"Infinite?"
Cocolia stared at Fu Zhu, frowning deeply. Honestly, she didn't believe this man before her, who seemed completely ordinary apart from his striking appearance.
If it weren't for the girl standing beside him who also carried a Stellaron, she wouldn't have given Fu Zhu a second glance.
'Cocolia, don't be deceived by them. Who can you trust now? Only we can give you the future you desire!'
The Stellaron's voice echoed in Cocolia's mind, causing her resolve, which had just begun to waver, to solidify once more. Her left hand, hidden within her long sleeve, quietly condensed a layer of frost, ready to subdue Fu Zhu and Xing at any moment.
Fu Zhu kept his eyes locked on Cocolia. Even before entering the office, he had activated MC's distinctive hitbox display, which showed the effective hit range and attack range of enemies.
In Fu Zhu's vision, he could clearly see a square attack hitbox indicator appear around Cocolia's left hand.
"Looks like I can't convince you."
Fu Zhu sighed, giving Bronya a look that said, 'I can't help it.' He then directly pulled out the Godfall Sword and a shield, holding them ready for battle at any moment.
Xing also gripped her baseball bat tightly with both hands, positioning herself slightly behind and to the side of Fu Zhu, poised to strike.
Seeing the situation suddenly become explosive, Bronya quickly rushed to the center, between the two sides. Facing away from Fu Zhu and Xing, she spread her arms wide, tears welling in her eyes as she cried out earnestly to Cocolia.
"Mother, please believe them!"
Cocolia's face remained cold. She raised her frost-covered left hand high, and several meter-long icicles materialized beside her, their sharp points aimed directly at the two figures behind Bronya.
"Bronya, get away from them!"
"I won't! Mother, the Eternal Freeze has lasted for centuries! Belobog has endured for so many years! Why won't you give them just one day to prove themselves? Is it all for the future promised by the Stellaron that brought disaster to Jarilo-VI?"
"What do you understand?! We have nothing left to hold onto! The only thing we can grasp now is the future they promised!"
Listening to the mother and daughter's war of words, Fu Zhu and Xing couldn't help but shift their bodies slightly.
Holding a pose for too long gets tiring.
After another minute of dialogue, Fu Zhu finally couldn't stand it anymore. He turned his head to instruct Xing, "Xing, today I'll teach you a principle."
"A principle? Bro, we're fighting a boss, be serious!"
"That's where you're wrong. When we're going through the main storyline and find ourselves free to act, there's a lot we can do. Watch carefully."
Fu Zhu pulled out two Ender Pearls. Taking advantage of the moment Cocolia was distracted talking to Bronya, he threw one directly behind her and the other in a different direction.
Cocolia noticed this and instinctively sidestepped to dodge the two unidentified flying objects. But in the next second, her peripheral vision caught Fu Zhu appearing to her right rear. She hastily condensed an ice blade in her hand and slashed towards him.
Seeing this, Bronya gasped in alarm and started to rush forward to stop Cocolia.
"Mother, stop!"
However, before Cocolia's ice blade could touch Fu Zhu, his figure vanished again. Before Cocolia could locate Fu Zhu's new position, a somewhat warm blade pressed against her neck.
"Cocolia, I advise you not to move. Otherwise, you might die long before your promised future arrives."
Cocolia's body tensed, not daring to make a rash move. She could only shift her eyes as much as possible to look at Fu Zhu standing beside her, her eyes filled with horror.
"How did you do that?"
Too fast! Fu Zhu's ability to reposition was almost instantaneous! Was it because of those two objects earlier? Or did Fu Zhu possess abilities related to time or space?
"That concerns my secrets, so I can't really tell you."
Fu Zhu certainly wouldn't reveal the secrets of Ender Pearls to his enemy.
Although Ender Pearls were extremely effective for a surprise attack, losing some potency once figured out, Fu Zhu still hoped to keep his various methods hidden as much as possible.
"The only thing I can tell you is this, Cocolia: this is the last chance I'm giving you. If you continue to be unreasonable, we Nameless wouldn't mind letting Jarilo-VI change its leadership. Our goal is only to save Jarilo-VI, not necessarily you."
Two chances were the limit of Fu Zhu's tolerance.
Cocolia gritted her teeth. After a long silence, she proactively dispersed the icicles floating beside her and cancelled the ice blade in her hand.
'Cocolia, are you insane! Doing this is tantamount to surrender!'
Cocolia ignored the voice in her head, instead glancing at Bronya, who was visibly relieved nearby.
This was the first time she had ignored the voice of the Stellaron.
Perhaps it was fear of death, or perhaps trust in her daughter; whatever the reason, Cocolia decided to give Fu Zhu and the others at least one chance.
Just as Bronya said, they had survived for so many years; she could afford to wait one more day.
Seeing Cocolia give up resistance, Fu Zhu also breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she hadn't gone completely crazy, otherwise, he might have really had to kill her mother right in front of Bronya.
Fu Zhu called out to Xing nearby, "Xing, come over and take my place."
Xing scampered over eagerly, baseball bat in hand. Seeing how her brother had subdued Cocolia so quickly, she praised him sincerely.
"Bro, you're amazing! You solved the problem just like that!"
Fu Zhu grinned and waggled his eyebrows at her. "This is the principle I wanted to teach you. When dealing with people like this who won't listen to reason, subdue them first, then they'll listen obediently. Otherwise, what's the point of having fists?"
"Brother speaks the truth!"
"Enough banter. Come swap with me. I still need to show them what [Infinity] means."
Xing took Fu Zhu's position, hovering her baseball bat over Cocolia's head. If Cocolia dared make the slightest move, Xing guaranteed she'd bring the bat down immediately!
Bronya stood nearby with a complicated expression. As a daughter watching her mother being threatened with a baseball bat to the head, she also had to support this action. The feeling was incredibly strange.
Bronya shook her head, not daring to think further, and turned to ask Fu Zhu, "Is there anything I need to do?"
Fu Zhu placed a crafting table on the ground nearby while replying.
"Go find me some potatoes, carrots, and wheat. Didn't you say you have a food crisis? I guarantee that from now on, the only way you'll wish for death is from being stuffed!"