A bright and beautiful day started with sleeping in, only to be woken up by spam messages.
Zane opened his eyes, casually rubbed his white hair, and irritably picked up the gourd placed by the bedside.
Because he had a very harmonious and pleasant time playing with Rover yesterday, he went to bed quite late. And now he was woken up early in the morning.
"I'm telling you, if this isn't a message saying I won five million Zane in the lottery, you'd better watch out for...hmm?"
Looking at the message in the gourd, Zane seemed to recall something, and his expression immediately turned strange.
It seemed like he had given the gourd to Doctor before, asking him to use his permissions to activate the Disrupter…
If he remembered correctly, his gourd should, probably, maybe, possibly still be at the Disrupter?
Then whose gourd was this?
Full of confusion, Zane blinked and looked at the message coming from the gourd,
[Traveler who came to Jinzhou alone, you must have a past you cannot tell others, and someone important you wish to meet again.]
[We are the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society. Everyone here has the regret of losing someone important. If you are unwilling to spend your life with such regret, please join us. We have a way to help you.]
Below the short message was also a coordinate.
That coordinate must be the location of the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society.
Zane silently memorized the coordinate, casually tossed the gourd aside, and jumped off the bed.
Dare to disturb my sleep, you're definitely not getting away with this.
Then he rushed out the door in a flurry.
Not long after Zane left, the small mound under the blanket on the other side of the bed moved slightly.
"Zane?"
Rover rubbed her sleepy eyes, then stretched lazily like a kitten.
After waiting for a while without hearing Zane respond, Rover got out of bed. The first thing she saw was her gourd casually thrown aside, while Zane, who had been lying next to her, was nowhere to be seen.
The message notification light on the gourd kept blinking on and off.
Curious, Rover walked over, picked up the gourd, and checked the message.
"Someone important? I've already found that." Rover shook her head with a light laugh and put the message out of her mind. "But speaking of which… where did Zane go?"
Of course, Zane himself had no idea there was still someone on his bed. At this moment, he had already followed the route in his memory and arrived in front of a shop.
"Hello, is this the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society?"
"Toward the stars and the abyss, welcome to..."
Before the clerk could even finish speaking, Zane hurriedly walked to the shop next door. "Where the hell did I end up? Is this still Solaris?"
Recalling the coordinates in his memory… 'It should be right…'
'No, they must have moved. There's no way I remembered the wrong place!'
Muttering to himself, Zane walked to the next shop. "Hello, is this the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society?"
"Mambo~ Mambo~"
"Hello, is this the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society?"
"Fight for El… uh, I mean, die for Ner'zhul."
'Is this really Solaris?!'
———
Just as Zane reached the last shop on the street, a man around thirty suddenly stepped out from the corner and patted his shoulder.
"Hey man, are you looking for the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society?"
Zane turned his head and looked at him, his face full of suspicion. "Wait, how do you know I'm looking for the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society? You've been following me!"
"Following you?" The man who appeared out of nowhere got so angry he almost jumped. "Do you even hear yourself?"
"You've been asking every shop along the main street of Jinzhou. Even a dog would know you're looking for the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society."
"Oh~" Zane nodded thoughtfully. "So you're that dog?"
"I…"
The man was speechless for a moment. He wanted to hit him, but rumors said Rover could take on the Threnodian attacks head-on without losing. The man figured his ancestors were already resting underground and didn't need extra trouble.
Thinking this, he cleared his throat and decided not to dwell on the topic. Instead, he turned and led Zane toward the outskirts of the city.
"You're that famous Rover?"
"Yep, that's me." Zane nodded without hesitation.
Hearing Zane admit it, the man didn't doubt his identity.
After all, that message had been sent to Rover's Pangu terminal through many connections by the higher-ups of the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society. Normally, there was no way it would be sent to the wrong person.
And there were rumors that the most eye-catching person in a crowd was Rover. Also, everyone who had seen Rover was stunned by him.
Thinking about it, it made sense. With that kind of intelligence, being able to live until now already couldn't be explained by just being extraordinary.
The man adjusted his expression, trying to make himself look as kind as possible.
"I suppose you came to find our Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society because you lost someone important?"
"Yeah, in this war started by the Threnodian, I lost my most beloved friend. He was buried under a collapsed building, and I didn't even get to see him one last time."
Zane cried and complained about the unfairness of fate, tears streaming down his face. Anyone who heard it would feel sad, anyone who listened would be moved to tears.
Seeing Zane so sorrowful, the man squeezed out a few tears as well. "Oh, that's truly heartbreaking. May the Lord of Time bless your friend."
"Yeah, we were inseparable. He kept me company through countless sleepless nights. Without him, I don't even know how to go on living…"
"May I ask your friend's name? I believe our Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society can definitely help you retrieve your friend's soul."
"That would be amazing." Zane showed a look of joy and grabbed the man's hand, shaking it excitedly as if he had found a soulmate. "My friend's name is Fiji Cup…"
"Huh?" The man froze for a moment. "Uh… I mean, that's quite a strange name…"
—
Hearing the man's doubt, Zane frowned, a hint of regret appearing on his face.
"See, even you say that. Your Return of Souls Mutual Aid Society is probably just as mediocre as those ordinary people who point fingers at his name."
Seeing Zane turn to leave, the man panicked and quickly ran in front of him, blocking his way, anxiously explaining, "Sir, that's not what I meant…"
"We used to play cards together all the time. Without him, I don't even have the motivation to play cards anymore."
"If it's playing cards, there are plenty of people in the society willing to play with you."
Since the man said that, Zane didn't hesitate at all. He took out a deck of cards from his pocket.
"Gwent. After all that talking, why not start with an intense round of Gwent!"