Himeko accompanied Fu Zhu into March 7th's room. Inside, March 7th remained sealed within the Six-Phased Ice on her bed.
Fu Zhu walked over and knelt by the bedside, looking at her pretty face with its eyes tightly shut. He gently stroked her cheek.
"March, I'll be there for you soon."
Fu Zhu's gaze swept over the Six-Phased Ice covering her body, finally resting on one of her hands, which was frozen within. The ice was incredibly transparent, allowing him to see the wedding ring he had given her still on her finger.
The wedding ring had another effect: if one of them was in danger, the other could use the ring to teleport directly to their side.
If March 7th had encountered any danger, the ring would have sent out an alert immediately. But Fu Zhu hadn't received any such alert since entering Amphoreus. This was good news; it meant March 7th's current situation was relatively safe.
"How is Little March doing?"
Himeko stood to the side. She didn't know medicine, but Fu Zhu was different. With his endless array of abilities, he would surely know March 7th's current physical condition.
"She's not in danger. I'll go find her in a bit."
"You can find March?" Himeko looked at Fu Zhu with a pleasant surprise.
Fu Zhu nodded. He planned to enter Amphoreus again shortly to find March 7th immediately, and then rendezvous with Dan Heng and Stelle.
For now, though, he needed to wait on the Express for a little while, until Herta and the others had finished their research on Demiurge and the data it provided.
Suddenly, Himeko's hand rested on Fu Zhu's shoulder. He turned his head in confusion, but Himeko simply reached out and gently smoothed the furrow in his brow.
"Relax, Fu Zhu. We're here with you. We'll solve whatever comes our way together. For now, how about a cup of coffee to rest for a bit?"
Fu Zhu let out a small laugh and nodded.
In a certain sense, Big Sis Himeko's coffee did indeed have a relaxing effect.
The two closed the door and went to the observation car. Himeko told him to sit down first while she went to prepare the coffee.
After a moment, a set of footsteps approached. Fu Zhu thought it was Himeko returning with the coffee, but when he looked up, he saw it was Chadwick.
"Sir, I think you'd better come and have a look. Something strange has happened."
Chadwick came over and urged Fu Zhu to stand up and go with him.
Fu Zhu hesitated for a moment, then stood up and followed Chadwick towards the passenger cars. The car that originally housed the data bank was now being used by Herta, Screwllum, and Chadwick for their research. As they passed the pantry, Fu Zhu called out to Himeko inside.
"Sis Himeko, I'm heading to the data bank for a bit."
"Alright."
Himeko's reply came from the pantry. Only then did Fu Zhu relax and follow Chadwick to the data bank.
He opened the car door, but before he and Chadwick could even step inside, a flash of pink appeared in Fu Zhu's vision, followed by a soft body leaping into his arms.
Fu Zhu was stunned for a second, then reached out and grabbed the pink figure by the scruff of its neck, lifting her—or rather, it—out of his embrace.
"Mimi! (Why did you grab me?!)"
The little pink pixie seemed quite displeased at being held up, chirping at Fu Zhu twice.
Fu Zhu held the little pink pixie and turned his head in confusion to Herta and Screwllum, who were standing inside. "Did Ruan Mei cook up some new creature again?"
Herta shook her head, a dark look on her face. "I didn't even let Ruan Mei in on this. How could I possibly have brought one of her creations here?"
"Then what's this little thing?"
Fu Zhu reached out and pinched the little pixie's fluffy, downy cheek.
"Mimi! (You're bad!)"
"Oh? Now I'm the bad guy? I don't even know who you are."
Fu Zhu replied to the little pixie as he glanced at his minimap.
[Mimi (Demiurge)]
When he saw the name in the parentheses, he couldn't help but lean back, then turned his head to Herta and Screwllum in astonishment. "How did you get it to evolve?"
Seeing that Fu Zhu recognized Mimi's true identity, Herta grinned and nudged Screwllum with her elbow. "See? I told you he'd definitely be able to recognize it."
Screwllum nodded. "I have lost."
Screwllum then explained to Fu Zhu what had just happened.
"The three of us were attempting to analyze the data within Demiurge at the time, but the data bank's computational power was somewhat insufficient, so Herta attempted to link it to the Audience System on the Space Station."
Herta, worried Fu Zhu might not know what the Audience System was, kindly explained from the side.
"The Audience System is what I use to have an audience with Nous. It's a modified version of the Simulated Universe system. At the time, when this little one was connected to the Audience System, it showed an intense desire for the data within the Simulated Universe. This situation was quite rare, so I thought I'd see what would happen… and as a result, she absorbed a massive amount of information about that world you created and turned into this…"
"So, strictly speaking, she's sort of your half-creation. She has no connection to Ruan Mei."
Herta walked over to Fu Zhu's side and patted his shoulder as if joking. "Give her a name, or should we just keep calling her Demiurge? Though I don't think Demiurge really fits a… pink-furred puppy like this."
"Mimi! (I'm not a pink-furred puppy!)"
Mimi retorted unhappily, but unfortunately, Herta couldn't understand what she was saying.
Fu Zhu, however, looked at Mimi with some surprise. Before, in its Demiurge form, its speech was still halting, like a handicapped AI. Now, it spoke with the fluency of a real living being.
"Let's just call her Mimi."
The minimap had already given her a name, so he might as well use it.
"Mimi! (I love this name!)"
Mimi happily tried to pounce on Fu Zhu again, only to be held back by the neck once more.
"Mimi…"
Mimi hung in the air, its four limbs dangling pitifully as it glared unhappily at Fu Zhu.
Fu Zhu ignored her and continued to ask Herta, "So, can you guys pinpoint the exact timeline that Dan Heng and Stelle are in now?"
"We can."
Screwllum took out a Temporal Anchor and handed it to Fu Zhu. "This is a Temporal Anchor. I have already input the coordinates on the timeline. The next time you enter Amphoreus, you will be able to go to the correct point in time."
"Thanks. Time is of the essence, so I'll head out now."
Fu Zhu accepted the anchor and prepared to leave for Amphoreus again. Before he left, he planned to toss Mimi back to Herta, but Mimi clung to his hand, refusing to let go.
Herta watched this scene and thought for a moment.
"Fu Zhu, you should take her with you. She's a creature of Amphoreus, and judging by your reaction just now, you can understand what she's saying. Maybe she can provide you with some help inside."
"Alright."