Dan Heng felt like he was trapped in a cage, enduring the double torment of a hyperactive Husky and an overly fluffy Samoyed.
Meanwhile, Silver Wolf, with the help of her "Godfather," launched a new offensive: Operation Keyboard Commando Classroom. Caelus, for his part, enjoyed watching Dan Heng's flustered, sweat-drenched state, occasionally adding a bit more pressure. At the same time, while Caelus (and specifically, the Seele-influenced part of his consciousness) endured Silver Wolf's earnest and sincere calls of "Godfather," that same Seele-esque spirit relished the joy of messing with Silver Wolf.
Truly, we all have such bright futures ahead of us!
The originally planned "Grand Adventure in the Snow Country" had spectacularly collapsed halfway through.
Forming a band, playing rock music – it all sounded incredibly fun! March 7th had never tried anything like it. Besides, wasn't learning music theory, something she'd never encountered before, a form of Trailblazing in the realm of knowledge?
The entire afternoon was spent in a boisterous whirlwind of teaching, enthusiastic but unskilled strumming, and joyful banging on instruments. Caelus's goal for their new band, "Crychic," was simple: perform "Haruhikage" together just once before Cocolia's forces could get to them. That would count as a success.
Serval, swept up by March 7th and Stelle's burning rock 'n' roll spirit, joined in on the teaching, significantly lightening Teacher Dan Heng's burden. Cultivating rookie musicians from scratch and getting them to perform as a band in such a short time sounded a bit far-fetched, but hey, that's rock 'n' roll!
Amidst their band practice, the Trailblaze team didn't forget to gather intel. Serval, already cheerful and enthusiastic by nature, and now part of their band, had become quite familiar with them despite knowing them for less than a day. She held nothing back, giving them a thorough rundown of everything inside and out of Belobog.
Mentally reviewing the gathered information, Dan Heng was somewhat surprised, a new depth of understanding coloring his gaze as he looked at Caelus. If they had stuck to the original plan of sightseeing while collecting intel, they might not have gathered even a third of what they now knew. Welcoming tourists with open arms was something you'd expect from a normal, peaceful civilization. In this sealed-off society teetering on the brink of destruction, who would truly open up to strangers? Especially to outworlders like them. The city's residents might gather out of curiosity, but Dan Heng could easily sense the underlying vigilance, the speculation about their true motives. It was only human nature.
Caelus seemed to be acting on a whim, dragging everyone into this chaotic endeavor, yet he'd managed to get this close to the repair shop owner in just half a day. If they really managed to hold a concert, it might rapidly dismantle the locals' defensiveness, convincing them they were genuinely just tourists. Malicious visitors with ulterior motives wouldn't bother with such elaborate, superfluous acts, would they?
Holding a music sheet, Dan Heng stared at the gray-haired young man who was plucking strings while following an AI tutorial on his phone. Dan Heng's gaze intensified.
He... was it intentional? Or did he just stumble into this situation through a genuine whim?
"Dan Heng, what's wrong?" Caelus, sensing the distinct gaze, turned his head. Wolfie's AI teaching app was surprisingly effective, and with the boost from his Persona-like abilities, his learning speed was absurdly fast.
"It's nothing." Dan Heng shook his head, averting his gaze.
"Almighty Teacher Dan Heng, I have a question!" Holding her sheet music, Stelle raised her hand like a model student.
"..." Compared to Caelus, who might be a case of 'great wisdom appearing as foolishness,' Dan Heng could confidently conclude that his other half, Stelle, was more like 'great foolishness appearing as... well, great foolishness!'
Alright, Stelle was actually learning quite a bit, albeit in a scattered way. It was just that while studying, her darting little eyes would frequently drift towards Serval's black stockings, her secretly drooling expression making Dan Heng want to look away. If Caelus hadn't been there to restrain Stelle, she would have pounced several times already. Overall, Caelus was still a bit less worrisome than Stelle, which gave Dan Heng a sliver of comfort.
Night descended.
Serval, as the host, treated them to dinner at a small restaurant near the Neverwinter Workshop, ordering a table full of Belobog's home-style dishes and local specialties. This was to celebrate the formation of Crychic and to welcome her new friends. Whether Caelus's idea for a concert was a whim or not, wanting to perform was now Serval's own desire. As guests from afar, Caelus had roped in all his companions to play rock music with her; no matter how she looked at it, she felt she owed them her thanks.
Around the dinner table, everyone chatted and laughed. A lively March 7th waved her hands animatedly, vividly recounting their past Trailblazing experiences, with Dan Heng occasionally adding details or, with his dry wit, playfully debunking parts of her stories. Serval listened to their thrilling adventures, her eyes shining, completely captivated. She had imagined the world beyond Belobog, but she never thought it could be so vibrant and diverse!
"Caelus, what are those little iron boxes you guys are always holding?" Serval had been curious for a while. Those magical little boxes could produce sound and seemed to be able to look up answers to most questions. Through one of them, she'd heard several rock songs that could easily be called timeless classics.
"This thing is called a 'mobile phone'... It's like the heart for residents of interstellar civilizations. Many people would die if they were separated from it." Jarilo-VI was once a famous tourist planet in the galaxy but had lost contact with the outside world for seven hundred years due to various reasons. Its current tech tree was a bit... no, it was extremely lopsided. No communication devices, yet they had automated robots.
"Ah? Is it that important?"
"Serval, don't listen to his nonsense." March 7th glared at Caelus, then gave Serval a proper explanation.
Caelus just smiled. "In a couple of days, I'll give you one. That way, no matter where you are, you can contact us anytime." The Nameless all had more than one spare phone. Before leaving Herta Space Station, Caelus had even bought a whole basketful online, along with a pile of other electronic gadgets he might or might not use, all paid for with the "sponsorship money" the little rich girl Herta had provided.
"Oh, thank you so much!" Serval was overjoyed, then her expression turned thoughtful. "For such a valuable gift, I'll have to think of something to give you in return."
"Don't trouble yourself too much. A local specialty from Jarilo-VI will do."
"A local specialty? How come I don't know we have any local specialties here?" Caelus's reply left Serval a bit puzzled. Jarilo-VI was on the brink of an apocalypse; Belobog's upper and lower cities combined barely had a population over a million. What kind of specialty could they possibly have that an outworlder like Caelus would covet?
"It's that." Meeting her ice-blue eyes, Caelus explained with a dead-serious expression, "I know your most abundant specialty here is black stockings. I've always wanted to properly appreciate them." A somewhat shy, reserved smile touched his lips as he gestured towards Serval's legs. "If it's possible, could you give me the pair of black stockings you're wearing?"
It was an incredibly abrupt request, enough to shock anyone present.
"Hey! What are you saying in broad daylight?!" March 7th shot him a look that clearly said, I can't believe you're actually one of those perverts who likes worn items! Her face was a canvas of warning. "Stop trying to lure girls from less advanced civilizations with your sweet talk!"
Stelle's face was a picture of "What the heck?!" which quickly morphed into indignation. "Alright, Caelus, you little brat!"
"Trying to stop me from opening the black stockings treasure chest! I can't believe you'd resort to such a despicable method!"
Ruined!
She was totally ruined!
Operating under the assumption that if her phone broke, she could just get one from Caelus, Stelle hadn't stocked up on any phones herself. She didn't have a single spare!
Not quite understanding what March 7th and Stelle were saying, Serval had an expression that was a mix of amusement and bewilderment. "Thermal leggings? How is that a local specialty?" On second thought, maybe it could be? Perhaps other planets with normal temperatures didn't have such warm leggings? At this, Serval couldn't help but smile. It seemed Jarilo-VI wasn't entirely without its merits in the eyes of outworlders.
"If you need a pair, I can buy you new ones."
"No, no, no, I only want the pair you're wearing. That specific pair is very important to me!" Caelus looked Serval straight in the eyes with utmost sincerity as he spoke earnestly. Not all milk is premium Telunsu, and not every pair of black stockings is a treasure chest.
"Ah... Huh?" Serval was somewhat taken aback. Caelus had brought people to form a band with her and play rock music, and was even gifting her something as valuable as a mobile phone. Serval already had a very favorable impression of him. A mere pair of thermal leggings – of course, she wouldn't be stingy. It was just that she'd never heard of giving worn clothes as a gift. Could this be an alien custom?
Considering this might very well be an alien way of expressing friendship, Serval hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing. "If you want them that badly, then okay."
"Yay! It's a deal then! Please, be sure to keep wearing them until you give them to me!" Mainly because he was afraid Serval taking them off might cause the treasure chest to despawn.
The gray-haired young man clasped his hands together, beseeching her. Serval: "..."
"Alright," she nodded, her expression a colorful mix of emotions. Alien customs sure are strange.
March 7th slapped a hand to her face. Seeing Stelle's reaction, she finally remembered that Serval's stockings were the "treasure chest" that triggered Stelle and Caelus's peculiar fixation. Even so, hearing Caelus say such a thing so openly still struck March 7th as incredibly perverted! Those stockings were a trigger point. She didn't think she could stop Stelle and Caelus, so before they did something even more outrageous, resolving Serval's "hidden risk" through this kind of exchange... maybe it wasn't so bad.
"No! Damn you, Qiong-zai!" Stelle slammed her little hands heavily on the ground, her expression as tragic as Wu Dalang watching Ximen Qing lead away his Pan Jinlian, a river of sorrow flowing in reverse.
The black stockings treasure chest had been claimed by the despicable Qiong-zai through such underhanded means!
Those were MY crystals! MY CRYSTALS!
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