Old Bear chose the last option.
Stelle: "Is it possible that the one most likely to get fooled by a mature older sister is you?"
March 7th: "Absolutely not! I'm super vigilant. Besides you, Leon, Himeko, Uncle Yang, and Dan Heng, I don't trust anyone!"
"Pam would be heartbroken hearing you say that."
"…Stop joking around. We're on a Trailblaze journey here. Ugh, why aren't you hurrying to ask Kafka?"
"On it."
Smiling at their banter, Old Bear approached Kafka and pressed the interaction key.
Kafka gazed at Stelle gently.
"Hey, we meet again. Sorry you have to see me in such a sorry state."
"Brothers, I'm starting to feel like this family bond is turning weird…"
[It's only natural.]
[Not quite.]
[Quite the opposite.]
[Stop freaking out. Mom Kafka wouldn't deceive us, right?]
① "Don't act like we're close."
② "You're not hurt, are you? Did the Xianzhou torture you?"
③ "You don't look bad at all. Not exactly 'sorry.'"
Old Bear: "No one would have the heart to pick the first one, right?"
He clicked the second option.
Kafka paused, her expression softening further.
"Worried about me? Heh… I'm fine. It might sound odd, but the Xianzhou always treats their prisoners courteously."
"Back on the Express, I didn't talk to you because I knew we'd have this private conversation here."
"So I thought, why not save everything for now?"
Stelle thought for a moment and asked, "I want to know three things: your purpose, whether the Luofu's current state has anything to do with you, and what Fu Xuan saw."
Kafka, having prepared her words, answered without hesitation.
"The Stellaron crisis on the Luofu has no direct connection to us."
"But from Elio's perspective, you can't exactly say the Stellaron Hunters are innocent either."
"We foresaw all of this long ago, but we did nothing until the right moment arrived, and then we stepped in."
"Fu Xuan was so shocked because she discovered three truths."
"First, the Stellaron Hunters aren't the Luofu's enemies. You already knew that, though you might not believe it."
"Second, someone else brought the Stellaron to the Luofu and activated it. This involves both internal traitors and external enemies aiming to destabilize the Luofu."
"Master Diviner rushed to the General probably to report this."
"But that's all Fu Xuan knows, because Elio didn't share the critical details with me."
"He foresaw that the Divination Commission would use the Matrix of Prescience Ultima on me. To avoid any mishaps, right now, I only know what the Xianzhou Alliance should know."
Hearing this, Stelle fell into thought.
Regarding the first point, she'd already had her suspicions and was willing to believe it.
Back at Stargazer Navalia, Kafka had clearly let herself be captured and brought to the Divination Commission.
The reason wasn't hard to guess.
Seeing Fu Xuan's slightly flustered demeanor now, the answer was clear.
The Xianzhou Alliance had soared for eight thousand years, but in the face of this crisis, they had developed a certain reliance on the Divination Commission's methods.
Without seeing and verifying it themselves, the Alliance wouldn't believe it.
Kafka had likely banked on this, staying calm and composed, playing the role of a suspect without a hint of panic.
As for the second point…
With the Luofu in such chaos, Stelle would never believe there wasn't an internal problem.
The issue was, she knew nothing about the traitor, nor had any traitor attempted to contact the Express crew.
Or perhaps they had made contact, but no one had noticed.
Instinctively, Leon's face flashed through Stelle's mind.
If Leon had been with them on this Luofu journey, he might've caught the subtle clues they missed.
Sigh, I miss you, buddy Leon…
No, no, no!
Stelle mentally slapped herself a few times.
Joking around and being silly was fine normally, but how could she make such jokes about Leon at a time like this?
He'd gotten injured protecting everyone, even lending her his wings.
Stelle pushed aside her chaotic thoughts and met Kafka's gaze.
"The third truth? Go on."
Kafka smiled.
"The Xianzhou Alliance would never dream… heh, the third truth is—"
"If the Stellaron Hunters aren't the masterminds behind this, then why are Blade and I here?"
"For you."
Stelle's eyes narrowed, her thoughts racing but unable to grasp the key point.
She couldn't figure it out.
Kafka said softly, "Sounds absurd, doesn't it? No wonder Fu Xuan didn't believe it, but the Matrix of Prescience Ultima doesn't lie."
"So the answer is this interesting: the Stellaron Hunters are here, Blade got captured, and I was brought to this Matrix of Prescience Ultima—"
"—all to bring the Astral Express to the Xianzhou Luofu."
"Answering your first question: that's my purpose for coming here."
"…Elio was that certain we could help the Luofu?" Stelle asked skeptically.
Kafka gave a slight shake of her head.
"No idea. The Stellaron Hunters are slaves to fate. We just follow the optimal path of destiny."
"We usually only guide, not interfere too much. After all…"
"There's a saying: the more humans scheme, the more likely they are to fail for all sorts of reasons."
"In the future Elio chose, the power of The Hunt is indispensable."
"For that, the Astral Express had to connect with the Xianzhou Alliance and help them resolve the Stellaron crisis."
"Only then would the Alliance owe you a favor, one that could aid you at the most critical moment in the future."
"Isn't it surprising? The infamous Stellaron Hunters did all this for such a simple, straightforward purpose."
To say it wasn't surprising would be a lie.
Many players hadn't deeply analyzed Kafka's reasons for redirecting the Express's course.
When experiencing a game's story, sometimes letting go of logic and emptying your mind brings the ultimate enjoyment.
Digging into details was for later.
Now that Kafka laid it out like this, not only was Stelle stunned, but many players' jaws dropped.
Really… that simple?
So, the question was—
This journey had only three… no, four people heading to the Luofu.
Stelle, March 7th, and Welt as one group.
Dan Heng on the other side.
Based on the current story's combat performance, aside from Welt, the others had already had their moments in Belobog.
To put it bluntly, there wasn't much to glean.
Everyone was guessing whose spotlight this Xianzhou arc would be.
Welt?
Or Dan Heng, who changed his mind and disembarked out of concern for his companions?
Streamer Old Toby had a flash of inspiration.
Kafka had just mentioned Blade, and Dan Heng only got off the Express after learning Blade was involved.
Could it be… there's a key storyline between those two?
Old Toby scratched his head.
"I miss the days with Leon around. With his personality, he'd definitely analyze every possibility and share it with the team."
"A non-riddle-spouting dad figure would be so great to have along."
[No one's perfect. What if even Leon couldn't think of everything?]
[Based on Father giving me 20 pulls at launch, plus a custom relic and a ton of rewards, I'd bet on his ability without question!]
[Believing is one thing, but Leon's stuck recovering on the Express. No role in the Xianzhou arc, so believing doesn't mean much.]
[It's fine. At least we don't have to worry about him getting killed off.]
[True. If Father, who's been so good to us, got killed off, I'd lose it!]
[At least hold off on killing him until a grand, spectacular finale.]
[Hey, you up front, need someone to pull for you? I'll make sure you're thrilled with the results!]