With no Stellaron eruption, there was naturally no reason for the Stellaron Hunters to be wanted criminals.
The first place Kafka took Blade was the Divination Commission.
This was the eye of the entire Xianzhou Luofu, so it was the natural first target for her surprise visit.
The Stellaron Hunters thought so, and so did Noldrei.
He was looking for Qingque.
Since Noldrei had lent Elysia to Fu Xuan, they were now short one player for their card games.
Noldrei hadn't found Qingque at the card parlor, which meant she was likely busy with the follow-up maintenance on the Omniscia.
"The Divination Commission is just ahead. I'm on good terms with their leadership, both the former and the current one. Once you get there, just state your identity publicly and explain how grave the crisis on the Xianzhou is. Then, reveal a bit about your origins, and leave the rest for the Xianzhou to handle."
"It's that simple. If the Xianzhou can't handle it, then you outsiders can step in and figure out how to control the Stellaron. I've looked around, and there aren't many energy sources in this area that can compare to the Stellaron in your body. Judging by the potential crisis it could cause, a clever move would be to attack the Xianzhou's power systems and sink this place completely. A less effective one could still trigger a massive crisis that plunges the Xianzhou into chaos."
Noldrei discussed these matters with perfect composure. To him, these crises were no big deal.
Everyone was part of an interstellar civilization now; wasn't destroying a planet or two a common occurrence? Applied to the Xianzhou, it would be the equivalent of smashing a few pocket dimensions, at most.
Stelle, however, had no intention of going down with the Xianzhou. "I never knew you could use a Stellaron like that," she exclaimed in amazement.
"I thought you could only use the Fragmentums it creates to cause a bit of destruction. By that logic, the most efficient way to destroy something with a Stellaron would be to send it directly into a planet's core and have it self-destruct."
Sister Stelle had grasped the meaning behind Noldrei's words.
The people of the Xianzhou really were worldly-wise. Look, hadn't this Xianzhou native just come up with a highly efficient way to utilize a Stellaron?
It was a good thing this big brother from the Xianzhou hadn't gone to cause trouble on Belobog. The fact that Belobog was still standing was pure luck.
Stelle looked curiously at the entrance of the Divination Commission and asked, "Brother Three, I heard the Stellaron Hunters can see destiny and are known throughout the universe as 'slaves of fate.' Do you think the Stellaron Hunters will catch on to us coming here?"
[T/N: 'Brother Three' is a nickname. The 'three' is a homophone for 'tentacle' in Chinese.]
She was actually quite curious about the Stellaron Hunters.
After all, she had unexpectedly met that woman, Kafka, right after waking up, and Kafka had then single-handedly guided events to land her on the Astral Express.
The shadows of these Stellaron Hunters were present at the start of every major incident.
These people who could see destiny were like cheaters standing in her way, always exerting their influence whenever she had to make a choice.
Noldrei couldn't care less about them. Things like Stellarons were not on his mind.
"Why do you care about them?" he said dismissively. "I'm helping you find the Stellaron, and I need to get to the bottom of things. To do that, I obviously need to work with the people from the Divination Commission."
"So what if the Stellaron Hunters can glimpse destiny? Are they going to pop up right in front of us now and stop us from going to the Divination Commission?"
As Noldrei's words fell, Kafka froze, one leg poised to take a step.
She finally understood why Elio was always stressing that Blade must never, ever come into contact with this man.
If Elio hadn't briefed Kafka on the specifics beforehand, she would have suspected this person possessed the legendary ability to make his words reality.
Legend had it that such beings merely needed to speak, and life itself would bend to their words, forming a new torrent of destiny.
Do not let Blade come into contact with this person.
Kafka remembered Elio's words, unable to even imagine what would happen if Blade met him.
"Kafka!"
Stelle was shocked to see her too. She glanced left and right, wondering if other Stellaron Hunters were nearby.
And this was clearly the Xianzhou. How dare these Stellaron Hunters linger here so openly, making no attempt to hide their identities?
"Stellaron Hunters?"
Noldrei was surprised his words had come true. He really was seeing Stellaron Hunters right in front of him.
He sized up the woman who had appeared before him, his mind already thinking about how their methods of observing fate were so different from Fu Xuan's.
These people could clearly see more than Fu Xuan; otherwise, they wouldn't appear so brazenly on the Xianzhou.
The Xianzhou's destiny was a chaotic mess.
In Elio's observations, the Xianzhou's development was like it had become entangled with some malevolent god, sliding down an irreversible path.
"Stelle," Kafka began, "I know we've had our... setbacks, but under the current circumstances, I believe it would be best for us to cooperate. I know the Astral Express has a low level of trust in us Stellaron Hunters, but I'd still like to... have a private chat with you."
The Astral Express's low trust in the Stellaron Hunters was entirely their own doing.
They were always starting some major incident, with an expression that screamed, "I'm the one pulling the strings behind the scenes." Their attitude was always something like, "Hah, I'm just having fun! I'm just doing this to mess with you!"
Sister Stelle wasn't an idiot. Of course she had little trust in this group. If not for the circumstances, she would have considered communicating with them in a very different way.
And so, after meeting a straightforward 'NPC' like Noldrei, Stelle had only one feeling.
Brother, the Stellaron crisis is about to erupt. I know my words don't carry much weight and won't be enough to earn the Xianzhou's trust, but you guys who know the situation are just making trouble. I'm in a really tough spot right now! Everyone's busy, busy saving the world, so let's not waste each other's time.
Sister Stelle had been brought right to the gates of the Divination Commission, on the verge of asking the local leadership about the Stellaron's location.
And then you Stellaron Hunters show up and, BAM, you pull a c*ckblock!
Noldrei was also aware of the Stellaron Hunters' reputation. It wasn't just not good; it was downright infamous.
But he wasn't from the Xianzhou, and he had little interest in how they managed to sneak in.
In Noldrei's eyes, the Xianzhou's security checks were as useless as taking off your pants to fart, and their identity verification was a complete sham.
It all highlighted that the Xianzhou's society was on the brink of losing control, relying solely on the brute force of its Emanators to maintain order.
Its level of governance was as low as the tax-farming provincial system of the Great Yuan Dynasty in ancient China.
Stelle thought long and hard before replying, "You can wait for me here. How about we talk privately after I've asked about the Stellaron situation?"