"Did you notice something?"
Compared to the somewhat spacey March 7th, Stelle was a bit sharper.
From Dan Heng's gaze toward Clara, one could spot a trace of wariness.
Seeing the confusion on Stelle's face, Dan Heng nodded, leaned closer to her, and replied in a low voice:
"Her reaction is way off."
"A normal citizen of Belobog hearing about this would at least show a flicker of surprise."
"But from her face, aside from puzzlement and dawning realization, I didn't see any other emotion..."
"Plus, she's been pretty close to Cocolia. I have good reason to suspect she's in the know too..."
"And on Cocolia's side, at that."
After saying this, Dan Heng shook his head lightly and added:
"Of course, I might just be overthinking it."
"Maybe she's just naturally aloof, with a high tolerance for shock."
"So even if she was a bit surprised inside, nothing showed on the surface."
Listening to Dan Heng, Stelle fell silent for a moment before saying:
"Let's still keep a bit of an eye on her..."
"Mhm." Dan Heng nodded, agreeing with Stelle's thought.
Even though Clara appeared innocent and kind on the surface, completely harmless.
But who's to say she isn't some mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes?
The Astral Express's database also recorded plenty of classic examples from across the cosmos.
The probability was minuscule, but not zero.
So, staying alert, no matter what, was the right call.
"Hey, what are you two muttering about over there?"
March 7th, hearing the two murmuring about who-knows-what, asked curiously.
"It's nothing." Hearing March 7th, Dan Heng snapped back to attention and shook his head.
"Really nothing?" March 7th shot them a suspicious glance.
"Hehe."
In response to March's look, Stelle scratched her head with an awkward chuckle, while Dan Heng's expression remained completely unchanged.
March 7th: ...
March 7th had a strong feeling the two were definitely keeping something from her; otherwise, Stelle wouldn't be making that face.
But March believed Dan Heng and Stelle wouldn't do anything to harm her. If they weren't saying, then fine, she didn't even care that much anyway! Hmph!
Actually, March was mistaken about one thing—it wasn't just Dan Heng and Stelle keeping it from her. Welt's thoughts aligned with theirs as well.
After all, Clara's reaction really was a bit too odd...
But because the sense of danger in Welt's heart was growing stronger and stronger, he had no choice but to set that thought aside for now...
The main goal right now was to find Cocolia, deal with the Stellaron, get back to the Express, resume the warp, and leave this place...
Thinking this, Welt adjusted his glasses and urged everyone:
"Whether she's good or bad isn't crucial right now."
"The most important thing at the moment is to resolve the Stellaron, to prevent Cocolia from using its power and accelerating the Fragmentum's corrosion of Jarilo-VI."
Before anyone could respond, Welt quickly strode off deeper into the snowy plains.
The foreboding in his heart was intensifying, reaching a level he could no longer ignore.
So, for the sake of everyone on the Astral Express, and for Belobog's people, Welt had to race against time and deal with the Stellaron swiftly...
'Has Cocolia fully mastered the Stellaron's power?' Welt wondered inwardly...
If it were just Cocolia alone and a single Stellaron, it shouldn't have triggered such a profound sense of crisis in him.
But if Cocolia had completely mastered the Stellaron's power, that was a different story...
...
"Clara, should we... slice him?"
Watching the Astral Express crew disappear completely from view, Firefly, recalling the caution in Dan Heng's eyes earlier, made a finger-drawn-across-the-throat gesture.
"..."
Seeing Firefly's gesture and hearing her words, Clara's mouth twitched slightly.
'Who taught you that move?' she thought, utterly speechless.
"I learned it from short videos."
"I thought it fit this situation perfectly?" Firefly pondered the usage of the gesture, finding nothing wrong with applying it here.
"Did I use it wrong?"
Firefly scratched her head, looking at Clara in confusion.
Clara: ...
"Delete those short video apps. Watch less of that brain-rot in the future." Seeing Firefly's expression, Clara realized just how badly the short videos had corrupted her, leaving her at a loss for words.
She could only advise her to delete the apps immediately.
Delete them now, and there's still time to turn back!
"Hehe." Not dwelling on whether the throat-slitting gesture was appropriate, Firefly chuckled, pulled out her phone, and handed it to Clara.
"You delete it for me."
"I'm like your nanny or something." Clara took the phone, rolling her eyes in exasperation.
Then she tapped her finger on Firefly's phone screen—fingerprint verified—and it unlocked to the home screen.
Back when Firefly got her new phone, the first thing she did was find Clara to have her fingerprint registered.
Clara hadn't understood the point back then, but she'd done it anyway, since it didn't really affect her.
(A/N: Clara's phone also has Firefly's fingerprint registered.)
"Where are your apps?" Clara swiped through Firefly's phone a few times but couldn't find any short video apps.
"I already deleted them~"
Clara: ?
"Wow..."
Hearing Firefly's words, Clara fell silent for a moment before a single Arabic numeral escaped her lips.
Are you freaking kidding me?
"Hehe~" Unaware of the shift in Clara's expression, Firefly instead looked up with a 'praise me' face.
"..."
Clara stared into Firefly's eyes for a beat, then her own eyes darted quickly. She swiftly opened the browser and tapped on the history.
"****?!"
Seeing Firefly's search history, Clara uttered a word that needed bleeping, instantly freezing on the spot, stunned.
"Huh?"
Seeing Clara's reaction, Firefly, puzzled, leaned in to see what Clara was doing with her phone.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
It was fine not looking, but one glance was all it took to give her a shock. A shriek erupted from Firefly's mouth, her face instantly flushing crimson as she hastily snatched the phone back.
"Firefly, you... ah, forget it."
It took Clara a while to snap out of it. She seemed to want to say something but ultimately held back.
"No... no."
"It's not, I didn't, it's not what you think!" Firefly's eyes swirled like spirals as she tried to explain.
But her explanations only seemed to deepen the misunderstanding in Clara's mind.
"Sigh..." Remembering the contents of the history, Clara let out a helpless sigh.
"Just... take care of your health, okay."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
"I told you it's not what you think!"
...
A/N:Firefly's browsing history:
Just imagine it. It's exactly what you're all thinking.
I'm afraid typing it out would land me in the slammer /(ㄒoㄒ)/~~
Note: Firefly only watches girl-on-girl stuff~
…
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