"Anyway, just like Stelle, Sunday kept insisting I was his dad, so there wasn't really anything I could do about it. You know me—I just have a soft spot."
At Kafka's question, Lucian simply shook his head with an exaggerated sigh, wearing a completely innocent expression as though he had been forced into the situation against his own will.
Seizing the opportunity, Kafka smiled teasingly, the corners of her lips curling upward with unmistakable amusement.
"Since you have such a soft heart, when are you going to approve the Stellaron Hunters' application to join you?"
"We'll see..." Lucian replied lazily before casually raising a finger. "At least the way you acted today put me in a good mood, so your favorability went up by one."
Needless to say, his answer made one thing perfectly clear—he still had no intention of accepting the Stellaron Hunters.
Kafka simply couldn't figure this man out.
One moment, he was enthusiastically trying to matchmake two men together for his own amusement, casually bringing the dead back to life without asking for anything in return, making himself seem unbelievably easygoing and approachable.
Yet the very next moment, when they practically offered themselves up and sincerely asked to join him, he politely turned them away again and again, always with a different excuse.
From what he had said, they still had to make him even happier before he would even consider accepting the Stellaron Hunters.
A group of lunatics who had roamed the cosmos without fearing anyone, leaving countless worlds in chaos wherever they appeared, was now being wrapped completely around Lucian's finger.
'Really...'
Kafka felt utterly helpless.
Lucian was the only person capable of interfering with Elio's plans, and more importantly, none of them could actually defeat him. Faced with someone like that, there was no point in resisting. All they could do was accept reality and adapt to it.
"Alright. I'll tell Elio the good news. Even gaining one point of favorability is worth celebrating."
For once, Kafka no longer carried her usual lofty arrogance or faint impatience. Instead, her voice became surprisingly gentle, and she displayed an uncommon level of patience. Aside from Stelle, Lucian was only the second person she considered worthy of treating that way.
Without saying anything else, Kafka rose gracefully from her seat, walked to one side of the room, and placed a call to Elio.
[Kafka. How did it go? How much of the script has changed?]
"Hmm... all the key characters are gathered at Lucian's house now, and there's no boss and no villain anymore. Well, the good news is that he has a lot of influence within the Alliance, so Stelle can receive the Hunt's assistance through his connections."
[Yeah, that works too. Even though the process is different, the result I wanted is more or less the same. It's not a major problem.]
Elio sounded unexpectedly calm, as though such a deviation had already fallen within the range of outcomes he could accept.
"Actually, there's another piece of news regarding Penacony..." Kafka paused briefly before continuing. "Sunday has become Lucian's beloved son."
[Uh... you're saying Lucian has already gotten this deeply involved in Penacony? He even took the leader for himself? Good grief...]
"What?"
Kafka blinked, momentarily confused by Elio's strange reaction.
[Nothing. I mean, SAM should still make a trip to Penacony according to the script. Have her make contact with him, and with Stelle as well. Her wish will probably be fulfilled in Penacony.]
"Alright." Kafka nodded slightly. "Well, the road ahead is smooth anyway. We just have to follow him and enjoy the leftovers."
After ending the call, even Kafka couldn't stop the corners of her lips from curling upward into a faint smile.
'Fufu. Following Lucian around and enjoying the leftovers doesn't sound bad at all. It'll leave me with more time to do the things I actually want.'
Honestly, the more she thought about it, the more appealing that arrangement seemed.
===
"SAM, you don't need to read the Penacony script anymore. When the time comes, just adapt to whatever happens."
At the Stellaron Hunters' hideout, Elio turned toward Firefly with unusual seriousness.
"Has the next script also been heavily disrupted by Lucian? What about my three deaths...?"
Looking at the black cat before her, Firefly asked hesitantly, unable to hide the uncertainty in her voice.
"I can't promise you anything about that anymore," Elio admitted honestly. "My suggestion is to ask him for help... or ask Stelle..."
Firefly rarely voiced complaints, but this time she couldn't help making a quiet remark.
"Before, you kept telling us not to approach him. Now you're the one telling us to stick close to him. It's... really strange..."
"Back then, I believed I had already seen everything, but reality proved otherwise..."
Elio spoke helplessly, looking powerless.
"I hadn't seen anything at all. Lucian can alter a predetermined fate as casually as breathing. Even Nous the Erudition cannot restrain him. If that's the case, then the only way for us to turn passivity into initiative is to follow behind him."
He spoke with complete seriousness, as though the fate of the entire universe truly rested upon that single conclusion.
"..."
Firefly stared silently at the black cat for a brief moment before giving a quiet nod.
"Mm. I understand."
Deep down, however, her thoughts had already drifted elsewhere.
She hoped Lucian could grant her a miracle.
She hoped he could cure her Entropy Loss Syndrome and allow her to live with the lifespan of an ordinary person instead of being trapped by the cruel fate that had followed her since birth.
For that wish, she was willing to pay any price.
===
Back on the Xianzhou Luofu, the brief interruption soon faded into the background as everyone returned to preparing for the party, the lively atmosphere quickly recovering as though nothing unusual had happened.
Blade, however, found himself growing increasingly uncomfortable.
The main reason was Dan Feng, who kept glancing at him with an indescribably complicated look in his eyes. Every time their gazes met, Blade felt even more restless than before, as though those silent looks carried countless unspoken thoughts.
Unable to endure it any longer, Blade decided to find somewhere quiet where he could be alone for a while.
He eventually wandered into the warehouse behind the courtyard, intending to look for some maintenance supplies so he could polish and maintain his Shard Sword while clearing his mind.
To his surprise, the warehouse was packed with all kinds of miscellaneous treasures.
Precious artifacts, rare collectibles, unusual relics—almost anything one could imagine had been carefully categorized and neatly stored away there. There were even several Aurumatons preserved as part of Lucian's ever-growing collection.
"Lucian really is something. He can get his hands on anything."
"And of all things, that troublemaker actually resurrected Dan Feng just to mess with me."
"If I ever get the chance, I'll throw Dan Feng onto his bed and see who's disgusted then."
Even though he muttered those words in an openly irritated tone, much to Blade's own surprise, he actually found himself looking forward to seeing that scene unfold.
What he failed to notice was that someone as perpetually gloomy and taciturn as himself would normally never entertain such ridiculous thoughts. Yet once the idea had appeared in his mind, it stubbornly refused to disappear, lingering there no matter how much he tried to ignore it.
Unfortunately, Lucian had the Law of Calamity activated, so Blade was doomed from the very beginning.
"Premium essential oil... Perfect. I'll use it to maintain my sword."
Since everything here belonged to Lucian, Blade saw no reason to hold back.
Standing on tiptoe, he stretched his arm toward the small bottle resting on the highest shelf. Just as his fingertips were about to brush against the glass, his foot suddenly landed on something round beneath him.
In that instant, his footing disappeared completely.
"Ugh!"
Blade lurched forward as his entire body lost balance. His instincts reacted immediately, and he reached out to grab the nearby shelf before he could fall.
Although he managed to catch hold of it, the momentum twisted his body sideways, sending him directly into the narrow gap between two stacked wooden crates.
He became firmly wedged there in an absurdly awkward position, with his upper body bent forward, his hips raised high into the air, and one leg twisted at an uncomfortable angle between the tightly packed crates, leaving him completely unable to free himself.
As if that humiliation weren't enough, his desperate grab had shaken the shelf so violently that a heavy toolbox perched on the top shelf began wobbling dangerously.
It was about to fall.
Just then, a pair of hands suddenly reached out and caught the toolbox, steadying it before it could come crashing down.
It was Dan Feng.
He had happened to come looking for some materials, hoping Blade could forge another Cloud-Piercer for him. Hearing the loud commotion coming from the warehouse, he hurried over just in time to witness the dangerous situation.
Blade painfully twisted his head around, and the moment he realized it was Dan Feng standing behind him, his already sour expression darkened even further.
"Let go! I don't need your help!"
Ignoring the obvious stubbornness in Blade's voice, Dan Feng carefully set the toolbox aside before turning his full attention back to him.
Looking at Blade trapped so tightly between the crates in such an embarrassingly awkward posture, he couldn't help letting out a quiet, helpless sigh.
"Don't struggle. I'll help you out."
Unfortunately, the gap had trapped Blade in an unbelievably unfortunate way. Every attempt Blade made to free himself only lodged him even deeper between the crates, making the situation progressively worse.
It simply made no sense.
Blade might not have been invincible, but he was unquestionably one of the finest swordsmen alive. Someone with his speed, agility, and combat instincts should never have become trapped in such a ridiculous predicament.
Both Blade and Dan Feng found the entire situation strangely suspicious, yet neither of them noticed anything unusual.
Everything around them appeared perfectly ordinary.
After silently examining the situation for a moment, Dan Feng finally spoke.
"Relax. I'll hold your waist and see if I can pull you out."
"..."
Pull him out?
Before Blade could even object, Dan Feng had already bent down and slipped his arms beneath Blade's shoulders before wrapping them securely around his chest and waist.
Tightening his grip little by little, Dan Feng gradually began applying force in an attempt to pull Blade free from between the crates.
"STOP!"
Blade felt his face burning with humiliation.
At this moment, Dan Feng's chest was pressed firmly against his back. Warm breaths occasionally brushed against the side of his neck, and those powerful arms remained wrapped tightly around his body as Dan Feng steadily tried to pull him free.
Dan Feng himself felt equally helpless.
Blade was wedged far too tightly for ordinary methods to work. Every pull only shifted him a tiny bit before the crates stubbornly trapped him once again.
"Stop squirming! Work with me!"
Viewed from the doorway, however, the entire scene looked completely different.
Dan Feng appeared to be hugging Blade tightly from behind while Blade remained bent over with his hips raised high. Both men were exerting themselves with all their strength, forcing their bodies into close contact, and the effort naturally caused them to sway together ever so slightly.
To any unsuspecting spectator, the scene was far too suggestive for anyone's peace of mind, making it almost impossible not to misunderstand what was happening.
And naturally—
"Yep, the grill's in the warehouse. Let's carry it together."
Baiheng's cheerful voice accompanied the sound of the warehouse door swinging open.
In the next instant, however, her cheerful greeting abruptly transformed into a startled gasp.
"Wha—?!"
Behind her stood Jingliu, Kafka, and Silver Wolf.
"..."
"Oh, my..."
"Holy—!"
===
[A bonus chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]
[Support and get early access to upcoming chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]