Just as Kafka started to speak to Stelle, Silver Wolf suddenly felt everything before her eyes blur, as that familiar sensation of the surrounding scenery rushing past her struck once again.
Everything—the tal walls, Stelle, who had just been born, and Lucian standing behind her—blurred and twisted in an instant.
Silver Wolf wanted to shout, but before she could, she had already been teleported away by Absolute Hit.
Kafka likewise only had ti to reveal a trace of confusion—even the word 'Stelle' that had just left her lips had not fully trailed off before her figure, together with Silver Wolf, disappeared in an instant.
Deep within the Gallery of Shadow, only Lucian remained, along with Stelle, who had just been born and still could not understand what was happening. For now, she could only stare blankly at everything that had unfolded before her, her eyes reflecting Lucian's figure as they brimd with confusion.
"Uhh...?"
Stelle finally made the first sound after waking.
Lucian looked at the gray-haired girl before him, who appeared adorably dazed as she sat on the ground, staring straight at him, as if trying hard to understand the situation in front of her.
With the corner of his mouth curved into a playful smile, he took two steps forward, drawing a little closer to her, then leaned down slightly so that his line of sight t hers.
"Stelle, I'm your father, so call Dad."
Lucian spoke in a deliberately gentle voice as he began to coax her with a completely serious expression, as though he truly were Stelle's father.
Of course, he was not truly her father and mainly just wanted to see what kind of interesting reaction this newly born 'Stellaron Spirit' would have.
At his words, Stelle tilted her head to the side, her gray hair swaying with the movent as she carefully examined his face. From his eyebrows to his eyes, to his nose, to his mouth, she studied each feature very closely, her brows knitting together ever so slightly.
Soon enough, in a calm voice, she finally spoke.
"Nah, I wouldn't have a dad this handso."
Upon hearing that, Lucian's eyebrows lifted slightly, having absolutely not expected such an answer.
Stelle then raised a finger, pointing at his face, then at herself.
"How ugly would my mom have to be to drag my looks down this much?" Stelle went on, her tone direct and serious. "Except for our eye color, our looks are far too different. You definitely aren't my dad."
As she spoke, the logic behind her words was clear, and her expression remained composed, making her seem nothing like a clueless newborn at all.
"Heh..."
Lucian could not help but chuckle.
He had to admit that this girl's way of thinking was truly unique, just as she had been portrayed in the ga.
Was that really the kind of answer a normal person would give in a situation like this?
"Well, you're very clever. Actually, I'm not your dad. I'm—"
"I know!"
Before Lucian could finish speaking, Stelle suddenly interrupted him—her eyes lit up as though she had finally figured sothing out, and she even looked a little proud of herself.
"You're lying to ! You aren't my dad! You're my brother!" Stelle pointed at him, raising her voice a little. "Otherwise, why do you wanna be my dad so bad? You're trying to take advantage of !"
While speaking, she stiffened her little face, wearing an expression that clearly said, 'I've seen right through you.'
As for the difference in looks between them, in her eyes, the man before her must have taken after their handso father, while she had taken after their ugly mother.
"..."
Lucian fell silent as he looked at Stelle's expression of 'I'm insanely clever,' then looked at her apparently serious eyes.
He couldn't help but wonder how she had concluded that she was ugly, considering that she had not even seen her own appearance yet, which, by his beauty standards, was beautiful.
Of course, given that his perfect looks were sothing created personally by Yaoshi, it was understandable for her to feel inferior.
In the end, he could not hold it in anymore.
"Hah... Hahahaha!"
Lucian burst out laughing, laughing loudly.
He truly had no idea what Stelle would say next, since her train of thought was so absurd and utterly unpredictable.
"Actually, I'm your godfather, so it makes perfect sense that we look different, right?"
At Lucian's words, Stelle nodded.
"You opened your eyes and saw your godfather first, so that makes sense too, right?"
Stelle nodded again.
"Your godfather being younger and more handso also makes sense, right?"
Stelle nodded once more.
"So, what should you call ?"
Lucian smiled as he asked the question, a hint of mischievousness appearing in his gaze.
"Godfather?"
"Good girl."
Just like that, Stelle was successfully fooled, and for no clear reason at all, she had beco Lucian's goddaughter.
Even though she was only ten minutes old, she was already a tall young woman standing at 1.7 ters tall, so when he reached out and gently rubbed her soft gray hair, he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of uncanniness.
"By the way, my na's Lucian. And since I'm your godfather, if you ever run into any trouble, you can always co find , alright?"
He truly liked this original protagonist, mainly because, compared to the other characters he knew, she was simply more interesting to be around.
It was no wonder Sparkle and Sampo both liked ssing with Stelle, since her entire existence was practically a source of entertainnt.
Feeling the warm touch resting on top of her head, Stelle looked at Lucian's sincerely smiling face, seemingly lost in thought.
In the end, feeling that his explanation made at least so sense, she was satisfied with this outco and wholeheartedly accepted their relationship.
In the next mont, facing him, she raised a sowhat unfamiliar yet bright smile before calling out in a crisp voice.
"Godfather!"
===
anwhile, inside the Stellaron Hunters' spaceship, the figures of Silver Wolf and Kafka suddenly appeared out of thin air.
*Thump!* *Thump!*
As soon as they materialized, they both crashed onto the sofa in the spaceship cabin.
"What the hell? Why'd he suddenly teleport us back? What's that guy tryna pull?"
Silver Wolf questioned as she blinked her eyes, looking extrely confused.
Did this count as throwing soone away after using them?
Two Stellaron Hunters had actually been thrown away after being used!
What an irony.
"Seriously, he didn't even let us say a single word. He's so rude!"
Silver Wolf stood up with her hands on her hips, complaining nonstop, a deep frown adorning her face.
"Silver Wolf, I feel like the one who set this whole thing up for us is your good partner," Kafka chid in calmly, making Silver Wolf pause. "He's probably the one who annihilated the Antimatter Legion, then led us by the nose."
"Why... do you say that?"
"No particular reason. Just a feeling..." Kafka replied, shrugging her shoulders. "My intuition has always been accurate, hasn't it?"
Silver Wolf fell silent for a mont before sighing tiredly.
"h, honestly, does it even matter?" Silver Wolf said lazily, leaning back on the sofa with her head resting against the backrest. "We didn't lose anything anyway. Plus, the mission went pretty damn smooth—Stelle's born, the Stellaron's sealed, and once she gets on the Astral Express, the result the script wanted is basically gonna be perfectly done."
Kafka gracefully smoothed out the slight wrinkles on her jacket caused by the teleportation, then walked to the nearby wine cabinet and poured herself a glass of red wine, gently swirling it.
"It really was a little too smooth, so it's a bit boring..." Kafka muttered indifferently as she gazed at the galaxy beyond the spaceship window. "How should I put it... It lacked the fun of toying with the prey?"
As soone who liked elegant planning, she would usually let her opponent struggle inside a trap like a carefully choreographed dance, then, when the prey was drowning in pain and despair, tease them to death.
But this ti, with Lucian's involvent, they had simply taken a shortcut and cleared everything so effortlessly, saving both ti and effort.
However, in doing so, it had also lost that unique 'artistic sense.'
After venting her dissatisfaction, Silver Wolf stood up from the sofa and plopped down into a floating chair nearby before taking a large gulp of her energy drink.
"Boring, huh?"
Silver Wolf curled her lips as she spoke, looking disapproving.
"Honestly, it's kinda perfect. We just walked right into Herta's private gallery, grabbed one of her collection items, and she didn't even notice. I an, that basically mocking her, right?"
"On top of that, the efficiency was insane, the safety was insane, and all that extra ti? Yeah, I can just use it to play more gas."
Right after saying that, Silver Wolf began counting on her fingers.
"No need to hack the space station's defenses, no need to dodge patrols, no need to outsmart Herta's stupid AI bullshit systems, and no need to worry about getting caught halfway in."
"Zip in!"
"Swipe and grab the item!"
"Clang—Stelle's done!"
"Biu—back ho!"
"Perfect!"
In the end, the more Silver Wolf spoke, the brighter her eyes beca, and her satisfaction with Lucian as her 'partner' skyrocketed!
"Hey, Kafka!"
Silver Wolf suddenly leaned closer to Kafka, her face filled with anticipation and expectation.
"What d'you think about bringing Lucian into our group? Like, making him officially join the Stellaron Hunters?"
At the question, Kafka's motion of swirling the wine paused slightly, her violet eyes shifting toward Silver Wolf with a hint of amusent.
"Elio wouldn't agree to that. Besides, didn't he tell you last ti not to interact with Lucian anymore? Did you forget?"
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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