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"Zeke!"
In the middle of their game, Sin noticed Zeke standing alone nearby. Her eyes sparkled, and she eagerly rushed towards him with a full smile.
However, Wendy swiftly extended an arm to stop her.
"What are you doing?!"
"Sshh—" Wendy gestured for silence, pointing towards Zeke and indicating that Sin should circle around to face him.
Sin eyed Wendy suspiciously before realizing something. She quietly tiptoed past Wendy and approached Zeke from the front.
As expected, Zeke stood there with one hand supporting his cheek, the other casually hanging down, his eyes closed. Under the flickering firelight, his silvery-white hair gently swayed in the breeze, accompanied by slow and steady breathing.
He was asleep.
In repose, his usual cold or impatient expression had transformed into one of serene gentleness. Perhaps due to some pleasant dream, there even lingered a faint smile at the corners of his lips.
Sin gazed intently for a moment before revealing a gentle smile herself.
Suddenly, another white-haired figure charged forward, bumped into Sin's back, and peeked around her shoulder.
Unfazed, Sin remained firmly rooted in place. She glanced sideways at the newcomer and whispered softly,
"If you dare make any noise now, I'll nail your ass to the wall, paramecium!"
"Ah, come on, I know better than that! It's not like I'm completely insensitive!"
Rolling her eyes, Kiana circled around Sin and leaned close to Zeke's face.
She didn't intend to do anything; she just wanted to observe him closely.
"How long has it been since Zeke last slept?" Kiana asked Sin.
Sin tilted her head, thinking for a moment, then replied,
"As far as I know, it's been about eight or nine days already. The actual duration might be even longer."
"So long already? He definitely needs to catch up on sleep."
"Go tell them to quiet down; they're almost done eating anyway, no need for all that racket."
"Sure thing!" Kiana flashed a thumbs-up sign and tiptoed away comically toward the giggling girls, whispering something to them.
In no time, the lively bonfire party hushed.
Rozaliya and Liliya covered their mouths with their hands simultaneously, then crept silently over to Zeke, smiling as they exchanged glances.
Holding hands, Seele and Raiden Mei tidied up discreetly, careful not to make any noise.
Bronya controlled a swarm of worker bees, silently forming a small windproof shelter around Zeke.
The Cleaver of Shamash, fueled by ample Honkai Energy, still maintained its sword form. However, without Zeke's continuous supply, the flames gradually weakened.
Finally, darkness settled upon the night.
The next morning, Zeke woke up amidst faint sounds from construction outside.
Kiana's white head rested on his knees; most of her body leaned against him as she clutched a pillow, drooling as usual—wasn't she cold wearing just a wool nightshirt?
"(ˉ`ˉ) Zzz..."
On the other side, Bronya and Sin were peacefully asleep, wrapped in military-grade sleeping bags.
"Snap!"
Zeke flicked Kiana's nape with a finger, startling her so much she tumbled to the ground in panic.
"Aaahh!!"
After squealing, Kiana rubbed her eyes, shivering from the chilly breeze blowing through the small window of their circular abode.
"Hiss... Where's my blanket?"
"Over there."
Zeke pointed to a corner by the wall, where a messy pile of dirty blankets lay.
"Oh—good morning, Zeke!"
"Mornin'."
Zeke replied mildly, gesturing once more for the worker bees to disassemble the shelter instantly. The Cleaver of Shamash returned to his hand, and he thrust it nearby, warming the surrounding air.
Seeing Kiana visibly more relaxed and Bronya and Sin no longer huddled tightly in their sleep, Zeke finally rose to his feet, stretching lazily as his bones cracked satisfyingly.
Construction on the new base was still ongoing.
Zeke had designed it with ample space, incorporating advanced technology and carefully planned materials for each structure—nothing that could be completed hastily.
However, at least the residential buildings essential for daily life were already proudly standing amidst the snow.
The warmth and aroma of cooking food wafted from the kitchen tent; clearly, Seele had gotten up early to prepare breakfast. Cocolia and Raiden Mei were likely there too.
A large circular table set out in the open would have been ideal for dining.
But when Zeke looked up, he noticed a few flakes drifting down from the overcast sky.
"Is constantly manipulating the weather like this really okay?" Zeke murmured to himself before lifting Cleaver of Shamash.
BOOM! The raging flames split the heavens, allowing sunlight once again to bathe the earth.
This display also roused those who hadn't yet woken up.
"Wahh! Mophead, hurry up and get dressed—it sounds like another fight outside!"
"Rozaliya wants to keep sleeping..."
"Liliya agrees..."
"Ah! My wheelchair tipped over!"
"As expected from Mr. Zeke."
"..."
The diverse exclamations turned the quiet morning into a bustling scene.
During breakfast, Tesla shot a resentful glare at Zeke.
"So what if your experiment succeeded? Throwing tantrums this early in the morning—showing off much?! Just wait until my Tesla-1234 is complete; I'll take you down then!"
"Dr. Tesla, by all standards of rational thinking, that's wishful dreaming. And for the record, it wasn't a tantrum. I merely wished for better weather during breakfast and employed some meteorological interference techniques."
"You call swinging 'Cleaver of Shamash' at the sky 'meteorological interference'?!" Tesla retorted incredulously.
"What's wrong with that?" Zeke replied nonchalantly.
In frustration, Tesla snapped his fork in half.
Unfazed, Zeke continued eating calmly—it had to be said, occasionally teasing Dr. Tesla was quite entertaining.
Those nearby struggled to suppress their laughter.
With a huff, Tesla stopped arguing with Zeke, still grumpy from waking up, and grumbled as he resumed eating.
Just then, two uninvited guests arrived.
"Oh hey~"
"Why didn't anyone invite me for breakfast so early in the morning? Have you forgotten about me already, Zeke? How heartbreaking, boo-hoo~"
"Hold on, Big Sisters Hera and Rita, Seele has prepared something for you both, coming right away!"
In a hurry, Seele dashed towards the kitchen tent.
Hera took a seat opposite Zeke and with a thud, placed a peculiar object on the table.
It was the head of the Gray Serpent, specifically from the first captured clone that had been detained earlier.
Zeke had been extremely busy yesterday, dealing with the aftermath caused by the World Serpent. He needed to oversee the base's reconstruction, arrange accommodations for everyone, and calm the frightened children—overall, he simply had no time to attend to Hera.
As a result, Hera could only excavate the buried remains of the Gray Serpent's clone, which had been caught in the explosion during Zeke's successful experiment amidst the ruins. She then proceeded to study it.
To Hera, the most intriguing aspect of the Gray Serpent was his collective consciousness network connecting all his clones. Beyond that, the partially mechanized body modifications were nothing new or innovative to her.
Therefore, Hera detached the Gray Serpent's head while discarding the rest as construction material for the worker bees.
The still-living head, though silent and not bleeding, was undeniably unsettling when casually placed on the table.
Everyone eating abruptly stopped their movements. The calmer ones merely stiffened their expressions, while others turned pale, some even looking like they might retch.
Only Zeke remained unfazed, chewing his fried egg calmly as he asked, "Did you discover anything interesting?"
"It's somewhat intriguing; I've unearthed some valuable information. The Jackal is yours, but this fellow here belongs to me—no issues with that?" Hera rested her chin on one hand, smiling brightly.
She wasn't referring to the controlled head before them, but rather all the remaining Gray Serpent avatars.
Typically, whether it was the World Serpent or Anti-Entropy, Hera bothered little with them as long as they didn't hinder her plans. However, as the saying goes, 'since we're already at it,' and considering Zeke had lured them out from the shadows, she knew they wouldn't easily back down. Thus, taking the opportunity to gain something of interest seemed quite reasonable to her.
Zeke glanced at her while continuing to eat. "Sure, consider it a gift."
After all, she had just contributed a significant amount of Soulium, with more expected in the future. Otto's generous support played a crucial role in enabling Zeke to progress so rapidly, so reciprocating occasionally was only appropriate.
Hera's eyes twinkled, thinking along the lines of 'why not ask for more since we're already at it?'
"So, could I also request some samples of your current body tissue?"
"Buzz off."
"Alright, I knew you'd be guarded against me. How about lending me a Divine Key to play around with?"
"Clawba."
"Don't be so stingy, my dear friend. How about giving me a peek at the latest Hive System's core code instead?"
"Clawba."
"Eh? Come on..."
For a moment, no one else could interject amidst their conversation.