Chapter 142: March 7th: Uncle Yang, Judging People by Their Looks Isn't Good
"One of the possibilities… the Path of Finality?" Jingliu murmured, a flicker of understanding dawning in her eyes after a moment of silence. "I hadn't expected you to walk that Path as well."
Leon remained noncommittal, offering only a faint, enigmatic smile.
'How could a mere Path be such an inconvenient thing?' he thought. In his eyes, the eighteen trajectories of the Aeons interwoven throughout the sea of stars were nothing more than a magnificent scroll, spread out for his perusal.
"Hmm? Wait a moment…" Leon's eyes crinkled with amusement. "Aren't you all the same?" he asked, giving an exaggerated, playful shrug.
Ring— Ring—
Just then, the phone in his pocket began to chime. A glance at the screen revealed the caller: Welt Yang.
A handsome, knowing curve formed at the corner of Leon's mouth. It seemed Welt had finally laid eyes on Luocha.
'Oh, I am so looking forward to this.'
Leon answered the call without a second's hesitation.
"Yo, Uncle Yang, morning!" he greeted cheerfully, beating the other man to the punch.
"Leon… you should know why I'm calling, right?" Welt's voice was strained, though he seemed to have wrestled back some of his usual composure. It was only now, in the throes of his shock, that he recalled how much Leon seemed to know about his past.
Which meant… that photo was sent deliberately.
'What a truly mischievous partner I have…' Welt thought grimly.
"'Hmm, I don't know, that's a real head-scratcher…'" Leon drawled, his voice practically overflowing with poorly suppressed laughter.
"Alright, Leon, I'm not joking with you. This is serious," Welt said, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "Where are you? Is that person still near you?"
"Don't panic. Feeling a little dizzy is perfectly normal," Leon said, his tone still light. "He's not with me anymore, but if you want to find him, you can just contact Dan Heng. Have him send you the location."
Sensing the genuine urgency in Welt's voice, Leon decided to drop the teasing and get straight to the point. He recalled that in the original story, Welt had managed to maintain his composure upon seeing Luocha. Then again, the fan-made content he'd seen always depicted a much more colorful reaction. Now that Leon had added his own little twist to the situation, he wasn't entirely sure if Welt could handle the shock.
"Alright… I'll contact Dan Heng right now."
Welt said nothing more and decisively ended the call, his finger already swiping across the screen to find Dan Heng's contact information.
"Uncle Yang?" March 7th asked cautiously, startled by Welt's rare display of gravity and haste.
"It's nothing, March," Welt sighed, his gaze still fixed on his phone as he waited for Dan Heng to answer. He decided a brief explanation was in order. "There's no concrete evidence, just… personal reasons. I feel it's necessary to investigate this person, that's all."
"You know him? Is there something wrong with him?" Serval leaned in, her curiosity piqued.
Welt's brow furrowed slightly, his gaze growing deep and distant. "How should I put this… It's because of his appearance."
"Uncle Yang! I thought you were about to reveal some devastating secret, but it turns out you're just judging by appearances?" March 7th's eyes went wide. She wagged her index finger disapprovingly. "That's not a good habit, Uncle Yang! You can't judge a book by its cover!"
"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day Uncle Yang got so flustered," Stelle immediately chimed in, mimicking March's finger-wagging gesture. "Judging people by their looks is bad!"
"Yeah," Caelus interjected suddenly, his expression completely deadpan. "I get angry just looking at him."
"His appearance? I actually think he's quite handsome," Serval chuckled, amused by the group's antics.
"Caelus, where is all this anger even coming from?" March 7th couldn't help but retort.
"Sorry, I mean… it's hard to explain," Welt shook his head, trying to organize his thoughts. "I can only say that my intuition is telling me this Mr. Luocha might be problematic. Forgive me, this is just my own speculation."
Listening to his companions' lighthearted banter, the knot of tension in Welt's chest loosened slightly.
'Perhaps the Otto of this world will be different?' he wondered. It was possible. After all, the Cocolia of Jarilo-VI was vastly different from the Cocolia he once knew. Jarilo-VI's Supreme Guardian had been a tragic figure forced into a desperate situation, whereas the one from his world had been rotten to the core.
"Still, how should I put it? I never took you for the type to make judgments based on a gut feeling, Uncle Yang," March 7th mused, still finding the situation a bit strange.
"There's no harm in telling you," Welt said, steadying himself. He spoke slowly, his voice taking on the weight of experience. "You know, there are countless similar, yet independent, world bubbles in the universe. And in these worlds, there are countless people with similar appearances but potentially vastly different fates."
"So, we often meet 'familiar strangers' in different worlds."
"They might have very different personalities… For example, in some other world, a girl as cute as you, March, might be a world-renowned interstellar thief."
His tone deepened. "But in most cases… the trajectories of these people with similar faces… often share an unsettling similarity."
"And I happen to have met two people who look exactly like this Luocha." Welt adjusted his glasses, the gaze behind the lenses turning sharp and complex. "They… were by no means good people."
"Therefore, the moment I see that face, I instinctively… feel a cold dread." He offered a bitter smile. "Although you're right, March, we shouldn't judge people by their looks. But for me, personally… I simply cannot turn a blind eye."
On the other side of the city, Dan Heng, Sushang, and Luocha were walking side by side.
"By the way, Poker Face," Sushang said, suddenly remembering something as she turned to Dan Heng. "Where's that handsome companion of yours? Why is he nowhere to be seen?"
"He had some business to attend to and left first," Dan Heng answered briefly, knowing she was referring to Leon.
"It's so chaotic right now and he's still running around by himself?" Sushang couldn't help but mutter.
"Don't worry, he's more than strong enough to protect himself. It's the Mara-Struck you should be worried about…"
Before Dan Heng could finish, he stopped dead in his tracks, his gaze snapping toward the shadows of a nearby alleyway. There, several twisted, staggering figures were slowly gathering.
"It looks like someone's hurt!" Sushang also spotted a blurry silhouette surrounded by those figures and exclaimed urgently.
"Wait. Don't act rashly." Dan Heng raised a hand, stopping her almost instinctively.
This scene, this dialogue… it gave him a subtle sense of déjà vu. During their past Trailblaze expeditions, he had often stopped March 7th in this exact same way.
"Poker Face, Luocha," Sushang lowered her voice, already assuming a combat stance. "Let's go in together, finish these guys off quickly, and save that girl!"
"Didn't you confidently say earlier to leave everything to me?" Luocha asked, a calm smile playing on his lips.
"I'm outnumbered here! Please, you two, help me out! After this is all over, I'll even apply for a Brave Citizen award for you!" Sushang pressed her palms together, pleading.
"Stop dawdling. Let's go."
Before his voice had finished echoing, Dan Heng's figure had already shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.
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