"Trapped in the world of the beautiful dream by The Company and The Family together?"
Fu Zhu realized that if what Silver Wolf said was true, then this genius's abilities probably exceeded his expectations. This piqued his interest.
"Before we see Firefly, tell me a little about him first."
Silver Wolf nodded. It would still take a few minutes to get to Firefly, so she could give him a simple introduction to this genius.
"Calderon Chadwick, Genius Society #79. His areas of expertise include solid-state physics, imaginary application theory, and orbital mechanics."
The moment Fu Zhu heard the fields this genius named Chadwick specialized in, he knew this was the assistant he was looking for!
"Then how did he end up trapped in the dream world by The Family and The Company? Aren't The Company and The Family... not on the best of terms? For those two powers to team up against one person, what on earth did Chadwick do?"
Hearing Fu Zhu ask this, Silver Wolf couldn't help but sigh.
"[Imaginary Collapse Pulse]. It's a pulse weapon Chadwick created. It was used in an experiment once, an experiment that took away the homes and lives of countless people. Afterward, Chadwick, not wanting the weapon to be used again, took its core data with him. I'm not clear on the specifics, only that after Chadwick died, The Company joined forces with The Family to recreate his memories in the dream world, attempting to extract the core data of the Imaginary Collapse Pulse."
Silver Wolf paused here, then looked at Fu Zhu with the expression of someone enjoying a good show.
"So, if you want to recruit this genius as your assistant, you'll face a lot of resistance. Never mind the two major powers, The Company and The Family, there's also Chadwick himself to deal with."
Fu Zhu shrugged nonchalantly. "I have to at least try. If it doesn't work out, don't I still have you as a last resort?"
Hearing herself described as a "last resort," Silver Wolf immediately drooped her eyelids and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Am I that bad?"
"Just kidding."
"That's not funny at all!"
---o---
As they chatted, Silver Wolf led Fu Zhu to the door of a very ordinary guest room. She raised her hand, knocked, and called out to the person inside, "It's me. Open up."
A moment later, the door clicked open. Firefly's pale face appeared in the half-open doorway, but at this moment, her face was covered in glowing green lines, and she looked incredibly weak.
"Cough, cough. Silver Wolf, you brought someone else... it's you!"
Firefly recognized Fu Zhu at a glance. She had met him once before on the space station when she went to pay the ransom.
After recognizing Fu Zhu, Firefly looked worriedly at Silver Wolf beside him. Silver Wolf just gave her a reassuring nod.
"Don't worry. This time, he's on our side. A very reliable teammate."
Hearing Silver Wolf say this, Firefly finally relaxed and opened the door.
"Please come in, Mr. Fu Zhu."
"Mm."
Fu Zhu and Silver Wolf walked in, and she closed the door behind them. Once inside, Firefly walked with unsteady steps to the refrigerator to get two drinks for them.
"Sorry, there's nothing special to drink here, only these two bottles of soda."
"It's fine. I'm not here for a drink anyway."
Fu Zhu waved his hand dismissively, then gestured towards the sofa. "You sit down first. I'll check what's wrong with your body."
"Okay."
Hearing Fu Zhu's words, Firefly guessed that Silver Wolf had asked him here to treat her. She was very obedient, sitting primly on the sofa with her hands resting neatly on her knees.
After Firefly sat down, Fu Zhu stared intently at her face. This wasn't because he was captivated by her beauty, but because he couldn't diagnose illnesses. The only thing he could do was judge her condition by observing the negative status effects on her.
And next to the health bar above Firefly's head was a negative status effect Fu Zhu had never seen before.
[Entropic Dissolution Syndrome]
Never seen it, never heard of it.
Fu Zhu stared at Firefly's face for a long time, until her small face flushed red. Only then did he shift his gaze to Silver Wolf beside him.
Firefly couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. She quickly tidied her hair, afraid that her messy appearance was the reason Fu Zhu had been staring for so long.
"Silver Wolf, what is Entropic Dissolution Syndrome?"
Silver Wolf, who had been waiting with anticipation, choked on her own saliva when she heard Fu Zhu's sudden question. After a series of coughs, she turned her head to look at him in utter disbelief.
"You don't even know what Entropic Dissolution Syndrome is? How are you supposed to cure Firefly?"
Fu Zhu crossed his arms and shot her an exasperated eye-roll. "Whether I can cure it or not has no necessary connection to whether I know what it is."
"...Fine." Silver Wolf sighed, speechless, and had no choice but to explain Entropic Dissolution Syndrome to Fu Zhu. "It's a disease caused by a flaw at the genetic level. Do you have a way to fix it?"
"Easy. Let's start with the old three, test the waters."
Fu Zhu directly pulled a full bucket of milk from his inventory and placed it in front of Firefly. "Here, Firefly. Drink this first."
"Drink it? The... the whole thing?"
Firefly stared wide-eyed at the bucket, which was nearly overflowing with milk. It had to be several liters at least. Could she really drink it all in one go?
"Of course. One sip is the same as none. Hurry up."
Fu Zhu urged her on. He was anxious to confirm whether the milk could remove the negative status effect from Entropic Dissolution Syndrome, or if this syndrome was like a command in MC that constantly applied a negative effect, making it impossible for milk to permanently cure.
"Well... okay."
Firefly took a deep breath and tremblingly picked up the bucket of milk. Perhaps because she was too weak, she couldn't even hold the bucket steady. Fu Zhu had no choice but to sit down next to her and take the milk from her hands.
"Eh?"
Firefly grew flustered when Fu Zhu suddenly sat down beside her, unsure of what he intended to do.
"You lean back on the sofa. I'll feed you."
"Feed... feed me?!"
Firefly's face turned red, and she waved her hands frantically. "I can do it myself!"
"You can't even hold the bucket steady. Who knows how long it'll take you to finish? I'll feed you. Hurry up."
Faced with Fu Zhu's forceful attitude, Firefly's lips trembled as she nodded timidly. "Then... then can we use a spoon? Mouth-to-mouth is... we're still too much like strangers..."
Fu Zhu froze for a second, then turned his head to look at Silver Wolf with a dark expression, unable to stop himself from asking, "Don't tell me you Stellaron Hunters understand 'feeding' someone as mouth-to-mouth?"
Silver Wolf was also shaking her head frantically, her face equally dark.
"How is that possible! It's just this girl's misunderstanding! Just how many romance novels have you been secretly reading!"
Firefly finally realized her mistake. She smiled sheepishly and held up her fingers to show a tiny amount. "Not many... just... five?"
Silver Wolf facepalmed with a sigh. But she could understand. After all, Firefly didn't have much time left. Her greatest wish was to experience the life of an ordinary person, something that, for her, was an unattainable dream.
"Alright, let's get started."
Fu Zhu didn't give Firefly any more time to talk. He held the milk bucket with one hand and, with the other, pinched Firefly's cheeks a bit forcefully, pressing the bucket to her lips and pouring.
"Mmph!!!"