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Standing triumphantly at the absolute highest point of Spring Island, the Flandre clone who had won the rock-paper-scissors tournament seemed to hear a distant, piercing bird call echoing in her pointed ears. Looking down at the massive, weather-beaten farmhouse sitting in the grassy clearing far in the distance, she grinned mischievously, spread her arms wide, and jumped directly from the jagged mountaintop without a second thought.
The small, skeletal wings decorated with the glowing Philosopher's Stones flapped hard against the rushing wind, desperately trying to physically control her aerodynamic posture in the air. However, without actively relying on her immense magical power to casually levitate, Flandre's crystalline, skeletal wings weren't very aerodynamic at all, and she plummeted straight down toward the jungle canopy like a screaming, blonde cannonball.
Flandre wasn't the slightest bit afraid as she fell at terminal velocity. At this pathetic physical speed, she couldn't even beat the lowest-ranking Little Fairies in a casual danmaku racing battle back in Gensokyo. Seeing that her physical flapping efforts had absolutely no effect on her descent, just mere feet before violently hitting the ground and leaving a crater, Flandre pouted in annoyance, flared her crimson magic, and effortlessly flew back up, gliding smoothly over the treetops.
Flying all the way to the clearing, Flandre pushed the heavy, creaking wooden door open and walked into the farmhouse.
This abandoned farmhouse was a super large, magnificent building, much, much bigger and grander than the cozy wooden house at Big Brother's farm. The first floor was a huge, echoing open space, supported by only a few massive, carved wooden pillars, with absolutely everything else completely open to the sea breeze. At the moment, aside from the dusty, polished wooden floorboards, there were no decorations or furniture at all.
The second floor had various designated functional rooms—a massive stone kitchen, a cold-storage warehouse, everything was perfectly organized on this level. The third floor was the expansive living area, divided neatly into seven or eight spacious bedrooms, each already magically containing a soft, dusty bed and a sturdy wooden wardrobe.
Picking a room completely at random, Flandre took off her dust-covered, honey-stained coat, tossed it onto the floor, and crawled straight into the surprisingly soft mattress. Today, she was acting as the Main Body Flandre—what's wrong with resting a bit and taking a nap? If there's any actual danger or work to do, Big Brother can just go find those three annoying clones in the woods!
Meanwhile, halfway down the mountain at the midway camp.
The actual, original Main Body Flandre—who had tragically lost the game and was now relegated to clone duty—crawled exhaustedly back to the camp clearing. She sat pitifully on a small wooden stool, holding a stick and miserably eating the now-cold, leftover grilled fish Leo had left on the plate.
The oily, gelatinous grilled fish, now freezing cold and incredibly greasy, became utterly nauseating and unbearable after just two forced bites. She now missed the fresh, saltwater-soaked pineapple she ate in the morning more than ever—so incredibly sour, sweet, and refreshing, infinitely better than this disgusting, cold grilled fish.
Rubbing her still-flat, unsatisfied stomach, Flandre pouted angrily and tugged hard at Leo's pajama shirt. Finding that Big Brother was sleeping like a dead log and didn't react at all, she sighed, dropped the fish, and had absolutely no choice but to head back into the dense woods alone. She desperately needed to find something sweet to eat.
The tropical sun slowly set over the ocean horizon, painting the sky in brilliant hues of violet and gold, and the ambient light wasn't nearly as harsh and humid as it was at noon.
Leo slowly opened his eyes, groaning as his stiff muscles protested, and stretched hard on his canvas chair. This long afternoon nap was so incredibly comfortable—all the agonizing, burning fatigue from the grueling mountain climb vanished entirely, and he felt completely, magically revived.
"Lord Leo, you're awake."
Ran Yakumo, hearing the rustling commotion from his chair, also slowly opened her golden eyes. Having just woken up from a deep sleep herself, Ran squinted against the setting sun, entirely lacking her usual sharp, calculating, and rational Sage-assistant demeanor. Dazedly rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, her fox ears drooping sleepily, she looked exactly like the adorable kitten, Chen, who was currently curled up on her lap and also rubbing her eyes with her paws.
"Let's go, let's go. Time to set off. Today, we aim to cross this mountain and rest at the small hut Aya Shameimaru photographed tonight. We'll gather there later."
Leo stood up, stretching his legs. Placing the sleepy Kogasa Tatara securely on his shoulder and bidding a temporary farewell to Ran—who needed to pack up the campsite into her tail—he continued exploring the island path upward. As for Flandre, she seemed to have mysteriously disappeared somewhere into the jungle, but it didn't really matter. Even if something really went wrong with that walking disaster, what they should actually worry about is the structural integrity of the island beneath their feet, not her safety.
The higher he climbed up the rocky trail, the sparser the jungle vegetation became, replaced by hardy mountain shrubs. Leo's rested walking speed increased significantly, and he successfully reached the windswept mountaintop just as the massive sun turned a deep, burning orange-red and was about to completely set below the horizon.
He arrived panting at the edge of the ancient stone Altar.
Standing directly at the dead center of the circular Altar, the intricate, faded stone carving of the Legendary Fish at his feet suddenly lit up with a blinding, pulsing green light.
[Spring Island Fast Travel Unlocked]
This ancient Altar functioned exactly similarly to the teleporting Seven Divine Statues back on the mainland. Once magically activated by the World Lord's presence, the entire island formally came under Leo's administrative control. He could effortlessly use this Teleportation Array to instantly return home to his bed, or directly teleport from his home to this specific Altar in the future.
Heading toward the geographical location of the massive farmhouse at the foot of the distant, opposite mountain slope, Leo leisurely made his way downhill along the grassy plains... and very soon got completely, hopelessly lost.
There was absolutely no helping it. Once the sun fully set, it got pitch black. Aside from the faint, silvery moonlight filtering through the thick canopy, there was absolutely zero artificial lighting here. Being surrounded by an unfamiliar, dense mountainous forest in the dead of night, aside from generally knowing he was walking downhill, Leo had completely lost his sense of direction. The shadows stretched long and menacingly.
"Master, why aren't you moving?"
Sitting lightly on his shoulder, Kogasa Tatara looked strangely at Leo's frozen profile. Ever since it got pitch dark under the trees, her Master had been standing here completely motionless for a long time, his physical body trembling slightly in the cool night breeze.
"Master... you're not afraid of the dark, are you?"
Recalling her very first, embarrassing meeting with Leo back in the mines where she tried to scare him, Kogasa's beautiful heterochromatic pupils gleamed mischievously in the moonlight, and a strange, wicked smile curled at the corner of her small mouth.
"Master, have you ever heard a story..." Kogasa leaned in close to his ear, her breath cold.
"Legend has it that in Gensokyo, there's a terrifying tale of a person with a strange, floating mask who wanders silently near The Human Village every single night, desperately looking for those who stay out late in the dark. Once caught in the shadows, the mask on that strange person's face violently changes from a smiling, happy face to a horrifying demonic visage, scaring people out of their minds and then greedily feeding on their pure terror. After having their raw emotions entirely drained, those poor people become completely, permanently apathetic and take several torturous days to return to normal."
Kogasa's deliberately lowered, ghost-story voice echoed chillingly in Leo's ears amidst the rustling leaves.
Initially trembling even more in terror at the ominous word "legend," Leo gradually stopped shaking entirely as he listened to the specific details of the monster. Wait a minute, he thought, his fear evaporating. Isn't this specific lore just describing the adorable, emotionally-stunted Komeiji Koishi, or maybe Hata no Kokoro? What's there to actually be afraid of with those cute anime girls? So what if she feeds a bit on my emotions? Absolutely no need to panic!
"One-Eyed Xiao San, Flashlight Mode!" Leo commanded boldly.
Taking the large One-Eyed Xiao San umbrella that had been loyally floating and following him all along, Leo pointed the tip forward. The massive, singular glowing eye on the canvas canopy instantly lit up like a high-powered LED searchlight, cutting a blinding, brilliant beam through the dark woods and illuminating the muddy path ahead.
Finally emerging from the oppressive tree line, Leo saw the massive, dark silhouette of the distant farmhouse in the clearing. He had strayed quite far from his original, intended downhill path in the dark, but at least he could still physically see the final destination.
"You're so incredibly slow! I'm almost starving to death here. Ran Yakumo specifically said we absolutely can't start eating the good stuff until you arrive."
Inside the farmhouse, temporary folding tables and chairs had already been neatly set up on the massive, sweeping open floor of the first level. Aya Shameimaru sat backward on a wooden chair, resting her chin heavily on the backrest and greeting Leo weakly, clutching her stomach.
Chen and the three dirt-covered Flandre clones were busily, happily sorting through the massive pile of wild fruits and exotic crops they had found in the jungle during the afternoon, with colorful items spread all over the wooden floorboards.
Bright red wild cherries, plump purple Mulberries, spiky yellow pineapples, vibrant pink Dragon Fruit, and sweet Lychees—all sorts of delicious, tropical things were piled messily on the ground like a dragon's hoard.
It had been a very, very long time since Leo last ate fresh pineapple. Staring at the spiky fruit, he vividly remembered the last time was back on Earth, right before the global pandemic hit. During the pandemic lockdowns, absolutely everything in the supermarkets got outrageously more expensive, and even after it finally ended, the inflated grocery prices simply didn't drop back down—they remained painfully high. Basic squid went from 15 yuan to 20, and a single, pathetic slice of pre-cut pineapple rose from three yuan to a staggering five.
Those small, whole pineapples used to be three for ten yuan on the street corners, yet later, a single, measly slice dared to boldly sell for five. After seeing that price gouging, his wallet ached, and he never ate it again.
The tragic downside of being a single, lonely bachelor living alone was exactly this—those cheap, ten-yuan-for-three whole pineapples absolutely weren't sold individually by the vendors. He couldn't possibly finish three whole pineapples alone before they spoiled, and they'd easily rot in his small fridge. Plus, aggressively eating too much raw pineapple at once made his teeth and tongue feel very fuzzy and uncomfortable from the acid.
Unlike Ran's meticulous, elegant peeling and saltwater-soaking method from earlier, Leo's preparation method was completely, violently Dubai-style.
Taking out a heavy, sharp kitchen knife, he slammed a pineapple onto the table and made four quick, brutal vertical cuts, perfectly slicing off the spiky skin and leaving only the hard, fibrous core in the middle attached to the sweet flesh. Without bothering to soak it in saltwater to neutralize the enzymes, Leo grabbed the core like a wooden stick and started happily, messily munching on the juicy yellow flesh like a massive, tropical popsicle, juice running down his chin.
Of course, absolutely nothing valuable was wasted. He took out a small metal spoon, carefully scraped the inside of the discarded skins completely clean of any remaining sweet fruit, and then neatly collected the peel to be processed later.
"Dinner's ready, everyone. Tonight's healthy dinner is a massive Honey Fruit Salad."
Ran gracefully came down the wooden stairs from the second-floor kitchen, carefully carrying several massive, brimming wooden bowls. The farm's entire stock of processed white rice had been completely, terrifyingly used up during the reconstruction period. Those bottomless Little Fairies were practically black-hole rice barrels incarnate—they ate carbohydrates at a terrifyingly fast, aggressive speed. A big bowl of white rice didn't even need savory side dishes for them; they'd just happily hold a single piece of fruit, sniff it twice for flavor, and then effortlessly finish the entire bowl of plain rice in seconds!