Time ticked by, second after second.
Jiang Yu and the other three were still crouching behind the wall. Thanks to their portable heater, their bodies had gradually warmed up.
Some time had passed since they landed on Jarilo-VI, and they had fought a battle along the way. Now, the four of them were eating the energy bars Mr. Dan Heng had brought down, marveling at Sampo's astonishing endurance inside the snow mound.
"How long has it been?" March 7th looked at the trembling snow mound in the distance, sounding surprised. "A third of a system hour, right? He's still not coming out?"
"That takes some incredible patience!" Jiang Yu marveled as well.
Stelle spread her hands. "Maybe it's like Jiang Yu said, and he just likes sleeping in the snow?"
"How could anyone be like that?" March 7th pursed her lips. "Besides, even if someone did, taking it this far would count as self-harm, wouldn't it?"
March 7th held her hand above the Blazing Glory Creation, feeling the heat it gave off.
After a brief silence, Mr. Dan Heng said, "Everything about him hiding here is strange, but... personally, at least, I respect all unusual preferences."
The Trailblazer squad was in excellent spirits, and their portable heater spared them from enduring the harsh conditions.
Meanwhile, Sampo lay inside the snow mound, utterly baffled.
This... this wasn't right, was it?
This wasn't how the script went!
As far as he knew, the Nameless were adventurous, experienced, cautious, and warmhearted.
So when they saw his suspicious, poorly executed attempt at hiding here, shouldn't they have dragged him out?
Then, following the plot he had planned in advance, he would draw them onto the stage to take part in the play about saving Jarilo-VI from its Stellaron crisis!
But things hadn't developed the way Sampo had planned.
He had heard the Nameless talking outside. Sampo had thought they were playing hard to get, but now that didn't seem to be the case.
A third of a system hour had passed since the Nameless said they were leaving and their footsteps receded.
They hadn't really left, had they?
They'd just abandoned old Sampo here?
Had the Nameless started taking the "considerate and understanding" approach these days?
As he listened to the cold wind howling outside and felt the temperature and weight of the snow on him, the chill seeped through his clothes and skin, cut into his muscles, and burrowed deep into his bones.
Sampo felt he couldn't take much more.
At this rate, he might really become an Uncle with Old, Cold Legs.
Lying in the snow, old Sampo wore a pained grimace. The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt.
He couldn't help recalling what had happened not long ago. The Elation God seemed to have given him some revelations.
They were images that felt almost like hallucinations...
Aha hadn't given him many clear hints. Sampo only remembered being told to pay attention to a very good-looking, white-haired child. By his own reckoning, that kid might be a colleague.
A colleague...
Sampo's expression changed!
Oh, crap! I've become the joke!
Because that child looked so sunny and cheerful, he had subconsciously overlooked the possibility that the boy was a colleague...
At that moment, Sampo suddenly thought of Sparkle. Compared to Sparkle's complete lack of restraint, this colleague was far too good at hiding his true nature.
Was good-looking people's idea of elation always this extreme?
Making old Sampo freeze in the snow for so long was going too far!
Sampo sighed and decided to get out of the snow first, then devise a new plan to bring the Nameless onto the stage. He would also take the opportunity to pit himself against this unknown colleague.
With that thought, Uncle Cold Legs stood up out of the snow pile. But before he could even stretch, he froze in place.
In the distance, four pairs of eyes stared at him from behind a wall that hadn't yet collapsed.
He could even hear their conversation:
"He's out, he's out! Wow, it's been almost half a system hour. How did he hold out for so long?"
"Being frozen for that long must feel awful. Look, his face is all red."
"...Caught in his own trap."
"Hehehehe..."
Sampo blinked, momentarily dazed.
Just when he thought he had become the joke, it turned out he had become an even bigger one.
It would have been fine if the Nameless had been freezing just like him, but looking over now, the four of them clearly hadn't suffered much at all.
Question: what do you do when you've lost before the contest even begins?
Sampo's green eyes swept over them quickly before finally settling on Jiang Yu's delighted smile.
His gaze lingered for only a moment. Then he quickly composed himself and adjusted his expression before walking toward them, calling out to the Trailblazer squad as he approached:
"Come on, guys, wasn't that a little much? I thought you'd really left. Turns out you were watching me make a fool of myself all along!"
As he spoke, Sampo reached the four of them. With the wall between them, he glanced at Jiang Yu again.
Hearing Sampo's words, Jiang Yu spread his hands and said:
"Letting you come out on your own was better than giving you a jab with a spear, right? Never mind whether it would've killed you-could you handle the tip stabbing somewhere delicate?"
Sampo immediately widened his eyes, looking innocent. After glancing at Dan Heng, he put on an expression of utter despair and said:
"Honestly, I'd rather have taken a jab from that spear right now. It's freezing. What are you using to keep warm?"
Jiang Yu lifted the Blazing Glory Creation in his hand and gave it a shake.
Looking at the Fragmentum Monster that had been captured and pressed into service as a heater, Sampo opened his mouth. For an instant, a thousand words seemed to clog his chest, but in the end, he said nothing.
This new colleague wasn't just making a joke out of him...
He spared nothing. That Blazing Glory Creation had it much worse than he did.
He didn't let his brief shock show. Soon, Sampo smiled at the three of them.
Bonding with his colleague could wait. It was time to move his script forward.
Old Sampo glanced at Jiang Yu again. Seeing how warm and cozy he looked, his impression of this young man, whom he suspected was a colleague, improved considerably.
He'd suffered a little, but this colleague hadn't disrupted his plans...
This kid was actually pretty nice!
"Ahahaha..."
Sampo gave the four of them a slightly embarrassed smile, then continued:
"Have the Silvermane Guards started using Fragmentum Monsters to keep warm now? Anyway, is Captain Gepard here? He and I know each other pretty well..."
"Who?" March 7th asked in confusion.
"And what are the Silvermane Guards?" Stelle looked equally puzzled.
Dan Heng watched Sampo without speaking. He observed the man's every move and found him rather suspicious.
And ever since earlier, he had kept sneaking glances at Jiang Yu...
Something was wrong. Very wrong!
Was child trafficking... rampant on this planet?
Jiang Yu said nothing either. His mind was elsewhere.
He was thinking that Aha had probably sent him Sampo's photo earlier because Aha wanted him to prank the man.
Jiang Yu was quite willing to believe that the Elation God would genuinely amuse himself at his own followers' expense.
Now that the prank was done, shouldn't the promised power have arrived?
Yet even now, Jiang Yu hadn't received any word from the system.
For Aha's sake, I'd been scammed!
It felt like Aha had made a joke out of him too...
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