I'm already a treasure hunter—why would I care whether someone's a little girl or not?
…Just kidding.
That said, Evan really had only been bluffing Svarog earlier.
Those two cannons weren't even true Thrones of the Moonlight.
The Throne of the Moonlight itself came in different tiers.
One was the post-era Moonlight Throne—
a weapon that converted Honkai Energy into destructive output.
Its power was already terrifying.
The other—
was the Pre-Civilization Moonlight Throne.
That thing had once blasted Finality so badly it was forced offline for a time.
At present, Evan still didn't fully understand that version.
He hadn't completed its analysis yet.
So constructing it was out of the question.
Still, the Moonlight Throne he did understand was already more than sufficient.
Small in size.
But overwhelming in number.
If not for the fact that the Underworld lay directly beneath Belobog—
and that deploying too many Moonlight Thrones might collapse the ground—
he would've taken them out long ago.
Robot Settlement — Outer Scavenger Camp
At this moment, a man stood quietly among the crowd.
His presence was subtle, almost unremarkable.
Yet faint Path energy wrapped around him.
He had deep-blue hair—and a curious look on his face.
"My dear Lord of Laughter…"
"So the Erudition blessing Jarilo-VI received earlier landed on this guy?"
Oh?
Wasn't this our old friend with the cold legs—
Sampo Koski?
If Evan were here, he'd recognize him instantly.
A suspected Tavern member?
No—at this point, it wasn't even a suspicion.
He was definitely from the Tavern.
And not low-ranking either.
There was a good chance he was even an Emanator of Elation.
A true believer of the Aeon of Laughter.
Of course, his mask seemed to be missing.
During the Jarilo-VI crisis, he'd even commissioned Sparkle to retrieve it from the Tavern.
As for why Sampo was here?
Who knew.
People of the Elation faction were always unpredictable.
Honestly, Sampo was already one of the more reasonable ones.
Sparkle, on the other hand—
good luck ever figuring her out.
"If those cannons had actually finished charging…"
"The entire Robot Settlement would've been wiped off the map, wouldn't it?"
"My dear Lord of Laughter…"
"What exactly did Nous bless this guy with?"
As a Pathstrider of Elation, Sampo lived for amusement.
He loved chaos.
Loved fun.
And in extreme situations, human nature itself was one of the greatest sources of entertainment.
That was precisely why he was here.
But before he could intervene—
he encountered something entirely unexpected.
This Evan guy.
He'd only appeared here for half a year.
By all accounts, he should've been an ordinary person who hadn't even stepped onto a Path.
And yet—
Not long ago…
Nous had appeared.
An Aeon's blessing didn't always make someone an Emanator—
but it always put them on a Path.
What Sampo hadn't expected was that the mechanic fixing machines in Boulder Town—
was the very "variable" he'd been looking for.
Sampo's gaze shifted toward the core of the Robot Settlement.
...
"Human…"
"Variable…"
"Leave now. No one will be harmed."
"Otherwise—elimination will commence."
Robot Settlement — Central Core
Behind it lay the critical passage leading to the Overworld.
But after the Supreme Guardian issued the lockdown order, that passage had been completely sealed.
If one wanted to go up—
they had to clear the Underworld's final boss.
Standing before them now—
was that boss.
Svarog.
Svarog was a humanoid machine that had once participated in the war against the Antimatter Legion.
He survived.
Later, he became the personal mechanical guard of Dr. Milsheimer.
By chance, he found Clara—
and from that moment on, everything changed.
Now, Svarog's infrared eyes locked directly onto Evan.
At the same time—
two virtual panels appeared before Evan.
One was analyzing Svarog's identity.
The other was deconstructing Svarog's internal structure.
Both sides, in their own way, were perfectly satisfied.
If not for Svarog's unpleasant wording—
this would've been a rather nice opening exchange.
As Svarog finished speaking—
Seele looked utterly baffled.
"Hey—what kind of way is that to talk?!"
"Leave. Immediately. Or you will all perish."
This was Svarog's domain.
A machine that had survived the Antimatter Legion war—
his combat power was terrifying.
Even someone as battle-hardened as Seele was no match for him.
The moment his words fell—
Seele's expression darkened.
She summoned her weapon, instantly assuming a battle stance.
She looked ready to rush forward and tear Svarog apart on the spot.
That damned machine.
"Alright—analysis complete."
Evan's voice cut in calmly.
"Solid structure. To last for centuries as a machine…"
"Worthy of being an anti–Antimatter Legion war unit."
"But even so—"
"Svarog, Boss Svarog…"
"You're still just an old-era machine."
The analysis interface before Evan's eyes vanished.
Every last piece of Svarog's data had already been stored in his mind.
Evan clapped his hands together lightly.
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