Rita handed Calico a serving of food, told her to stay in the starting room, and finally set out for the trading zone.
She still needed one more thing—a proxy.
After reconciling with L12185511 earlier, it had given her a clear answer.
It was not that it didn't want to fight for her in the battle royale.
It simply could not.
As the only Mechanoid to ever awaken a God-bestowed talent, it was forbidden from entering this stage of the Divine Game.
Once again stepping into the desert, B8017913 and Nivalis popped out of the pet space one after another, hopping onto her shoulders.
The former asked, "You're not going to look for L175246 first?"
"I want to play around the trading zone," Rita replied. "See what rewards this phase gives, and also see if I can find Y128."
The moment she finished speaking, both B8017913 and Nivalis stared at her with strange, complicated expressions.
It was the kind of look filled with understanding, judgment, relief and—honestly—a bit of schadenfreude.
