The other four stared at Sunny for a few, long moments. If he had to guess, his words must have been quite confusing. Chances are, they would want to ask what he meant when he stated that his heart doesn't beat.
Contrary to his expectations, March, who would certainly not be able to ignore such a statement, simply sighed as she shook her head.
"Look at this guy… always trying to sound cool! At least give it some buildup!"
Dan Heng's stoic demeanor didn't change one bit, revealing that he was utterly unmoved by this strange truth.
"You should save your lines for more critical moments. It would have more of an impact."
Seele raised a brow, crossing her arms.
"I don't really get how you're still alive, but you should keep stuff like that to yourself. I don't want to know what's going on inside a freak like you…"
Processing what he was hearing, Sunny formed a crooked smile. It almost looked like he was in physical pain, as he exclaimed:
"I'm not trying to sound cool! It's just a simple fact that I was attempting to inform you of. And who do you think you're calling a freak!"
Sunny had to hold himself back from using his impressive physical strength as an Awakened Demon to pummel the three of them. Honestly, who did they think they were talking to? He would be cool no matter the place, time, or situation!
Bronya glanced at each of them, her voice tinged with confusion.
"Why is that what you all are focused on? Maybe I'm hearing things… but didn't he say that his heart wasn't beating?"
Seele looked at Sunny, looking at him like he was a can of worms.
"Don't bother. Every question you ask him will only bring you closer to losing it."
She froze for a second, before suddenly glaring at him with a ferocious intensity.
"Wait… you called me an idiot!"
Sunny stared at her for a second. Now that he thought about it, he had called her an idiot a few days prior. But why would she be so offended by something like that. People don't usually mean insults like those…
…Sunny realized something. He can't lie.
March gaped as she caught on to what Seele was saying. Sunny was actually impressed at the speed in which she understood the situation, as her previous feats of intelligence didn't show that she was capable of doing so.
…Sunny realized another thing. He was apparently quite arrogant and rude.
March pointed a finger at him, indignation radiating from her.
"Didn't you call me ugly?!"
Sunny stared at her in disbelief. His memory was practically perfect, allowing him to remember everything from the moment he gained awareness. According to those memories, he never called March anything even remotely similar!
"Don't put words in my mouth, you lump of cotton candy!"
He might have once told her that he had no interest in her, and that the Supreme Guardian's daughter was probably — keyword: probably — prettier than her, but he never called her unattractive! It was practically impossible for their to be an Awakened that wasn't physically sublime… excluding Sunny himself, of course.
To Sunny's complete and utter surprise, Dan Heng's facial expression shifted from intrigue, to confusion, realization, then absolute horror.
"You… you said that you killed a Great Devil."
…Sunny realized one last thing. The things that he does and says are quite ridiculous.
…Meanwhile, Bronya was seeming completely lost within this aggressive conversation.
"…I'm not sure what you all are conversing about, but don't we have more important matters to worry about?"
Sunny silently thanked Bronya with the gratefulness of a thousand shadows. He didn't want to have to run away from a walking freezer and a moth that can't fly.
Luckily, Bronya's words were able to redirect their attention away from Sunny…
***
"Is this elevator b—broken? Why isn't it r—responding?"
A dense vagrant stuttered as he attempted to activate the elevator on the large, steel bridge that led deeper into the mine. The elevator was a shortcut that was primarily used to transfer heavy loads of Geomarrow.
However, it wasn't working.
"Why are you worried about this piece of junk? Do you really want to go down there and be a live target for the robots?"
A restless vagrant spoke with an annoyed tone. The dense vagrant looked down at the lower portion of the Great Mine with worry.
"But, if—if we evacuate, then haven't we lost out?"
The restless vagrant growled as he smacked the dense vagrant in the back of his head, causing him to yelp in pain.
"You idiot — we'll just steal off the miners! Look, I saw with my own eyes — they managed to bag some Geomarrow. This is a perfect opportunity."
The dense vagrant rapidly nodded in response to the restless vagrant's suggestion.
"Oh, g—good idea!"
A dull sound rang out, as both of the vagrants slumped over, knocked unconscious as they fell to the ground. Their bodies resounded against the steel of the bridge.
Behind their sudden departure to the land of dreams, was Seele and Dan Heng. They had used the long shafts of their weapons — a scythe and spear respectively — in order to knock the vagrants unconscious with a quick, but measured strike to the head. The blunt trauma put them out of commission, as they were not able to withstand the dire strength of Awakened as mundane humans.
Seele scowled at the fallen vagrants.
"Shameless. Still after the miners, are you?"
Sunny, March, and Bronya approached them, looking down at the unconscious bodies of the two vagrants. March's eyes locked on to some strange object on the ground.
"Huh? What's this…?"
She crouched down as she prodded it. She suddenly yelled:
"Wh—Whoa! What the heck?!"
The object… floated into the air. It was a strange three-pointed disk, that was black on the inside and white on the outside. Dan Heng sighed in disappointment.
"March… what did I say about not touching unknown objects?"
Before she had the chance to reply, an automated, robotic voice was expelled from the disk.
"Beep, beep, beep… Searching for potential user…"
"Beep, beep, beep… Voiceprint detected. Looking up corresponding identity information… Oh my, it's an alien."
Sunny's eye twitched, but he refrained from saying anything.
'Who are you calling an alien? You wretched, inanimate object!'
March's eyes practically sparkled as she looked upon the strange… robot, Sunny realized.
"Hey, it talks! And it knows that we aren't from this planet?"
Dan Heng circled the robot, his eyes darting to different portions of it as he analyzed it's make.
"It doesn't seem to be technology from here. Look — it even has an Interastral Peace Corporation logo on it."
Sunny's expression soured as he recalled how the Interastral Peace Corporation — also known as the IPC — had completely abandoned Earth. The planet had been deemed long-gone, as multiple continents were uninhabitable, with Cursed Nightmare Creatures roaming around in certain portions.
After the IPC's creation, they helped to save plenty of planets — for monetary gain, of course. However, Earth simply had no worth for them.
To be fair, there aren't any humans that could face a Cursed abomination. Even so, they could have at least transported the humans left behind on the backwater planet to somewhere more habitable.
Maybe Rain would have been in a safer place.
Shaking his head, Sunny ignored the strange look that Bronya sent him as he listened to Dan Heng's words about the floating robot.
"Perhaps it's an antiquity left behind by some past interstellar traveler."
The robot made a beeping noise in response to Dan Heng.
"Beep, beep, beep… Your mom's an antiquity!"
The five of them went silent as they stared in disbelief at the talking robot. Who the hell programmed this thing?
"Beep, beep, beep… Whatever, whatever. So, you aliens know about the Interastral Peace Corporation? That's great."
A short whirling sound was heard from the robot, seemingly loading in something.
"Beep, beep, beep… Self introduction: I am Richard, the Home-Use Object Finder. Model information: Version 0.63, Professional model, Annual Deluxe package. Nickname: Findie."
March tilted her head in curiosity.
"A Home-Use Object Finder? Who knew the IPC made these kinds of products…"
The robot wobbled around in the air.
"Beep, beep, beep… My brainwave scanner module is damaged. Please send me to an Interastral Peace Appliances retail store near you for free repair within the warranty period of 232 years and 84 days. Beep, beep, beep… Alien, please take me to an Interastral Peace Appliances retail store to conduct repairs—"
Sunny sighed as he thought about the robot and the corporation that created it.
'Capitalism at it's finest. That's how they get you. By providing fragile products with an expensive price tag, damage is very likely, and repair would be often and costly.'
March blinked at Findie's message.
"What?! This fella's already broken… What should we do, take it with us?"
'This sounds like a scam…'
Weighing the pros and cons of taking the robot with them, Sunny sighed.
"Let's take it. Maybe it could be of some use."
"Beep, beep, beep… Yes, yes, yes. When you need to find something you can't see, just call upon Findie. That's me."