Type-Moon, but the Servant is Tom

"As you wish." Hearing Bai Song's response, the Sphinx wasn't surprised at all. In fact, choosing to answer the riddle was the expected choice. Unless the decision-maker was someone incredibly stubborn, like Gudako.

If it were Gudako, she might not even wait for the Sphinx to present the choices before throwing a punch.

After Bai Song chose to answer the riddle, the Sphinx casually glanced at him and quickly formulated the question.

"Listen carefully."

"Jing Ke attempted to assassinate the King of Qin and failed."

"So, if Jing Ke had succeeded in assassinating the King of Qin...?"

Upon hearing the riddle, Bai Song had to fight back a laugh. Was this really the Sphinx's puzzle? He barely even had to think about it and was ready to answer.

With a confident smile, Bai Song was about to reply, "The answer is..."

However, just as he was about to speak, Gudako, who had been pushed back earlier, arrived riding Red Hare. She heard the Sphinx's riddle too. Charging to Bai Song's side, Gudako expertly halted Red Hare and prepared to respond.

With a confident smile, Gudako replied, "The answer is... the King of Qin rejoiced!"

At the same time, before Bai Song could utter his answer, Gudako beat him to it, and her answer was indeed the one he had in mind. Though he wasn't sure if there would be a reward for a correct answer, at this point, it had nothing to do with Bai Song anymore. The riddle was snatched by Gudako.

An internal cry of frustration echoed within Bai Song's mind as he glared at Gudako with a look that could kill.

"Hehehe~" Noticing Bai Song's intense glare, Gudako chuckled joyfully.

"Don't blame me for being sneaky! Schrödinger, kahaha!"

"..." On the side, Fujimaru Ritsuka heard Gudako's response and felt a jumble of confusion within. He thought, 'Is this really the same person as me in this world?' Could he really be this shameless?

It must be an illusion. It had to be. Maybe Gudako's behavior was influenced by her adversarial relationship with Schrödinger, making her seem unreasonable. According to common sense, Gudako had to be a kind-hearted woman, just like Mashu.

Fujimaru Ritsuka tried to convince himself that it was just his imagination, and he nodded as if reassuring himself. Undoubtedly, the truth must be that way. There couldn't be any surprises.

"Answer... incorrect!"

"Hahaha, just as... I thought?" Hearing the first two words, Gudako believed it was "correct." But as she heard the last two words, she blinked in confusion, "Wait, isn't this the right answer?"

"Ora!!!" The Sphinx paid no heed to Gudako's confusion and swung its fist directly toward her.

"Bang!!!" Under the impact, Gudako, Mashu, and Red Hare were sent flying, drawing a graceful arc in the sky. Eventually, they crashed about thirty meters behind Bai Song and Fujimaru Ritsuka, with a resounding thud.

Seeing this scene, Fujimaru Ritsuka's expression grew serious. "Incredible... This is no ordinary Sphinx."

He had encountered Ozymandias' Sphinxes during the Sixth Singularity, but clearly, those Sphinxes were at best able to contend with Servants. Only the most exceptional ones among them could reach the level of high-powered Servants.

However, he had never witnessed a Sphinx that could knock a Servant away with a single punch, especially not a Servant with the stature of a top-level Saint Graph/Spiritual Foundation, as observed within Chaldea.

In other words, the punch just now sent a top-level Servant flying.

"Beep beep beep~~~."

Just at that moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka's wristwatch emitted a series of beeping sounds, causing Bai Song beside him to think his own interface was ringing again. Opening his interface, Bai Song realized his mistake.

On Fujimaru Ritsuka's side, the wristwatch beeped a few times before a female voice came through—the voice of Chaldea's acting director, Da Vinci.

"Fujimaru Ritsuka, there's a Holy Grail reaction near your location."

"A Holy Grail reaction? Could it be that the Sphinx is empowered by a Holy Grail?" Upon hearing Da Vinci's words, Fujimaru Ritsuka immediately understood the reason for the immense power of the Sphinx before them. With the empowerment of a Holy Grail and the Sphinx's already formidable nature, it wasn't surprising that it could knock away a top-level Servant with a single punch.

Unaware of Fujimaru Ritsuka's conversation, Bai Song felt a shiver of lingering fear. When he heard the Sphinx's question about "if the king's spirit remained joyful," his subconscious urge was to answer that the king would be overjoyed. Fortunately, Gudako answered first.

Otherwise, Bai Song would have been the first one to get punched.

However, relief was short-lived. Given that both answers were incorrect, it was clear that the only way to proceed through the track was to defeat the Sphinx.

Understanding that bloodshed was the only way forward, Bai Song made up his mind for battle.

"Tom, Jerry."

Hearing their owner call them, both the cat and the mouse momentarily put their fear aside and looked at Bai Song with a mix of curiosity and anticipation, ready to hear what he had to say.

"Cat-Mouse-Dog War Machine, enter combat mode!"

Upon Bai Song's words, Tom and Jerry's eyes lit up. They both retrieved a key from their respective hiding spots, which was the activation key for the combat mode of the Cat-Mouse-Dog War Machine. Each cockpit had two keyholes— the lower one was for activating combat mode.

At the same time, Bai Song took out a key from his own hiding spot.

"Insert!"

At Bai Song's command, both Tom and Jerry inserted their keys and turned them simultaneously.

"Click, click, click..." As the machine sounds reverberated within the war machine, the transformation had begun.

The Cat-Mouse-Dog War Machine... was undergoing a metamorphosis!