mr. to Lord.
Was it useful?
It was useless, just like the naming rights for stars—an "IQ tax" paid just to make a little girlfriend happy.
A Lord of the Empire on which the sun never sets! Sounds high-end and classy, right!
The problem was, after "reuniting" with K423 in Shenzhou, Fuli—desperate to please her—had actually bought her one of these things.
The purpose? Naturally, to please the girl who had "forgotten the childhood promise."
K423 wasn't a scum woman, so of course she wouldn't accept such a thing. The problem was that it couldn't be returned, and Fuli wouldn't take the money back. Helpless, K423 had to buy another one in the boy's name and slammed the Lord medal and full set of documents onto his desk.
Generally speaking, being a Lord was just an irrelevant interlude. No one would think Fuli had any deep connection with Britain just because of a thousand-buck trinket.
But once the other party mentioned it intentionally, the Lord identity would instantly become a bridge for friendly exchanges between the two sides.
And for Tribios, Fuli's Lord status had an even more important use.
"Lord Fuli, if possible," she bit her lip, "I want to place the entrance to the large World Bubble that just landed... on your territory."
Hearing this, Theresa didn't react to the implications at first, but soon, the girl stared at the Princess with gritted teeth, practically writing the word 'despicable' in her clear, bright eyes.
Now that the entity known as "Ai-La" had captured most of London, the British high command could only sell benefits to Anti-Entropy in exchange for a fragile balance between the two sides.
Compared to the Empire of the past, the most valuable thing the current Great Britain possessed was that successfully descended World Bubble—Janusopolis.
In other words, in the upcoming negotiations, they would inevitably have to cede the already meager pioneering benefits to Anti-Entropy.
But once the World Bubble was registered under Fuli's name, logically and emotionally, Anti-Entropy's stance would soften.
Who asked Raiden Ryoma and Cocolia's daughters to be so entangled with him? Calling him 'Yuan' and 'Brother' so affectionately... who knows if they weren't having a grand Impact on the Hyperion all day long!
That aside, as a participant in the last Senate meeting, Tribios not only knew about Fuli's heaven-defying Honkai adaptability of 6500HW at age 8 but was also a witness to Otto's protective behavior.
Once the World Bubble was registered under his name, the pressure from Schicksal would also decrease sharply.
Of course, most of the above were just Tribios's conjectures, but this didn't stop her from gambling on it.
Since they had already fallen to the bottom anyway, at worst they would lose everything!
"..."
It had to be said that Fuli was severely tempted by Her Royal Highness's proposal.
Of course, he knew that the World Bubble was only nominally owned by him, and in reality, they still controlled it. But just for lending his name, wouldn't Great Britain have to give some gifts during holidays?
The Hyperion was still short on budget! To support Mei, the all-domain research daddy, how long could Raiden Ryoma's funding alone last?
However, Fuli had always remembered a principle: Favors are the most expensive things in the world; don't use them if you don't have to.
Putting aside Ai-La's incomprehensible "Brother, you owe me a big favor~" earlier, he had just agreed to cooperate with Raiden Ryoma. In the blink of an eye, to stand with his opponent and screw him over?
Fuli couldn't do such a thing.
"Is that so?"
Receiving his silent hesitation as an answer, Tribios looked quite regretful. "I thought too highly of it."
"After all, the future heir of Schicksal is simply your fiancée," she sighed heavily. "With such a beauty by your side, it's understandable that you wouldn't look at my Trianne."
"Hey!"
Theresa shouted loudly, but secretly she breathed a sigh of relief.
Was she relieved that Fuli didn't forsake righteousness for profit, or that she was still the only official fiancée? Or perhaps both?
"What a pity."
Her Royal Highness held up an object as if by magic and sighed again. "I originally planned to give this as a meeting gift for our first encounter, but now..."
As she lamented, she vaguely gestured the number three with her fingers.
"Wait!"
Seeing the shining silver key in her hand, Theresa stood up from the water with a splash! "Registering the World Bubble under the brat Fuli's name, right? In the name of the future Overseer, I agree on behalf of Schicksal!"
She pulled Fuli over and whispered in his ear, "Contact Raiden Ryoma after leaving here. Tell him you'll use one usage right of the 'Key of Janus' in exchange for nominally managing the World Bubble. Trust me, he'll definitely agree!"
Janus was the ancient conceptual god of gates; His power could even open the doors of the mind.
As the divine equipment corresponding to this authority, the Key of Janus possessed the ability to make people face their true hearts.
The person "opened" by it would sleep for ten whole days and nights. During this period, the person would clear their mind and calm their will, achieving great enlightenment. While their spiritual realm greatly improved, there was also a high probability of comprehending the prototype of their own Reality Distortion Field.
Naturally, such a powerful function couldn't be without restrictions.
First, every activation of the Key of Janus would cause great consumption to Tribios herself, requiring a long rest to recover.
Second, the person "opened" by it must be above Critical-Grade in strength; otherwise, they would inevitably slumber in the illusion woven by their inner heart and never wake up.
Tribios gesturing "3" meant she intended to use three "openings" in exchange.
One for Schicksal, one for Anti-Entropy, and one for Fuli.
Theresa was immediately moved. Rita's "Moon-White Oriole Resurrection" had just shown its might; no one would underestimate the power of a Reality Distortion Field.
And Fuli?
He was moved too.
But what moved him wasn't the Reality Distortion Field, but the reflection in the hot spring.
In the hazy mist, Fuli stared fixedly at the ripples spreading in the water.
A black-haired little boy from Shenzhou and a white-haired, blue-eyed girl were standing hand in hand. The boy looked dazed and silly, while the white-haired girl looked strong and confident.
It was the reflection of him and Theresa in the water.
But—
"Little Li likes Kiana the most!"
"Id-idiot! Why are you spouting nonsense in front of so many people!"
Memories kept flooding Fuli's brain, overlapping the present image with the past, and he didn't hear a word of the conversation between the two women.
Until the Principal, noticing no reaction from his side for a long time, turned her head.
"Brat Fuli? Mmph—!"
Just as she was about to say something, something warm blocked her cherry lips.
The intensity of the suction was like an unlucky soul, thirsty in the desert for ten days, finally finding a water source.
This scene not only shocked Tribios directly but also shocked Rita, who had just stepped into the hall.
Reflected in her wine-red eyes was the image of Fuli frantically consuming "substitute food." Seeing the two little ones she stanned sticking together, having overdosed on the CP sugar, she spurted a nosebleed with a pfft and fainted happily.