Hearing Sampo's reply, March 7th and Dan Heng exchanged a glance.
Then, Dan Heng swung his long spear, and the sharp tip of the boy's weapon sliced through the thick ropes, freeing the tightly bound Sampo.
As the long ropes fell away, Sampo's expression was one of panic, his falling posture flustered and helpless, as if the next moment he would land ungracefully on the ground in a heap.
In reality, the man supported himself with one hand and landed steadily with a beautiful front flip. If you didn't listen carefully, you might not even have noticed the sound of him landing.
Thinking back to the man's stealthy technique of treading on snow without leaving a trace in the snowy plains outside Belobog, Dan Heng quietly narrowed his eyes, his cyan pupils suddenly becoming incredibly deep.
Clearly, there was more to Sampo than he let on—he wasn't just a cunning smuggler.
But it didn't matter. Everyone had secrets they couldn't tell outsiders. Dan Heng, March 7th, even Stelle and Zao Wu, were no exceptions. As long as Sampo behaved himself and didn't pull any tricks, the members of the Express crew were willing to cooperate with him.
"You know, we got to know each other through fighting, eh~"
As soon as Sampo was free, he became a chatterbox, completely unfazed by the fact that he was giving the crew a warm smile while they were giving him the cold shoulder. He was truly a man who could bend and stretch.
But then Stelle's eyes suddenly lit up. The baseball bat in her hand, which had just gone limp, was now hard again.
"You're right. We got to know each other through fighting."
"But—we haven't fought yet!"
Stelle's excitement was always so strange, yet it fit her style of enjoying every battle. Seeing that she was about to give him a good beating, Sampo instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
"It's a figure of speech! Just a figure of speech!"
"Oh, my dear lady!"
He explained while hiding behind little March. For a grown man, he was quite shameless. But at a critical moment, things like face and dignity were trivial; his life was what mattered!
And now Sampo understood why the God of Elation, who would prank even other Star Gods, mostly just stuck to mockery but had given the Destruction Star God, Nanook, a thorough beating! People who believed in the Path of Destruction were indeed too crazy for the people of Elation to handle. Only the God of Elation could flip the table and give them a beating. When an ordinary, low-level follower of Elation met a believer of Destruction, it was like a scholar meeting a soldier. The result was predictable. Not to mention the down-on-his-luck old Sampo. He wasn't like Sparkle, who could freely play the fool's game of life and death.
"Alright, Stelle, let him go for now," March said.
"Save all your strength for when we find the culprit who took Zao Wu. It won't be too late to deal with them then!"
March 7th was usually a cheerful and energetic girl, but when it came to Zao Wu's disappearance, she couldn't help but grit her teeth and clench her small pink fists. As for why she used the gender-neutral pronoun "them," it was because although the person had disguised themselves as Sampo, they weren't necessarily male. March 7th had smelled a faint, strange fragrance at the spot where Zao Wu had disappeared.
Hearing this, Stelle's pupils ignited with a golden flame of Destruction, and she nodded at March 7th.
Good grief. Zao Wu's disappearance had probably advanced Stelle on the Path of Destruction by at least a hundred steps. However, given the depth and breadth of the Path of Destruction, it wasn't so easy to reach the other side and meet a Star God as a mortal. Unlike the Path of the Hunt, which was somewhat narrow... Ahem, no offense to the Divine Foresight!
Having resolved the crisis from Stelle, Sampo, on the surface, obediently led the Express crew towards the path to the Underworld. In reality, his mind was racing. Although he didn't know what kind of game that little miss Sparkle was playing, given that she had a major hold over him... even though she had knocked him out from behind and completely disrupted the rhythm he had wanted to establish with the Express crew, Sampo didn't dare to openly oppose Sparkle. On the contrary, he had to cooperate with her and complete the grand play she had set in motion. This was not out of camaraderie between fellow Masked Fools. It was because Sampo desperately wished that little brat Sparkle would finish her games and get off Jarilo-VI as soon as possible. Otherwise, he was genuinely worried that this planet he cared about couldn't withstand her repeated torment.
So, after much thought, Sampo abandoned his original plan of taking the Express crew through his secret passage from the Overworld to the Underworld.
As the saying goes, "How can a general take such a small path!"
He instead chose a wide, open road.
—The Geomarrow Furnace!
It was the last remaining manned shaft connecting the upper and lower districts. It was used as a transport line for geomarrow—ore sent up from below, supplies sent down from above. Simple as that. Although the Supreme Guardian Cocolia had sealed off the flow between the people of the upper and lower districts and withdrawn the Silvermane Guards, it was all under the guise of a grand and noble cause she had fabricated. If she really couldn't even be bothered to pretend and cut off the final supply line, completely abandoning the residents of the Underworld, the Silvermane Guards and the Architects of the Overworld would have probably united to overthrow her rule long ago. But from another perspective, they didn't seem to care that the people of the Underworld were living in poverty, barely surviving.
Sigh, the upper and lower districts.
Sigh, the nobles and the commoners.
"Hey, Sampo, are we there yet!"
"Rest assured, everyone. When has old Sampo ever scamm—ahem."
He almost made the mistake of boasting without thinking again. Sampo quickly cut himself off with a cough.
"It's just ahead! But while this road is stable, it has a few minor troubles that might require you heroes to solve."
Namely, the Silvermane Guard legion stationed at the mineshaft and responsible for transporting supplies, and after entering the Underworld, Svarog and its robot army.
Yes, just a few minor problems. He was sure the "Your Excellencies from Outer Space" wouldn't mind.
Sparkle! This is my last ripple! This should be enough time for you to finish your fun, right? It might even be enough time for you and Zao Wu to cook the rice!
In the near-orbit of Jarilo-VI, aboard the parked Astral Express, after a brief signal interference, the train returned to normal.
Only Pom-Pom sensed something, tilting its soft little face up in confusion. It looked at the dome of the train, then around, and finally shook its head, giving up on thinking and enjoying a happy humming time.
"Don't look at me just because I'm a Pal... ah, a Pom. The train is clean because of me~"
By the time Pom-Pom finally finished cleaning and trotted out of the Parlor Car on its short legs, a faint blue, petite projection slowly materialized in a corner of the car.
A silver-haired girl wearing sunglasses blew a bubble, which popped in the air.
"Pop!"
....
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