Chapter 38: Chapter 36 - Journey to the Robot Settlement
The next day, Wende woke up early.
He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled helplessly.
The man in the mirror was clean-shaven, and the dark circles that had formed from blood loss and lack of sleep had already faded.
"I was all prepared to have a joint nightmare session with Dan Heng, but instead, I got a good night's sleep."
After a simple wash, he got dressed, opened his door, and stepped out of the hotel. The others had been waiting for him for some time.
"Morning, Wende! You look like you're in good spirits today," March greeted him with a wave.
"Big Sis March! Is this the doctor you were talking about? He's so tall... Are you sure he's not a bad guy?"
A small child next to March 7th looked fearfully at the tall and imposing Wende, hiding behind her.
"Don't worry, Wende is a very nice person!" March said, patting the child's head reassuringly.
"So... what's the situation here?" Wende asked, looking at Dan Heng and Stelle, who were standing off to the side.
"It's nothing. March was just playing hide-and-seek with the children. They got familiar after a while," Dan Heng said flatly, watching March play so well with the kids. Clearly, this was not the first time this had happened.
"Oh, I see," Wende nodded in understanding.
"March, stop playing. We need to go to the clinic."
"Oh! Coming!"
March waved goodbye to the children. Before leaving, she even gave them a photograph. Seeing their happy and excited faces, a smile appeared on March's own face.
"Alright, let's go! Stelle already went to the clinic to help. We're the only ones left!"
As she said this, March shot a peculiar glance at Wende.
"If someone hadn't slept in, maybe we would have left a long time ago."
"Ah, this..."
Wende, being called out for sleeping in, refused to take the blame. He was just really tired. Sleeping in a little longer shouldn't be a big deal, right?
But on second thought, maybe there was a problem. After all, Jarilo-VI was running out of time. It wouldn't be good for him to waste it on sleep.
"Alright, alright, my bad. I'll make you guys a feast when we get back to the Express!" Wende said apologetically.
"Mm! You said it! I want a suuuuper big pudding!"
Seeing the cute March gesturing for a giant pudding, smiles unconsciously appeared on both Dan Heng and Wende's faces.
The hotel was on the east side of Boulder Town, while Natasha's clinic was on the west. Although the town wasn't particularly large, it still took the three of them a short walk to get there.
Just as the clinic's main door came into view, Wende saw Stelle sitting there with a miserable look on her face.
Wende frowned and immediately quickened his pace.
Seeing this, Dan Heng and March 7th also followed.
"Stelle, what..."
Before Wende could finish, he saw Stelle's dirt-streaked face and her innocent expression.
"..."
Wende's face darkened.
"You... went rummaging through the trash cans again?!"
"Ah, this..."
Stelle scratched the back of her head, embarrassed.
In the end, they had to ask Natasha to help find a clean set of clothes, which was the only thing that prevented Stelle from being kicked out by the clinic's nurses.
Inside the clinic, Natasha had been waiting for them. After yesterday's emergency, all the wounded had their injuries stabilized. The rest could be left to the nurses.
"You're here. Let's sit and talk," Natasha said, her voice gentle yet weary.
"What you said before... that the Eternal Freeze was caused by that Stellaron... is it true?" Natasha asked solemnly, studying the expressions of the Trailblazing team members.
"Miss Natasha, please believe us..." March 7th said sincerely.
"Don't worry, I don't doubt you... It's just..."
Natasha lowered her gaze.
"We haven't heard any clues about a Stellaron. We've never even heard the name before. So... I'm sorry, but my investigation into the matter you entrusted to me has yielded no results."
"Natasha..."
"However... I do have an idea. Perhaps that person might know something about the Stellaron."
Natasha brought up a mysterious individual.
"Svarog... he might know something about the Stellaron."
Natasha then explained Svarog's origins to the team. He had appeared suddenly after the Silvermane Guards retreated, calling himself the protector of humanity and possessing the ability to command all masterless machines. With his immense power and vast robot army, Svarog quickly occupied the furnace core area, and no one knew what his intentions were.
Natasha had a feeling that Svarog definitely knew something about the Stellaron.
"You can reach Svarog's robot settlement by passing through Rivet Town. I've asked Seele to wait for you with your Silvermane Guard friend at the Rivet Town defense line. The nearby Wildfire members can also provide you with assistance."
After speaking, Natasha let out a long breath, her expression grave.
"This is... all that Wildfire can do for you... We only have Boulder Town left. If we lose it... the Underworld will become a boundless purgatory, and there will be no need for Wildfire to exist anymore. I hope you can understand."
Natasha said this with great guilt. If circumstances allowed, she would have wanted to help herself, but she couldn't. Both Wildfire and Boulder Town needed her.
At this moment, the safety of the entire Underworld rested like a mountain on the shoulders of the gentle woman before them.
"Thank you, Natasha. Leave the rest to us," Wende said gratefully.
"Then, there's no time to lose. Let's set off!"
"Bros! Why the hell does this robot monster put a shield on itself?!"
Ruo Feng, who was working through the main quest, shouted in anger. He was on the main quest to go to the Robot Settlement and had run into a small mob that looked like a traffic light. Unable to control his itchy fingers, Ruo Feng switched to Wende and shot a lightning needle at it.
A mob that he thought he could deal with in a few hits ended up needing a full blast from Dan Heng's ultimate to be taken down!
The bullet chat, seeing Ruo Feng's pathetic display, began to mock him.
[Bro, is a turn-based game too hard for you? Maybe you should go back to grinding for points in HI3!]
[Yeah, bro! You're only three points off in the Abyss this cycle! You're not gonna grind for those three points!?]
"Shut up! Aren't I playing Honkai right now?!" Ruo Feng pointed his mouse at the Honkai: Star Rail window at the bottom of his screen, sophistically arguing with his viewers.
[Exactly! Our bro has been playing HI3 for so long, what's wrong with letting him enjoy himself for once!]
[You're right, but Dan Heng ulted a shielded traffic light.]
[You're right, but you hold the world's first Doomsday Beast defeat.]
[You're right, but xx is xxxx, I forgot the rest.]
[Zero points!]