Returning to the entrance of the clinic, Su Yan went back to farming favorability.
As long as the favorability kept rising, he would keep distributing supplies…
March 7th, Stelle, and Seele went into the kitchen together to give Natasha a hand.
Cooking a meal for seven people all by herself would not only be exhausting for Natasha, but it would also take quite a while.
Dan Heng and Oleg planned to discuss the details further, doing their best to ensure the mission’s success…
Or at least, that was how things were supposed to go.
Once Su Yan took his dedicated seat beside the Matter Conversion Device, the supply exchange business reopened.
Rusted scrap iron, depleted Geomarrow, rotten and broken door frames…
Processed through the Matter Conversion Device, all sorts of discarded junk turned into neatly stacked metal ingots, wooden blocks, clean rolls of cloth, and more.
Watching the matter conversion process once again, the miners handing in their scrap let out envious gasps.
Muttering things like “Off-world tech is utterly ridiculous” and “If only we had one of those…”, a sour air of jealousy spread across the distribution area.
Some entertained even bigger ideas, wanting to buy the Matter Conversion Device outright.
Before anyone could summon the courage to ask, however, Seele was seen rushing over to Su Yan’s side.
In the Underworld, Seele commanded immense intimidation.
Whenever vagrants or miners stirred up trouble, it was always Seele who quelled them.
Most of the vagrants and a fair portion of the miners had tasted her fists, while the rest had at least witnessed someone getting beaten black and blue.
Thus, the instant Seele appeared, most people immediately fell dead silent, their eyes locked onto her.
As for Su Yan…
seeing Seele hurry up in front of him, he looked equally perplexed.
“Sampo brought back a heap of trouble.
Come inside with me…” With that, Seele grasped Su Yan’s wrist and pulled him into the clinic.
*Sampo, trouble…*
Locking onto those keywords, Su Yan already had a guess as to what this trouble was.
Stepping into the clinic and seeing an unconscious Bronya lying quietly on a bed, Su Yan thought to himself, *Just as I expected.*
“Sampo, why did you kidnap her and bring her to the Underworld?” Seeing Su Yan enter, Seele shut the clinic door behind them, and Natasha began her “interrogation” of Sampo.
Or rather, she was giving Sampo a chance to explain himself.
After all, both she and the Underworld were indebted to Sampo’s kindness—meaning Sampo had provided various medicines and precious supplies either free of charge or at rock-bottom prices.
A favor received was a favor remembered.
Once Natasha spoke up, Oleg and Seele remained silent, waiting for Sampo’s explanation.
Dan Heng wasn’t the least bit surprised.
If a Masked Fool *wasn’t* causing trouble, that would be the real cause for concern.
After all…
whenever a Masked Fool went quiet, they were definitely cooking up something wicked—preparing a “big one.”
March 7th and Stelle were observing Bronya. Get faster updates on g.com.
Judging by her attire and immaculate appearance, Bronya and the Underworld folk were worlds apart; the difference was night and day.
Having already deduced Sampo’s “plan,” Su Yan didn’t bother listening to his explanation.
Instead, he walked over to Bronya and used his Information Detection Device to scan her current status:
[Anesthetized, Unconscious…]
After pondering briefly, Su Yan decided to craft the “Compulsory Awakening Divine Machine.” The inspiration for this item came from a fan parody—one of a certain celestial’s creations—which could forcefully awaken any unconscious living being or mechanical unit.
“Wait, Su Yan, what are you doing?!”
Before Sampo could even begin to explain, March 7th’s voice rang out, causing Sampo to swallow his words and turn his gaze aside.
And then…
the sight of Su Yan holding a baseball bat, aiming at Bronya, and getting ready to swing flashed into Sampo’s vision.
“???” Innumerable question marks popped across Sampo’s face.
Reflexively reaching out a hand, he yelled in a panic, “Wait!
Pal, what the heck are you doing?!”
The others looked equally baffled.
*We, the oppressed ones, haven’t even said anything yet, so why are you the one panicking so hard…?*
“Don’t panic.
I’m just trying to wake her up.” Su Yan took a step sideways to dodge March 7th’s hand reaching to snatch the bat and explained to everyone, “This bat might look ordinary, but it’s actually a Curio.
Its effect is to forcefully wake up anyone who’s unconscious…”
“Oh, so it’s a Curio!” March 7th’s attitude flipped instantly.
Su Yan’s reputation for possessing all kinds of odd Curios was already deeply ingrained in their minds; she didn’t doubt it for a second, her train of thought smoothly transitioning to another angle.
“Still, if its effect is to forcefully wake people up, why does it look like a baseball bat…?”
“I feel like the Compulsory Awakening Divine Machine is made for me…” Stelle raised her own bat.
“Forced slumber in one hand, forced awakening in the other.
Just thinking about it sounds so cool…”
“Are you a demon or something?” March 7th stared at Stelle speechlessly.
“No, I’m a Trailblazer!” Stelle retorted.
“Stelle’s suggestion is quite good.
If Sampo fails to give us a convincing reason, let him experience it for an hour.” Dan Heng didn’t bother lowering his voice, so Sampo, standing barely a meter away, heard every single word crystal clear.
Sampo: “…” *Pal, you’ve got ice in your veins!*
Paying no mind to their reactions, Su Yan raised the bat once more and swung it down.
With a light sound like a gentle flick to the forehead, Bronya opened her eyes, only to see three strangers staring down at her with wide, gleaming eyes.
“It actually works…” Stelle was amazed.
“That was fast…” March 7th was equally surprised.
“Maybe I can tweak its effect a bit,” Su Yan mused, examining the bat.
The incomprehensible chatter quickly snapped Bronya out of her daze, and the memory of what happened right before she passed out rushed back.
Smoke, anesthetic, loss of consciousness…
Without a second thought, Bronya executed a clean side roll, landing on the far side of the bed to face Su Yan across it.
“Who are you?
Why did you kidnap me?”
“Don’t jump to conclusions, we’re all upstanding citizens!
The kidnapping was all Sampo’s doing…” Su Yan flatly refused to take the blame, immediately throwing the culprit under the bus and pointing to the side.
“Look!
He’s right over there.
You can ask him why he kidnapped you!
As a matter of fact, we’d like to know too…”
“Ah, haha…” Sampo gave an awkward chuckle upon hearing that, playing along with Su Yan’s lead.
“Actually, I was just trying to help.
Having the heir apparent to the Supreme Guardian on our side will make sealing the Stellaron much easier, won’t it?”
“Heh!
Take a wild guess whether I believe you…” Seele sneered.
Having seen Sampo swindle people before, she knew full well his mouth was filled with lies and barely a word of truth.
Natasha, on the other hand, had already figured it out.
She said to Sampo, “Next time, if you plan to do something, remember to let us know in advance.”
Oleg had also guessed why Sampo abducted her.
Dan Heng was no exception; scanning with his Information Detection Device and checking her status, he informed the others, “She hasn’t been bewitched.”
Hearing that, Seele and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
Sampo seized the opportunity to add an explanation: “I only dared to ‘invite’ her down to the Underworld knowing full well we had such a miraculous tool in our hands.”
The group outright ignored Sampo’s words.
Oleg volunteered, “Leave convincing her to me!
Seele, come with me.”
With that, the three of them left the clinic.
Su Yan returned to the outside of the clinic, while the rest headed into the kitchen to help wash and chop vegetables…