The scene cuts to the back of a woman, wearing the uniform of the Silvermane Guards.
It is a young Cocolia.
She says, "…They will suffer, they will sacrifice, they will die because of my orders."
The one speaking with the young Cocolia is a voice from the Stellaron.
"What awaits them is not death… They will be wrapped into the swaddling cloth of a new world."
"And what about the people of the lower levels? They will lose the protection of the Architects. They will see me as a… tyrant."
"You have seen… the world we promise. Brief misunderstandings… in exchange for eternal prosperity. The choice is yours… we respect it."
"…I understand."
After the brief scene ends, the game switches to a first-person view of the Trailblazer opening their eyes.
The scene just now is the same as what was seen earlier in the hotel, like a dream, about Cocolia.
From this part of the plot, the players can basically be certain that Cocolia is deliberately messing with the Trailblazer Squad.
Because she has some kind of undisclosed backroom deal with the Stellaron.
After opening their eyes, the screen shows Sampo and a woman. At this moment, the woman is speaking.
"...Wake up. Your little toy doesn't have that much destructive power."
"Uh, then why hasn't she woken up yet?"
"Because she's asleep. She was even mumbling in her sleep just now… poor thing, it must have been a very scary nightmare.
"Tell me the truth, Sampo. How do you plan to deal with that little girl from the Upper City?"
Sampo seems a bit confused by the unfamiliar woman's words. "Deal with her? Same as the others, I guess, find a chance to send her back… wait, why do you..."
The woman shakes her head. Her wine-red eyes look at Sampo, gentle yet scrutinizing. "Do you think you can hide it from me, Sampo Koski?"
Sampo pulls a long face, showing a wronged expression. "…I didn't plan to bring her along, really. Believe me, it was that kid who brought her down!"
The woman narrows her eyes, her tone turning serious, clearly not believing Sampo's explanation.
"That kid? What reason would he have to bring that little girl down here?"
"Sigh. I really don't know what you're trying to pull, Sampo. What do the Upper City's affairs have to do with you?"
"If it were just about bringing that kid down, fine, but now what? You even brought down someone who shouldn't have come down here."
"Aren't you already eye-catching enough? Do you really have to wait until Wildfire sets its sights on you to be satisfied?"
Immediately, Sampo looks even more aggrieved. "Hey, it really wasn't me, it really was him who wanted to bring them all down together!"
"And besides, how can Wildfire blame, uh, maybe bringing these few people down could even help Wildfire out!"
"And that's your excuse for letting them run around underground?"
"Oh come on, it was an accident, purely an accident! I'll go find them all right now!"
The woman's brows knit slightly as she lets out a sigh.
"That little girl… you'd better find her quickly and keep an eye on her.
"The underground has been sealed off for over a decade. Kids are already starting to forget what people from the surface look like. And then suddenly a girl wearing Silvermane Guard clothes shows up…"
"Think about what Wildfire would do to her, and to you, if they found out."
Sampo chuckles awkwardly and nods repeatedly, "I get it, I get it! I'll go find them right away, Boss Lady, I'll leave this guest to you, sorry to trouble you."
With that, Sampo turns around and prepares to leave.
"Wait." The woman calls out to him, then adds, "If you see the kids outside, tell them to come back and drink their milk."
"Alright, no problem!"
Sampo leaves.
As he leaves, he's still thinking how nice it is to have a colleague you can coordinate with.
Now he doesn't even have to come up with excuses.
Of course, this part isn't something the players can see in the story.
———
[In the Real World]
Watching these scenes, Siberian Duck seems thoughtful.
"Listening to their conversation, it sounds like we were brought underground by Sampo. In a way, that actually helped us out of our predicament for the time being.
"As for that 'kid,' they're probably talking about Nero, right? And that little girl from the Upper City, could that be Duckie?
"Even though I don't know how Little Fish ended up getting mixed up with Sampo, he really is still helping us."
[Dan-heart Forever: Hey! We Xianzhou folks are just that reliable!]
——
[The Story Continues]
After Sampo leaves, the woman finally turns around and looks at the Trailblazer.
"Little sleepyhead, you're finally awake."
Then the screen shifts, and Siberian Duck can freely control the character.
The current location seems to be a clinic. Besides the unknown woman she needs to interact with, she also finds Nero in a corner.
This Nero is clearly event-related.
Without hesitation, Siberian Duck takes a photo of the clinic and then runs over.
She triggers a dialogue.
[Nero: Come to think of it, before leaving the space station, I promised Asta I'd take photos of different environments and starry skies during the journey.]
[Siberian Duck, you must know which places look the best, right? Could I trouble you to help me take some photos?]
Then this Nero tilts his head slightly and smiles.
And on the Trailblazer's side, the three response options are:
[Sure!]
[No problem!]
[(Damn it, why is it this irresistible move again?)]
No matter which option you choose, the reply is "Thank you!"
After that, it enters the event interface.
Siberian Duck submits the photos she took and successfully receives one hundred Stellar Jades from Nero.
Only after claiming the event rewards does Siberian Duck continue with the main quest.
Dialogue is triggered.
[How do you feel? Anywhere feeling uncomfortable?]
Siberian Duck chooses, [My whole body hurts, especially my head.]
[…I hope you're joking. The metaphor is pretty accurate, but normal people don't talk like that.]
[Since you're awake, move around a bit. I'm Natasha, the underground doctor. You've been lying in my clinic for a whole day.]
Siberian Duck returns the courtesy and chooses to introduce herself.
[Hello… hehe, you're quite polite.] Natasha lets out a soft laugh.
[Sampo went to clean up the mess he caused, so I took care of you in his place. But judging by how you look, your head and body should both be fine, very healthy.]
[If there's nothing wrong, I'll go take care of my other patients first, alright?]
Next, Siberian Duck asks where the Trailblazer's companions are.
Natasha answers one by one. [They woke up earlier than you. The black-haired young man was the first, Sampo took him away.]
[That rather noisy girl woke up and ran out not long after. She's probably wandering around nearby.]
[And there was also a little girl dressed like a guard. I specifically told Sampo to keep an eye on her, but the moment he went out, she disappeared in the blink of an eye.]
[As for that very sunny white-haired kid, he's the one who came down with you along with Sampo. Right now… he should be playing with the other kids.]
Siberian Duck says that the Trailblazer needs to reunite with their companions.
Natasha doesn't stop her, only saying, "Alright, just don't push yourself, okay? If anything feels off, come back and tell me right away.
[If you run into trouble, you can try asking Wildfire for help.]
[Wildfire is an underground civilian organization. You can think of them as the underground's Silvermane Guards, just with a bit more human warmth.]
[Many thanks, I'll take my leave!] Siberian Duck says.
[No need to thank me. Healing the sick and treating the wounded is a doctor's duty.]
With that, the dialogue ends.
Siberian Duck controls the Trailblazer and heads out the door.
As soon as she steps outside, the screen shows the lower district from multiple angles.
There is no daylight here, only constantly lit lamps. Living here for a long time, one would probably gradually lose the sense of day and night.
Everywhere are rundown houses and stacked buildings. There are occasional pedestrians on the streets, pipes are set up along rooftops, crisscrossing between buildings.
Right after stepping out, she sees March in the distance.
Standing beside March are three tiny figures, seemingly children from the lower district.
And standing opposite the four of them, hands on his hips, is Nero, shorter than March, but taller than the three little bean-sized kids.