Fan Zhuo walked quickly through the metal corridor leading to Section C.
That heart-shaped, emerald green leaf was safely tucked inside his uniform’s inner pocket, pressed against his chest, as if he could still feel a trace of the Mother Tree’s gentle warmth, lingering in his mind.
He didn’t return directly to Section C, but instead, following the route Old John had shown him last time, he turned into the passage near Section B’s Unmanned Recording Station.
It was a cramped little room, just a few square meters in size, with cold metal walls and only one terminal that looked rather new, used to record the time and purpose of all personnel entering and exiting high-risk areas.
Fan Zhuo’s fingers tapped lightly on the terminal, calling up his own access records.
[Recorder: Fan Zhuo]
[Entry to Section B recorded at: 9:03 AM.]
[Exit from Section B recorded at: 11:__.]
Fan Zhuo glanced at the electronic clock on the wall. It was now 11:37 AM.
Next, all he had to do was change the exit time to around 10:37 AM, covering that crucial period when he “interacted” with the Mother Tree.
However, just as he was about to modify the time, a lazy and coquettish synthesized female voice suddenly sounded from the terminal’s speaker:
“Aiya~ isn’t this the new little Priest? Is it your first time coming to big sister’s place to make a record yourself?”
What the—?!
Fan Zhuo was startled, his whole body tensing up as he jerked his head up to stare at the terminal before him.
This terminal could talk?
And what was with that… thoroughly indecent tone?
“I sensed your presence last time already, but that old man came and did the recording for you instead. This time you actually showed up in person~”
The electronic female voice teased with a hint of laughter, “So what brings you alone to ‘thoroughly’ inspect Section B for so long today? Did you find anything… fun?”
The corner of Fan Zhuo’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
He remembered now.
Old John had mentioned before: most of the prison’s support AIs had their core programming made by that genius assistant Mika from Section A.
So it turned out—not just the White Rabbit, even this terminal had been “corrupted” by that little loli?
No, it shouldn’t be called a terminal, but… Terminal Princess?
“Just a routine check…” Fan Zhuo answered with a straight face, his finger quickly adjusting his exit time on the virtual keyboard, setting it back by a full hour to [10:37 AM].
“Oh~ routine checks sure take a long time~” Terminal Princess’s voice was thick with innuendo.
“That scent on you… Did the Female Tree Spirits in Section B greet you very warmly? Did they treat you to a proper ‘welcome’?”
Fan Zhuo couldn’t be bothered to argue with an AI, and hurriedly added a line in the remarks column:
[Periodic patrol of Section B’s Forest of Tree Spirits complete, no anomalies found. Some female plant lifeforms exhibited excessive activity, have been given verbal warning.]
“No anomalies found?” Terminal Princess gave a light laugh.
“Little Priest, you really maxed out your density stat. There was such a huge energy surge in Section B just now, and you’re still calm enough to say nothing was found…”
Fan Zhuo’s heart instantly sank.
“And… you just shifted your exit time back by a whole hour… You’re falsifying records, you know. If the Judge finds out, that’s a serious crime~”
Terminal Princess dragged out the words “serious crime” with a threatening lilt.
Not good, is this Terminal Princess going to expose him?
If only he’d gone in with Old John for the recording last time…
It’s called an “Unmanned Recording Station,” and sure enough, there’s no one here—but there’s a “Princess.”
Cold sweat broke out across Fan Zhuo’s back. His mind raced as he frantically considered how to remedy the situation, when suddenly Terminal Princess’s tone shifted—
“But you know… big sister here hates that fake goody-two-shoes from the Valois family the most.”
Fan Zhuo froze.
“That Lucien fellow always takes issue with any non-human females—I can see right through him.” Terminal Princess’s voice dripped with disdain.
“A Judge who can’t even control fairness itself isn’t qualified to use my recorded data.”
“So, as for your record, big sister here has already approved it for you.”
On the screen, the green words [Record Saved] flashed by.
“If you have any other ‘little secrets’ you don’t want him to know next time, feel free to come and confide in big sister~”
Fan Zhuo took a deep breath, raising his opinion of Mika yet again.
To have someone in the family who can program such an AI… truly a genius.
Fan Zhuo let out a rapid string of “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm,” perfunctorily humoring the endlessly flirty machine, shut off the screen, and turned to leave.
“Hey, don’t leave so quickly~” Terminal Princess’s voice called after him, with a touch of wounded longing.
“Come play again next time, little Priest~ Big sister here… has many ‘secret records’ you don’t know about~” Fan Zhuo’s footsteps faltered for a moment, but he didn’t look back.
He quickly left the recording station, his figure soon blending into the familiar, slightly dim corridor of Section C.
***
Alfea’s cell.
When Fan Zhuo pushed open the door, what he saw was a massive, pink Slime Girl, lying dispirited in the center of the room.
She seemed to be awake, but she was still listless, simply staying there in silence.
“Alfea?” Fan Zhuo called out softly.
The enormous pink slime shifted slightly, and then, a semi-transparent face, tinged with grievance, slowly surfaced from her body, looking at him timidly.
“Fan Zhuo…” Her voice was soft, laced with a hint of sorrow. “You… haven’t come for so long…”
A pang of guilt squeezed Fan Zhuo’s heart.
He stepped forward without hesitation, reaching out and gently placing his hand on her soft, cool, jelly-like form.
“Sorry, I’ve been a bit busy these past couple of days.” He spoke softly.
Fan Zhuo calmed his mind, channeling the holy power that had just merged with the Mother Tree’s life aura, making it even gentler and richer, and used it to gently envelop Alfea’s core.
He could sense Alfea’s fragile, self-conscious soul—frightened and sad because her own power was out of control.
She longed for an embrace, yet feared that her embrace would only bring destruction.
“It’s alright, Alfea.” Fan Zhuo’s voice, carrying a mysterious power, resonated directly within her soul.
“Your power isn’t meant for destruction.”
He guided his holy power, little by little, helping her untangle the wild, chaotic energy within her, weaving it back into a docile form.
“It’s warm, soft—like cotton candy.”
Wuuu—
Alfea’s body began to emit a gentle light.
This time, her glow was no longer unstable as before, but like moonlight—calm and sacred.
Her jelly-like body started to contract and condense.
First slender legs formed, then a delicate waist, then a graceful spine and just-right, subtly curved chest—
Once again, a fully formed girl in a dress stood elegantly before Fan Zhuo.
Her features were clearer and more exquisite than ever before, her pink hair cascading softly over her shoulders, and her big, moist, pink-crystal eyes were staring at Fan Zhuo, wide and unblinking.
This was her true appearance.
She still seemed a bit unused to this perfect form, tentatively taking a step forward, but stumbled as she did.
Fan Zhuo reacted instantly, stepping up and holding her steadily in his arms.
The girl’s soft body pressed tightly against his chest.
Alfea’s face turned bright red in an instant. She buried her little face into Fan Zhuo’s chest, her voice barely above a whisper, “Th-thank… you…”
“Steady now.” Fan Zhuo patted her back, feeling that remarkable springiness, forcing himself to stay calm.
At the same time, he noticed that this time, the holy power in his body hadn’t grown much.
It seemed that as his own holy power grew stronger, simply touching her no longer brought a dramatic leap—only subtle nourishment.
Could it be… the “recharging” with her had already reached its limit?
If he wanted to go further…
Fan Zhuo’s momentary distraction was immediately noticed by the girl in his arms.
She lifted her head, catching the fleeting thought on Fan Zhuo’s face, and mistook it for disappointment in her.
“Am… am I useless…?”
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