The sun was about to sink below the horizon, and the entirety of Sixth Street was dyed in a layer of orange afterglow.
People who had worked all day were tired; most went to General Chop’s for ramen, or to grab a coffee or play a few games at the arcade.
“Ding-Ling-Ling—” “Meow~” As the doorbell rang, Senti heard a cat’s meow.
Turning her head, she saw Shiro returning with a pitch-black cat in his arms.
She immediately asked, “Shiro, is this a stray you picked up?” “Yeah, I found a cat, and it wanted to come home with me.” “By the way, I took it to the pet hospital for vaccinations, so I’m back a bit late.
I named it [Elio].” Shiro said with a smile.
This Elio in his hands was a little glutton; he managed to bring it back with just a few cans of cat food.
Thinking back to the game, in the process of maxing out [Inky’s] trust, he not only had to pet the cat and play hide-and-seek, but also used up as many as twenty cans of cat food.
Elio: It can definitely tell the difference between one full meal and being full every meal.
Cats will never be slaves, unless room and board are included.
As for why he named it [Elio], it was of course his own wicked sense of humor.
After all, the Elio from the Star Rail world was a black cat, and also…
They were in New Eridu, and Inky was a cat of New Eridu, so calling it [Elio] made perfect sense.
“Elio?” Senti raised an eyebrow and looked at the name tag hanging around the black cat’s neck.
Using this name on this little black cat felt inexplicably fitting.
“Suit yourself.
But won’t this cat tear the house apart?” Hearing this question, Shiro instantly thought of something and looked at Senti with a teasing gaze.
Senti felt her hair stand on end under his gaze: “What are you looking at!” Shiro said with a beaming smile, “Speaking of tearing the house apart, I remember you, Senti, almost tore the World Serpent’s entire foundation apart, just like a Husky.” If Kevin hadn’t intervened, that World Serpent base would have been turned upside down by the’Silly Husky’ Senti and Jackal, who was cooperating with her.
“Ah, that…
you’re talking about that incident.” Senti was slightly stunned.
For the Herrscher of Sentience, any memory could be recalled instantly.
Her displeasure vanished immediately, replaced by embarrassment.
“I was doing that to force Kevin out, not to tear the house down!” Although she did get addicted to the destruction as it went on, and the other party (Jackal) very cooperatively released scrap metal for her, her goal wasn’t demolition—those were all necessary losses.
“Yes, yes, yes.
As long as you don’t tear down the Everything Store, it’s fine,” Shiro said with a smile.
Senti was very unhappy; she wasn’t a Husky.
“Tsk tsk tsk, just like a child.” Belle took the opportunity to tease.
She felt that Senti didn’t seem like a Herrscher at all; she was quite interesting.
“Isn’t she?
The Herrscher of Sentience is less than a year old,” Shiro added silently.
“That’s enough, you guys!
Do you really think I’m that easy to pick on?” Senti’s face turned red.
Although she was annoyed, she really liked this current atmosphere.
“Ding-Ling-Ling—” “I can’t believe Inky was actually adopted by you, Shiro.” Belle said with a hint of regret in her tone.
She had also been watching this little black cat for a while and indeed had some thoughts about adopting it, but it seemed she could dismiss that idea now.
“Our two shops aren’t far apart.
If you want to pet the cat, you can come over anytime.
Its name is Elio now,” Shiro said.
“Meow?” Elio looked at its current pooper-scooper.
What did he mean by ‘come over anytime’?
It wasn’t such a frivolous and easy cat.
“Okay, I’ll bring cat food when the time comes,” Belle nodded.
“Meow!” Understanding that there would be things to eat, Elio let out a joyful cry.
Isn’t it just a few pets?
Pet as much as you want.
Shiro glanced at Elio, who was so easily swayed.
Did it have no backbone at all?
“Honestly, I quite envy you, Shiro,” Belle said, leaning on the bar counter.
“Envy what?” Shiro asked with interest.
“Being so carefree, not having to think about so many things, just living each day well.” Belle toyed with a glass with one hand.
Don’t look at how the siblings usually act like they don’t have a care in the world; in their hearts, they carry pressure unimaginable to ordinary people.
They wanted to find the truth—the truth of the Old Capital’s fall, the truth of the Hollow Zero outbreak, and why their teacher had to disappear.
If it were anyone else, they would probably have been crushed by the pressure long ago, but all they thought about was finding the whole truth, no matter what difficulties or dangers they encountered.
“Don’t think so much.
Take it bit by bit; you can’t get fat in one bite.” Shiro gave a gentle smile and poured Belle a glass of orange juice.
“Mm-hmm.
Shiro, isn’t your place a Everything Store?
If I were to give you a commission, could you do it?” Belle asked in a joking tone.
“Depends on the commission,” Shiro said noncommittally.
Even if he broke into the depths of Hollow Zero, he could most likely go on a killing spree.
Pure and charming stats: high damage with the left fist, high damage with the right fist.
If he couldn’t blow up an ordinary Hollow with one punch, it would be considered a failure.
“How about this commission: go to the arcade and play games?” “Sure.
Senti, let’s go, let’s play some games.” Shiro called Senti to join.
It had been a while since they went to the arcade.
Asha, the owner of the arcade, seemed to be the most normal owner on Sixth Street, with no tough talk to back her up in private.
Special buffs in ramen and coffee, Bangboo modifications, weapons and equipment like W-Engines or Drive Discs…
In this tiny Sixth Street, if a real crisis were encountered, they could pull off something big.
“Belle, why don’t I see Wise with you?” “My brother?
He went to restock.
There aren’t many videotapes this time, so I didn’t need to go with him,” Belle said.
To be honest, the video store business was just a cover to better blend in here.
If they really relied on the income from the video store, let alone finding their teacher, they couldn’t even afford to maintain the ‘artificial idiot’ Fairy.
“So that’s how it is.
How have you and Fairy been getting along lately?” Hearing Shiro’s question, Belle looked at him with some resentment.
He really knew how to bring up sore subjects.
“Phew…” Belle took a long breath.
“The ability of this AI has indeed helped us a lot, it’s just that it consumes power too quickly.” “My brother and I never thought that one day we would be worried about electricity bills.” Having been Proxies for so many years, five times the electricity bill would still be acceptable, but the bill from the Power Bureau not long ago led to the conclusion of twenty times the consumption after a simple calculation.
Was she raising four Fairies?
If this happened from time to time, they would have to dip into their savings, otherwise they wouldn’t even be able to watch movies in the future.
“Pfft…” Shiro and Senti covered their mouths, but some sounds still escaped.
Belle rolled her eyes.
If you want to laugh, just laugh.
But…
Suddenly consuming so much electricity, and yet no one had come knocking on their door.
The Cereal Siblings’ ‘astounding wisdom’ told them that this matter was not that simple.
Someone had hidden this kind of thing for them.
Their status in New Eridu was certainly not low; they just didn’t know if it was a foe or a friend.
Maybe it’s not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”