[His voice gradually turned icy: "You really… are too blind."]
[Stelle tried to step forward to argue with him, but Firefly reached out and stopped her, her expression serious: "…Careful. Now I can be sure, there's something wrong with this friend of yours."]
[Sampo suddenly laughed: "Oh my, looks like this brave young lady wants to protect you. Why? Are you two that close?"]
["Enough with the nonsense." Firefly coldly interrupted.]
["I really like your personality, darling. I admit, you're not like that little gray-haired one—your nose is quite sharp. But even so, you're still lagging behind the main force. Haven't you noticed yet—the Family is hiding it, the secret behind this beautiful dream."]
["And as for you—the Trailblazer who saved the ice world… Sigh, how much water did that Sampo guy mix into the story on Jarilo-VI? Never mind, believing his words was my mistake…"]
[The smile on "Sampo"'s face disappeared like the tide receding. Every word seemed squeezed out from between his teeth: "…I am really, really too disappointed in you."]
[The atmosphere suddenly changed. The air inhaled into the lungs seemed to condense into a caramel-like sticky texture, and even the light became distorted.]
[Stelle felt her eyelids grow heavy. In a daze, she seemed to see a red goldfish swimming past her and Firefly.]
[Sampo—or rather, the entity disguised as Sampo—every step he took caused the male shell to peel away a little more. Slender fingers emerged from under the gloves, and the long pants below transformed into a skirt like flower petals, revealing jade-like smooth legs.]
["Sorry…" The twin-tailed girl's voice carried a candy-like sweetness, charming… yet dangerous, "Please, in the real dream…"]
[Her fingertips gently flicked Stelle's forehead. The gentle motion caused Stelle's consciousness to suddenly sink to the bottom of the water. Penacony's golden dream turned into a dark vortex, with everything spinning inside it.]
["—Take a little nap, okay?"]
[In her final field of vision, the red light in the girl's irises gradually faded. Her action of leaning down to close Stelle's eyes was as gentle as tucking in a doll.]
——
Chainsaw Man.
In the sky screen, the twin-tailed girl's beauty strike directly hit Denji's heart. The cola can in his hand fell to the ground with a "plop," and the brown liquid splashed on his pants, but he didn't react at all.
"Wait! Wait…! I take back what I said!" Denji's face turned red as he stared intensely at Sparkle's long white legs. "Who said the Masked Fools are unpopular? This Masked Fool is way too awesome!"
"I declare! The Masked Fools are the best organization in the universe!"
Seeing Denji raise both hands in cheers, Power glared at him dissatisfied: "Hey hey, Denji, you're just thirsty for her, right? You don't even know her name."
"But names aren't important at all, right?" Denji pouted. "She can even transform. Who knows if she's using her real name or a fake one? Anyway, from now on I only like the twin-tailed lady!"
"…You switched sides way too fast?! Weren't you just saying Firefly was your favorite?"
"Can't be helped. After thinking carefully… the twin-tailed lady can transform into Sampo, which means she can also transform into Firefly, Himeko, or Kafka… Liking her alone equals liking countless people at once! I can still do this simple math problem. It's just too awesome!"
——
[Stelle opened her eyes and found herself back at the Daydream Hotel, but the scenery and atmosphere here were very similar to when she had just entered the dream. She… was still in the dream.]
[Even stranger, she couldn't send messages to Himeko anymore.]
[On the table beside her, text kept floating, accompanied by a careful inquiry from an unfamiliar young boy's voice:]
["Mikhail, are you in there?"]
["Mikhail, where did you go?"]
["It's so quiet, only the ticking of the clock…"]
[Stelle walked to the counter. The dial placed on top began to stir restlessly, and the hands started spinning rapidly, as if trying to take Stelle back to some moment in the distant past…]
[Dial: "Calm down… Now there's only me left… I must complete 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 dial, a scene that replayed voices—everything was too eerie.]
[Stelle pushed open the door and saw Firefly standing in front of an already dead Mem. Upon seeing Stelle, she breathed a long sigh of relief, and the stone in her heart finally dropped: "Ah… Stelle! You really are here too…"]
["Are we already dead…"]
["I… don't know." Firefly looked around. "In any case, we must still be in the dream, not anywhere else, and definitely not reality… The air has the unique touch of Memoria. I won't mistake it."]
——
DC Universe.
In the Daily Planet office, Clark Kent stopped typing on his laptop. He pushed up his slipping glasses and looked up at the sky screen outside the window—"Mikhail" was appearing frequently in the dream.
"Lois, do you think…" Before he could finish, Lois had already placed a cup of steaming coffee beside him. The sound of the cup bottom touching the desk perfectly interrupted his thoughts.
"You might have to pause that special report on Penacony." Lois naturally leaned against the edge of his desk, her fingers gently playing with a strand of his messy hair. "There's new progress on Penacony information. This name 'Mikhail' has appeared before… but only once."
"When Stelle first entered the dream, there was a voice saying 'Come back, Mikhail.'" Clark spun the pen in his fingers. "The voice is very similar to the current young boy's voice. This might indicate… that this Mikhail is an extremely key figure in Penacony."
"Could he be the Watchmaker?" Lois further speculated.
"It's not impossible. There are many clock elements in this room… Did you see the dial on the counter? That dial can actually talk. What I can associate it with is that Mikhail left behind some kind of mission that urgently needs to be completed by future generations, and this talking dial… may be related to Clockie."
"Possible, but the tone of this dial speaking is very heavy, completely unlike Clockie."
"Looks like another puzzle has been added to Penacony…" Clark sighed softly. He reached out to take the pen from the pen holder but accidentally knocked over the coffee cup. In the instant the liquid was about to soak the documents, Lois had already pulled the files away and patted a paper towel on the back of his hand.
"Clark Kent." She raised an eyebrow at his flustered appearance. "Are you sure you don't need my help? It seems like just the Penacony intelligence alone is making your brain a bit insufficient."
"Alright…" Clark had nothing to say. "Lois, as you wish."