On Chaldea's side, due to his imminent exposure and the matter with Magical Merli, Dr. Roman had a mournful face and for a moment didn't know what to do.
However, his body instinctively began to work, and his eyes were fixed on the video. There was no choice; since he was about to be exposed, he might as well watch the video carefully.
Maybe he could get some unexpected information from it.
And... Dr. Roman's heart was pounding. Please don't expose his identity right at the start, otherwise, he might really have to do as meru said—since things had come to this, he could only blow his own cover!
Of course, this "blow his cover" didn't mean he would explode, but rather that he would tell his identity in full detail and stop hiding it.
Seventh Singularity, the world of Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia.
"Hahahahahahaha."
Wise King Gilgamesh was laughing wildly. His laughter drew a veiled woman, who looked at the Wise King in confusion.
Obviously, she didn't quite understand why the King, who had a somewhat emotional expression just now, suddenly started laughing.
And for some reason, this scene seemed familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before. It seemed that just a few days ago, in the same place, she had seen the King let out such a laugh.
"Hahahaha! Siduri, record this in the Palace Diary later: the King's abdominal muscles are in severe pain, hahahahaha."
"That fellow Roman is really pitiful, to actually be exposed. No, this King seems to be seeing the Underworld again, hahahahaha."
Wise King Gilgamesh clutched his stomach and laughed, while Siduri still maintained her smile.
Although she didn't know what was going on, it was best to just keep smiling for now.
"But, Merlin, aren't you going to help him?"
Although still laughing, Wise King Gilgamesh looked ahead and saw Merlin approaching, seemingly having something to report to him.
"Roman is fine. Anyway, the video is still playing, so it's okay even if his identity is exposed."
Merlin smiled. His smile at this moment was like that of a big brother next door, full of 'light'—at least, that's what he thought.
"You guy, you really like teasing him."
Seeing Merlin's smile, Wise King Gilgamesh also showed a rather amused smile, but he didn't care.
Because whether Roman's identity was exposed or not didn't matter. Anyway, that 'fake' doesn't watch the multiverse projection, so it doesn't matter at all.
"Is this teasing?" Merlin gave a mischievous smile and said: "I'm not 'meru'. In my capacity as Merlin, I've already told him many, many things."
Merlin's expression still held a smile, and he gave a rather wicked grin: "And, I believe he probably knows by now that I am meru."
"This King thinks he doesn't know at all."
Gilgamesh looked at Merlin with a smile, his face showing a very amused expression. Clearly, he thought this matter was also very fun.
"Well~ if he still doesn't know, then there's nothing I can do~" Merlin showed a helpless expression, then looked at the screen and smiled: "But, let's watch the reversal story of Roman."
"Hmph~ what's there to see."
Gilgamesh made a sound of disinterest, but his eyes were still honestly focused on the video.
Although Merlin and Gilgamesh already knew Roman's true identity, knowing was one thing, but they would still continue to watch.
The video continued to play.
On a very busy street, Romani Archaman was walking forward with luggage on his back.
"Bang bang bang bang~~~"
At this moment, accompanied by the explosion of fireworks, Romani Archaman subconsciously turned his head. Looking at the beautiful fireworks, he showed a pure smile like a child.
But soon, the camera zoomed in. In Romani Archaman's pupils, the fireworks gradually disappeared, replaced by countless white hands rushing towards him, as if this scene foreshadowed something.
In the next second, Romani Archaman's original pure smile disappeared, replaced by shock and seriousness. He stopped looking at the beautiful fireworks and muttered to himself: "I must hurry."
After saying that, Romani Archaman left the place; he didn't even have time to stop and watch the beautiful fireworks.
At the same time, the voice in his heart also rang out.
'That's right, I must hurry. There's no time left, not even a second can be wasted.'
Then, scenes appeared one after another. That was the life of Romani Archaman. He never stopped for a moment; he studied all kinds of knowledge in various places and tried to save the injured in various places.
However, the attempt to save the injured failed. A fly landed on the injured person's hand, and Romani Archaman, sitting on the ground, revealed unknown emotions in his eyes.
Then the scene shifted slightly. Romani Archaman was running for his life, as if he were in a race against something, his expression looking quite flustered.
Clearly there was nothing behind him, yet he was like someone being pursued, pressing forward desperately. What kind of scene did he see in his eyes?
Then, those white hands appeared from behind, at an unimaginably fast speed, and then Romani Archaman was caught by these white hands.
The scene shifted again, this time to a cup of black tea.
A man with a very 'dangerous' hairstyle picked up the black tea. His name was Marisbury Animusphere, and he took a slight sip of the tea.
And Romani Archaman, sitting not far away, chuckled: "It smells so good. Do you still only drink Darjeeling?"
To his question, Marisbury replied: "As long as it's drinkable, even plain water is fine."
Saying this, Marisbury put down the tea in his hand. He looked at Romani Archaman with a smile and said: "It's good to see you healthy and well, Archaman."
Although separated by a screen, the people watching the video could clearly feel the respect this existence named Marisbury had for Romani Archaman.
Then Marisbury looked at Romani Archaman and continued to ask: "You don't seem to have continued your studies in magecraft."
"~" Romani Archaman smiled and said helplessly: "The knowledge and techniques I have now can only achieve this much."
"..." Hearing his words, Marisbury put the tea on the table and said in a subtle tone: "Is excessive modesty just pride? I see, I've finally experienced it."
Marisbury's words had a double meaning; clearly, in his eyes, Romani Archaman was a very extraordinary existence.
And Romani Archaman also sat down. Marisbury continued to ask: "Where are you now?"
"Nowhere." Romani Archaman's tone was very helpless: "I feel like I don't stay long wherever I am, so I came to discuss it with you."
Marisbury kept smiling, said nothing more, and listened quietly to what the other party said.
Romani Archaman continued: "If possible, I hope to go to your place to work. What do you think?"
"..."
Marisbury still didn't speak, but the next scene expressed his attitude towards this matter.
The scene switched quickly. Romani Archaman put on a white lab coat, looking like a new recruit from outside, but... he was indeed a new recruit.
After putting on the white coat, he patted his head and said in a serious tone: "Alright, a new life begins, Romani Archaman."
A.D. 2010.
On the video, such a line of subtitles appeared again.
Romani Archaman's voice rang out again.
"The information resources recorded in human history, the record tapes called [Heroic Spirits], are materialized using magical energy, and those employed through this are called Servants."
"But if this Heroic Spirit cannot be materialized alone, and instead becomes a Servant by possessing a human body, such a Servant is called a [Pseudo-Servant]. However, that experiment didn't even count as a Pseudo-Servant."
"Rather, it was the [Demi-Servant] project, which aimed to merge a human and a Heroic Spirit to become a weapon with a physical body."
While he was speaking, the scene shifted again. In a laboratory, the young girl who had appeared in the previous two videos.
Mash Kyrielight was restrained. Then, in the next second, accompanied by a white light, a magic circle appeared beneath the girl.
Accompanied by a rather soft glow, Mash's thin clothes turned into a rather lewd... female armor.
People not far away were very happy, as if to celebrate the success of the experiment, but someone showed a very pained expression.
One was a young man in a green coat named Lev L. Euler Bael.
The other was Romani Archaman, who had become a doctor.
But after Mash Kyrielight woke up.
No, it should be the Servant who was possessed by Mash. His (her) expression became very fierce. Without a word, he (she) broke free from the device that restrained him (her) and then launched a counterattack.
This Servant took out a shield. Relying on this shield, two defensive barriers were broken within a few seconds. And this Servant seemed to feel it wasn't enough, slowly reaching out a hand, seemingly intending to use some move to deal with the people here.
Finally, Mash's will awakened and stopped his (her) actions.
This caused the Servant to show a rather helpless expression, finally allowing Mash to stop him (her).
Then the scene shifted again.
Romani Archaman looked at Marisbury and said in a heavy tone: "Has such an experiment already been going on since 10 years ago?"
"That's right." Marisbury's tone was still very indifferent as he said calmly: "For this reason, we have cultivated many materials, and among them, she is the most complete vessel."
In the dim office, Romani Archaman said seriously: "But the Heroic Spirit who successfully merged refused to cooperate with us and remained silent. That girl is only bearing the physical burden and has not discovered any abilities of a Servant."
"No." Marisbury smiled, as if he didn't take the matter to heart, and said leisurely: "The Holy Relic has indeed been successfully activated. Using it as a catalyst, the experiments for the Heroic Spirit system can be more stable."
"Servants are an indispensable factor in the protection of human history. Since the Spiritron Transfer experiment has succeeded, it wouldn't make sense for there to be no weapons here."
"But now we can more accurately master the summoning system. This is all thanks to her [great sacrifice]."
Romani Archaman's voice was quite heavy: "But she is a In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Originally, her cells deteriorated faster than normal people. With this experiment, the rate of deterioration might be even faster."
"On the other hand," Marisbury smiled nonchalantly, "because of her fusion with the Heroic Spirit, her body can continuously maintain its peak state and will not age due to cell deterioration. Isn't that something to be envied?"
"It doesn't matter if she can't fight, as long as she's alive. Treat her as a catalyst for summoning and let her follow Team A. Other than that, I won't have any hopes, let alone expectations."
Marisbury's voice was very gentle, but the words he spoke would make ordinary people feel an instinctive revulsion.
Countless people with normal personalities frowned slightly after hearing this, having no good impression of him.
"..." Romani Archaman clenched his fist. Clearly, he was also angry, but soon he said in a serious tone: "I volunteer to be her primary doctor, is that alright?"
"?"
Marisbury's expression showed obvious surprise. Clearly, he hadn't expected Romani Archaman to say such a thing. He smiled and said, "Let me ask you one thing first. Are you doing this out of sympathy?"
Romani Archaman looked directly at Marisbury and spoke with a serious tone, "No, it's simply that as a doctor, I want to look after her health. Her physical condition is not optimistic; without me, I'm afraid she won't live more than two years."
"Hmph~" Marisbury thought for a moment, then nodded slightly and didn't refuse. "Very well."
Outside the video.
One-Punch Man World.
"Is this human experimentation?"
Tatsumaki returned after venting her frustration. As soon as she got back, she looked at Mash on the multi-anime projection screen and frowned slightly. "I remember this girl. She and that Merlin fellow released a Noble Phantasm together."
"Yes, her name is Mash. She's a strong woman."
Genos nodded slightly, then frowned as he watched Marisbury and Romani Archaman in the video. He spoke up, "However, according to that man named Marisbury, she seems to be a test-tube baby, and her lifespan doesn't look particularly long."
"Furthermore, that 'Demi-Servant' experiment has made her physical condition even worse. That fellow named Romani seems unable to bear seeing her like this, which is why he took the initiative to become her attending physician."
The plot this time was still simple and clear, the kind that could be understood just by watching.
However, having seen the Great Hero's arrow and the subsequent plot of the Absolute Demonic Front, Genos knew that the so-called Chaldea would definitely blow up at some point later on.
Then Fujimaru Ritsuka would become the sole Master, leading Mash to pacify one Singularity after another.
"Who do you think the twist is about this time?"
Saitama spoke up. While Mash's encounter was indeed pitiful, based on the later plot, she also found her own happiness.
Therefore, Saitama focused all his attention on the twist in this video.
He had guessed wrong almost every time in the previous twist plots, even if he hadn't said it out loud. So this time, he wanted to ask Tatsumaki and Genos for their thoughts on the upcoming twist.
"It should be that Romani Archaman."
Genos spoke with a very serious tone, "The video started with him, and the main psychological descriptions later are also about him. So I think the person the twist revolves around is definitely him."
"Hah?" Tatsumaki showed a disdainful expression and looked at Genos. "Anyone can see that. The key is the plot—in what way will the twist happen?"
"True." Genos nodded slightly at Tatsumaki's words. In fact, it was exactly as she said.
It wasn't hard to guess who the twist was about. For instance, Mami Tomoe, Joseph, Itachi, Light Yagami and L, the Blank Siblings and Jibril, and later Riku and Shuvi—all of them appeared right at the beginning, letting people know they were the characters about to have a twist.
It seemed that except for Black Zetsu, most of the entities involved in a twist appeared at the very start.
Wait, Black Zetsu appeared at the beginning too. Never mind then, because he really was hidden well.
With the existing information, the vast majority of people truly treated him as the manifestation of Madara's will.
Rather than who the twist was about, Tatsumaki naturally cared more about the plot twist itself. Most of the plot twists were things she truly hadn't expected.
"Could the twist be that he's actually the mastermind behind the scenes?"
Genos suddenly had a thought and said very seriously, "Although he looks very gentle and kind on the surface now, perhaps he did something terrible, which led to such a strong sense of crisis."
"Because he had a premonition of something, he wanted to desperately stop it all, when in fact he caused it all himself and just doesn't know it?"
Genos offered a hypothesis; this was his most basic deduction.
Because from the start of the video, Romani Archaman seemed to be forced into a chase by something, though it was unclear what that something was.
But the other party was definitely running around and working hard to gain knowledge because of this matter.
"That's possible, but there might be other twists."
Tatsumaki looked at Romani Archaman and remarked, "For example, he has a second identity hidden inside him or something. This version of him on the surface isn't the real him."
"After all, that Marisbury fellow seems to respect him quite a bit. That part is very strange."
Watching Tatsumaki and Genos's discussion, Saitama remained silent. He really wanted to say: can't you two just combine your theories?
That would seem even more in line with a plot twist.
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