With a sharp elbow strike, the glass display case shattered. Shards rained down onto the floor as Caelus reached in and grabbed the bizarrely shaped Rating Pistol.
He turned the muzzle towards his own face, attempting to make deep, meaningful eye contact with the single eye on the weapon's body.
Unfortunately, the eye remained squeezed shut, the eyelid not even twitching.
Caelus fiddled with it, turning it over and over. He even tried prying its eyelid open with his finger. The pistol's body trembled slightly, its eye clamped shut even tighter, and the entire weapon seemed to shrink into his palm, adopting a posture that said it would rather die than look.
"Fine, be that way."
Caelus stuffed the Rating Pistol into his inventory and turned to scan the remaining glass cases.
He did a full circuit of the collection room and selected two more items. With another two elbow strikes, the glass of their respective cases shattered on cue.
The first item was a baseball bat. It was heavy in his hand, with a solid grip. The JEI item manager not only provided the item's name but also thoughtfully included a smelting recipe: this thing could be directly smelted in a blast furnace to produce one Netherite Ingot!
Caelus glanced at the baseball bat's stats panel. Its attack power was identical to a Netherite Sword. It was basically a top-tier weapon for the taking; he'd be a fool not to grab it.
The second item was a pair of light, wing-shaped pieces of equipment. The name given by the JEI mod was Wings of Wind, and its function was described in a single, short line: Allows gliding when equipped.
No extra recipes, no hidden properties. Just that one simple, unadorned sentence.
But Caelus's eyes were practically glowing.
Aren't these just Elytra?!
Before he unlocked any other means of flight, being able to glide was a lifesaver. Cliffs, high towers, any situation requiring a hasty escape would become infinitely easier with the Wings of Wind. He would no longer need to perform risky, clutch water bucket landings.
After stuffing both curios into his inventory, Caelus took another look around the display cases. There was no armor, and most of the remaining items were little trinkets with unclear purposes. Even the JEI mod didn't provide any useful evaluations for them.
And so, he turned his gaze to the row of filing cabinets against the wall. Since the display cases held no more treasures, perhaps the drawers would have some consumables.
Caelus casually pulled open the nearest drawer. It contained only a few yellowed documents and nothing of any use.
However, a system notification popped up in the lower-left corner of his vision.
[Support MOD Proficiency +1]
Caelus paused for a second, then a grin spread across his face.
Just opening a drawer increases proficiency?
He glanced back at the dense rows of filing cabinets filling the collection room, and the corner of his mouth curled into a grin he could barely contain.
Starting from the leftmost column, Caelus began pulling open every single drawer with a speed that bordered on looting. Open, scan, close, move to the next. His movements were crisp and efficient, without a hint of hesitation. He could clear an entire column of cabinets in under ten seconds.
And finishing the cabinets wasn't enough.
He squatted down in a corner, pried the lid off the room's only trash can, and plunged his entire arm inside to rummage around.
Footsteps echoed from the hallway. Two sets, one light and one heavy, growing closer, accompanied by the sound of conversation.
"Dan Heng, I think I heard a noise coming from the Curio Collection."
A woman's voice, clear and tinged with alertness.
"I heard it too," a man's voice replied, calm and unhurried. "It wasn't your imagination. Let's go take a look."
Just as the door was pushed open, Caelus was pulling his hand out of the trash can.
The three of them locked eyes.
Caelus's gaze immediately darted to the virtual mini-map in the corner of his vision. Two new light dots had appeared, each with a line of text next to it.
[Nameless One · Dan Heng (Vidyadhara Dragon Lord)]
[Nameless One · March 7th (Six-Phased Ice)]
Kafka's parting words floated through his mind.
'Don't worry, it won't be long before someone finds you. Go with them.'
---o---
While he wasn't certain these two were the ones Kafka had mentioned, they at least seemed capable of communication. It was a start.
Caelus raised a hand and gave them a wave.
"Hello."
March 7th reflexively replied, "Hi."
The word had barely left her lips before Dan Heng stepped in front of her, his spear held horizontally. The tip of the spear was pointed vaguely in Caelus's direction, his gaze cold and direct.
"Who are you?"
Caelus lowered his hand and answered honestly, "Caelus."
March 7th sidled out from behind him and took out her phone. Her fingers flew across the screen as she pulled up the Herta Space Station's staff roster. She scrolled from top to bottom, then from bottom to top, before finally turning to Dan Heng and shaking her head.
There was no 'Caelus' on the list.
Dan Heng didn't lower his spear. His voice dropped a notch. "You're not an employee of the space station. Why are you here?"
Caelus spread his hands, palms up, in a gesture of harmlessness.
"I don't know. I was woken up in this room by two strangers. They left suddenly, and as for anything else... I don't remember." Caelus paused, then pointed a finger at the security camera on the ceiling. "If that camera isn't broken, it should be able to prove what I'm saying."
Dan Heng didn't reply immediately. He stared at Caelus's face for a few seconds, their eyes meeting. Caelus didn't look away; he didn't seem to be lying.
And Caelus had a point. The security footage could prove whether or not he was telling the truth.
"Come with us for now. It isn't safe here." The wariness in his voice lessened slightly, but it wasn't gone completely. "We'll escort you to a secure location. We can verify the truth of your story once we get there."
"Okay."
Caelus naturally agreed. In his current state, he was a complete blank slate regarding this strange new world. Any chance to gain information about it and his own past was more than welcome.
The three left the Curio Collection, heading back the way Dan Heng and March 7th had come, towards the Master Control Zone.
The hallway lights were dim, and several of the overhead lighting panels were broken, casting the corridor in alternating patches of light and shadow. Their footsteps echoed emptily on the metal floor.
March 7th walked beside Caelus, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "You really don't remember anything?"
"I remember my name." Caelus thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Besides my name, everything else is a blank."
"Amnesia, huh..." March 7th blinked, her tone shifting to a cheerful one. "Don't worry, things will get better! Actually, I don't have any past memories either, but I'm having a great time now! You can too!"
"Thanks." Caelus offered a small smile, his fondness for March 7th growing a little.
The three continued forward, and then Caelus stopped.
---o---
Against the wall to his right stood a gray trash can with a 'Recyclable' label on it. Caelus walked over, lifted the lid, and stuck his hand inside.
March 7th's steps faltered. She stood frozen, her expression shifting from confusion to disbelief as she watched Caelus bend over and plunge his entire forearm into the trash can, his fingers probing the bottom.
"What... what are you doing?" March 7th edged a couple of steps closer, then instinctively took half a step back due to some primal instinct for hygiene. "Don't touch that! It's dirty!"
Caelus didn't even look up, his tone as serious as could be. "You never know, might find something useful."
March 7th opened her mouth, about to argue, when Dan Heng raised a hand to stop her. She looked at him, confused.
Dan Heng leaned over and whispered, "Some people experience extreme insecurity after losing their memories. They'll search for anything that can make them feel safe. His method is a bit unorthodox, but it fits the profile."
After hearing that, March 7th closed her mouth. She nodded with a look of partial understanding, fell silent for two seconds, and then pulled a neatly folded handkerchief from her pocket.
"Here." She held the handkerchief out to Caelus, who had just pulled his hand from the bin. "Remember to wipe your hands."
Caelus took the handkerchief. Thanks to his Steve physique, his hands weren't the least bit dirty, but he accepted March 7th's kind gesture with a word of thanks anyway.
"Thanks."
The three continued on their way.
Every time they passed a trash can, Caelus would stop right on cue. Lift lid, reach in, search, stand up, continue walking. March 7th's shock had evolved into a habit, and eventually, she even started proactively helping him lift the lids, adding a concerned reminder.
"Don't get your hands dirty!"
She was like a young mother looking after her child.
Caelus's expression was a bit strange. He had overheard Dan Heng's whispered conversation with her earlier and felt that March 7th had gotten the wrong idea.
But it was what it was. If they misunderstood, so be it. No one was going to stop him from grinding his proficiency!
In this unfamiliar world, only the MC mods could give him a true sense of security.
The three walked on. The lights at the corner ahead were even dimmer than in the hallway.
Just as they rounded the bend, they ran head-on into a group of Antimatter Legion soldiers.
The gray-blue phantoms crowded half the corridor. There were at least seven or eight of them, and the one closest had already raised its weapon.
Dan Heng reacted in a flash. He drew his spear from his back, the weapon a blur in the dim light as he shifted his feet and fell into a combat stance.
A sharp whistling sound shot past his ear.
It was shrill and brief, flying past his right ear. Dan Heng's pupils constricted.
A thin object was now embedded squarely in the forehead of the foremost Antimatter Legion soldier.
The soldier's body went rigid. It swayed forward, tilted back, and then fell straight backward like a board. Its head hit the metal floor with a clang and a bounce, and then it was utterly still.
Dan Heng and March 7th simultaneously looked at the soldier's forehead.
A disposable chopstick. Bamboo. Slightly frayed.
It was lodged accurately, and deeply, in the Antimatter Legion soldier's brow.
They both snapped their heads to the side.
Caelus stood three steps away, his right arm still held in a perfect throwing pose, his face a mixture of pleasant surprise and shock.
He had only wanted to test if, as Steve, throwing an object according to the rules of real-world physics could cause damage. He hadn't expected it to actually work!
The power conversion from a single disposable chopstick and a pile of random junk in his inventory was enough to create such a devastating effect. Caelus couldn't even imagine the kind of destruction he could cause if he stuffed his inventory full of high-quality materials and then casually tossed a block weighing several tons!
So this is what it means to be Steve? In Minecraft, it really is all about the numbers!