Chapter 133: Qingque: "Strange… How Come I Can't Seem to Find Your Entry Permit Records?"
"Strange… how come I can't seem to find your entry permit records?" Qingque murmured, her fingers tapping away at the terminal. She looked up from the screen, her expression a mask of confusion.
"That's because we never had any entry permits to begin with," Leon answered with a placid smile.
A sense of deep foreboding instantly bloomed in Qingque's heart. "You guys… you aren't stowaways, are you?"
"What kind of talk is that? What kind of talk is that?" Leon spread his hands in a gesture of mock innocence. "It's just that your Luofu entry system is having some issues, so we couldn't register."
"That's true, too…" Qingque nodded slowly, but her hand subconsciously fished out a few jade tiles and coins from her sleeve, quietly casting a divination for herself under the cover of the console.
'Eh? Why is the hexagram so strange… Let me look again.'
This was clearly a chaotic omen—a tangled mess where fortune and misfortune were intertwined, auspiciousness and ominousness accompanied each other, benefits and harms followed one another, and gains and losses coexisted.
Qingque immediately became alert. 'No… this is very wrong.' The hexagram she had cast for herself before leaving this morning hadn't looked anything like this! It had only been half a day; how could the heavenly secrets fall into such disarray?
Although her divination skills were a far cry from Master Fu Xuan's, such a drastic change in a hexagram within a single day was definitely not normal.
A prickling sensation crawled across Qingque's scalp. 'Oh no,'she thought with a grimace,'I'm about to grow a brain.'
"Alright, alright, it's nothing to do with you guys. You can go," she said, hastily putting away the tiles and coins. She waved a dismissive hand, deciding it was far better not to dwell on it any further.
"By the way," she added, her eyes brightening with a familiar spark, "the game of Celestial Jade we didn't finish earlier… still want to play?" Since things had come to this, she might as well play some tiles first! If the sky falls, Lady Fu Xuan will be there to hold it up.
"Okay, okay! I'll play!" Aha immediately leaned forward, a wide, gleeful smile spreading across his face.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Starskiff Harbor.
"Welcome, everyone from the Express Crew—you've 'caught' me." Kafka's steps came to a halt. She turned, a faint smile playing on her lips, as she was finally surrounded by the Astral Express crew on an open platform.
Of course, it was less a case of being surrounded and captured, and more a matter of her having calculated the timing perfectly, "just happening" to be waiting there for them.
"Mommy Kafka! I caught you!" Stelle lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Kafka's legs.
Kafka's smile froze. '…Oh no. As expected, it was that guy Leon who corrupted my Stelle.'Tingyun, who stood nearby, averted her gaze.'…I can't bear to look, I really can't. How on earth did this person earn Nanook's gaze?'
The rest of the Astral Express crew collectively pretended they didn't know her.
Caelus watched Stelle's successful maneuver with a look of deep regret. The move his big brother had demonstrated earlier was clearly effective, but Stelle had beaten him to it. Damn it.
"Stelle, be serious! Don't be so embarrassing!" March 7th couldn't help but chop Stelle lightly on the head before pulling her back into the group.
"Show your cards, Kafka." Welt pushed up his glasses, his tone calm and measured. "Our arrival here must be within your plans."
"Not plans, but 'future'," Kafka corrected with a light chuckle. "We intervene in countless possibilities, turning the best one into reality. No need to flatter us, Mr. Welt… The Stellaron Hunters are nothing more than slaves to destiny."
"'The best future'? For whom?" March 7th looked completely unconvinced. "I don't believe you'd ever think of others."
"The whole universe… do you believe it?" The corners of Kafka's eyes lifted in amusement. She then smiled, a hint of self-interest in her voice. "Of course, it's 'for me'."
"We will take you to see the Luofu's General," Welt said, his voice deepening. "Since you claim innocence, you might as well explain it to him. He will make the judgment."
"The Luofu's General?" Kafka chuckled twice. "I'm afraid he doesn't know yet that a huge amount of trouble is waiting for him just ahead."
"However…" She changed the subject, her tone becoming leisurely and drawn-out. "I hate acting according to someone else's pace. Time is running out. Hurry up and make your move, otherwise… it'll be too late."
The moment her voice fell, Kafka had already moved with fluid elegance. Her dual guns spun gracefully between her fingers, and silver bullet casings rained down like metallic teardrops beside her high heels.
She nodded slightly, her right hand, clad in a black glove, lifting gently. Then, her eyes snapped open. "Finally here."
In the next second, Fu Xuan's figure materialized in mid-air. "Petty tricks," her voice was cold, her gaze as sharp as lightning. "Every move you make is already within the calculations of the Dharma Eye."
"Divination Commission, Fu Xuan. I am taking over the wanted criminal now."
Kafka smiled and tossed her dual guns aside, raising her hands high as if in surrender, yet her posture remained utterly unbothered. "Don't be so confident, Grand Diviner."
Her lazy voice was laced with a hint of subtle teasing. "If your Dharma Eye were to attempt to observe 'Nous'… what do you think would happen?"
The question drifted through the air, reaching the ears of Leon, who was watching the scene unfold from a distance. He found it particularly interesting. 'This guy Elio… he really is worthy of being the cat that calls itself the "slave of destiny." He could even catch a glimpse of this.'
To Fu Xuan's ears, however, the words were particularly grating. "Hmph. There's no need to spout such nonsense," she said coldly.
"Yes, yes, yes…" Kafka's smile didn't fade. "It's just, Grand Diviner, have you ever cast a hexagram for yourself, for the Xianzhou Luofu, or for your General Jing Yuan…?"
Her gaze toward Fu Xuan unconsciously carried a hint of pity. "I'll offer a kind reminder: it's better to make preparations early. After all, the world hasn't slid into the worst possible situation just yet. Otherwise, the sky over the Luofu… would probably really collapse."
'Destruction, Remembrance, Preservation, Elation, Erudition are all on this land,'Kafka mused silently.'Any slight carelessness could stir up waves of annihilation. Yet the Luofu's high-level officials, still kept in the dark, are completely unaware. This is truly…'
Aha, watching from afar, clapped his hands in silent, rapturous delight. This was too much fun.
"Nonsense! Once you are in the Matrix of Prescience, you will confess everything yourself," Fu Xuan frowned, too lazy to waste any more words with Kafka. 'Go tell it to my Matrix of Prescience.'
The Cloud Knights who had been waiting on the side quickly stepped forward and took Kafka into custody.
"Everyone from the Express Crew, it's a pleasure to meet you… although I shouldn't say it, I have indeed met you all in my foresight." Fu Xuan turned to face Welt and his group, her posture dignified. "I am one of the Six Charioteers of the Xianzhou, Grand Diviner of the Divination Commission, Fu Xuan."
"Oh, so you're the Fu Xuan that big brother talked about! The one who's small in stature and has a cocky expression!" Stelle and Caelus exclaimed, looks of sudden realization dawning on their faces.
A vein pulsed on Fu Xuan's forehead. '…Damn it, was that Leon who said that? He actually said I was short! Damn it, so hateful!'
The rest of the Astral Express crew showed equally awkward expressions. Stelle and Caelus were far too honest; how could they say that to Fu Xuan's face? But then again, looking at Grand Diviner Fu Xuan's height… she really was a little one. And quite cute, at that.
Serval's thoughts drifted to her younger sister, Lynx. Weren't the two of them about the same height?
"Friends coming from afar, I should have welcomed you with fine wine," Fu Xuan said, her face a mask of stern professionalism. "But since the three elements of Heaven, Earth, and Man have not yet aligned, the banquet must be postponed for some time. Let's talk about serious matters first."
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