About three minutes later. Deep within the River Styx's cabin, in a hidden corner where no radio wave could ever find its way.
When Muzan and Adam Smasher finally lifted their heads from the by-now rather numbing grind of ox-and-horse labor, what they heard was an old song from the last century.
"Oh, young man! ..."
"...?"
Listening to the bizarre sound drifting down from the radio above them, both Muzan and Adam Smasher fell into a shared silence, each privately wondering what in the world this was supposed to be now.
And then, they were judged to be slacking off and promptly electrocuted.
So, numb as ever, they began another round of work.
The music played on for some indeterminate length of time, until Himmel — who had been sitting in the monitoring room with the music running in the background — turned around, face half-asleep, and asked Anthony:
"Do I really have to keep going?"
"Keep going," Anthony said, lips curling. "A little stimulation is good for them."
Then, noticing that Himmel's soul had materialized and was now directing a look of profound, deeply wounded resentment straight at him, Anthony cleared his throat twice.
"Looks like someone just arrived. I'll go take a look — you keep at it. You've got this."
With a parting word of encouragement delivered, Anthony considered his daily quota of insufferable behavior satisfactorily met and took his leave.
But the moment he stepped back onto the River Styx's deck, Anthony's good mood evaporated into a cloud of worry.
The truth was, the current state of the Lobotomy Corporation branch aboard the River Styx was, to put it charitably, not great.
On one hand, the headcount was too low and efficiency had been suffering as a result. On the other hand, the quality of the employees themselves had also started to slip.
Whether it was from being worked too hard or shocked too many times, the two of them had simply gone numb. Just recently, Anthony had made a rather alarming discovery: his two toilet-bound employees — Muzan and Adam Smasher — had nearly lost all emotional response.
The routine had become: drift through the workday in a daze, get electrocuted, snap back to clarity briefly, continue working, then drift back into the daze again.
They were getting shocked stupid. If this kept up, they were going to end up with genuine cognitive damage.
The problem was that Lobotomy Corporation's enkephalin extraction required employees to experience intense emotions.
In their current state, Anthony didn't even want to calculate how many points he was hemorrhaging.
Watching his employees' productivity crater, Anthony felt the sting of it deep in his soul — and silently made himself a solemn promise:
Just you wait. I will help you find your feelings again.
That, too, was one of the reasons he'd come along on this Terraria trip.
Of course, the right moment and method would still need to be found.
Anthony let his soul radiate outward, scanning the surroundings. He spotted David and Lucy already out collecting resources and building a house together, so he left them to it.
Then, his gaze shifted to the phase-transfer engine, which had just begun to glow.
A moment later, a man stepped out from within the engine. Anthony raised a hand in greeting.
"Long time no see, Jonathan."
Jonathan returned the greeting, then immediately asked:
"Is there anything you need me to do?"
"Uh, depends on what you're in the mood for. If you're itching for a fight, you could go out with Yoriichi later and hunt some monsters."
Anthony mulled it over, running through his mental checklist of needs — and just then, the phase-transfer engine lit up again.
"I thought I heard someone talking about me?"
Young Yoriichi Tsugikuni stepped out, smiling softly as he looked between the two of them. Anthony saw his chance and immediately pointed them both in a direction.
See that stretch of Crimson terrain over there?
Go nuts. And when you come back from your little rampage, don't forget to bring the materials — once we've got them, we can craft the summoning items and you can go back to rampaging all over again.
Honestly, Anthony had zero interest in slowly grinding out resources and playing the long development game.
With a lineup like theirs, were they really going to do this the vanilla way — painstakingly chipping through cave after cave, fighting off invasions, carefully preparing arenas for each boss, and then barely scraping through by the skin of their teeth?
Put simply — Terraria post-Wall of Flesh, or a run where Anthony was severely undermanned? Sure, he'd show some respect. But pre-Wall of Flesh?
I thought that was a speed bump.
The plan was simple: Jotaro hits Time Stop, grabs a burst of damage, then David and Yoriichi wade in with their gear and finish the job. And if even that wasn't enough — wasn't that what backup was for?
Anthony had already mentally drafted his contingency: if things went sideways, Grand Flame Wordsmith pins things down, Carmen activates her external assists, and he leads the charge.
So, after watching Yoriichi drag an enthusiastic Jotaro off toward the Crimson with barely-contained excitement, Anthony finally pulled his attention back.
Then, looking at the phase-transfer engine, he caught sight of a figure materializing within it — a silhouette carrying a distinct air of grievance — and an awkward smile crept onto his face.
"Give me back my daughter!"
The moment the City Ghost spotted Anthony, that was the very first thing out of her mouth.
"Hm? You said you want to work?"
"I said give me back my daughter!"
"Noted, noted — your eagerness to contribute has been duly received."
Anthony's face didn't so much as twitch. The awkwardness evaporated almost instantly, and he launched into rapid-fire speech:
"Angela is downstairs at the Lobotomy Corporation branch right now supervising the workers. If you want to go help out, I have no objections — it's just that it would be a waste of production capacity."
Looking at this man who wore a human face while acting like anything but, Carmen gave up entirely.
After glaring at him for a good while, she finally let out a long sigh.
"Fine. Talking to you is pointless anyway."
"Then let's not talk about that. How are things developing at Lobotomy Corporation lately? You actually have time to come visit."
Anthony asked with genuine curiosity. Carmen glanced at him and sighed.
"Your last visit accelerated a lot of things. The situation is considerably better than before."
"Benjamin has already begun preparing for the Smoke War to defect and bring down the old nest. Ein has mentally prepared himself as well. We also have Kali on our side — handling the war isn't going to be a problem."
Carmen said, her tone even:
"Once the war is over, all that's left is launching the Seed of Light."
"So it's just a matter of grinding it out to the finish line, right?"
Anthony understood immediately. He asked to confirm, and when Carmen nodded, he thought for a moment before speaking:
"Alright then — once the war wraps up, call me when it gets to the critical juncture. I'll see if there's anything I can do."
"You look to me like someone who just wants to come collect the rewards."
Carmen turned to look at him, the corner of her eye giving a slight twitch. But after a long pause, she exhaled and said:
"Fine. I'll call you when the time comes."
"And what about right now? Is there anything you need me for? If not, I'll go see Angela first."
Carmen finished and spread her hands open as she asked.
"Mm, actually, there is something."
After thinking it over carefully, Anthony said: "Your ability is probably the most convenient for this. Even without a physical body, I'd like to ask you to make a trip to the edge of the world."
"The edge of this world is two oceans. One of them has a fisherman on it. Just go wake him up — once you've brought him back, there'll be a next step to deal with."
"Alright."
Carmen nodded in understanding, and her soul slowly drifted away into the distance. Anthony waited by the engine for a while longer, but there was still no sign of anyone else arriving.
So he simply opened the group chat again.
[Lord of the Angler's Throne: @Grand Flame Wordsmith — Senior, you still not here yet?]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: Hold on, just finished convincing Second Brother and Big Brother. Now we can't find Xi, and Nian is still looking for her.]
[Lord of the Angler's Throne: How many people are you bringing exactly?]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: Hmm? Since we're already coming, shouldn't we just bring everyone?]
[Lord of the Angler's Throne: Well… I mean, that's not wrong.]
[Lord of the Angler's Throne: Alright, do your best — let me know when you arrive.]
Reading the Grand Flame Wordsmith's messages, Anthony's lips gave a small, involuntary pull. He quietly closed the group chat panel.
Then, finding that everyone else was still busy, he decided to get to work himself.
There were two main things he needed to take care of.
First, housing. Second, tools for resource collection.
The housing was straightforward enough — Anthony cranked the Origin Furnace up to full capacity, and across the deck of the River Styx, rows of structures rose from the ground in an instant.
Of course, calling them "houses" was generous. "Cells" would have been the more accurate term.
They were bare to the bone.
A few walls, a chair, a table, one torch jammed in for light — that was the whole package. The rooms were so cramped they could move a salaryman to tears.
But Anthony felt he'd been more than fair.
These were crafted with Artificer technology, after all!
In terms of materials alone, they were already several dimensions above your average prison cell!
You've got a roof over your head — Anthony mentally advised the NPCs to stop being so picky.
So, while waiting for the assorted NPCs — fisherman included — to move in, Anthony got started on the preliminary preparations for large-scale resource extraction aboard the River Styx.
Not all that different from before, really. If anything, it was more of an upgraded version of the original approach.
Namely: a bigger bomb.
Anthony's assessment was that Lachimaeus's Roar already had plenty of destructive elegance. All he needed to do was scale up the yield a little. Just a little. Just the tiniest bit.
And so, as a certain Artificer put his mind to blowing a spectacular hole in the world of Terraria, a super-bomb began, slowly, to take shape.
Meanwhile, on the other side of things.
"Building here is almost embarrassingly easy. It really is just like a game."
David murmured softly, looking at the house that had taken shape before him. Lucy stood at his side, one hand on her hip, nodding in agreement.
Back in the real world, something like this would have been unthinkable. A little over an hour, and a full cottage was just… sitting there in front of them.
And built by two people who knew absolutely nothing about construction.
The fact that this structure, which had not a single load-bearing beam inside it, had somehow managed not to collapse was already borderline miraculous.
Physics? Never heard of her.
They hadn't seen anything this strange even out on the Primordial River!
Not that Anthony would have batted an eye — he'd have just called it normal and told them not to worry about it.
It hadn't taken long after arriving here for Anthony to notice that Terraria, perhaps because of its fundamentally non-narrative nature, had retained an enormous number of its special rules.
What that meant in practice was that every mechanic and system from the original game world had been preserved in full.
Forget gravity — that was already a perennial thorn in Newton's side at the best of times. In Terraria, Anthony was fairly certain conservation of matter didn't exist either, and the entire edifice of physics had long since crumbled to rubble with no survivors.
You know what that means? Shimmer decomposition, alchemy tables, infinite potions. That kind of reality-defying nonsense.
Oh, wait — that was patched out in the new update. Never mind then.
But that didn't change the fact that the current world of Terraria operated entirely without any real-world physical laws beyond those defined by the game itself.
And because of that, David had simply used the axe module of his Artificer body to chop down a few trees, thrown together a workbench, and produced an assortment of furniture.
Then, after a little trial and error — plus a quick peek into the adjacent cave — David had put together the modest little nest now standing before them. It wasn't exactly cozy, but it had windows, a table and chairs, walls, a few torches stuck in, and was almost entirely wood. For David and Lucy, that was more than enough.
"Let's go inside."
David said softly. Lucy blinked, then nodded, and stepped into the room.
Inside the freshly built little room, everything was neatly arranged. David knew they wouldn't be staying long — but even so, a quiet warmth settled over him.
After all, he'd built this place with his own hands.
He closed his eyes. He could almost feel the breeze drifting in from the doorway. Then, without meaning to, he let out a long, slow breath.
He felt free. Truly, completely free — the kind of freedom he hadn't known since leaving Night City.
There wasn't a single moment, not one, in which David felt more clearly than right now that he had left Night City behind for good — that he had accomplished what he set out to do, and stepped into something new.
Lucy, meanwhile, had stretched out on the bed and was staring up at the ceiling of the little house. After a thoughtful pause, she murmured:
"We're really free, aren't we."
So David opened his eyes, and their gazes met.
They looked at each other for a long, quiet moment — just like they had so many times before. Then David slowly crossed the room.
The boy came to the girl's side. The girl shifted on the bed, making space beside her, and the boy lay down next to her with an expression of someone who wasn't entirely sure what his hands were supposed to do.
The blanket was bunched up at the foot of the bed. They lay back to back — but then, all of a sudden, David heard a soft rustling beside him.
He turned over — and found himself looking straight into Lucy's eyes.
They were close enough to hear each other breathe, to feel the gentle warmth of each other's exhales against their chests.
"David—"
Lucy spoke softly, her voice low. David's eyes dropped slightly. "Yeah, I'm here."
"When you were gone… I was alone, and I almost didn't know how to keep going…"
Lucy said it quietly, a complicated emotion crossing her face — something impossible to put into words. Finally, she nestled softly against David's shoulder and breathed the rest into his ear.
The warmth of her breath, like the scent of orchids, stirred something in David's chest — just like it always had. But this time, Night City was gone. The neon lights that had pressed down on them from outside every window — they were gone too.
"Thank goodness you came back. Sometimes I honestly feel like this is all just a dream."
Lucy whispered. David said nothing, and for a moment he looked like he had absolutely no idea what to do with himself.
Then Lucy broke into a smile. "Good thing I know now — this has nothing to do with dreams."
"David, I'm happy. So please, please don't ever leave again."
Lucy said it, and pressed a soft kiss to the curve of David's neck. David gave a quiet nod. "I won't."
Whatever comes, nothing will separate us again.
So Lucy kissed his neck once more, then wrapped both arms around it and met his eyes again — and the smile that spread across her face was brilliant.
The girl asked: "Want to?"
David understood perfectly. He reached out, both hands settling gently on Lucy.
And just like that, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, everything began. Just as David was about to sit up and start dealing with both of their clothing, however — things went sideways.
He didn't even have time to move. Because from the front door came a sound: the creak of it swinging open, and David's heart lurched into his throat.
Wait — this world's doors don't have locks?!
Before he could process that thought, David watched a Merchant walk in through the doorway. Lucy — still fully clothed — sat up and looked at the old man shuffling inside, taking in the room with leisurely curiosity. For a moment, she wore the expression of someone whose brain had completely failed to boot up.
What is happening.
"Now this is a fine little house."
The white-haired, grey-bearded Merchant remarked with genuine appreciation.
"Haven't seen someone build me such a nice place in ages. I'm very pleased with this — if you'd like to buy anything, I can offer you a discount."
"Oh, right — would you be interested in a Piggy Bank, or perhaps a Bug Net? I also carry anvils and the like."
The Merchant turned and addressed David with complete professional seriousness. Lucy looked back at David, her eyes asking: who is this person?
David's eyes replied: I have absolutely no idea!
Old man, who the hell are you?! Do you know you just broke into someone's home?!
And why does this place count as yours?!
Just as both of them sat there in baffled stupefaction, the door opened again — and Anthony's avatar, in his soul-form, appeared in the doorway.
He glanced at the Merchant, one eyebrow rising.
"So that's where he went. I saw the Merchant had moved in according to the River Styx data center but couldn't find him anywhere — he'd wandered over here."
Anthony looked around at the interior decorating and let out a small, impressed sound.
"Nice house you built. Don't build another one — every NPC is trying to move in here instead, and none of them want the cells. I can't keep chasing them away."
He waved a hand at the Merchant and pulled up the River Styx's data terminal, reassigning the Merchant's residence to one of the freshly constructed cells.
"Hm? Did my home change location?"
The Merchant blinked, then accepted this with a cheerful nod and followed Anthony out of the house — even thoughtfully pulling the door shut behind him.
David and Lucy looked at each other, both hesitating.
"…They're gone?" Lucy asked.
"Should be… I think?" David replied, not entirely certain. He looked back at Lucy, confirmed she still had the same idea, and then ventured:
"So — will they come back in?"
"Probably not?"
"So… do we keep going?"
Lucy, sitting on the bed, put the question to David. David hesitated for a while, and ultimately nodded, settling back down beside her.
So they worked on trying to rebuild the atmosphere that had been so thoroughly dismantled — whittling away at it there by the headboard for quite some time — and it seemed like, perhaps, the moment was finally arriving again. David reached out once more, his hand moving toward Lucy's collar.
And then, immediately, the sound of the front door opening reached them again — preceded by the uniquely infuriating voice of a small and obnoxious stranger.
"Hm? Is this my new house? And do I get two servants?"
David: ...
Lucy: ...
Looking at the person walking in through the door — dressed like a fisherman — David's fist quietly clenched.
It was hard. Because it had been soft. So his fist was hard.
Where the hell did this fisherman even come from?!
David shot to his feet — and before he could get a single word out, Anthony reappeared in the doorway, this time wearing the expression of a man who had given up.
"Oh for — the Angler's brain-dead little self wandered over here too. I'm taking him. Look, you two should just take the torches down in here — I can't keep making the trip to chase people out."
He waved a hand, shoved the Angler into a custom cell, blasted him out with a pulse of soul energy, and on his way out offered David this parting suggestion.
"…Yeah. Sure."
David's eye gave a sustained twitch. He watched Anthony leave, then turned to look at Lucy's equally defeated expression.
The sky outside had slowly gone dark. David stared out at it for a long moment, then finally asked:
"…So, uh. Still want to?"
Lucy's face showed visible signs of internal conflict.
The vibe is completely gone!
They sat in silence. David steeled himself, preparing to open his mouth and try one more time — and at that exact moment, Anthony shoved the door open and walked straight in.
"Oh right, almost forgot — timing's about right. Come on, get yourselves ready and head up to the River Styx. We're going to fight a boss."
Then Anthony, to his considerable confusion, watched as David's face broke into a smile of pure, unguarded relief.
He'd completely given up. And that relief was contagious — it spread immediately to Lucy's face — which left Anthony feeling like the situation had become distinctly, inexplicably strange.
"Yes, sir. I'll be right there."
And so, with all the energy of a man whose burden had been lifted, David took Lucy's hand, and they walked out of the little house together.
Leaving Anthony standing alone inside it, thoroughly bewildered. But after a moment, he let the thought go and made his way back to the River Styx.
...
"Everyone ready?"
Aboard the River Styx, Anthony looked out at the assembled crew — all of them having wrapped up their respective tasks and returned — and asked, looking down at the suspicious-looking eyeball in his hand.
Jonathan and Yoriichi's efficiency had been impressive. They hadn't taken long to bring back what was needed.
And now, with night having fallen, it was time to try out the first boss.
As it happened, Anthony had a specific need for this particular boss — the Eye of Cthulhu.
The Crimtane Ore it dropped was one of the key materials for crafting a fishing rod. Anthony already had the basic wooden rod and the next tier prepared — this one was the last piece.
He raised his head, saw the assembled crew give their nods, and slowly let out a breath. With the power of his soul, he lifted the Suspicious Looking Eye high above him.
In the next instant, a sharp, piercing shriek split the air, and the sky seemed to flush crimson in a single heartbeat.
Then, across the River Styx's data center, strings of characters flickered past in rapid succession — and finally, they coalesced into a single vivid line of purple text.
[The Eye of Cthulhu has awoken!]
The moment those words appeared, The World manifested behind Jonathan, golden gears interlocking with a deep, resonant grind: "Za Warudo!"
And within the meshing of those gears, time across the world slowly — stopped.
But in the split second before time froze completely, Anthony's gaze caught something — the phase-transfer engine. Had it just flickered with a faint glow?
For a moment, inside the stillness of stopped time, Anthony's thoughts ground to a halt.
Wait — hold on. Did Senior come through just now?
Which means… that also means…?
Five seconds later, Time Stop ended.
And from within the phase-transfer engine, a grandmaster stepped out. He first spotted Anthony — then tilted his head up, and saw the monstrous eyeball wheeling through the sky above them.
For a moment, one eyebrow arched upward.
"That thing. Doesn't look half bad."
Chongyue said softly, his voice carrying a note of interest and curiosity. Then, in a single flash, he crossed the distance between them.
Coming to stand beside Anthony, he clapped him on the shoulder, and spoke with barely-concealed excitement:
"Little Thirteen — not bad. Fresh through the door and there's already something that looks like a decent fight."
Anthony stared up at him, dumbfounded — and then noticed that something was distinctly, unmistakably wrong.
Wait — what the—?!
He stared at Chongyue's eyes in open shock — and realized those pupils were gold.
Holy—Shuo?!
____
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