When the Treasure Hunter System bound itself to him, it had granted Evan a starter chest.
And right out of the gate, he'd drawn the Herrscher of Reason authority.
If the Star Rail universe's Paths could be considered part of a philosophy system—
then the Honkai universe's Herrscher authorities were, for the most part, firmly rooted in physics.
Using a philosophy-based Path to fuel a physics-based authority—
Tsk…
After swapping to a larger-capacity charger, things really were different.
That said, he couldn't get too arrogant.
After all, his "charger" still had a ceiling.
He hadn't reached Emanator level yet.
And not everything could be solved with the Herrscher of Reason's authority alone.
As a rookie treasure hunter,
how could he possibly dump all his assets into a single chest?
Right?
Evan turned his head toward where the Fragmentum monsters had been earlier.
…Oh. Right.
There were no monsters left—only scattered fragments and mechanical remains.
He had no interest in collecting monster corpses.
But some of those parts might still be useful.
It also seemed like Seele's side of the fight had wrapped up quickly.
Before Evan could finish cleaning up the battlefield—
Seele reappeared, dragging a small blonde girl along by the collar.
"Waaah! Seele, I was wrong!"
"Put me down, okay?!"
"Don't take me to the old witch—nooo!"
Seele held the little girl by the back of her coat, as if gripping her fate itself.
The girl instantly went limp.
"Next time?"
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"
"If it weren't for him just now, you'd already be saying goodbye to your old man!"
As she spoke, Seele pointed straight at Evan.
"Eh—"
"..."
Evan glanced over.
Seele promptly tossed Hook in his direction.
"Eh? Evan哥哥!"
The moment she saw him, the little girl lunged forward pitifully.
Her legs flailed as she scrambled up.
"Waaah! Seele was so mean to me!"
"She wanted to take me to the old witch!"
Without hesitation, Evan lifted the girl off him and set her back on the ground.
Then he looked straight at Seele.
Seele stepped down from the rooftop.
She crouched and touched the Fragmentum debris on the ground with her fingers.
"The Fragmentum in Rivet Town is spreading faster and faster."
"On the way to find Hook, even streets that used to be quiet had monsters appear."
"Thankfully, this kid knew a few safe routes."
"Otherwise… it really would've been dangerous."
Despite the urgency, Seele remained calm.
That composure came from years of handling crises as part of Wildfire.
As she spoke, she collected a few usable materials from the ground and walked over to Evan.
"Rivet Town's been falling for a while now."
"No idea how much longer it can hold."
"Oh—right. When we found Hook, we recovered some medical supplies."
"But not much."
"At this point, we still need to report the situation to the boss."
Evan accepted the supplies from Seele.
After all, Rivet Town's resources weren't used only by Boulder Town residents.
Even the drifters from the Robot Settlement would sometimes return.
Sometimes on their own.
Sometimes led by Clara.
The reality of the Underworld was far harsher than anything he'd seen in-game.
Before long—
Evan carried the supplies, while Seele once again grabbed Hook by the collar.
Together, they returned to Natasha's Clinic.
Based on what he knew of the story, Evan was quite familiar with Natasha.
After the lockdown between the Overworld and Underworld,
She and a former Silvermane Guard founded Wildfire.
She handled everything from the shadows.
To the outside world, no one knew who Wildfire's true leader was—
only a few high-ranking members, like Seele.
"These medicines…"
"They're too few. They won't last long."
Natasha looked at the supplies and let out a soft sigh.
Her gaze drifted into the distance.
"And the Fragmentum crisis is getting worse."
"Yesterday it was Rivet Town."
"What about today? Tomorrow?"
"Will Boulder Town be next?"
"How much longer can we hold on?"
Seele kicked the ground irritably as she spoke.
"..."
Evan turned to look at Natasha.
Then at Seele.
And finally, at Hook—
before looking back up.
"How much do you know about the lockdown order from the Overworld?"
"Not much," Natasha replied.
"The order came too suddenly. Even some Silvermane Guards in the Underworld didn't have time to withdraw."
She paused, then looked at Evan curiously.
"Why do you ask?"
"I just want to know—haven't you considered other ways to respond?"
"With the Underworld in its current state…"
"The only real solution is to overthrow the Supreme Guardian who issued the lockdown."
"Only by removing Cocolia can we make any further decisions."
"…Huh?"
Natasha fell silent in thought.
Seele stared at Evan, completely stunned—
The look on her face is hard to describe.
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