Bailu rose onto her tiptoes, small hands straining as she clung to the edge of the medicine cabinet. Her dragon tail went rigid with effort.
"Strange… I swear I put it here…"
Muttering under her breath, she stretched her fingers toward a celadon bottle on the top shelf. The instant her fingertips were about to brush the ceramic—
Tap.
A pine nut bounced off her dragon horn.
"Hey! Who did that?!" Bailu whirled around, cheeks puffed up—only to see a golden-furred monkey squatting on a ceiling beam, grinning at her.
The monkey had a fistful of pine nuts. It tossed another one.
"Don't throw things at me!" Bailu swung her hand, and a pale green shimmer of healing energy swept up toward the beam.
The monkey flipped aside with nimble ease, then—like a conjurer revealing a trick—pulled out something from behind its back:
A skewer of glossy candied hawthorn.
Bailu's eyes locked onto it instantly.
"C-candied hawthorn…!" Her tail began to sway on its own—then she snapped herself back, forcing her face stern. "No, no! The Dragon Masters said I can't just eat things strangers give me!"
The monkey blinked innocently… and then stuffed the skewer into its own mouth.
"Ah—wait!!" Bailu panicked, hopping in place on her short legs. "That's mine—no, I mean… where did you even get that?!"
The monkey pointed mysteriously toward the door, then produced an even larger skewer—this one decorated with star-shaped candied fruit.
Bailu's reason and her appetite went to war.
"J-just… just a quick look…" she whispered, and followed with tiny steps.
The monkey scampered around the corner of the covered walkway. Every time Bailu nearly lost sight of it, it would shake that irresistible skewer just enough to keep her chasing.
After several moon gates, the noise of the compound thinned to silence. Bailu slowed and realized she was standing in a secluded courtyard—medicine cabinets and furnaces coated in dust, untouched for ages.
"Eh? Where is this…?"
She turned to look for the monkey—
The courtyard gate closed soundlessly behind her.
The monkey crouched atop the wall. Its grin warped into something wrong. A cold blue light bled into its eyes, and its mouth stretched far too wide—
"Gotcha~"
A hoarse, mechanical voice rasped out from its throat. At the same time, complex symbols flared across the ground, forming the shape of an enormous cage.
Bailu's scales bristled along her tail. "You bad monkey!"
She spun to run—but translucent tendrils rose from the formation and coiled around her ankle.
The monkey dropped down. In its claws was a bizarre device, which it aimed at Bailu's forehead.
"Don't be scared, little loach," it cackled. "The Doctor just wants to borrow a bit of the 'Abundance' inside you~"
Bailu opened her mouth to scream—
No sound came out.
The formation swallowed her voice whole. Her vision blurred, and the last thing she saw was an icy stream of data reflected in the monkey's goggles.
Changletian was as lively as ever.
After hashing out a plan, the group split into two teams. Stelle and Welt would work with the Divination Commission to apprehend the Stellaron Hunters, while Huo Linfei, March 7th, and Black Swan would track down signs of Dr. Primitive.
In a place like Changletian—packed with crowds—memetic growth was easy. Hiding was easier.
Huo Linfei walked with his hands in his pockets, tiny legs trotting along beside March 7th, a grin he couldn't suppress tugging at his mouth.
"Isn't this basically a date?!"
Sure, his height had been shrunk into chibi proportions—but getting to move around with March 7th alone—well, almost alone. Black Swan was absolutely a walking streetlamp, but still. This was turning misfortune into fortune.
[Detected abnormal host heart rate.]
[Calm down. In your current state, you look like a chihuahua in heat.]
"…Shut up!" Huo Linfei hissed.
[This system is merely stating facts.]
[Additionally: the probability that March 7th sees you as a little brother is 87.4%.]
A vein throbbed at Huo Linfei's temple. "Believe it or not, I'll roast you with my energy!"
[You won't.]
[And in fine energy manipulation, you are not my opponent.]
"Huo Linfei?" March 7th suddenly leaned in, pink-and-blue eyes brimming with curiosity. "You've been muttering to yourself since we started… what is your system even saying?"
Black Swan appeared beside them without a sound, lifting one finger.
"Why not… listen for yourself?"
A streak of light flickered—
And the system's mechanical voice rang inside March 7th's mind:
[Miss March 7th: the host is currently fantasizing about a date scenario with you.]
[Based on calculations, the success rate is below 0.3%.]
"…Huh?" March 7th blinked.
"W-wait!" Huo Linfei yelped, flailing.
[Generating images now.]
March 7th: "…?"
"Gah—don't look!!" Huo Linfei shrieked, folding into a squat and covering his head.
A brief, stunned silence—
Then March 7th's face flashed bright red. "H-Huo Linfei! Why is your system so shameless?!"
Huo Linfei nearly curled into a ball. "System, I'm going to kill you!!!"
[This system has initiated self-destruct protocol.]
[Countdown: ∞]
The farce was escalating nicely when a soft sobbing sound drifted from the mouth of a nearby alley.
All three turned.
A small girl with pale purple hair and tiny dragon horns sat on the steps, tears pattering down her cheeks. In her hand was half an empty bamboo skewer.
"Candied hawthorn… my candied hawthorn…"
March 7th immediately shoved everything she'd just heard into the void and rushed over, crouching in front of the girl. "Who's that heartless?! Stealing candy from a kid?!"
Huo Linfei leaned in, squinting at the horns. "Are those… cosplay props?"
"It's a Vidyadhara!" March 7th wiped the girl's tears with a handkerchief. "Uh… I don't know the details super well, though…"
"The Vidyadhara are dragon-descended heirs of 'Permanence,'" Black Swan added. "After Permanence vanished, they lost the ability to reproduce. Their lives continue through 'molting rebirth.' Most of them now live on the Xianzhou."
Her gaze sharpened—she sensed something wrong beneath the girl's surface.
Dr. Primitive's handiwork…
Black Swan didn't say it aloud.
March 7th gently patted the girl's head. "How about this? Big sister helps you find your candy, okay?"
Huo Linfei stared. "…Aren't we here to find Dr. Primitive?"
"He's not going anywhere!" March 7th planted her hands on her hips. "But justice can't be late!"
The little girl sniffled and nodded. "A-and… my Mòmo Roll from Aurum Alley… that got snatched too…"
Huo Linfei rolled up his sleeves. "Stealing food and taking it to go? Yeah, no. That's unforgivable."
They took Bailu around the streets asking for information. Before long, an elderly vendor who made sugar paintings pointed them in a direction.
"I did see a monkey with candied hawthorn—ran off that way!"
They followed the trail, only to be stopped at an alley entrance by a squad of Cloud Knights.
"Lady Bailu!" the leader saluted. "The Alchemy Commission's physicians have been searching for you. Please return with us."
Bailu ducked behind March 7th. "No! If I stay in there all day, every day, I'm going to turn stupid!"
The Cloud Knights hesitated. "T-that…"
"Hold." A warm, measured female voice cut in.
A woman in Alchemy Commission attire approached, a medicine pouch in hand. She nodded politely to the group. "I am Dan Shu, Head Alchemist of the Alchemy Commission. Thank you for looking after Lady Bailu. She's… a spirited one. You've had to trouble yourselves."
March 7th waved it off. "It's fine! But she got scared by a monkey…"
"A monkey?" Dan Shu's eyes flickered.
Black Swan spoke smoothly. "A golden monkey wearing goggles. It stole Lady Bailu's candied hawthorn."
"I see…" Dan Shu's expression stiffened for the briefest moment—then returned to calm. "If Lady Bailu wishes to travel with you, then let her. I will explain the situation to the Alchemy Commission."
The Cloud Knights exchanged glances, then saluted and withdrew.
Dan Shu turned to Black Swan, her gaze meaningful. "I've heard Memokeepers can glimpse the truth within memories… If fate allows, may I seek your counsel?"
"If the opportunity arises," Black Swan replied with a gentle smile, "I would be glad to."
After Dan Shu left, Huo Linfei muttered under his breath, "That woman feels… off."
March 7th took Bailu's hand. "Don't worry about it! If we can't find the thief, we'll just buy you another candied hawthorn!"
Bailu's tears dried. She brightened instantly. "Really? I know a place that's suuuper good!"
The three began to walk away together—
But Black Swan didn't follow immediately.
A thin strand of dark violet light curled around her fingertips, pointing—quietly, insistently—in the direction Dan Shu had gone.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 60)
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Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 60)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 64)
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