Unlike his casual approach when dealing with Liu Ma earlier, 'Andromeda,' now facing the mysterious masked man, was undoubtedly serious.
Clang—!
As a crisp string sound reappeared, a translucent outline of a pipa emerged in the air around Andromeda, hovering by her side. Though no one plucked it, the pipa eerily played on its own. It stirred up terrifying crescent-shaped sound blades, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, sweeping towards Tendo and Chenkong.
In the nick of time, Tendo single-handedly grabbed Chenkong's collar, lightly leaping onto a nearby abandoned concrete pipe. The sound blade barely grazed beneath their feet, slicing through the concrete pipe they had just been standing on. Behind them, on the wall, it left a deep gash.
Looking at the concrete pipe, which had been sliced as smoothly as cake by the sound blade, Tendo landed on the ground before the pipe could slide down.
"As expected of an Hidden Star Society cadre, such a temper. Going straight for the kill."
"So, how afraid are you... of your existence being known?"
Mid-sentence, Tendo seemed to recall something, shaking his head with a smile. "No, it's not that you're afraid of being known. It's that you're afraid of that old monster, who's always been in a 'cage,' locking himself up, knowing about you."
Although Tendo didn't explicitly name this person, Andromeda immediately understood. He wasn't talking about anyone else, but the old monster known as the strongest Star Envoy of the current era, the president of the Star Envoy Association—Einit.
It was well known that Einit had been through countless battles since his debut, yet he had never suffered a single defeat. The number of Star Envoys and Star Beasts who had died by his hand was immeasurable.
It could be said that the Star Envoy Association commanded and restrained the vast majority of Star Envoys. This wasn't because the organization itself was powerful or well-organized, but because Einit, the association's president, was powerful enough. Powerful to the extent that even those who disliked him dared not easily disobey his words. This was Einit, an old monster whose great power resided within himself, supporting both the New Federation and the Star Envoy Association, two colossal entities, on his aging shoulders.
While Andromeda's face was as cold as frost, unable to discern Tendo's true intentions, Chenkong, hearing Tendo speak, suddenly widened his eyes. He had a strong feeling he had heard a similar voice somewhere before. But his hazy memory was like frosted glass. The harder Chenkong tried to recall, the blurrier the memory became, never quite solidifying.
While Chenkong struggled in his memory to find the source of this voice, the Hidden Star Society cadre, Andromeda, was already preparing to make her move as if facing a formidable enemy. As the accumulated water beneath her feet continuously formed tiny splashes due to subtle, high-frequency sound wave vibrations, an invisible killing intent spread, quickly enveloping Tendo.
But before she could strike, Tendo suddenly looked upwards and exclaimed, "No, my little ancestor, what in the world are you trying to do?!"
As his words fell, Tendo's figure instantly vanished, reappearing near the roof of the abandoned factory. He left a bewildered Andromeda standing there, not understanding what had happened.
When she finally saw what was happening on the factory roof, Andromeda finally understood.
She saw that in front of Tendo, a chubby green-haired 'little dumpling' had, somehow, managed to dangle herself from the edge of the roof. Panicked, her two short little legs flailed constantly in the air, and her tears had swollen her large eyes into the shape of fried eggs.
Seeing Tendo approach, the green-haired little dumpling immediately burst into tears.
"Wuwuwu, M-Mister... Danica is going to fall!"
Hearing this, Tendo rubbed his forehead in exasperation. Then he picked up the presumptuous little one and placed her back on the edge of the roof.
Afterward, Tendo began to severely scold the green-haired little dumpling, who always caused him trouble the moment he let his guard down, just like scolding a mischievous kitten.
"Seriously, Danica, do you think you're a ninja? You dare to climb down from such a high place? What if you fall?!"
Little Danica looked up at Tendo, her face smeared with snot and tears, and choked out, "D-Danica was afraid Mister would abandon her, so, so that's why..."
Hearing this, Tendo froze on the spot, his anger instantly dissipating. A moment later, he sighed, then lightly flicked little Danica's forehead.
He said helplessly, "Who said I was going to abandon you? Didn't I just tell you to wait here for a bit, and I'd come get you right away?"
"But... but..."
"Alright, alright. Just make sure you hold onto my pants leg later, and don't run around, understand?"
Hearing this, little Danica immediately hugged Tendo's pants leg tightly like a koala bear, nodding frantically.
Tendo: "..."
I told you to hold my pants leg, not cling to my thigh!
That being said, Tendo didn't pick up little Danica. Instead, he simply let her hold onto him. After all, having gone through this, he no longer dared to let this silly little Danica out of his sight easily, because something was bound to happen!!!
Meanwhile, watching the hilarious scene between little Danica and Tendo, the dimensional viewers on Station 13 burst into laughter.
'Child, holding onto that thigh is the best decision you've ever made in your life!'
'Danica: As long as Lord Tendo and I are together, we are invincible!'
'Don't worry, child, Lord Tendo has rich experience in bringing along baggage. As for how rich that experience is, I can only say that if you're the only baggage, it's an epic buff for Lord Tendo!'
'To the previous commenter, I suspect you're implying something about certain people, but I have no evidence.'
Amidst the joyful comments of the dimensional viewers, Tendo, with little Danica as his small baggage, lightly landed on the open ground outside the abandoned factory.
Looking at Tendo, who had returned, and the green-haired little dumpling clinging to his thigh, Andromeda's previously indifferent eyes now held a subtle change.
A change... named fury.
"Are you... treating me as air?"
Facing Andromeda's question, Tendo lowered his head to look at the little one clinging to his pants leg, smiling as he said, "Little Danica, did you hear anything just now?"
Little Danica was sometimes clumsy, but other times surprisingly clever. Understanding Tendo's meaning, she immediately began shaking her head frantically, indicating she heard nothing. This reaction instantly made Tendo burst into laughter. He secretly gave her a thumbs-up in his heart.
Because her response was essentially telling Andromeda, yes, we are indeed treating you as air. Otherwise, why would we hear nothing?
But this completely infuriated Andromeda.
Clang!
Accompanying another sharp string sound, a grotesque, spider-like Star Beast phantom suddenly appeared behind Andromeda. At the same time, a black 'Star Scar' similar to the scar on Liu Ma's forehead appeared on the back of her right hand. The appearance of this Star Scar also meant that Andromeda was a special existence, also possessing a Star Core.
"Though I don't know who you are, since this crucial 'key' has fallen into your hands, I must retrieve it no matter what."
"Not to mention right now..."
Andromeda's figure slowly rose. Supporting her ascent were eight silver-white limbs, similar to spider legs, that suddenly appeared from her back. Andromeda looked down at Tendo from above, her voice cold as she said, "...I really want to eat you."
Facing Andromeda's undisguised threat, Tendo smiled nonchalantly.
"Eat me?"
"Well, that depends on how good your teeth are."
"After all, many people have told me similar things, but their outcomes... haven't been too good."
Although Tendo's tone was relaxed, both Chenkong and Andromeda, who was not far away, heard obvious disdain in his casual words. It was as if, in his eyes, a mere Andromeda of the Hidden Star Society was not worth mentioning at all.
This was identical to Andromeda's previous tone towards Chenkong and the others. Now, however, the tables had turned, and it was Tendo saying such things to her. This was undoubtedly unacceptable to Andromeda.
After all, such words were usually only hers to say to humans!