"You're saying... the Xianzhou Cangcheng, destroyed long ago, gave us a call...?"
Jing Yuan asked his chief counselor word by word, his expression speechless.
"Yes, the signal has been traced..." Qingzu nodded firmly, her face filled with confusion. "We confirmed it's definitely the original frequency of the Cangcheng."
Just as she finished speaking, however, she finally noticed that, beside her general, a tall, broad man clad in heavy armor was standing there, looking at her with scrutinizing eyes.
"Y-Y-Y-You—General Teng Xiao?!" Qingzu pointed at Teng Xiao, looking utterly stunned. "N-No way! General Teng Xiao came back to life, too?!"
Even though there had already been the case of General Yueyu's revival, she had not prepared herself for the former Arbiter-General of the Xianzhou Luofu to return as well.
"Guhahaha, calm down, girl." Teng Xiao, with his hands on his waist, laughed heartily. "If the Cangcheng can appear, then my return doesn't seem all that special, no?"
Yes, if even the Xianzhou Cangcheng had returned, what revival could no longer be accepted?
Jing Yuan soon connected the communication channel, and in the next moment, the other side immediately spoke.
[Luofu, this is reinforcements from the Cangcheng! We've reached the designated coordinates but found no trace of you! Please update your position in real time!]
'Reinforcements?'
Jing Yuan thought with bewilderment before a scene from his dream suddenly surfaced in his mind.
In that dream, he remembered asking the Xianzhou Cangcheng for aid in the effort to fight Shuhu and his army.
Remembering that, he couldn't help but wonder if that dream was actually real.
If that were the case, then it meant the Xianzhou Cangcheng reinforcements were now at the coordinates of the Shuhu Upheaval seven hundred years ago.
In other words, their memories only extended to the Year 7379.
What kind of means could possibly achieve such a miracle?
It was, after all, an entire Xianzhou ship—no different than a super big city, or even a country.
"...Understood." Jing Yuan finally responded after a moment of silence. "Keep the channel open and receive our coordinates."
Right after responding, he immediately ordered Qingzu to take charge of guiding the Xianzhou Cangcheng reinforcements to the Xianzhou Luofu.
He had to see them with his own eyes and have a proper talk.
Meanwhile, because Jing Yuan's holographic communication was still active, the Arbiter-Generals in the group chat had all heard his exchange with the Xianzhou Cangcheng, making it lively once more.
[Xuanquan: Seriously, this is getting more and more absurd!]
[Huaiyan: Even the Xianzhou Cangcheng has appeared. What else was unacceptable?]
[Yueyu: What should be done about the Cangcheng?]
[Hua: Since they're in contact with the Luofu, let the Luofu handle it.]
[Yao Guang: What about Lucian? He's the central figure of all these phenomena—how should the Alliance deal with him?]
[Feixiao: Let him decide. I'll vouch for him. He absolutely wouldn't harm the Alliance.]
[Yueyu: I'll vouch for him, too.]
[Teng Xiao: I'll vouch as well! He's a great guy!]
[Youwu: Agreed.]
[Jing Yuan: I agree. By the way, I'll try to invite him to the Luofu as an honored guest, but whether he comes or not is up to him.]
Nine people, with three standing as Lucian's guarantors—what more could be said?
As the nine concluded their internal meeting, it was finally decided that Teng Xiao and Baiheng would be sent to the Xianzhou Yuque for verification.
Just like Yueyu, once they were cleared, their military status would be restored.
Meanwhile, the Xianzhou Luofu would take responsibility for contacting the Xianzhou Cangcheng. Because this was a circumstance the Xianzhou Alliance had never faced before, the matter had to be treated with the utmost seriousness.
As for Lucian, an invitation would be sent by Jing Yuan, as the representative of the Xianzhou Alliance, requesting him to visit the Xianzhou Luofu—of course, without force.
'If Baiheng could come back to life, then wouldn't Jingliu's situation have changed too?'
Jing Yuan thought to himself, feeling somewhat nervous.
'And what about Yingxing and Dan Feng…'
===
Stellaron Hunters' Hideout.
Inside a spacious room filled with all kinds of facilities and devices, Kafka was admiring herself in the mirror as she tried on a new jacket.
Nearby, Silver Wolf and a young woman with long, silvery-blonde hair that faded into a teal ombre reaching her waist, wearing a brown blazer over a green and white dress, were gaming together in front of a massive TV.
Blade, on the other hand, leaned against the sofa beside them, resting with his eyes closed, his breathing steady—until the next second, when he suddenly opened them.
"Teacher…"
Blade unconsciously called out, making everyone turn to look at him at once.
"Bladie, did you have a nightmare?"
Kafka asked softly, her voice gentle, caring for Blade the way an elder sister would for her younger brother.
"He called for a teacher. Must've dreamed he was back in class."
Silver Wolf joked casually as she blew a balloon with her bubble gum.
"Did you dream of the past? A teacher from back then?"
Beside Silver Wolf, the young woman asked softly—her voice and demeanor graceful and lovely, like the perfect childhood sweetheart.
Firefly—this was the name she had given herself.
Hearing their questions, Blade drew in a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then responded somewhat absent-mindedly.
"It was a dream... a dream where I wasn't a member of the High-Cloud Quintet, but a student under him... the leader of the Heavenly Ascendant..."
Everyone exchanged puzzled glances, unable to understand Blade's story at all.
What Heavenly Ascendant?
What student?
Who was 'him'?
A perfectly normal person like Blade suddenly speaking in riddles.
Seeing everyone's confused expressions, Blade frowned, then shook his head.
"Forget it... It's nothing..."
He had no desire to bring up his past anyway.
"Alright, if you don't want to talk about it, we won't ask." Kafka smiled, then turned to Silver Wolf. "By the way, Silver Wolf, I dealt with a few guys today who wanted to hunt you for the IPC's bounty."
"Oh, thanks, Kafka." Silver Wolf smiled faintly. "I'll treat you to a game sometime."
"In that case, can I skip out?" Firefly asked with a hopeful expression.
Blade looked at their daily chat and felt a pang of envy.
If only he could live like in that dream, with a respected master, an admired teacher, friends he could talk to, and the freedom to decide his own life and death.
If the Heavenly Ascendant truly existed, how blissful would that be?
===
Astral Express.
Around half an hour ago, in Astral Express's Parlor Car, a cold-faced young man held a cup of coffee in his hand and stared at it without so much as a twitch.
Its rich, comforting aroma filled the air, yet his expression remained utterly lifeless—all because it was Himeko's coffee.
He was none other than Dan Heng, Dan Feng's current incarnation.
"I was planning to take a nap later. If I drink this, I won't be able to sleep. Mr. Yang, you should have it."
Dan Heng spoke calmly, then pushed the cup toward Welt Yang, a tall, bespectacled, brown-eyed man with matching brown hair streaked with a small line of white.
"I'm about to rest, too." Welt adjusted his glasses and tried to look composed. "Coffee's too stimulating. Give it to March instead."
With that, he nudged the coffee over to March 7th, a young woman with messy, shoulder-length light pink hair and pink-blue eyes.
"Huh? Me?"
March couldn't believe it—these two were treating her like cannon fodder for the Antimatter Legion!
It was only natural for her to think this way.
In her eyes, a single cup of Himeko's coffee alone could take down a Voidranger!
"I-I-I think the conductor works the hardest. We should give it to Pom-Pom first."
Just like that, March picked the cup up, ready to pass the disaster on to Pom-Pom.
===
At the same time, in another car, Pom-Pom, a small rabbit-like creature with large ears and big eyes, clad in a red conductor outfit and hat, suddenly stopped sweeping the floor as a sudden chill ran down their spine and a looming sense of danger pressed in on them.
===
"Don't worry. Everyone gets one. All brewed by my own hand."
Unfortunately, before March could even take a step, a beautiful woman with long red hair, dressed in a white sleeveless toga and a black coat that hung off her left side, spoke with a gentle smile from the nearby sofa.
As the group stared at the pitch-black cup of coffee spewing smoke, they swallowed hard, but just then, Dan Heng suddenly drifted into sleep.
Seeing this, March's eyes went wide, her heart brimming with admiration.
How could she not?
In her eyes, to fall asleep so easily like that was truly an amazing skill!
===
Half an hour later...
"Teacher, teach me your kneeling technique..."
Dan Heng muttered in his sleep before quickly opening his eyes, realizing he was back on the Astral Express.
Confused for a moment, Dan Heng blinked his eyes, then realized that what he had just dreamt of was the dream of Dan Feng, his previous incarnation.
Even though he did not understand why he had that dream, he had already been reborn, so he was no longer Dan Feng.
He looked at his surroundings and finally noticed that March and Welt had collapsed over the table.
Needless to say, they must have suffered from Himeko's coffee.
"Are you two alright?" Dan Heng asked with a somewhat flat face.
"Dan Heng..." March turned her head to him, her eyes full of resentment. "Teach me how to fall asleep in one second!"
"Still alive…" Welt groaned with a painful expression. "Feels like I drank molten lava... need a moment to recover..."
"By the way, who did you just call teacher?" March pressed further. "And what's this kneeling technique?"
"It's nothing." Dan Heng replied composedly, masking his distress. "It's just a dream... a baseless dream..."
He had never once shared his past with his companions, so he ultimately chose to keep the dream to himself.
Why?
Simply because he believed that a criminal like him, who had blasphemed his own friend and then been exiled by the Xianzhou Alliance for it, had no right to speak of his past.
Nonetheless, he had to admit that the dream had truly left him with a warm and pleasant feeling.
Unfortunately, dreams were only dreams in the end.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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