Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 650: Unfriendly welcome.

"Who told you that Wilbert has enemies?," Nine asked, carefully stepping onto a flat stone. "The poor guy just likes his privacy, Sunshine. And in this world, if you want to be left alone, you have to make sure it’s hard for other people to bother you. No, correction, you have to make it hard for other people to find you. You have seen how they are on this world. everyone is just too happy and helpful."

Sunshine scoffed, wondering if Nine was just naive or dumb. This Wilbert was hiding from something. Why live on a happy world if you plan to be a grump? Why hide to this extent? "Why didn’t we just teleport there? My system can avoid any flower mines, flower bombs or whatever he used as a Bobby trap."

"Wilbert can he extreme sometimes. If we just appeared at his doorstep, he would shoot at us. Then we would be arrested for causing an unhappy disaster in Salom and find ourselves in hot soup with the council again. We don’t need to push them again, so soon. Just follow my foot prints," he added with a wink. "I’d rather not explain to Hades Quinn why I let his wife get launched into the stratosphere by a spring-loaded flower bed."

Sunshine swallowed hard and stepped exactly where Nine’s boot had been. "The System is a good guide. It has already isolated real flowers from fake ones." None the less, she followed Nine’s footsteps. Like she told Hades, arrogance was the easiest way to get killed in an apocalypse. And in a new world, it was no different.

The wooden door of the cottage looked harmless enough, weathered by the sun and smelling faintly of cedar and rain. Sunshine hung back, pressing her back against a wall of thick, waxy leaves, while Nine stepped forward. He gave a rhythmic, familiar knock that was obviously a code.

"Wilbert! It’s Nine," he called out, trying to sound as nonthreatening as a man carrying six bags of groceries could sound. "I’ve got the good stuff. Real coffee beans, those crackers you like, and the medical supplies you asked for."

A static hiss erupted from a small speaker hidden somewhere in the door frame. Then, a voice_ raspy, suspicious, and cold_ echoed out. "You aren’t alone, Nine. Why did you bring a stranger to my doorstep? You know my rules."

Sunshine didn’t wait for Nine to fumble through an excuse. Guided by her system, her eyes locked onto a tiny lens nestled inside what looked like a purple hibiscus flower. She stepped into the frame, her face lighting up with a grin that could melt a glacier. She waved at the hidden lens with high-energy enthusiasm.

"I’m his work partner, Sunshine Raine!" she announced. "And don’t worry_ I’m definitely not the enemy you’re hiding from. I am sure that Nine told you about me....I am as harmless as a fly. I brought fruit and many other goodies...enough supplies to last you four months."

The silence that followed was heavy. It wasn’t just a pause; it was the kind of silence that made the hair on the back of Nine’s neck stand up. He looked around anxiously, like some of those flowers would suddenly grow teeth.

And one did! But it did not bite them like he expected. It just watched them, which was creepier.

"Oh, great," Nine blubbered, his face turning a pale shade of green. "Sunshine, you can’t just tell a man living in a booby-trapped flower mountain that you know he’s hiding! It is not even your business, talk more of mentioning it. You’ve spooked him. He’s going to leave us out here until we get tired and leave."

Just as Nine was about to start an apology tour, a heavy thunk echoed from inside. The door creaked open on its own, swinging inward to reveal a dim hallway.

"Okay, that was unexpected!" Nine whispered, wiping sweat from his brow. "He’s letting us in, but please_ let me do the talking. No more ’I know your hiding’ talk, okay? Just be a normal, quiet person for once."

Sunshine nodded, though her mind was already racing. "Sure, Nine. Total silence. Got it."

The interior of the house was a jarring contrast to the vibrant, singing world of Salom. There were no brightly painted walls here. It was minimalist to the point of being depressing. The furniture was basic, the lighting was low, and there wasn’t a single decorative item in sight. No art, no photos, nothing that suggested a life lived with joy.

Once again, Sunshine got the feeling that he was in hiding. It was like those movies where a former spy went to some remote village or island to hide out until he saved some poor damsel in distress and then went on the run, wreaking havoc in the place that once gave him shelter. She could name one hundred movies with that kind of plot.

"You can leave the things there and go," a voice commanded.

Out of the shadows, a wheelchair hummed forward.

Sunshine’s breath hitched. She had seen the Solmiri _ they were usually creatures of grace, glowing with a soft light, their voices like melodic bells. But the creature in the chair was no Solmiri.

Wilbert, was different. His skin was a dull, bruised purple. His ears were unusually long and tattered at the edges. His four eyes were droopy, almost sagging. He wasn’t beautiful; he was scarred, rugged, and, by Solmiri standards, strikingly ugly.

Sunshine’s mouth filter vanished instantly. She looked around the barren room and then back at the creature. "You look totally different from the other Solmiri," she said, her voice filled with genuine observation rather than malice. "You don’t sing-talk. There isn’t a single flower in this house, despite being buried in them outside. No baby pictures... no memories. You’re truly a man in hiding, aren’t you?"

Wilbert stiffened so hard his knuckles turned light purple on the armrests of his chair. For years, he had lived on Salom, blending into the background of a world that valued beauty. No one had ever looked at him and seen the truth so quickly. Who was this woman? How did she see through a cover that had fooled the local authorities for a decades? 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

His eyes narrowed into slits. His hand disappeared under the seat of his wheelchair, and in one fluid motion, he pulled out a sleek, jagged alien rifle. He leveled it directly at Sunshine’s chest.

"Who are you?" he barked, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and fury. "Did they send you? Are you one of their hounds?"