The moment the unfamiliar voice rang out, Su Yan and Dan Heng immediately snapped their gazes toward the sound.
A figure leaping out of a snowdrift met their sight.
Dan Heng stared at the stranger, Cloud-Piercer ready at a moment’s notice.
Based on the colors and the plot, Su Yan had already guessed who it was—most likely Sampo.
“Enemy!” March 7th, reacting a fraction slower, drew her bow and aimed an arrow at Sampo.
Stelle spun a crisp 180 degrees, facing Sampo with full alertness.
At the exact same time, on the other side…
“Hey now, folks, hiding in the snow isn’t a crime, is it?
Aiming arrows at me is a bit much…”
Seeing the wary group a few meters away, Sampo put on a helpless expression, using his plight as an opening to try and communicate.
As he spoke, his eyes darted between the four of them.
*They have train tickets…*
*Confirmed.
They’re Nameless.*
While Sampo observed the trailblazing team, Su Yan, Dan Heng, Stelle, and March 7th were sizing him up in their own ways.
Stelle’s gaze swept over Sampo’s attire, her subtle eyebrows arching slightly.
*Freezing temperature, thin clothing…*
*Fluid movements, natural composure, not frozen stiff at all.*
His cold resistance far surpassed that of an ordinary person.
March 7th cared very much about Sampo’s prior behavior…
*Would a decent person hide inside a snowbank?*
Dan Heng was highly experienced and had already spotted several red flags upon seeing Sampo.
First was his outfit: wearing thin clothes while displaying high cold resistance meant he was either from a special race or a Pathstrider.
According to the records in the Express Data Bank, the locals of Jarilo-VI were a branch of ordinary humanity, unrelated to any special species.
Considering he might be a survivor in distress, Dan Heng reserved the first possibility.
Second was intuition.
He had traveled alongside the Mourning Actors for a time.
Perhaps because he had spent a long time around them, he was quite perceptive toward the aura of Elation.
The man standing before them gave off a feeling very similar to a Pathstrider of Elation.
As for Su Yan…
*Beep~*
The Information Detection Device scanned the man, displaying data on its glowing screen:
[Name: Sampo Koski] [Race: Human] [Status: Healthy] [Energy Rank: B-] [Information: Masked Fool (Mask Lost)…]
Hearing the crisp sound effect, Dan Heng, Stelle, and March 7th turned to look at Su Yan one after another, and even Sampo’s attention was drawn over.
Due to the angle, Sampo couldn’t clearly read the text on the screen.
However, Dan Heng, Stelle, and March 7th could see it clearly.
The information provided was concise, allowing the three of them to grasp the key points instantly.
Stelle looked at Sampo and raised an eyebrow.
Sampo’s smile vanished.
“…”
March 7th said in surprise, “A Masked Fool.”
Sampo’s face went blank.
“…”
Dan Heng added coldly, “Mask lost.”
His smile returning, Sampo clapped his hands.
“…Impressive!
Very impressive!
What is that, some special memory-probing tech?”
Since his cover had been blown completely, there was no need to keep acting.
Besides, even if he kept acting, the people opposite him wouldn’t believe a word and would only become more vigilant.
“Strictly speaking, it’s an Information Detection Device—a special gadget designed to gather information.
Considering memories are also information, saying it reads memories isn’t wrong.”
Su Yan stowed the Information Detection Device back into his bag and explained to Sampo, “If you’re worried about your memories being read, I can assure you that your concern is entirely redundant…”
“Uh…” Sampo hadn’t expected Su Yan to actually answer.
After a moment of silence, he said, “Thanks for the explanation!”
“Memories are private.
To avoid misunderstandings, an explanation is only proper.”
Su Yan continued his explanation, taking the opportunity to jab at Memokeepers.
“Don’t lump me together with those Memokeepers who love stealing memories.
My moral baseline is very high.”
Sampo: “…” *I sure can’t tell from looking at you.*
“…If you want to chat, do it later.
Let’s discuss other matters first.”
Stopping Su Yan from continuing his banter, Dan Heng steered the topic back.
“Masked Fool, why are you on Jarilo-VI?”
Thinking back to the detail on the screen—”Mask Lost”…
*Could he be…
looking for his mask?*
Without voicing his guess aloud, Dan Heng looked at Sampo with extreme alertness.
A Masked Fool’s mask was usually stolen from the Mourning Actors.
The fact that Sampo once possessed a mask meant he was formerly a Pathstrider of Elation wandering the cosmos.
When an Elation Pathstrider appeared on a planet corroded by a Stellaron, anyone familiar with the ways of Elation would undoubtedly suspect trouble.
“Right, right!
Out with it, what are you planning?”
March 7th, whose knowledge of Masked Fools mostly came from the net, had a rather low opinion of them to begin with.
Seeing Dan Heng start interrogating Sampo, she immediately chimed in.
“I advise you to think carefully before speaking.
My bat hurts when it hits people.”
“Don’t, don’t!
Everything’s negotiable!
Ask whatever you want to know—old Sampo guarantees to tell you everything he knows, completely and truthfully.”
Facing the glaring Nameless, Sampo chose to back down.
His initial plan could be considered a failure, and he didn’t have a backup plan ready just yet…
However…
Steadied interactions with the Nameless and building a rapport would prove useful.
“Do you know where the Stellaron is?” Dan Heng got straight to the point.
“…I do.
It’s sealed at Everwinter Hill.” Sampo glanced at Su Yan, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately chose to speak the truth.
“Which direction is Everwinter Hill, and roughly how far?” Dan Heng pressed.
Sampo raised his hand, pointing toward the snow-white mountain range in the distance.
“North-northeast, over fifty kilometers away.”
*It matches the radar’s scan…
He actually didn’t lie…*
Dan Heng was somewhat surprised, having expected the man to provide false information.
No longer standing by as Dan Heng probed the man, Su Yan intervened in the conversation: “Sampo, how much do you know about Everwinter Hill?”
“I know a bit…” To avoid alerting the target, Sampo hadn’t gone to Everwinter Hill to gather intelligence himself.
The intel was collected through other means, but its reliability was guaranteed.
“Give us the specifics.”
“The exact location of the Stellaron, the forces under its control, and its current status—I know all of it…”
Hearing this, the other three turned to look at Sampo.
To know all of that so clearly, his stay on Jarilo-VI must have been quite long.
“I want all three pieces of intel, plus a safehouse.
Name your price!”
*What a familiar line…*
Stelle commented internally.
For a second, when Su Yan uttered those words, she almost hallucinated Herta.
“You seem…
to trust me quite a bit?” Sampo’s expression turned odd.
He, a Masked Fool, was actually being trusted so readily by the other party?
Generally speaking, the label attached to a Masked Fool across the cosmos was “untrustworthy.”
If someone was willing to trust a Masked Fool, it either meant they were extremely familiar with Masked Fools they knew, or it meant they had a way to force a Masked Fool to keep his word…
Whether it was the former or the latter, to Sampo it signified one thing: he was about to be “promoted” from a backstage stagehand to an actor on stage, co-starring in a play with the Nameless…
*Step onto the stage and perform?
That works too…*
Without a trace of resistance, Sampo silently stared at Su Yan, deep in thought…
*An unexpected player outside the script…*