[Steam City, Gear Church]
"Alec, did you hear something?"
By the main gate of the Gear Church, a Bronze Knight suddenly clutched the hilt of his steam longsword and looked around, a little nervous. Just now, he had felt as if something was right next to him, but he couldn't see anything, and it made him uneasy.
Seeing his suspicious behavior, his companion calmly replied, "Stop scaring yourself. I didn't hear anything."
"I think you're just on edge because of what happened to Commander Fischer last night. Maybe you should have one of the nuns help you calm your nervous system."
Even so, the Bronze Knight didn't relax and insisted, "I don't think I imagined it. I really think something is nearby."
"Oh, come on."
His companion looked at him and lowered his voice. "Stop thinking about all that and just do your job. The church isn't safe right now. Don't give anyone a reason to come after you, got it?"
At that, the Bronze Knight came back to his senses. He was right. Instead of looking for something that wasn't there, he should be more concerned about whether he would be summoned for a so-called "assisted investigation" by the higher-ups.
Not a single person who had been called in for an "assisted investigation" had returned yet.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask, "Alec, don't you think the commander's death was a bit suspicious?"
"I heard that in the Great Pendulum Cathedral, there wasn't just the commander's body, but many other believers as well, and they said the commander killed them all."
"But I can't imagine why the commander would do that, or who could possibly kill a powerful commander in the Great Pendulum Cathedral. Do you think it might have been the bishop and the saintess..."
"Shut up!"
Before he could finish, the Bronze Knight beside him, Alec, quickly covered his mouth. After making sure no one was around, Alec looked at him with a dark expression and scolded, "How can you say such things? Do you have a death wish?"
The Bronze Knight forcibly pushed Alec's hand away and said defiantly, "What's there to be afraid of? A lot of people in the church think the same thing. They all say that Commander Fischer died because he didn't want to get involved with the bishop and the saintess, so he was going to expose them to the higher-ups..."
As the two were talking, Chen Kong, like an invisible person, walked right between them and casually entered the Gear Church. The two Bronze Knights didn't even flinch, clearly not having seen him at all.
Although this was not the first time the dimensional audience had seen this, they couldn't help but comment.
'Good thing this is a shonen anime. I can't imagine how great Kong's ability would be in any other genre.'
'The guy before me is weird. Very weird. Can I borrow your chat log?'
'Huh? I thought I was watching a shonen anime. Why are you guys talking about something else all of a sudden?'
As the comments rolled in, Chen Kong had already completely slipped into the inner parts of the Gear Church. Although he had the "Void Mark: Presence Eradication", he was still crouching, walking very lightly, and acting stealthily—he looked every bit the master thief.
Even more surprisingly, despite this being Chen Kong's first time in the Gear Church, he navigated it as if he were walking in his own backyard. He would turn left to avoid the blind spots of the patrolling knights and turn right to bypass the star energy detectors in the corners. He even accurately found a secret door switch hidden behind a metal statue. His actions were so familiar that the dimensional audience on Station 13 exclaimed in disbelief.
'Wait a minute, everyone. Kong's route planning is like he's back at home, right?'
'Did I miss something? I don't remember the previous plot saying Kong had ever been to the Gear Church.'
'With this level of stealth, maybe Kong should change his name to Old Wang Next Door. You're wasted in a shonen anime. Your real stage should be...'
'My friends, that's enough shonen anime for today. Let's meet again... in five minutes!'
'Five minutes? You must have a very busy life.'
In the anime, after passing through a narrow secret passage, Chen Kong arrived at the core area of the Gear Church. He stopped at a fork in the corridor and activated his "Star Source: The Dreamer" to its fullest.
Soon, gray, wire-like electronic whiskers grew from the sides of Chen Kong's cheeks, and a pair of electronic ears popped out with a click. He then proceeded to sniff the air in front of him like an electronic mouse.
A piece of information about the Star Source that Chen Kong copied with The Dreamer appeared on the dimensional screen.
[Star Source: Mechanical Treasure Mouse (Pseudo)]
[Type: Mechanoid]
[Effect 1: Mechanism Sniffing - Can detect all star energy items, devices, rune traces, etc., within a 500-meter radius, and generate the optimal stealth route in the brain.]
[Effect 2: Treasure Storage - Can open a sub-space pocket in the abdomen to safely store items (current maximum volume is nine cubic meters).]
[Note: "If you look carefully, it's called being a good homemaker, understand?" - A mad doctor from the lower city.]
'I knew Kong's stealthiness was getting stronger. He copied the Star Source of a Treasure Mouse.'
'Don't you think Kong's little mouse look is kinda cute?'
'The person before me, give me your IP address!'
'No wonder he's so smooth. He's got a full-map and resource cheat. That's so unfair!'
After a search, the ears on Chen Kong's head suddenly perked up, and his eyes lit up.
He found it! The area in the church's core with the most concentrated residual star energy from Euphemia!
With this, Chen Kong immediately locked onto Euphemia's bedroom. The path he had taken so far was also based on this principle. He had essentially followed Euphemia's residual star energy traces, walking the path she had walked countless times before.
With a clear direction, Chen Kong immediately took action. He tiptoed through one corridor after another, finally arriving in front of a tightly shut boudoir door. Looking at the quantum lock on the door, Chen Kong took a deep breath.
Breaking into a lady's bedroom in private might sound a little perverted.
But for the sake of Steam City's peace and Vivian's stupid life, he, Chen Kong... was going to do it!
Chen Kong went to the door and carefully studied the quantum lock in front of him. Seeing this, the dimensional audience immediately became excited.
'Here we go! The classic lock-picking scene!'
'I bet five packs of spicy strips that Kong has an even cooler move!'
'Let's see your skills, Kong!'
But to the surprise of all the dimensional audience, they thought Chen Kong was going to show off some amazing lock-picking skills.
But in reality...
Click~
As Chen Kong poured his "Void Mark: Reversion" into the quantum lock, the lock, which had lost its star energy rune structure, instantly disintegrated in front of him, and the door simply opened!
'???'
In an instant, the entire screen was filled with question marks.
Seriously, after all that... that's it?
If it was that simple, then why did you have such a serious and solemn expression before, huh?!
Amidst the question marks of the dimensional audience, Chen Kong, with the unparalleled poise of a thief, slipped into Euphemia's boudoir, which was filled with the faint scent of lavender...