Huohuo saw Derick jogging over. When she saw Sushang was also beside him, alarm bells instantly went off in her head.
"This, this, this is terrible! I'm dead!"
Derick is looking for Sushang. Could it be that he already knows something? And I ran over here too... aren't I just a sheep walking into a tiger's den?
A tiger's den?
"It's over! Lady Xueyi, I'm afraid I won't live to see tomorrow's sun."
Alarm bells blared in Huohuo's mind, and she was on the verge of tears.
Sushang glanced at Huohuo and immediately felt she was far too timid. Sushang gave Huohuo a reassuring look and patted her on the shoulder.
"Huohuo, don't worry. Lord Derick is here to see us about the Heliobi."
Hearing Sushang say this, Huohuo's expression didn't relax in the slightest. Instead, with a speechless look, she said:
"Sushang, if this were about the Heliobi, Mr. Derick should have come to me first, a judge of the Ten-Lords Commission. No, he should have summoned us, not come looking for us. Most of the Cloud Knights don't even know about the Heliobi. Mr. Derick has absolutely no reason to seek you out over this matter."
Therefore, the only reason he's looking for you must be because of that.
"Really?" Hearing Huohuo's explanation, Sushang was completely dumbfounded.
Seriously? Is that how you guys do things?
Tail was the most confused one present. Listening to their conversation, it asked quizzically, "What in the world are you all talking about? I don't understand a single thing."
"This is something you don't need to understand," Derick said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
Seeing that Tail was in the dark, Derick felt a small sense of relief.
Faced with Derick's implicit threat, Tail naturally shut its mouth and didn't dare pry any further. Although it always complained behind her back about how timid Huohuo was, when it actually saw Derick, it was much more cowardly than she was.
Derick wouldn't harm Huohuo, but that didn't mean he wouldn't harm Tail.
Then his gaze shifted to Huohuo and Sushang.
The conversation had reached a point where, at the very least, Huohuo realized that he knew that they knew about him, Yunli, and Feixiao.
Derick looked at Sushang. "That recording. Later, secretly deliver it to me, or to Castorice."
"Ah! Miss Castorice also knows about you and..." Sushang was stunned. Just as she was about to say more, Derick reached out and tapped her on the forehead.
"Don't say it out loud!"
"Yes!" Sushang covered her forehead and nodded repeatedly.
Nearby, Huohuo breathed a sigh of relief.
If Castorice knew, then Derick probably wouldn't resort to silencing them by killing them. Huohuo could see clearly that Derick cared far less about things like his reputation than Miss Castorice did.
If it was okay with Castorice, the rest wasn't a major problem.
Patting her flat chest, Huohuo let out a long breath.
Derick's gaze turned to Huohuo, and he asked her, "By the way, Huohuo, was there something you came to find me for?"
Huohuo looked at Sushang. "Miss Sushang, could you give us a moment?"
"Okay."
Sushang nodded indifferently and walked to the side.
"It's like this..." Huohuo told Derick about the Ten-Lords Commission's plan to monitor him.
"Those guys from the Ten-Lords Commission... oh, not you or Judge Xueyi, they're really no good." Derick clenched his fists, feeling the urge to punch someone.
Watching Derick's reaction, Huohuo felt a little intimidated.
Derick then thought of something and said to Huohuo, "Right, Huohuo, don't worry about following me for now. I have some business to take care of on another planet. Just say you didn't see me."
"Huh?" Huohuo looked at Derick, confused.
Derick smiled but didn't offer an explanation.
With a flicker, he was gone, heading for the Luofu Xianzhou's Cloudford. Arriving there, he acquired a starskiff from the Sky-Faring Commission and flew towards outer space.
Having already approached the power of an Emanator, traversing the cosmos with his physical body wasn't particularly difficult.
Not to mention having a starskiff. Empowered by Derick's strength, the vessel's cruising speed was far faster than light.
The place Derick was going to was the planet where the Flame Reaver was buried.
A portion of the Flame Reaver's power had entered his own body, but another part remained within his Fourth Clone. If Derick wanted to save Safaros, he would need the Flame Reaver's full power.
With Huohuo around, the act of devouring power might be discovered. So he decided to take care of it now, pretending they hadn't run into each other just yet.
After a few hours, Derick arrived at the planet where the Flame Reaver was buried. Traveling alone, his speed was naturally extreme. A journey that would take a large group several days, Derick completed in mere hours.
Boothill was still searching for Derick's Fourth Clone. Unbeknownst to Boothill, Derick went alone to the planet's core to find it.
At this moment, because of all it had devoured, the Fourth Clone had begun to resemble the Flame Reaver. Derick reached out his hand and absorbed all the power within it into his own body.
Derick's strength advanced once more. At the same time, the cumulative power of all the Flame Reaver's cycles was now in his hands.
However, he was still not an Emanator. A significant gap in power remained.
Derick still needed one more transformation to truly become a powerhouse on the level of an Emanator.
Looking at the Fourth Clone, which had returned to its original form after the absorption, Derick considered his options and decided to entrust it to Boothill again after some time, letting Boothill take it with him on his travels.
Having accomplished his goal, Derick felt refreshed and invigorated.
"Time to go. Back to the Luofu Xianzhou."
Derick thought to himself.
Then, he piloted the starskiff back towards the Luofu Xianzhou.
To save time, Derick didn't slow down at all on his way back. If nothing unexpected happened, he would return to the Luofu Xianzhou in a few hours.
Yes, if nothing unexpected happened.
Halfway through his flight, Derick's starskiff was suddenly rocked by a violent tremor, causing the entire vessel to flip over. At the same time, the bow of another ship pierced deep into his starskiff.
Fortunately, with Derick's skills, he had no trouble maintaining his balance.
"What in the world is going on?!"
Derick was also a bit dumbfounded.
This wasn't some highway; this was the vast, boundless cosmos. How could there be a traffic accident in the middle of space?
The probability of this was lower than a fish at the center of the ocean being hit by a high-speed train.
Derick immediately became vigilant.
With his level of power, for something to collide with him without him even noticing... just how fast was the other party, and how strong were they?
As Derick stood on guard, he noticed a person appear inside his starskiff.
She was a tall swordswoman with a cool and refined face, her long purple hair flowing down her back, and her eyes as deep as an abyss.
A long tachi hung at her waist, while her other hand held a paper umbrella. Her leather shorts and asymmetrical boots showed off her long, straight legs.
Seeing this appearance, Derick recognized her instantly.
"Acheron."
"Raiden Mei!"
The last native of Izumo, an Emanator of the Path of Nihility.
"My apologies. I got lost and crashed into your starskiff," Acheron said to Derick.
"N-No, it's fine," Derick waved his hands repeatedly.
What rotten luck. It's a good thing I'm strong. Otherwise, getting hit by Acheron would probably just result in the loss of one Skill Point.
"Mm."
Acheron nodded lightly.
Then she glanced at her ship and Derick's.
The collision had embedded the two vessels together. Both ships were now completely wrecked.
"It seems I will have to travel through space on my own. Can you do the same?" Acheron asked Derick.
"Although my power isn't on your level, I can also fly through space."
Derick nodded.
"That's good." Hearing Derick could fly, Acheron nodded in satisfaction. Otherwise, saving him would have required more effort.
Taking Derick's arm, Acheron lightly tapped the starskiff. The usually sturdy vessel shattered into pieces from her light tap.
The two of them now floated in the vastness of space.
"Miss..."
Although he knew her name, Derick couldn't let it show.
"You can call me Acheron."
"Okay, Miss Acheron. My name is Derick."
Derick introduced himself as well.
___
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