Zhong Yan's visit ended shortly after he delivered the care package to Ellen. Overall, her injuries were healing quickly—she would be able to check out of the hospital in no more than half a month.
After Zhong Yan left, Lycaon stood in silence for a moment, watching the smiling Ellen on the hospital bed. Finally, he asked the question that had been weighing on his heart for a long time: "Ellen, how much do you really know about your friend?"
From the first time Zhong Yan came to visit Ellen without any prior notice, Lycaon had already suspected he might be an Uchiha. But there had never been a good opportunity to confirm this, and it wasn't something he could just ask the boy outright.
So instead, he settled for the next best thing—trying to get the answers from Ellen.
Unaware of Lycaon's suspicions and never having doubted Zhong Yan herself, Ellen paused for a moment before replying calmly, "He's a good guy, just sometimes a bit annoying. But he also cares about how I feel, so we get along well."
In Ellen's eyes, Zhong Yan was always just an honest, mild-mannered high schooler who never got involved in anything dangerous. Things like Hollow exploration or violent combat? She couldn't possibly associate any of that with him.
"I see. I'm relieved you have such a close friend." Lycaon nodded with a smile, though his thoughts were anything but settled.
Maybe Zhong Yan wasn't an Uchiha, but Lycaon was sure of one thing—he was definitely not an ordinary person. He must be hiding something from Ellen for a reason. Whether that reason was good or bad, however, remained to be seen.
If time allowed, Lycaon intended to investigate Zhong Yan thoroughly. At the very least, he needed to make sure the boy wouldn't pose any danger to Ellen.
Still, visiting the hospital four times in less than a month showed that Zhong Yan probably didn't have any ulterior motives. If there was one, it was likely that he liked Ellen—and that was why he cared so much.
As for young love, Lycaon had no objections. He respected Ellen's choices. The only question left was whether Zhong Yan could become the person she truly hoped for.
...
After leaving the hospital, Zhong Yan returned home. With final exams approaching, his desk was cluttered with review materials. Occasionally, he'd glance through them, but most of the time, his attention remained on his work.
The latest volume of his novel had just been released, and within less than three days, it had garnered a 95% positive rating. The most direct result of this? His income.
So, at the urging of his editorial team, Zhong Yan immediately began preparing the next volume. Fortunately, he still had a month until the deadline, so he wasn't too worried about falling behind.
By the way, his investigation into the Exaltists was still ongoing. He had sent a shadow clone to Hollow Zero to search for other bases the Exaltists might be using, hoping to find some useful leads.
In the past half month, his results had been nearly zero. After their last failure, those guys seemed to have vanished off the face of the Earth. No matter how thoroughly he searched, it was all in vain.
As for their headquarters, rumor had it that it was somewhere beyond New Eridu. But the territory outside New Eridu was unimaginably vast. Without a precise search area, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Therefore, this investigation would have to be a long-term operation. Faeton and the folks at the Cunning Hares were working on it too, though they didn't seem to be having much success either.
After a period of unfocused studying, Zhong Yan, feeling a little bored, picked up the remote and casually turned on the TV.
When the screen lit up, it was playing a currently popular variety show. And the special guest this time turned out to be someone he knew.
Anton Ivanov—one of the core employees of Belobog Heavy Industries, and also a playable character in the game. Known for his earnest personality and hot-blooded approach to everything, players fondly referred to him as "Bro."
This time, Anton was invited as a guest on a children's variety show. The goal was presumably to present a righteous role model for the kids. But as the live broadcast progressed, things started spiraling out of control.
The conversation started with how to prevent kids from swallowing dangerous items, then shifted to the rivalry between Vision Corporation and Belobog Heavy Industries, followed by a discussion of each group's spending and the questionable means used to meet their quotas.
Initially, Vision Corporation was the easy target due to its infamous scandals, but that changed when someone in a cartoon lion costume brought up an incident from many years ago.
At the end of the Old Eridu era, during the outbreak of Hollow Zero, the former president of Belobog—and the current president Koleda's father—vanished.
He had taken the entire company's funds and disappeared after the disaster began. Once this was exposed, Belobog Heavy Industries came under heavy public fire, and its reputation plummeted to the brink of bankruptcy.
Anton had heard whispers about the scandal, but having it dragged out in front of so many viewers hit a nerve. He immediately grabbed the costumed person by the collar and demanded to know what their deal was.
At that point, the broadcast cut off. No one knew what happened next.
Only Zhong Yan, who watched the entire thing unfold, realized what was coming next—the main storyline he had been waiting for.
The Belobog storyline was a turning point in the entire game. It also introduced one of the game's biggest mysteries—
The creature known as Sacrifice.
There were many theories about Sacrifice's origins, with the most popular being that it was a man-made Ethereal.
If that rumor was true, then Zhong Yan was sure the creature was deeply connected to the Exaltists. And even if it wasn't, taking down Sacrifice would allow him to uncover the hidden truths of the storyline.
But in the original plot, Belobog would reach out to the Cunning Hares for help from the Faeton siblings. With Zhong Yan's interference, the plot had already shifted, making that route unworkable.
If he wanted to get involved and interact with Belobog, he had only one viable path—approach them himself.
And as for his motive? He already had one.
Back when he reported Vision Corporation, he made a call to Koleda. That call was the perfect excuse.
If he could help once, he could help again. After all, Belobog Heavy Industries didn't exactly have many people willing to lend a hand.
So, there was no way they'd refuse him.