Fang Jie thought, With one companion unconscious and the others—Fang Jie, Rin, and Yae Sakura—missing, was there any better solution than finding some children to play games with?
This was March 7th's earth-shattering wisdom. What better way was there to gather information in an unfamiliar place than asking children?
This matter was also recorded in "The Legend of Ningguang, Liyue Qixing of Genshin Impact."
"You all have an unconscious companion? Who?"
Fang Jie suddenly realized something was wrong and asked Seele.
"That little grey-haired girl. They said Sampo did it. Sampo looked battered and bruised too, so they probably got into a fight."
Seele did not care in the slightest whether Sampo lived or died. Who told him to "smuggle" a Silvermane Guards Garrison Officer this time?
Fang Jie did not quite understand what had happened, but Stellaron Spirit was obviously still around. Had Sampo still drugged the cute Stellaron Spirit?
Forget it. It was not important.
No matter what had happened, he convinced himself that it was better to ask March 7th than make wild guesses.
In exchange—
The despicable adults joined forces.
"Ow~"
March 7th was suddenly hit by a snowball. It was not big, but being struck out of nowhere... she turned around dumbly and saw Fang Jie wiggling his eyebrows, gesturing toward a certain spot.
"!"
March 7th's eyes widened at once. You're so despicable. I like it.
Hehehehe...
March 7th crept over on tiptoe, and sure enough—
"Got you, Hook!"
I caught Hook!
March 7th beamed with delight.
"H-how could this be? You look so silly, yet you're actually a hide-and-seek master!"
Hook was utterly shocked, but rules were rules. Since she had lost the bet, she stepped out of her hiding place with her head hanging low. Grrr~
There was still hope. The rest was up to you all, Moles.
Then Hook noticed them and asked curiously, "Hello, Sister Seele. Hello to you strange strangers too."
Fang Jie smiled. "Hello, Hook. I'm not a strange stranger. I'm a despicable stranger."
Seele looked at Fang Jie with contempt. So did Rin.
"Hello, then, despicable stranger."
Hook believed him. She actually believed him.
No, she did not.
"Hmph, do you think Hook would be that obedient? You adults are truly unreasonable. Hook knew long ago that adults can't be trusted."
Hook lifted her chin with immense authority.
"I'm the boss of the Moles. Even Sister Seele can't argue me down!"
Seele?
Seele had no objections.
Seeing their looks, she replied irritably, "What are you looking at? Don't underestimate Hook just because she's a child. She understands a lot of things."
"Exactly, exactly."
Hook became even more imposing. "For example, adults always use 'things you'll understand when you grow up' to fool Hook, but adults actually have even more 'things they forgot after growing up.' If you don't believe me, compete with Hook!"
Overwhelming presence.
Could he win?
Fang Jie readily conceded defeat. "Hook, you're right."
So he became Seele's target.
Seele looked disdainfully at Fang Jie, who did not even dare compete with a child and surrendered on the spot. At least I tried.
Fang Jie returned her look.
Because we've both "grown up." Adults can't beat children.
You can't win at all. Got it?
Breathing in the air of the Underworld, thick with rust and geomarrow dust, Fang Jie became a loser. He crouched down to meet the victor at eye level and offered the customary price.
"Then, Black Hook the Great, you won. What gift do you want?"
"You have to call me Black Hook the Great. You're quite sensible, knowing when to surrender. State your name first."
"Fang Jie, from the world outside, Black Hook the Great."
"Good, I'll remember that. The world outside... then what do you have? I want it all... Forget it. You should hurry and find Old—Sister Natasha. Your companion, that sister, is unconscious."
"She's only asleep."
"Liar. Don't think Hook is so easy to fool. Go on, the clinic is right there."
"Hook doesn't want anything?"
"Mm, that's true. This breaks the Moles' rules. Then answer one question honestly—Fang Jie, you're from the world outside, so is the roof out there very, very big?"
"..."
Fang Jie thought about it seriously, then nodded.
"Yes, Hook. It's a very, very big roof."
"I knew it! Hook knew it!"
Hook looked immensely pleased with herself.
"You have to call me Black Hook the Great!"
"Hook, he's tricking you. That isn't called a roof. It's called the sky."
Fang Jie ignored the silent Seele and looked toward March 7th, who had finally noticed their arrival. She had even exposed him for deceiving a child. What a shameless adult.
Fang Jie did not argue. "Why are you alone, March? Where's Dan Heng? And Stellaron Spirit?"
"Stellaron Spirit? Eww~, that's such a childish nickname. I'll call her that next time."
March 7th thought it was acceptable enough. "She's unconscious. I told her she shouldn't have looked at the stuff Sampo had on him. He's one of the Masked Fools. She insisted on opening that box, and then—bam—she passed out."
This happened after they looted—no, after defeating monsters and collecting their drops. While examining the spoils along the way, Stellaron Spirit found a treasure box. The moment she opened it, she was ambushed by a "mimic." The negative influence this would have on children was immeasurable.
"As for Dan Heng, he left with Sampo, along with that Gepard. I don't know where they went. I stayed behind to look after Stellaron Spirit."
So this was how she was... looking after her?
Fang Jie glanced at Hook. She was a little dejected after losing hide-and-seek, but she had defeated a newly arrived adult and learned that the roof really was huge, so she was happy again.
The sky was all a lie. She trusted Fang Jie deeply. Carrying a companion to the clinic was what adults were supposed to do, not playing with the Moles.
In short, Fang Jie gave cute, untrusted March 7th a look that said, please explain what "looking after" meant.
"Hey, listen to my explanation. Didn't Dan Heng get taken away by that Sampo? I searched all over and couldn't find him, then I happened to run into these kids, who said they knew where he was."
March 7th spoke with complete confidence.
"But they said that if I wanted to know, I had to join some Moles group. To join the Moles, I had to play games with them. And I had to win to prove my strength... Now do you understand?"
Fang Jie understood completely.
"Then carry on. I'll take Yae Sakura to see a doctor too. Goodbye, Hook."
"Goodbye, Fang Jie."
Seele was not impatient. After learning that Fang Jie was also an outsider, and seeing Hook... she had become unexpectedly patient. Fang Jie did not delay for long before following her.
It felt as though their favorability had increased, yet the atmosphere had become even quieter.
"Sampo has committed all sorts of evil. So he was involved in this too. Underworld Fire already has a pile of problems to deal with, and he had to make trouble at a time like this."
Seele could not find a topic to discuss. Only now did she learn how Stellaron Spirit had fallen unconscious. It was all Sampo's fault.
She berated Sampo all the way there. It was clear Seele thought highly of him. They had already arrived.
Natasha's clinic was not large. The room contained hospital beds, a few tables and chairs, and cabinets for storing medicine. It looked almost excessively simple, yet it supported the Underworld's medical care.
The room was warmer than outside as well. Fireplaces heated by geomarrow were necessities in every household. When Seele pushed the door open, Natasha, who had been caring for a patient, noticed the newcomers.
"Seele, what is it?"
"I brought some people. There's a patient among them. They're outsiders too."
Seele calmly explained the situation without mentioning the supplies she had escorted.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
"I understand. Go take care of your business."
Natasha smiled gently and looked toward Fang Jie's group. "Hello."
To be honest, Natasha was a beauty.
There was no need to mention her graceful figure. There were very few women with poor figures who could catch his eye.
Fang Jie's tastes had increasingly drifted toward "inhuman" standards, but even so, Natasha was in no way inferior to anyone. More importantly, her temperament was rather distinctive.
She was remarkably gentle and carried an air of holiness.
That was rarer in the Overworld instead. Only Pela gave off a faintly similar feeling, mainly because Pela's face was too round and naturally gave her a soft impression.
"Hello, Miss Natasha."
Fang Jie glanced at Rin's expression. Seeing that she had no reaction to that temperament and had remained quiet the whole way, he asked openly, "I heard Stellaron Spirit is here too?"
"Stellaron Spirit? Is she your companion too? Her condition is fine. She'll wake up soon."
Natasha explained the patient's condition. It was not an illness or injury, but one of Sampo's specially made... self-defense smoke bombs.
Compared to Stellaron Spirit, she glanced at Rin. She did not regard her as some kind of floating "machine soldier." She could sense vitality from her. She must have been a member of some cosmic race.
Such a small child, and she seemed to be in a very bad mood.
And Yae Sakura, whom Rin was carrying...
"Does this patient need care?"
Natasha asked.
Fang Jie did not stand on ceremony. "Please."
Both he and Rin could understand Yae Sakura's condition. All her vital signs were normal. She was exceedingly healthy, yet she simply would not wake up. They did not know how long she would continue sleeping.
Natasha took out some simple-looking medical instruments and examined Yae Sakura. She reached a similar conclusion.
"This is not unconsciousness. Everything about her is normal. She is merely... asleep."
Natasha lowered her eyes. In a sense, this was even more difficult to deal with than an illness.
Perhaps her skills were inadequate, or perhaps her medical knowledge was not suited to aliens.
"I'm sorry. If you don't mind, she can recuperate here while we observe her for a while. I'll do everything I can to take good care of her."
Fang Jie looked at Rin and still did not stand on ceremony. "Then thank you."
Where Rin was, was both the safest and least safe place. He did not want to leave her in the Overworld any longer. Who knew whether Cocolia would come up with some other earth-shattering wisdom?
Anyway, Fang Jie had already made it clear to her: do whatever she wanted. She could even mess with the Stellaron if she liked. She should weigh whether she could stand against an Emanator.
Come on, she could not even beat a Stellaron Spirit in a burst state.
Speaking of Stellaron Spirit...
"The black... sun... don't... set..."
He heard her mumbling.
"Did she... say something?"
Before you continue