"We can help each other." Seeing Carly's hesitation, Richard smiled and said, "You guys are searching for people one by one and asking around like this; sooner or later, there's going to be trouble."
Carly was stunned for a moment. Recalling how Richard had staked out Jared's residence ahead of them, she believed him a bit more. "Are you saying you can find other people who used to be at The Lab?"
"I can't say I'll find one hundred percent of them, but it's close enough." Richard asked with a smile, "So, how about a partnership? You help me, and I help you."
"But Mick and the others..." Carly was tempted, yet she couldn't help but hesitate.
"You seem to have misunderstood something." Richard squinted slightly with a smile. "I only need you to show up when I require your help, and bring these friends of yours along with you."
Hearing this, Carly fell into deep thought. After a long while, she said, "Actually, neither you nor I need to care about the matters regarding The Upside Down."
"The origins of The Upside Down are grander than you or I can imagine. Although Henry seems to be in control of the overall situation, to me, he is just a spokesperson, a medium... Even without Henry, The Upside Down has always existed. He was just very lucky to be transported to that place. The Upside Down will eventually erode the reality we live in." Richard held a different opinion on this. "If everyone lets it be, although Hawkins Lab will disappear because of it, the innocent Hawkins Town will also vanish, and then the erosion of The Upside Down will no longer be limited to the town, but will affect the entire world..."
"That is too far away for me, and it's a matter of probability." Carly waved her hand, cutting off Richard's narrative.
Richard saw that behind her seemingly brave facade, she was actually just using a brave-looking method to avoid getting hurt. Therefore, he did not continue to persuade her from that angle, but instead said, "Since Dr. Brennan is not dead, then both you and I must find him. And if I may be blunt, a team like yours might never find Dr. Brennan's whereabouts in a lifetime. You can only rely on one person's ability to do so."
"Are you talking about Eleven?" Carly didn't get angry after hearing Richard's words; she just fell into silence once more. Only after a long time did she say, "Perhaps I need to consider it."
"Alright, you can take your time to consider." Richard smiled. "If you don't mind, may I stay the night here? Give me an answer before dawn."
Carly gave a nearly imperceptible nod, turning her back to look at the messy streetscape, no longer facing Richard directly.
Richard left the rooftop. With the help of the big guy Lekong, who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, a room was temporarily cleared out in the abandoned factory, giving Richard a place to stay for the night.
Closing the door, Richard lay on the sofa, his fingers sliding through the air, scrolling through the previous collection records of plot points.
Unsurprisingly, all four members of Carly's team had provided him with plot points. He obtained a total of 21 plot points from the four of them. Among them, Carly gave the most, a full 12 points. In terms of plot points gained from making acquaintances, she—a supporting character who was only active in the second season of the original series—actually gave more than Steve and the others.
Richard also felt very surprised. Then he suddenly remembered that the original stranger things seemed to have spin-off products, with several comics released to supplement some settings and plots of the main story. Perhaps Carly had also made an appearance in the comic works.
Thinking this way, Richard felt that the scope for harvesting plot points in this world was unexpectedly large. It might not be impossible to harvest plot points from someone he didn't know or hadn't met one day.
While focusing on the system information of the [skill panel], a faint sound of footsteps and human breathing reached Richard's ears. Opening his eyes to look, he saw a dark shadow standing outside the door, forming the rough outline of a muscular man through the frosted glass.
"Is something the matter, Lekong?" Seeing that the person outside the door had made no move for a long time, Richard took the initiative to call out.
The person outside seemed startled by his sudden question. The shadow trembled, and he stammered, "Uh, no, nothing. I just wanted to ask if the quilt is warm enough, and if you need me to add a few more for you."
"Heh, you're very thoughtful." Richard said with a smile, his eyes showing no ripples. "I think it's warm enough. Any more and I'd be sweating from the heat."
"Is that so? Then do you need anything else?"
"No need, thank you."
"In that case, I'll take my leave. If you need anything, come find me in the tin house on the first floor. Goodnight." Lekong left these words and hurried away.
Feeling the strangeness of Lekong's behavior, Richard was lost in thought... Before long, it seemed that the outside was bright. Richard felt it was a bit glaring and slowly opened his eyes, then suddenly felt that the light was excessively blinding. Looking closely, it was actually the bright light emitted from the tactical flashlights on assault rifles.
Facing a heavy encirclement of armed personnel, several dark muzzles surrounded Richard, like a void ready to swallow his life.
In such a scene, Richard simply sat up from the bed and silently performed a French military salute.
"Heh heh heh, it's been quite a long time, Richard." Just as Richard was calmly thinking about how to respond, a familiar figure entered the room in a steady tone, accompanied by two armed men.
"Dr. Brennan?" Richard was somewhat surprised. "You're really not dead?"
"Good luck." Dressed in a suit, Dr. Brennan was as neat and elegant as ever. His silver hair was combed smooth and beautiful, and his facial features were so calm that his expressions were minimal, making him look a bit younger. He showed none of the disheveled or failed posture from his last confrontation with Richard and the others. He said calmly, "It wasn't easy to find you."
"What are you finding me for?" Richard's eyes flickered as he asked.
Dr. Brennan said leisurely, "Why ask when you already know, Number 66? You took something from The Lab. Shouldn't you give an honest account?"
"What did I take?" The corner of Richard's mouth curled up slightly as he continued to press.
"You know."
"I don't know that you know that I know."
"..." Dr. Brennan's face stiffened, and he said gloomily, "Hurry up and hand over what you stole obediently, Number 66!"
Richard simply gave up, acting like a dead pig that doesn't fear boiling water. He lay back comfortably on the bed and covered himself with the quilt. "If you don't say it, how am I supposed to know what to hand over?"
"Get up, I'll shoot!" Dr. Brennan shouted angrily.
Richard pulled back the quilt, revealing his slightly "seductive" side-lying posture. A tight-fitting shirt that showed off his athletic body added a bit of robust masculine charm. "You can lie in here and think about it slowly."
"Enough!" A woman's sharp shout made Richard feel a shock in his brain. The next moment, the armed militants and Dr. Brennan all vanished. Only four young men and women stood by Richard's bed holding tactical flashlights, with Carly standing to the side looking angry.
"Is this your answer?" Richard looked as if he had expected this. He glanced out the window; at this time, the morning glow was rising, and a new day was about to arrive. He turned his head back to Carly and asked.
Carly was silent for a while, then said with indignation, "As fellow kin, why are you unwilling to help me? Was experiencing that pain not enough? Do you still want to help The Lab clean up the mistakes they made?"
Richard sighed, got up to dress, picked up his backpack from the bedside, and put it on. He walked past Carly and stopped at the door, turning back to say, "According to what you said, both you and Eleven are mistakes."
"Good luck, Carly. What I said on the rooftop still stands. If you change your mind, give me a call." Richard pulled a business card from his pocket, tucked it into the gap of the door's decorative glass, and then left their secluded place without looking back.