"Hold up, I said hold up…"
Watching the man before her seemingly morph into a riddle-spouting Sampo any second now, Lynelle massaged her temples and hurriedly cut short his overfamiliar antics.
"Before we even talk about cooperation or whatever, you've seen me during your trip to the solar system? Can you tell me what state I was in back then?"
"Uh… roughly the same as now?"
Sampo seemed reluctant to elaborate on the topic, choosing his words with extreme care.
"Let's just say… your connection to that… existence felt far more intense back then. At the very least, dealing with a poor fellow like me—whose own mask got swiped by a colleague for fun—would've been a trivial matter for you."
"What about Sparkle? If you remember me, does she remember me too?"
"Now that… I really can't say for sure."
Sampo spread his hands helplessly.
"Theoretically, little Sparkle's abilities fall just a tad short in that area. But then again, her talents lie precisely in related fields… As for the specifics, you'll have to confirm them yourself when you meet her."
"Hey now, you're not planning to sit back and enjoy the show when that happens, are you…"
Lynelle's sharp eyes caught the faint smirk playing on Sampo's lips. "You're smiling! I saw that! You haven't stopped!"
"Would I dare?! Last time, Miss Vita straight up kicked my backside with that big robot called a 'Gundam' or something! This old man Sampo needed months to recover!"
Sampo immediately put on an expression more wronged than Dou E, the classic tale of injustice.
"That Vita might talk tough, but she actually listens to everything you say. If I mess with you today, and then one day that fiercely protective Miss Vita comes knocking on my door…"
"Well, if she fights Sparkle, that's one thing, but when she hits old Sampo, she doesn't hold back! I've got a bit of a reputation to maintain in the Underworld now, can't afford to lose face like that…"
"Alright, alright…"
Watching Sampo's exaggerated performance, Lynelle couldn't help but sigh. She had a pretty good idea that she wouldn't be able to squeeze much more information out of him.
"But, since you mentioned having some status in the Underworld, just how much influence are we talking about… Could you provide me with some… conveniences?"
"That's simple enough."
Sampo promptly thumped his chest.
"There's a peacekeeping group down in the Underworld called Wildfire. Their top enforcer, Seele—her weapon was sold to her by yours truly! And have you heard of the Moles in the Underworld? Their boss is a good friend of mine!"
"You…"
A muscle twitched violently at the corner of Lynelle's mouth. If she hadn't played Honkai: Star Rail, she might have actually been taken in by Sampo's bluff.
'Oh, friends with the Moles' boss, are you? My dear Stelle is an honorary member of the Moles! And Clara is that teammate Hook desperately wanted but couldn't get!' [Author's Note: Clara actually did join the Moles in the end.]
"Never mind, I shouldn't have expected a Masked Fool to be serious… How about a map of the Underworld? You must have one of those, right?"
"But of course."
Sampo quickly produced a paper map—looked like it was hand-drawn by himself—and handed it to Lynelle.
"I've been to every place marked on this map, the locations are absolutely accurate. Just go ahead, Miss Lynelle, go and you won't make a peep. If you run into any problems, you can come find me, Sampo, directly."
"Even though this map looks okay… why does it sound so unreliable coming from you…"
Looking at Sampo's ingratiating smile, Lynelle accepted the map with a sense of helplessness.
As everyone knew, when you were in danger, Sampo was your most reliable backup. But when you weren't in any danger… Sampo was probably your biggest danger.
She had a strong feeling this map would lead her straight into a ditch later…
"Miss Lynelle, you see… I don't really have anything else on me that could help you right now. If there's nothing else… I'll take my leave first, and not disturb your continued… stowaway journey?"
Seeing that Lynelle seemed finally somewhat satisfied, Sampo quickly rubbed his hands together, putting on a look of someone in a hurry.
"Go on, go on. It's not like we won't be seeing each other again soon anyway…"
Lynelle muttered under her breath. Without asking anything further, she simply vanished into thin air.
"Phew… finally managed to send that one on her way."
Seeing Lynelle finally leave, Sampo let out a massive sigh of relief.
Others might not know Lynelle's background, but Sampo had personally experienced the power of Finality.
Back when Sparkle had tricked him into going to 'spar' with Lynelle, he'd almost been beaten half to death by Lynelle and Vita.
It gave him a shock akin to Lord El-Melloi II participating in the Fourth Holy Grail War.
'What do you mean, I just went to a remote star system to back up a colleague, and my colleague lined up two opponents wielding Emanator-level power?'
'What do you mean a place you can't even find in this universe produced three Emanator-level combatants who don't even follow Paths?'
Putting everything else aside, just sensing that Lynelle was still directly connected to the power of that Finality made Sampo treat this matter with the utmost seriousness.
Fortunately, Lynelle and her group weren't bad people. Even though Lynelle had lost her memories now, she still didn't have any ill intentions.
Otherwise, if they truly had designs on Belobog, he, without his mask, wasn't sure he could stop them.
"But… with her involvement, this whole Belobog situation will probably be handled much more neatly, won't it?"
Just as Sampo's thoughts were still churning over Lynelle's appearance, Lynelle, now in possession of the map, had officially entered speedrun mode.
"According to the original plot, the Express crew's tasks underground basically involved uniting the Underworld factions and securing Svarog's help. With me here now, I can probably help them get this part done ahead of time…"
"Besides, I desperately need some proof to support the plot information in my head. This feeling of only being able to talk in riddles is just awful. Svarog is perfect for this. As a robot that's existed since before the Eternal Freeze began, I can pin a lot of my information sources on him."
"So…"
After confirming the map's directions one more time, Lynelle immediately headed straight for the direction of the Robot Settlement marked on the map.
"First, find Clara, or go straight to Svarog."
--+--
"That's strange…"
Early the next morning, in the Robot Settlement, a little girl with long white hair showed a puzzled expression on her face.
She took a light step forward, her delicate, bare foot stepping directly into the snow, and gently nudged the automaton soldier that was half-buried in the snow.
"Beep beep—Detecting biological presence nearby. Automatic startup. Identifying target… Clara, is there anything I can help you with?"
Seeing this, the expression on Clara's face grew even more perplexed.
"This soldier robot is completely repaired too, but… that shouldn't be right…"
As the most experienced maintenance engineer in the Robot Settlement, Clara basically had the list of possible malfunctions for Underworld automaton soldiers memorized backwards.
Aside from the most common component damage and electronic component failures, issues with the intelligent modules were also a major problem plaguing the settlement's residents.
Moreover, while Clara could handle the first two types well enough, there wasn't much she could do when it came to problems with the intelligent modules.
More often than not, she could only hand these 'children' over to Mr. Svarog for handling.
But there was only one Svarog. Most automaton soldiers with faulty intelligent modules were basically left abandoned where they were, waiting to be picked up and repaired by a kind soul, or to naturally break down completely.
But… when Clara went out early this morning to do repairs, she discovered something strange.
Many of the automaton soldiers abandoned by the roadside had inexplicably returned to normal.
Not only that, the performance of many seemed to have been optimized. Just by disassembling one or two of them (the kind-hearted Clara later reassembled them), Clara had learned a great deal.
More importantly, around these restored automaton soldiers, there were almost no traces of them having been moved. Most were still buried exactly as they were in the dirt or snowdrifts.
If simply repairing the automaton soldiers was within Clara's understanding, this phenomenon—where someone could restore them to perfect condition just by touching the parts of their heads sticking out of the ground, without moving them from their original spots, sometimes even while they were still buried—was starting to challenge Clara's common sense.
"Can you tell me who fixed you?"
"Processing question… Insufficient data. Unable to answer."
"Same as the others…"
Clara sighed. "This strange repair phenomenon started from the outskirts of the Robot Settlement. So far, I haven't found a single automaton soldier within the settlement that's been repaired… What in the world is going on?"
"Beep—Issue detected. Processing… Clara, this unit's memory contains an audio recording of the repairer. Would you like it played?"
"Huh? There's that?" Clara's eyes lit up. "Can I listen to it?"
"Playing now…"
"Alright, another one fixed… Belobog's automaton soldiers are so strange. Their parts and design are utterly simplistic, yet they give me a feeling like they could awaken self-awareness at any moment… "
"Hmm, whatever. There's still time. Before I find Svarog, might as well give these little guys some free maintenance."
"Playback complete."
"Eh? The one who repaired you was a big sister I don't know? And her goal is to find Mr. Svarog?"
Clara was taken aback.
"Then I… should I hurry and find her…? No, I should go back and tell Mr. Svarog first, then ask him what we should do."
Though still young, having lived in the Underworld for years, Clara was far from a child unaware of the ways of the world.
Judging by the abilities this person had displayed along the way, this mysterious big sister was clearly no ordinary person.
However, based on her actions of fixing these automaton soldiers, perhaps this big sister was a good person?
With these thoughts, Clara quickly ran back to Svarog's base and told him everything that had happened.
"I am already aware of this matter. As for the reason, the individual in question has now entered the Robot Settlement."
"Eh? Sh-she's already here?"
Clara exclaimed in surprise. "Then what should we…"
"Assessing… Assessment Result: Target possesses ability to rapidly repair automaton soldiers. Current behavior is friendly. Objective is unknown. Considering the positive effect her ability could have on the preservation of the Underworld, contact can be initiated to ascertain her purpose."
"Clara, go and bring her inside."
"No need to trouble Clara. I've already completed your trial. I waited at the entrance for quite a while and no one came, so I let myself in."
Under the gaze of the two, Lynelle strolled leisurely into Svarog's base.
"…"
Svarog silently stepped forward.
"Your trial completion time: one minute and six seconds. Greatly exceeds the preset standard time of 30 minutes. Average repair time per automaton soldier: 1.3 seconds. Surpasses 100% of previous visitors."
"Analyzing… Analysis Result: Target may possess specific items or abilities effective against all Belobog automaton soldiers."
"Too small. Think bigger."
Lynelle waved her hand dismissively, smiling. "In fact, I'm from beyond this planet. And this ability isn't only effective against Belobog's technology, you know?"
"…"
Svarog fell silent once more. After a moment, the red light in his eyes flickered, and he emitted a low voice again.
"Re-assessing target status… Scan indicates target's physical constitution and clothing materials clearly do not belong to Belobog's material composition or style. Background: Unclear. Classification: Unknown Information."
"Based on judgment, target may significantly impact the Underworld's living environment. In light of this, I grant you an opportunity to speak. Please state your business concisely and clearly."
"That's simple. I want to cooperate with you."
Lynelle took a step forward. "I need you to provide me with all information regarding the Stellaron, and coordinate with me and my companions to save Belobog. That is my purpose. As for payment…"
"Detected forbidden term: Stellaron."
The red light in Svarog's eyes suddenly flared brightly.
"City Architects' Decree: Any attempt to make contact with the Stellaron will result in severe consequences. Re-assessing—Target threat level raised to maximum."
"Hey hey, attacking before I've even finished speaking? That's a bit too hasty, isn't it…"
Lynelle sighed, then snapped her fingers. "If that's how it is, then I have no choice… but to take control of you for a bit."
"How about now? Can you still find those forbidden terms and the City Architects' decrees?"
"Re-assessing… No forbidden terms related to Stellaron detected. Searching memory banks… Records of Stellaron as a forbidden term detected."
"Conflict detected. Logic system detecting error… Cause: System tampering due to unknown reasons."
"Conclusion: Target threat level to be raised to maximum… Raise failed? Target threat level has been forcibly locked at minimum."
The red light in Svarog's eyes flickered erratically. After a moment, he suddenly took a step back, placing himself fully between Lynelle and Clara.
"Activating highest directive: Protocol Three, Protect Clara—This directive holds highest priority. Forcibly raising threat level of all targets except Clara to maximum."
"Detected directive conflict: Threat level raise for this target failed… Bypassing conflict directive. To ensure Clara's safety, authorization granted for indiscriminate attack protocol."
"You… just what are you?"
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.