"How is it? Is there something on my face?"
Perhaps because Yun Fan's gaze was somewhat too straightforward, our Miss Firefly quickly noticed the other party's eyes. At this, she was first slightly taken aback, then tilted her head.
"No, nothing." Yun Fan hurriedly shook his head.
"Wuu! There must be something. Why won't you say it?" Firefly put her hands on her hips, her pretty little face slightly puffed up, wearing an expression of "I'm angry."
Yun Fan must have something he's hiding from me. Looking at his expression just now, that kind of pitying and sympathetic gaze… Aaaah! I'm so relieved. He wouldn't think that I ate too much because I couldn't get enough to eat before, right?
Wuu! Actually, Firefly usually eats very little. It's just that this is in a dream realm. Even if I eat a lot, I won't gain weight, so that's why…
"Cough cough, really nothing. Since you've already eaten your fill, Firefly, then let's go. This dream world is still quite large."
After finishing speaking, without waiting for Firefly to respond, Yun Fan took the lead and left the coffee shop, heading outside the coffee shop to wait.
Watching Yun Fan's somewhat flustered back figure, as if he was fleeing, Firefly helplessly rubbed her forehead. Then she took out some money from her pocket and pressed it under the coffee cup.
"Really now, why leave so quickly? I won't eat you up…"
— — — —
After leaving the coffee shop, a man and a woman walked side by side, traversing the small paths between the city buildings.
"This place is really beautiful. Without having experienced the rendering and baptism of warfire, everything looks so plain and beautiful."
A hint of melancholy flashed through Firefly's eyes. She gently let out a sigh.
"My hometown was once as beautiful as here. But under the devastation of war and the infestation of the Swarm, everything changed."
She stopped her footsteps, gazing into the distance, as if she could see that former homeland.
"Houses gnawed away by insects, countless people perishing in the mouthparts of the True Stings. I will never be able to forget, never forget that sky defense line forged from the flesh and blood of countless people…"
Yun Fan listened quietly. He could feel the pain in Firefly's heart.
"Once, as a mass-produced person of the Glamoth Empire, I piloted mech suits as a tool. At that time, I lived as a weapon."
Firefly turned her head, smiling as she looked at Yun Fan.
"After that, I met Kafka once more. With her help, I joined the Stellaron Hunters and encountered a group of companions worth treasuring."
"And now, you have also met me, and gained a partner who will accompany you for a lifetime in the future, right?"
Yun Fan connected with Firefly's words. He only saw him smiling as he gently patted the girl's head, his eyes filled with doting and affection.
"Yes, now I have met you again, a partner who will accompany me for a lifetime in the future. Although, for you, I am not that 'only one'."
Firefly looked at Yun Fan with a smile that was not quite a smile, until she made the latter feel somewhat at a loss for where to put himself. Only then did she withdraw her gaze.
"Let's continue walking. Let's see where Sister Robin is."
The two continued forward. Firefly's mood gradually calmed down.
"Hope that one day, all wars can subside, and people can live peaceful and happy lives…"
— — — —
"Hey! Wake up, wake up!"
The unconscious Stelle only felt a series of calling sounds coming from beside her ears. Immediately after, she felt a hand placed on her shoulder, forcefully shaking her.
"Wuu… What's wrong with me?"
Stelle vigorously rubbed her temples. For some unknown reason, she always felt her consciousness was somewhat muddled, and her body was somewhat heavy, just like she had just carried a train and run a thousand kilometers.
"Are you okay? Can you hear what I'm saying clearly? Repeat after me: One, two, three…"
"March, what are you doing again?"
Looking at March 7th in front of her, who had stretched out three fingers and was somewhat foolishly counting "one, two, three," three large question marks appeared on Stelle's face. It seemed she was somewhat unable to understand what March 7th was doing.
"Cough cough, it's good that you're okay."
The pink-haired girl somewhat embarrassedly scratched her head. She had just seen that Stelle was a bit dazed earlier, and her interest was piqued, so she…
"It's good that you're okay. I thought you had damaged your brain when fighting against Sunday."
"Fighting Sunday? Ah, I remember now…" When she heard the name Sunday, Stelle was first stunned, then showed an expression of sudden realization.
It seemed she remembered that in the final battle, it was she who had suddenly gone all out, mixing together the dual powers of [Destruction] and [Preservation], shattering Sunday's defenses with one blow. Only then had she secured the final victory.
"It's good that you've woken up. Everyone has already returned from the dream. But speaking of which, you guy are really something else! Actually shattering the 'Harmonic Choir' with one stick. You know, that was the avatar of [Harmony]."
March 7th said with some amazement. In this battle, Stelle could be said to have performed outstandingly. Defeating an Emanator single-handedly was enough to boast about for a lifetime.
"By the way, you said everyone has already returned from the dream. Then what about Himeko and Yun Fan?"
Stelle's gaze swept around the surroundings in a circle, but she didn't discover any trace of Himeko and Yun Fan.
"Himeko? She's in the hotel lobby right now, chatting together with Dan Heng and the others. Let's go over together. Since you've woken up, it's also time to report your safety to the Express crew."
"As for Yun Fan…"
When mentioning Yun Fan's name once more, March 7th first paused, then her cheeks slightly puffed up as she spoke with great dissatisfaction.
"As for that guy Yun Fan, we still haven't seen his shadow even now. Really, at the most critical moment he wasn't there. Now that the battle is over, he still hasn't shown up. Sigh…"
...
Daydream Hotel 『Reverie』, hotel lobby…
"Heavens be damned, I say Brother Dan Heng. Since your Astral Express people are so formidable, why the hell did you still use that meow-damn Alliance Jade Abacus?!"
Gazing at the scene before his eyes—General Jing Yuan, and that group of Xianzhou people—our Mr. Boothill was quite speechless as he shook his head.
Well, this Astral Express really is a bunch of spendthrifts. That precious thing, the Alliance Jade Abacus, they used it just like that. Of course, that's not the main point. The main point is that he actually made the Xianzhou Alliance make a wasted trip.
— — — —