"Thank goodness for the Realm-Keeping Commission. If they hadn't pulled up your information, we might have actually lost you."
March 7th and Mr. Yang had gone to great lengths to find Stelle. Along the way, they even had to take a moment to deal with some small-time thug who seemed to have come out of nowhere.
They heard he had been shaking people down in that area for a while, extorting money from outworlders who were alone and didn't dare cause trouble. He was eventually sent to the hospital—no one knew who delivered the kick that finally gave the Realm-Keeping Commission some peace and quiet.
Stelle explained, "I told you I was fine. I just went to see that white-haired boy. He's a really nice guy, and he was super helpful in figuring out how to find the Stellaron. I already know its location now, just waiting for us to go clean up the mess."
"Oh, right, thanks for getting my phone back, Mr. Yang. The screen is a bit cracked, though. I'll have to find that rich lady to get a new one when I have time."
Mr. Yang felt a sense of helplessness. He had no idea that Stelle had once again made contact with the Stellaron Hunters.
He was more concerned about the white-haired boy.
"Did you happen to ask his name?"
"He said his name is Noldrei. He's pretty cheerful and easy to get along with. Oh, and he could tell I was carrying a Stellaron. He said he sensed its energy entering the Xianzhou, which is why he came over to take a look out of curiosity. He almost mistook me for a friend of his."
Stelle gave a brief summary of Noldrei.
As she spoke, she realized where the problem was. A hint of confusion crossed her face. "He must have seen another person carrying a Stellaron. But he probably doesn't know what that person came to the Luofu to do."
Mr. Yang pushed up his glasses, forming a rough picture of this Noldrei in his mind.
It seemed he wasn't a ruthless figure like Kevin, who would save the world by destroying it.
Still, Mr. Yang couldn't be sure. His nerves were stretched taut on the Luofu.
"Let's talk about the Stellaron's location first. You're saying he took you directly to the head of the Divination Commission? From what I know, the Divination Commission is one of the Six Charioteers of the Luofu."
The sheer absurdity of it was staggering. An outworlder arrives in a foreign land and is immediately taken to see the equivalent of a high-ranking minister for directions.
They even saw through her background and identity.
This was like skipping the entire mid-game and jumping straight to the final boss.
Mr. Yang himself didn't know who to trust anymore. For all he knew, even the Realm-Keeping Commission personnel who had "found" Stelle were just putting on an act.
Stelle smacked her forehead as if remembering something and pulled a small mirror out from her clothes.
"Oh, right! Mr. Yang, I also ran into Kafka, the Stellaron Hunter. She gave me this little mirror and told me that if I ever lose sight of the path ahead, I should take a look at it. Do you think there's some secret to it?"
Mr. Yang took the small mirror from Stelle and examined it carefully. He couldn't feel anything special about it—it was just an ordinary mirror you could find anywhere.
"It doesn't seem to be anything special, just a very common mirror. In fact, it's just as fragile as any other mirror. You might even have to worry about breaking it during a fight."
Mr. Yang shook his head and handed it back to Stelle.
March 7th curiously craned her neck for a look. After confirming it was just an ordinary mirror, she asked, "Maybe she just wants you to literally look in a mirror? Or maybe it's a hint to think about your own abilities before you act?"
Stelle felt that Kafka probably wasn't that whimsical. For now, she pushed her various questions to the back of her mind. "Mr. Yang, have you ever heard of that white-haired boy's name? Is he someone you know?"
Mr. Yang shook his head again. "It's not that simple. In this day and age, who in the galaxy doesn't have a few false identities?"
Stelle raised an eyebrow, not sure what to say. As an amnesiac, she might very well have a false identity she didn't even know about.
"Wow, is the universe really that treacherous?" March 7th's understanding of the universe deepened yet again.
"Did he say anything else before he left?" Mr. Yang asked curiously.
Stelle thought for a moment. "He said he was going to meet an online friend, and that was it. It was Kafka who warned me to stay away from him. She said he's dangerous, the kind of person who can decide another's fate with a single word."
Mr. Yang was speechless. He hadn't expected that even the Stellaron Hunters would find this "Kevin" to be such a handful.
"Mr. Yang, what do we do now? Do we deal with the Stellaron first? Or should we go check on the person you mentioned?"
March 7th couldn't make the call. She thought the best course of action was to deal with the Stellaron crisis first.
Mr. Yang actually thought so too, but he was more afraid of Noldrei getting involved with the Stellaron.
"That's right!"
Stelle suddenly remembered the results of the divination from the girl at the Divination Commission. She immediately spoke up, "Mr. Yang, I just remembered something else! I found something out from the Divination Commission. The girl there said her divination showed that the Stellaron is connected to their Master Diviner."
"She said something about the Master Diviner being one of the main causes of the Stellaron crisis."
The slightly relaxed expression on Mr. Yang's face instantly stiffened.
"What? What did you say?"
"She said the divination showed the Master Diviner of the Divination Commission is involved in the Stellaron crisis," Stelle repeated carefully.
Mr. Yang asked anxiously, "I'm not asking about that! I'm asking, she said this right to your face? She just trusted you, an outworlder, like that?"
Stelle found it strange too, but then she remembered they had the ability to divine fate, so it wasn't that surprising.
"Isn't the Xianzhou's divination supposed to be very accurate? It doesn't seem that bizarre for them to know about us in advance, does it?"
Mr. Yang let out a sigh of dismay. "We've been had, we've been had! If their divinations were really that powerful, would so many people still die in every major war and crisis? There must be things they can't foresee. The fact that they dared to tell you this means they're confident they have a way to control the Stellaron."
March 7th chimed in, disgruntled, "That's awful! Aren't they just blatantly using us?!"
Mr. Yang denied it. "I wouldn't call it 'using' us. They just let us know the information we needed to know."
What was the use of saying all this now?
Mr. Yang never imagined the situation on the Xianzhou would be this murky. In comparison, Belobog felt like child's play.
At least there, it was obvious that their Supreme Guardian was scheming behind the scenes.
Here, a single, subtle maneuver was enough to make the Astral Express crew work for them for free.
Mr. Yang also realized why they had no choice but to go. The key witnesses who knew the Master Diviner was connected to the Stellaron crisis were, without a doubt, right here with them.
The Herta Space Station had been an accident, and Belobog was just a case of getting caught in a slippery situation, but the Xianzhou... why did it feel like the whole genre had suddenly changed?