---o---
Seeing her master plan exposed, Stelle propped her hands on her hips and pouted, her little face a mask of defiance.
"Big Bro, just say you'll help me!"
This wasn't the first time he'd seen Stelle acting so righteously indignant. He nodded helplessly.
"Since you've put it that way, I'll definitely have to back you up."
Himeko, watching the two siblings play their parts, shook her head with a resigned sigh. She walked over and flicked both of their foreheads lightly.
"Remember not to eat too much. We're all having dinner together tonight."
Himeko's words made Stelle's eyes light up. Before, when she roped her big bro into it, that was called 'sneaking food.' But now it was different. With Himeko's approval, this was called 'feasting by official decree'!
Stelle immediately stood up straight, brought her right hand to her head, and gave Himeko a salute.
"Yes, Navigator!"
Himeko, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, poked Stelle firmly on the forehead, making the girl yelp and clutch her head in mock pain.
"I'll be on my way, then. You two have fun 'getting busy'."
Himeko waved and turned to walk toward another car. As for Stelle, she waited until Himeko had left before excitedly grabbing Fu Zhu's hand and dashing towards the kitchen where the refrigerator was. She then flung the door open with glee and pulled out the remaining pudding, popsicles, and other sweets from inside.
---o---
"Big Bro, what do you want?"
Fu Zhu casually grabbed a popsicle from inside, unwrapped it, and stuck it in his mouth.
"I'll just have whatever. You can have the rest, but if you get a stomachache, I'm not giving you any milk."
"Hmph!"
Stelle shot Fu Zhu a resentful glare, then tilted her head up with a huff.
"We Nameless are blessed by the Trailblaze! How could a tiny little popsicle possibly give me a stomachache! I'm eating, eating, eating!"
Stelle grabbed a popsicle in each hand and began stuffing them into her mouth. Fu Zhu watched from the side, a bemused expression on his face. At the same time, he was curious just how many popsicles Stelle's little stomach could hold, and how many she could eat before getting sick. He leaned against the doorframe, ready to watch her perform her gourmand challenge.
A few minutes later, Fu Zhu was rather impressed to see that Stelle had already eaten more than ten popsicles and still showed no signs of a stomachache.
"Oh? What are you two little rascals sneaking in here? Let me have a taste too?"
Rider suddenly walked in. Seeing Fu Zhu and Stelle acting all sneaky, she approached them with curiosity.
The sudden sound of Rider's voice from behind gave Stelle a fright. She spun around in a panic, three half-eaten popsicles still sticking out of her mouth. When she saw it was Rider, she let out a long sigh of relief, pulled the popsicles from her mouth, and looked at Rider with annoyance.
"Rider, you scared me to death! I thought Himeko had suddenly changed her mind and come back to arrest me!"
Rider burst out laughing and reached out to pat Stelle's little head.
"Is that so? Then next time, I'll try to be even quieter. I'll make sure to give you another good scare."
"Rider, you're so mean!"
Rider couldn't stop laughing. Looking at Stelle acting like a spoiled child, her mind couldn't help but drift to the past.
If Kiana were here, she and Stelle would probably get along great. The two of them had very similar personalities in some ways.
Fu Zhu noticed the subtle shift in Rider's mood and asked after a moment of hesitation, "Rider, are you homesick?"
Rider paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile and nodded.
"Which wanderer, far from home, doesn't miss it? It's been several years since I died on Earth. I really want to know what Kiana and the others are like now. Are they still as much of a handful as they were before, or have they grown into young women who can stand on their own two feet…唉 (āi)."
Seeing the visible sadness on Rider's face, Stelle turned and took a pudding out of the refrigerator, handing it to her.
"Rider, when you're sad, eating something sweet will make you feel better."
"Thank you."
Rider took the pudding, opened it, and put it in her mouth. The cool, sweet sensation did indeed calm her mood a little, but the longing in her eyes still lingered.
Stelle knew that a small pudding couldn't completely soothe Rider's heart, but she wasn't worried. She placed a hand on Fu Zhu's shoulder.
"Big Bro, it's time to bring out your invincible upper, middle, and lower strategies!"
Rider had heard that Fu Zhu often came up with three different strategies to solve difficult situations. She was curious about it, but in her heart, she didn't quite believe it.
After all, she had taken the time to ask Herta from the Genius Society about it before, but the answer she got had extinguished her hopes.
"Oh? You and Welt are from the same planet? Then there's nothing to be done. He commissioned me to help find a planet called Earth a long time ago, but there have been no results so far. You'll just have to wait."
Finding a single planet wasn't something that could be accomplished with overwhelming combat power. Even a genius like Herta couldn't do it. She didn't really believe that Fu Zhu could come up with a good solution.
Just as she expected, Fu Zhu let out a sigh.
"Sis, you're really putting me in a tough spot."
Stelle paused. Could it be that even her invincible big bro was powerless?
Stelle and Rider couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. If even Fu Zhu had no way, then Rider would probably have to just keep waiting indefinitely.
But just then, Fu Zhu shook his head.
"No, what I mean is, it's hard for me to come up with three strategies. Right now, I can only think of one superlative strategy."
Stelle and Rider paused for a moment, before the former raised her hand and gave Fu Zhu a light, annoyed smack.
"Big Bro! We're being serious here! Stop with the dramatic pauses!"
"Just teasing." Fu Zhu blocked Stelle's "attack" with his hand, then looked at Rider seriously and said, "I was actually planning to use this method to help you and Welt find Earth a while ago, but I got sidetracked by various things and forgot. Just wait a moment."
Rider, who had felt her hopes dashed, now found her eyes lighting up. She looked at Fu Zhu with anticipation. Could it be that her Master could really create a miracle?
Fu Zhu immediately opened the mod shop. Under normal circumstances, finding a specific planet was indeed an incredibly difficult task, but that was only under normal circumstances!
As it happened, Fu Zhu knew of a mod that could help players find specific structures and biomes within the myriad of integrated modpacks. Basically, most large modpacks couldn't do without this excellent mod. That mod was—the Explorer's Compass and Nature's Compass!
Fu Zhu glanced at the price of the two compasses, saw they weren't expensive, and bought them directly.
[Explorer's Compass, Nature's Compass mod has been installed]
The moment the notification sound rang out, Fu Zhu instantly unlocked the recipes for both compasses. He immediately placed a crafting table on the floor, quickly crafted one, and then presented it to Stelle and Rider.
"Here, this is my superlative strategy. The Explorer's Compass. Its function is simple: it can help people find specific structures, biomes, and even planets!"
---o---