Sampo naturally became the laborer. After Bronya and Stelle left, he followed Nero and finished setting up the tripwire mines in the corridors of the Goethe Grand Hotel.
After that, Nero placed the Flamespawn hand warmer in the middle. Everything was exactly the same as his original plan.
Up to now, Mr. Cold Feet was still completely confused and had no idea what Nero was trying to do.
The actual situation was… after learning that the flying sword and the special event would be arriving together, Nero was a bit too excited to sleep. On top of that, the system had also told him to start paying attention to his surroundings…
However, the current results still left him rather disappointed.
But special events weren't like the snow on Jarilo-VI, where you could see it everywhere at a glance.
At least, Nero's mindset was still pretty good.
"I'm telling you, little ancestor, this setup of yours… it's got something to it! If you put something even more dangerous in the middle as a Fragmentum creation, I'm afraid even old Sampo would get caught!"
Sampo said as he looked at Nero's arrangement.
"Right? I think so too."
Nero raised his head and looked at the dragnet he had laid out.
Considering that there might be flying enemies or crawling types like Spider-Man, he hadn't just set traps on the ground.
After that, Nero clapped his hands and looked at Sampo. "Let's go. This is about enough. Let's head into the Fragmentum and take a look."
Sampo blinked. "Huh? We're still not resting?!"
"Come on. Maybe we can catch a few Fragmentum creatures like corgis," Nero said as he turned and walked away. "Besides, when I called you, didn't you reply right away? You weren't asleep anyway."
Sampo, "…But I was woken up by you!"
As he spoke, Sampo took out his phone and held it in front of Nero.
On it, you could see a whole string of messages Nero had sent.
[Little Colleague: Sampo!]
[Little Colleague: Mr. Cold Feet!!]
[Little Colleague: Old Sampo!!!]
[Little Colleague: Hey!]
[Little Colleague: Sampo ah!]
[Little Colleague: Sampo, are you asleep?!]
[Little Colleague: I've got something to ask you!]
Nero looked at the chat log and said, "Didn't you reply to me?"
"I…" Sampo was a bit at a loss for words. "Is it possible that I had already gone to sleep, and you woke me up by bombarding me with messages like artillery fire?"
Nero squinted at Sampo's fox eyes, which showed no dark circles at all. "Do you think I believe that?"
Sampo chuckled. "Little ancestor, let old Sampo go back to sleep, I'm begging you."
Nero shook his head, indicating that Sampo still wasn't asleep.
He wasn't about to believe Sampo's excuses. Anyway, Mr. Cold Feet was idle whether he slept or not, and his stage didn't need tending for the time being. He might as well accompany him to catch some Fragmentum creatures.
In the end, old Sampo still went out hunting together with Nero.
During the process, to increase the success rate of the hunt, they even brought Sampo Korgi out as bait.
However, the results weren't very encouraging.
Even with Sampo Korgi as bait, the two of them failed to catch any similar Fragmentum creatures on the lower-district side.
Rivet Town, a town in the lower district that had been eroded and polluted by the Fragmentum.
At this moment, Sampo Koski, Sampo Korgi, and Nero were standing on a street in this town.
All around them were the corpses of Fragmentum creatures.
Nero stood with his hands on his hips, his expression not very happy.
"Why didn't we run into even one? Are these Fragmentum creatures that can be used as labor some kind of specialty of the upper district…?"
Sampo looked somewhat helpless. "Looks like it. After all, there are more Silvermane Guards up there, and they're better trained. For Fragmentum creatures, maybe this kind of mimicry is actually more convenient for infiltration."
"If that's the case, then we'll just have to do fixed captures in the upper district in the future. That's fine too."
Nero sighed and didn't think too much about it.
Then, just as he was thinking it was about time to withdraw, a wave of scorching heat suddenly surged from behind him.
Turning around, he saw a mass of burning flames, like an eternal blazing sun, crashing down toward them.
That enormous fireball rolled forward, its temperature as high as fragments of a star. As it approached, the ground, and the corpses of Fragmentum creatures on it, began to visibly melt.
Sampo Korgi was so frightened that it jumped up.
Sampo, however, stepped forward. A short blade flipped into his hand as he twisted his body and brought it down in a vertical slash.
The momentum of this strike was like thunder, the force of cutting wind layered like waves flipping blossoms.
A cold flash of light streaked a thousand miles. The fireball in front of them instantly collapsed, surging to both sides and scorching the earth, before quickly disappearing without causing any major destruction.
Nero and Sampo's gazes passed through the scattered sparks, and in the end, they saw a dark-red monster.
That thing floated in midair, nearly four meters long, massive in size, radiating an oppressive heat. The outer carapace burned with flames like a Stellaron, and the temperature felt as though approaching it would turn you into ashes on the spot.
Old Sampo recognized it at a glance. "Flame of the Outer Universe…"
Immediately after, he turned back to Nero and said, "Little ancestor, be careful and keep your distance. This thing's body temperature is extremely high. That layer of fire on the outside can instantly scorch several meteors without a problem."
"Very high temperature?" Nero took a step forward and began muttering to himself, "Thermal power generation… energy conversion…"
Finally, Nero raised his head and looked at the Flame of the Outer Universe with shining eyes. "Good stuff!"
———
Stelle and Bronya chatted and took a walk at the same time. As they were walking along a small path, they suddenly heard Seele's voice.
"…How long can you hold out with the supplies you have on hand?"
"…That was… Seele's voice?"
Bronya was slightly startled, then quickened her pace. Stelle hurried to follow.
After leaving the small path, Stelle and Bronya saw Seele and Natasha talking.
"…I understand," Seele said. "Then I'll make a trip to Rivet Town and help you get the things back."
Natasha said worriedly, "Going alone is too risky. Let Oleg send someone with you?"
Seele shook her head and rejected the suggestion.
"Uncle and the others haven't slept for several days. Let them rest first. Forcing themselves to go won't help me anyway, just slow me down."
"Besides, didn't you say it yourself? Some miners are seriously injured. Time is life…"
At that point, the two of them turned their heads together toward the direction the footsteps were coming from, and thus saw Stelle and Bronya approaching.
Full of energy, Stelle smiled and said, "We came at just the right time."
Seele turned around and first asked Stelle, "Weren't you resting? Why are you out at this hour?" Then she turned to look at Bronya, crossed her arms, and said, "…You're not up to anything bad, are you?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I came out for a walk. Please withdraw your baseless accusation," Bronya said.
"Hmph, then go take your walk somewhere else..." Seele said.
Stelle looked left, then right, her gaze constantly moving between Seele's and Bronya's faces.
Suddenly, she didn't know why, but inspiration struck. It felt as if she had heard a revelation from a god. She took out her phone and turned on the recording function.
[T/N: There's a monthly discount ongoing on my P@treon page for the next three days. You can get 20% off on your membership. Enjoy~
p@treon. cum/AmbitiousTranslator ]