What was going through Sparkle's mind, Yun Fan naturally had no idea. The reason he bestowed a blessing upon Sparkle was partly because he genuinely wanted to find some fun.
His family had betrothed Robin to him, so he naturally understood what Sunday, the head of the Oak Family, meant by this.
On one hand, it was using a beauty trap—even if the Oak Family couldn't pull him over to the side of Order, at the very least, they wanted to keep him in a neutral position.
As the saying goes, when you take someone's hand, it's short; when you eat their food, your mouth softens. Precisely because of this, Yun Fan felt too embarrassed to intervene directly.
But Sparkle was different. A Masked Fool had no camp or allegiance to begin with—pushing her to the forefront was the best possible choice.
On the other hand, well, Yun Fan naturally had his own selfish motives. Sparkle actually suited his tastes quite well. First give her a portion of power, then proceed step by step—like slowly boiling a frog in warm water...
— — — —
Just as dark undercurrents surged above Penacony, with various factions each harboring their own ulterior motives, all seeking to gain some benefit from this star of grand festivities.
Far away, tens of thousands of light-years distant, in another star system...
Welt took out the Jade Abacus and looked at the historical messages replied to in the Astral Express family group chat, involuntarily showing an expression like that of "an old man on the subway looking at his phone."
Yun Fan: "Come come come, is everyone here? Alright, everyone look at me—I have an announcement! Starting today, Little March is officially mine!"
March 7th: "You you you...! Don't say it in the group! It's so embarrassing (⋋▂⋌)"
Himeko: "..."
Himeko: "Little March, have you really made up your mind? Are you willing to become Yun Fan's future partner together with Miss Robin?"
Pom-Pom the Conductor: "What's going on Pom! Is Passenger Yun Fan planning to step on two boats at once? I'm furious Pom! Passenger Yun Fan, hurry back to the Express and explain everything clearly to this Conductor!"
Galactic Baseballer: "Scum man, heh—Ptooey!"
March 7th: "I-I've already decided... I won't regret it."
Dan Heng: "...Did something happen during the time I was away?"
Welt: "..."
Welt: "The young people these days really know how to play... paths never before imagined..."
Yun Fan: "Hahaha, I hope everyone takes good care of us in the future. Come come come, red envelopes incoming—everyone gets one!"
[Congratulations and Prosperity, Great Auspiciousness!]
Himeko: "Eight hundred thousand credits? I didn't expect Yun Fan to be so wealthy."
Welt: "Ten million credits..."
Pom-Pom: "There's even one for this Conductor? Twenty million credits?! That's great—then for a long time to come, the Express won't have to worry about supplies!"
Galactic Baseballer: "Th-Thirty million credits?! Wow, boss is generous! If there's ever anything you need the Galactic Baseballer for in the future, just say the word!"
Yun Fan: "Oh? Is that true? Actually, I want a daughter. I wonder if the great Galactic..."
Galactic Baseballer: "..."
[Ding! System prompt: Galactic Baseballer has left the group chat.]
Yun Fan: "Ah? I was just joking! Himeko, hurry and pull Stelle back."
Himeko: "..."
March 7th: "..."
Dan Heng: "..."
Welt: "..."
"Sigh~, have I really been eliminated by the times? I completely can't understand what these young people are thinking anymore."
Turning off the Jade Abacus screen, Welt rubbed his brow, his face full of exhaustion and contemplation. This was already the fourth time today he had browsed the Express group's chat history.
Forgive his limited knowledge—he still couldn't understand March 7th's decision. And that guy Yun Fan—how could he so righteously declare stepping on two boats?
This was simply thicker-skinned than Otto Apocalypse's face!
Just as Welt sank into deep philosophical contemplation about the world, the door to his guest room was gently knocked from outside.
"Please wait a moment."
Welt stood up from his chair, straightened his somewhat disheveled hair, then walked to the door and gently opened it.
"Hm? It's Miss Yunli. Is there something you need?"
The visitor was none other than Yunli. The petite girl was currently holding a tea tray with a teapot and teacups on it. It seemed the girl had something she wanted to trouble Welt Yang with.
"Mr. Welt, sorry to disturb you. This is 'Fenghuang Down'—a specialty tea from the Xianzhou Zhuming, the highest-grade tea from Zhuming." The girl lightly parted her vermilion lips and softly explained.
"This... no reward without merit. Miss Yunli, is there something you need?"
Welt, being well-informed, had naturally heard of 'Fenghuang Down' tea. This kind of tea generally cost several hundred thousand credits per gram, with extremely low yield—mostly consumed internally. Outsiders rarely managed to buy any.
"No, actually it's nothing too major. I just wanted to hear Mr. Welt recount some tales of the Trailblaze journey."
"The Astral Express's Trailblaze journeys? In that case, please come in, Miss Yunli."
Welt stepped aside for Yunli. The girl nodded, then gently placed the tea tray on the table and began skillfully brewing the tea.
Tea tasting is an extremely refined art. Generally speaking, Xianzhou natives follow six steps for brewing and tasting tea: warming the cup, adding tea leaves, rinsing the leaves, steeping, pouring the infusion, and serving.
The girl precisely followed these traditional steps. In about two or three minutes, she had deftly placed a cup filled with tea infusion in front of Welt.
"Hiss~ Good tea."
Lifting the teacup, blowing away the steam, Welt took a shallow sip and couldn't help but praise aloud.
"I wonder which segment of the Trailblaze stories Miss Yunli would like to hear first?"
"Hm..." Hearing Welt's words, Yunli subconsciously brought her finger close to her lips, lightly touching her vermilion lips as she pondered for a moment before answering.
"I'd like to hear about the story of the Emanator of 'Reincarnation Sovereign' first."
Welt: "???...!!!"
Hearing Yunli's words, Old Yang's hand holding the teacup involuntarily trembled. Then, as if realizing something, his entire body froze in place.