"Hmm... let me see, let me look around~"
In the cosmos, on a dead star not far from the Xianzhou Luofu, Clara crouched beside Luocha, her hands reaching into the coffin, rummaging around for something.
"Hiss... could it really not be here?"
After searching for a while with no success, Clara scratched her head, puzzled.
It shouldn't be. The Stellaron was brought onto the Xianzhou Luofu by Luocha... and the current timeline matches perfectly.
Why isn't it on him?
"Mmm... maybe I should just knock him awake and ask." Clara tilted her head, coming up with what she thought was a perfect plan.
If she couldn't find the Stellaron herself, she'd let the owner find it.
If he wasn't forthcoming with the truth, then little Clara here wouldn't hold back.
Heh heh heh~ Heh heh heh~
"Cla... Clara..."
Just as Clara was about to rouse Luocha, Firefly's weak voice suddenly sounded.
Clara turned her head to look. Firefly's face was deathly pale, her legs trembling as she weakly struggled to her feet.
"D-don't... don't do that again in the future..."
"I... I wasn't... wasn't ready yet..."
"You... you just suddenly..."
"I..."
"I really can't take it..."
(A/N: Referring to the sudden cross-regional spatial teleportation. Get your mind out of the gutter~)
(A/N: If your thoughts strayed, go face the wall and reflect. I'll go first o(￣▽￣)ブ)
"Ahem, next time for sure~" Looking at Firefly's utterly weakened state, Clara felt a wave of delight.
Little Firefly, huh. Serves you right for teasing me so much last night.
Weakling~ Weakling, weakling Firefly. With just a slight move on my part, you can hardly handle it.
Let's see if you can still tell who's boss now.
Firefly: ...
The flash of triumph on Clara's face was brief, but Firefly caught it.
Seeing Clara's expression, Firefly felt a bit sour inside, but in her current physical state, it was hard to put up any resistance...
So, Firefly could only mentally note down all of Clara's actions today in her little book, tucking it away in her heart, waiting for the day The Hunt would arrive.
Firefly: Hmph ｡ﾟ･ (＞﹏＜) ･ﾟ｡, the vengeance of The Hunt shall surely come!!!
I will, set Clara ablaze!!! (In a milquetoast voice)
"Let me keep looking~" Clara glanced at the currently defenseless Firefly and didn't pay her much more mind.
She continued searching inside Luocha's coffin for the Stellaron.
"Forget it, might as well use a less effort-intensive method."
After another fruitless search, Clara couldn't be bothered to keep looking. A baseball bat appeared in her hand as she prepared to knock Luocha awake for a proper interrogation.
"Take this, eighty..."
"Huh?"
Just as Clara's bat was about to descend, a faint glimmer in the corner of her eye caught her attention—a tiny point of light on Luocha's coffin.
Seeing it, Clara put the bat away, walked to the side of the coffin, crouched down, and examined the glimmer.
"This sparkle... looks an awful lot like a Stellaron, doesn't it?"
Clara propped her chin on her hand, staring at the bright point for a moment before reaching out to touch it.
"Hmm... this Luocha does have some skill~"
Clara poked the sparkling point, quite certain that this object, which looked like mere decoration and gave off no trace of energy, was indeed the Stellaron.
"To even fool me... what in the world is this thing?"
Clara pried the Stellaron off the coffin, then gazed fervently at the coffin itself.
"Mmm... good things must be shared among friends."
"Right, my good friend, Luocha."
Clara muttered something unintelligible, then shifted her gaze to Luocha, who was still lying unconscious on the ground, sleeping peacefully.
"If you don't say anything, I'll take it as agreement~"
"Three, two, one."
"Alright, thank you!"
"We'll be best friends forever!"
Clara thanked Luocha, then lifted the coffin. The next second, her hands were empty—the coffin had vanished.
"Hmm..." Looking at the two "corpses" lying on the ground before her, Clara placed a finger on her lips, thinking for a moment.
"Ah well, who am I if not the universe's great benefactor~"
With a light wave of her hand, Clara created a barrier, then placed both Jingliu and Luocha inside it.
She even kindly left a little note inside.
"Mhm, perfect!"
Having finished all this, Clara nodded in satisfaction.
She then walked over to Firefly, wrapped an arm around her slender waist.
Feeling the sensation in her hand, Clara chuckled, bringing her lips close to Firefly's ear and gently exhaling.
"Firefly, let's go~"
"Back to Jarilo-VI~"
"W-wait!" Hearing this, Firefly quickly spoke up, trying to stop Clara.
"I'm not ready yet."
"Ready? If you prepare for this sort of thing, it takes all the thrill out of it~"
"It's only when you're completely unprepared, knowing nothing, that the sudden rush of excitement feels truly stimulating~" Clara's arm around Firefly's waist tightened slightly, pulling her close.
"Come on, let's play something thrilling!"
"N-no... don't..."
Before Firefly's pleading voice could fully form, Clara teleported away with her, vanishing from the spot...
...
"Hmm..."
On the dead star, Jingliu's consciousness gradually returned. She slowly sat up, a hand pressed to the back of her head.
"Awake?"
Seeing Jingliu wake, Luocha spoke.
"Where's the Stellaron?" The first thing Jingliu did upon waking was scan her surroundings, searching for the Stellaron.
"Take a look at this."
Instead of answering directly, Luocha handed Jingliu a small note.
"What is this?"
"Clara left it."
Hearing this, Jingliu unfolded the note and read it.
[I know why you brought the Stellaron to the Xianzhou.]
[I have no interest in your plans, nor will I interfere.]
[So you can rest assured. After I'm done using the Stellaron, I'll deliver it to the Luofu.]
[As for that coffin of yours, Luocha, I'm quite curious about it.]
[So I'm borrowing it for a few days. I'll return it once I'm bored with it o(￣▽￣)ブ]
Jingliu: ...
"What do we do now?"
Jingliu showed no sign of anger, simply tucking the note away before asking Luocha.
In response, Luocha sighed and shrugged:
"What can we do? Since she said she'd help us deliver the Stellaron, we'll just have to trust her."
"We proceed as planned."
"Mhm." Jingliu nodded, saying nothing more.
"Let's go." Luocha's gaze turned toward the distant Xianzhou Luofu, his tone flat, betraying no emotion.
With a leap, he entered the Xianzhou Luofu.
"Hmm..."
Jingliu rose slowly and followed behind Luocha into the Xianzhou Luofu.
After the two departed, the dead star once again fell into silence.
…
T/N: 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭nooooooooooooooo
…
I have completed the author to TL pipeline, 2 chapters per day. Advanced chapters available on patreon.
patreon.com/intraneer
Give power stones please I survive solely off of number go up.