Fu Shi jumped back warily, "Yeah right! You think I'm three years old?!"
------------------------------------
Aha's hand froze midair, but he wasn't the least bit annoyed. Instead, he laughed so hard his body swayed.
"Since you don't believe Aha, then Aha will show you a little trick!"
As his voice fell, a surge of immense energy suddenly poured into Fu Shi's body, the power was warm but not scorching. Just as Fu Shi's eyes brightened, wanting to savor its mystery, it vanished without a trace.
Aha shook his head, his coaxing tone laced with slyness.
"How about it? Didn't lie to you, right? Come have some fun with me~ Even if you can't become a Stellaron Hunter, at least you'll see something new. Better than wandering around aimlessly here, hahaha!"
Fu Shi's brows furrowed tightly.
"This power… who exactly are you?"
Aha fanned his folding fan, a glint of amusement flashing in his eyes.
"Me? I used to be a Nameless passenger aboard the Astral Express. But…"
He suddenly raised his fan and pointed into the distance.
"Look over there! I can already hear laughter coming from that way~ Shall we go?"
Following his direction, Fu Shi saw a group of people gathered, clearly arguing, there wasn't the slightest trace of laughter.
Her vigilance hadn't yet faded, but her mouth gave in first.
"…Fine, let's go have a look."
"Ah, that's more like it!" Aha burst into laughter, reaching out to pull him along, but Fu Shi swiftly dodged aside.
Aha didn't mind, happily skipping ahead with a light step as if walking on clouds, humming a tuneless melody.
"Off to have some fun~ Become an Aeon~ Hahaha!"
Following behind that flamboyant figure, Fu Shi couldn't help rolling her eyes, though her pace quickened slightly as she muttered in her heart, 'Well, since there's nothing better to do, I might as well… play along with this lunatic for a while.'
The man wearing sunglasses sneered, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Heh, I get it now~ In your words, this is called 'taking advantage of a fire,' isn't it?"
The Foxian woman replied, "I'm trying to reason with you right now!"
The sunglasses man snorted, his tone growing sharp.
"It's not like I haven't dealt with you Sky-Faring Commission people before. I'm used to your troublesome ways. But now you're openly robbing our IPC's goods, isn't that going a bit too far?"
The man beside the Foxian sighed helplessly and interjected patiently, "I've told you many times already, as long as, "
Not far away, Fu Shi listened to the tense exchange and couldn't help curling her lip.
"What's this? Just some petty quarrel, where's the fun in that?"
Aha waved his fan.
"Aha can already smell strong 'Joy' radiating from that man in sunglasses. He definitely won't disappoint me, hahaha!"
Fu Shi shot him a side glance and quipped, "Are you a dog or something? How can you smell that?"
Before the words had faded, Fu Shi suddenly froze.
In the distance, Yanqing was walking toward them with a group, and among the crowd was a familiar figure that made her subconsciously mutter,
"Running into Fu Lin again… isn't the Xianzhou Luofu a bit too small?"
Aha followed his gaze, eyes narrowing in satisfaction.
"Mmm~ my little sweetheart is here too. Still brimming with 'Joy,' and carrying the scent of 'Akivili.' Aha really likes him, hahaha!"
Fu Shi immediately frowned in warning.
"Hey~ I know you always talk in riddles, but don't you dare set your sights on him! Or I won't be polite!"
Aha put on a fearful expression, but there wasn't a trace of panic in his tone.
"Aha's being threatened, how embarrassing~"
Just then, Fu Lin noticed Fu Shi standing off to the side watching the scene. He paused in his step.
"Fu Shi, there you are? Saves us the trouble of looking for you."
Fu Shi took a couple steps forward.
"Fu Lin, what are you guys doing here?"
Fu Lin smiled as she explained, "The three little ones from the Express are helping Yanqing handle a problem. We were free, so we tagged along to watch the fun."
As soon as she said this, March 7 folded her arms, eyes wide.
"'The three little ones from the Express'?! What kind of weird nickname is that? I don't accept it!"
"I rather like it," Stelle softly added.
Fu Lin didn't dwell on the name and instead turned to Aha curiously.
"And this is?"
Fu Shi also looked over, and Aha smiled as he introduced himself.
"My name is Ekkokoh, nice to meet you all~ hahaha."
March 7 waved her hand dismissively, steering the conversation back.
"What a weird name, anyway, never mind that, let's hurry and help Yanqing solve the problem."
At that moment, Stelle's gaze fell upon the man in sunglasses not far away, her tone surprised.
"Scott, it's you!"
The man called Scott turned at the sound, his face immediately twisting in irritation. He folded his arms and snapped back, "I was about to say the same thing! Why am I running into you again? You're planning to camp out in the Xianzhou forever, huh? Every time you show up, something bad happens…"
After a round of heated arguing and discussion, Stelle volunteered to persuade Scott. Yanqing, already familiar with Stelle's reputation, agreed without hesitation.
Stelle took on the task of persuading Scott, and since Yanqing had heard of her abilities, he trusted her judgment.
As Scott was laying out his position clearly, Stelle suddenly struck a graceful pose, her voice turning soft and charming, drawing everyone's attention.
"Who would have thought we'd meet again, Mr. Scott~ I really miss our little showdown in the Aurum Alley~ maybe this is fate between us."
"Cut the act! If I could beat you, I'd have decked you twice already!"
Stelle's bizarre line sent chills down Scott's spine. He turned to the others and shouted, "Are you guys solving this or not? Or are you gonna let this clown keep embarrassing herself here?"
"Hahahaha, that's hilarious!" Aha laughed loudly, thoroughly entertained.
March 7th rubbed her temples with a sigh, as if she had seen this coming.
"I knew it would turn out like this."
Under March 7th's insistent gaze, Stelle finally dropped her teasing and focused on the negotiation.
It didn't take long before she had Scott speechless, unable to refute her arguments.
But even cornered, Scott refused to yield, clearly planning to drag things out and stall for time.
Just then, a calm voice spoke,
"As long as it doesn't violate the law, the IPC's people are, of course, free to come and go."
Everyone turned toward the voice.
Scott crossed his arms, eyeing the newcomer arrogantly.
"At least someone with sense. And who might you be?"
The girl, her limbs covered in red, stepped forward gracefully and introduced herself.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Luofu's Alchemy Commission's new Cauldron Master, Lingsha."
"Dan Zhu?" Fu Shi suddenly spoke, uttering a name.
Fu Lin's eyes glinted with interest as he said slowly, "Another 'acquaintance' so soon? This trip to the Luofu is getting more and more interesting."
Kiana☆ muttered softly from the side, "I'm curious what kind of role my alternate self in this world would have."
Elysia smiled. "I'm sure my counterpart is just as beautiful as I am, hmm~?"
"How do you know my old name…"
Hearing Fu Shi's words, Lingsha's face froze in surprise. She turned to look at Fu Shi and Fu Lin, stunned, her mind racing.
'The Marshal is always so busy, it's impossible she would personally come to the Luofu…'