"So? If there's nothing else, shall we get going? We'll treat you to tea next time we're free."
Mo Wang said to Kafka, looking like he truly had no intention of going to the Xianzhou.
At this, Kafka's previously relaxed demeanor finally vanished.
If Mo Wang really didn't go, wouldn't their whole script be ruined?
What would be the point of Blade going to the Luofu and getting himself captured?
For the first time, Kafka felt that Elio's script was completely unreliable.
It was strange—Elio's scripts for everyone else were like perfect replicas, predicting their every move.
But the moment Mo Wang was involved, the script wasn't just inaccurate; it had gone completely off the rails, veering into another timezone.
Seeing Mo Wang was truly about to bolt, Kafka's mind raced.
"Wait a moment!"
She called out to the Astral Express crew.
"Are you ever annoying! We already said we're not going! What more do you want?!"
March 7th, seeing Kafka wouldn't give up, finally snapped. She glared at Kafka, one step away from physically shooing her away.
The Astral Express crew had already made up their minds. No matter how persuasive this woman sounded, they couldn't let Mo Wang go to the Xianzhou and wreak havoc on its people.
The lives of many were at stake.
"The Stellaron crisis that erupted on the Luofu was, in fact, not our doing."
"According to our intelligence, the situation escalated because a Lord Ravager from the Destruction joined forces with an Emanator of Abundance. If you don't intervene, the Xianzhou Luofu itself might very well cease to exist."
"And I'm sure you understand how severe the consequences would be for the entire galaxy if the Luofu were to be destroyed."
Kafka's words finally made Himeko and Welt's expressions turn serious.
If the Path of Destruction was involved, they truly couldn't just stand by and watch.
If it were just the Abundance stirring up trouble, the Astral Express crew likely wouldn't have given it a second thought.
After all, the Abundance's reputation across the galaxy was highly polarized.
Besides the people of the Xianzhou, who held an undying grudge against the Abundance, most other factions had mixed feelings about Yaoshi, the Aeon.
On one hand, Yaoshi was truly merciful, curing any illness that came their way.
If you wanted immortality, Yaoshi would grant it without a second thought.
Of course, they wouldn't take any responsibility when you eventually lost your sanity and turned into a monster—a classic irresponsible player, really.
But since they did both good and bad, most people just turned a blind eye. Their reputation was even slightly better than Aha's.
The only truly unhinged followers were the Emanators of Abundance within the Xianzhou. But then again, the two sides were archenemies, so no tactic was off the table.
When you thought about it, the Abundance was apparently the Xianzhou's original faith.
Yaoshi was the "original partner," so to speak. The Hunt was what happened after the Xianzhou people realized they'd been tricked by a player and had their own villain arc.
Their hatred for their former flame was so intense it birthed a new Aeon... To be honest, Lan of the Hunt was probably the only one in the entire universe born that way.
Then again, the Hunt was known to be the youngest of the Aeons, and their power was considered to be on the lower end of the spectrum.
If Yaoshi and Lan were to actually fight, it was hard to say who would come out on top.
Of course, after so many years of fighting, their conflict looked like little more than a family feud to some outsiders.
The Xianzhou might be the main stronghold of the Hunt, but it also produced plenty of followers of the Abundance—after all, their roots were either stolen from the Abundance or were originally part of it.
Most factions wanted nothing to do with their drama.
But bringing the [Destruction] into the mix changed everything.
They were basically the most wanted criminals in the entire universe, like Germany in World War II. They were a common enemy to all allied forces, and no sane person could just stand by and do nothing.
Of course, Mo Wang was fully aware that the Lord Ravager was on the Luofu playing VTuber.
He was, however, quite curious as to how Kafka knew about it.
Logically, the Lord Ravager's little puppet show should have been top secret, right?
Oh, right. He forgot their crew had a bona fide oracle. It was no surprise their script knew more than even he, a transmigrator, did.
It wasn't strange at all that they knew what the Lord Ravager was up to.
"Alright, I've said my piece. You can depart whenever you're ready."
Kafka said nothing more, and in the next moment, her projection vanished.
After Kafka left, the Express fell into a profound silence.
Welt and Dan Heng turned to look at Mo Wang, their expressions a mask of conflict.
"Hey! Can you two stop looking at me like that?! I haven't even done anything yet!" Mo Wang snapped, annoyed by their expressions of complete distrust.
"Mo Wang," Dan Heng began, looking as if he'd already accepted the Luofu's grim fate, "the situation on the Xianzhou is already dire. When we get there, please, I beg you, go easy on them."
"He's right, Mo Wang," Welt added. "The Xianzhou Alliance is one of the greatest powers in the universe. You absolutely, positively, must not do anything too drastic. Otherwise, we'll all have a lot to answer for."
"Wait, have we already decided to go to the Xianzhou?" Mo Wang scratched his head. "Aren't we even going to talk about it?"
"If we let the [Destruction] destroy the Luofu, it would be a major blow to all the great powers in the universe. We have no choice but to go," Welt explained, though he was clearly reluctant.
Especially since those mad followers of the Abundance were also involved.
As it stands, the Luofu's top fighter is General Jing Yuan, and even he can't guarantee a win against them.
"Er... look on the bright side," Mo Wang offered. "At least if I go, people won't have to die, right?"
Even Mo Wang himself didn't believe he wouldn't cause trouble. At this point, triggering the Path of Elation was like a passive ability for him; he couldn't control it.
But no matter how you sliced it, that had to be better than being obliterated by the Abundance and Destruction, right?
"Sigh...!"
Welt and Dan Heng let out a long sigh in unison.
Honestly, that was precisely the problem.
Being destroyed by the Destruction and the Abundance, or being tormented by Elation... It was a choice between a rock and a hard place.
They could only choose the lesser of two evils.
The problem was, the Luofu wasn't some backwater planet like Jarilo-VI. It was a bona fide stronghold of the Hunt, guarded by one of their Emanators.
If things went south, the Astral Express's reputation would be ruined for good.
The crucial point, however, was that they couldn't just leave Mo Wang on the train. They had no confidence they could defeat a Lord Ravager without him, which meant he had to go.
The whole situation was a total catch-22.
"I think you guys have some serious misconceptions about me," Mo Wang retorted.
Then again, he thought to himself.
The Xianzhou was the one place where he hadn't unlocked a new form yet.
He'd thought he would get an exclusive weapon for the Path of the Hunt there, but he ended up with nothing.
He wondered if things would be different from the game this time. Maybe he'd get a Hunt character template early or something.
As for becoming an Emanator of the Hunt... yeah, probably not.
He doubted it was that simple.
Still, if he really did become a triple Emanator, the entire universe would probably label him as a top-tier threat.
An Emanator of three different Paths—the very idea was enough to scare someone to death.
With the blessings of three Paths, Mo Wang felt like he might actually have the guts to try and beat up an Aeon.
"So, should we head out now? By the way, Dan Heng, are you sure you're okay?" Mo Wang asked, glancing at Dan Heng, who had been looking uneasy this whole time.
If he remembered correctly, wasn't Dan Heng banished from the Luofu?
"That's right."
At Mo Wang's words, Dan Heng's expression darkened further.
After all, who would be in a good mood after being exiled as a criminal by their own people?
"Man, that's rough. Don't you worry, my friend. I'll head over and take care of that little problem for you, guaranteed." Mo Wang shot Dan Heng a thumbs-up, declaring that his bro's business was his business. This time, he was absolutely going to solve this!
"And how, exactly, are you planning to solve it?"
Dan Heng asked, his heart sinking.
Oh no. From the looks of it, Mo Wang was planning to cause trouble again.
"Relax! You know what kind of guy I am, right? Once I swoop in like a savior and fix everything for them, you'll be able to go home without a care in the world, my friend."
"I don't think it's that simple. My situation, you—"
"I get it, I get it. It's super complicated, right?"
"Don't worry! If worse comes to worst, I'll just flex my muscles a bit! You really think the Luofu would dare disrespect me then?"
Mo Wang pointed to himself. His previously drained and exhausted appearance had long since vanished, replaced by a picture of perfect health.
"You know, on second thought, maybe we shouldn't go after all?"
Seeing Mo Wang so brimming with confidence, Dan Heng had a truly terrible feeling about this.
The more confident Mo Wang was, the more doomed the Luofu seemed. While he didn't have much affection for the place, having Mo Wang blow it up would be even worse, wouldn't it?
"Too late, my friend! This time, you just stay safe on the Express and watch us work our magic! Hahahaha! Pom-Pom! Let's go!"
Mo Wang paid Dan Heng no mind, grabbing the conductor and getting ready to depart.
"Um, don't worry," March 7th said, trying to console Dan Heng, whose expression was one of pure despair. "Mr. Yang and I will do our best to keep an eye on Mo Wang and stop him from running wild."
"Can you really keep him in check?" Dan Heng asked, his face grim.
"Well... I can only say we'll try our best."
Both March 7th and Welt wore rather comical expressions.
If Mo Wang could actually be reined in, he wouldn't be Mo Wang.
To put it bluntly, March 7th was seriously starting to suspect he was part husky—the kind that bolts the second you let go of the leash and causes untold amounts of property damage.
Even back on Jarilo-VI, the three of them combined couldn't keep him under control.
"Hah."
Dan Heng sighed, sinking wearily into a nearby chair. At this point, all he could do was accept his fate.
He could only pray Mo Wang would keep his word and show him some consideration.
Please, don't go too overboard.
He also sent a silent prayer to General Jing Yuan: whatever you do, do not provoke Mo Wang.
A dual Emanator was no joke. He wasn't someone an ordinary Emanator could hope to defeat.
If Mo Wang ended up shortening Jing Yuan's lifespan or shattering his spirit, well, that would certainly make for an interesting development.
And if the Luofu had to start choosing a new general ahead of schedule, the entire Xianzhou Alliance would probably implode.
"All passengers! Please take your seats and hold on tight! We are about to depart!"
As Pom-Pom's voice echoed through the train, the Astral Express began its warp jump toward the Xianzhou.
In less than ten minutes, an impossibly massive ship appeared before their eyes.
"Whoa, so this is the legendary Xianzhou? It's even more breathtaking than I imagined! It looks as big as a planet!" March 7th exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with awe as she gazed at the colossal vessel outside.
"Ugh, I don't know why, but this is giving me major Seer vibes," Mo Wang muttered. For some reason, thinking about the Xianzhou gave him the distinct impression of looking at a bunch of robots.
"What's a 'Seer'?" March 7th asked, looking at Mo Wang in confusion.
"Don't worry about it. Just a bunch of weird robots who can treat cosmic deities like pets. They claim to be looking for infinite energy, but they've actually just been collecting a ton of other weird robots."
Mo Wang thought for a moment about the Xianzhou's lore. They were originally people from a single planet, sent out to explore the cosmos in search of an elixir of immortality. They just kept drifting until they became a cosmic behemoth.
The comparison to Seer actually kind of fits.
It was just that... the power scaling in Seer was completely insane. If a "Seer" version of himself ever showed up and gave him one of their god-tier creatures, he'd be absolutely broken.
"Alright, I'm sending a request to dock," Himeko said as she operated the comms. "Let's hope the Xianzhou will still extend us that courtesy."
She prayed they would let them pass, for the sake of the Astral Express's reputation. And that they wouldn't just open fire the moment they saw Mo Wang was on board.
[Hello, the number you have dialed is not available. Please try again later.]
Himeko: (;?_?)? What in the world?