Leon: "That's unfortunate. In that case, we'll discuss among ourselves tonight and decide tomorrow whether to leave."
Bronya: "Alright, you're free to go for now."
Leon: "Before we leave, I have a request. Would Commander Bronya be kind enough to grant it?"
Bronya looked puzzled: "Please, go ahead."
"When we first arrived, we ran into Sampo Koski and got duped by him. He's currently in jail, and I'd like to pay him a visit."
Leon asked politely, his tone sincere.
Bronya: "That's fine. I'll arrange for someone to take you to the detention center, but the two ladies will need to stay here for now."
Having read the suspect apprehension report earlier, she knew about the incident.
She didn't think much of Leon's request to see Sampo—probably just to vent some frustration.
Leon nodded with a smile: "Thank you for your trouble, Commander Bronya."
"It's a small matter." Bronya waved it off, her mood somewhat subdued.
[Leon is gone for about 15 minutes before quickly returning to the interrogation room.]
Staring at the black screen with white text, Old Bear sank into thought.
"That's odd. Why does Leon want to see Sampo at a time like this?
Could Sampo be hiding some big secret? He's a four-star playable character, after all—not just some throwaway NPC…
But Pela and Serval have been pretty irrelevant so far, only showing up once while wandering.
Let's chalk it up to a hidden plot point for now and move on."
Clicking the blank space, the screen lit up again.
Leon smiled: "Thank you, Commander Bronya, for making it happen. Stelle, have you signed the pledge yet? If you're done, we'll take our leave."
Stelle spread her hands: "Not yet."
Bronya: "It's not necessary."
Leon: "I'd suggest signing it. So many people saw you bring us in. Having a pledge at least gives you something to show your superiors or the public."
Bronya immediately understood, nodding.
"You're right. Mr. Leon thinks of everything."
She wasn't naive and caught the subtext in Leon's words.
Bringing outsiders into custody wouldn't escape her mother Cocolia's notice.
There needed to be a follow-up to keep Cocolia from growing more suspicious.
[You casually sign your name on the 'I won't rummage through city trash cans again' pledge, but you don't care much.
You know this piece of paper has no real binding power—it can't stop you from continuing your grand endeavors.]
[Bronya personally escorts you out. Before leaving, you notice her somber expression, as if weighed down by heavy thoughts.]
After finishing this segment, which started off seeming lighthearted but tied into the Stellaron hunt, Old Bear paused at the keyboard.
He glanced at the chat and froze.
"What? This is a hidden plot? Bro, care to hop on voice chat and explain?"
A viewer's comment piqued the curiosity of many.
Through a brief voice call, the audience in Old Bear's stream learned the viewer was telling the truth.
If you didn't rummage through all the trash cans on the map, this plot wouldn't trigger.
Instead, you'd go straight to the Goethe Hotel, have a brief chat with Leon and March 7th, and rest until tomorrow.
"Well, damn, that's a unique way to unlock a hidden plot…"
March 7th: "Leon, we're not actually leaving, are we?"
Leon: "Let's head to the place Cocolia arranged for us to stay first."
March 7th's eyes widened: "She's having us watched, and you still want to go?!"
① "Knowing there's a tiger in the mountain, we charge toward it anyway."
② "It's exactly because Cocolia's watching us that we should go."
③ "We're on her turf—wherever we go, we'll be watched."
"Stelle's not dumb after all—she sees through it clearly."
"Not bad, not bad. The immersion's getting stronger."
Entering the Goethe Hotel, the three Express members appeared in the same frame, inside one room.
"March 7th's sitting on the bed… probably her room?"
Muttering casually, Old Bear focused on the plot.
The game entered a cutscene.
Just as March 7th was about to say something, Leon covered her mouth.
He raised a shushing gesture, only letting go after she nodded.
Under the watchful eyes of the silver and pink-haired girls, Leon swiftly opened his palm.
An invisible breeze quietly spread outward, gently rustling their hair.
The wind slipped into every crevice of the room's furnishings, probing for anything unusual.
A few seconds later, a faint, enigmatic smile crossed Leon's face.
He took out a strange box and opened it, a suction force bursting from his palm.
A pen on a nearby desk was pulled over.
Leon placed the pen in the box and casually tossed it aside.
"Eavesdropping is unethical. That Supreme Guardian is even less honorable than Sampo."
March 7th: "That pen was… a recorder?"
Leon: "Technically, it's a listening device—a small microphone.
If we left it alone, every sound in this room would be heard by someone on the other end."
March 7th's expression collapsed: "That's so low… Are there any in your rooms too?"
Stelle sneered: "Hmph, nine out of ten chance there are. Spying even on our cute, innocent March? So tasteless."
March 7th fumed: "Exactly!"
Leon: "…Her 'innocent' probably means 'little dummy.'"
"You jerk, looking to eat a beauty's elbow strike again, huh?!"
March 7th raised her brows and put her hands on her hips.
Stelle coughed dryly: "Let's talk business. Share the intel we've gathered. I'll go first."
She paused, then spoke with a serious face.
"My intel is—I didn't gather any intel."
Her words earned a helpless eye-roll from little March.
March 7th: "Knew you couldn't spit ivory from a dog's mouth!"
Stelle: "What about you?"
"I—I… Okay, fine, I don't seem to have found any valuable clues either…"
March 7th's face was full of guilt.
[What a pair of Wolong and Fengchu—hilarious.]
[Feels like Leon's an old father dealing with two troublesome kids.]
[No problem—Father's still a father. By the way, how'd you know I just got 1600 Stellar Jades from my Father?]
[???]
[Yo, up there, start a dynasty!]
[We were having a nice chat—why's a dog suddenly barking?]
[No big deal—fathers know their kids best.]
Leon sighed.
"I'll stick to the important stuff.
First, don't you think Serval looks a lot like Gepard?"
Stelle pondered: "Didn't think much of it before, but now that you mention it, yeah, they do look alike."
March 7th: "Siblings? Or maybe sister and brother?"
Leon: "That's not the point. What matters is that she calls Cocolia by her first name with a tone that's far from respectful—worth noting.
Second, from talking with Serval, we can at least confirm that the energy heating this city doesn't come from the Stellaron.
The heat comes from a mineral called geomarrow, mined in the lower district.
Logically, with such a critical resource coming from the lower district, it should be tightly connected to the upper district.
But in reality? Think about what Serval said."