[...Prometheus, you don't really think that those twenty-one guys who took out loans first and will pay later can all live peacefully until the mission starts, do you?]
Huh? Is that not the case?
The little AI wanted to answer like that, but seeing Fuli's incredulous face made her inexplicably angry.
She huffed, [Of course not!]
[Right.]
"Thanks~"
Taking the fried rice, which obviously had a larger portion than usual, from the waiter, Fuli scarfed it down while saying in his mind:
[According to the intelligence dealer's records, under normal circumstances, barely one in ten people can survive three years alone in the Honkai world without attaching themselves to any faction. Most of the guys who find the Foundation's branch are geniuses, and what geniuses love most is pulling chestnuts from the fire—seeking wealth and honor in danger.]
The little girl silently recited the second half of that proverb: [Wealth and honor are sought in danger, but also lost in danger. Of those who seek, perhaps one succeeds; of those who lose, nine out of ten perish.]
[See? You stack those probabilities.]
Clatter!
Fuli put down the empty plate. "Boss! Another one! Use a basin this time!"
After ordering another serving of fried rice, he stated with certainty: [Out of twenty-one people, having five or six left at the end would already be pretty good.]
No wonder the moment the Host mentioned it, that person instantly put on a miserable face like Zelensky's wife.
Prometheus was thoughtful.
To continue doing "loss-making business" tirelessly under such circumstances, the Future Foundation was either stupidly rich or had extremely grand ambitions.
Buzz—!
The phone on the table suddenly vibrated.
Fuli, who was devouring his food as if taking revenge on it, glanced at the lit-up screen but ignored it.
Recovering her senses, the little AI suggested warmly, [Isn't the Host going to check it?]
[I know what it is. I'll deal with it after I finish eating,] the regressor replied.
Prometheus nodded and sat beside him, accompanying him through this delayed lunch.
Fuli had always found it strange. Theoretically, Prometheus projected directly onto his retina, not manifesting in the real world. So what was the point of her floating around like this?
But whenever he saw the little girl's cute face, feigning expressionlessness yet faintly revealing anticipation, he felt it was better not to ask such an idiot question that would definitely lower her affection points.
Even if her face was still pixelated, eyes are the windows to the soul, after all.
It was 3:00 PM, not a busy mealtime, so the restaurant owner didn't say anything about Fuli lingering after his meal.
Wiping his mouth clean with a napkin, the well-fed Fuli picked up his phone and opened the WeChat group "Old Fu Family: Happy Ever After" that had just tagged him.
The gist of the group chat was that a family elder with incredibly high seniority was coming to Nagazora City to see a concert by the world-class superstar Eden. Since someone remembered Fuli was in the Far East, they asked if he could help take care of her.
[That Little Great-Aunt is coming after all.]
Even though he already knew the cause and effect of this matter, Fuli was still speechless after reading the chat history.
Prometheus lifted her small face. [I remember the Host saying his relationship with his family isn't good.]
[It's not so much bad as it is them treating me like I don't exist... except for that Little Great-Aunt. That's why they came to me.]
Fuli rubbed his forehead. [Not that we are particularly close. In fact, I've only ever seen her selfies checking in at various popular internet spots on her Moments. We've never formally met.]
[Mainly because that person—hmm, here.] He raised a hand and pointed to his head. [She has a tiny bit of a problem here. She's the type of super 'central air conditioner' who is extremely affectionate to everyone. Even someone like me can't escape her radiation range.]
Prometheus felt a sense of goodwill. [She sounds like a very kind elder.]
Fuli: [An elder, yes, but only in seniority. Her actual age is the same as mine.]
The little AI was dumbfounded. [Also sixteen? A sixteen-year-old Great-Aunt?]
"Great-Aunt" (Gu Nainai) in Shenzhou refers to the daughter of one's great-grandfather, meaning a sister of one's grandfather.
[That's why we call her 'Little' Great-Aunt.] Fuli lazily propped up his chin, using his other hand to push the phone displaying her Moments in front of Prometheus. [Here, look. She's got nothing better to do than post selfies again.]
The girl leaned in with great interest, but her pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinholes.
In the picture was a very stylishly dressed pink-haired girl.
She sat by the window in a bubble tea shop, a triumphant smile on her pretty face. Her beautiful blue eyes, dotted with starry pink, shone brightly. Her fair face was covered in a veil-like orange glow from the background light, making one want to get lost in it.
The girl's top was very loose, revealing a smooth, creamy white shoulder slipping out of the collar. She playfully stuck out her tongue at the camera and winked one eye, her long eyelashes particularly prominent.
She also casually made a peace sign. For a moment, the unique youth and vitality of that age leapt out, with a hint of childlike innocence and cuteness.
[Ely...]
Subconsciously about to utter a name, Prometheus suddenly clenched her teeth, forcefully swallowing the remaining syllables back down.
[You think she's cute too, right? Killing both men and women as always, completely different from a gloomy otaku like me.]
Fuli took back his phone and continued typing to chat with his Little Great-Aunt while teasing the visibly stunned Prometheus. [Doesn't look like my relative, does she?]
The little AI nodded silently.
[I was curious about her background before, so I secretly lurked in the chats.]
He paused considerately, giving the girl who had suffered a "beauty critical hit" (?) some time to buffer.
After she waved her hand to indicate she was fine, he continued leisurely, [According to my grandfather's generation, my Little Great-Aunt was a baby picked up by my great-grandfather during an expedition to Vostok-51 in Antarctica. At the time, the scientific expedition team accidentally encountered some strange prehistoric lifeform. In the moment of peril, the infant Little Great-Aunt was unsealed from the glacier. Her body emitted a strange light, helping everyone escape danger... Well? Sounds fake, right?]
[Mm.]
[I think it's fake too—no, not just me, everyone else in the group thinks it's fake.]
If the old man said he picked her up somewhere else, we'd accept it. The world is big; the probability of finding an abandoned baby is low, but not impossible.
But Antarctica?
Sorry, with that environment, he probably picked up a Pink Elf or something.
[So compared to the 'Antarctic Baby Pickup Theory,' the family group leans more towards the 'Old Man Still Has It Theory.']
The old man could still practice Tai Chi and Baguazhang in his eighties. With a physique comparable to Joseph Joestar, doing something similar to Joseph Joestar (secretly having an illegitimate child behind his wife's back) would be normal, right?
If an old North American man could do it, why couldn't our Shenzhou old man?
Good thing Fuli's great-grandfather passed away early; otherwise, he might have jumped out of his coffin to beat these unfilial descendants with an ice axe.
Prometheus's eyes flickered. [So is the Host going to pick up this Little Great-Aunt?]
[Pick her up? No way.] Fuli didn't even look up as he typed. [Not only will I not pick her up, but I also have to find a way to make her stay put in Shenzhou honestly during this period.]
[Why?]
[Because in three days, something BIG will happen in Nagazora City. And the consequences of this BIG event will cause this international metropolis to be com-plete-ly wiped off the map of the Far East.]