Chapter 466

Chapter 361 – Location

South Tivyán, Bishop Square.

The New Year’s Eve celebration was still ongoing, and the evening party continued despite the cold winds. After a brief respite following her initial performance, Adèle, the ruby star, took to the stage again, eliciting another round of applause from the audience below and elevating the atmosphere of the party to new heights.

Adèle, who had returned to the stage, shed her originally vibrant red attire for a pure white dress, presenting the audience with a completely different performance. According to the enthusiastic introduction by the host, her dance this time was titled “Praise of Life.” The form of the dance mirrored its name, celebrating life through movement.

“Hehe… Isabel, look! Adèle’s dance this time is quite interesting. Although there are no lines or dialogue, I can tell what she wants to express just from her movements. From stillness to motion, from sprouting to blooming, I think this dance tells the story of a sapling growing into a towering tree… What do you think?”

On the balcony, Duke Barret watched Adèle’s dance with a smile, while Princess Isabel nodded in agreement with a gentle response.

“I agree with your assessment, Uncle Barret. I’ve heard many critics say that Miss Adèle is renowned for the unique stories embedded in her dances. Each of her movements carries not only the essence of dance but also the language of the story. She performs a dance like a play without any spoken words.”

“Miss Adèle conveys her message solely through her body language, yet her performances are more captivating than ordinary silent plays. She is the only one in the entire dance world capable of achieving this, making her a true treasure of our kingdom.”

Isabel spoke softly in such praise. After hearing her remarks, Duke Barret smiled and continued.

“Mm… Indeed, it seems you have a good understanding of this. The theatrical quality of Adèle’s dance is precisely what makes her unique. Even the most critical critics cannot help but commend her. Other dancers trying to imitate her style either focus too much on visual effects, making the story hard to follow, or they emphasize storytelling at the expense of the beauty of the dance, turning it into an ordinary silent play. Only Adèle can achieve perfect balance.

“This dance is titled ‘Praise of Life.’ To perform such a celebratory dance at the beginning of the year, a dance that symbolizes flourishing, must surely be her way of blessing the new year. It seems she has prepared extensively for this party. Watching this dance leaves one feeling uplifted. Haha…”

Barret commented, and Isabel couldn’t help but nod in agreement with a smile. Barret was right; Adèle’s current dance indeed brought a sense of joy to all the audience members present, including even the most impoverished workers, who now had positive aspirations for the coming year. Those hidden among the crowd, driven to desperation by a desire for revenge, were awakened by the dance’s message of life, leading them to abandon their s*icide missions.

Using the will to live to persuade the s*icide bombers to abandon their tasks was a strategy devised by Dorothy and Adèle. Although Adèle could perceive the most urgent desires of living beings around her, this ability could not help her find the s*icide bombers in the crowd.

Firstly, there were too many people present, making it difficult for her to analyze all their desires quickly. Secondly, her active detection might be blocked by the “Shadow’s” extraordinary items.

Indeed, Adèle’s active desire detection could be blocked by the “Shadow,” and her detection abilities were divided into active and passive types. Active detection involved sensing the current desires of a living being and what they intended to do. For instance, in the Coal Ash District police station, Adèle used active detection to understand the chief’s urgent desire to communicate with his superiors.

Active desire detection was an extraordinary ability, similar to spiritual perception and the “Lamp’s” detection, which relied on utilizing one’s own extraordinary abilities to actively perceive other targets. This type of ability could generally be shielded by the “Shadow’s” items.

Passive desire detection, however, was different. It involved perceiving others’ desires directed towards oneself, whether it was lust or murderous intent. Stronger desires would alert and concern her, which was why the Wolf bl**d Association had to use flesh puppets to assassinate Adèle to prevent her from detecting their murderous intentions.

Passive desire detection primarily sensed desires projected onto oneself rather than actively projecting abilities onto others, thus it could not be detected by the “Shadow’s” extraordinary items. Ordinary “Shadow” items only blocked the extraordinary effects on the carrier and did not affect the information emitted by the carrier, such as their scent or desires towards others.

These s*icide bombers were created by the Eight Pinnacle Nest by manipulating indigenous people. It was natural for them to carry “Shadow” shielding items as a precaution. Therefore, Adèle’s active desire detection was likely to be futile, leading to Dorothy’s suggestion to use the method of awakening the will to live instead.

Any living being had a will to live, even those driven to desperation by revenge. The stronger one felt their impending d*ath, the stronger their will to live became. However, this will was suppressed by the stronger belief in revenge within their hearts.

This suppression was fragile. Adèle needed only to gently guide this delicate balance, and the will to live would easily overcome the desire for revenge, causing them to abandon their mission.

Adèle’s guidance was subtle, almost imperceptible to normal people, but enough to unbalance the unstable state of the s*icide bombers.

Onstage, Adèle continued to dance lightly, occasionally glancing down at the audience with a hint of worry in her eyes. Only when a voice came from within her did she finally relax.

“Great Akka, please convey to Adèle that the three s*icide bombers in the audience have abandoned their mission and left on their own. The audience is now safe; we can proceed to the next step.”

Hearing Dorothy’s voice inside her, Adèle’s initial anxiety subsided, and she began to ponder.

“I didn’t expect that the deity Akka, whom the Rosy Cross Society worships, could actually help believers communicate prayers. How amazing! Such a function is unheard of in other societies. This must be some kind of passive prayer reception ability of Akka…”

Adèle thought so. Before dancing with Dorothy, the latter had asked her to deactivate her mental protection for communication purposes. Adèle complied, and now Dorothy could contact her without any barriers.