The Media’s Twisted Truth and a Rose’s Ascendance

Su Mu placed the snacks on the coffee table and settled beside Bai Ruoruo. He glanced at her phone, but the child’s rapid scrolling proved difficult to follow. He sighed, then pulled out his own phone.

There was no need to search; the hashtag #YuCaiMiddleSchool was already trending, dominating the headlines.

Following that tag, the most popular related topics appeared in descending order: #YuCaiMiddleSchoolSuMo, #YuCaiMiddleSchoolFrostSnowSovereign, #LuckyGarden, and #SheMin.

‘Had She Min been exposed as well?’ Su Mu wondered.

Su Mu rubbed his chin, then tapped the screen.

“Hmm…”

Su Mu pressed a finger to his lips and began to scroll.

His expression grew somewhat peculiar.

Initially, seeing the reported 78 casualties, he had assumed that by cross-referencing bodies with staff lists, She Min’s photo would have fallen into their hands. ‘Perhaps they simply didn’t have her picture?’ he mused.

Reading through the pervasive speculation, it suggested Su Mo’s fire abilities could rival Frost Snow Sovereign’s. Based on common sense and people’s habitual thinking, it was assumed she might possess dual elements, but even then, it was deemed impossible for her to control calamity beasts.

‘Hmm…’

‘Yet, I am precisely that absurd,’ he thought.

Still, Su Mu was quite pleased to see rumors that worked in his favor. He set that thought aside and returned to the article.

The article posited: ‘If Su Mo couldn’t control calamity beasts, then did the Yu Cai Middle School incident have nothing to do with her?’

‘How could that be?’ the article continued. ‘She’s Villain No. 1! Is she the type to just wander around idly?’

‘Clearly not.’

‘Therefore, the Yu Cai Middle School incident *must* be related to her. Even if she can’t control calamity beasts, someone else can!’

‘Who?’

‘Villain No. 27, She Min!’

‘Well-reasoned and convincing,’ the article declared.

‘Su Mo has already allied with the Villain Alliance!’

‘And the basis for this speculation is…’

It claimed Frost Snow Sovereign had been tricked away by the villain Su Mo, and had explicitly stated she hadn’t participated in the aftermath of the Yu Cai Middle School incident. She neither knew how to resolve it nor was interested, only wishing to challenge Su Mo to a fight.

The interviewers had been paralyzed by her icy gaze, suggesting she was furious.

The original interview video, consistent with these claims, could still be found online.

Su Mu was actually quite surprised. He had expected the credit to be entirely attributed to the Sovereign, but she seemed completely uninterested. He then realized that as a Sovereign, such a minor accomplishment would likely be insignificant on her resume.

Su Mu continued reading, and his expression grew even stranger.

‘Although Frost Snow Sovereign explicitly stated she did not participate in handling the incident, I believe the resolution of the incident was still due to Frost Snow Sovereign’s influence…’

The incident wouldn’t have simply ended without reason.

‘Lucky Garden,’ while adept at rescuing people, was ultimately a D-rank superpowered team. Despite it being a D-rank disaster, the threat involved a rule-based calamity beast, not a common one.

They simply lacked the power to deal with it.

Two images were attached: one showed White Rose knocked to the ground by a monkey-headed security guard, and the other depicted Saint Lily, soot-stained, emerging with two children in a scene of fire rescue. These images were presented as proof.

Su Mu propped his chin in his hand. ‘It’s true,’ he thought. ‘At first glance, and reading the text, these photos imply that if they struggled so much to fight a minor minion and save a few people, how could they possibly have handled the entire incident?’

‘Who was the photographer anyway? What an idle person.’

‘Perhaps school surveillance? Could it still be functional?’

‘Hmm…’

Su Mu briefly stiffened, then let out a sigh of relief.

‘What am I thinking? I didn’t even un-transform at the school.’

He shook his head.

‘Since it couldn’t have been Lucky Garden resolving the incident, and Frost Snow Sovereign didn’t participate in the aftermath either…’

‘Then, eliminate all impossibilities, and whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’

‘In reality, another person was present at the time: She Min.’

‘This incident was orchestrated by her and Su Mo together, to create panic and cultivate calamity beasts.’

‘However, they unexpectedly alerted Frost Snow Sovereign. Su Mo lured her away, and She Min, fearing Frost Snow Sovereign’s return, also controlled the calamity beasts and fled.’

‘Therefore, as the saying goes, ‘a man’s name, a tree’s shadow,’ Frost Snow Sovereign is an entity whose mere name is enough to make enemies flee in terror.’

How powerful!

Truly worthy of being called Sovereign!

…

Honestly, Su Mu genuinely wanted to applaud the author of this theory.

Why?

The main characters were correct, and the outcome was also correct.

Yet, the process… he couldn’t say it was identical; in fact, it was utterly unrelated.

‘How on earth did this person manage that?’

‘Could this esteemed individual be none other than the famous detective, Sleeping Kogoro?’

How brilliant!

Truly admirable!

Furthermore, regarding the Yu Cai Middle School incident, the narrative either painted Su Mo as cunning and treacherous or Frost Snow Sovereign as impressively powerful.

He scrolled through several more posts. While Saint Lily and her team’s rescue efforts were mentioned, the details were vague, merely stating they provided ‘cooperation and support’ without further elaboration.

‘Everyone’s just focused on the love-hate saga between Villain No. 1 and Frost Snow Sovereign, aren’t they?’

“…”

‘Alright then,’ he conceded. ‘These media people certainly know how to latch onto a hot topic.’

****

In Dandelion’s underground training room,

Dandelion gazed silently at the white roses that now filled the entire training room, a smile gracing her lips. “Congratulations, White Rose,” she said. “You’ve broken through.”

“Yes, I can feel it,” White Rose replied, clad in ice-blue skirt armor. “This power, this immense strength, is what I’ve always pursued.” She clenched her fist slightly, and a chill spread through the flower domain with an imposing aura.

The white roses swayed gently as a biting wind howled and ice crystals drifted down. This flower domain felt utterly discordant, far from flourishing; instead, it exuded a bleak, somber quality.

Though it was ostensibly a flower domain, it seemed to serve merely as a backdrop, its trembling blossoms bowing in subservience to the domineering presence of frost and snow.

Even someone unfamiliar with the situation would likely sense the incongruity, yet Dandelion merely smiled and offered her congratulations.

“I’ve been looking forward to the day you lead us down a new path, White Rose~”

“Yes, I will,” White Rose affirmed. “Saint Lily is merely a pebble easily stepped over. The captaincy was always meant to be mine.”

“I still need more refinement to draw closer to that esteemed individual.”

“Very well, I won’t disturb you further. Call me anytime if you need anything; after all, I’m Lucky Garden’s logistics manager.”

Having spoken, Dandelion didn’t wait for White Rose’s reply. She simply turned and departed.

As she ascended the steps, the light struck her face, leaving one half softly illuminated and the other veiled in shadow.

“Roses are robust, sun-loving, tolerant of partial shade and cold, and not particular about soil, even growing well in heavy clay,” Dandelion murmured softly.

As the owner of a floral tea shop, Dandelion possessed her own insights into plant growth.

Sun-loving plants require ample sunlight to thrive or grow normally; in shaded environments, their growth becomes abnormal, or they may even perish.

‘A garden isn’t a place where all flowers can grow freely; chaos would ensue,’ she thought.

‘Especially when one’s favorite flowers have their nutrients stolen by others, unknowingly, those others become weeds. Uprooting weeds is a gardener’s duty, ensuring the favored flowers can grow better.’

Dandelion returned to her room. The switch clicked, and light flooded her vision.

“Saint,” she whispered, “what are you doing now? Grieving and blaming yourself for the dead?”

“My noble and magnificent light~ Your benevolence will grant them salvation~”

Reverently, she began her daily prayers.