Hook glanced at the medicine.
"I see. Then Hook will help you look for it!"
Clara quickly tried to stop her, not wanting to trouble others.
"No, no, it's fine! Clara can do it by herself!"
Hook wiped her nose.
"No worries! You're an honorary member of the Moles, so we've gotta do things together!"
With that, Hook began rummaging through the pile of junk to help Clara search for medicine.
Kids who grew up in the Underworld were especially good at this sort of scavenging.
A few minutes later...
Rios looked toward the restaurant.
"Hook, let's go eat first. We'll continue after."
Hearing that, Hook poked her head out of a box in the junk pile.
"Is it mealtime?"
Rios nodded slightly.
"Yes. This little girl can come too."
Then, Rios walked over and gently picked up Hook from the junk pile with his mouth.
Clara shook her head.
"I don't need to~ I'll go back to the settlement and eat later."
Rios placed Hook on his back.
"Come on, eat a little first."
Then, Rios gently picked Clara up too and carried the two little ones toward the restaurant.
Meanwhile, the few robots accompanying Clara continued searching for medicine under her orders.
Rios entered the restaurant carrying the two children, just as Ye Yun came out holding a large pot of chicken soup.
"Yo, your noses are sharp. I just finished cooking, and here you are."
Then Ye Yun noticed the extra child.
"Oh? And who's this little one? Had anything to eat? Come join us. Fresh chicken soup, just made."
Clara sniffed the delicious aroma in the air and couldn't stop herself from drooling.
What kind of food was this? Why did it smell so good? Even her favorite roasted Rockback Crabs didn't smell this amazing!
Rios gently lowered the two children and lay down nearby to rest.
Hook tugged Clara, who was a bit embarrassed, to sit at the table.
Standing on a little stool, Hook eagerly tried to peek into the pot.
Ye Yun quickly pressed her back down.
"Sit properly. I'll serve the soup for you. Don't fall and hurt yourself."
Ye Yun brought out three small bowls and filled them with soup—one each for himself and the two kids.
The only two drumsticks went to Hook and Clara, one apiece.
Why only three bowls? Because Rios didn't eat meat! Despite being powerful, he was a deer, after all.
Hook couldn't resist any longer—she grabbed the spoon and took a huge gulp.
The moment the chicken soup touched her tongue, her eyes lit up.
"Wow! What is this drink? It's so good!"
After that, Hook couldn't stop—she kept drinking spoon after spoon until she started coughing from drinking too fast.
Ye Yun patted her back to ease her discomfort.
"Slow down. Don't just drink the soup—eat some meat too. Here, have this drumstick."
Once she stopped coughing, Hook picked up the drumstick and chomped down, devouring it like a wild beast.
Ye Yun completely understood.
Down here in the Underworld, Hook was one of the lucky ones—she'd successfully stepped onto her Path and gained powerful strength, which was why she could return safely from Rivet Town again and again.
Most weren't so fortunate. Many ordinary kids, for just a bite to eat, would risk their lives venturing into areas overrun by Fragmentum monsters to scavenge supplies.
One unlucky moment, and they'd never come back.
Ye Yun looked over at Clara, who sat at the table with a nervous expression, clearly hesitating.
"Little one, what's your name?"
Hearing Ye Yun ask, Clara shyly introduced herself.
"Hello, big brother. I'm Clara, from the Robot Settlement. I'm Hook's good friend."
Ye Yun smiled.
"Clara, no need to be nervous. Look at Hook. Since you're her good friend, just call me Brother Ye Yun. No need to be so formal."
Clara nodded with a soft smile.
"Okay… Brother Ye Yun."
Ye Yun felt very pleased hearing her call him "brother."
"Alright, Clara, go ahead and drink the soup. Now that you've called me brother, there's no need to be so reserved."
Clara still hesitated a little.
"Thank you for your kindness, Brother Ye Yun, but… this soup must be really expensive, right? Clara shouldn't drink it."
Ye Yun chuckled.
"It's fine. Your brother Ye Yun has plenty of chicken soup like this. If there's one thing I have in abundance, it's supplies."
Clara shook her head.
"Brother Ye Yun, Clara isn't a little kid anymore. In the Underworld, we're really short on supplies—I know that well."
Ye Yun explained,
"Clara, you've misunderstood something. Your brother Ye Yun isn't from the Underworld."
"If you don't believe me, ask Hook."
Clara looked over at Hook.
Hook, with a chicken drumstick stuffed in her mouth, nodded in agreement with Ye Yun.
Clara replied with surprise,
"Ohh, so you're from the Upper District, Brother Ye Yun~ But I heard Mr. Svarog say there aren't many supplies up there either."
Ye Yun laughed heartily.
"Clara, I'm not from the Upper District either. I'm from beyond this planet."
Clara blinked in confusion.
Beyond this planet? Wait… she remembered Mr. Svarog once mentioning that people had come from beyond the stars long ago…
Ye Yun gently pushed the bowl of chicken soup toward her.
"Alright, drink your soup first. Once you're done, I'll show you something fun."
Seeing the gesture, Clara finally took a sip of the soup.
And like Hook, once she started drinking, she couldn't stop.
Though unlike Hook's wild style, Clara ate much more gracefully.
At that moment—
Hook was hugging her bowl of noodle soup, eating ravenously, her head never once lifting up.
Over half an hour later—
Hook and Clara were lying on Rios's back with satisfied expressions, digesting their meal.
Hook gently rubbed her tummy.
"Ahhh~ I'm so full~ Hook's never eaten this much before~"
Clara nodded in agreement.
"Mm! Clara really liked this meal. Thank you, Brother Ye Yun."
Ye Yun, sitting by the door browsing the system shop, smiled when he heard that.
"No problem. If you ever want something to eat, just come find your brother Ye Yun."
"Oh right—I have something nice for you two."
Ye Yun bought two long-lasting smartphones from the system shop.
Holding the two phones, he walked over and reclined beside the two little ones.
"Here you go—these are called phones. You can use them to…"
And so, Ye Yun began teaching the kids how to use the phones.
Clara, already familiar with machines, picked it up quickly.
Hook, on the other hand, needed a lot of time. She'd never used anything like this before. Just five minutes after learning how to make a call, she'd already forgotten most of it.
One big one and two little ones lay nestled on Rios's back, chatting and playing with their new phones.
Rios looked at the trio lying on his back and raised his head slightly. A burst of flame flared at the doorway, sealing off the biting cold outside.
***
Clara was happily playing with her phone, especially the communication app—it brought her a lot of joy.
She even added a new friend on it, a big sister named "Jade."
Chatting with this big sister made Clara very happy; the other party told her many things about the universe.
Including the Aeons, the Xianzhou, the IPC and all sorts of stuff.
Clara also shared the plight of Belobog with her, and the big sister said she would come to help.
This big sister was truly a good person.
While she was having fun, a commotion came from the entrance as several "traffic light" robots ran over with their little legs.
Seeing the robots, Clara finally remembered she had gone out to look for medicine.
"Oh no! Clara forgot the time. Clara still needs to find medicine for the people in the settlement!"
Clara quickly put away her phone and hurriedly got up to head outside.
Ye Yun noticed this.
"Clara, don't worry. Did you come out to look for medicine?"
Clara was feeling very guilty, with two teardrops already forming at the corners of her eyes.
Ye Yun continued asking,
"Why did Clara come out to look for medicine? What kind of medicine do you need?"
Clara sobbed twice.
"Recently, there have been more monster attacks, and many people in the settlement have been injured. Clara wants to find some medicine for treating their wounds."
Ye Yun thought for a moment, and a flash of inspiration crossed his mind.
In this mechanical settlement, there were probably quite a few Stellar Jades. After all, Svarog was the true powerhouse in the underworld.
Ye Yun decided to spend 100 Star Coins to purchase 10 bottles of wound medicine.
"Clara, take this. This is wound salve—it can heal injuries."
Clara quickly shook her head.
"No, no~ This is too valuable."
No matter what Ye Yun said, Clara just wouldn't accept it.
In Clara's eyes, Brother Ye Yun already treated her to delicious noodles, which she already felt bad about.
Now, Brother Ye Yun was giving her such precious medicine—there was no way she could accept it.
Ye Yun felt a bit helpless. At this moment, he noticed a Stellar Jade hanging from Clara's clothes.
"Clara, how about this? Why don't you trade me that Stellar Jade?"
Clara looked at the one Ye Yun was pointing to and took it off.
She had found it earlier while looking for medicine and thought it looked pretty, so she tied it to her clothes as a decoration.
"This one?"
Ye Yun nodded.
"That's the one. Your brother Ye Yun specializes in this kind of business. As long as you have Stellar Jade, you can buy all sorts of supplies from me."
Clara took off the jade.
"But isn't this useless? Other than looking pretty…"
Ye Yun smiled.
"That's just because others don't know its value. But here with Brother Ye Yun, this thing is very useful."
As he spoke, he placed the medicine box on one of the robot's heads.
"A box like this only costs one Stellar Jade."
Clara was delighted.
She had a lot of Stellar Jade at home—if this was true, she could trade them for so many supplies!
"Really? Brother Ye Yun?"
Ye Yun patted Clara's little head.
"Of course it's true."
Clara was thrilled.
"I trust Brother Ye Yun! Brother Ye Yun, do you have time? I still have lots of Stellar Jade at home!"
Ye Yun lifted Clara up and placed her on Rios's back, then picked up Hook and did the same.
"Let's go. Lead the way."
The three of them and the deer set off toward the mechanical settlement.
Far away, inside the headquarters of the Interastral Peace Corporation—
Jade looked at her phone with mild interest.
The screen showed her chat with someone named "Little Bunny from Beibei Village."
"How interesting. Who would've thought that a place so long corrupted by a Stellaron still harbors civilization?
Especially since that place still owes the company a debt."
As Jade spoke, Topaz, who was playing with a piggy bank nearby, asked curiously:
"Oh? A place like that exists?"
Aventurine, playing with his poker chips, also became interested.
"That place owes the company quite a bit, right? And company interest rates… are never low."
Jade's lips curled into a slight smile as she swiped her screen.
"This is likely another bad debt. According to the company's records on Jarilo-VI, they don't have the means to repay.
After 700 years, the interest has already eclipsed the principal many times over."
Topaz said,
"Looks like we're getting another mission. Let me go this time, okay?"
Jade smiled.
"You'll have to ask Diamond about that."
Aventurine, however, noticed a problem—it might not be easy to handle this debt.
"Topaz, maybe I should go instead?"
Topaz shook her head.
"No, I'll go. My performance has been lacking recently. Jade, send me the file later, okay?"
Jade smiled lightly.
"Sure, little Yelena~"
With that, Topaz got up to find Diamond.
Soon after, the sound of a door closing echoed.
Aventurine watched Topaz leave and shook his head.
"This debt might backfire if mishandled. Can Topaz really handle it?"
Jade smiled.
"No need to worry—I trust her abilities. Besides, I'll be going too.
What about you? Have you thought through the matter in Penacony?"
Aventurine smiled confidently.
"Don't worry, the dice have already been cast. I've got a great plan.
Though… I'll need something from you and Topaz."
Jade leaned her cheek on her hand, gazing at him with some depth.
"That idea is very dangerous. You know how important that item is. Do you still remember the vow we made when we obtained it?"
Aventurine sipped a glass of red wine and gently swirled it in his hand, his gaze drifting into memory.
"Of course. More important than life, isn't it?"
Jade leaned back in her chair.
"Are you sure about this?"
Aventurine raised his glass toward her.
"If you want the big fish, you need real bait.
And for a giant fish… you need serious bait, don't you think?"
Jade picked up her coffee, stirring it with a small spoon.
"You have a point. A vow may be sacred, but we care more about results, don't we?"
Aventurine laughed heartily.
"Hahaha—then it's settled. Cheers! All for the Amber King!"
Jade took a small sip of coffee.
"Mhm, all for the Amber King."
In the mechanical settlement—
With Clara leading the way, the trio quickly arrived.
Thanks to Clara, all checkpoints were cleared without resistance.
Here in the mechanical settlement, Svarog held the highest authority—below him was Clara.
Compared to Boulder Town, the situation here was far worse.
At least Boulder Town still had houses—this place only had tents.