"Haha… haha."

Watching the crowd in front of him being thoroughly stirred up, as if unable to resist gearing up for battle, Merka, feeling exhausted, wiped away the sweat streaming down his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

Amidst the noisy cheers, he grimaced in pain as he pressed his bleeding head, then found a nearby seat to sit down and used magic to give himself a brief healing session.

"Another splendid speech, as always."

"Indeed, Leader, you truly possess a charismatic personality."

"Your deeds are now spreading among the youth, they all admire your leadership with pride."

Of course, there are also many women who are just infatuated with you. I am completely different from those shallow people.

Stein weaved through the bustling crowd, quietly approached Merka, bent down, and congratulated him with joy. However, she kept the second part of her sentence hidden in her heart, not speaking it out loud in front of Merka.

Merka simply glanced sideways at Stein, saying nothing more.

Breathing slightly heavily, Merka’s chest rose and fell beneath his seductive collarbone, revealing a hint of the spirited wildness hidden within the body of a herbivore.

He took the towel handed to him by Stein, wiped away some sweat, then casually placed it on the bar.

"Stein."

"We cannot expand the organization further, or the military will discover us."

"In a month, we will launch an attack on Erisburg to rescue Turing. Those comrades willing to join us, make some preparations before that."

Upon hearing this, Stein smiled and respectfully saluted.

"At your command, Leader."

Merka nodded, then walked towards the door, saying to Stein as he left.

"I'll be away for a while, please take care of the party affairs for me."

"I thank you. Your efforts… will play a crucial role in the revolution."

---

Above the ruins of Polis, Merka silently searched the former battlefield with a detector in hand. The setting sun painted a layer of orange frosting on this black-cake-like land of broken walls and rubble, evoking a sense of desolation.

The reconstruction of Polis was progressing very slowly. Despite having magicians from Acadia, the efficiency was merely a drop in the ocean for a city destroyed so thoroughly.

In the profound atmosphere, Merka's lonely shadow was stretched long by the sunset. He felt like a strand of seagrass at the edge of the ocean, torn by orange waves, submerged in deepening loneliness and pain.

Now Merka began to have nightmares. He often felt his dreams were connected to Turing. Every day upon waking up, it seemed as if he still lived in the villa at Polis, with Turing murmuring in her sleep, clinging tightly to him like a lonely little girl hugging her father.

These illusions made Merka daydream, causing his soul to ache.

"Looking for me?"

A mechanical insect the size of a unicorn beetle emerged from the ground, clutching a mechanical offering in its mouth, crawled up Merka's leg, and climbed onto his shoulder.

The shadow also emerged from Merka's shadow, elongating its limbs, moved gracefully and flexibly like a spider, made its way to a small hill and sat down.

"Do you have the nerve to show your face?"

"When Turing was shot, where were you?"

Merka furrowed his brows, questioning the shadow.

"I was conserving my strength."

"Oedipus had means to deal with me. If I had shown up, there would be nothing left now."

"Besides, you survived, didn't you?"

"I have faith in you. As long as you survive, we surely have a way to defeat Oedipus."