The moment Aventurine heard Fu Zhu agree, a brilliant smile spread across his face. He snapped his fingers to summon a waiter.
"Mr. Fu Zhu, I assure you as a businessman, this deal is an absolute bargain, for both you and me."
The waiter came over and bowed politely to the three of them, his gaze landing on Aventurine. "Sir, is there anything you need?"
"I'll be paying the bill."
Fu Zhu said nothing. After all, for a high-ranking manager from The Company like Aventurine, the cost of this meal was negligible. It was Firefly who looked at Aventurine with some concern. "Sir, won't this be too expensive?"
"Expensive? You worry too much, Miss March 7th. If I can foster a good relationship with Mr. Fu Zhu for such a small price, I'd be willing to pay this bill ten thousand times over."
Firefly blinked. Being called by the wrong name felt a little awkward. She raised her right hand sheepishly. "Um, I'm not March 7th..."
"Hmm?"
Aventurine looked at Firefly with some surprise, then glanced at Fu Zhu. Fu Zhu crossed his arms and nodded. "You've definitely got the wrong person. Besides, Little March has pink hair, and Firefly has silver hair. How could you possibly mix them up?"
"My apologies, my apologies."
Aventurine clasped his hands together in a gesture of apology to Firefly, then spoke to Fu Zhu with a somewhat helpless tone. "I didn't expect your luck with the ladies to be so good, Mr. Fu Zhu. And with Miss March 7th seemingly following you everywhere, I made a mistake."
This little interlude didn't delay them for long. After paying the bill, Aventurine and Fu Zhu exchanged contact information. After all, he was the high-ranking manager from The Company who could move freely within the dream world. If he had to relay every message through Topaz, the efficiency would be far too low.
After exchanging contacts, Aventurine didn't linger. He simply reminded Fu Zhu to keep an eye on his messages and then left.
Fu Zhu, for his part, collected sixty-four bottles of SoulGlad—one of each flavor—and stored them away before getting up. He called over to Firefly on the other side of the table.
"Let's go. Time to take care of other business."
Firefly hurriedly gathered the unfinished SoulGlad in her arms. Since someone else had graciously paid, she couldn't let it go to waste.
---o---
Fu Zhu stepped out of the shop and took out his phone. Several new messages had come in. March 7th, Xing, and Himeko had all sent him something. The message at the very top was from Sunday.
Without hesitation, he opened the messages from March 7th and the others.
[Xing: Old Bro! Someone is bullying your little sister! They even killed your dear sister's newly made friend! You have to help me!]
[March 7th: Fu Zhu, Fu Zhu, a serial killer has appeared in the Golden Hour! You have to be careful... If you run into them, don't just beat them to death. Himeko said this case is a bit strange and seems to be related to the Watchmaker's legacy, so please don't act rashly! PS: What about your promise to hang out with me!]
[Himeko: Fu Zhu, I wonder if you've noticed the serial killer case in the Golden Hour. The culprit, who calls herself the Masked Fool Sparkle, claims to be bestowing an impossible event upon her chosen victims. Although it's a bit of a stretch, I feel this is related to the 'answer to the impossible' mentioned in the invitation's secret message. If you've finished your business, come find us.]
After reading the three messages, Fu Zhu breathed a small sigh of relief. Fortunately, they hadn't run into any trouble. The only thing that could be considered trouble was what had happened to his little sister.
But... Fu Zhu obviously couldn't go help her get revenge right now. All he could do was apologize to her in his heart. After this was all over, he would drag Sparkle over and let her vent her anger.
Fu Zhu replied to all three with a simple "I know," then turned to the message from Sunday.
[Sunday: Mr. Fu Zhu, the unwelcome guest's name is Acheron. Below is her location. I hope you can be of assistance.]
[Sunday: Golden Hour, XXXXXXXX Street]
Just as Fu Zhu was reading the message, a bottle of SoulGlad with a straw in it was offered to his lips. He subconsciously leaned forward and took a sip, only then realizing what was happening. He looked with a puzzled expression at Firefly, who was holding the drink up to his mouth.
"Can you help me drink a little?" Firefly showed Fu Zhu the six or seven bottles of SoulGlad she was hugging in her arms, looking a bit embarrassed. "It's a little tiring to hold them all. And since someone else paid, we can't let it go to waste."
Fu Zhu took one of the bottles from her with a laugh and a sigh, then asked, "Are you really a Stellaron Hunter?"
"That's a bit rude of you!"
Firefly puffed up her cheeks, retorting with a hint of indignation, "Even Stellaron Hunters believe in not wasting food."
"...Fine, my mistake."
Fu Zhu smiled and shook his head, finding the contrast a bit too much.
Putting the matter aside, Fu Zhu led Firefly towards the location Sunday had provided. They weren't far from the target, just two streets over. In less than five minutes, Fu Zhu arrived at the specified location.
He looked around. The bustling street was filled with tourists visiting Penacony. Fu Zhu didn't see anyone who looked particularly special.
After a quick scan revealed nothing, Fu Zhu decided to simply open his minimap and search for the name [Acheron]. Before long, he found a rather surprising marker in the dense crowd.
[Envoy of Nihility · Acheron (Raiden · Warden of the River of Oblivion · Mei)]
"Huh!"
Seeing this marker, Fu Zhu instantly understood that this person was the guest Sunday wanted him to drive out. He also instantly understood just how malicious Sunday's request was.
Firefly noticed the sudden darkening of Fu Zhu's expression and asked with concern, "Did something happen?"
Fu Zhu nodded, looking up towards Acheron's location. He explained with a humorless smile, "Those well-dressed gentlemen are truly disgusting when they resort to dirty tricks. No wonder they wanted me to handle it. It turns out that troublesome guest is an Envoy of Nihility!"
"An Envoy of Nihility?!"
Hearing this, Firefly couldn't help but cover her mouth in shock.
In her understanding, the rarest Envoys in the cosmos, aside from those of Aeons who had already fallen, were probably those of [Mystery], [Equilibrium], [Finality], and [Nihility]. The latter two were especially rare "animals."
"Then should we...?"
Firefly was about to suggest they just leave, since The Company had agreed to help anyway.
But before she could finish her sentence, Fu Zhu started walking directly toward Acheron's location.
"Since we're already here, and I've never seen an Envoy of Nihility before, let's just consider it a sightseeing trip."