"Hm?"
Welt was a little surprised to hear that Fu Zhu would be leaving the team for a while.
"Have you already planned your next course of action?"
Before Fu Zhu could answer, March 7th couldn't help but poke her head out from behind the others, complaining, "Uncle Yang, he's not like that! Last time on Jarilo-VI, as soon as we landed, he went off on his own! Then we got put on a wanted list while he was enjoying the adoration of the Silvermane Guards, living it up!"
Xing, the Trailblazer, also came to a realization and stared at Fu Zhu with suspicion.
"Old bro, don't tell me you have the ability to foresee the future? Are we going to get wanted again, so you're making a special trip to get away and find refuge?!"
Fu Zhu rolled his eyes, feeling rather speechless. Did he really seem like the kind of heartless person who would abandon his teammates?
"If I could foresee the future, why wouldn't I just lead you all to speedrun the Luofu? I just have a place I want to go."
"Really?" ×2
"Really!"
Welt quickly put a stop to their conversation. Seeing that March 7th and Xing were still looking at Fu Zhu with suspicion, he spoke a few words in his defense.
"Alright, since Fu Zhu has said so, he must have his own arrangements. Besides, we've arrived two days earlier than expected. This gives us enough time to make some preparations. However, Fu Zhu, before you go, it would be best if we first discuss the details of this operation."
Fu Zhu nodded. He didn't want a repeat of the situation on Jarilo-VI, where he was completely in the dark about his companions' actions, which nearly led to an accident.
A short while later, the star skiff docked at a ferry point in Central Starskiff Haven. The moment the skiff's door opened, a cacophony of bustling sounds flooded their ears.
The cries of vendors and joyous laughter were endless.
"Wow~ It's so lively!"
The moment they stepped off, March 7th and Xing saw the bustling, crowded streets of Central Starskiff Haven and couldn't wait to run ahead, crowding around a food stall and staring, wide-eyed, at the snacks on display.
Welt had no choice but to follow them and buy them each a skewer of Jeweled Bird, after which the two girls obediently followed by his side.
"Let's go. I've already booked the hotel. We'll head there first."
Welt led the group through a commercial street and into an inn. After presenting the electronic reservation on his phone at the front desk, he received the room keys.
Led by a staff member, the four went to their respective rooms. After a simple ten-minute rest, they were called by Welt to gather in his room.
Fu Zhu was a little late because he had spent extra time on his phone looking for a blacksmith's shop to try forging the Demon Blade. By the time he arrived at the door, March 7th and Xing were already waiting inside.
"Sorry, I was held up for a bit." Fu Zhu walked into the room, offered a slightly embarrassed apology, and sat down in an empty seat.
Welt nodded, not making a fuss about Fu Zhu's tardiness. Once he was seated, he got down to business.
"First, let's clarify our objective for this trip. We are to investigate why the Stellaron Hunters lured us to the Luofu and to assist the Luofu in sealing the Stellaron. Since we've arrived early, we have two days to prepare. What do you think we should do next?"
Welt already had a rough plan in mind, but to cultivate the three of them, he didn't immediately state it.
If he laid out his plan beforehand, the trio's thinking would become rigid, and they would only supplement his plan.
That wasn't what Welt wanted to see. He hoped the three of them could develop their own ideas. They would sooner or later face predicaments where they had to act alone, so independent thinking was essential.
Xing was the first to raise her hand. "Go directly to the Luofu officials?"
March 7th agreed with Xing's suggestion, chiming in, "Yeah, yeah! Isn't the Xianzhou Alliance supposed to be super powerful? We provide them with the intel, they do the work. This Stellaron crisis should be resolved quite simply! It's not like we're going to encounter a problem on the Luofu that even a flagship of the Xianzhou Alliance can't handle, right?"
Welt simply nodded, neither refuting nor fully agreeing.
His own plan was similar to Xing's—to proactively cooperate with the Luofu's official authorities. However, he felt that was a bit too optimistic.
Welt turned to look at Fu Zhu, who had yet to speak. He had previously had a private conversation with Dan Heng, who had given him some insight into Fu Zhu.
The evaluation Dan Heng had given was: though his thinking is sometimes erratic, he is an extremely reliable companion, and the strange ideas that occasionally pop into his head often play a critical role.
For Dan Heng to offer such high praise, Fu Zhu clearly had his extraordinary qualities.
"Fu Zhu, if it were you, what would you do next?"
Fu Zhu stroked his chin and thought for a moment.
"If it were me, I would choose to observe the situation and wait for the moment the Stellaron crisis erupts."
The moment Fu Zhu said this, he immediately drew the uncomprehending gazes of the two girls.
"Old bro, are you planning to just stand by and watch people die?" Xing put on a look of disappointment, hand over her chest. "You've disappointed me so much!"
"Cut the theatrics. I never said I'd watch them die. I just think, on what basis would the Luofu believe us?"
A flicker of light crossed Welt's eyes. Fu Zhu had voiced the very concern he held in his heart. He immediately gestured with his chin, signaling for Fu Zhu to continue.
Seeing everyone quiet down, Xing and March 7th also settled down to wait for Fu Zhu's explanation.
Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Fu Zhu continued to explain his earlier words.
"First, judging by the peaceful and prosperous lives of the people on the Luofu, the Stellaron hasn't erupted yet. If we go to the Luofu authorities right now and tell them a Stellaron is about to explode, what do you think they will think?
"They'll probably say, 'How did you know a Stellaron was going to explode on the Luofu?' If we tell them we learned it from a Stellaron Hunter, they'll probably suspect we're in league with the Hunters."
After hearing Fu Zhu's explanation, March 7th asked, somewhat dejectedly, "So we really have to just watch? Once the Stellaron erupts, innocent people will definitely be caught up in the disaster... Fu Zhu, is there really nothing we can do to stop it?"
March 7th's gloomy mood unconsciously spread to Xing, causing her to lower her head, her brow furrowed in sadness.
In contrast, Welt seemed unaffected by Fu Zhu's words. Instead, his eyes held a hint of anticipation as he looked at Fu Zhu.
"Fu Zhu, continue."
Fu Zhu nodded and went on, "Observing the situation is just the approach I would take from the Astral Express's perspective. But if you don't want innocent people to be harmed by the Stellaron, we have other options."
Fu Zhu felt no particular attachment to the Luofu. Compared to the Luofu, he was more concerned with protecting his own family.
Only with that as a prerequisite would he attempt to fulfill the duties of a Nameless.
"If we want to relay the information about the Stellaron to the Luofu authorities without making them suspicious of us, then we just need to change our motivation for coming to the Luofu."
"Motivation? Change it to what?" ×2
March 7th and Xing asked in perfect sync.
A slight smile curved Fu Zhu's lips as he spoke eloquently.
"We just say we were pursuing the fleeing Stellaron Hunters, but we didn't expect the Hunters to be so bold as to escape to the Luofu. As for why the Stellaron Hunters fled to the Luofu, we just need to give them a little nudge, and they'll figure out the part about the Stellaron on their own.
"After that, we just need to express our willingness to help. The Luofu authorities probably won't be too resistant, since we were the ones who told them the Stellaron Hunters had infiltrated the Luofu."
After hearing Fu Zhu's speech, March 7th and Xing both broke into applause. Even Welt looked at Fu Zhu with some surprise.
"Your plan is excellent, Fu Zhu. No wonder Dan Heng is always praising your strategic mind."
Dan Heng praises me?
Fu Zhu was also a bit surprised. He never thought someone as cool-headed as Dan Heng would actually praise him like that in front of others.
"It's just a few of my thoughts, Uncle Yang. You're the leader, and your life experience is certainly far richer than that of us young folk, so it's better for you to make the final decision."
Welt smiled and shook his head. "You don't need to be so overly modest. Your plan is already excellent. We'll follow your plan to approach the Luofu's official authorities. It should indeed be much smoother. So let's proceed as you've suggested.
"However, the act has to be complete. I will try to contact the Luofu government officials shortly. During this time, you all should go have a look around the Luofu. Remember to ask around for news about the Stellaron Hunters."
The three of them immediately understood the meaning behind Welt's words. This was to provide corroborating evidence for their story when the Luofu officials investigated their claims.
People tend to only believe the "truth" they find for themselves. Even a great power like the Luofu, when compared to outsiders, would place more trust in the "truth" they uncovered on their own.
Although it sounded a bit bad to say it, they had to resort to this strategy to ensure they could resolve this Stellaron crisis smoothly.
Afterward, Welt briefly assigned tasks to the three of them. Xing and March 7th were to go to different areas to inquire about the Stellaron Hunters, while Fu Zhu was given free rein to act as he pleased.
Just based on the plan Fu Zhu had laid out, Welt already had high hopes for him. Letting Fu Zhu act freely might yield far better results than deliberately assigning him a task.
"Alright, that's settled. Everyone, let's head out."
With a wave of his hand from Welt, the group dispersed. As they were leaving, March 7th and Xing couldn't help but cast envious glances at Fu Zhu.
They had been assigned the task of gathering intelligence by Welt. Although it was just an act, Welt demanded that they be subtle enough in their inquiries while also ensuring the Luofu officials would notice them. This would be a great test of their individual abilities.
Fu Zhu walked over with a grin, patting the two girls on their heads while not forgetting to give them a reminder.
"The Luofu isn't like Jarilo-VI; there's a signal here. Remember to stay in touch."
Xing's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "Old bro, you mean if we get into trouble, you'll come help us?"
Hearing this, March 7th couldn't help but break into a joyous smile.
But Fu Zhu just crossed his arms and said cheerfully, "Nope. I'm going to eat every single thing you two want to eat, and I'll even take a picture to show you how delicious it is."
"Are you even my real brother?!"
"Of course. Isn't that what a dear brother is supposed to do?"
"Damn you! Starting today, you are hereby stripped of your brother-privileges!"
Huffing indignantly, Xing dragged March 7th out of the room. Fu Zhu just laughed, then followed them out. He had his own business to attend to.
On a certain street in Central Starskiff Haven, Fu Zhu stared at the navigation map on his phone, then looked up at the teahouse in front of him, which the map had marked as a blacksmith's shop.
"Seriously, it's the interstellar age, and the navigation apps are still this terrible?!"
Fu Zhu sighed in exasperation, turned off his phone, and opened his minimap instead. He prepared to use the power of the mod to find a blacksmith. At the very least, the mod wouldn't deceive him on this front.
But just as he opened the minimap, he noticed that among the sea of green and yellow markers representing the crowd of pedestrians around him, one yellow marker representing a neutral unit suddenly turned into a scarlet hostile marker.
"Huh?"
It was almost a conditioned reflex. Fu Zhu instantly switched to his Divine Annihilator sword and shield and turned to face the direction of the hostile unit.
The surrounding pedestrians, who had been chatting and laughing, were momentarily stunned when they saw Fu Zhu suddenly draw his weapons. After a brief pause, they all came to their senses and backed away from him, many of them raising their phones as if to call for help.
Fu Zhu paid no mind to their reactions, his brow furrowed as he scanned the mixed crowd for the creature that had suddenly become hostile.
This was the Xianzhou Luofu, not the MC world where hostile mobs roamed freely!
For a creature that was supposed to be neutral to suddenly turn hostile towards him, it was highly likely that it had recognized him, and that he had provoked it at some point.
Fu Zhu tried his best to rack his brain, thinking back on his experiences since coming to this world. Besides the Stellaron Hunters, were there any others who fit this description?
While trying to come up with other possibilities, Fu Zhu, holding his Divine Annihilator and shield, approached the location of the hostile unit.
Whether the entity didn't fear him or for some other reason, it remained in place without moving, which gave Fu Zhu the opportunity to find it.
As Fu Zhu stepped forward, the crowd of pedestrians blocking his path parted, clearing a path for him.
And on this cleared path, a single figure remained, "tactlessly" standing in place with their head lowered.
Fu Zhu glanced at the marker on his minimap. This person, who appeared to be an ordinary middle-aged man, was the hostile unit on the map.
Although the person's head was down, Fu Zhu could vaguely make out some of his features. Strangely, Fu Zhu had no impression of this person at all.
"You..."
Just as Fu Zhu was about to ask the man's identity, a sudden change occurred!
The man abruptly raised his head in agony. Beneath the skin of his neck, some kind of striped object was squirming restlessly. The man clawed at his own neck with his fingers, as if trying to dig the object out of his body.
In a short while, the man's neck was a mess of torn flesh and blood. Fu Zhu's sharp eyes spotted a section of a golden bud growing out of the wound on the man's neck. In just a few moments, it had wrapped around and completely covered the man's entire neck.
Moreover, these golden buds weren't just growing from the wound; they sprouted from the seams of his fingernails, his mouth, and his ear canals. In a matter of seconds, the man had become a monster completely covered and entwined by golden branches!
The pedestrians, who had initially been wary because he was armed, screamed upon seeing the man's transformation. Cries of "Someone's fallen to the Mara!" and the like echoed as they fled in all directions.
The monster formed from the golden branches first shot a malicious glare around at the fleeing crowd, but ultimately fixed its gaze on Fu Zhu.
"Not picking the easy targets, huh? You're coming for me?"
Although Fu Zhu was a bit surprised that the monster chose to ignore the closer pedestrians and instead targeted a fully armed him, he didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately threw an Ender Pearl behind the monster.
For a first-time enemy, teleporting with an Ender Pearl was always the best surprise attack!
Just as Fu Zhu had planned, as the monster lunged at him, he had already teleported behind it thanks to the Ender Pearl, raising his Divine Annihilator and cleaving it across the back.
The blade sliced a huge gash across its back, and golden blood flowed from within. Yet, the monster seemed to feel no pain at all. It immediately spun around to counterattack, but Fu Zhu blocked it directly with his shield.
The battle between the two instantly devolved into a turn-based fight: Fu Zhu would slash once, then block once.
After a few breaths, the monster's health was depleted and it fell to the ground. Experience orbs, glowing with a soft green light, seeped from its body and merged into Fu Zhu's.
"The experience isn't bad."
During the fight, Fu Zhu had also chopped off quite a few of the golden branches from the monster's body. They were all identified as ownerless drops and were sucked into his inventory.
Fu Zhu casually opened his inventory, wanting to see what useful materials the monsters on the Luofu might drop.
[Everlasting Bud]
[Currently Convertible: Oak Sapling, Dark Oak Sapling, Birch Sapling....]
[Everlasting Branch]
[Currently Convertible: Golden Apple]
"Saplings, saplings, saplings, golden apples, hey, all just trash... huh?! You can convert into what?!"
Fu Zhu whipped his head back to look at the thickest golden branch in his inventory.
He hadn't expected that it could actually be converted into a Golden Apple!
Although it wasn't an Enchanted Golden Apple, being able to convert into a Golden Apple was already heaven-defying!
However, what puzzled Fu Zhu was that he had previously experimented with the system's conversion mechanism. It determined the convertible items based on appearance and effect.
This golden branch, which the system called an Everlasting Branch, looked nothing like an apple. Aside from the color being vaguely similar, there was no other feature that could connect it to a Golden Apple.
Could it be because of its effect?
Just as Fu Zhu was pondering whether this Everlasting Branch had a similar effect, the monster he had just killed suddenly twitched.
Noticing the movement, Fu Zhu immediately closed his inventory screen, looking with some surprise at the monster getting back up from the ground.
"Resurrection?"
Although it was unexpected, Fu Zhu didn't panic. In the various modpacks of MC, resurrecting monsters were not uncommon. Killing a monster a few extra times was nothing to be surprised about.
Fu Zhu once again gripped his Divine Annihilator and charged at it. After a few more slashes, the monster fell powerlessly to the ground again, and a small amount of experience orbs once again flowed out of its body and into Fu Zhu's.
Similarly, his inventory automatically collected several more Everlasting Buds. This made even Fu Zhu, who was accustomed to all sorts of resurrecting monsters, widen his eyes in disbelief.
"It can drop items multiple times?!"
This wasn't some hostile monster! This was a model worker!
At least, in all the major MC modpacks, Fu Zhu had never seen a monster like this that could continuously resurrect and drop experience and items multiple times!
What's more, its drops could be converted into Golden Apples! Although the drop rate was a bit pitiful, at least it dropped!
This made Fu Zhu unable to resist the idea of capturing it and building a spawner tower with it as the core.
However, all of this was predicated on the monster being able to resurrect indefinitely.
And so, on the deserted street, Fu Zhu squatted in front of the monster's "corpse" with his Divine Annihilator in hand, quietly waiting for it to resurrect.
A moment later, the monster revived again. But when it opened its eyes, it was met with Fu Zhu's malicious grin.
"You're awake? Model worker."
The next second, the Divine Annihilator fell.
...
"Quickly! Take down the Mara-Struck! We absolutely cannot let it harm the civilians!"
A group of Cloud Knights, led by a young swordsman, flew rapidly towards Fu Zhu's location.
Not long ago, they had received a report that a Mara-Struck had appeared on this street.
But when the young swordsman and his Cloud Knights arrived on the scene, they witnessed a rather "brutal" scene.
They saw a black-haired young man, holding a fiery red greatsword, relentlessly stabbing the fallen Mara-Struck with a squish, squish sound. They could even vaguely hear the young man muttering to himself.
"Wake up, model worker. How is your resurrection speed getting slower and slower? Even the donkeys on the production team don't dare to rest like you do. Resurrect faster! Let me kill you a few more times!"
The young swordsman and the Cloud Knights stared with wide eyes when they heard Fu Zhu's muttering.
Was he even human? In this day and age, there was actually someone begging a Mara-Struck to resurrect faster so he could kill it a few more times!
If this person didn't have a great hatred for the Mara-Struck, then his bloodlust was simply too strong!
Whatever the possibility, this man was definitely not a good person!
The young swordsman was the first to snap out of it. Although the one being killed by Fu Zhu was a Mara-Struck, that Mara-Struck was once a Xianzhou native. Even if they had fallen to the Mara, their body should not be desecrated like this.
The young swordsman couldn't bear it any longer and shouted at Fu Zhu.
"Stop! Let go of that Mara-Struck!"