Klee of the Four-Leaf Clover Constellation, Orange Shield!

"Boss Hook... what did you come looking for me for?"

Qin Qi sighed. This child definitely wasn't from Douluo Continent; she was from Honkai: Star Rail.

And people who came from that world were most likely here to find him.

"Boss Hook has come to conquer this world!"

Hook planted her little hands on her hips, raised her head high, and pointed her tiny nose at the sky, looking extremely proud.

"..."

"I'll have someone contact Natasha right now and have her take you away."

Qin Qi fell silent for a moment. Other children claiming they wanted the world might have been joking.

But when Boss Hook said something like that, she might actually have meant it. This child really did want the world.

"No! Don't tell the old witch I'm here, or she'll spank me!"

Hook looked terrified. She stepped forward, grabbed Qin Qi's hand, and looked up at him with a pitiful expression.

"You're trying to act cute now? It won't work. I'm calling someone to take you away right now."

Qin Qi reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, only to suddenly remember that it had no signal.

"Please don't! I actually came here this time to go on an adventure."

"Doro the Trailblazer recommended that I stay here for a few days. She said this place was fun."

"And the old witch agreed too."

Hook hurriedly explained. She did not know why the Trailblazer had recommended this place to her, either.

But since the Trailblazer had said so, she came to take a look. Still, Hook felt this place was not much different from Belobog.

There was ice and snow everywhere, and it was just as cold. The only difference might have been the huge blue roof in the sky.

Hook remembered that huge roof seemed to be called the sky.

"Doro the Trailblazer recommended you? What's that gray-haired freeloader trying to do?"

Qin Qi was somewhat puzzled. That gray-haired freeloader and that blond-haired freeloader often introduced people to him.

But they always had reasons. For example, Klee had been sent here temporarily because Acting Grand Master Jean was too busy to take care of her.

Zhongli had been kicked out by an angry Hu Tao over unpaid tabs and was staying here temporarily.

And Belle, who had not arrived yet, had argued with her brother.

But Hook did not seem to have any reason. Why had the Trailblazer specifically introduced her?

"Um... can Hook stay here?"

Hook looked up at Qin Qi and tried her best to put on the expression of a well-behaved child.

"You can."

Qin Qi nodded. "Come on, I'll take you to pick a room."

Qin Qi nodded, then led Hook into the house.

"It's so warm!"

Hook immediately looked utterly shocked and curiously looked around.

"Do you have that... that thing called heating here?"

Hook did not have heating at home, but she had a father who loved her.

Because her father loved her, he dressed her in a thick padded coat and wrapped her up like a little rice dumpling.

"No. The house being warm seems to have something to do with the way it was built. I don't really understand it either."

"And my name is Qin Qi. You can call me Brother Qin Qi."

Qin Qi had been curious about this too, but after studying it for a while, he had found nothing.

In the end, he could only attribute it to I-Beam Guga's special construction methods.

The two arrived at the stairs, where Guga and Doro were playing rock-paper-scissors.

Whoever won got to take one step up the stairs.

"It's boxing! Hook wants to play too!"

Hook eagerly walked over. She was a boxing ace among the children.

"This is Guga, and this is Doro."

"Doro, Guga, this is Hook. She'll be staying at our house for a while."

Qin Qi introduced them.

"Guga. (Hello.)"

"Doro. (Do you want some Orange?)"

Guga and Doro warmly greeted Hook, and Doro even shared some Orange with her.

"It's so good! So sweet! What is this?"

Hook asked curiously.

"Orange!"

Doro raised her little hand and shouted excitedly.

"What is Orange?"

Hook had never heard of something called Orange before, but it was really delicious!

"Orange is Orange. You just need to know that this is Orange."

Qin Qi did not know what Orange actually was, either. Orange could be the English pronunciation of oranges.

It could also be another name for tangerines. No one knew exactly what it was; even Qin Qi himself did not know what he had created.

"Mhm, Orange is really tasty."

While eating Orange, Hook joined Doro and Guga's rock-paper-scissors contest.

"Ah."

Seeing the three of them having so much fun, Qin Qi temporarily put aside the matter of taking Hook to her room.

But then he suddenly remembered something.

"Teacher Tribbie and Klee have been gone for days. Why haven't they come back yet?"

"Didn't they say they'd be back in a day or two?"

Qin Qi was a little worried. They had been gone for so many days. Could something have happened?

"Guga, Doro, can you help contact Teacher Tribbie and Klee?"

Qin Qi asked.

"Guga."

Guga raised her little hand, then took out her tiny phone. After looking through it, she found Rope Artisan Guga.

She contacted Rope Artisan Guga to ask about Klee and the others.

"Guga, Guga. (Klee seems to have hit the jackpot. They're playing at the beach.)"

Guga found out that when Klee and the others had gone to pick up Belle, the shopping street had happened to be holding an event.

Belle happened to have a raffle ticket, so she gave it to Klee to draw.

They had thought getting a pack of tissues would already be pretty good, but Klee had somehow drawn a seven-day luxury beach vacation!

Then, so as not to waste the prize, they went to the beach.

"The Four-Leaf Clover Constellation is doing its thing!"

Qin Qi could not help complaining. As expected of Klee, the lucky clover—her luck was truly incredible.

"But as long as they're safe, that's fine. I wonder how Sea God Guguga is doing now?"

Qin Qi looked into the distance through the window, wondering how Sea God Guguga was doing.

Was everything going smoothly for her? Had she encountered any danger? Did she need help?

In the blink of an eye, it was afternoon. The dark clouds in the sky began to disperse, and the blizzard that had raged for several days finally faded away.

But the temperature remained low, and the cold still filled every corner.

Qin Qi, Guga, Doro, Hook, and Zhongli—five people in total—went outside.

As they had agreed before, Zhongli began teaching Qin Qi and the others the secrets of creating shields.

"The secret of a shield is to be as solid as rock!"

As Zhongli spoke, a pale yellow shield appeared beside him. "Have you learned it?"

"Guga!"

Guga nodded. She had learned it. With a serious expression, she summoned four enormous Cookies.

"Guga! (Immovable Guga!)"

In front of Guga, behind her, to her left, to her right, and above her—all of it was covered by enormous Cookies.

This was the Cookie shield.

"Doro, Orange!"

Doro also nodded solemnly. She clapped her little hands, and enormous Orange suddenly appeared around her.

The Orange directly enveloped her. This was Doro's shield.

Finally, it was Qin Qi's turn. Everyone turned their eyes toward him.