Chapter 167

This… could it be that he…?

No, no… impossible… huh…

After his brain reacted, Walter's chest heaved rapidly; only after a moment did his tensed muscles gradually relax.

……This is Xiao San Yue, not Luo Cha himself.

He couldn't help but admit that he had indeed been frightened just now; the instant Luo Cha spoke, he actually thought he was talking to him in person. That sense of oppression and suffocation reminded him of the feeling when he faced off against Otto.

The moment Luo Cha opened his mouth, the Otto-like vibe was utterly authentic.

The late wind brought a chill; only then did Walter belatedly realize that, in the time it took Luo Cha to say a sentence, the clothes he had just changed were soaked through with cold sweat.

——

（"Cough cough cough… Still not good?" San Yue Qi cleared his throat. ）

(Walter: "We're supposed to try to explain what Luo Cha did in two hours, but walking twenty laps around this place wouldn't even take two hours.")

(San Yue Qi suddenly realized: "Indeed… his route might be far more dangerous than I imagined. Come on, let's reconstruct the scene again.")

Returning to the starting point, Luo Cha began to face a goldfish monster.

That monster actually spoke human words: "Ao ao ao! Look at your tender skin, you dare intrude here—today is your doom!"

Although Walter also didn't understand why Xiao San Yue's imagined monster could speak, in any case Luo Cha ended up fighting the monster.

In the fantasy, Luo Cha's swordsmanship was superb, disposing of the monster in a few moves. But after the fight, he brushed dust off his white robe and spat with slight disgust: "Tsk, what a hassle—where do all these enemies come from on the Divine Vessel Luo Fu?"

(Xing: "San Yue Qi, explain.")

(San Yue Qi, as if a frog had been stuffed in his mouth, stammered: "This is because… because… because…")

(Walter sighed: "... San Yue, when you're thinking up the plot we can wait; we don't have to arrange a fight.")

Walter did not believe that before the Jianmu Shengfa, Luo Fu would have dangerous zones where black-market buyers and dangerous individuals could meet. But since it's hard to imagine what specific difficulties he encountered, we'll just assume he ran into many monsters here.

("Well… it's barely plausible," Walter nodded.)

Wait a minute! How on earth does this make any sense?!

Although she didn't quite understand, Furina was greatly shocked: "Are there really danger zones filled with mechanical monsters all over the Divine Vessel Luo Fu before the Jianmu Shengfa? And it's in a military hub! Does Luo Cha really have to come here to trade star cores?!"

In short, this is way too forced!

I actually don't see any obvious flaws," Navia beside her said approvingly: "Furina, if you think about it, placing mechanical guardians in a military hub makes perfect sense, right? How could Luo Fu possibly anticipate a 'dark under the lamp'?"

What about the buyer? If Luo Cha can open the lock of the restricted area, does the buyer also need to know how to pick locks?" Furina felt her face heating up: "We now know the person using the star cores is Huanlong, so you mean… her transformed incarnation, Miss Tingyun, would come to this kind of place to buy star cores from Luo Cha?"

Of course." Navia said solemnly, "If Miss Tingyun dares to buy star cores on the Divine Vessel, knowing how to pick a lock isn't surprising at all."

Hss

Furina sucked in a breath of cold air, raised her hands in surrender: "Alright, alright, there are too many complaints at once… let's just continue watching."

"I wonder who that mysterious buyer interested in star cores is…" Luo Cha pondered, seeing a figure standing in a secluded spot in the distance, "The buyer is waiting for me there; I'll go over and check the situation."

As Luo Cha drew nearer, the person also stepped forward from the shadows; when they reached a bright spot, everyone finally saw who had come…

Walter!

(Fake) Walter, hands on hips, let out a disdainful "huh," and arrogantly barked at Luo Cha: "Stop. What are you here for?"

(Xing's expression twisted: "How is it Uncle Yang?")

("No, this is the tea party's doorman【Pu'er】." San Yue Qi patiently explained, "The tea party members all have code names that are various tea names.")

(Fake) Walter struck an even more punch-worthy pose, head tilted back, and shouted even more arrogantly: "Hey, I'm asking you, kid! What are you here for?"

(Walter had a hard time: "You make him speak civilly…")

("Oh oh, okay." San Yue Qi quickly adjusted.)

(Fake) Walter continued to keep his hands on hips: "Hey, I'm asking you, kid! What are you here for?"

(Walter held his forehead, unable to bear watching: "... Forget it, let's just leave it like this.")

Hahahaha…!

Ji Zi couldn't help but clutch her stomach, instinctively pulling out her phone to frantically take screenshots of the light curtain, then sent them one by one to Walter, and edited a message: "Walter, I didn't expect you to be so polite!"

"……Thank you, I've always been polite." Walter, watching the light curtain on the other screen, had his facial features almost twisted together.

Ji Zi continued typing with interest: "Want to come out for a coffee? I'm with Kiana and the gang; want to join us for a little 'tasting'?"

"... I think you guys just want to gang up to laugh at me, right?"

Sorry, haha, I swear I absolutely won't laugh… unless I can't help it.

Just thinking about being able to hear such lines from the stern, steady leader of the Anti-Entropy makes this fun as enjoyable as Luo Cha herself. If I couldn't immediately savor Walter's twisted expression, that would be too regrettable.

Luo Cha said calmly: "I've come to deliver something that must be handed to your boss personally; help me contact him."

(Fake) Walter: "Delivery? … Ah, the boss has been waiting for you a long time, but you need to prove your identity before I can let you see him."

(San Yue Qi: "Now it's time for that thing to come in handy.")

Luo Cha handed the first record to Walter, then suddenly adopted a pitiful tone: "Look, I have elderly parents and young children; if I don't sell this star core, my whole family will go hungry tonight… please make an exception and let me see your boss."

(Xing: "Those with elderly parents and young children shouldn't do bad things…")

(San Yue Qi, with a firm tone: "This is Luo Cha's scheme—deliberately showing weakness to make the opponent let their guard down.")

(Fake) Walter's tone rose a few degrees, and he firmly shook his head: "No. If everyone could make exceptions, what would be the point of the rules?"

(Walter was somewhat speechless: "This Pu'er sure does things on principle…")