Chapter 461: Clockboy

She stared at the screen, waiting for a reply.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

The phone vibrated.

Xing immediately lowered his head, and the smile on his face froze the instant he read the message.

"I am Jizi."

"San Yue… she disappeared again."

"Just half an hour ago, she suddenly vanished."

"There were no signs, no trace at all."

"Just like last time."

The sunlight in the restaurant remained bright, and the Star Chariot still streaked in the distance.

Xing, however, felt that everything around him suddenly fell silent.

She kept her head bowed, staring at the phone, unmoving.

Walther noticed something amiss. He set down his CoffeeCup, furrowed his brows and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xing slowly lifted his head and turned the phone screen toward him.

Walther looked at those few lines of text, saying nothing.

His fingers gently clenched the CoffeeCup's handle, the knuckles paling slightly.

Yet his expression remained steady, and his voice stayed calm:

"…I understand."

He gently pushed the phone back in front of Xing, then lifted the now‑cold coffee and took a sip.

San Yue Qi…

Where did you run off to this time?

"Ah—achoo!!"

San Yue Qi let out a loud sneeze, nearly bouncing off the sofa.

She rubbed her nose, her powder‑blue eyes full of bewilderment: "Strange, I don't have a cold… who's muttering about me?"

No one answered her.

The living room was quiet, with only the lazy sunlight from outside drifting in.

San Yue Qi curled back onto the sofa.

The collar of her white shirt hung loosely open.

The dark‑blue pleated mini‑skirt was a bit wrinkled from rubbing the sofa, and the leg band on her right leg was neatly fastened.

Her pink hair was simply gathered to the side of her shoulder with a hair tie, a few strands playfully hanging over her collarbone.

At that point of utter boredom.

She saw that thing on the coffee table.

"What kind of weird thing is that?"

San Yue Qi rubbed her eyes. It hadn't disappeared.

She blinked hard again. It's still there.

That thing even moved.

In the center of the coffee table, a white‑backed, disc‑shaped… creature.

It was pacing there with noodle‑like arms and legs.

It had the standard two‑head‑to‑body proportion; its face was a round clock face, and from the nose area extended an hour hand and a minute hand, turning steadily with a Tick‑Tick.

Above the clock face were a pair of glossy black eyes, and below was a mouth stretched to the ears.

It wore a white shirt tied with a red bow, brown suspenders, black shoes with red soles, and a sideways baseball cap.

At that moment, the fellow stood hands on hips, swaggering as it marched in place on the coffee table.

"Tick—...! Tick—...!"

Each step matched the rhythm of the sound it made with its mouth, its head bobbing up and down.

San Yue Qi's mouth formed an O shape.

"…Huh?"

She extended a finger, tapped the thing in the air, then withdrew, scratching her hair.

"Y‑you… who are you? How did you get in? Wasn't the window closed? And this look… some mouse? No, what's that in the middle, a clock? Are you a sentient alarm clock?"

The little thing on the coffee table halted its march, lifted its face toward San Yue Qi, its bean‑black eyes filled with shocked "You don't recognize me!"

"Tick!"

It placed its hands on its hips, the hour and minute hands on its head whirring rapidly, "I'm not some alarm‑clock spirit! I'm Clockboy! Pinokanni's most popular superstar! The cartoon has over ten thousand episodes! You don't recognize me? Tick‑Tick!"

San Yue Qi: "........"

She was silent for three seconds.

"…Old, me?"

She had never heard anyone refer to themselves that way.

Still, it was a fellow that looked like the offspring of some mouse and a pocket watch.

Clockboy puffed out his chest, a proud grin on his face: "That's right! It's me! How's that for a self‑title, especially stylish? Fen Mao fool, Tick!"

San Yue Qi: "…No, I just think you're insulting me."

"Tick! No, no!"

Clockboy quickly waved his hands, a flattering smile on his face, his two bean‑black eyes curving into crescents, "I never insult anyone! I just speak the truth—you're Fen Mao! You are Fen Mao! Tick!"

San Yue Qi: "……"

(Should I throw it out the window?)

She inhaled deeply, trying to keep her tone even: "Fine, Fen Mao it is. So how did you actually get here? This is Dongmu City, not some Pinokanni."

"Tick!"

Clockboy bounced in place, his hat nearly flying off, "I don't know either! I was supposed to be at Kelaoke Film and TV Park taking photos with tourists! One blink and I'm here! Tick! But it's fine! My adaptability is superb! And I discovered—"

It leaned in mysteriously, lowering its voice: "People here, only you can see me! Tick Tick!"

San Yue Qi was startled: "... What does that mean?"

"It means—"

Clockboy stretched his slender arms, making an exaggerated display, "I was born from people's pure dreams and childlike hearts! Only straightforward, innocent children with a child's heart can see my true form! Tick! Congratulations, Fen Mao fool! You are the chosen one!"

San Yue Qi's eyebrows twitched.

She automatically ignored the "Fen Mao" address, but she understood the "fool" part.

"Did you just insult me again?"

"Tick! No, no!"

Clockboy's head shook like a rattle, the hands on his dial wobbling with it, "I said you are—a pure child! That's a compliment! Tick!"

San Yue Qi squinted, watching it suspiciously.

That expression... that guilty little gesture... that dodging glance...

She always felt something was off, but couldn't quite pin it down.

Forget it.

"Alright." She gave up the inquiry, "Then what can you do? Be an alarm? Tell the time?"

"Tick!!!"

Clockboy seemed mortified, the whole watch leapt up, his hat flew off completely, he fumbled to catch it and fastened it back on, "You really underestimate me! I can control time! Tick! Time Stop! Time Reversal! Time Acceleration! And—"

He extended a thin arm, pointing at San Yue Qi.

"—Emotion Regulation! Tick! Whether it's Rage, sadness, laziness, excitement, I just turn a dial and it changes! Tick!"

San Yue Qi was stunned.

"Wait, wait."

She sat up straight, her pink‑blue gradient eyes becoming serious, "You said... time? You can control time?"

Images flashed through her mind.

After traveling on the Starry Dome Train for so long, she hadn't seen anyone who could truly control time.

Time, that thing, unseen and untouchable, even someone as well‑read as Yang Shu has said that time‑based abilities are rare in any universe.

Now this palm‑sized thing that calls itself "I", looking like a hybrid of a mouse and a pocket watch, claims it can control time?

"I don't believe it." San Yue Qi said firmly, "Unless you demonstrate."

"Tick! No problem!"

Clockboy hopped off the coffee table, landing on the floor, hands on hips, "Which one do you want to see? Tick!"

San Yue Qi tilted her head, thinking, "Then... Time Stop?"

"Tick! Easy!"

Clockboy puffed out his chest, "But Fen Mao, you have to chant a slogan!"

San Yue Qi: "... Huh? Slogan?"

"Of course!"

Clockboy, confidently, "Something as powerful as time can't be activated casually. It needs a sense of ceremony! Tick! You follow me and chant—"

It cleared its throat, raised an arm, and assumed a solemn pose:

"Smash—Tile—Lu—Many! Or Canteen—Spill—Spicy—Sauce!"