[You have kept Kalpas at the church as a manual laborer, while you yourself go to the Sanatorium after work every day to help Aponia with heavy lifting.]
[You discover that although Kalpas's attitude towards the nuns and children is terrible, he doesn't dislike them.]
[And so, the peaceful days continue.]
[Until the Dark Blade of the MOTHs Who Chase the Flame arrives.]
---o---
Anderson: Priest, those annoying people from the MOTHs Who Chase the Flame are here. You want me to take her out?
Looking at the throat-slitting emoji Godfather Anderson had sent, Fu Li rubbed his temples in frustration.
He remembered that the one sent to handle Twilight Street should be Sakura.
Fu Li: No need. Give me her location. I'll handle this myself.
Fu Li: Also, report her movements to me the moment you have them.
Anderson: Understood.
Anderson: But that woman is extremely vigilant. It's almost impossible for us to get a good look at her face, so we only have a photo of her back. I'll send it to you shortly.
In this era, the MOTHs Who Chase the Flame were regarded by the world as a demonic organization. Therefore, even a godfather of the criminal underworld like Anderson had no desire to become their enemy.
A minute or two later, two photos were sent directly to Fu Li's phone.
The first picture was indeed a shot of Sakura's back, likely captured by a surveillance camera.
The second picture was of a warehouse. Its doors were wide open, and the inside was completely empty.
Fu Li didn't even need to think to know this was Pardofelis's handiwork. One could say the meow-meow squad had scored a great victory.
Turning off his phone, Fu Li changed into some more casual clothes, preparing to check on the area around the Sanatorium. However, the moment he stepped outside, he saw Aponia.
"Sister Nia, what are you…?" Fu Li unconsciously straightened his back a little.
"Are you… going to do something dangerous again?" Aponia's chest heaved with anxiety, a hint of displeasure on her face.
Although she knew that Fu Li would not be in any real danger, Aponia couldn't help but worry.
However, Fu Li simply smiled. "Don't worry, Sister Nia. You know me. I've always been very cautious."
"Sigh. Alright, then. You must come back safely. If you don't, I'll be angry, you know."
"Ehehe, I know, I know. Relax, Sister Nia, I'm not a child anymore."
"You…" Aponia shook her head helplessly and reached out to pat Fu Li's head. "These are some cookies I baked for the children. You have some too."
After handing the homemade cookies to Fu Li, Aponia, needing to hurry back to the children, left immediately.
"Did Sister Nia see something again?"
Putting the cookies away, Fu Li watched Aponia's departing figure and tilted his head.
Although neither of them had ever spoken of it, Fu Li didn't believe for a second that a girl as intelligent and gifted as Aponia wouldn't have noticed their situation.
In Twilight Street, there was no such thing as random kindness. There had to be another reason why all those 'good-hearted people' were competing to send them supplies.
And that reason could only be him.
Still, why does Sister Nia always treat me like a child? And why do I find it so hard to refuse her?
Could it be because her big-sister aura is just too powerful?
After moping for a moment, Fu Li composed himself.
"Whatever. First, I need to find Sakura before she makes a move to destroy the Sanatorium."
---o---
[You went to a small house you had bought near the Sanatorium and watched silently through the window.]
[You saw that, with the help of your medicine, the children of the Sanatorium, while still feeling unwell from time to time, were not in any immediate life-threatening danger.]
[You felt no relief from this, because you knew that all you were doing was prolonging their lives.]
[Only two paths lay before them. The first was to undergo MANTIS surgery, just like Griseo, and gamble on the slim chance of survival.]
[The second path was to die in agony after the medicine could no longer control their pain.]
[You felt your fists itching. You decided that after resolving the trouble Sakura brought, you would pay a visit to the MOTHs' headquarters.]
---o---
But still…
My dear Sakura, when on earth are you going to show up?
On the rooftop, Fu Li chewed on a blade of grass, watching the streets below with utter boredom.
Since he had once learned assassination and infiltration from Sakura, they could be considered fellow disciples from the same school.
As the saying goes, while you might not be able to break the moves taught by the same master head-on, you could use your familiarity with those moves to outmaneuver a fellow disciple.
Finally, as if by fate, Aponia and Sakura met.
Watching from a distance, Fu Li saw them both stop. They opened their mouths to speak at the exact same instant, then just as tacitly fell silent, and finally walked past each other.
Pfft…
Seeing such a comical scene, Fu Li instinctively covered his mouth, forcing himself not to laugh out loud.
Although he had seen this scene play out many times in Aponia's psychological therapy sessions, watching it happen in reality was, as expected, incredibly amusing.
"Sakura, oh Sakura, let me help you repair a friendship that could have been saved."
With that thought, Fu Li took out a small box and opened it.
Inside, six flying cameras, each only the size of a glass marble, flew out, allowing him to monitor Sakura's movements at all times.
He would wait until Sakura realized something was amiss with the Sanatorium and was preparing to carry out her purge, then he would step in to stop her.
What future Flame-Chasers… they're just a bunch of troublesome fools who can't take care of themselves.