Sylvia didn't even try to hide the worried look in her eyes as she watched Mei.
Sylvia smiled and patted the back of Mei's hand. "Oh, come on, don't worry so much. If there's real danger, don't you think I'd know enough to run?"
"…I wouldn't bet on it."
Mei stared at Sylvia with a strange expression. Her gaze seemed to be saying, Do you think I'm stupid?
This lack of trust left Sylvia speechless.
"Look, I'll go consult with a Memokeeper beforehand. If you're still really worried, you can just come to Dreamflux Reef when the time comes."
"Mm, I will."
Mei agreed to Sylvia's suggestion almost without a second thought.
Or rather, even if Sylvia hadn't suggested it, Mei definitely would have been guarding the Dreamflux Reef anyway.
If anything went wrong, she would just slice open that thick vortex of Memoria to give Sylvia a chance to escape.
As for the Family, Sylvia wasn't too worried. With so many eyes on them, the Family wouldn't dare stop Robin and the Astral Express from sealing the Stellaron. They weren't foolish, after all.
--+--
After finishing their business—and personal—talk, Sylvia planned to stop by Ruan Mei's lab to take a look. She hoped the number of Dragonborn hadn't continued to increase at the previous rate.
But unfortunately, after touching down, Sylvia discovered to her dismay that Ruan Mei was no longer satisfied with just experimenting on animals.
In her garden, there was a whole mess of flowers and plants with roots wiggling around as they ran wild.
There were also several giant, unknown trees that had popped up out of nowhere, looking eerily similar to the dragon-head roots of the Ambrosial Arbor.
"…I have to say, why are you cultivating plants too? Does this have anything to do with your research?" Sylvia couldn't help but grumble as she saw Ruan Mei stepping out of the lab.
Ruan Mei just smiled. "Just a simple experiment. I intended to verify a few things, but the results were better than expected."
"You really are turning my place into a den of monsters…" Sylvia's mouth twitched; she truly couldn't handle this.
These Dragonborn were originally roughly on par with the average Vidyadhara in quality. But Ruan Mei had poured all her previous iterations of serums into these guys. The result? Every single one of them was tough as leather and had incredible strength.
If an ordinary Pathstrider walked by, they might get swatted away by the roadside weeds.
Sylvia didn't even dare to imagine how she would develop her future once these Dragonborn spread across the planet. What would happen if other Dragonborn invaded?
"They're all sterile individuals anyway, so what does it matter? The Dragonborn have so many branches, can they even count them all themselves?" Ruan Mei remained completely indifferent.
At most, these Dragonborn might be capable of reincarnation like the Vidyadhara.
However, since this hadn't been verified in practice, and given that the artificial Dragonborn kept running into various issues, Ruan Mei couldn't guarantee that every individual could successfully perform this act—and even if they could, there was no guarantee they could keep reincarnating indefinitely.
In other words, the future of these Dragonborn would only mirror the fate of those in the cosmos: a constant, rapid decline in numbers. Sylvia's worries were entirely redundant.
"..."
Sylvia curled her lip. She was a professional; she couldn't win this argument.
"Compared to that, why don't you head to the Xianzhou? A single scale from a High Elder would be enough for my research. Or, failing that, a few strands of hair would suffice."
"You really don't care if the Xianzhou Alliance hunts me down, do you?"
Faced with Sylvia's retort, Ruan Mei continued to hit the nail on the head with professional precision.
"If I recall correctly, there's something wrong with the current High Elder of the Xianzhou Luofu. If you could transform into a dragon, I'm sure the Vidyadhara would worship you like an ancestor."
"But I don't really want to be worshipped by the Vidyadhara."
"Then you don't want to transform into a dragon? If you want to walk the Path of Permanence, transforming is an unavoidable milestone at this point."
"..."
Blast it!
How did Ruan Mei always manage to corner her with professionalism? Couldn't she just argue back without being an expert? Sylvia couldn't help but complain to herself.
Regrettably, Ruan Mei was right. As far as current knowledge of the Path of Permanence went, dragon transformation was truly an inescapable point.
Without becoming a dragon, one didn't even have the qualification to take a seat at the table.
"Fine, fine. I can't beat your logic. I'll give it a try."
Seeing Sylvia surrender, Ruan Mei nodded in satisfaction and reached out to pet Sylvia's head.
Sylvia didn't appreciate it. Ruan Mei's standard "graceful oriental beauty" demeanor was better suited for being held in someone's arms, not for being the one patting heads!
Besides, Sylvia didn't intend to go to the Luofu immediately; there was still a former High Elder wandering out there. She would try finding him first.
Sylvia pulled out her phone and sent a message to the Astral Express group chat:
[Sylvia: Hey everyone, is the Belobog business done? Where are you planning to go next?]
[March 7th: Whoa? The legendary silent lurker decided to send a message?]
[Stelle: [Pom-Pom thumbs up]]
[Himeko: If everything goes as planned, we'll take a short rest and then head to Penacony. Did you have a suggestion, Sylvia?]
[Sylvia: Not really a suggestion, but there's something I want to discuss with Dan Heng. It might be easier to explain face-to-face. Are you interested in dropping by Separius?]
[March 7th: Huh??? You want to talk to Dan Heng? Did the sun explode?]
[Dan Heng: …]
[Dan Heng: What is it?]
[Sylvia: It's like this—]
There was no need for secrecy within the Express crew, so Sylvia laid out exactly what she and Ruan Mei had been working on.
[Dan Heng: …]
[March 7th: …]
[Stelle: …]
[Welt: …]
As Dan Heng read halfway through, the ellipses didn't stop. The others who had been to the Scalegorge Waterscape also followed suit with their own strings of dots.
They all knew exactly what the situation was with the Vidyadhara and why Dan Heng's past incarnation had been exiled! And yet, here they were, and Sylvia was telling them that she and Ruan Mei had quietly birthed a whole nest of new Dragonborn?
If Dan Feng were still alive, he'd probably deserve a Fool's mask for this.
[Himeko: It seems there are no objections. Then, before we head to Penacony, let's go see Sylvia first.]
[Dan Heng: @Sylvia I'll consider your request.]
[Sylvia: Whatever works. But if you aren't interested, stay away from Ruan Mei, or she'll force you to be interested.]
[Dan Heng: I'll be careful. Thank you.]
After saying that, Dan Heng went offline. According to March 7th's relay, Dan Heng had returned to the archives right after sending the message, looking quite conflicted.
As for Stelle, she was asking Sylvia if she wanted to go to the Luofu and kidnap the other half of the High Elder.
She said she'd recently learned several kidnapping techniques and was looking for a place to practice. Sylvia immediately forwarded Stelle's message to Himeko, asking her to help educate the wayward child.
What a joyous occasion~
--+--
Meanwhile, on Penacony.
"Hey, lady, didn't I just finish doing your dirty work? Why are you asking for help again? I haven't even gotten my mask back yet."
The blue-haired youth looked glumly at Sparkle, who had popped out of nowhere to block his path.
"Oh, don't be like that. We really have a good thing going this time, which is why I thought of bringing you along." Sparkle stood with her hands on her hips, giggling.
"Besides... who told you to stay on Penacony for so long? If you'd gone to the Tavern to get your mask earlier, would I have been able to catch you?"
"I was just thinking that since I'm visiting the Planet of Festivities, I might as well stay a few more days and enjoy myself," Sampo sighed. They had agreed that the deal was closed, so why was she knocking on his door again?
"This is a real goodie. Take a look at this~" Sparkle giggled and pulled a red-and-white fox mask from her sleeve.
"Isn't that just your own... hmm? Whose mask is this? You have a sidekick now?"
Sampo initially thought Sparkle was giving him her mask, but upon closer inspection, he realized the power inside didn't belong to her. And the power it contained was terrifyingly strong.
"No, no, no~" Seeing Sampo's reaction, Sparkle laughed even harder.
"Don't be startled when I say this, but this mask hasn't found its owner yet~ I'm coming to you for this very reason. Let's find it a host with an auction~"
"Mm-hmm..." Sampo blinked. Uh oh, his curiosity had been piqued.
While every Masked Fool pursued their own brand of entertainment, they all shared a love for chaos and an irrepressible curiosity for stirring up trouble.
"We're good friends, aren't we? Of course I'd think of you for a good time. Come, come, let's talk details~" Sparkle winked, knowing he was hooked. Excellent, now the cast was assembled.
--+--
The Astral Express arrived even faster than Sylvia had expected—they probably didn't have much else to do.
About six or seven standard hours later, the Express successfully docked at the starport outside the atmosphere. The moment the train doors opened, Stelle charged toward Sylvia with a rope in hand, clearly ready to kidnap her.
Having anticipated this, Sylvia flipped her wrist and stuffed a cute, fluffy little Dragonborn into Stelle's arms.
Although Sylvia had her reservations about Ruan Mei mass-producing these creatures, she had to admit that Ruan Mei's aesthetic was always on point. While the varieties differed, without exception, not a single one was ugly.
"Whoa—?! What is this?! It's so fluffy, let me pet it!" March 7th was predictably drawn to the little one, successfully blocking Stelle's impulsive advance.
Dan Heng, on the other hand, frowned as he looked at the little creature. "This is..."
Dan Heng sensed a familiar power from the little fellow. The aura, unable to be concealed due to its youth, undoubtedly belonged to the Path of Permanence.
"This is Ruan Mei's creation. There are plenty more downstairs."
"..."
Dan Heng was speechless. He tried to console himself, at least these Dragonborn weren't humanoid. Though he didn't doubt Ruan Mei could do that, it was a comforting excuse to hold onto.
Seeing the usually stoic Dan Heng struggle to maintain his composure, Sylvia stifled a laugh. "But... whether they are successful Dragonborn remains to be seen over a few cycles."
"What do you mean?"
"Ruan Mei isn't deranged enough to use these little ones to verify the 'longevity characteristics' of the Dragonborn yet. So, while there are no errors in theory, no one knows if they can truly reincarnate."
Sylvia spread her hands. This was really just something Ruan Mei had told her for the sake of scientific rigor.
Just because there was no control group didn't mean Ruan Mei couldn't casually clone an Emanator of Propagation.
Creating a High Elder might be impossible, but after becoming familiar with Permanence, creating Dragonborn was truly a walk in the park. Sylvia didn't believe Ruan Mei's "rigorous" speech for a second.
In Ruan Mei's mouth, was there really a difference between ninety percent certainty and one hundred percent?
However, this rhetoric successfully comforted Dan Heng.
"Can... can I go down and take a look?"
Dan Heng had perhaps carefully considered the risks, but he ultimately decided to go down and see for himself. He didn't want to admit it, but having inherited so many of Dan Feng's memories, he still possessed a significant degree of empathy for the predicament faced by the Vidyadhara.
So... when he stood here, right in front of the existence who could produce Dragonborn at will, Dan Heng decided he had to see it. If only to resolve his obsession.
"Uh, if you've thought it through, feel free. Just don't go poking around Ruan Mei's lab; everywhere else is fine to wander." Seeing Dan Heng's serious expression, Sylvia wasn't sure what he was mulling over.
But she certainly approved of him going down. That put her one step closer to her own dragon transformation.
"I'm going too, I'm going too! Sylvia, I want to go play! Dan Heng, you rascal, trying to sneak off!" March 7th held the little creature in one arm while dragging Stelle by the other, completely oblivious to Dan Heng's mood, thinking he just wanted to go down for fun.
Sylvia waved them off, letting them head down on their own. As for her, she turned toward Himeko.
Himeko watched the trio leave the starport before looking at Sylvia. "What's wrong? Is there something you need?"
"There is something. It's regarding Penacony."
Sylvia figured that since she was a member of the Express crew, she might as well let the train crew get involved.
Seeing Sylvia's expression, Himeko grew serious, knowing something important was coming. Even Welt stopped in his tracks, pushing up his glasses as he looked toward Sylvia.
"Care to elaborate?"
"It's like this..."
Sylvia didn't mention the opera house explosion, but instead introduced her plan to hold a Masked Fool auction and the reasons behind it.
"..."
"..."
Himeko and Welt exchanged a glance, both seeing a resolution in each other's eyes.
"It looks like we'll be heading to Penacony a little earlier than expected. And the facts you've mentioned are things we are very concerned about as well." Himeko didn't even ask for further details before agreeing.
Welt couldn't help but sigh: "I never expected the Family to be secretly controlling a Stellaron... I wonder if those Nameless from back then are still doing well."
Sylvia blinked. Himeko took the opportunity to explain: "I hadn't mentioned it to you yet, Sylvia, but in the past, when Penacony was still a frontier prison, the Astral Express visited. Three Nameless stayed behind and participated in the liberation and reconstruction of Penacony."
"Hmm... you hadn't told me. But, were their names Mikhail, Tiernan, and Razalina?"
"You know them?"
"I heard tales of their deeds in a certain corner of Penacony. In short... it's a pity, but all three of them are likely gone." Sylvia shook her head and sighed.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL