132: Chapter 132 The Domineering Lolita Master

Su Bai's tone was very flat, as if he were discussing what to have for dinner with Kyubey.

"The new system I'm bringing out this time is a completely new framework. It's called a Stand. The English name is Stand."

The Empress raised an eyebrow; it sounded quite exotic.

"...A Stand? Explain it in detail."

Su Bai nodded. He walked to the center of the great hall and pulled up his cuffs. The hourglass shield on his wrist shimmered with a deep purple light amidst the lingering golden glow of the Dragon Pulse baptism.

Then, he began.

"There are three core mechanisms to this system."

"First: Abandoning armor. The Stand system has no physical armor whatsoever, completely discarding the heavy armor defense route of orthodox smithing. Simply put—no armor. Naked gear."

The Purple-Robed Chief's smile froze on his face.

"Second: Absolute synchronization. A Stand is an extension of the user's soul. All damage it takes in battle is fed back to the user's body at a one-to-one ratio. If the Stand's arm is severed, the host's arm will also be severed. If the Stand's chest is pierced, the host's chest will also be pierced. There is no damage reduction or immunity mechanism."

The Slick-haired Creator's face began to turn pale.

"Third." Su Bai raised his third finger.

"Activating a Stand requires a specific trigger ritual. Before summoning the Stand, the user must twist their body into a specific angle—the shoulder blades contracted backward to the limit, the pelvis twisted forward to the limit, and the spine compressed into an S-shaped curve. This posture is academically known as the Elastic Energy Storage Position, and in actual combat, it is known as—"

He paused. "The 'JOJO Pose'."

The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.

"At the same time, when activating the Stand's core ability, the user must shout a special command with all their might. The command words are divided into Option A and Option B. Option A is 'Za Warudo!' Option B is—emitting a 'Wryyyy' shriek, and when throwing punches, shouting 'Muda'... Oh right, these two options are limited to when awakening 'The World'. If you awaken 'Star Platinum', it is best to shout 'Ora' when launching a barrage of punches... In short, what slogan to shout depends on the Stand."

Su Bai lowered his finger.

"The above are the core settings of the Stand system. The detailed circuit architecture involves a twenty-axis causality framework, which I will not elaborate on here. I welcome all masters to observe the actual combat effects at the tournament site."

Silence.

Not ordinary silence.

It was the kind of silence as if someone had stuffed the entire side hall into a vacuum jar.

The Purple-Robed Chief's teacup was still held to his lips; the tea had gone cold, and he hadn't noticed at all. The Slick-haired Creator's expression bounced back and forth at least five times between "Did I hear that wrong?" and "Is this guy joking?". The Skinny Tall Guy in the back row had already opened his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.

The Empress's teacup remained at her lips.

One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.

Then, she slowly placed the teacup back on the table. A subtle expression appeared on her cold, beautiful face—confusion, astonishment, and a hint of irrepressible curiosity.

"...Lord Qingyue."

"I am here." Li Qingyue stepped forward.

"Is what your disciple just said academic terminology, or..."

"Your Majesty," Li Qingyue's voice was as cold and indifferent as ever, "I am also not sure if this counts as academic terminology. But I can guarantee that the theoretical framework of Su Bai's system is complete. I personally probed his circuit architecture with my Mental Power; the framework is extremely strong, and the logic is seamless."

She did not change her expression when she said this.

But if Su Bai had been standing close enough, he would have noticed that the fingers inside her sleeves were trembling slightly.

—You foolish disciple, you actually said it in front of the entire court.

—You could have at least packaged it a little better.

—Forget it. I'm used to it anyway... Let's all lose face together.

Li Qingyue had already scolded Su Bai countless times in her heart, but her face remained as indifferent as an aurora glacier.

Before the Empress could reply.

Someone exploded first.

"Absurd!!"

The Purple-Robed Chief stood up abruptly. The chair slid back, and the backrest hit the golden pillar with a dull thud. His aged face turned the color of pig liver, and his white beard heaved violently due to his rapid breathing.

"Nonsense! Simply nonsense!! A warrior fighting without heavy armor? And taking one hundred percent of the damage back? This isn't a weapon; this is a suicide contract!!"

He pointed a finger at Su Bai, his fingertip trembling as if someone had hung a half-jin weight on it. "I have lived for over two hundred years and appraised no less than one hundred thousand cards. I have never seen anyone dare to sell 'abandoning defense' as a core setting!! You are not making cards; you are treating the lives of Magic Card Masters as a child's game!!"

Before Su Bai could speak, another voice exploded from the side.

"Pfft hahahaha—!!"

The Slick-haired Creator clutched his stomach, laughing so hard he slid halfway off his chair. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, and his shoulders shook violently.

"Your, Your Majesty—I'm sorry—I, I really couldn't help it—"

He wiped his tears with his cuff, his hand still trembling as he pointed at Su Bai. "He just said—he said he wants to pose what on the arena? A 'JOJO Pose'? And shout 'Za Warudo'? 'Wryyyy'?? What the hell is this, a child's whimsical imagination is truly interesting, haha."

The Purple-Robed Chief picked up where the Slick-haired Creator left off. It was clear he was genuinely amused; there was no malice in his tone, just an inability to hold it in while imagining the scene.

"This young friend Su Bai must have mistaken the National Competition for a cosplay competition. Striking flamboyant poses and shrieking on a life-or-death arena—is he planning to laugh his opponents to death with mental pollution? That's actually a shortcut—no combat power required, just make the opponent laugh until they can't straighten their back. Hahahaha!"

The entire hall erupted in laughter.

The laughter was so loud that the blessing formation patterns on the dome were trembling slightly.

The masters who were just frantically praising Su Bai as the "founder of the next fifty years of the card creation world" were now all shaking their heads and sighing.

Some put away their notebooks, others pushed aside their freshly poured hot tea to show they had lost interest, and some whispered to each other.

"The thinking is a bit too outlandish... Perhaps it is precisely this outlandish thinking that allowed for the creation of the magical girl card?"

"Not necessarily. This is the National Competition; no matter how outlandish the thinking, it shouldn't be like this. Really..."

"That makes sense. Perhaps Her Excellency Qingyue didn't teach him properly?"

"A flash in the pan. A classic case of running out of talent. Since he can't create an advanced version, he's started using gimmicks to grab attention. He should be suppressed for a while."

"Sigh, I praised him for nothing."

"Everyone, don't be hasty. The results aren't out yet; what are you rushing for?"

Su Bai stood in the center of the great hall.

Surrounding him were the mocking jeers and boos of dozens of top-tier Card Creators.

In those voices, he heard "running out of talent," "gone astray," "grandstanding," and at least three versions of profanity. The Purple-Robed Chief had sat back in his chair and crossed his legs, the Slick-haired Creator was still wiping away tears of laughter, and The Skinny Tall Guy and several other imperial geniuses were huddled together, eyeing him as if watching a monkey show.

He looked down at the hourglass shield on his wrist. Then he looked at Kyubey, who was crouching at his feet, sweeping its tail across the golden brick floor.

[Su Bai. The Mental Power wavelengths of these people are almost exactly the same as when that Vice President from the War God Temple mocked the Magical Girl. History really does love to repeat itself.]

The corners of Su Bai's mouth twitched. There was no help for it; that's just how the system dictated it...

It wasn't the first time, anyway. He didn't even need to explain. Half a month later, on the arena of the grand finals, the moment Qin Ye activated [The World], he wouldn't need to say a single word; naturally, someone would swallow all this mockery for him.

The only thing he cared about a little right now was—his master.

Su Bai turned his head to look at Li Qingyue. Li Qingyue stood before the Empress's beaded curtain, her silver-white hair motionless. There was no expression on her porcelain-doll-like face, but Su Bai noticed that the fingers inside her sleeves were clenched even tighter than before.

Immediately after, Su Bai witnessed a scene that stunned him.

"Everyone shut up!" Li Qingyue snorted coldly: "A bunch of blind fools, if you have the ability, come face him directly!"