"No more small talk."
The Cloud Knights escorted Kafka to the center of the Matrix of Prescience, and Fu Xuan wasted no time in casting the spell.
As the Omnisia on her forehead lit up once more, Kafka was lifted into the air by a pale blue force, yet she showed no sign of panic; the corner of her mouth even curled upward, as if she were enjoying the sensation.
"Not scared at all!" March 7th among the onlookers was startled.
Sure enough, with a clear chime, Fu Xuan staggered back half a step, gasping heavily. After a few minutes, she suffered the impact again.
This shock was clearly not as overwhelming as the first; she recovered after a few seconds:
"You all… just for this? For something like this?"
"How about it? Do you like this truth?" Kafka asked her patiently.
"Unbelievable…" Fu Xuan struggled to comment, "but the Matrix of Prescience cannot be wrong."
"What did you see?" Stelle asked the question she cared about most.
"Kafka has nothing to do with the Stellaron; instead, it's you all… it's actually you…" Fu Xuan's gaze toward the Express Crew changed.
"Ha! For something like this to happen, though it's not exactly absurd."
She had even divined for Aeons before; something like the Stellaron Hunters was hardly surprising.
"No, Grand Diviner, don't become a riddle-speaker too! Just say it clearly!"
"You all go ask her yourselves… ask as long as you want. I must report to the General immediately; forgive me for not accompanying you."
"Didn't we agree on sharing intelligence?" Stelle scratched her head. Grand Diviner, you're so heartless, leaving without looking back.
"Sigh~ We still have to ask ourselves; I knew it'd be like this."
After everyone unanimously decided, Stelle shouldered the heavy responsibility of interrogating Kafka; she indeed had many doubts she wanted to clear up with Kafka.
March 7th unilaterally refused to speak with the bad woman: "Be careful, don't get tricked by the mature big sister again."
Dan Heng basically didn't participate in such matters. Walter had many questions, but he could wait.
Compared to himself, he was more curious about what answers Kafka would give Stelle.
"Carrying everyone's expectations, I won't let you down."
"Did we forget something… Where did Teacher Adrian go?"
"While we were voting to choose someone, he was already chatting with Kafka." Dan Heng pointed to the center of the Matrix of Prescience, where Adrian was sharing milk tea with Kafka.
"It seems… that Grand Diviner has learned your identity, though unfortunately I didn't see her expression at the time," Kafka said with a hint of regret.
It was precisely because Fu Xuan's reaction wasn't as intense as she had imagined, and with Adrian nearby, that Kafka deduced this information.
"Forget about identities; want some milk tea?"
Kafka: …
She had reason to suspect that Adrian's true form was a galaxy-sized cup of milk tea.
If she didn't know Adrian's identity, Kafka might really think HE was just a dedicated milk tea shop owner, all to maintain HIS persona.
But that wasn't important; what mattered was that her hands were shackled now, so even if she wanted to drink, she couldn't.
"Someone's coming to chat with you; I won't disturb. I'm off."
Adrian placed the milk tea in Kafka's hands, and Stelle soon arrived in front of Kafka. Her tone immediately softened as she greeted Stelle:
"Hi, Stelle… you haven't changed a bit."
"Sorry to let you see me in such a sorry state."
After a long silence, four words finally came from Stelle's mouth: "You… okay?"
Hearing this, Kafka was slightly surprised, her tone carrying a hint of delight: "Are you worried about me? I'm fine; the Xianzhou treats captives quite politely."
"On the Express, I didn't speak to you because I knew that here, you and I would talk alone. So I thought, why not save everything for now? You seem to have a lot you want to ask me."
"What did Fu Xuan see?"
Kafka recalled the content of the [script] when it hadn't gone wrong: "Hmm… Elio said he foresaw three questions, but essentially they're all the same thing. If I hear any one of them, I'll tell you the purpose of this trip, every detail."
"Since you asked one of those three questions, it means everything has gone smoothly so far. Ready to hear my answer?"
Stelle promptly changed the subject, looking at the milk tea in Kafka's hands: "What flavor is this?"
"No idea; want some?" She shook her head honestly first, then lifted her hands to offer the milk tea to Stelle.
"Tell me your purpose first."
"Alright. The Xianzhou's Stellaron chaos has no direct connection to us, but if you stand in Elio's perspective… it can't be said that the Stellaron Hunters are innocent."
"We foresaw all this long ago, but we did nothing until the right moment to get involved. The reason Grand Diviner was so shocked is that she discovered three facts."
Kafka shook the milk tea in her hand: "First, the Stellaron Hunters are not enemies of the Xianzhou; you already knew this, though you never believed it."
"Second, the one who brought the Stellaron into Xianzhou and activated it is someone else; this involves both internal troubles and external threats. Traitors within Luofu and enemies from outside want to subvert Xianzhou. The Grand Diviner is rushing to the General, no doubt to report this."
Looking at Fu Xuan and Jing Yuan, who had already walked far away, Kafka continued: "But that's all the Grand Diviner knows, because Elio didn't tell me the key information either."
"He foresaw that the Divination Commission would use the Matrix of Prescience on me; to prevent accidents, at this moment, I only know what the Xianzhou Alliance should know."
"As for the third fact, I'm afraid the Xianzhou Alliance wouldn't dream of it… haha~ The third fact is: If the Stellaron Hunters aren't the masterminds behind all this, then why are I, Silver Wolf, and Blade here?"
"To… us?" Stelle guessed.
"Sounds absurd, right?" Kafka countered, "No wonder Grand Diviner doesn't believe it, but you know, the Matrix of Prescience doesn't lie, so the answer is just that interesting~"
"The Stellaron Hunters appearing here, Blade captured, Silver Wolf's whereabouts unknown, me led into this Matrix of Prescience—all to bring you… to bring the Astral Express to Xianzhou."
In the original [script], Silver Wolf wasn't supposed to appear in Xianzhou, but with the glitch already present, Kafka could only improvise a bit.
Three Stellaron Hunters in Luofu should be enough to show the severity of the problem.
"Only, your teacher… sped up the story's progress a little." A genuine complaint from Kafka.
"Adrian? By your meaning, the Eternity Church coming to Luofu… was also in Elio's prophecy?"
"The Astral Express coming to Luofu, yes, and moreover, to make a big impact on Xianzhou: In the future Elio chose, the power of [The Hunt] is indispensable. For that, you must form a connection with the Alliance…"
"As for [Eternity]… you already encountered it on Jarilo-VI, didn't you? I don't know much about the Church; for more details, better ask Silver Wolf."
This was the truth; Kafka truly hadn't interacted with the Eternity Church. Those Pontiffs and priests—she didn't know a single one, feeling like she couldn't keep up with the times.