NOVPUB"Meow meow meow, I just made high-imitation dishes. The taste might not be exactly the same, and I can’t make meals with added attributes."
Cat Boss reminded them.
It heard from Lanci that Tata and her friends might really like Demon World-style dishes, so it took the time to learn how to make them seriously.
Although it didn’t think this series of dishes would necessarily become a new specialty of Boss Cat Restaurant, it also wasn’t worried about being investigated by the Hutton National Security Bureau for harboring members of the Demon Race, because all of its excellent employees were innocent and upstanding individuals.
"Thank you so much, Cat Boss. It feels like I’ve returned to those days," Hyperion said, patting Cat Boss and smiling.
She remembered that back in the Purgatory Corridor Academy, the Demon King’s Restaurant offered two dishes that could temporarily increase attributes, and Lanci had let her try them. In retrospect, her combat attributes didn’t really play a significant role; she simply enjoyed the delicacies.
But this time, she could share them with Lanci.
Accompanied by the delicate music of the restaurant’s instruments, Lanci and Hyperion began their dinner.
"By the way, are you still live streaming?"
Hyperion, picking up her fork, looked across at Lanci and asked.
She felt that Lanci had been stunned by her kiss earlier and hadn’t thought to cut the live broadcast immediately.
Or maybe cutting it off would have been pointless; it might have made people more misunderstand. It might be better to just keep streaming naturally for a while longer.
"You know? When everyone thinks this was a live broadcast incident, we just keep our composure, and it will seem intentional rather than accidental," Lanci said with a laugh.
"Really, you… Let’s not bring that up again."
Hyperion knew this was what Lanci referred to as "Lan’s Defense."
And proactively talking about it was a form of Lan’s Defense itself.
"Meow meow meow, what are you guys talking about?"
Cat Boss asked, looking up in confusion.
"It’s nothing."
The two shared a smile, choosing not to tell Cat Boss about what had just happened.
And so,
While the two of them were enjoying their candlelit dinner, Cat Boss lay on the floor nearby, fixated on its beloved scoreboard.
Today was still their twenty-eighth day in the Shadow World.
Even though it had checked before heading out to the royal palace with Lanci that morning, Cat Boss was always paying attention to it.
[Public Opinion: 565→ 586/1000 (The rate and cohesion of people’s support)]
[Parliament: 176→ 175/1000 (Support rate within the high levels of the Palante Empire)]
[Military Strength: 182→ 199/1000 (Compared to the Honing Empire)]
[Finance: 323→ 325/1000 (Current productivity status of the Palante Empire)]
[Diplomacy: 232/1000 (Foreign relations with the Demon World and the surrounding unconquered countries)]
[Overall Odds of Victory: 0.0074%]
Thanks to Lanci’s efforts at the Demon King Palace earlier that day, the odds of victory had finally leaped from 0.0013% to 0.0074%.
Though it was still a long way from the 1% target,
Cat Boss was not worried at the moment.
[Public Opinion] was rising slowly without their intervention, and the image of Prime Minister Lanci Welfort was gradually solidifying among the citizens of the Palante Empire.
Cat Boss couldn’t guess how much it would surge if Lanci returned to the Palante Empire and gave a passionate speech like he did in the Protoss Empire.
Since an official alliance with the Demon Race hadn’t yet been formed with the Palante Empire, [Diplomacy] hadn’t changed for the time being.
Once he brought back the Fallen Queen to the Palante Empire and convinced the cabinet to form a successful alliance with the Demon Race, Diplomacy was likely to dramatically increase, which would also be reflected in [Military Strength] and [Finance].
The rise in [Military strength] might be due to the Blood Clan’s loss of a gravely wounded Ninth-order Fourth Ancestor, Duke Eduado, and a full-strength Eighth-order Tenth Ancestor, Marquis Ulysses, resulting in a few percentage points decline in total combat power, causing the Palante Empire to seem relatively stronger by a few percentage points compared to the Honing Empire.
Meanwhile, Cat Boss felt it was getting closer and closer to the dream of reaching Eighth-order.
"Protectorate Beast, meow meow meow!"
It blissfully started to roll around on the ground.
"Don’t worry, Cat Boss, the reward from the Shadow World this time is assuredly a good one,"
Lanci said, looking at the Little Black Cat on the ground.
He had already thought of a way to help Cat Boss boost its contribution points.
Leave the handling of war criminals to the Cat, and all would be fine.
After all, the laws of war didn’t stipulate that cats couldn’t do these things.
The rewards from the Shadow World, apart from being linked to contribution points, often depend on the Challenger’s combat style in the Shadow World or the enemies they’ve defeated. Cat Boss’s highest use of magic in the Shadow World was Wind Magic [Roaring of the Storm Dragon], and it hadn’t personally defeated any significant enemies, so after raising its contribution points, the rewards were likely to be wind-attribute without surprises.
On its journey to becoming a Great Priest, it seemed it would only get farther and farther away.
This time the Shadow World might even yield Epic-level Wind Magic that not even Dean Loren possessed!
"Meow meow meow, let me borrow your Prime Minister account to play once we’re back in the Palante Empire, since it doesn’t make much difference who plays anymore, meow, we’re almost indistinguishable," Cat Boss said arrogantly, tail held high.
Every time it hid in Lanci’s shadow, it felt like it was the driver.
Lanci’s impressive maneuvers felt as though it had executed them itself.
However, once Little Black Cat uttered those words, Lanci’s expression froze, and Hyperion realized something was amiss.
Lanci quickly turned off the live stream.
"Lanci, what is it, meow?"
Cat Boss wondered if it had said something wrong.
"It’s a bit hard to explain."
What Cat Boss had just said sounded perfectly normal to Lanci.
But to outsiders, it might have been interpreted differently.
"Lanci, should we... reveal our current situation to the outside world?" Hyperion asked, worried.
While Dean Loren was withstanding immense pressure on the outside, the two of them were sweetly duoing in the Shadow World.
She was a bit concerned that Loren might snap first.
"But by doing so, wouldn’t that expose your new status as a princess embraced by the Demon Race?"
Lanci knew Hyperion didn’t like her Demon Race identity, so he had been briefly starting live streams to assure safety, taking advantage of the rare moments when no other Demon Race members were in sight and they were alone.
"Uh, but Dean Loren..."
Hyperion was moved by Lanci’s words, he had become more considerate, remembering every word she said.
But a feeling of guilt soon welled up in her heart again.
"It’s okay, I assure you, Dean Loren only needs to withstand the pressure for a few more days, and then you and I will break through the Shadow World, at which point all voices of doubt will turn into admiring praise," Lanci said, clenching his fist with determination.
If they were to open the live stream now and give a status update, probably a large portion of the people doubting Loren wouldn’t believe it.
It would be better to convince the public with solid results when the time comes.
Lanci calculated that it was just morning in the real world, as long as Loren wasn’t just coming back from some tribunal to the school and didn’t happen upon Hyperion kissing him on the screen the moment he walked into Jera Memorial Square, he should be able to bear the pressure.
