"Hey, is this okay?"
March 7th, her face blushing, held a sock in one hand and shyly averted her gaze as she handed it to Fu Zhu.
Fu Zhu hadn't thought much of it, but seeing March 7th's bashful demeanor, he couldn't help but feel something. He cleared his throat and reached out to take it.
Just as he took the sock and was about to place it into the advanced enchanting table, March 7th suddenly spoke up again.
"You're not allowed to smell it! Even though I don't exercise much and it's definitely not stinky, you're still not allowed to smell it!"
The thought of smelling someone else's sock—even a pretty girl's—had never once crossed Fu Zhu's mind. But for some reason, now that March 7th had brought it up, he suddenly felt the urge to take a sniff.
This was definitely the influence of his Steve physique! After all, whenever someone tells Steve not to do something, that's exactly what Steve will do! It was definitely not his own weird fetish!
While Fu Zhu was desperately trying to shift the blame in his mind, March 7th saw him staring blankly at the sock in his hand and grew flustered.
"Ah! You really want to smell it!"
"Don't be ridiculous!"
A long while later, March 7th emerged from the room, her face bright red.
"Xing, it's your turn."
Xing acknowledged with an "oh" and slipped inside.
March 7th, blushing, looked up and met Dan Heng's puzzled gaze, which immediately sent her into a fluster.
"I-I-I'm going to go back and get my things ready!"
March 7th dropped that line and ran off, leaving Dan Heng to continue standing outside Fu Zhu's door, looking somewhat baffled.
Xing was out in less than two or three minutes. Dan Heng glanced at her, a little surprised.
March 7th had been in there for over ten minutes. How was Xing so much faster?
Xing herself sighed in frustration. When she was inside, she had wanted her old bro to help enchant all of her gear, but he had simply grabbed her by the collar and tossed her out.
What a heartless old bro!
"Dan Heng, you can go in too."
"Mhm."
Dan Heng turned and entered Fu Zhu's room. When Fu Zhu saw him, he raised a hand in greeting.
"Dan Heng, take off your top, gloves, pants, and shoes. Oh, and your Cloud-Piercer. I'll enchant them all for you in one go."
Dan Heng did as he was told, immediately handing over his spear, Cloud-Piercer. When it came to his clothes, however, he gave them to Fu Zhu one piece at a time.
Fu Zhu placed Cloud-Piercer into the advanced enchanting table and was surprised to find that the spear was classified as a trident, meaning it could receive representative trident enchantments like Loyalty, Riptide, and Channeling.
Fu Zhu went all out, giving Dan Heng's Cloud-Piercer a full set of enchantments before handing it back.
"Dan Heng, from now on, you can hold onto this and fly all over the place in the rain or in the water."
"What do you mean?"
Dan Heng took back Cloud-Piercer, confused. He glanced down and saw a faint purple sheen on the spear's surface, giving it an air of mystery it hadn't had before.
"Hehe, you'll find out for yourself when you go to the Luofu with us."
At the mention of the "Luofu," the expression on Dan Heng's face instantly dimmed, and he gently shook his head.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany you this time. I cannot go to the Luofu."
Fu Zhu froze, asking in confusion, "You... did something happen to you on the Luofu?"
Dan Heng had said he cannot go, not that he didn't want to go. This meant it wasn't a matter of personal desire, but that he was unable to travel to the Luofu for other reasons.
Dan Heng nodded, then turned and walked toward the door. He didn't even bother with having the rest of his clothes enchanted. Clearly, the previous conversation had touched upon a painful memory.
However, just as he reached the doorway, Dan Heng stopped and turned back to warn Fu Zhu one more time.
"Fu Zhu, I'm entrusting March and Xing to your care. Remember, on the Luofu, it's best not to mention my name in front of others. It could bring disaster upon you and the Astral Express."
After leaving those words, Dan Heng left.
Watching him leave, Fu Zhu let out a helpless sigh.
"Looks like what happened in the past was no small matter..."
If possible, he would try to discreetly ask around on the Luofu about Dan Heng's situation and see if there was anything he could do for him.
Fu Zhu quickly tidied up his room and then headed for the Parlor Car.
The one-hour time limit Himeko had given them was almost up. As for choosing a mod to enhance his own strength, Fu Zhu planned to wait until they arrived at the Luofu to see what kind of planet it was before making a targeted selection.
If the Luofu was a magical world, he would focus on magic mods like Botania, Ars Nouveau, or Iron's Spells 'n Spellbooks.
Making a targeted choice was the best way to thrive in a new region.
Back in the Parlor Car, March 7th, Xing, Welt, and Himeko were already waiting.
The four of them looked towards the approaching Fu Zhu. Noticing that Dan Heng wasn't with him, the three adults sighed in unison.
Xing looked at them in confusion. "Why are you sighing?"
Himeko shook her head, indicating it was nothing, then put on a smile and addressed Fu Zhu and the others. "Since everyone is here, I'll briefly assign the roles for this Trailblaze mission."
"This time, Welt will lead the team. Fu Zhu, Xing, and Little March, you three will provide support. Remember, you must protect yourselves and stay safe out there, understand?"
Fu Zhu and the others nodded, committing Himeko's words to heart.
"Alright, let's sit down and wait for a moment. The warp jump is about to begin. Little March, try not to fall over again this time."
"Himeko!"
March 7th cried out in embarrassment, but she still obediently took a seat as Himeko had said.
As the train gave a slight shudder, the scenery outside the window began to change.
Fu Zhu closed his eyes for the jump. When he opened them again, the frozen planet of Jarilo-VI was gone. In its place was a warship so massive that three or four Jarilo-VIs wouldn't match its size.
If the Astral Express hadn't docked in a good spot, Fu Zhu wouldn't have even recognized it as a starship at first glance. He would have likely mistaken it for a mechanical planet.
While Fu Zhu, Xing, and March 7th were still marveling at the sheer scale of the Luofu from the window, a female voice came over the carriage's intercom.
[Welcome, Astral Express, to the Xianzhou Luofu. Please proceed in an orderly fashion through the Jade Gate to enter.]
March 7th looked at the intercom's location, bewildered. "Who was that just now? When did the Conductor's voice change?"
"That was an automated reply from the Jade Gate," Himeko explained with a faint, wry smile as she and Welt walked over.
Welt pulled out his phone and checked the time. "We've arrived two days earlier than the Stellaron Hunters said. Perhaps we can use this time to catch them off guard."
Himeko didn't object to Welt's words, only reminding him once more, "Welt, I'm entrusting them to you. Take good care of them."
"Mhm."
Welt nodded, then turned to Fu Zhu and the others with a smile.
"Well then, let's head out."
At Huidu Starport, after the Astral Express passed through the Jade Gate, Welt led the three youngsters to join a long queue.
March 7th stood on her tiptoes to look at the long line ahead of them and sighed wearily.
"This is the first time I've ever started a Trailblaze mission so properly. Thinking back on our past journeys, we either fell from the sky or were teleported directly to some deserted place. This is the first time we've had to enter in an orderly queue. It feels so weird."
Fu Zhu crossed his arms and retorted with a deadpan expression, "This is the normal way to start, isn't it? Or would you rather be a wanted criminal again?"
"I'd rather not!"
An hour later, Fu Zhu's group finally made it through the queue and received permission to enter the Luofu.
Welt smiled and explained to the three, who seemed a bit tired from the wait, "Many merchant guilds travel to and from the Luofu, which is why the line is so long. But this also means that the Luofu has gathered most of the novelties in the universe. You can have a good time sightseeing later. My treat."
"Of course, the prerequisite is that we first book a hotel and find a place to stay."
Hearing that Welt was treating, the three youngsters perked up instantly.
"Then let's go, Uncle Yang! Let's hurry up and get today's business done so we can go eat something good!"
March 7th excitedly pushed Welt's back, urging him forward. Xing took Fu Zhu by the hand and followed.
The Luofu was huge. Huge in every sense of the word.
Just to leave Huidu Starport, Fu Zhu and the others had to board a flying transport vehicle called a starskiff.
This was essentially the equivalent of a short-haul flight in Fu Zhu's previous life. One could only imagine how vast the Luofu's territory was.
Ever since boarding the starskiff, March 7th and Xing had been glued to the window, gazing at the passing scenery. Welt and Fu Zhu, however, were seated and busy with their phones.
Welt was busy booking a hotel and looking for contact information for Luofu officials, while Fu Zhu had connected his phone to the Luofu's local network and was rapidly learning about its culture and customs online.
He had to admit, having internet was so much more convenient!
Compared to the sealed-off planet of Jarilo-VI, where they had to find out everything on their own, on the Luofu, all he had to do was browse online to learn a great deal about what he wanted to know.
Although some of the more obscure information couldn't be found online, this was already a huge convenience compared to Jarilo-VI.
After a brief look at the general culture of the Luofu, Fu Zhu had a rough idea of what it was like.
The Luofu did not revere magic, but rather, a form of martial arts that Fu Zhu was much more familiar with!
Even though the Luofu's technological level was quite high, the official army here—the Cloud Knights—still used weapons that resembled formation blades. Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that these blades were high-tech, perhaps capable of shooting bullets or unleashing magic.
But this gave Fu Zhu a good reference. At the very least, he now knew which mod he should choose to empower himself.
SlashBlade!
When it came to weapons and various martial arts, the first things that came to Fu Zhu's mind were veteran mods like SlashBlade, Epic Fight, and Spartan Weaponry.
They either changed Steve's combat style or added more powerful weapons for him.
Among them, SlashBlade was the most balanced!
Not only did it provide Steve with a variety of powerful katanas, but each unique blade also had its own set of different combos!
More importantly, it's cool!
There are thousands of powerful mods, but only a handful of cool ones.
SlashBlade was one of them!
Fu Zhu could already imagine himself wielding a katana, engaging in a contest of martial skill with the "martial artists" of the Luofu, and then delivering a little dimensional slash to blow their minds!
Besides being cool, the SlashBlade mod was also extremely practical. For instance, its combos could grant Steve a certain amount of hang time and allow him to perform short-distance dashes.
More importantly, a swinging SlashBlade had an extremely powerful and absurdly broken property: it was immune to projectiles!
To say it was immune was one thing, but a more direct way to look at it was that a SlashBlade could slice projectiles out of the air, preventing them from harming the user.
But regardless of the form it took, the fact that the SlashBlade could make Fu Zhu immune to projectile damage was undeniable.
As long as he was swinging his SlashBlade, he wouldn't fear his enemy even if they were wielding a Gatling gun that shot blue flames.
So... SlashBlade, purchase!
[150 Achievement Points deducted. SlashBlade Mod installed.]
Fu Zhu glanced at his hard-earned achievement points, which had instantly dropped to single digits, and felt a pang of heartache.
But the moment he thought about being able to freely use a SlashBlade, that little pang of heartache instantly vanished.
However, after purchasing the SlashBlade mod, a new problem arose.
The crafting and acquisition methods for some of the SlashBlades were particularly troublesome. This was especially true for his most coveted blade, the Yamato, which required defeating an Ender Dragon to obtain.
Right now, Fu Zhu hadn't even seen a single Blaze Rod, let alone used an Eye of Ender to find a portal to the End.
However, Fu Zhu had already thought of a countermeasure.
In MC, as long as a mod is added, its items will appear in the Creative Mode item list. And the conversion ability granted by the system uses the Creative Mode item list as its standard.
In other words, he just needed to obtain an item similar to the Yamato, and he could directly convert it, skipping the need to defeat the Ender Dragon.
He could use the same method for other demon blades to bypass the tedious crafting process and enjoy the fruits of his labor directly.
And on the Luofu, the most suitable method Fu Zhu could think of was to directly find a craftsman and have them help him forge a Yamato.
"Uncle Yang, can I leave the group for a bit later?"