Midnight, just past zero hour.
The continuous fine rain no longer required an umbrella. Noah arrived at the appointed meeting in the free square, where a dignified middle-aged man in luxurious attire had been waiting for some time.
"Sorry for only formally meeting you at this moment—the esteemed guest from the Huanglong Prefecture in Jinzhou, a close friend who resolved the Fractsidus hidden danger for the Montellis, the one who fished up Cetus the Tidebreaker and shook all of Ragunna City..."
Capollo performed an elegant bow:
"Your coming to this appointment is my honor. I am Capollo Montelli, Carlotta's uncle, as well as my grandfather's own son—the quasi-next head of the Montelli Family."
"Hm."
Noah nodded, waiting for Capollo's next words while quickly recalling the original plot.
In the original plot, after Carlotta caught the small fry undercover in the family during the Echo runaway incident, she had been dedicated to finding the real big fish hidden in the upper levels.
As Carlotta investigated more and more, the "big fish" Capollo finally couldn't sit still and began secretly obstructing her actions. Wooing Rover was also part of the plan.
So... Capollo also wanted to woo him just like in the original plot?
At this thought, Noah's expression suddenly became subtle.
As expected, Capollo continued:
"Carlotta is family I cherish, but she is only an adopted branch. By the rules, the one who should originally represent the family in contacting you ought to be the orthodox heir—me."
Saying this, Capollo raised a smug shallow smile, as if confident of success:
"No matter what needs you have in coming to Ragunna, just tell me, and I can provide you with more stable and powerful assistance than Carlotta."
"Oh, I get it. So you mean, in the future, if I have something, I can just go directly to you, no need to find Carlotta."
"Yes. Compared to the Montellis' subtlety, Mr. Noah is much more straightforward."
Ugh, saying he views Carlotta as cherished family, yet still holding grudges against her, wanting to seize away the few allies she has.
Looking at Capollo's fully confident appearance, as if he had him in the bag, Noah smiled ambiguously:
"What if I refuse?"
In an instant, the smile on Capollo's face sank:
"That's fine; it's all up to your choice... However, as the next head, I also have pride beyond mere affection that cannot be overstepped."
"If you cannot firmly stand on my side, then please do not interfere in any matters related to the Montellis anymore. Otherwise, no matter how strong you are, you won't want to be enemies with the entire Montelli Family."
"Those not at the card table can naturally sit and watch from the sidelines, but once on the table, you must follow the rules—my rules!"
Listening to Capollo's words, which could be considered a threat, Noah's expression gradually became hard to maintain.
A Try-not-to-laugh challenge?
Interesting. Record it and play it back for Carlotta later.
In the original plot, hearing Capollo threaten Rover was already hilarious enough; I didn't expect the current Capollo to be even funnier.
Even if the president of the Fractsidus came, they probably wouldn't threaten him in a tone like Capollo's.
"These words sound very reasonable, but sometimes the rules... don't have to be that rigid, right?"
A female voice and the sound of high heels rang out together in the square. The two turned their heads toward the sound and found the newcomer was none other than Carlotta.
The instant he saw Carlotta, Capollo's brows immediately furrowed.
Why did she come at this time? Right when he was wooing Noah—what had she heard?
"At this hour, what are Uncle and Noah chatting about? Cards... what cards?"
Seeing that Carlotta had only heard the last sentence he just said, Capollo secretly breathed a sigh of relief:
"You came at an unfortunate time; we just finished talking."
"Oh, like that. Since you've already finished, Uncle wouldn't mind if Noah and I leave first, right?"
"You stay, Carlotta. I still have things to instruct you."
Hearing this, Carlotta could only slow her steps, slightly approaching Noah, tiptoeing to whisper: "Meet at the rendezvous point. Be careful of the 'eyes'."
Noah nodded, not saying much more, and turned to leave.
Watching Noah depart into the distance, Capollo slowly spoke:
"I admit he is a very powerful person, like a gun that can easily take lives, but Carlotta, you should know—a gun is very useful, but I am the one qualified to hold the gun."
The gun referred both to Noah and to the position of head of the Montelli Family; this sentence was a veiled reprimand to Carlotta.
"I understand, Uncle. I have never forgotten why I have everything now, nor will I covet what doesn't belong to me."
Carlotta naturally heard the double meaning in Capollo's words and solemnly replied:
"My principle is only one: whatever the head instructs, I will complete. Conversely, anything that harms the family's interests and honor, I will stop with all my strength."
Unaware that Capollo was the mastermind big fish, she was still foolishly professing loyalty at this moment, unaware that prejudices in people's hearts are like mountains—no matter how hard she tried, she would never truly gain Capollo's trust.
The rain gradually intensified. The two exchanged a few words, said no more, and parted ways.
===✧✦✧===
"This Companion Story is a bit tricky."
Noah walked openly toward the rendezvous point Carlotta had arranged in advance, completely disregarding the Montelli eyes behind him who thought they were well hidden.
"The main point of this quest is to help Carlotta complete her mindset transformation, giving her the courage to expose Capollo's crimes and stop his plans."
Carlotta's Companion Story quality is extremely high—one of the top-tier Companion Stories in all of Wuthering Waves. It's not like Zani's Companion Story that can be speedrun.
But no problem. Knowing the plot well, he just needs to follow step by step and wait for it to naturally unfold.
The standard answers are all memorized in his head; just copy them directly.
Compared to the unpredictable main storyline, these side stories generally won't have major issues, so Noah was quite relaxed at the moment.
Walking without any concealment all the way to the rendezvous point, sure enough, a refined and extraordinary elegant elder was standing not far away, quietly appreciating an artwork hanging on the wall.
The moment he saw this elder, the Montelli eyes behind Noah all tactfully retreated, not daring to probe further.
The reason was none other than this person being the current head of the Montelli Family—Francesco.
Francesco turned his head, took out a cigar, and proactively spoke to Noah:
"Young man, mind lending a light?"
Switch character—Chixia.
Noah pulled out a gun and loaded it. The skilled motion made Francesco's eyelid twitch:
"Young man, what are you doing?"
"Lending you a light." Noah answered matter-of-factly: "When I shoot, there's fire at the muzzle."
"Uh... Never mind, put the gun away, young man. I suddenly don't want to smoke anymore."
Francesco sheepishly put away the cigar and instead pointed to the painting in front of him:
"Mind chatting about this painting?"
"Let's skip the roundabout talk. How about chatting about your family? Mr. Francesco."
Noah directly called out the elder's identity.