March 7th got annoyed and raised her little fists, chasing after the two of them and punching away.
Dan Heng watched the three of them fool around from behind, shook his head, and followed after them.
After the scuffle, they once again headed out of the valley.
Along the way, March 7th and the others spotted several Crack Realm creatures frozen into icy blue sculptures.
This discovery immediately made them realize that this planet really did seem to possess a Stellaron.
After all, not far from the frozen Crack Realm creatures were Crack Realm roots, fully proving that this was the result of the Stellaron.
Following that line of thought, the state of this snowfield might have been an anomaly caused by the Stellaron.
"Looks like this survey mission of ours has turned into a Trailblazing expedition. On top of that, we'll need to seal and retrieve the Stellaron here!"
After conducting some tests, Liuge said this to the others.
"Fine! Looks like we'll be busy for a while!"
March 7th took out her blue camera and snapped a photo of Liuge, who was crouching beside the Crack Realm roots for inspection.
"March, if possible, please don't take a blurry picture of me."
"Pah! What do you mean by that? You don't trust my photography skills?"
March 7th got angry.
You could question whether my little brain was smart enough, but you absolutely could not question my photography skills!
Of course, Liuge had only been joking. He was not actually inspecting the Crack Realm roots right then; he was simply squatting there to pick up trash.
Snow Quality: White Effect: Can cool down your feverish body. (Seven hundred years of snow—it could practically be your ancestor.)
"Liuge, say something!"
As soon as March 7th said that, Liuge instantly fell into a daze. For some reason, a video he had watched before transmigrating popped into his mind.
"Honey, say something!"
Damn it, he could not keep thinking about it. If he did, March 7th's face was going to twist into that expression.
Shaking his head, Liuge let out a long breath.
"Alright, let's go. We should be out of here before long."
Liuge vaguely recalled the plot. Though the timing in reality did not match the game, after walking for so long, they would probably run into old Sampo soon.
After another five minutes or so, Liuge and the others arrived at a fairly open bend.
Suddenly, Liuge and Stelle's attention was drawn to several snowdrifts in the distance.
To Liuge, this was clearly old Sampo digging a pit in advance and waiting for them.
As for Stelle, she simply felt that those suspicious snowdrifts might contain something good.
Alright, it was just a scavenger's mindset of picking up bargains!
At that moment, Liuge waved his hand, stopping the others from moving forward.
Seeing his gesture, March 7th immediately summoned her Six-Phase Ice bow, while Dan Heng brought forth his Cloud-Piercer spear. Stelle, on the other hand, looked at Liuge in confusion, unsure what was wrong with him.
"Are there enemies?"
March 7th warily scanned their surroundings, and Dan Heng also went on guard.
"Wait here!"
Liuge looked around, found a humanoid Crack Realm creature frozen in ice, and waved his hand to open the Aether Edit interface.
After deftly operating it for a while, he tossed the golden affix he had combined earlier, which he had never used, onto the humanoid Crack Realm creature.
"Come forth! My most loyal warrior! Battle-Ready Bodyguard!!!"
Under March 7th's gaze, as though she were looking at an idiot, Liuge shouted that somewhat cringey line.
The next moment, before the eyes of the three of them, the frozen Crack Realm creature transformed into a muscular man wielding the Physics Holy Sword.
However, every joint on the muscular man was fitted with puppet bearings.
A puppet? Or perhaps an automaton? He had instantly modified it into a companion with combat ability?
Dan Heng looked at the puppet-like muscular man and thought this to himself.
Meanwhile, Liuge gave a sly chuckle, pointed at the snowdrifts, and issued an order to the Battle-Ready Bodyguard.
"Get them! Give whatever's in those snowdrifts a proper lesson in love♂!"
Upon receiving the command, the Battle-Ready Bodyguard instantly locked onto the snowdrifts.
In the blink of an eye, it shot forward.
The instant it rushed out, one of the snowdrifts immediately burst open, and a blue-haired man with a somewhat crafty-looking face leaped out. He stared in horror at the muscular man charging toward him while begging for mercy.
"Wait, wait, wait! I'll come out myself, alright? Don't threaten me with a muscle man like this! Old Sampo isn't good at dealing with people like that!"
"Oh? There really was someone!"
Liuge put on a surprised expression.
"Hey, hey, hey, stop pretending! You obviously knew I was here!!!"
"No, I didn't!"
Gepard
March 7th and Stelle were both bewildered as they watched the blue-haired man over there dodge the Battle-Ready Bodyguard's attacks.
Although the guy hiding in the snowdrift was suspicious, there was no need to go this far, was there?
Still, they had already developed some resistance to everything Liuge did.
They figured that since Liuge had not stopped yet, he must have had his reasons.
As for Dan Heng, he merely held his spear and watched silently without stopping him.
After all, anyone hiding in the dark like that did not look like a good person.
And so, they silently watched for a full ten minutes as the guy, though clearly in a sorry state, failed to have even a corner of his clothing touched by the Battle-Ready Bodyguard's attacks.
"I give up, I give up! Stop hitting me, stop hitting me. I surrender, I confess, alright?!"
The man seemed unable to hold out any longer. He simply gave up and sprawled on the ground, looking as if he were saying, go ahead and beat me to death.
Seeing this, Liuge finally had the Battle-Ready Bodyguard stop attacking.
The Battle-Ready Bodyguard then vanished from the spot.
When the others walked over, they found the man lying on the ground, gasping for breath.
"I say, you people must be new recruits from the Silvermane Guards, right? You sure do things ruthlessly."
After catching his breath, he sat cross-legged and looked at them helplessly.
"Cut the nonsense! Get up, you wanted criminal..."
Liuge stepped forward with an indifferent expression.
"Just my luck. Gepard didn't catch me, but I got caught by a bunch of rookies instead!!"
The man helplessly held out his hands.
"Come on, take me away!"
That ready-to-confess attitude completely baffled March 7th and Stelle.
Dan Heng, however, looked toward Liuge beside him.
"You know him?"
"I don't."
Liuge shook his head, then looked at the man with an amused expression.
"I was just trying to bluff this guy. Didn't expect an unexpected haul."
"What the hell?"
The man also looked at them in surprise, sweeping his gaze back and forth as if he had noticed something.
"You aren't Silvermane Guards?"
"Then what are they?"
March 7th asked curiously.
The moment he heard March 7th's answer, the man jumped to his feet.
"Damn, I thought you were Silvermane Guards! You came at me with a merciless barrage right from the start, but it turns out you're dealers like me!"
"???"
Stelle was even more confused by what the man said, though she felt it was not anything good.
"What? You want to fight us?"
Liuge looked at the man, seeming eager to give it a try.
"Hehe, how could that be! Let me introduce myself. My name's Sampo Koski, and I'm a merchant."
"A merchant?"
March 7th looked puzzled.
"That's right. As long as you want it, if Sampo has it, I can get it for you. Whether it's information or anything else."
"To put it simply, a petty thief who hangs around everywhere gathering information."
Liuge interjected from the side.
"Oh, my friend, don't say that. I, Sampo, am a famously conscientious merchant throughout all of Belobog."
Sampo clasped his hands together and kept rubbing them, looking every bit like a crooked merchant.
Hearing Sampo's words, Liuge sneered inwardly.
Knowing the plot, he understood better than anyone whether the man before him was truly conscientious.
If you asked Sampo to handle something, he could get it done in the end, but the process would be full of twists and turns. And rather than directly giving you the answer, he would make you find it yourself.
In the plot, when March 7th asked Stelle once what she had dreamed about to make her look so awful, and Stelle answered that she had dreamed about Sampo—
March 7th's expression instantly changed from a smile to disgust, and she even said, "Eugh, that really is a nightmare."
It was pretty funny.
"Alright, alright. Since you say you're a merchant, you should be a local, right?"
Liuge cut off Sampo's mouth before he could continue trying to sweet-talk them.
"My friend, you're asking for information, right? Well..."
"Hm?"
Liuge stood smiling beside Stelle, while Stelle very considerately rested her bat on her shoulder.
Sampo's words immediately stopped.
After that, everyone learned about the current state of Jarilo-VI.
Ever since the cold wave began seven hundred years ago, the only surviving place on the planet was a city called Belobog, preserved under the protection of The Architects.
The Silvermane Guards were the equivalent of police officers and law enforcers in Belobog.
The group followed Sampo toward Belobog.
Suddenly, Sampo frowned slightly, his footsteps gradually slowing until everyone was walking level with him.
"So..."
Just as Sampo was about to say something else, he was interrupted by a shout.
At the bend ahead, three people appeared, dressed in metal armor with extremely warm inner linings.
Before you continue