Chapter 27: Furia’s “Gift”

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“Welcome home, Daddy!”

The moment the shelter gates opened, a petite girl eagerly threw herself into Hank’s arms.

The gloom that had weighed upon the man’s face throughout the journey, as though beneath a sky of gray mist, suddenly dispersed from his eyes, replaced by a tenderness radiant as the morning sun.

“Wendy…”

He gently patted the girl’s back. “We have a guest. Don’t be rude.”

Cradled in Hank’s arms, the girl blinked.

She wore a spotless white dress, without a trace of grime, and her fair skin showed that she had clearly been very well cared for.

Her slightly curled, chestnut-brown hair brushed her shoulders. Wendy rested against Hank’s chest and drew in a soft breath before her tense body finally relaxed.

She lifted her head and looked toward the young man nearby.

“You must be Brother Mowen, right?”

“Brother Lander told me about you. If it weren’t for you, Daddy would have… Anyway, thank you so much.”

“I made this flower crown myself. I wanted to give it to you.”

Looking at the flower crown the girl held out, Mowen smiled warmly. “Thank you. I like it very much.”

“Little Wendy, is it? I hope that from this day forward, your life will be as beautiful and captivating as this flower crown.”

“Heehee.” The girl happily narrowed her eyes.

Watching Hank and his daughter leave, Mowen felt conflicted.

A pure and lovable child like her should have been growing up in an environment filled with happiness. Yet because of the puppet rebellion, she could do nothing but hide away in this “garbage dump.”

Mowen shook his head. Feeling the fatigue in his spirit grow heavier by the moment, he knew that he was not far from waking from the dream.

He had already confirmed as much with Furiya.

Time was pressing. Mowen quickly made his way to the great furnace district, where he found Lady Sophia and Miss Anna standing side by side, apparently discussing something.

“Lucky me.”

Mowen was secretly delighted.

With both of them here, he was spared the trouble of searching for them separately.

Hearing his footsteps, Sophia looked up. “Mr. Mowen, you’re back so soon? Did something happen? You and Hank weren’t injured, were you?”

She hurried toward him, her eyes filled with concern.

Less than an hour had passed since the two of them left.

Once the time spent traveling there and back was deducted, they had been gone for less than half an hour.

Had they really dealt with every patrol-soldier puppet stationed around the old aristocratic warehouse in half an hour?

The only possible explanation was that something unexpected had happened to them.

As Sophia approached, a faint fragrance drifted toward him. Mowen shook his head and briefly explained, “The old aristocratic warehouse has been cleared.”

“But during the operation, we discovered a Type II military puppet. From it, I obtained a box from the Alchemy Tower.”

“So I came to ask whether you know how to open it.”

Sophia stared at the wooden box he held out and froze for a moment.

“You dealt with it so quickly…”

For a time, she did not know whether to be more astonished by Mowen’s strength or by his efficiency.

Several seconds passed before Sophia recovered. She took the box and examined it carefully, her brows drawing together slightly. “It is indeed a product of the Alchemy Tower. As for how to open it…”

“If you trust me, you can leave it with me for now. I’ll need to study it.”

“There’s no reason not to trust you.” Mowen answered without hesitation.

Quite apart from the fact that he was about to wake from the dream and could not take the sealed box with him, Sophia had built the shelter and protected the refugees. Her character alone was reason enough to trust her.

“If I discover anything, I’ll let you know at once.” Being trusted brought a smile to Sophia’s face.

“Then I’ll leave it to you.” Mowen nodded, then turned toward Anna. “There’s one more thing.”

“Miss Anna, I removed these from the shield of that Type II military puppet. Could you see whether they can be used to strengthen a weapon?”

“A small Rust Essence Stone that has solidified?” Anna took the nearly transparent, irregular crystal and nodded firmly. “At this quality, they can. As it happens, I know a formula that can use Rust Essence Stones to strengthen a weapon in a specific way.”

“How many do you have?”

“I managed to pry off four in total,” Mowen replied.

“Four… That should barely be enough.” Anna took the long sword and the Rust Essence Stones. “The reinforcement will take one day. Come back tomorrow, around this time.”

With the two important matters settled, Mowen finally relaxed.

The fatigue in his mind was becoming increasingly intense, causing faint double images to appear before his eyes. Sophia seemed to want to say something else, but Mowen no longer had time to listen.

He waved at the two women. “…I’m a little tired. I’m going back to my room to rest.”

“Oh, and while I’m resting, make absolutely certain that no one enters my room.”

Leaving them with those words, Mowen turned and hurried back to his room, leaving Sophia standing there with her mouth slightly open.

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“Bang.”

After closing the door, Mowen staggered.

Forcing himself to endure the fatigue was excruciating. At that moment, he felt as though he had stayed awake for two full nights. The slightest relaxation of his eyes would cause them to close, plunging him into a dead sleep.

Frelia had already left ahead of him, so there was no need for him to worry about the girl’s safety.

Mowen struggled to reach the bed and lie down.

He closed his eyes.

In the next instant, an overwhelmingly powerful buoyancy rose from beneath him, carrying his consciousness toward the luminous surface of the sea of thought.

…

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The Black Beast, Dream Chamber.

The former captain’s quarters had been remodeled by Julia into a silver-white metal room brimming with futuristic technology.

At the center of the cabin stood a metal pod filled with pale-blue astral fluid.

Frelia’s eyelashes trembled before she slowly opened her eyes.

Her pupils were unfocused and filled with confusion, but she quickly regained her composure.

“What happened?”

The moment she awoke, she sensed that something was wrong.

In the past, Frelia had known everything that “she” experienced during the time she was free.

But this time, her mind was a complete blank. She could remember nothing.

“Did something go wrong with the dream-entry experiment?”

“Or was it caused by the influence of the forbidden object over in the Principality of Mein?”

After swiftly analyzing the factors that might have caused this, Frelia exhaled softly. Then she suddenly noticed something unusual.

Something seemed to be pressed against her front, causing her abundant figure to deform severely beneath the pressure.

She lowered her head in silence and saw the back of a young man’s head lying against her.

A murderous intent suddenly appeared in her calm eyes.

But she soon discovered that the young man was still in a dream-entry state.

Without making any visible movement, she used an invisible force to press Mowen’s body directly beneath the liquid. Then she rose to her feet, droplets sliding down her smooth dream-entry suit.

Her icy voice echoed through the room.

“Julia, don’t tell me you did this.”

“You misunderstand me.” Julia, standing not far away in a white lab coat, adjusted the frames perched on the bridge of her nose before bowing respectfully. “In fact, the reason you were holding him was because your own unconscious self within the dream did it.”

“As a demigod, even while entering a dream, any influence imposed upon you by an outsider would cause you to break free from the dream instantly.”

“…”

Frelia fell silent.

Of course she knew that.

If not, given her temperament, Julia would no longer have been standing there speaking to her.

Several seconds later, the enchantress’s lush, vivid-red lips curved faintly upward.

This prank-like behavior gave her an idea.

“So this is the ‘gift’ you gave me?”

“Furiya…”