Chapter 335: Penacony Arc 『 Part Thirty 』,The Indestructible Ledger of the Penacony
「 His voice grew progressively colder: "You really are… far too blind."
Stelle attempted to step forward and argue, but Hotaru reached out a hand to stop her, her expression grave. "…Careful. I am certain now—there is something wrong with this friend of yours."
Sampo was suddenly amused: "Oh-ho, it seems this brave young lady wants to protect you. I wonder why? Are you two that close?"
"You talk too much," Hotaru interrupted frostily.
"I simply adore your personality, dear. I'll admit, you're not like that little Gray-Hair; your nose is quite sharp. But even so, you've fallen behind the main group. Haven't you noticed by now—what the Family is hiding, the secret behind this beautiful dream?"
"And as for you—the Trailblazer who saved the world of ice and snow… Sigh, just how much did that fellow Sampo embellish the story of Jarilo-VI? Never mind, believing his word was my mistake…"
The smile on 'Sampo's' face vanished like a receding tide, every word squeezed out from between his teeth: "…I am truly, truly disappointed in you."
The atmosphere shifted abruptly. It felt as though the very air drawn into the lungs had congealed into a texture as thick as caramel, and even the light began to warp.
Stelle felt her eyelids grow heavy. In a daze, she seemed to see a red goldfish swimming past her and Hotaru.
With every step Sampo—or rather, the entity masquerading as Sampo—took, the masculine shell peeled away bit by bit. Slender fingers emerged from beneath the gloves, and the trousers dissolved into a maiden's petal-like skirt and legs as smooth as polished jade.
"Umm, excuse me..." The twin-tailed girl's voice carried a candy-like sweetness, charming… yet dangerous. "Why don't you rest for a little while..."
A fingertip flicked lightly against Stelle's forehead. The gentle motion caused Stelle's consciousness to plunge suddenly beneath the water's surface; the Golden Dream of Penacony transformed into a dark vortex, everything spinning within it.
"—inside the real Dreamscape."
In her final vision, the red glow in the girl's irises gradually faded. The way she leaned over to close Stelle's eyes was as tender as a child tucking in a doll. 」
「 ..... 」
〜Chainsaw Man World〜
In the sky, the twin-tailed girl's breathtaking beauty struck Denji's heart directly. The cola can in his hand hit the ground with a 'clatter,' and he didn't even react when the brown liquid splashed onto his pant leg.
"Wait! Wait…! I take back what I said!"
Denji stared intensely at Sparkle's fair legs, his face flushing.
"Who said Masked Fools aren't great or well-liked? These Masked Fools are amazing! I declare! The Masked Fools are the best organization in the universe!"
Seeing Denji cheering with his hands raised high, Power glared at him in dissatisfaction:
"Hey, hey, Denji, you're just purely lusting after her, aren't you? You don't even know her name."
"But names aren't important at all, are they?"
Denji curled his lip.
"She can shapeshift; who knows if she's using a real name or an alias? Anyway, from now on, I only like Miss Twin-Tails!"
"…You defected way too fast! Weren't you just saying you liked Hotaru the most?"
"Can't be helped, because I thought about it carefully… Miss Twin-Tails can turn into Sampo, which means she can turn into Hotaru, Himeko, or Kafka… Liking her alone is the same as liking countless people at once! I can still do simple math like that. It's freaking genius!"
—
「 Stelle opened her eyes and found herself back at the Reverie Hotel, but the scenery and atmosphere were very similar to when she first entered the dream.
She… was still dreaming.
Even stranger, the messages she tried to send to Himeko wouldn't go through.
Words drifted continuously over the table beside her, accompanied by the cautious inquiry of an unfamiliar young boy's voice:
"Mikhail, are you in there?"
"So quiet... nothing but the tick-tocking of the clocks..."
"Mikhail, where are you?"
Stelle approached the counter, only to see the clock face resting upon it become restless. The hands began to spin at high speed, as if trying to carry Stelle to a certain moment in the distant past…
Clock Face: "Calm down… there's only me now… I must fulfill the entrustment he left behind, I must do it…"
"But… how can I do it? How could I possibly do it? Sigh… is there really no one who can give me a hand?"
A talking clock face, scenes that reproduced voices—it was all too bizarre.
Stelle pushed open the doors, only to see Hotaru standing before a deceased Meme. Seeing Stelle, she let out a long sigh of relief, the weight finally lifting from her heart: "Ah… Stelle! You're here too, as expected…"
"Don't tell me we're dead..."
"I… don't know." Hotaru looked around. "In any case, we must still be in a dream. It can't be anywhere else, much less reality... I'm never wrong about the distinctive sense of memoria that's in the air." 」
「 ..... 」
〜DC Extended Universe, Earth-1〜
In the offices of the Daily Planet, Clark Kent stopped typing on his laptop. He pushed up his sliding glasses and looked up at the sky outside the window—the name 'Mikhail' was appearing frequently in the dreamscape.
"Lois, do you think—"
Before he could finish, Lois had already placed a steaming cup of coffee by his hand. The sound of the cup hitting the desk interrupted his thoughts perfectly.
"You might need to pause that special report on Penacony."
Lois leaned naturally against the edge of his desk, her fingers lightly brushing a stray curl of his hair.
"There's new progress regarding the information on Penacony. This name 'Mikhail' appeared before… but only once."
"When Stelle first entered the dream, a voice said, 'Come back, Mikhail'."
Clark spun his pen between his fingers.
"The voice is very similar to the boy's voice now. This might indicate… that this Mikhail is a crucial figure for Penacony."
"Could he be the Watchmaker?"
Lois speculated further.
"It's a possibility. There are many clock-related elements in this room… Did you see that clock face on the counter? That clock face can actually talk. What I can associate with it is that Mikhail left behind some kind of mission that urgently needs to be completed by successors, and that talking clock face… might be related to Clockie."
"It's possible, but the tone of that clock face is very heavy, nothing like Clockie at all. It seems the puzzles regarding Penacony have increased by one more…"
Clark sighed softly. He reached out to take his pen from the holder, but accidentally knocked over his coffee cup. Just as the liquid was about to soak the documents, Lois had already snatched them away, slapping a napkin into his hand.
"Clark Kent."
She raised an eyebrow at his fumbling.
"Are you sure you don't need my help? It seems like the intel on Penacony alone is making your brain a bit overwhelmed."
"Alright…"
Clark had nothing to say.
"Lois, as you wish."
—