Nero lowered his gaze, looking down at Sampo, who had been slapped to the ground by him.
Sampo was lying face-down on the ground, twitching slightly.
This thing turning into Sampo was done with pretty decent technique. You could say that aside from not quite being right, it looked pretty convincing in most ways.
Those yellow eyeballs aside, this thing turning into Sampo and even matching his height made Nero feel like his intelligence had been insulted.
Turning his head, he had thought for a moment that he was looking at some big-headed doll.
The way this thing behaved left Nero speechless. All of a sudden, he didn't really feel like capturing these unknown creatures to use as labor anymore.
When Nero turned back to look at 'March 7th' behind the iron gate, the other side was still in the same dazed state as before.
About thirty seconds later, 'March 7th' suddenly became agitated. Her egg-sized face turned bright red as she stretched out both hands, grabbing the iron bars of the gate and shaking them nonstop.
'March 7th' seemed to suddenly go mad, continuously exerting herself and smashing her head against the iron gate.
As it slammed into the gate, it shouted, "I know! I know! I know who you are!
"You are... you are... you are Nero! You are a Xianzhou person! You...
"Uh... you... ahhh! What are you? What kind of thing are you?!"
Suddenly, 'March 7th' let out a sharp, piercing, miserable scream. Then it turned and ran, rushing into the alley, and very quickly disappeared from Nero's sight.
After 'March 7th' vanished from view, Nero turned and observed his surroundings.
The scream 'March 7th' had just made was not quiet at all, and was especially ear-piercing, but from the look of things now, it didn't seem to have caused any reaction nearby. It was as if no one at all had heard her scream.
Of course, Nero didn't think this was because the buildings in Belobog had good soundproofing. Based on what he had seen earlier, he made a deduction, 'So... these creatures that seem able to read memories and perform not-very-professional mimicry apparently can't access my memories from before I came to the Honkai: Star Rail world... and then this thing got scared because its ability, which had always worked flawlessly, suddenly failed'
'And its screams seem to be audible only to me. Other people can't hear it, and they can't see it either. In other people's eyes, even this little alley is just a solid wall.'
'Is that because I was treated as its prey? But judging from how fast it ran away, this thing's physical abilities are actually pretty decent... feels like if it were tamed, it really could be used as labor.'
Nero's original intention remained unchanged.
However, since 'March 7th' had already escaped, there didn't seem to be anything worth worrying about here anymore. Might as well go back to the hotel.
Nero was also planning to talk with Tingyun about Rift creature supplies. Talking business definitely meant getting someone knowledgeable like Tingyun to help out.
If he really went to negotiate by himself, he might truly end up like Herta said, sold out by someone else and still saying thank you.
That said, the Sampo under his feet could be taken back for use in taming experiments.
Just as Nero was preparing to take Sampo back to the Goethe Hotel, he suddenly saw a figure walking out from the darkness deep in the street.
This person's steps were light and drifting, cautious, and looked sneaky.
The person moved very fast, sometimes hiding their figure in the darkness, sometimes ducking into trash bins, and deliberately avoiding the light whenever moving.
Most importantly, even while moving this quickly, he didn't make a single sound from his footsteps.
Finally, the person drew close.
It was Sampo, and the real one.
After sneaking out of the Silvermane Guards' prison, Sampo had planned to find Nero to collect the money that belonged to his share.
After all, it was his own loot. What was wrong with taking some for himself?
Besides, this was something he had already agreed on with Nero.
After leaving the prison, relying on his own methods, he found out where the Trailblazer squad was staying, and then rushed over without delay.
He had originally planned to sneak into the Goethe Hotel to find Nero, but unexpectedly ran into this little colleague outside instead.
'Ah! This little colleague is quite considerate!'
He even came outside on purpose to wait for him, just to save him some trouble.
Sampo didn't seem to have much of a memory for lessons learned, but there was nothing he could do, he was always extra lenient toward kids.
As Sampo walked toward Nero, he narrowed his eyes.
His gaze shifted slightly, landing beside Nero, where someone was lying on the ground, someone who also looked like a kid.
'This little colleague got into a fight with other kids on his very first day?'
'He didn't beat the other kid to death, did he?'
'Or is he using this thing for entertainment?'
Sampo's mood suddenly turned unpleasant. He didn't really want the little colleague's pleasures to be as unrestrained as Sparkle's.
Sampo craned his neck and suddenly felt that something wasn't right.
That person next to the little colleague... why did they look so familiar?
Look at those clothes. Look at that dark blue hair.
'That's basically me!'
After seeing Sampo, Nero stayed where he was, obediently waiting for him to come over.
"Nero, long time no see. Were you specially waiting here for Sampo?" Sampo greeted him once he got close.
"No." Nero shook his head.
"I came out to take care of something and was just about to head back. I happened to see you coming over, so I waited here."
"Oh... I see..."
Sampo seemed to instantly become a bit downcast, but who knew whether he was just acting?
Nero reached into his pocket, took out the twenty-five Winter City Shields, and handed them to Sampo.
"Here. Your half."
Sampo took the Winter City Shields and counted them, discovering there were only twenty-five.
"Why are there only twenty-five? Didn't Sampo drop two hundred coins?"
Nero spread his hands. "No way around it. After splitting two hundred four ways, each person only gets fifty. I can only give you half of mine."
Sampo narrowed his eyes and stared into Nero's eyes. "Really?"
Nero nodded. "Really."
He didn't look the slightest bit guilty or like he was lying. Although he did indeed have thoughts of screwing Sampo over, what he said was all true.
Then, after thinking for a moment, Nero said to Sampo, "It's not easy for me to go ask the others for their Winter City Shields. If you think this is too little, I can give you my remaining twenty-five too?"
Sampo looked down at Nero.
Nero also looked up at Sampo.
The two of them stared at each other like that for a while.
Experience told Sampo that this little colleague was definitely setting him up, but no matter how he observed, he couldn't find any evidence on the other's face.
All he could see on Nero's face was innocence and concern... as if, if he really felt it was too little, this kid would genuinely give him his remaining twenty-five Winter City Shields too.
Nero didn't care about these few Winter City Shields, so if Sampo really wanted them, he really could give them.
Of course, the prerequisite was having to go ask Teacher Dan Heng for them, and he might get scolded by Teacher Dan Heng.
After staring at each other for a few seconds, Sampo squatted down and picked out fifteen Winter City Shields from his hand, returning them to Nero.
"No need. Sampo taking ten is enough. You can use the rest to buy milk and ice cream for yourself."
Nero smiled. "Thank you."
Sampo really was a good person.
Sampo was as good a person as someone like himself, who never lies...
After settling the loot-splitting issue, Sampo brought up another matter he was interested in.
"So, what were you doing out here in the middle of the night? And also... this guy next to you..."
Looking at that "kid" who looked so much like himself, a subtle feeling rose in Sampo's heart.