Seeing little Silver Wolf so unwilling to open up made Bai Ming sigh.
Clearly, the rebellious phase had hit. She wasn't even willing to chat about something this important.
Sigh. The tiny, adorable, clingy little Bronya of the past was truly gone forever.
"Forget it. If you don't want to talk, then don't. I'll go ask them myself."
Silver Wolf wasn't sure if she felt disappointed or relieved, but her shoulders relaxed as she nodded.
"Mm. Then I'll wait for you at home. Bye-bye."
Silver Wolf gave a wave and took the initiative to hang up the call.
Then, staring at her phone screen, she suddenly collapsed into the palm of Project Bunny and let out a long, heavy sigh.
"...I failed to say it again."
Silver Wolf felt a bit dejected. She had actually decided where she wanted to go a long time ago.
She wanted to go find her sister, Bai Ming.
Despite working hard for several years, she hadn't managed to max out her level, but there really wasn't anything left in Punklorde worth challenging anymore.
The main reason she had stayed here all this time was that she knew what Bai Ming had been busy with these past few years.
Silver Wolf couldn't help with that particular matter; she could only wait, just like everyone else.
Now that Bai Ming was back, Silver Wolf naturally wanted to go find her. Yet, before she could even set out, the Stellaron Hunters had come knocking on her door, inviting her to join.
To Silver Wolf, if this had been a few years ago when Bai Ming was busy, she probably would have joined just to try it out. But now that Bai Ming was back, why on earth would she join the Stellaron Hunters?
On that point, Elio had plenty to say.
If Bai Ming hadn't suddenly popped over to Punklorde to personally give Silver Wolf a 'cheat code,' Silver Wolf wouldn't have grown so explosively over these past few years. And she certainly wouldn't be so fixated on Bai Ming.
Elio couldn't exactly waltz in and invite a ten-year-old kid to become a universal fugitive.
Unfortunately, because Bai Ming was involved, Elio couldn't see clearly what needed to be done to get Silver Wolf to join the Stellaron Hunters.
As for Silver Wolf herself...
Perhaps her strength was still average and her sister didn't "need" her, but she could at least help with the work, right? Like Celestial Sparrow Entertainment, that entertainment conglomerate Bai Ming had reportedly built from the ground up.
Silver Wolf felt that place suited her perfectly.
The only downside was that the headquarters for Celestial Sparrow Entertainment was in the Xianzhou Alliance, and Bai Ming didn't usually stay there.
However, the biggest problem wasn't whether she could stay close to Bai Ming. It was that Silver Wolf had never been able to tell Bai Ming that she wanted to find her and follow her.
The rebellion and the shortness of words she displayed in front of Bai Ming were mostly because she was too embarrassed to speak, leaving silence as her only refuge.
While Bai Ming knew Silver Wolf had always been stubborn, she had, after all, known the girl when she was tiny—she had even seen her acting spoiled. She'd even given her the name Bronya.
Consequently, the current Bai Ming found it hard to reconcile the "stubborn hacker" image with the girl she once knew. She simply assumed Silver Wolf was going through a rebellious phase.
"Stellaron Hunters, huh? Sounds pretty cool, honestly. Too bad I'm not going with you."
In her heart, Silver Wolf felt the Stellaron Hunters suited her; she wasn't exactly a rule-follower, after all.
But unfortunately, she was still waiting for her first-choice admission. This "second choice" would just have to wait in line.
--+--
Meanwhile.
Bai Ming sent a message to Jingliu, something she hadn't done in a while, asking for their current location.
After getting the exact coordinates, Bai Ming headed straight to Punklorde and met up with the Stellaron Hunters who were temporarily staying there: Jingliu, Kafka, and Elio—the black cat.
Bai Ming raised a hand to greet Jingliu and Kafka, then reached out to rub Elio's feline head before asking, "...You guys haven't recruited anyone new these past few years?"
Hearing this, Elio rubbed his face helplessly.
"How am I supposed to recruit? Bronya is unwilling to join right now. Firefly isn't even going by that name yet; she's off fighting the Swarm in Glamoth. And Yingxing is even more ridiculous—he's currently acting as the High Elder on the Luofu. Who else am I supposed to recruit?"
Bai Ming blinked in surprise. "Without those three, there are no other suitable candidates?"
"...If they were that easy to find, would I be sitting here moping?"
Bai Ming looked at Elio, an eyebrow arching. "I don't know, you don't look all that mopey to me."
Finished with Elio, Bai Ming turned her gaze toward Jingliu and Kafka. "How have you two been? It feels like your bounties haven't gone up much lately."
Jingliu managed a rare smile and nodded. "Not bad. Jing Yuan took on an apprentice recently. I found an opportunity to meet the boy a while back, so I haven't been doing many missions."
As for Kafka, she shrugged with an air of nonchalance. "Same as always, just getting by. But Elio's operations have definitely slowed down lately. I feel like I'm starting to grow mold from the boredom."
Kafka stretched lazily, leaning back against the sofa as she looked at Bai Ming.
"Little Bronya should be interested in us, but it seems she'd rather follow you, which is why she rejected us. Though, she'd grow much faster if she joined the Stellaron Hunters."
Bai Ming, however, looked bewildered.
She wanted to follow her? But she'd never said a word about it.
"Follow me? Bronya?"
Kafka blinked, exchanging a look with Jingliu before asking back, "You didn't know? That's how she turned us down. I thought you came here today to take her with you."
"..."
Bai Ming shook her head.
She had been wondering where little Silver Wolf intended to go.
She'd considered everywhere else but never imagined the girl wanted to follow her. But wasn't Silver Wolf in a rebellious phase?
This felt more like she had become a 'tsundere.' Didn't she know that trope was out of style?
"I was actually sent by her to persuade you all to leave. But if she chooses to follow me... it's a bit of a waste of her talent."
It wasn't that Bai Ming didn't like Silver Wolf. She was actually quite happy that the girl wanted to choose her.
The problem was her Aether Editing ability. Even the original version was incredibly potent, let alone this upgraded version.
Furthermore, Silver Wolf wasn't a scholar. If she were, introducing her to Screwllum would be great. But Silver Wolf was a hacker; she was powerful in the digital realm, but she didn't do research.
Screwllum wasn't exactly a specialist in network security either.
To be honest, having Silver Wolf stay by her side would be a waste of those abilities.
Placing her in Celestial Sparrow Entertainment didn't feel right either—loving games didn't mean she'd love developing them.
Besides, while Celestial Sparrow was technically under her banner, Qingque did all the heavy lifting with help from the Luofu.
The day-to-day operations had nothing to do with Bai Ming, and that likely wasn't the result Silver Wolf wanted.
The Land of Light was big enough for Silver Wolf to run wild in, but given their moral standards, the girl would probably be miserable there.
And in the worst-case scenario, she couldn't exactly send Silver Wolf to Glamoth to find Reveria.
"Whatever... if she wants to follow me, so be it. Elio, don't expect me to help you talk her into joining. Though, I suspect once she gets bored, she'll come find you herself."
Bai Ming ran through the options again and still couldn't find a perfect fit for Silver Wolf.
With her free-spirited nature and way of doing things, she was naturally suited for an organization that didn't play by the rules.
"Meow~"
Elio didn't speak, but Kafka suddenly said with a smile, "Speaking of which, why can't we just be your organization, Bai Ming? That way, little Bronya joining us would be perfectly natural."
Elio's eyes went wide as he stared at Kafka.
"???"
His eyes were filled with shock and confusion, as if he were trying to figure out what on earth possessed Kafka to say that.
Jingliu thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "That would affect Bai Ming's reputation. Let's not."
"..."
Elio looked at Jingliu, utterly speechless.
Was the reason for rejection really just a fear of dragging down Bai Ming's prestige?
Could you maybe worry about the integrity of the Stellaron Hunters as an organization first?
We're a perfectly good Finality organization turning into a faction of Elation—does that look right to you?
But then again...
Elio suddenly turned back to Bai Ming. "Now that I think about it... you have that cloning ability, don't you?"
"?"
Bai Ming looked at the sudden questioning from Elio, feeling like the guy was up to no good. "What of it?"
"Why don't you send a 'Persona' over here to help out? I'm seriously short-handed. I've only got two people; I can't even get a three-man cell together for missions."
As he spoke, Elio used his cat body to zip up onto Bai Ming's shoulder.
"Look at Jingliu—a dignified High Cloud Quintet veteran, and she's worked so hard she has dark circles under her eyes! Do you have no heart?!"
"..."
Jingliu pointed at herself in confusion, but before she could react, Kafka stood up with a grin. She picked up a small brush and, right in front of Bai Ming, painted dark circles under Jingliu's eyes. She then casually painted some on herself as well. It was a bold, blatant display.
Elio even pointed to his own cat head. "Even I'm about to drop dead from overwork. Look at how dark my eyes are—they're practically charcoal."
Bai Ming was so frustrated she started laughing. "You're a black cat! You're black everywhere!"
She reached up, grabbed Elio by his feline head, and tossed him away with a flick of her wrist.
"Meow—!"
With a pathetic yowl, Elio was thrown into the gap between the sofa cushions, struggling to wiggle out.
Bai Ming looked at the fellow with exasperation, then at Kafka. Kafka was usually such a dignified person—how did she become so shameless?
Still, despite the annoyance, Bai Ming had always been curious about Elio's scripts and exactly when the Trailblazer joined the Stellaron Hunters.
At this point, a single Persona wasn't a big deal anyway.
It was a grand tradition of the Elation; Aha didn't even know how many masks they had tossed out into the world. If Bai Ming didn't send a few clones out to cause trouble, it felt like something was missing.
Yeah, leaving a Persona here seemed like a good idea. As for the appearance... she could mold it into "Big Bronya"—specifically, her Silverwing: N-EX form.
Maybe she could even give Welt a good scare.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL