Although the Wood Spirit proactively contacted him out of respect for Sanders, Sanders is just the former master of the Wood Spirit. Whether there is any real emotion is uncertain.
The Wood Spirit hasn’t truly met Sanders since it gained Spirit Intelligence.
In Angel’s mind, even if Sanders were to come here personally, the Wood Spirit might not show up. He is merely Sanders’ student, so it’s quite normal for the Wood Spirit not to appear.
This is why Angel has already started preparing his explanations, thinking about how he should "perform" later, to make everyone understand that he truly discovered the Wood Spirit and is not just putting on a show.
"Right, earlier Vay said I was respecting the Wood Spirit’s free will... maybe I can start from there." Angel pondered in his heart, considering whether to enact a similar scenario.
Only, respecting the Wood Spirit’s freedom of choice, might this be a bit too much? From the information on the holographic tablet, it can be done on Earth, because as long as the issue is elevated to a matter of values, it can make the ignorant populace empathize. Coupled with a slow technological development phase, Earth is relatively peaceful, with many people idling and organizations stirring things up, along with an advanced information network, making it more convincing.
But this is not Earth, there’s no efficient intelligence network; talking about respect for freedom and human rights would probably make people think he’s lost his mind.
Thinking like this, addressing this topic might just evoke laughter. So how should he act?
Angel falls into contemplation again.
Of course, in the eyes of others, Angel still maintains his image of wisdom and insight. But after a long time with no activity, it still raises doubts.
"Are we being played by him?" Dox muttered softly.
Because Angel maintained this pose for a long time without any response. Not just Dox, even Vay was feeling hesitant.
"Should we call the master?" Kaier suggested.
"If the master is busy, won’t we be disturbing him?" Vay hesitated.
Dox replied irritably, "Does he look busy? Don’t be fooled by his appearance; his heart is black."
After Dox finished speaking, he directly nudged Kaier, "Go wake him up, tell him if he really can’t find the Wood Spirit, then hurry up and switch the person. Don’t waste time."
Vay: "... Why don’t you say it yourself and make someone else say it."
Dox replied earnestly, "We’ll meet again in the future, let’s leave some face for each other."
Kaier was ready to step forward but paused upon hearing Dox’s words. Dox wanted to save face, does that mean he shouldn’t?
Moreover, according to Dox’s meaning, waking Angel would bring dislike, and Kaier didn’t want that!
Kaier’s situation instantly became one of dilemma, his face full of a desire to cry without tears.
Perhaps hearing Kaier’s inner voice, or maybe because the performance was almost complete, after standing still for five minutes with eyes closed, Angel finally opened his eyes.
Pretending to glance around, confirming the surrounding area was empty, Angel sighed, "It seems you still don’t want to go out with me, alright then, I respect your choice..."
Angel emotionally uttered these words, from the initial helplessness and disappointment to the later solemnity, all were expressed very well.
However, Angel’s regret was that he couldn’t think of another scenario.
In the end, he chose to enact the "respect your freedom of choice" segment.
Mainly, he did indeed waste too much time here, there was no time to think of another scenario. If he was actually doing something, even if it didn’t succeed, it would be fine. But he hadn’t done anything at all, purely wasting time, even with a thick-skinned face, it felt embarrassing.
Furthermore, this segment was already paved by Vay, so Angel performing it, even if the values seemed discordant, at least it gave others a chance to pre-adapt.
Most importantly, Angel hadn’t forgotten he was currently guest-starring as a "Streamer".
Once the live broadcast ended, and the curtain falls, he becomes the usual Angel again. As for any acting, value discrepancies were just for the broadcast effect, having nothing to do with Angel himself.
After building up enough psychological preparation, Angel finally gritted his teeth and began performing this segment.
Emotional perception made Angel’s acting range broader and more genuine. Even though he didn’t perform with tears streaming, the feeling of helplessness was still very infectious.
If the Wizard Mu Ying from Extinguished Torch Academy were here now, they’d probably be moved by Angel’s acting.
Angel didn’t say much, his emotions were restrained and just enough.
Then, at the final moment of the performance, according to Angel’s own live broadcast setup, he was to sigh then walk away.
Ideally, others would watch as his figure moved into darkness, gradually disappearing, enhancing the dramatic effect and stimulating imagination.
However, when Angel truly turned with a flick of his sleeve, he didn’t notice that the distant noise suddenly ceased.
Everything became quiet.
Until Angel walked over a dozen steps, noticing not a single audience member gave feedback, even the anointed best audience member, Vay, didn’t make a sound, leaving Angel in doubt.
Could he have performed incorrectly? Not deep enough? Or maybe the scene was overdone, so others couldn’t empathize?
With a trace of trepidation, Angel paused, ready to "re-shoot" a backward glance scene.
Though such backward glance scenes are typically for indecisive characters, he reasoned that it was a live broadcast, all explanations are up to the Streamer, unrelated to Angel.
With this in mind, Angel adjusted his emotions, let his expression return, then without warning, executed a sudden backward glance.
Angel was prepared to say "re-shoot" lines, but after turning his head, he was completely stunned.
Because, at some point, a wooden figure nearly as tall as him appeared behind him—
A Wood Person!