"Zāwù... are you okay?"
Just as Zāwù was lost in thought, Silver Wolf suddenly pressed in close. Her arms were braced on either side of his waist, her entire body crouched like a cat as she approached him. She seemed oblivious to the fact that her fair, soft knees were turning red from pressing against the cold floor. The sweet scent of the young girl, like citrus candy, washed over him, enveloping his body and mind.
He blushed and turned his head away, because from his angle, he could just see, through the slight opening of Silver Wolf's loose top... a hint of snow-white.
Big Sis Silver Wolf, this is just too much of a foul...
"Why do you ask?" The boy's voice was as clear and bright as ever.
"Because your hand... it's trembling."
Hearing this, Zāwù's pupils instantly shrank, the light green turning into a deep, gloomy jade. He looked at his right hand, still gripping the Xianzhou longsword, and sure enough, he found it was shaking incessantly, trembling with excitement. Although the movement was slight, Zāwù's perception, sensitivity, and speed of thought were all beyond ordinary. Logically, he shouldn't have failed to notice it.
Unless—his body was well-adapted to and enjoyed all of this.
Slaughter and destruction.
Constant slaughter, constant destruction.
It didn't need to have any meaning. He just needed to know that "fighting feels good"...
Silver Wolf's face was full of worry, because she had actually seen this kind of reaction before!
On Blade.
"You haven't been corrupted by Blade and picked up something dirty, have you!?" the girl's tone was anxious. At this moment, she seemed more concerned about Zāwù's condition than the mission Elio had given them. But that shouldn't be right, it didn't make sense. How could such a good child, a pure and flawless boy like Zāwù, possibly walk the same Path of Destruction as Blade? It wasn't as if learning someone's sword style meant you would be influenced by them.
Zāwù tightened his grip on the hilt, suppressing the impulse in his heart. His eyes darted away for a moment, then he looked up again, his gaze bright as he met Silver Wolf's. The eye contact between the boy and girl made Silver Wolf's heart flutter for the first time in a long while.
This posture, this situation... If this were in a movie or a game cutscene, it would be inexcusable not to kiss, right!?
Indescribable images flashed through Silver Wolf's mind.
"Don't overthink it, Big Sis Silver Wolf."
"Eh! I wasn't..."
"It's just that there were a few too many Voidrangers, and it was my first time in real combat. It's normal to be nervous."
So he was just responding to what she said earlier. Silver Wolf coughed, feeling a little guilty.
"...Is that so."
Silver Wolf couldn't put her finger on what was wrong, but she felt that something was off. But Zāwù wasn't the kind of bad kid who would lie, so she was willing to believe him.
The girl stood up again in the space station's corridor, patting the dust off her knees. They had gotten red from kneeling... but Silver Wolf didn't mind. She extended a hand to Zāwù, who had rested enough. He took her hand and used her pull to get back to his feet.
The unexpected interlude didn't draw any more attention. The two walked one after the other, heading deeper into the space station's mysterious passageway. Along the way, Zāwù had a strange sense of familiarity with the surroundings. Although he had never been here, it was as if he had been to a place similar to this before. How strange.
Before long, Silver Wolf and Zāwù passed through the corridor and arrived at a Curio collection room inside the station.
But after a thorough search, Zāwù couldn't find the Curio that Big Sis Silver Wolf had mentioned. When he looked back at her in confusion, the girl had already completed her hack into the station's system.
"Done, Zāwù!"
As soon as Silver Wolf's words fell, every screen surrounding them, which had been displaying complex data and surveillance footage, was instantly altered, all of them showing Silver Wolf's unique victory logo.
"Now, we just need to find the terminal that wasn't affected." Silver Wolf said, full of confidence.
Zāwù followed her instructions and, sure enough, found an unaffected computer terminal not far behind him.
"What's the principle behind this?"
"Elio's script didn't mention the specific location of the 'Stellaron,' which means in the future he saw, we don't find it through physical movement."
"That's why we need to find the 'Curio' that can take us to the place where the Stellaron is stored."
"But it's not going to be sitting out in the open for intruders like us to find."
"So, Herta must have hidden it with something? Like another Curio?"
"Exactly! As expected of you, Zāwù, you can always keep up with my thinking."
"There are so many strange things in the Herta Space Station. Using a Curio to hide a Curio is a common trick of Herta's."
"One shell hiding another. If you don't realize this and change your search target, you'll never get around Herta's tricks."
"And Herta's collection is definitely independent of the system. So once I hack the system, the one that's unaffected is the ta—"
"Ahem, is the target."
"That's brutally simple." Zāwù smiled faintly.
"As long as it's effective."
"So what is this Curio?"
"Curio No. 211, 'Blind Spot': A simple light-refracting field that makes things in an area less likely to be noticed. But as soon as other things are no longer conspicuous, it's exposed."
Silver Wolf stepped forward and retrieved the Curio. In an instant, the world around them changed dramatically. A portal shimmering with chaotic, colorful light appeared before them. Silver Wolf didn't hesitate and was about to step through. But she noticed Zāwù's hesitation.
"What's wrong, Zāwù? Elio's script didn't say we'd fail here~"
"Just charge in recklessly, it'll be fine."
"But—"
Before Zāwù could finish, Silver Wolf had already passed through the portal.
"But... Elio didn't give me any script at all," he finished in his mind.
Of course, looking on the bright side, this meant that no matter what Zāwù did, it wouldn't have any effect on the outcome of this script. Though bewildered, Zāwù, not wanting to be left behind, finally gritted his teeth, reached out, and touched the curtain of light, letting it swallow his body whole.
When he came to, the boy was standing before a dazzling golden energy core that continuously emitted a swirling, distorted light. Silver Wolf had her goggles on and was trying to break through the independent protection system guarding the Stellaron.
"This is... a Stellaron?"
"By the way, what are we going to do with it?"
"Do with it?"
"Looks like your script didn't mention anything about her," Silver Wolf replied while breaking through the protection system. Multitasking was a basic skill for a genius.
"Her?"
Seeing Zāwù's curiosity piqued, Silver Wolf suddenly had a mischievous idea.
"That person..."
"It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her Kafka's daughter~"
"!?!?!?!"
-------
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