The Iron Guard Restricted Zone wasn't peaceful tonight. As usual, the Rift creatures were restless, stirring up trouble under the cover of darkness.
While the Silvermane Guards fought stubbornly, two blurry figures watched from a distance.
"Tch, these guys' levels are way too low. Only that blond captain's halfway decent."
Silver Wolf chewed on her twisty bubblegum, sporting her custom combat-analysis monocle, scanning the situation.
Holographic projections weren't great for fighting, so she decided to jump in herself.
"How'd you pull that off?"
Silver Wolf glanced at Adrian, her mind flashing back to her unpleasant time at the Church.
That void-tracking skill—un-nerfed and borderline cheating! Shouldn't the game devs do something about it?
Then again, cheaters are the ones who get banned.
"A little blessing from the Aeon of Eternity. Wanna learn?"
Silver Wolf nodded eagerly. Truth be told, she was more interested in cracking that move. If she mastered it, maybe she could go back and settle the score with High Priest Blake.
"After Kafka watched that epic pillow fight, did she share her thoughts?"
"She said Stelle fought well, but it'd be better if she stayed safe. Honestly, I could cry."
Even during a pillow fight, Kafka's first concern was Stelle's safety.
Seeing the kid having so much fun, she didn't say much else.
Happiness matters most. Stelle could learn a thing or two from Adrian on that front. Look at this guy—always sipping tea or milk tea. If he were a regular person, he'd have diabetes by now.
Too bad Silver Wolf wasn't into research, or she'd dissect Adrian to figure out his body's secrets.
"Are all you Eternity Emanators this tough? Maybe I should ask your Aeon if THEY'VE got something going on with Qlipoth of Preservation…"
"Don't spread rumors." Adrian pulled out a hammer made of amber stone. "But I can't exactly deny it."
Over-explaining risks falling into a self-proving trap. Maybe one day, on a whim, he'd gift this hammer to the Interastral Peace Corporation.
Or maybe not. After dealing with Cocolia… this amber hammer might just find a new owner.
The Strategic Investment Department—aside from Director Diamond, only three or four members caught Adrian's eye, at least from what he could recall.
The IPC's departments were better than the Antimatter Legion, handling things with a bit more finesse.
Adrian wasn't too invested in Jarilo-VI's ties with the IPC. He just wanted to tag along for the fun and head back to the Express to avoid unnecessary trouble.
What if they didn't believe he had connections with their chairman? Guess he'd just whip out this hammer. Wonder what those IPC youngsters would think when they saw it.
Back to the point—Silver Wolf had just caught wind of a juicy rumor: the Aeon of Eternity and the Aeon of Preservation were linked!
The Aeons' private lives were a mess… Wait, do THEY even have private lives?
The reason Eternity Emanators seemed so physically OP was because of High Priest Blake. He left a deep impression on Silver Wolf and Sampo.
Can you believe this guy's body could tank a planet-destroying cannon?!
Is he sure he's not a Preservation Emanator?
Thinking about it, it kinda made sense. Last time she visited Washcar Star for sightseeing, the Church only had Blake as their heavy hitter. The rest were just locals living their lives.
But… as a High Priest, he didn't even have a proper weapon. He fought her with a bar of soap!
That ticked Silver Wolf off. What was that supposed to mean? Underestimating her?
Only later did she learn that Blake's "soap" was actually a bomb.
Yup… the Eternal Church was sneaky, using plain appearances to disguise their tricks and catch enemies off guard. Who came up with such a devious tactic? She'd better not find out.
And the mastermind behind it was standing right in front of her, pondering tomorrow's plans.
Come morning, they had three options:
Option one: With Eternity's protection, they'd automatically enter stealth mode during danger, avoiding detection and conflict. No need to bother playing hide-and-seek with the Iron Guards in the Rift-infested city zones.
Good news: they'd reach the lower district safely. Bad news: Bronya couldn't come along. Without the key character, the plot wouldn't progress—unless Sampo, now free from jail, brought her down.
That led to option two: Drop stealth, engage in friendly communication, and try reasoning with them.
Problem was, with the Great Guardian's supreme orders, those in the dark wouldn't listen to reason—only physics. That'd lead to a clash with the Iron Guards, followed by Sampo, fresh from his breakout, escorting them to the lower district, triggering a chain of events…
Not much different from the original plot. But then how would Adrian get his kicks? Sampo might find his fun, but what about him?
That's where option three came in!
Play it by ear. Maybe groveling would work. Getting thrown in jail meant a chatty cellmate, planning another escape from the upper district, and a high chance of bringing key character Bronya to the lower district.
No one could predict what'd happen. Plus, there was a Masked Fool's shadow lurking outside, maybe waiting to stir up fun by clearing the planet's cold snap, ushering in Belobog's second spring. That's the good news.
Bad news: the frozen Antimatter Legion would thaw out too.
Hmm… all things considered, Adrian decided to handle the immediate situation first. He hadn't helped Gepard and the Silvermane Guards upgrade their weapons yet.
Switching to Silver Wolf's perspective, she sighed skyward. The gap between Aeons was real.
Eternity's Ite was the prime example—look how well THEY treated THEIR Emanators. Compare that to other Aeons… only Lan of The Hunt might toss out a Cloud-Piercing Arrow as a reward. Silver Wolf couldn't comment on the rest.
Spotting Adrian's amber hammer, she teased, "Yo! Nice hammer. Which dungeon dropped that?"
"A friend gave it to me."
At that, Silver Wolf grew even more convinced. Not only were the Aeons of Eternity and Preservation in cahoots, their Emanators were too!
She knew Adrian had a wild collection, especially milk tea.
You never knew what Adrian would pull from his pocket next. Silver Wolf had seen it too many times.
When she thought he'd grab a milk tea to sip, Adrian pulled out a live salted fish, explaining in a dead-serious tone:
"Life's too short not to slack off."
Silver Wolf stared at the wriggling fish in his hand, lost in thought.
No problem—slacking off, in the most literal sense.
Was Adrian's pocket a bottomless void? How could it hold so much? Silver Wolf half-suspected it could fit her too.
"We've chatted long enough. Time to get serious?" She glanced toward the Silvermane Guards.
"Yep." Adrian nodded. He'd taken a quick look— just some low-tier bird-like Rift creatures. Clearing them was no different from mowing down mobs.
Even without him and Silver Wolf, Gepard's Iron Guards could handle this wave.
But since they were here, it'd be rude not to lend a hand.
"Wanna add some restrictions? Skip Aether Editing to take out enemies?"
"No way I'm dropping my bread-and-butter skill… That's a Punklorde hacker's heirloom!"
"Or… how about letting me borrow that amber hammer? I wanna play some whack-a-mole."