Chapter 63: You Are Who You Are, or Not
"Hmm, dare to disobey me, who has the Headless Sculpture non-proliferation treaty?"
"..."
"Haha, just joking, just joking."
Uesugi Kiyoshi smiled warmly and affectionately patted Ode's shoulder.
"I have always been working on improving communication between humans and demons. I believe that we need more interaction to clear up misunderstandings and live together peacefully!"
Since there was a way out, Ode gave in and followed Uesugi Kiyoshi into the Merlin Art Theater with a cold face.
They were seated in the central part of the third row, a prime location. Uesugi Kiyoshi exchanged greetings with some important guests and businessmen before the celebratory performance officially began.
The performance was just as expected. The famous comedians, after strict scrutiny and censorship, could only perform at a fraction of their full potential, which was considered fortunate.
Luckily, these professional actors, though unable to make the audience genuinely laugh, could pause momentarily at the right moments to prompt polite laughter from the audience, easing everyone's awkwardness.
For Uesugi Kiyoshi, the audience's reactions were more entertaining than the actors' performances.
The person sitting next to him seemed to notice his boredom and whispered reassuringly, "Your Excellency Uesugi, just bear with it a little longer. You will surely enjoy the upcoming performance!"
What's the next performance?
Uesugi Kiyoshi flipped through the program and found the name of the next group, "Twilight Golden Time".
Among the five abilities given by the organizing committee, the Twilight Golden Time Combination scored single digits in experience, basics, reflexes, rhythm, etc., with only a perfect score in humor.
"This is a rising group in recent years. Everyone says they are an unprecedented innovative and funny group. I don't know why they are funny, but they just make people laugh. It fits perfectly for today's performance!"
"Oh, thank you." Uesugi Kiyoshi expressed gratitude to the kind person, "By the way, may I ask who you are?"
The other person trembled with excitement; this was the moment he had been waiting for.
"I am Mikami Akira, the heir of the Mikami Group, the most famous family in the Japanese financial world..."
"Ah, I remember now. You once allied with Yumura Hideyoshi to confront me, right?"
"...This is a misunderstanding, a huge misunderstanding!"
In Mikami Akira's long explanations, it was finally time for the debut of the "Twilight Golden Time" group.
These were two young women, who were plain in appearance and dressed in a very ordinary way, blending in with the crowd.
"Hello everyone, I'm Ahge from Twilight Golden Time!"
"I'm Hongdou!"
"We've been in this world for a year already, time flies so fast!"
"Who's flying?"
"Our talent for humor is getting stronger, we'll conquer the world sooner or later!"
"Conquer the world, conquer the world!"
"After taking over the world, we'll have several great shows during prime time on TV, become wealthy, and live in luxury mansions!"
"Fake eyelashes, fake eyelashes!"
...
Uesugi Kiyoshi could clearly feel that this show was fundamentally different from the previous ones.
If other shows are like driving a Santana with all your might but achieving nothing, then Twilight Golden Time is like having a basic car that's enough to get you places.
The whole theater was filled with a boring atmosphere, the audience had stern faces, looked restless, and didn't even know when to clap or laugh.
"Hmm, this is quite interesting," Ode suddenly praised.
This puzzled Uesugi Kiyoshi, although demons' sense of humor might be different from humans', but the difference shouldn't be that big, right?
Just as he was about to interact with the other person, a man in a suit sitting at the back suddenly stood up, clutching his stomach and laughed heartily.
"Ahahaha, ohohoho, wow, hohoho."
Hey, the traces of the prank are quite obvious...
Uesugi Kiyoshi felt disgusted, but then saw Mikami Akira also standing up, holding his stomach, with sweat all over his forehead.
"Hahaha..."
The guests who laughed out loud appeared one after another, two, three, four, gradually, all the guests followed suit, the whole Merlin Art Theater was enveloped in a whirlwind of laughter.
Although not knowing why it was funny, it was just very amusing.
Uesugi Kiyoshi finally understood the meaning of the sentence, but it was like scratching the sole with a feather, such laughter was not heartfelt, so it didn't bring joy, instead felt like a punishment.
"Mr. Uesugi, are you alright?"
The punishment abruptly stopped, Uesugi Kiyoshi wiped his tears and found a familiar twin-tailed beautiful girl standing in front of him, with a circle drawn around his seat.
He had seen this kind of circle before, similar to the one drawn by Sun Wukong for Tang Seng, just much weaker in effect.
"Ha, Miss Hoshimi, how did you come here?"
"Because besides being your assistant, I am also your bodyguard!" Hoshimi Rie looked serious, holding a wand in her hand. "Mr. Uesugi, haven't you felt it?"
"What?"
"The two people on the stage, countless identical souls escaped from their bodies, spreading throughout the venue, making people laugh uncontrollably. That's how they entertain!"
She paused and added, "And I just found out that the originally scheduled performers were not the Twilight Golden Time Combination, but another promising newcomer. However, that person suddenly died, with a smile on their face at the time of death. It must be their doing!"
"What I mean is interesting," Ode explained, "they are mere mortals, yet they can split their souls and use the fragments to do such things. It's fascinating."
"Are they strange?" Uesugi Kiyoshi asked.
Without hesitation, Ode shook his head.
"There are no traces of demons, it's not the kind of strangeness we cause, but their own abilities, just like the little girl next to you."
"I say they are, so they are!"
Uesugi Kiyoshi opened the microphone hanging on his collar and said. Microphone!
As soon as he spoke, a sniper bullet shot from a kilometer away hit the microphone on the stage directly.
"Buzz~~~"
Fragments scattered, a loud noise erupted. The two people from Twilight Golden Time Combination were suddenly confused and flustered, while the people below gradually returned to normal.
Then Uesugi Kiyoshi stood up, took the microphone passed by Hoshimi Rie, and cleared his throat.
"Special Event Research Institute investigating, onlookers stand back!"
