"This humble lady dares to ask—this is the delegation we plan to send to the Starsea Empire?"
At the headquarters of the Sky-Faring Commission, within the Palace of Astrum.
Tingyun looked at the small squad before her, confusion faintly visible on her face.
One was a newly enlisted Cloud Knight recruit carrying a greatsword on her back, looking reckless and barely literate.
Sushang trembled slightly. She had only just arrived at the Luofu and was already being entrusted with such an important mission. No matter how naive she might be, she understood that a diplomatic assignment was anything but simple.
There was also a little girl whose entire face seemed to read: "I really want to run away."
Qingque had been stuffed with a mountain of assignments by Fu Xuan—investigating the Starsea Empire's divination and predictive arts, refining her own calculation skills, integrating the predictive techniques of two worlds to develop new divination methods, and so on.
Fu Xuan had long been on guard against the Divination Commission's absentee champion. She listed every task in meticulous detail and even required Qingque to submit regular progress reports.
If she failed to complete her tasks, she would not be permitted to return to the Divination Commission or the Luofu.
"Uh..."
Qingque mentally skimmed through the task list.
Not only was there an overwhelming amount of calculation-heavy work, there were also numerous brain-draining research projects.
By the time she reached the Starsea Empire, she would probably have to work day and night just to meet the Master Diviner's targets.
Playing cards and slacking off?
Who knew whether those aliens even played Celestial Jade.
If she did not buckle down and work overtime, she might never return to the Luofu in this lifetime. She would have to bid farewell forever to her beloved card parlor in Exalting Sanctum.
Aside from them, there were also accompanying support personnel—clerks, secretaries, and the like.
According to the prior requirements, every single one of them was a young woman selected by the Xianzhou.
"..."
Tingyun wanted to ask whether this delegation was truly up to the task.
In terms of rank, it was sufficient. The Sky-Faring Commission, the Divination Commission, and the Cloud Knights had all sent representatives. Half of the Six Commissions of the Xianzhou were involved.
The Alchemy Commission, the Artisanship Commission, and the Commission of Balance had to oversee the Luofu's civil affairs and could not spare manpower for now.
But as for the personnel's overall caliber...
With her eye for judging people, Tingyun sensed there might be slight issues.
"The Luofu's manpower is already stretched thin. And we must abide by the other party's rules. This is already the optimal arrangement," Fu Xuan said.
Kiana's single sentence—"Girls only!"—had immediately cut the available candidates in half.
As always, when doing business with another world, one must respect their rules to avoid unnecessary trouble.
The Luofu's merchant guild understood this principle deeply.
Moreover, the upper echelons of the Six Commissions all needed to remain stationed aboard the Xianzhou and could not be redeployed. Thus, this was the only delegation they could assemble.
"So I ask that Miss Tingyun take extra care. Once relations between our two sides stabilize, it would not be impossible for the Alliance to draw candidates from the Yaoqing, the Zhuming, or other ships."
Fu Xuan very much wanted to visit the Starsea Empire herself, but the Divination Commission had far too many affairs to manage. She could not leave.
"Mm... Very well. Master Diviner, rest assured. This humble lady will do her utmost. There are countless worlds within the sea of stars—it would not be bad to see more of them."
Tingyun smiled.
"However, whenever the Xianzhou sets out, the Divination Commission always casts a divination. I wonder what the outcome of this journey to the Starsea Empire will be?"
"That..."
Fu Xuan pondered for a moment.
All major and minor affairs of the Xianzhou had to be submitted to the Divination Commission for calculation and future projection. Action plans were determined according to the derived results.
"I have performed multiple divinations regarding the Starsea Empire. The hexagrams yield no definitive result. They are too far from the Luofu, and the causal threads involved are far too complex. Perhaps only upon reaching their homeland will we glimpse the workings of fate."
"But there is no need for concern. Your journey will be smooth and without mishap. You will arrive safely at your destination."
"Then I am relieved."
Tingyun let out a soft sigh.
Long-distance interstellar travel carried considerable risk. At least she knew she would reach the Starsea Empire safely.
"Once we arrive, this humble lady should be able to handle matters."
"More importantly, we should select some gifts. It would hardly do to arrive empty-handed~"
...
Two days later.
The Luofu delegation was fully assembled and ready to depart.
Near the starskiff dock, an entire section had been completely cleared. Merchants and tourists who had once bustled through the area were redirected elsewhere.
The Cloud Knights stood in several neat rows upon the open ground outside the berth. Their crescent-bladed guandaos and armor gleamed brilliantly under the sunlight, exuding imposing majesty.
A foxian woman with teal hair and violet eyes, dressed in a shoulder-baring traditional outfit, stood at the forefront of the formation. Her expression carried both anticipation and sentiment as she gazed at the sky.
It was Yukong, the Helm Master of the Sky-Faring Commission of the Xianzhou Luofu—and Tingyun's superior.
To welcome a delegation from another civilization required sufficient importance and sincerity.
A little further away, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered.
The scale of the Luofu's reception rivaled even that of a general from another Xianzhou ship making a visit.
Moreover, news of contact with an otherworldly civilization had spread to some extent. Xianzhou natives, along with outworlders and tourists from afar, were all curious to see what manner of beings the other side might be.
"Um... when are we leaving?"
Sushang was still nervous, clutching her clothes tightly.
"We'll greet the Starsea Empire's delegation first. Once they arrive at the Luofu, we will set off immediately," Tingyun replied.
Not long after.
A message came from beyond the Jade Gate.
[The Starsea Empire delegation has arrived. Requesting permission to dock at the Luofu.]
[Six vessels in total. Approaching the Xianzhou.]
"Confirmed. Open a passage through the Jade Gate and guide the Starsea Empire delegation in for landing," Yukong responded crisply, tapping several commands on the holographic interface.
The Cloud Knights beside her straightened even further, every gaze fixed intently upon the sky.
They wanted to see what kind of spacecraft hailed from another world.
"Could it be the Astral Express? Six trains?"
Tingyun and Fu Xuan both found the Starsea Empire's design style rather unique.
If six Astral Express trains really came rumbling over, that would be quite the spectacle.
"Uh, no. Actual warships. We're only the advance team..."
Himeko said.
"To them, the Astral Express is... about the level of a toy, perhaps?"
"Actual... warships?"
The next moment—
Hummm—
An enormous teal-green battleship passed through the Jade Gate, emerging from the far reaches of the sky.
Its sheer size rivaled that of a city. The shadow it cast instantly swallowed more than half the docking zone. Looking up, one could see that the starship's design was somewhat bizarre.
Irregular patterns covered the hull, its material indiscernible. The forward half of the colossal vessel formed a hollowed spearhead shape, revealing a terrifying axial main cannon at its core.
"!"
The onlooking crowd collectively forgot to breathe for half a second.
Unlike the merchant vessels that had previously visited the Xianzhou, this was a starship built for interstellar warfare.
Behind the flagship, five more identical warships passed through the Jade Gate in succession, emerging from the void.
Although Titan-class warships were still far smaller than the Xianzhou itself, an unavoidable trace of fear rose within everyone's heart.
From that fleet, they glimpsed a corner of another super-civilization's power.
—The other side undoubtedly possessed the capability to wage interstellar warfare across ultra-long distances.
"May I ask... was it truly necessary for your delegation to send so many ships?"
Even Yukong was somewhat taken aback.
Her unspoken meaning was clear. This was not a war. Why dispatch an entire squadron of interstellar warships?
Simply parking these massive vessels at the Luofu's docks would clog aerial traffic, and maneuvering them would hardly be convenient.
"Uh, perhaps Miss Grey needed to bring quite a lot of equipment? It's fine. They won't take up space."
Himeko thought for a moment before answering.
"Hm?"
Boom—
The starship descended. The hatch opened.
A grey-haired, blue-eyed girl in uniform leapt down from above.
Behind her followed two squads of little girls wearing Research Division uniforms, along with several other young women. Some of the research lolis preferred operating in adult forms.
Angeloids took position along the flanks, facing the Cloud Knights from afar.
"I am the head of the Starsea Empire's Advanced Science Division, Gray Tempest. As my true name is rather long, you may call me Grey."
"At the same time, I serve as the Starsea Empire's delegation leader to the Xianzhou Alliance."
Little Grey greeted everyone generously.
"Oh..."
Tingyun, Yukong, Fu Xuan, and the others could not help but keep glancing at the little girls. The delegation's average age felt somewhat... excessively young.
Additionally, the angels' appearance was rather eye-catching.
"We brought quite a lot of experimental equipment and personnel. My apologies. We have many research projects to carry out here."
Grey clapped her hands.
Whoosh—
All six starships instantly disassembled themselves, dissolving into a cloud of nanites that she absorbed back into herself.
"!!!"
"This...?!"
The people of the Xianzhou stared in stunned disbelief, blinking as if they had seen wrong.
The colossal warships that had blotted out the sky moments ago vanished in the blink of an eye.
Unfathomable.
"They are a part of me, and I am a part of them."
Grey extended her hand to Yukong in greeting.
"Um... may I ask... what exactly are you?"
Yukong had yet to recover from the bizarre sight of starships being stored away out of thin air.
No matter how she looked at the person before her, she seemed to fall outside the bounds of normal humans—or even carbon-based life.
Were the people of the Starsea Empire all like this? How strange.
"I am a super artificial intelligence, version 0.1. Is that unusual? I recall that the Xianzhou also has gold automatons, do you not?"
Grey tilted her head.
"!"
"Artificial intelligence?!"
An exclamation mark practically appeared above Yukong's head.
"Then those ships just now..."
"Merely a small trick of self-replication," Grey replied modestly.
To avoid frightening the Xianzhou and causing unnecessary trouble, Setsuna had vetoed her rather terrible idea of appearing in her Grey Goo form.
"?!"
Some ancient memory from textbooks seemed to stir within the Xianzhou people's DNA.
From Grey's brief words, they extracted several key terms.
"Artificial intelligence." "Self-replication." "Possessing complete self-awareness"...
If those traits were combined...
"??!"
In an instant, they associated it with the mechanical calamity that had once swept across the universe—and with self-replicating, endlessly breeding swarms.
"Holy shit!! A super fusion of the Swarm Disaster and the Emperor's War! Emperor Rubert III has appeared!!!"
"Aaaahhhh!!!—"
A portion of the Xianzhou people immediately suffered a PTSD episode on the spot.
"You're here to help us fight the Abominations of Abundance, right? Right? Right??!"