"This seems to be our third meeting, but why do I always feel like you never learn your lesson?"
The pink mask that had been acting mysteriously and seemingly lost its sanity earlier suddenly appeared to regain its senses.
It stopped randomly transforming into others' appearances, remaining simply as the pink Jealousy Mask.
Looking up at Xie Antong before it, or rather at the entity known as Joy, it spoke.
Or perhaps this was just a fraction of Joy's power.
"Oh, is that so." Joy's voice spoke calmly, its previously aggressive demeanor somewhat restrained when facing this presence.
Though it hated to admit it, the truth was that while it held hostility toward "Sin," it also carried a degree of wariness.
As Sin had said, this was indeed their third encounter.
As an existence at the level of a "god," it had become the entity that appeared most frequently before Lu Ce.
And of course, the current presence before them was too.
"Yes, our third meeting." Xie Antong spoke coldly while looking at "Sin."
It made no attempt to hide this fact, since during the last encounter between the Slime and Lu Ce, it had already demonstrated that its memories were connected with the female doctor's.
"However." Xie Antong's lips curved into a smile that didn't match her usual personality.
"What does that matter?"
"I'm not like those two useless predecessors who couldn't even handle a juvenile 'Sin' when they had the chance."
"Truly incompetent."
"I didn't say anything, why are you getting so defensive?" The pink mask on Lu Ce's face said with a smiling expression.
"Why so eager to distance yourself? Seems like you're not very confident after all."
Joy: #
Staring at Xie Antong's face, it grew somewhat irritated and pointed at itself saying:
"What are you talking about?!"
"Heh, you're even more self-important than this guy."
"The gap between our levels is something you can't even comprehend!"
The Jealousy Mask showed no signs of anger at all, instead sitting cross-legged on the ground, hugging its knees and swaying side to side.
"Ah, I can understand that."
"There is indeed quite a gap between the two of us."
Joy: ?
In that instant, it felt something was off and immediately spoke sharply:
"I meant that my existence is superior to yours!"
"I never said I was the superior one, what are you imagining on your own?" Lu Ce spread his hands.
Veins were beginning to bulge on her forehead. After taking several deep breaths, she suddenly realized something felt wrong.
Why had the conversation devolved into something resembling children arguing?
For some reason, looking at this pink mask always gave her a sense of unease.
It was easy to become irritable, perhaps because through the memories of those former "colleagues," she indeed felt some wariness toward this guy in front of her.
Maybe it was just an illusion, even though this was clearly an existence with significantly lower life level than herself...
"Heh, I won't waste time arguing about meaningless things with you here."
As she spoke, "Xie Antong" raised her hand and examined her palm.
"This vessel is indeed much stronger, just slightly harder to control."
"But..."
She looked up provocatively at Lu Ce.
"It's not that difficult, is it? Maybe I just need a bit more time to adapt."
"She will never be able to..."
Snap!
A sudden sharp snap of fingers abruptly cut off her words.
This snap came from Lu Ce!
But Xie Antong's eyes regained their own consciousness, while behind her, that faint, floating shadow continued to tremble.
If one looked closely enough...
"Never be able to what? I'm listening."
Lu Ce said quite maliciously after snapping his fingers.
Of course, Joy couldn't respond to him now - the one who could respond was Xie Antong.
"There's a strange feeling."
Xie Antong moved her limbs curiously.
"My spirit is still here, able to watch my body's movements from a third-person perspective, and even exert some influence."
"But I just can't control it anymore, though..."
"It's a wonderful power."
As she spoke, she actually seemed to savor the sensation as she clenched her fist.
"Of course it's wonderful! That's divine power! What nonsense are you fantasizing about!"
Suddenly, Joy's power once again seized control of the body and began shouting angrily.
Her expression actually showed a trace of panic - she herself didn't understand why she had been suddenly forced out of control.
Was this woman's mental explosive power really that strong?
How could she know that Xie Antong, who had been using the All-Seeing Eye since the beginning of CHOSEN'S PARADISE!, if there was any area where she could reach world-class level...
It would be her mental strength!
Of course it wasn't something that could be controlled so easily.
"Tch..."
The moment she regained control, Joy's power met Jealousy's amused gaze.
Immediately, she began to feel somewhat embarrassed.
She had originally intended to put on a good show, but now this happened - interrupted before she could finish speaking.
This made her, a high-level existence, lose face before these people.
Damn it! She hadn't paid enough attention back then, letting that low-intelligence brute destroy her most useful vessel!
Now she found herself in a somewhat passive position!
With a forceful wave of her hand, a beam of light erupted from her palm, firing a laser cannon shot directly at Sun!
Sun had already reassembled his upper and lower body and, bathed in flames, had been reborn through fire.
Facing this sudden attack, he raised a massive flame tower shield, holding his ground while gradually retreating.
"Xie Antong" watched as Sun struggled against her power, a gradually maddening smile appearing on her face that soon turned into loud laughter.
"Hahahahaha! I admit, you three have accidentally given me many surprises through sheer coincidence, making my gaming experience somewhat troublesome."
"But what does that matter?"
"This vessel is somewhat interesting, but what does that matter?"
"I can quit anytime, leave whenever I want. At most, I can just disconnect from this game and watch your reactions - that would still be entertainment for me."
"You're right that interesting games require personal participation, but only if I'm guaranteed to win!"
"Xie Antong" said as she forcefully blasted Sun away, her body slowly rising to look down on Lu Ce from above.
"You're really foolish. Haven't you realized what determination your current vessel possesses?"
Lu Ce listened to this trump card-revealing provocation and shook his head.
"Oh?" Joy's voice showed no sense of crisis.
"She never intended to be your vessel."
"She is your prison!"
The moment these words fell, Lu Ce suddenly looked up, the pink mask beginning to liquefy, starting to merge with his face...
Becoming one!