Sylvia quite enjoyed hanging out with Silver Wolf.
And she still hadn't had the chance to game with her offline.
Spending time with Kafka was comfortable too—and she hadn't even gotten around to asking what was so special about that ring yet.
Thinking this, Sylvia turned her head toward the petite Silver Wolf, who was standing nearby with her hands on her hips.
"Ah, I was really hoping to play some games with you. Guess it'll have to wait till next time."
"How come after just a few days apart, you've turned into such a sentimental softie?"
Seeing the look on Sylvia's face and hearing her invitation, Silver Wolf felt a little awkward for a moment.
But her blunt reply helped lighten the mood a bit.
So Sylvia rubbed her cheeks and put on her usual smile again:
"Hey, what I mean is, since you're leaving anyway, how about helping me locate where the Herta puppets are before you go?"
"Oho~ Weren't you just saying you didn't need that?"
"That was then, this is now! Different things altogether!"
Sylvia argued without much logic but with plenty of confidence, the very picture of shamelessness.
But Silver Wolf just spread her hands:
"Can't locate them."
"Huh? There's something Silver Wolf can't track down?"
"The Herta puppets run on a separate external system. At least, I haven't seen any along the way. Unless I fully infiltrate and take over the entire space station to run a scan—which obviously we don't have time for."
Silver Wolf's reasoning was solid—mainly, there just wasn't enough time.
It wasn't the right moment to meet the Astral Express crew yet, either.
And she wasn't crazy enough to seize the whole station. If she did, the Antimatter Legion would probably end up tearing the place apart completely.
"Alright then."
Though reluctant, Sylvia accepted Silver Wolf's explanation.
She then turned to Kafka and suddenly asked:
"By the way… does this make me an accomplice in crime now?"
As she spoke, she raised her hand to show the ring.
Kafka laughed at that.
"If you don't mind, then of course it does."
With that, Kafka turned around, waving over her shoulder without looking back:
"See you next time, dear. I hope you like the new outfit."
Then she walked toward the portal Silver Wolf had opened.
"See you next time."
--+--
Watching Kafka and Silver Wolf leave the space station, Sylvia touched the extra ring on her finger, then glanced back at Stelle, still lying unconscious in the corner.
Stelle hadn't moved at all, still out cold.
Then she finally looked at the system notification that had popped up:
--+--
[Target: Kafka]
[Affection: 69 (Mildly Concerned)]
[Relationship: Accomplice]
['No wonder she could be a mom-type. She seems dangerous, but she's really full of care and gentleness toward allies.']
['Of course, that gentleness paired with her dangerous aura really does tend to raise a lot of rebellious kids.']
[Reward: One Green Draw]
--+--
When Kafka agreed, Sylvia's relationship status with her had updated.
At the same time, the long-pending reward was finally issued.
Since there was no one around—the only other person was still asleep—Sylvia went ahead and drew right away.
A familiar green light flashed.
This time, she didn't get anything higher-tier either.
--+--
[Thread Manipulation Art]
['Since she gave you a ring, you might as well make use of it. Later, you can even have Kafka teach you how to play with bindings firsthand.']
['Comes with a ring modification benefit, otherwise it'd be pretty inconvenient for you to use.']
--+--
Sometimes Sylvia wondered if this gacha system had some underlying screening mechanism.
Otherwise, getting a Thread Manipulation Art right after Kafka gave her a ring felt a little too perfectly timed.
After the contents and techniques of Thread Manipulation Art poured into her mind, Sylvia's focus returned to the ring.
She wasn't sure if it was due to the system's modification or if it was originally like this.
But in any case, this ring from Kafka had become a tool for Thread Manipulation Art.
And whether it was power channeled through the Herrscher core or the power of Permanence, both could smoothly flow into it and transform into special threads.
Sylvia lifted her left hand and gave it a light flick.
With a soft rise of blue-green flame, slender threads spread out from her left hand, covering the nearby area.
Liquid-like fire flowed along the threads—any enemy touching them would be scorched by Sylvia's flames.
A slight shake of her hand, and the dense network of threads swiftly retracted, as if they had never been there.
Sylvia stroked the ring on her finger with great satisfaction.
This skill was pretty good—she finally had a control ability.
"Speaking of which… is a Doomsday Beast considered a dragon somehow?"
For some reason, Sylvia suddenly thought of the Doomsday Beast.
The thing looked like a dragon, sounded like a dragon, and had skills like a dragon.
So treating it as a dragon probably wasn't too far off, right?
"If I used Thread Manipulation Art together with my Riding skill, could I catch it and use it as a mount?"
Among the giant beasts that had appeared in the Star Rail world, the ones Sylvia could recall were the Doomsday Beast and those True Stings.
The Vidyadhara dragon lords definitely didn't count.
The bugs were too ugly, but the Doomsday Beast was pretty cool.
Sylvia touched the ring on her finger.
Based on its lore, the Doomsday Beast might not be planet-busting, but it could probably scour the surface of a world clean.
She wondered if she could control it.
Whatever.
"Let's go check out the Wind Glider and the fragment in the other room first."
She had promised to take a look, but then Silver Wolf dragged her over to get herself rated.
And in the end, Silver Wolf hadn't even used the rating gun herself, nor asked about Sylvia's result—she just ran off like that.
How boring.
Quickly leaving the cabin, Sylvia didn't plan to wait there for March 7th and Dan Heng.
They'd meet again soon anyway.
As she walked, her phone suddenly vibrated a few times on its own, followed by that classic 8-bit electronic sound effect.
The Silver Wolf avatar popped out again, hauling her little Prometheus along.
"Hey! You're back. Tell me, what score did you get from the rating gun?"
The moment she appeared, the Silver Wolf avatar floated over and settled on Sylvia's shoulder, very familiarly asking about the rating gun.
"...Why are you back again?"
"Who was it that seemed so reluctant to see me go just now? Denying it already?"
"Who was reluctant? I'll sue you for slander."
Sylvia instinctively got defensive, ready to bicker with Silver Wolf.
"So what was the score? Don't tell me you failed?"
"Hah, it'd blow your mind—the rating gun couldn't even determine my score."
"Tch, boring."
Silver Wolf instantly lost interest. What good was an undetermined score? She'd been planning to mod herself a 110 and totally show Sylvia up.
But once again, this girl didn't play by the rules.
"So where are you headed now?"
"Gonna swing by the other Curio Collection room, then go find someone."
"Oh? Anything interesting there?"
"Not really fun. Just holds some special meaning for me, that's all."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.