System's POV

Chapter 1387: The Brief Peace Before The Storm Arrived

"Hey... what do we do now?" Stella asked. "How do we find the key?"

Although it had been an hour since Stella had woken up from her improper dream that involved Zion, she still felt too embarrassed to look him straight in the eye.

"We don’t need to find the key," Thirteen replied. "The key has found us."

"Huh?" Stella blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Thirteen pointed to the ceiling, and Stella’s eyes followed the tip of his fingertips.

Her eyes widened in shock at the sight of a golden key hovering right above them.

Without saying a word, Stella stood and jumped up. She then stepped into the air as if a solid foothold lay there, continuing her ascent to grab the key they were looking for.

Just as her hand neared the Key of Pride, a barrier appeared and repelled her.

Caught off balance, the young lady fell to the ground.

Stella closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, but the expected pain never came. She felt arms wrapped around her, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Zion’s face. He had caught her and now held her in a princess carry.

"You’re too impulsive, Stella," Thirteen said. "You’re usually very calm. Why are you acting like this?"

The young lady tried to answer, opening her mouth to speak. But as she stared at the boy’s face, her dream briefly replayed in her head, and she turned mute. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, failing to form a word.

Thirteen smiled faintly before gently helping the young lady to stand up on her own.

Stella hurriedly averted her gaze, ashamed that Zion had to save her from the consequence of her recklessness.

"Brute force won’t get us that key," Thirteen said. "It’s trying to judge if we are worthy of it."

"It’s sentient?" Stella asked, her eyes locked on her feet, too embarrassed to make eye contact.

"I think it’s safe to assume that all Divine Keys hold a bit of sentience," Thirteen replied. "Just like the Key of Lust in your hand. If you weren’t worthy, it won’t even let you touch it."

He then gazed at the key above, swaying side to side as if to make fun of Stella and mock her failed attempt to capture it.

"Then what should we do?" Stella inquired. "All paths are blocked, and we can’t get the key. Will we be trapped here for a long time?"

"Calm down." Thirteen sat cross-legged on the ground. "We should be able to leave in a day or two."

"Really?" Stella frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Men’s intuition."

"..."

The young lady facepalmed. This wasn’t the first time she had heard of this saying.

Her father had said something similar before running away in fear of his wives’ punishment for something he did.

Understanding it would be best if she could calm her head as soon as possible, she sat cross-legged and took a few deep breaths to stabilize her mind and body.

When she finally regained her composure, she shifted her attention to Zion, who was taking out a pack of beef jerky from his storage ring.

"Do you have some food with you?" Thirteen asked. "I can cook this jerky, but I doubt you’ll want to eat it."

"That’s because anything you cook tastes like bubblegum." Stella shook her head helplessly.

"No," Thirteen replied. "It’s just that ordinary people’s taste buds aren’t strong enough to appreciate the flavor of my cooking. Just look at your sisters. Don’t they love my cooking?"

Stella wanted to retort that her sisters could eat practically anything. On second thought, Maple and Cinnamon were actually still very picky with what they ate.

They weren’t easy to satisfy either. Yet they told their mother, Chiffon, that a big brother cooked very delicious food for them. They even said that his cooking was the best they had ever eaten in the entire multiverse.

At first, Stella thought that her sisters were just exaggerating.

But every time she saw the twins eating Zion’s cooking, the two gluttons showed blissful faces, proving that they weren’t faking their reactions.

"Thank you," Stella said before accepting the bag of beef jerky that was handed to her. "But what made you say that we can get the key after just a day or two? Is there a reason behind it?"

"Actually, getting the key is not the problem." Thirteen slightly raised his right hand, and the key descended from the ceiling to land on the palm of his hand. "As you can see, it seems to have taken a liking to me."

As if proving his words to be true, the Key of Pride jumped up and down on the palm of Thirteen’s hand before twirling in the air as if it were dancing.

Tiona looked quite amused by the dancing key, whose attitude seemed to be very far from being prideful.

"..." Stella face-palmed for the second time because she felt like an idiot.

For some reason, her common sense and worldly knowledge didn’t seem to apply whenever she was with Zion.

He didn’t conform to any rules and was more like a "my pace" kind of guy.

"We already have the key, so why do we need to stay here for a day or two?" Stella asked. "Wouldn’t it be better if we left this place right away?"

"That’s because we can’t." Thirteen shook his head. "The key told me that it cannot leave this place until a condition is met, and that condition will only be fulfilled after a day or two."

"Condition?" Stella frowned. "What condition?"

Thirteen shrugged. "It didn’t tell me what that condition is. It simply told me to wait for a day or two."

The key nodded as if confirming the teenage boy’s words.

Suddenly, the Key of Lust that Stella was safeguarding appeared and landed in the palm of Thirteen’s hand.

The Key of Pride bowed to it, and the Key of Lust returned its greeting with a bow of its own.

Then, the two keys moved closer and twirled around on the palm of Thirteen’s hand as if they were dancing.

Stella blinked once, then twice, before shifting her gaze to Zion, who looked very amused by this unexpected development.

The two keys continued to dance as if they were in a world of their own, enjoying the brief peace before the storm arrived.