Emily fell into thought and said, "You're coming with us to the president to testify in person."
Li Cheng hesitated visibly.
Emily's expression was indifferent as she said, "If you refuse, you die now."
"Fine."
Li Cheng nodded helplessly; laid out before him were only two paths, one was to give all of this up.
Or help the new president take office and seize control of Manila.
After all, the current one had broken the rules and already stirred up dissatisfaction among some of the great families.
If he stepped down, it would be a good thing for everyone.
Li Cheng decided to gamble; he didn't want to abandon the position he had fought so hard to attain.
...
Mickey was in complete despair.
He had originally planned to wait for news from Li Cheng.
But when he saw from a distance that the kids were leading Emily to Li Cheng's courtyard, he knew he was finished.
He hurriedly dialed the madam's number. "Madam Lisa, it's leaked. They've found Li Cheng."
After a brief silence, Lisa spoke. "You should know what you have to do. I'll take good care of your family."
"I know."
Mickey answered in despair.
He hung up, immediately left the slums, and got into his car.
Tears instantly blurred his vision.
He didn't want to die, but he also didn't dare betray the Max family.
All he could do was take a deep breath, rush home, put everything in order, and then kill himself to atone.
Make sure the trail would never lead back to the First Lady.
...
Malacañang Palace.
This was the highest executive center of the Philippines, yet its exterior still retained the architectural style of the Spanish colonial period.
Max was in the lavishly decorated grand hall. When he learned of the matter, his first reaction was fury; he immediately had someone summon that dog Mickey over to confront him.
He wasn't angry that Mickey believed in that kind of cult, but that Mickey, having believed, hadn't kept it secret at all and had let people trace it straight back to them.
That was what was unforgivable.
"Don't worry. If it was his doing, I will definitely give you an explanation!"
Max's face was solemn. "I will never tolerate someone who worships an Evil God!"
Emily nodded. Judging from his expression, he probably wasn't involved in the Ganqi Cult's affairs.
That could only mean it was someone at his side.
She shifted her gaze to the First Lady sitting next to him.
The woman wore a pleasant smile, looking as if nothing was wrong.
But that very smile felt off to Emily; she quickly nudged Aozawa's arm and blinked.
Catching her signal, Aozawa immediately activated Will-o'-the-wisp.
...
Soon, the guards returned to the grand hall and reported, "Mr. President, at home Mickey made a statement, saying it was the First Lady who instigated him to do it.
He doesn't dare come over; he's afraid the First Lady will kill him to silence him."
"What?!"
Max's face changed drastically, and he glared viciously at the First Lady beside him.
Lisa went pale, blurting out, "Impossible, Mickey promised me he'd kill himself!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she had said the wrong thing, and hurriedly added, "I was just too anxious just now, furious that Mickey would spout such nonsense."
"Shut up. Take her down!"
Max roared, then turned and said, "Miss Emily, you have to let me explain. I had nothing whatsoever to do with this."
"Mm. I believe this was all the madam's doing."
"It wasn't me!"
Lisa shouted angrily, then suddenly thought it through and cried, "It's you—you're abusing the power of a Noble Phantasm to slander me!"
"We did use a Noble Phantasm, but we didn't slander you. We only changed 'Mickey is dead' into 'Mickey is alive and naming you.'"
Emily smiled. She was good at reading micro-expressions on people's faces, analyzing their mental state—whether they were lying, whether a nerve had been struck,
or whether they were trying to cover something up.
People's thoughts are often written on their faces; it's just that some can hide them well, and some can't.
"Max, I'm innocent."
"Shut up!"
Max's face was dark as he looked coldly at his wife. "I really didn't expect you to be this kind of person."
Lisa was so aggrieved she was on the verge of tears. "You're not actually going to believe this woman's nonsense, are you?"
"We'll know once we investigate."
Emily added, "In such a short time, there's no way you've completely erased all traces of the Ganqi Cult, have you?"
Lisa's face went white, and she still tried to argue.
Musk cursed angrily, "I really must've been blind to fall for a woman like you."
"Someone take her down and interrogate her properly."
"Better leave her to us."
Emily hurriedly cut in; she didn't want this Madam to kill herself in jail again out of fear of punishment.
She just wanted to wrap up the whole Ganqi Cult mess as soon as possible, then head back to Tokyo.
Humans really are strange creatures.
When she was in Tokyo, she wanted to go out and see the world; now that she was actually out, she felt the outside world didn't suit her, and she just wanted to hurry up, finish this job, and go back to her life in Tokyo.
Maybe that's why some people can't leave a certain place their entire lives.
Land really does have a unique kind of magic that makes people willing to stay.
...
Things went more smoothly than expected.
Lisa turned out to be the Sect Hierarch of the Ganqi Cult; a huge amount of evidence was stored in her room—probably because she thought no one would dare search the First Lady's study.
Musk arrested a large batch of people according to the list.
Ordinary members were "reformed," while the cadres were euphemistically "exiled" to foreign islands.
In reality, they were executed directly at sea and dumped overboard to feed the sharks.
Keeping these extremists around would only provide negative emotions for the Four Great Evil Gods.
Emily stretched with a big lazy yawn and sighed, "Will-o'-the-wisp is really handy. Being able to create illusions lets us solve all kinds of problems easily; those people can't handle a scare at all."
"That's all because big sis Emily was pulling the strings."
Aozawa's well‑placed flattery made Emily beam, though she still shot him a glare and said, "No wonder Morimoto likes you so much; that mouth of yours is really sweet."
"I'm only speaking the truth."
Aozawa answered honestly.
Emily tilted her head back to look at this boy who was actually younger than her. Maybe it was because he was in college now, but some of the boyishness had faded from his face; he had a bit of a man's bearing now.
Very reliable.
The thought flashed through Emily's mind, and she hurriedly shook her head.
If Morimoto Chiyoda knew what she'd just been thinking, she'd probably pin her down and beat her up.
Terrifying.
Had she really been single for this long already?
From the bottom of her heart, Emily felt just how much the passing years had affected her.
Or rather, every older single person out there is probably facing this kind of horror.
Year after year the age goes up, but there's no sign of a partner, and the idea of a family is even more of a blur.
Emily's thoughts wandered, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness.
She thought of how she used to be, never worrying about this kind of thing. No partner meant no partner; it wasn't any big deal.
Her current anxiety was definitely all Katerina's backstab's fault.
They'd clearly agreed to stay single to the bitter end. (They actually never said that.)
Katerina that traitor!
Thinking of this, Emily puffed her cheeks in anger and said, "Aozawa, let's book plane tickets and go home."
"Didn't you say when we came that you wanted to look around Manila a bit?"
"The scenery here isn't pretty at all."
Emily shook her head.
The miserable slums were even worse than the lives of the people at the very bottom in India.
Some of them couldn't even get a full meal.
In a country like this, Emily really didn't have the mood to stay and enjoy the sights.
She just wanted to leave as soon as possible and avoid piling up more negative emotions in her heart.
Aozawa nodded. "Okay, let's go back."
"Remember to buy some local specialties at the airport to bring back as gifts for them."
Emily hadn't forgotten that part. With a teasing look she added, "Your girlfriends all asked you to bring them souvenirs too, right?"
"No, they're all very considerate."
Aozawa smiled.
Emily felt like she'd just been force‑fed another mouthful of dog food.
Sure, men and women, couples, do have conflicts—but there are also relationships like this that make people insanely jealous.
So, when was she going to find her own true emperor like that?
Emily lost the mood to tease Aozawa any further and trudged toward the airport, head down in dejection.
Aozawa reached out and grabbed her hand.
Eh?!
Emily's eyes went round.
Aozawa said, "Watch out for the car."
"Oh, o‑oh!"
Emily instantly yanked her hand back, flustered. What on earth had she just been imagining?
