Whoosh—
Within the sea of stars, a ship of the Whistling Flames Guild sped forward.
Crossing boundless constellations, it flew toward Pier Point.
"This starfield is really quiet. There aren't even any interstellar pirates around."
After finishing the documents in her hands, Tingyun took a sip of tea and gazed out at the starry sky beyond the porthole.
The ship had already left the jurisdiction of the Xianzhou Alliance and was sailing toward its distant destination.
"Mm..."
The foxian girl calculated which star systems she would need to visit later.
When she next had the opportunity to meet the Sacrosanct, what gift should she bring?
"The Starsea Empire is abundant in resources. I'm afraid the little trinkets from here wouldn't even catch the Sacrosanct's eye. Even the pills from the Alchemy Commission feel somewhat lacking in sincerity..."
"Mm... it's so hard to choose..."
Tingyun browsed through the Whistling Flames Guild's product catalog for quite a while, yet found nothing satisfactory.
"Forget it, forget it. I'll just ask the Sacrosanct about his preferences when the time comes, then decide..."
She rose and stretched.
Glancing at the time, she had already been working for more than ten hours. It was time to rest.
As the chief of the merchant guild, she did not need to share quarters with the crew of the Sky-Faring Commission.
At the top of the ship, Tingyun had a spacious residence of her own.
After carefully washing up, she combed the fur of her tail with a boxwood comb, applied fragrant ointment, and wrapped it in plain cloud silk.
"Haa—"
Days of space travel were exhausting. Before long, the girl drifted into sleep.
"..."
In the dark and ethereal depths of space, everything was silent. Aside from the occasional low conversation between navigation officers on rotating duty, the ship was immersed in stillness.
Whoosh!
No one knew how much time had passed when Tingyun suddenly jolted awake from her sleep, a bone-chilling cold spreading through her body.
"Strange... could there be a malfunction in the ship?"
Still groggy, she sat up and looked around.
Pitch darkness surrounded her.
Not far away, a cluster of cyan-blue flames hovered in midair, gazing down at her.
"!!!"
Tingyun's heart skipped a beat.
"What is that?!"
"Mm... little girl, your reaction is quite fast."
"Are you the one responsible for exchanges between the Xianzhou Alliance and the Starsea Empire?"
Phantylia observed the foxian girl before her with interest, like a predator eyeing its prey.
"Who are you?!"
Alarmed, Tingyun flipped upright, gripping her folding fan tightly as she stared at the mass of flames.
She glanced around. The ship remained quiet, as if no one had noticed what was happening here.
An enemy capable of infiltrating the interior of the ship without a sound was certainly no ordinary threat.
"Don't waste your effort. Even if you call the others, it would make no difference."
Phantylia's voice carried a hint of teasing.
"I am Lord Ravager Phantylia. I wish to visit the Xianzhou and the Starsea Empire. I wonder if you would be willing to do me a small favor?"
Lord Ravager!
Tingyun instinctively stepped back two paces.
That was an Emanator of Destruction, an executor of the Aeon of Destruction's will—a weapon of annihilation.
Every appearance of a Lord Ravager spelled enormous trouble.
Their strength and oppressive presence were beyond question. Once targeted, ordinary people had virtually no chance of survival.
She did not understand why this Lord Ravager had not simply destroyed the ship outright, but instead infiltrated it quietly. It was completely different from the impression she had held before.
"What do you want to do?"
Tingyun grew even more vigilant, retreating step by step as she questioned her.
Swish—
The flames before her shifted, transforming.
They took the form of a foxian girl identical to herself.
The same clothes, the same ornaments—down to the patterns in the fur of her ears and tail.
"This humble one greets her benefactor."
Phantylia spoke softly. Even her voice was indistinguishable from Tingyun's—gentle, with a faintly alluring undertone.
A smile curved her lips as she advanced step by step.
"Wait!"
"You're going to—?!..."
It might have seemed like a mere twisted amusement, yet Tingyun felt a freezing chill pierce her bones.
In a flash of realization, she understood what Phantylia intended.
To replace her. To become her. To assume her identity as the Amicassador of the Sky-Faring Commission.
Compared to launching a grand assault on the Xianzhou, this method was far more insidious.
"I'm sorry, but this humble one has no intention of agreeing."
Click—
She attempted to send out an alarm, only to find that the ship's communications had already been severed by some unknown means.
Step by step, she was forced into a corner by Phantylia.
Realizing there was no escape, Tingyun gathered her strength. Pouring every ounce of power into her folding fan, she condensed imaginary energy and struck at Phantylia with all her might.
"Hah—!"
Smack!—
Phantylia blocked the attack effortlessly with one hand.
Tingyun had never been adept at combat to begin with. The power of a Lord Ravager was far beyond anything she could contend with.
Under absolute suppression of strength, she could not even mount a proper counterattack.
"Useless, Miss Amicassador."
With a slight squeeze of her hand, Phantylia bound Tingyun in imaginary energy, suspending her in midair.
"Mm!"
"Mm... how should I deal with you?"
"I wonder what would happen if I turned you into a Voidranger?"
She asked with a smile.
"!!!"
Tingyun clenched her teeth, her entire body trembling.
She felt utter despair.
The gap in their strength was too vast. She had no ability to resist.
Not even the slightest fragment of information could be transmitted. She could only watch helplessly as everything was taken from her.
Whether the Starsea Empire would be able to see through Phantylia's disguise, Tingyun did not know. But her colleagues aboard this ship—and the Xianzhou—would certainly not notice.
After replacing her, what did Phantylia intend to do? Sow discord? Exploit her identity to scheme in secret? Or some other sinister plan?
No matter what, once that happened, chaos would inevitably follow.
"I... won't..."
Just as Phantylia touched Tingyun and was about to pour Destruction's power into her—
Suddenly.
Boom!!—
A powerful repulsive force burst from her fingertips.
Bang!
Rumble!!—
Centered on Tingyun, a violent storm of energy erupted.
A raging tide of power swept across the upper half of the ship. The upper section of the bridge was reduced to dust in an instant.
"What?!"
Smack!
Caught off guard, Phantylia was blasted away by the force and slammed into the bulkhead on the opposite side of the ship.
The impact was so tremendous that the entire vessel shuddered.
"Ah?!"
"What's going on?!"
The crew members below were startled awake, clamoring in confusion.
"Cough, cough—"
"Huh?"
Freed from her restraints, Tingyun fell to the ground. Shaking her head, she slowly sat up, still in shock.
She looked around in confusion.
She discovered that a pale blue barrier had formed around her, isolating her from all external attacks.
"This is?... What just happened?..."
Hummm...
A talisman at her waist was emitting a gentle glow.
"Ah... this was given by the Sacrosanct..."
Startled, Tingyun removed it and clutched it in her hand.
When returning to the Xianzhou from the Starsea Empire, Setsuna had casually crafted several protective charms and given them to the delegation. She had kept hers with her ever since.
Coming back to her senses, Tingyun immediately ordered the navigation officers to issue a warning and request reinforcements from the Xianzhou.
"Quick, contact the Xianzhou!!!"
"Whistling Flames Guild vessel under the Sky-Faring Commission has encountered an attack from a Lord Ravager! Coordinates—Nas 6HD3..."
"Repeat, coordinates Nas 6HD3..."
At the same time—
Whoosh—
After the energy was triggered, a beacon signal spread outward into the surrounding space.
"Cough—"
Phantylia had been struck so hard she saw stars, nearly unable to maintain her form.
It was merely magic sealed within a small trinket, yet it had almost killed her when it detonated without warning.
It took her quite some time to steady herself. Rising to her feet, she stared at Tingyun, unable to discern what trick she had used.
The ship was in shambles. The Cloud Knights deployed aboard had been alerted and were gradually forming a perimeter.
They stared in astonishment at the two identical Tingyuns, unable to distinguish which was real.
"Miss Tingyun... no, wait— which one is the real Miss Tingyun?!..."
"Tch..."
Phantylia glanced around.
She did not place the ship's guards in her eyes. Even if the Xianzhou dispatched reinforcements, defeating a Lord Ravager would be no easy feat.
But she could no longer eliminate Tingyun silently. Whether the Starsea Empire would send assistance was also uncertain.
A head-on confrontation did not suit Phantylia's style. Combined with the injury she had just suffered, the risks were too great.
The plan had changed.
Her figure flickered as she prepared to depart.
Crack—
A sound of space shattering echoed overhead.
Three starships slowly emerged from the void. The flagship was a light-black battlecruiser—Amagi.
"Alright, alright, Miss Tingyun, no need to call for reinforcements."
"We and the Commander received the beacon long ago."
Atago's somewhat languid voice rang out.
Click—
The hatch opened. Tohru was the first to leap down. From each of the ships, five or six shipgirls jumped out, more than a dozen of them surrounding the area together.
"???"
Phantylia froze for a moment, utterly unable to comprehend how Tingyun had managed to summon such a crowd in so short a time.
She did not recognize shipgirls or dragon maidens.
"..."
Tohru sized her up.
"Where's your Antimatter Legion? Can you call them out so we can have a proper fight?"
"There are quite a lot of us here. Beating up just one person would be pretty boring."
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