Chapter 130: Mr. Yang's Refined Method: Drink First, Administer Beatdown Later
"You..." March 7th's expression was momentarily difficult to maintain. "What are you even saying?! You're spouting nonsense again! How can feelings be calculated like that? There's... there's no such logic!"
Did she, in that wonderfully chaotic mind of hers, really think that liking someone was the same as liking ice cream? That you could fancy both strawberry and chocolate, and then just mash them together for a new flavor?
'Then again,'Rekka mused,'is that really so impossible?'
Regardless, March 7th still took a seat in the Parlor Car, her movements stiff and awkward. She couldn't very well hide in her room forever.
"Ahem—everyone, there's an important matter for today's meeting," Himeko announced, clearing her throat lightly. "It's just that... the Astral Express's funds are running a little low, so everyone needs to..."
"Do you need me to pop over to the Sea of Quanta and salvage some resources from a couple of World Bubbles on the verge of collapse?" Rekka offered after a moment's thought.
"...Uh, while that does sound efficient, let's not," Himeko replied with a helpless smile. "Let's try to take on some more conventional work."
Rekka looked visibly disappointed.
'What is he so disappointed about?' March wondered, bewildered.
"Hmm..." Dan Heng pondered, his expression serious. "In that case... does the Interstellar Peace Corporation have any demolition jobs available lately?"
"Unfortunately, nothing suitable at the moment."
"How about we take on some bounties?" Stelle raised her hand eagerly. "Desperate fugitives!"
"You could discuss it with Sam, or maybe Silver Wolf—you should be able to contact her, right?" Rekka suggested, raising a finger. "I heard the Stellaron Hunters occasionally use a little trick to earn extra funds: first, they send Blade into an IPC prison to let them collect the bounty on him, and then Blade just breaks himself out."
"Stop feeding them your wicked ideas, Rekka," a gloomy voice rumbled from behind him. It was the cane-wielding gentleman himself, Welt.
"Alright, alright." Rekka went back to thinking. "Failing that, we can just see what Path I switch to tomorrow. Maybe some Aeon fragments will drop, and I can sell them for a high price to Big Yu—oh, I mean, to Ms. Herta."
"Didn't you already collect some Aeon-related items before?" March asked.
"I did. Look, this is what I got." Rekka reached into his chest and pulled out a single, dazzling drop of golden blood. It pulsed like a miniature sun, so brilliant it was hard to look at directly. "The Golden Blood of Ruin. It's been inside my body this whole time."
"Quick, put your powers away!" March 7th waved her hands frantically, her earlier embarrassment completely forgotten.
"No wonder the blood was golden when your skin got scratched before!" Stelle's eyes widened in realization, recalling the wound Jingliu had inflicted on Rekka's chest.
"Can this thing be sold?" Stelle leaned in closer, squinting against the blinding light.
"Holding this basically makes you a Lord Ravager," Rekka said. "Stelle, why don't you use this to cosplay as Celenova next time?"
"I don't think I need to. If I just smile," Stelle said with a grin, "wouldn't that make me 'Star-Smile'?"
"You've been hanging around Rekka too much," Dan Heng deadpanned, not even looking up. "You know puns get your pay docked, right?" His gaze lingered on the drop of golden blood for a second before he deliberately looked away. "It's better to keep that thing safe," he advised. "If people find out you have that, being wanted will be the least of your problems when you go out."
Rekka returned the drop of golden blood to his body and patted his collar. "Don't worry, no one can take this but me. It's already bound to my soul."
"So you're a Lord Ravager now?" March asked, her eyes wide.
"Not really. Its power hasn't been activated; it's just chilling inside my body."
"Alright, alright," Himeko interjected, finally getting the meeting back on track. "I've received two commissions. One is to help the Starry Skies School of Ecology transport a shipment of Proboscis Beasts, and the other is to help the Danlun Monastery escort a group of war orphans..." She stood up, displaying the mission details. "Which one do you think we should take?"
"The war orphans," Dan Heng said without a moment's hesitation.
"Hmm, I think we can do both at the same time," Rekka proposed. "You guys go transport the Proboscis Beasts, and I'll go with Liliya and Rozaliya to escort the war orphans."
"Then let's split into two groups," Himeko decided. "Rozaliya, Liliya, Rekka, you're responsible for the Danlun Monastery's war orphan escort mission. The rest of us will handle transporting the Proboscis Beasts. Any problems?"
"I want to go protect the children," Stelle pouted.
"Exactly, exactly! Children represent infinite possibilities!" March chimed in.
"Stop messing around," Rekka said, hands on his hips. "We're just splitting up for a bit, not abandoning them."
The Danlun Monastery, a rare equilibrium faction composed of Borisins, Wingweavers, and Automatons, was a unique organization. Its monks wandered the cosmos, appearing wherever the Abominations of Abundance brought war. They performed rites for the deceased and took in any children they found, bringing them back to the monastery for reformative education.
They refused to harm any living creature, a principle they even extended to Automatons. Of course, the monks of Danlun were strict vegetarians, though one couldn't expect them to survive solely on photosynthesis.
The monk who contacted Rekka was a Borisin, and a remarkably kind one at that—a true rarity. Most Borisins struggled to control their innate Moon Rage, but the monks here practiced strict self-restraint, adhering to five core tenets: non-harming, non-propagation, non-greed, non-anger, and non-heedlessness.
A few Abominations of Abundance did appear during the transport, but they were unceremoniously crushed by the Hyperion like common speed bumps. What kind of trash-tier monster would dare pick a fight with the Hyperion?
"They look a little strange, but they're actually quite nice," Liliya commented as the monks loaded their payment onto the ship.
"Four tons of vegetables and fruits... how long is it going to take us to eat all this?" Rekka muttered, a little worried.
"But there's fruit, too, right?" Rozaliya asked hopefully.
"Three tons of vegetables and one ton of fruit..."
Rozaliya squatted next to a crate of tomatoes and poked one of the fruits, which was larger than both her hands put together. "This must have been affected by the Abundance..."
"No, maybe it's just naturally big," Rekka said, shaking his head. He found himself wondering how Himeko and the others were doing.
"You! Why didn't you say earlier they were mutant Proboscis Beasts!"
The seventy-odd creatures were thrashing so violently they nearly burst the cargo hold, and Dan Heng's anger gauge was completely full. He delivered a ferocious uppercut to the grinning old scholar who had commissioned them.
"Shoryuken!" Stelle shouted, gleefully joining the fray. "Dora, dora, dora!"
Together, Stelle and Dan Heng began stomping on the downed scholar.
Amidst the chaos, Welt calmly swirled the contents of his cup before downing it in one smooth motion.
'Wow, Mr. Yang is still the steady one,' March thought, impressed.
Then he set his cup down.
"Dora! Dora! Dora!"
See, this was what you called professional. Mr. Yang's refined method: drink first, then join the beatdown. Damage +1.
Welt gripped his twin canes, swinging them with the blurring speed of a wind-and-fire wheel.
"Mr. Yang, are we going to beat him to death?" Stelle asked between stomps.
"It's fine, I know what I'm doing," Welt replied calmly, his canes a whirlwind of precise strikes. "None of these blows are aimed at vital points. At most, he'll faint from the pain."
The old scholar's screams echoed through the cabin but were quickly drowned out by the rhythmic chorus of Stelle and Dan Heng's "Dora!"s. Welt's cane-swinging grew more and more proficient, taking on a fluid, almost graceful rhythm.
Thwack!
Welt struck the old scholar squarely on the buttocks with a cane. The man let out a pained "Ow!" as his body bounced up in an extremely distorted posture, only to be immediately stomped back to the floor by Dan Heng's boot.
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