The colossal Xianzhou stretched across the starfield.
If one didn't see it with their own eyes,
it was impossible to grasp just how overwhelming the sight was.
That golden glow from earlier—
It came from the massive golden rings embedded along the hull.
Only after the Astral Express passed through
did the ship's true form come clearly into view.
A gigantic azure-colored vessel,
its entire body wreathed in drifting auspicious clouds.
But these weren't ordinary clouds—
They were manifestations of Path energy, infused with Imaginary power.
The Hunt.
That's right.
The Xianzhou Luofu was one of the six great vessels of the Xianzhou Alliance,
devoted to the Aeon of the Hunt—Lan, the Reignbow Arbiter.
Even though Evan now possessed an Emanator-level "super battery,"
this was still his first time witnessing a ship of such scale.
It was impossible not to feel awed.
"Photos! Photos!"
"Dan Heng, Evan, Himeko, Uncle Yang, Stelle—get over here!"
March 7th whipped out her camera without hesitation
and set it to timed capture.
Click!
"Woo! Trailblazing!"
"The Xianzhou is hereee!"
Amid March 7th's excitement,
the Astral Express arrived before the Jade Gate.
For a vessel as massive as the Xianzhou,
all incoming and outgoing ships entered through the Jade Gate—
escorted by the Sky-Faring Commission
into the Star Skiff Haven.
Every visiting ship had to register with the Sky-Faring Commission.
The Astral Express was no exception.
"This is the Astral Express, now entering the Xianzhou Luofu starfield."
"We request registration with the Sky-Faring Commission."
"Crew information has been uploaded. Requesting landing permission."
Since the timeline was slightly earlier,
Xianzhou was still relatively safe.
After all—
The Jade Gate was only sealed after disaster struck.
So a routine identity check posed no issue for now.
Sure enough, a response came quickly.
"Received. Identity verification complete."
"Welcome to Xianzhou Luofu. Please proceed to the Luofu spaceport and await further instructions."
"Have a pleasant journey."
...
This time, Himeko chose to stay behind with the train.
Dan Heng had no intention of disembarking either.
Thus, the landing party consisted of
March 7th, Stelle, Welt,
and—of course—Evan, the ever-present add-on.
"Something feels off…"
"I keep getting the feeling something big is about to happen."
"My heart's pounding."
As a beam of light descended,
the group appeared at the Star Skiff Haven spaceport.
"Yeah, my eyelid's twitching too,"
Evan replied.
"Back where I'm from, they say left-eye twitch means joy, right-eye twitch means money."
"Hey! Both my eyelids are twitching!"
"Does that mean I'm getting rich?!"
Stelle pressed a hand to her eyes, visibly excited.
Nearby, Welt stood quietly, gripping the Star of Eden cane,
his expression was solemn.
This guy…
Was he really an Emanator?
Why did he feel just as childish as March 7th and Stelle sometimes?
Honestly…
Before long, a star skiff slowly approached from within the Xianzhou.
"Greetings, Nameless of the Astral Express."
"I am an acting escort envoy of the Sky-Faring Commission."
"These Cloud Knights from the Divination Commission will inspect the items you've brought with you."
An acting escort envoy?
Evan's gaze turned subtly strange as he looked at the foxian girl before them.
But he didn't need to speak—
Welt stepped forward naturally.
"No problem. All carried items are listed here."
"However… there is one thing that requires special attention."
"Hm?"
At the envoy's prompt,
Evan casually pulled something out of Imaginary space.
The wreckage of a star skiff dropped onto the platform.
"This is something we found earlier in a dead zone," Evan said.
"There were markings belonging to the Minghuo Commerce Guild, so…"
He gestured toward the wreckage.
Standard star skiffs weren't large—
one person could operate them.
But long-range trade skiffs were significantly bigger.
This wreck belonged to that category.
If not for the fact that only a small portion remained,
they wouldn't have been able to bring it aboard the train at all.
"Star skiff… Minghuo… Commerce Guild…"
The acting envoy frowned deeply,
her gaze fixed on the wreckage as her expression grew serious.
The nearby Cloud Knights stiffened as well,
hands tightening on their weapons—
ready to respond at any moment.
"Envoy," one of them reported,
"inspection confirms these claw marks belong to the Borisin."
"There are no bodies. Based on the blood traces, the victims were likely Xianzhou citizens."
"No messages were left behind."
"This was most likely an ambush."
"..."
"I understand."
The acting envoy nodded slowly, her expression heavy.
A trace of restrained sorrow flowed through her eyes.
"Secure the wreckage and transport it back to the Sky-Faring Commission."
"And—"
"Deploy personnel to the Star Skiff Haven. Increase vigilance for all incoming visitors."
She then turned back to the group.
"Nameless of the Astral Express, our apologies."
"Please accompany me to the Sky-Faring Commission."
"We will need to conduct a more thorough verification of your identities."
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