"Are you thinking strange things again?" Albacore tilted her head and asked.
Lu Chen shook his head. "I'm genuinely not thinking anything strange this time. I'm reflecting."
Reflecting on how he misjudged her. Albacore was clearly a cute girl who was a little mischievous but fundamentally an angel, and he almost mistook her for an bratty girl.
"Reflecting on what? Oh, I'm not interested in that. Here," Albacore didn't care what the Commander was reflecting on. In her view, whatever the Commander did was right. Instead of contemplating meaningless things, it was better to execute her fun-filled plan.
Lu Chen took the party poppers, feeling hesitant. This looked like a high-society gathering. As a newcomer, using poppers to startle strangers felt like something even St. Louis couldn't save him from.
As for Albacore, she was clearly familiar with the other girls. Since she was a cute girl and young, they would probably just smile fondly at her mischief, but who knew what attitude they would have toward him?
"I'll take the left side, you take the right," Albacore instructed. "To prevent the trick from only working once, we first need to corner the target in a corner of the hall, use our bodies to block the view of others, and then launch a surprise attack. Understood?"
Understood. I will absolutely be arrested as a pervert. If he had to choose a reason to go to jail, he hoped it would be for groping an idol rather than being branded a pervert, although the difference was negligible.
"I think I understand what you mean," Lu Chen didn't want to disappoint Albacore's high expectations, but he also didn't want to be arrested. He wracked his brain. "I... Wait, the first person I plan to prank is Baltimore. Who are you going to choose?"
Baltimore, it's great that you came to the party today.
"Hmm, you chose your target so quickly, Lu Chen? Very proactive, hehe. My first target is my sister, Cavalla," Albacore said, pointing to a blonde loli sitting by the dining table gorging herself, with a mischievous look. "She stops walking when she sees so much good food, and she didn't even greet me. Big Sister isn't going to be nice."
"It's a deal, then," Lu Chen nodded. "Baltimore is changing now. I'll act as soon as she comes out."
Albacore shook his hand. "Then I'll infiltrate near Cavalla. We'll launch the attack together when the time comes."
"Great!"
A crisis of social suicide was thus averted by Lu Chen. He stared unblinkingly at the entrance of the banquet hall. When Baltimore entered, he planned to fire a popper right there, in front of everyone, as a celebration of her becoming an idol.
Soon, Baltimore, in a black sheer evening gown, walked in. The skirt of her gown draped all the way to her feet. If one ignored the fact that the dress was slit open from the armpit, perfectly showcasing her side profile, it was arguably the most conservative outfit in the entire venue.
Lu Chen didn't act rashly because Baltimore wasn't alone. Behind her was a girl with light sky-blue hair, dressed as a bunny girl and holding a steel pole.
A black sheer bodysuit encased her ample body, with a short skirt made of rubberized material over it. She wore a pair of futuristic bunny ears on her head. But the most eye-catching thing was her expression—a self-assured smile with a hint of casualness, something like: ?ω?.
His first impression of her was that of a vibrant girl with the figure of an Older sister, but that was ignoring the long steel pole in her hand.
The girl scanned the room, her gaze lingering on Lu Chen for a moment. She nodded in satisfaction, strode confidently to the center of the banquet hall, and cheerily delivered her opening line: "Hello, everyone! I'm New Jersey from Bunny Planet! I'm going to bring you the first performance of the night!"
"There's a performance?" Lu Chen briefly thought this bunny girl was here to crash the party; the long steel pole in her hand was quite intimidating.
Albacore looked confused. "Is there? How did I not know there was a performance tonight?"
Bang—
Lu Chen was about to say something when a loud crash interrupted his thoughts. Then, he understood the purpose of the steel pole.
New Jersey's face was brimming with confident smiles. She plunged the steel pole into the floor in front of her, causing the loud noise. There were shattered pieces of tile under her feet.
She gripped the pole with both hands and shook it vigorously, making sure it was securely anchored. Then, she snapped her fingers at South Dakota. "Lights and music, Come on! Witness the hot dance of the Eagle Union's Black Dragon, New Jersey~"
South Dakota looked at the piano in front of her, then at New Jersey in the bunny girl outfit, and her face showed difficulty. She sighed deeply, picked up her phone, opened a music app, and turned on her flashlight.
Asking a pianist to play nightclub music was simply too much to ask.
As the energetic music started, New Jersey began her dance. Her performance was obvious: a bunny girl pole dance. But Lu Chen had never seen a setup like this.
Along with the shattered floor, he felt the string of rationality in his mind snap. How could this be done by human strength? Or was her steel pole specially made—something that looked like a pole but was actually a drilling machine?
"Hey, you over there! Don't block people's view!" New Jersey complained loudly. The Commander's spot was the best for appreciating her dance, and yet someone was standing in front of him.
"Sorry." Yorktown, the silver-haired Older sister, was good-tempered. Even though New Jersey wasn't part of tonight's plan, she smiled apologetically and retreated to her sisters, Enterprise and Hornet.
New Jersey's dance was beautiful, and Lu Chen's gaze was involuntarily drawn to her. Regardless of its origins, pole dancing inevitably carries a sexual connotation in modern society, and this performer, New Jersey, wasn't suggesting it; she was practically announcing it.
With her fiery dance, provocative gaze, and tempting outfit, and the fact that he was the only man present—plus her earlier comment about not blocking the view—it was hard for Lu Chen not to wonder whom she was trying to seduce.
For a moment, Lu Chen thought she was a special act prepared by St. Louis. But when he looked up, St. Louis's expression was one of pure surprise; she clearly didn't know what was happening.
When the dance ended, New Jersey wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and said cheerfully, "That felt good~ So, where's the applause?"
She said "everyone," but New Jersey's eyes never left Lu Chen. Lu Chen paused, then raised the party popper in his hand.
Pop—