At first, Silver Wolf was a little worried watching Firefly curl up on the sofa, trembling uncontrollably. But as the shaking continued without any signs of worsening, she grew accustomed to it. Eventually, she simply took out her phone and sat there, chatting with Fu Zhu while scrolling through short videos.
"How long will this symptom last?"
"A few minutes. It'll be over soon."
Fu Zhu sipped his drink while keeping an eye on Firefly's health bar. He had previously observed that due to her Entropic Dissolution Syndrome, Firefly's max HP was constantly decreasing, much like Gallagher's when his lie was exposed. The only difference was that her HP decreased much more slowly, losing only a small fraction every ten minutes or so.
But ever since he had fed her the golden apple, her maximum health had stopped dropping. It seemed the treatment was working.
Five minutes later, Firefly's body stopped trembling, and the pain in her body began to gradually subside. After enduring such prolonged agony, the sudden feeling of relief felt like a dream.
She opened her eyes in a daze, sat up on the sofa, and touched her face. She didn't feel the tell-tale lines etched by her syndrome's corrosion.
"My illness... is it cured?"
Silver Wolf immediately put down her phone, rushed to Firefly's side, and grabbed her wrist, beginning a detailed examination of her condition. Only after confirming that Firefly's vital signs were more stable than ever before did she let out a long sigh of relief. A genuine smile spread across her face, and she threw her arms around Firefly's neck.
"Firefly, your illness is really cured! Wuwuwu, from now on, you can't use 'not feeling well' as an excuse to refuse playing games with me!"
Initially, Fu Zhu had been a little touched by the touching scene between the two of them. But after hearing the second half of Silver Wolf's sentence, his mouth couldn't help but twitch. For the first time, he was convinced from the bottom of his heart that Trailblazer had once been a Stellaron Hunter.
Silver Wolf's personality was just too similar to Xing's. Fu Zhu would never believe they weren't part of the same crew at some point.
Firefly, with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, reached up and pinched Silver Wolf's cheeks. "At most... at most, I'll play with you for one hour every day!"
Silver Wolf lifted her head from Firefly's embrace, her expression completely serious. "Deal. Then from now on, I'll leave my daily game quests for you to clear."
Firefly shook her head with a helpless smile, then turned to look at Fu Zhu, her lips pursed in a conflicted expression.
"What's wrong? Are you still feeling unwell somewhere?"
Fu Zhu checked Firefly's status bar again, confirming that the Entropic Dissolution Syndrome debuff had disappeared. If she was still feeling uncomfortable somewhere, he would have to resort to his most extreme method yet.
The Name Tag.
When he had used the Name Tag on Gallagher to stabilize his existence, a thought had occurred to Fu Zhu.
In MC, a Name Tag could make a creature ignore the game's rules and not despawn naturally. Didn't that mean, in a sense, that a creature with a Name Tag had achieved a state of eternal life?
If that were the case, then even if Firefly still had her syndrome, the Name Tag could maintain her in a state of being on the verge of death, yet never truly dying.
"No, I'm fine now. I just... I don't know how to thank you, Mr. Fu Zhu."
"Just call me Fu Zhu." Fu Zhu waved his hand casually. His sworn little sister's best friend using such honorifics with him felt a bit strange.
"Okay, Fu Zhu." Firefly readily agreed, then once again began to wring her hands in front of her, looking conflicted. "Fu Zhu, I... how should I thank you?"
Hearing this, Silver Wolf couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Who asks a question like that? How do you expect him to answer you?"
Firefly scratched her head with a sheepish laugh, then looked at Fu Zhu with a pitiful expression, awaiting his answer.
Fu Zhu watched her, stroking his chin as he stared back with a half-smile. "Do you really want to repay me?"
"Yes, yes!" Firefly nodded her little head vigorously. It was Silver Wolf, standing to the side, who noticed something was off about Fu Zhu's expression and immediately moved to shield Firefly behind her.
"Fu Zhu, don't you get any funny ideas! Didn't I already pay you? I even told you where to find that genius."
Seeing Silver Wolf acting like she was warding off a thief, Fu Zhu rolled his eyes in annoyance. "What kind of person do you take me for? Relax, I'm a decent guy. Firefly, I'll just ask you one thing. What's the bounty for Sam's identity?"
"Huh?" Firefly froze for a moment, not understanding what Fu Zhu meant.
But Silver Wolf's train of thought immediately connected the dots. She stared at Fu Zhu with wide eyes. "Is that an idea a human would come up with? No wonder Xing acknowledges you as her big brother... you're truly something else."
Fu Zhu shrugged with a cheerful grin. "Come on, with your skills, escaping would be a piece of cake, right? Better to let me get the reward than some random person."
Silver Wolf shot Fu Zhu an interstellar-friendly gesture, to which Fu Zhu enthusiastically returned in kind.
"Alright, that's enough joking around. Since the illness is cured, I'll be going now."
Fu Zhu checked the time. It had been a long while since he had parted ways with his companions. They might try to contact him soon. He also wanted to meet that genius trapped in the dream world and see if he could recruit him.
Fu Zhu stood up and walked toward the exit. He waved goodbye to the two women with his back to them and opened the door. Just as he was about to leave, Silver Wolf's voice came from behind him again.
"Fu Zhu, I'm entrusting you with the other two matters."
Fu Zhu turned his head, glanced at her, and then his gaze fell on Firefly before he nodded. "I know. I'm a man of my word. Since I promised you, I'll naturally see it through. See you later, no need to show me out."
---o---
After leaving Firefly's room, Fu Zhu returned to his own and re-entered the dream world through the Dream Pool.
Upon returning to the Golden Hour, he discovered that the number of Hound Family members patrolling the streets had multiplied several times over. This was clearly a change brought about by the "murder cases" he had orchestrated earlier.
However, that wasn't his concern right now. Fu Zhu opened his minimap and zoomed it all the way out. He then began searching for any name related to Calderon Chadwick, but he seemed to have underestimated the number of people in the dream world.
The minimap was clogged with the names of various tourists. Except for the area immediately around him, which was relatively clear, the rest of the map was completely filled in by these names. Finding a specific person in this mess was proving to be quite difficult.
After searching for a while without finding Calderon Chadwick's name, he did notice a familiar name pop up behind him.
[Stellaron Hunter - Firefly]
Fu Zhu raised an eyebrow and turned around. He immediately spotted Firefly, half-hidden behind a billboard. When she saw him turn, she jumped in fright and quickly ducked completely behind it.
Fu Zhu walked over. As he approached, he could hear Firefly muttering under her breath, "You can't see me, you can't see me."
"Why don't you just hold two tree branches in your hands? Your tracking skills are terrible."
Fu Zhu reached out, grabbed Firefly's hand, and pulled her out from behind the billboard.
Firefly let out a small cry, quickly grabbing Fu Zhu's arm with her other hand to steady herself. Once she was stable, she looked up at Fu Zhu with a sheepish smile, but her gaze quickly darted away.
"I... I was just passing by. Do you believe me?"
"What do you think?"
Fu Zhu let go of her hand with an annoyed huff. He looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on her marker on the minimap, which was now displayed as a green, friendly icon.
Confirming that she wasn't following him with any ill intent, Fu Zhu finally relaxed and asked.
"Why are you following me? Now that your illness is cured, shouldn't you be off doing the things you've always wanted to do?"
"The things I've always wanted to do?"
Firefly shook her head, looking a bit lost. "I... I don't know what I should do."
Her illness had been cured so suddenly, it felt like a dream. She still hadn't fully grasped the reality of it.
Fu Zhu glanced at her, then turned and started walking away, opening his minimap again. Whether Firefly knew what she wanted to do or not was none of his business. Right now, he just wanted to find Calderon Chadwick.
Seeing Fu Zhu walk away, Firefly quickly hurried to catch up. But afraid of annoying him, she only dared to follow two or three meters behind him. When he stopped, she stopped.
After a short while, Fu Zhu turned back with a look of exasperation. "If you have nothing to do, why don't you go find Xing? Aren't you two good friends? You can go clubbing, sing karaoke, play games online... what's the point of following me?"
Firefly wrung her fingers in front of her, looking troubled. "Elio just gave me a new script. He said because of you, I can't meet with Xing right now."
"So he didn't tell you what you should be doing now?"
"No... Elio said the current script is completely uncertain. He said it's best if I follow you, so it'll be easier for him to change the script based on your actions. Can I follow you?"
The last part of her sentence was spoken with extreme caution, and she kept glancing at Fu Zhu to gauge his reaction.
Fu Zhu didn't answer. He simply turned and continued walking. Firefly watched him go, then stood there, a bit lost, looking around blankly, not knowing what she should do next.
In this unfamiliar world, she only knew a handful of people. Silver Wolf was busy with her own things, and she couldn't see Xing. The only person left was Fu Zhu.
"If you're going to follow, then don't lag so far behind. Be careful the Hound Family doesn't mistake you for a stalker."
Just as Firefly was standing there dejectedly, Fu Zhu's voice came from ahead. Her face immediately lit up, and she hurried to catch up.
Fu Zhu glanced at the happy girl now walking closely beside him and said directly, "Following me comes at a price. Ask Elio for me. Where is Calderon Chadwick?"
"Okay."
Firefly obediently agreed and immediately took out her phone to send Elio a message.
[Firefly: Elio, Fu Zhu is asking where Calderon Chadwick is.]
[Elio: ...?]
[Elio: By the central fountain in the park 789 meters to the southwest.]
Firefly immediately relayed Elio's message to Fu Zhu. He nodded in satisfaction. His attitude toward Firefly became less cold than before.
"Looks like having you around is pretty useful. At least you can be my navigator."
Firefly smiled, her hands clasped behind her back as she shook her head. "You're welcome. This small favor is nothing compared to you curing me."
After getting Calderon Chadwick's location, the two immediately changed direction and headed southwest. A short while later, they saw an old man sitting alone on a long bench, staring blankly at the fountain before him.
---o---
Fu Zhu opened his minimap and confirmed that the old man was indeed Calderon Chadwick. Only then did he walk over with confidence. Firefly remained where she was. Although she didn't know what business Fu Zhu had with this Mr. Calderon Chadwick, she felt it was best not to interfere.
Fu Zhu walked up to Chadwick's side and plopped down on the bench next to him, joining him in watching the fountain.
"Are you Mr. Calderon Chadwick?"
Hearing Fu Zhu say his name, the old man slowly turned his head. He looked Fu Zhu up and down with a puzzled expression. "And you are?"
"Fu Zhu. A Nameless. I've come specifically to discuss a deal with you."
"A deal?"
Chadwick's pale eyebrows suddenly shot up. It seemed Fu Zhu's words had struck a sensitive nerve. The originally amiable expression on the old man's face instantly turned cold.
"I have nothing, and I have nothing you need."
With that, Chadwick stood up to leave, but Fu Zhu's next words stopped him in his tracks.
"Don't be so tense, Mr. Chadwick. I'm not here for the Imaginary Collapse Pulse. I don't need that thing."
Chadwick slowly turned back. The lifelessness in his eyes was replaced by a glimmer of light. He sat back down beside Fu Zhu.
"Then what do you want? I'm just a useless old man now."
"Simply put, I need your wisdom to serve me. In return, I will help you escape your predicament as a prisoner and give you back your freedom. Dr. Chadwick, you must be unwilling, aren't you? To possess a mind unlike any other, yet be unable to use it to journey through the fields of knowledge you love, unable to take another step forward."
Fu Zhu's words moved Chadwick. A rare flash of anger appeared on his old face, but it quickly faded into a sigh of resignation.
"It's useless... Nameless. They won't agree."
Just as Chadwick's voice fell, Fu Zhu heard a set of footsteps approaching from the side. He looked over and saw several members of the Hound Family, dressed in black uniforms, walking over with cold expressions.
"Dr. Chadwick, the Hounds received a report that you were being harassed by an unknown individual. We are here to help you get rid of the nuisance."
"Unknown individual? Nuisance?"
Fu Zhu pointed at himself and asked the Hounds with a smile, "Are you talking about me?"
When the Hounds saw Fu Zhu's face, their expressions changed instantly. Due to the Charmony Festival, their superiors had naturally provided them with information on the distinguished guests from various factions. They immediately recognized Fu Zhu as the Nameless from the Astral Express.
What's more, the recent rumors about Fu Zhu on other planets had gradually spread to Penacony.
After recognizing Fu Zhu, the expressions on their faces became quite strained.
"Mr. Fu Zhu, you... why are you here?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to take him with me. Are you going to stop me?"