Qlipoth remained silent, merely staring intently at the Iron Golem standing beside Fu Zhu.
Perhaps Nous 'got angry', as the red light flashing on its indicator became noticeably more blinding. Throughout the space, countless characters and data streams transformed into rivers, surrounding Qlipoth who had suddenly intruded.
'Qlipoth, leave now.'
Qlipoth didn't speak, simply raising the giant hammer it had been holding and striking the space in the direction of Fu Zhu and the Iron Golem with a suspended blow.
A dull sound, like an ancient bell tolling, echoed, and the entire space trembled visibly.
Fu Zhu, holding his shield, turned his head quizzically to look at his Iron Golem. He noticed the green mossy marks on its surface had vanished, and even its black and red eyes had turned amber.
Although its size hadn't changed much, it was clearly evident that it had evolved somehow.
Fu Zhu's gaze fell upon it, noticing its health points were significantly higher than the previous fifty hearts; MC's default health display could no longer contain its health bar.
"The Iron Golem got buffed?"
Fu Zhu glanced at Qlipoth, surprised. He thought only mods could achieve this, yet Qlipoth had managed it too. Thinking more carefully, if he, as Steve, could accept the blessings of a Path and be strengthened, then perhaps the Iron Golem could as well.
'Qlipoth!'
Nous was clearly somewhat 'angry' that Qlipoth had suddenly acted within its domain.
The data streams swirling around Qlipoth immediately surged towards it. The characters, glowing with a soft green light, washed over Qlipoth's body, causing it only to tremble slightly before nothing further happened.
Nous didn't seem intent on fully engaging Qlipoth, merely making a slight move as a warning. Qlipoth also seemed to realize that forcibly intruding on Its conversation with another was inappropriate.
After one last look at the Iron Golem, it departed from this space, not forgetting to repair the shattered space for Nous before leaving.
Only after watching Qlipoth leave did Nous turn its attention back to Fu Zhu.
'Query: Does it possess a designation?'
"Iron Golem."
'Query: Does the process of creating an Iron Golem adhere to a self-contained system of rules?'
"I don't know. At least, that's how the setting is."
'Query: Is the 'setting' you speak of an unknowable element outside the circle of knowledge?'
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Just as Fu Zhu was being bombarded with questions by Nous...
A short time earlier, in the plaza before Qlipoth Fort.
Xing, the others, and the crowd gathered in the plaza were all staring intently at Fu Zhu, waiting to see what the man who had performed miracles intended to do with the iron blocks.
However, the moment they saw him place the carved pumpkin head onto the iron blocks, they only had time to hear a thud before the iron blocks and Fu Zhu vanished before their very eyes in the blink of an eye.
Xing scratched the back of her head, bewildered. "A disappearing act?"
March 7th tilted her head. Although she didn't quite understand how Fu Zhu had suddenly disappeared, hearing Xing say that, she still applauded supportively.
"Amazing! Couldn't see any trick at all!"
The equally baffled crowd, hearing the two girls, also began clapping cooperatively, though they found it strange that Fu Zhu, who had been selling seeds perfectly fine, would suddenly start performing a magic trick.
After the initial surprise, Dan Heng realized something was wrong. He summoned Cloud-Piercer into his hand, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the surroundings nervously for any sign of Fu Zhu, not forgetting to snap March 7th and Xing back to reality.
"Something's wrong! Fu Zhu wasn't performing!"
Although Fu Zhu, like Xing, occasionally pulled off some bizarre stunts, based on his understanding of him, Fu Zhu would never do something pointless!
Like right now – Fu Zhu would absolutely not make himself disappear while selling his wares!
Bronya and Seele also reacted instantly. The former's expression turned grave. She raised her hand and loudly commanded all Silvermane Guards present.
"Fu Zhu has been ambushed! Lock down the entire area!"
The Silvermane Guards, though confused about the situation, immediately followed Bronya's orders, spreading out to control everyone in the plaza.
Xing and March 7th also realized something was amiss. Both quickly pulled out their phones and started dialing Fu Zhu.
Because Fu Zhu had previously placed a Redstone Repeater in the Furnace Core, the originally unstable signal had stabilized. However, this time, when they called Fu Zhu's phone, the response they received was that the user was outside the service area.
"It must be Bro's Redstone Repeater being out of range... Calling Himeko will definitely fail too..."
Xing's palms felt slightly sweaty as she re-entered a phone number, dialing Himeko. She began praying that this call would fail just like the last one.
However, the next second, the call connected. Himeko's puzzled voice came from the other end.
"Xing? Why the sudden call? Did you run into some trouble on Jarilo-VI?"
Xing looked at the connected call, pressing her lips together silently.
"Xing? Why aren't you saying anything?"
"It's nothing, Sister Himeko. Just accidentally misdialed..."
Xing managed to adjust her tone, then hung up the phone, looking at March 7th and Dan Heng with a complex expression.
Fu Zhu's phone couldn't be reached, yet Himeko, far away outside the planet, could be contacted. This already highlighted the severity of the problem.
"Dan Heng, what do we do now?"
With Fu Zhu, the ideas man, suddenly gone, March 7th and Xing almost subconsciously turned their gazes towards Dan Heng.
Dan Heng's expression was also grim at the moment, but he forced himself to remain calm. After a moment's thought, he turned his head towards Bronya.
"Take us to see Cocolia."
On Jarilo-VI, the only one with a motive and potentially the ability to make Fu Zhu disappear so suddenly was likely Cocolia.
Bronya heard the hidden anger in Dan Heng's words and quickly defended her mother.
"It wasn't Mother! She just agreed to Fu Zhu's terms earlier, she wouldn't possibly abduct him now!"
"But she has a history, doesn't she?"
Xing's amber eyes stared at Bronya, her gaze somewhat icy.
"Bronya, take us to Cocolia!"
Seeing Xing's cold expression, Bronya couldn't help but shiver inwardly. Even when they were being hunted by Cocolia before, Xing had never shown such an expression.
Even after being chased into the Underworld, Xing still had the mind to make jokes.
But now, her expression was as cold as the unmelting snows of Jarilo-VI that had persisted for centuries.
"Alright... follow me."