Whether Shenqi was naturally naive or naturally manipulative was beside the point for now, but whatever the case, Lin Luo felt completely baffled after hearing her words. It was like a self-deprecating underdog bumping into a stunningly beautiful heiress on the street; the heiress offered a heart-stirring smile and walked toward him. The underdog thought a goddess was favoring him, his heart soaring with excitement, only for the heiress to speak: “Actually, you are my long-lost older brother.”

Brother, my foot! Could that be any more ridiculous?

Regardless, the underdog would be utterly confused, just like Lin Luo was now.

“Um, I think I might be hearing things. Could you say that again?” Lin Luo’s expression smoothed over. He rubbed his head and asked tentatively.

Shenqi nodded and repeated, “I want you to become Alice’s father.”

Well, he hadn't misheard.

“In other words, you want me to be your husband?” Lin Luo tried calculating the relationships in his head, finally arriving at that conclusion.

Shenqi immediately blushed, waving her hands repeatedly. “No, no, no, it’s not that I don’t have those thoughts... Ah, no! I don’t have those thoughts. Alice, we are only talking about Alice!”

Seeing her become a little incoherent, Lin Luo waved his hand, signaling her to calm down. “I know we are talking about Alice, but Alice is your daughter. If… I mean, if I really became Alice’s father, then what would our relationship be?”

“Uh, this…” Shenqi tilted her head in thought for a moment before uttering two words: “Guardians?”

Noticing Lin Luo still looked utterly bewildered, Shenqi pointed to Hinaichigo. “Look, you are Little Light’s father, and I am her mother, but we don’t have any other relationship, so we are guardians, right?”

Alright, with Hinaichigo as an example, Lin Luo had nothing more to say.

“But, why me?” Lin Luo asked, puzzled. Even if Shenqi was the host, this was their first meeting. While whirlwind marriages certainly happened, wanting him to be a father less than an hour after meeting seemed unprecedented.

Was it because of the principle of equivalent exchange? Shenqi became Hinaichigo’s mother, so she was giving her daughter to him, asking him to be *Alice’s father?

Lin Luo thought this way, but Shenqi provided an answer that defied his expectations. He heard her say, “Because you are the most suitable. No one is more suited to be Alice’s father than you.”

“What kind of reason is that?” The more Shenqi explained, the more confused Lin Luo became. He pointed at himself and asked blankly, “Can you see ‘Dad potential’ in me? I shouldn’t have that kind of trait.”

“Of course not,” Shenqi chuckled sheepishly. “You see, all the people in the Demon Realm are my children, so none of them can be Alice’s father. And in Gensokyo, aside from those in the Human Village, there are few men. If I brought an ordinary human man to Alice, she certainly wouldn’t pay him any mind. Therefore, this ‘father’ must be stronger than Alice, and Alice must also have a good impression of him. Of course, it would be best if this ‘father’ was already a father. So, based on all of this, no one is more suitable than you.”

“I see. So, even though I don’t have ‘Dad potential,’ I already possess ‘Father status.’” Lin Luo suddenly understood. In terms of strength, he was naturally stronger than Alice. In terms of favorability, although he hadn't seen Alice in a long time, she had blushed when he saved her two years ago—she must have a good impression of him... Thinking of this, Lin Luo suddenly felt that not being Alice’s dad would be a sin.

“But speaking of which, why do you want to find a father for Alice so badly?” Lin Luo asked suspiciously. Shenqi probably didn’t know that although he possessed ‘Father status,’ he was currently being coerced by the Highest Will onto the path of a 'creepy father.' Wasn't this pushing Alice into a fire pit?

“There are many issues involved, which I cannot tell you right now,” Shenqi replied, shaking her head apologetically. She then added, “Actually, Alice has always been somewhat starved for affection.”

“Alice is starved for affection?”

Lin Luo was stunned. If any of the native girls of Gensokyo were starved for affection, he wouldn’t find it strange, but Alice? How was that possible! She had maternal love above her, doll love below her, black and white love in front of her, romantic rival love behind her, and her very name contained the character for ‘love’ (Ai). If such a loving person was still starved for affection, then there truly was no love left in this world!

“Yes,” Shenqi nodded seriously.

I think it’s not Alice who is starved for affection, it’s you who are lacking calcium!

As he watched her demeanor, Lin Luo couldn’t help but grumble inwardly. Before he could speak, Shenqi suddenly leaned in close, cupping his hands, her face less than twenty centimeters away, and whispered with breath as soft as fragrance, “Hey, be *Alice’s father, just give her a little bit of fatherly love, okay?”

“Although you sound very sincere, Alice isn't a child anymore. For a man who looks about her age to be her father—even if I didn't mind, she might not agree,” Lin Luo said hesitantly while enjoying the proximity to Shenqi.

Seeing that Lin Luo was beginning to waver, Shenqi clearly wasn't going to give up. She pulled back her hands slightly, creating a little distance, interlaced her fingers, closed one eye, stuck out her tongue, and made a cute pose. “Pleease?”

Hey, using manipulative cuteness is shameful! Also, where did you learn that move from Sōjirin?

Although Lin Luo wanted to say that, he was momentarily melted by the charm. With no other choice, he agreed to Shenqi’s request. As for whether it would ultimately turn into obeying a father or obeying a creepy father, that was no longer his concern.

“Since you agree, let’s go see Alice quickly and make her happy!” Seeing Lin Luo agree, Shenqi became visibly excited, looking as if she wanted to hug and kiss him as she urged him on.

“Alright.” Since he was going this far, he might as well see it through to the end. Having already agreed, Lin Luo didn't decline further and nodded in assent. But would Alice really be happy? Lin Luo was very doubtful. If it were him, he certainly wouldn't be happy; failing to throw a punch would be considered polite.

Hinaichigo and Megu were still asleep, so Lin Luo wasn't worried about their safety. He temporarily left them at the Hakurei Shrine and went with Shenqi to see Alice.

To successfully keep tabs on those native girls, Lin Luo had never cut off the connection with his clones. At this moment, with a slight mental probe, he immediately knew where Alice was. Then, through recursive cloning, Lin Luo smoothly lured Alice away from the main group. However, Alice wasn't alone; Patchouli from Marisa’s group was also with her.

After all, the Masked Men were immensely powerful. Except for a few individuals like Kagero and Eirin Yagokoro, everyone knew there was little hope of winning in a solo fight. Therefore, generally, every Masked Man was engaged by a team of three to five people.

The trio of Alice, Marisa, and Patchouli, despite having only mid-to-upper-tier individual strength in Gensokyo, saw their combat power increase geometrically due to their flawless cooperation, managing to hold their own even against powerful enemies like the Masked Man.

“Haha! It really is true that the more clones I create, the weaker my power becomes!” Marisa zipped through the sky on her broom, her Mini-Hakkero constantly blasting powerful magic cannons.

“Everything is composed of elements, and people are no exception… including clones,” Patchouli floated in mid-air as dazzling Lunar Magic exploded around her.

“A small army of Kings!” Alice summoned a massive number of dolls, letting Shanghai and Hongmei, the two main dolls, lead a contingent in an all-out assault.

Under the combined assault of the three, the Masked Man was in dire straits. Then, with Marisa and Patchouli providing ranged suppression, Alice launched the final blow.

“Knight!”

At Alice’s shout, from the ranks of the unremarkable doll army, a doll slightly over half a meter tall suddenly charged out at extreme speed. Clad in silver-white armor, holding a white round shield in its left hand and a black greatsword in its right, the entire figure radiated a brilliant, blinding light.

Its speed was like lightning and flint, too fast to track.

The Masked Man probably sensed the danger posed by this Doll Knight. Ignoring harassment from the rest of the doll army, it frantically attacked the Knight, but the Doll Knight swung its sword and braced with its shield, deflecting every single attack.

Its defense was like an iron wall; no attack could penetrate it.

“Spear of the Strongest!”

Under Alice’s control, all her magic power was channeled into this Doll Knight. Then the black greatsword, the white round shield, and even the Knight itself instantly transformed into a black and white long spear, shooting toward the Masked Man!

Finally, amidst a sharp whistle that tore through the air, the Masked Man’s body was completely pierced! Its attack seemed to be a light that pierced the heavens, unstoppable and unbreakable.

“So powerful…” Looking at the large hole in its chest, the Masked Man’s lips curved upward as if smiling. “To kill this clone of mine in one strike, was that your new doll?”

Alice nodded. “Yes. This is a Variant Destruction Doll I created half a year ago—my strongest doll: Knight!”

“Knight, haha, truly remarkable…” The Masked Man gave a cryptic smile, then his entire body exploded with a loud boom, vanishing completely.

“Phew, we finally won,” Alice sighed in relief seeing the enemy finally gone, though she felt a little strange about the tone in the Masked Man’s voice before disappearing.

“Hey, I say, doesn’t that Doll Knight give you a strong sense of déjà vu?” On the other side, Marisa pointed at the Doll Knight standing in the sky and asked Patchouli.

“It’s not déjà vu; it’s clearly that guy,” Patchouli stated calmly.

The Doll Knight, apart from its size, possessed an appearance and aura almost identical to Lin Luo’s!