Chixia: "Abby is so tiny, soft, and fluffy—there's no way she looks like she could fight against a Threnodian, right?"
Abby crossed her arms indignantly. "Stop looking down on people—wait, no—stop looking down on Echoes!"
"That cold-faced researcher who examined me was totally shocked! She said I'm not just any ordinary Echo, but a super-duper-duper-duper powerful and rare one!"
Abby exaggerated her words. It was hard to imagine Baizhi saying something like that, but calling Baizhi an "cold-faced researcher" wasn't entirely wrong.
Rover sighed. "That's definitely your 'embellished' version. I don't remember… Baizhi saying anything like that."
At the time of the examination, Rover had naturally been present too. While Baizhi did mean something along those lines, she hadn't phrased it so dramatically.
Yangyang explained, "From what I recall, Baizhi said that outside of Huanglong, other nations do have Echoes with greater mobility and autonomy. They participate in all aspects of human life and even possess unexpected special abilities."
Lucian mused, "I feel like my abilities would make me pretty popular in a place like that…"
Chixia suddenly realized, "Oh yeah! Lucian's terminal can release Echoes to move around freely, and they even listen to him!"
Lucian nodded slightly. "Speaking of which, maybe I should gather more Echoes, learn about their abilities, and have them help us out with things."
"After all, aside from the Crimson Vanguard, Echoes haven't really been integrated into our daily lives yet."
Rover: "For example…?"
Lucian: "For example, we can let the musicians sing, have the Hoartoise dance, and let the Roseshroom handle the lighting!"
Rover: "…Are you opening a cabaret or something?"
Lucian sighed dreamily. "That would truly be a heavenly indulgence…"
"And we could even form a troupe to perform at Jinzhou Theater! That way, we could earn money too!"
Rover: "…So it all circles back to making money in the end."
Yangyang: "Echoes with that level of autonomy are extremely rare. At the very least, I've only seen them with Lucian. Even Baizhi hasn't witnessed them firsthand. Maybe… Abby is one of those foreign Echoes?"
Chixia agreed, "That's very possible! If we can figure out Abby's origins, we might even find more Echoes like him!"
Lucian suddenly turned serious. "How about we roast Abby and eat him?"
Abby angrily retorted, "This Echo is NOT food!"
Lucian: "Think about it—Abby has absorbed massive amounts of frequency and is a total glutton. His meat must be incredibly nutritious!"
Abby grew nervous. "Stop making it sound so real! Even if I can't remember my past, I know for sure I'm not food!"
Rover chuckled. "It's seriously trying to prove itself now."
Chixia gasped in realization. "So this is the legendary self-incrimination trap?"
Yangyang smiled faintly. "Stop teasing it. Although Huaxu Academy hasn't been able to verify much, Abby really shouldn't be eaten."
Rover: "So Abby might be food, but Abby being food is unlikely."
Lucian deadpanned: "What are you even saying here?"
Chixia asked, "So—do you know where you were when Rover absorbed you?"
Abby: "Huh? How would I know that… Wait, why don't you just ask her?"
Lucian facepalmed. "If Rover's memory lasts seven days, yours must only last seven seconds."
"You know Rover has amnesia, yet you're telling Chixia to ask her."
"Let's just eat Abby already!"
Abby flailed angrily. "No, no! You're so dangerous—why are you always thinking about eating Echoes?!"
Yangyang pondered. "But… even if Echoes can retain memories, they usually only start counting from the first time they're summoned, right? I wonder if Abby is the same."
Abby puffed up proudly. "Hmph, now that's hitting the nail on the head."
"That green-haired serious guy asked me the same thing earlier. But before I came out in Norfall Barrens, I really don't remember anything."
"Probably… I was just sleeping inside Rover's body the whole time. When you're asleep, how would you know anything?"
Chixia exclaimed in surprise, "Sleeping? No way! We've been through so much on this journey, fought so many battles—you didn't hear anything? That's some insane sleep quality…"
Lucian narrowed his eyes. "I get it now! The truth is clear—you can never wake someone who's pretending to sleep!"
"Abby eats so much—he must've been hiding in Rover's stomach stealing food all along!"
"No wonder Rover always looks like she wants to eat me—it's because Abby's been hogging all the food!"
Rover: "???"
Abby let out a frustrated scream—Lucian was driving him up the wall. "What kind of nonsense is this?! Abby doesn't pretend to sleep! I was really asleep! And I wasn't hiding in Rover's stomach either!"
"Her body has insane soundproofing. Whether before or now, the moment I slip back in, I just whoosh—fall asleep and don't know anything."
Abby grumbled, "The annoying part is, I never know when I'll wake up and come out again… And every time I'm out, I don't last long before I get sleepy and hungry again, so I have to go back and rest."
"Hmph, it's definitely because I'm not eating enough!"
Just then, a system notification rang in Lucian's mind.
[System upgrade complete! Shop system now available!]
Lucian: "That's it? You took this long just to add this?"
[This system needs time to collect items from various dimensions, okay?! Just check it out yourself!]
Lucian opened the shop. Inside, there was everything from daily necessities to aircraft carriers.
The only catch? Everything required points to exchange.
"How do I get points?"
[Points are awarded upon completing choices or missions. Since you've already finished many choices and missions, you've been compensated with 1,000 points!]
"I see."
Lucian browsed through the shop and noticed that there weren't any vague, instant power-ups.
Every item was a physical object—even skill manuals came in the form of books or scrolls.
But he quickly spotted a problem…
"What can I even do with just 1,000 points?!"
Even basic supplies cost at least 100 points, not to mention high-end items that ran into hundreds of thousands or even millions.
[Aside from small point rewards for choices or missions, some missions will directly grant large amounts of points, giving the host more freedom of choice.]
"That's more like it."
After some scrolling, Lucian found something called Satiety Pill, priced at 300 points.
"Let's try buying this."
He pulled out a small, white, odorless pill and shoved it into Abby's mouth.
Abby: "???"
Abby panicked. "What did you just feed me?!"
Gulp.
She swallowed it. The next second, Abby's tiny body plopped heavily onto the table before letting out a satisfied burp.
Abby sighed blissfully. "Burp… So full…"