"Stand still properly and stop touching things randomly."
Outside the Modulation Hall, Noah slapped away Camellya's restless hand, opened the interface, and clicked [Summon].
[Currently owned: Radiant Tide ×0, Astrite ×40200]
"Off-banner Havoc, off-banner Havoc, off-banner Havoc!!"
Noah prayed frantically in his heart.
This was genuinely the first time he hoped so desperately to lose the 50/50, and he hoped to lose it specifically to Rover (Havoc).
The reason was simple: he needed Rover's Havoc power when rescuing the Shorekeeper.
Everything in Solaris is composed of frequencies—even black holes are no exception. Only Rover's Havoc power can truly destroy the black hole of the Death Star.
That is the true weight of the terrifying scythe-wielder's title "Annihilation of Ten Thousand Laws".
Start pulling!
10 pulls.
30 pulls.
60 pulls — gold!
10 pulls.
30 pulls.
60 pulls — gold!
Looking at the golden light on the panel, Noah roared internally:
"Lose it! Lose it! Lose it!!"
[Successfully summoned — Rover (Spectro)!]
"Are you serious? You actually lost the 50/50?!"
Counting the previous chain he got on Zhezhi, Rover (Spectro) was already at S2.
He slapped away Camellya's hand that reached over again, and with some tooth-aching pain, Noah threw another 30 pulls — gold again.
[Successfully summoned — Camellya!]
He converted a large amount of Astrite into Radiant Tide and went another 50 pulls.
Gold.
"Lose to Havoc! Lose to Havoc!!"
[Successfully summoned — Lingyang!]
"Are you kidding me, snow leopard, you ate my soft pity— Camellya, put your hand back."
With bloodshot eyes, Noah went all in with the remaining 17800 Astrite, no longer caring about anything.
110 pulls later, he got a hard pity + soft pity without losing, securing S2 Camellya.
"..."
Noah held his forehead, vision going dark.
Only 200 Astrite left, and he still hadn't lost the 50/50 to a single Havoc main.
More importantly — 40000 Astrite! That's a full 40000 Astrite! So much Astrite you couldn't even fit it all in a cart. Converted, that's a solid 250 pulls.
And he only got S2 Camellya?!
Did getting S6 Jinhsi last time use up all his luck, or was Kuro just farming him specifically?
"Destined Seed, you seem unhappy~"
Camellya finally stopped her little movements. She raised her hand and conjured a camellia flower, eyes curving into crescents as she spoke in the tone one uses to coax a child:
"Are you really angry? Alright alright, I won't mess around anymore. Here, this flower is for you. Be happy okay~"
"Your words just reminded me of an old acquaintance who planted star flowers."
Noah didn't take the flower. Instead he opened the weapon banner [Red Spring], threw his last 200 Astrite in with a whatever attitude.
Golden radiance burst from the panel.
Single pull — weapon banner gold!
[Successfully summoned — Red Spring!]
Planting flowers with intent yields nothing, planting willows without care creates shade. He didn't know whether to be angry or to laugh.
Holding onto his last sliver of hope, Noah opened the standard character banner that he hadn't touched in ages.
[Currently owned: Lustrous Tide ×40]
"Ah Rover, oh Rover… you don't want to see the Shorekeeper trapped in the Death Star either, right? If you can hear my call, please help me just this once!"
Silently praying in his heart, Noah pressed the 10-pull button.
10 pulls — gold!
[Successfully summoned — Rover (Spectro)!]
"Huh?"
20 pulls — gold!
[Successfully summoned — Rover (Spectro)!]
"Huh wait…"
30 pulls — nothing.
"I'm begging you! Give me Havoc! I've already prepared the Havoc Eclipse echo set!!"
40 pulls — double gold!
[Successfully summoned — Rover (Spectro) ×2!]
Rover (Spectro) reached S6.
And Noah completely overheated.
He mentally broke down.
"F*ck, Rover, are you dumb? I wanted Havoc!!"
"Wow, Destined Seed, why is your face so red?"
Camellya couldn't hear Noah's inner voice. She only felt that the unique frequency belonging to "Destined Seed" on his body had become even richer and more alluring. Unable to resist, her hands reached out again:
"Come, let me take a look…"
Her hand was stopped midway. Noah's expression was ugly:
"First, I'm not called Destined Seed."
"Second…"
Before he could finish, the door of the Modulation Hall suddenly opened. Monica stood there stunned, looking at the two people whose hands were tangled together at the entrance:
"You two… flirting here?"
Noah immediately withdrew his hand, giving several dry coughs to ease the awkwardness. Camellya, however, let out a light scoff and countered:
"Can't we? Or do you want to join?"
That single sentence successfully choked Monica on the spot.
It took her quite a while before she pinched her brow and shook her head. Then she straightened up again, looking at Noah with proper posture:
"Highest Administrator, as per your instructions, we have opened the passage leading to the interior of the Tethys system."
"Thank you for the hard work."
Noah nodded, took a few steps forward, and entered the Modulation Hall. Behind him, Monica and Camellya closely followed on his left and right.
Compared to before, the hall was already much cleaner, though there were still some Black Shores personnel lying on the ground who hadn't been rescued yet.
"While running the program, we discovered that the Black Shores Energy Hub has been destroyed. Highest Administrator, do you know who did it?"
"Uh… guess."
"It's fine, Administrator. It's just one energy hub. Black Shores has several backup ones anyway. It's not worth mentioning."
"…Alright, I admit I was the one who broke it— eh? Why is your face red again?"
Monica, now thoroughly overheated, took several deep breaths before finally suppressing the rage inside her.
What backup? Black Shores only has one energy hub, and its price is at least several billion Shell Credits.
Whatever. Fortunately only the surface layer was destroyed. The underground portion is extremely well protected. The loss is… barely within acceptable limits.
"Highest Administrator, we also discovered that the current Black Shores has been sealed inside a Sonoro Sphere space. It is currently impossible to open the entrance/exit from the inside."
That sentence made Noah freeze on the spot. He stared fixedly at Monica, his breathing suddenly becoming heavy:
"What did you just say?"
"I said, Black Shores has been sealed inside a Sonoro Sphere space."
"Next sentence."
"It is currently impossible to open the entrance/exit of this Sonoro Sphere space from the inside."
"Yes! That one!!"
All the clues instantly connected in Noah's mind into the truth that pierced through the entire Black Shores situation. He clenched his fist so hard his knuckles turned white.
If earlier he was only 30–40% certain, now he was 99% convinced.
Next… was to confront Tethys directly.
"The passage leading to the interior of Tethys is right ahead. I must remind you again — even we don't know where that path will lead you."
"It's fine."
Following the direction Monica pointed, a round gate emitting a silver metallic luster appeared. Noah pursed his lips and said meaningfully:
"No matter where this door leads to — even if it leads to the Death Star itself — she will never sit by and watch me be in danger."
Behind him, Camellya shook her head:
"I don't understand."
"Hey, if you didn't speak I would've actually forgotten about you."
Noah suddenly turned back to look at Camellya. The beautiful girl's eyes widened slightly, fingers lightly covering her lips as if pleasantly surprised. Even the vines that usually floated around her became noticeably more lively:
"Destined Seed… are you saying you want to bring me along on the adventure?"
"No. I have something nice for you to drink."
Noah took out a bottle of reagent and handed it over. Camellya casually accepted it, unscrewed the cap, downed it in one go, then gave Noah a playful smile, as though waiting for praise:
"If it's something you gave me, I'd dare to drink it even if it was poison~"
"Just a sleeping pill."
"What?!"
Camellya's expression changed instantly. She felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier, her body starting to sway. Her slender legs could no longer support her weight.
After staggering a few steps, she ultimately couldn't resist the strong sedative effect, falling deeply asleep. Her body powerlessly collapsed and was caught by Noah.
Have to say — the sleeping pills from Baizhi are really effective!
Noah lowered his head, gazing at the girl's delicate sleeping face with complicated emotions. He let out an almost inaudible sigh, then handed Camellya over to Monica:
"Please take care of Camellya for me. Her body… has actually been severely overclocked for a long time. She's just been enduring it the whole time…"
She must be in a lot of pain, right…
He didn't know how much effort this lone Bloom Bearer of the Rover had paid before she fell into the Black Shores.
From the moment they first met, she clearly couldn't control the camellia vines that would appear from time to time due to overclocking, yet she still tried her best to act natural…
What a fool. Is being unable to see this fake "Destined Seed" really more painful to her than the suffering caused by overclocking?
Since he was about to enter the interior of the Tethys system, with Camellya's personality, there was no way she would obediently wait here for him to come back. So it was better to let her sleep first.
Perhaps when she wakes up, everything will already be resolved? Just like a certain legendary sleeping king.
At this moment, Noah still didn't know that this sleep of Camellya's… was going to be a rather long one.
Whatever. He had already passed through the passage and fallen into the depths of the Tethys system.