Compared to Fu Shibao's agitation, Fu Hua merely replied in a very ordinary tone.
"But you were asleep."
"I was not," Fu Shibao retorted, their positions suddenly seeming to have reversed.
"You were."
"...If I were asleep, could I still be chatting with you like this?"
On the other end of the line, Fu Shibao clenched her small fists, wishing she could deliver an "Inch-Force Heaven-Splitter" to the Old Antique's head, just to knock some sense into her.
Though, she might not necessarily be able to win against Fu Hua in a fight.
"That seems to make sense," Fu Hua slowly came to realize.
"So, Old Antique, you can continue talking now," Fu Shibao urged.
"But..."
"What's there to 'but' about?"
Fu Hua blinked, replying to Fu Shibao with a rather innocent air, "I feel like... I've already said everything I needed to say."
Fu Shibao: "..."
"I don't have anything else, so I'm hanging up now."
"Hey! Just those few sentences?! Are you trying to humor a child!?"
Beep beep beep~~
The sound of the call disconnecting echoed the state of Fu Shibao's heart, which had turned completely cold.
Fu Hua, however, completely oblivious, put away her phone and returned to her workstation.
...
...
Nothing particularly special happened after that.
Su Luo focused on writing the upcoming main storyline in his office until night descended.
Under the night sky of Linjiang, the streets flickered with colorful neon lights on both sides.
Su Luo, having finished dinner outside, walked into the building where his apartment was located, a cool evening breeze blowing against him.
He stood in front of the elevator, waiting for it to arrive.
Tap~~ Tap~~
Someone came to stand beside him.
For a certain individual, feigning a chance encounter with Su Luo wasn't difficult at all.
"Sir~~" she cooed, her voice deliberately frail and weak, designed to evoke a protective instinct from the depths of one's heart.
Su Luo subconsciously turned his gaze towards the source of the sound.
A woman with long green hair and a rather fine figure entered his line of sight.
"..."
Mobius? What is she doing here?
Su Luo's brow furrowed; he sensed that things were not as simple as they seemed.
"Sir~~ You seem to recognize me~~"
Mobius continued to speak in that exceptionally artificial and affected tone. "Excuse me~~ Have we met before?"
Without waiting for Su Luo's reply, she offered her own conclusion, "If my memory serves me correctly, we should have never met, should we?"
Mobius sized Su Luo up with a scrutinizing gaze.
Su Luo began to understand; Mobius had likely come looking for him specifically.
As for the reason... she might have sensed something from Honkai Impact 3rd or elsewhere.
With these thoughts, and having understood the reason for Mobius's sudden appearance before him, Su Luo's mood surprisingly calmed somewhat.
He nodded lightly. "Miss Mobius and I have indeed never met before."
"You actually..."
Mobius looked slightly astonished. Su Luo had directly stated her name.
Wasn't this a complete confession without being pressed?
She had even prepared several contingency plans to draw information out of him; now it seemed they were all useless.
"I don't believe I could successfully deceive Miss Mobius, so I simply decided..."
Su Luo paused, not finishing his sentence, but his meaning was clear.
Since he wasn't confident he could fool Mobius, he might as well not try.
Besides, he had never hidden the fact that he was abnormally familiar with the characters of Honkai Impact 3rd.
It was just that Rita, Einstein, and the others tacitly avoided asking too many questions. Kiana probably hadn't noticed anything unusual at all, and Elysia... perhaps she just didn't care.
"You seem to think you understand me very well?" Mobius narrowed her eyes.
"No, no, no." Su Luo shook his head decisively. "I would never presume to be an 'understander' of yours, Miss Mobius."
"Hehe~~"
Mobius let out a 'dangerous' laugh. "What an interesting answer."
"I was merely stating a fact."
"But I feel that you, sir, truly understand [Mobius] very well. Doesn't that already qualify you as an 'understander'?"
"Miss Mobius... I don't believe that knowing certain things equates to truly understanding you," Su Luo replied after some thought.
"Hmm..."
Mobius appeared to be pondering, though it was likely just an act for Su Luo's benefit.
She deliberately pitched her voice, "In that case... Sir~~ Would you like to understand me better? To become my... 'understander'?"
Her voice was enchanting and dangerous.
It made Su Luo feel as if a snake were slithering over his skin, a tingling numbness welling up from an unknown place.
He firmly rejected her proposition. "I am not interested in getting to know Miss Mobius any better."
When facing Mobius, Su Luo believed it was imperative to maintain an appropriate distance.
The elevator doors happened to slide open slowly at that exact moment, and he immediately stepped inside.
Mobius, naturally, followed him in.
"Alright then."
Mobius, having followed him into the elevator, sighed with a hint of regret.
Then she paused for a moment, seemingly thinking, before continuing, "Hmm, wait... Perhaps you simply don't prefer this type? In that case..."
"B-Big Brother, would you... like to do some... interesting things with... Mobius?" she said, her voice now saccharine and deliberately childlike.
Su Luo: "..."
Snakey truly was a troublesome creature.
"Miss Mobius, if you are unwilling to communicate normally, then I believe our conversation ends here."
"Tch, so annoying."
Mobius's tone changed abruptly. "Elysia can always get away with these tricks, why can't I?"
"...Perhaps because Elysia is more sincere than you are," Su Luo replied after a moment's thought.
"Sincere? I am also very sincere."
Mobius flicked her green hair. "People always harbor such unnecessary vigilance towards me. I'm not dangerous at all, you know."
Su Luo looked at Mobius's earnest-looking declaration, offering no comment on that particular point.
Although Snakey could be considered a 'good person' in some respects, she was still very 'dangerous'. Approaching her rashly would likely result in getting bitten, or even... captured by her.
"Miss Mobius, I don't have what you're looking for here. After all, I'm just an ordinary, unremarkable game producer. There's no point in you pestering me."
"You know what I want?" Mobius asked.
Su Luo glanced at Mobius's 'infinity' earring.
"Heh~ How interesting." Mobius chuckled. "Unfortunately, you guessed wrong."
"Hmm?"
"What I actually want is..."
Mobius suddenly moved closer to Su Luo, the two of them now inches apart.
Ding~~
At that precise moment, the elevator arrived at a floor.
Two stunningly beautiful girls stood outside the opening doors.
One had long pink hair, the other, long wine-red hair.