Yevenko had just barely managed to temporarily pause Tom and Jerry's endless battle.
Held snugly in Jerry's arms, he was carried over to join Stelle and March 7th. Slowly, he raised his right hand, casting the crucial final vote.
Dan Heng looked around as all four had cast their votes, knowing in his heart that they were doing this for his sake.
Luofu was a place too deeply etched into his mind—a place where Dan Feng had experienced everything, the place of his own birth. It was something inseparable from him.
Helping Luofu overcome its current crisis would give him, a wanted fugitive, a legitimate reason to return to the Luofu once more.
He guessed Jing Yuan probably thought the same way.
Dan Heng took a deep breath and slowly extended his hand.
Seeing this, March 7th's face immediately lit up.
"Awesome! Unanimous vote!"
"Looks like today's Astral Express is another cheerful day of unity!"
Seeing March 7th's eternal optimism, everyone quietly smiled inside.
Jing Yuan, however, turned toward Dan Heng, eyes showing a hint of concern. As Imbibitor Lunae, Dan Heng's situation was special—it was still uncertain whether he truly remembered the method to open the Lunarescent Depths.
All Jing Yuan could do was believe in him for now.
Thinking of this, Jing Yuan spoke softly.
"Dan Heng, being here… has it triggered any of your memories?"
Dan Heng stared at the statue that closely resembled himself, then silently nodded.
Seeing this, Jing Yuan's worry gradually melted away.
"Then think carefully again."
"The power you hold is exactly the key to opening the path toward the Ambrosial Arbor."
Dan Heng stared at the statue once again. Fragments of memories began surfacing slowly, though it would take some time to fully awaken.
Yevenko watched Dan Heng thoughtfully, nodding to himself.
He knew Dan Heng was about to show off. He remembered that jaw-dropping moment vividly when playing Star Rail: Dan Heng splitting apart the seas of the Lunarescent Depths with one hand. The visuals, the water, those effects—they had to have cost him all those 648-yuan packs he'd bought back then.
Usually, seeing his friend about to flex would fill Yevenko with bitterness—after all, he wasn't the one flexing.
But right now, he didn't feel bitter at all.
Because soon, he'd get his own moment to shine.
Besides, this was Dan Heng's rare moment in the spotlight. Previously on the Herta Space Station, Tom had saved Stelle and inadvertently stolen Welt-san's hard-earned spotlight. At least let Dan Heng have it this time.
Yevenko silently waited.
Meanwhile, Tom let go of Yevenko's head and landed gracefully on the ground. He scratched his head with a finger, slightly confused.
After listening to everyone's long discussion, Tom roughly understood their dilemma.
The path they needed was submerged beneath the enormous swimming pool before them, and the solution was clearly to uncover that path. But…
Is this supposed to be hard?
Tom glanced around and saw no one was paying him any attention. He strolled toward the water, staring at his own reflection.
Instead of pulling out a diving suit, Tom pulled out a straw from behind his back, popped it in his mouth, and dove straight into the water.
Hearing some noise, Yevenko glanced over briefly. Seeing only the end of a straw sticking out of the water, he assumed Tom was just playing around and thought nothing more of it.
Meanwhile, Tom was swimming deeper and deeper, the straw growing longer with every stroke, yet the other end never left the water surface.
After swimming for a bit, Tom reached what he believed was the bottom of the massive pool.
And just as expected, right there, set into the perfectly flat, tiled floor, was a giant plug.
Tom sauntered over casually.
He really couldn't understand why his master and all these other people had wasted so much time worrying.
If you want the pool empty, just pull out the plug. Why all the fuss?
Shrugging nonchalantly, Tom grabbed the plug and gave it a sharp tug.
Pop.
With a crisp sound, the plug effortlessly came free.
In the next instant, a fierce suction erupted from the hole, nearly pulling Tom straight into it. He hurriedly grabbed onto a nearby pillar for dear life.
Meanwhile, on the surface, an enormous whirlpool suddenly formed. Tom's straw spun wildly at its center, and the water level began dropping at an alarming rate.
Everyone standing at the Lunarescent Depths immediately noticed the scene.
Jing Yuan's expression filled with shock. This was far beyond his expectations. He immediately turned to Dan Heng.
"Dan Heng, did you do this?"
March 7th added quickly, "Dan Heng, didn't we agree you'd split the sea open? Did you change the plan to just draining it all away?"
Dan Heng stared at the whirlpool, brows knitted tightly as he shook his head.
"I only just recovered my memories. I haven't done anything yet—this isn't me."
Jing Yuan urgently spoke up again.
"No matter what's happening, first stop the water level from dropping further! Dan Heng, use your power over the Ancient Sea to redirect the flow away from that vortex!"
Dan Heng nodded. He summoned the powers of the Imbibitor Lunae, his right hand glowing brilliantly.
Yet…
The Ancient Sea refused to budge. The vortex's pull far exceeded his control, and Dan Heng's expression grew grave.
"I… can't control the Ancient Sea water right now."
Jing Yuan: "..."
An awakened Imbibitor Lunae unable to control the Ancient Sea? Does this even make sense?
For a brief moment, Jing Yuan suspected Dan Heng was joking. But then the shadowy forms of the cat and mouse flashed through his mind, causing him to stiffen.
He glanced quickly around.
Jerry and Yevenko were still there—but Tom was missing!
Yevenko also immediately connected the dots. He'd originally assumed Dan Heng had simply gone further than in the original plot, but upon hearing otherwise, he realized instantly—this was Tom's doing.
Jing Yuan turned to Fu Xuan beside him.
"Fu-qing, use your third eye. Is Tom down at the bottom of that whirlpool?"
The glowing third eye on Fu Xuan's forehead pierced through layers of mist and water, quickly seeing the unmistakable figure of Tom.
"It's him," she confirmed.
"He's holding onto a pillar, clutching a plug in his hand."
"Directly in front of him, there's a hole about the size of a bowl's rim—that's the source of the vortex…"
Her voice faded slowly, and confusion once again clouded her eyes. Her thoughts drifted, spiraling into perplexity.
It didn't make any sense.
Of course, Fu Xuan knew exactly what a pool plug was—wealthy families on Xianzhou sometimes built swimming pools in their mansions, after all.
But why would something like this appear at the bottom of the Lunarescent Depths!?
The most absurd thing was, a hole barely the size of a bowl's rim was trivial compared to the sheer volume of water in the Lunarescent Depths.
Even if it were actually draining, by the time her lifespan ran dry, the water level would only have fallen a fraction.
Yet now, given the current commotion, within less than half a system-hour, the Lunarescent Depths might be completely drained.
As she pondered this, Fu Xuan—who had just recovered from Tom splitting the Ambrosial Arbor with his crotch—once again got lost in confusion at Tom nearly draining the Lunarescent Depths.
Her eyes went blank, frozen in place.
Jing Yuan could not allow the Ancient Sea of the Lunarescent Depths to disappear entirely.
If it did, tensions between the Vidyadhara and the Xianzhou would only intensify, making things much harder.
When facing internal conflicts on the Xianzhou, particularly with the Vidyadhara, one had to slowly boil the frog alive; escalating things would only cause greater trouble later.
He turned toward Yevenko and spoke.
"Yevenko, you heard what Fu-qing said just now."
Yevenko didn't look up at Jing Yuan, but lowered his head slightly, eyes staring down at his toes, gently nodding.
To preserve as much water as possible, the moment Fu Xuan had mentioned Tom was underwater, Yevenko had immediately dispatched Jerry.
At this moment, Jerry wasn't in the water; instead, he stood safely on dry land, facing the whirlpool. He stretched his face, stuck out his tongue, and made the most ridiculous faces imaginable.
Then, turning around, he patted his own butt.
Tom-baiting trap, JPG.
In the next instant, Tom—who had been underwater just a moment ago—suddenly appeared behind Jerry, wearing a huge grin. He wiggled his bushy eyebrows mischievously and swiftly swiped his right paw towards Jerry.
But…
A human hand was even faster, grasping Tom firmly by the scruff of his fate and lifting him up.
Tom stared into Yevenko's calm face and flashed all eight perfect teeth in an ingratiating smile.
He vaguely sensed that he might have messed things up.
Yevenko spoke calmly.
"Tom, put the plug back."
At these words, Tom rapidly nodded his head. Without hesitation, he tossed the plug gracefully in a perfect parabolic arc, landing precisely at the center of the great whirlpool.
Then, drawn downward by the powerful suction, the plug snapped snugly back into its original hole. Instantly, the whirlpool dissipated, and the Ancient Sea ceased dropping any further.
Yevenko placed Tom back onto his shoulder, turning to Dan Heng standing nearby.
"Continue, continue, I didn't mean to interrupt your sea-parting."
Dan Heng silently gazed at the Ancient Sea before him. Behind him came March 7th's whispers to Yevenko.
"Yevenko, Tom drained the Ancient Sea down to about a third of its original level. Is there even a point to splitting the sea now?"
Then Stelle's quiet whisper joined in.
"Yeah, honestly… if we're careful, we could probably just swim across."
Next came Yevenko's whispering voice, gradually rising.
"Ai… at this point, we have to preserve at least the ceremonial feeling of Dan Heng's sea-parting moment. It's all Tom's fault—I'll definitely teach him a lesson next time!"
Stelle chimed in again.
"Next time for sure! There's always next time!"
"Though, Yevenko… why do you keep grinning?"
Upon hearing this, Dan Heng spun around immediately and saw Yevenko's half-hidden smile freeze and instantly twist downward.
Wailing cries erupted as Yevenko dramatically beat his chest and stomped his feet.
"It's my fault, all my fault! I didn't watch Tom carefully enough! I'll drown myself in the Ancient Sea!"
Saying this, Yevenko sprinted toward the nearby Ancient Sea waters.
March 7th hurriedly grabbed him tightly with both arms, shouting desperately,
"No, Yevenko! The water's way too shallow—you won't drown!!!"
Hearing this, Stelle collapsed onto the ground, clutching her stomach with her left hand, laughing until she couldn't breathe, and repeatedly pounding the ground with her right.
Meanwhile, Jing Yuan approached with a faint smile, remarking softly to Dan Heng,
"Your Astral Express friends really are interesting."
"I had originally planned to become a marine ranger after stepping down as General, but now being a Nameless passenger doesn't seem so bad either."
Fooling around was one thing; getting work done was another.
The Ancient Sea wasn't ordinary water—even at one-third capacity, splitting it was still necessary to make their path easier.
Dan Heng naturally understood this point.
Still, splitting a sea like this was hardly satisfying.
With an expressionless face, Dan Heng channeled the power of the Imbibitor Lunae within himself. Golden light blossomed effortlessly from his hand as he casually swung upward.
It was as easy as parting a little pond outside one's house—the one-third Ancient Sea instantly split apart, without a shred of visual impact.
Yet, the three friends behind him tactfully applauded.
Meanwhile, Jing Yuan had finished arranging matters, ordering Fu Xuan to guard this location and maintain control of the Luofu.
After all, the threat from the Mara-Struck Borisin was still present, and Feixiao had gone to confront Hulei, leaving someone reliable to keep watch over the overall situation.
General Huaijin was kept as the final line of defense.
Ultimately, Jing Yuan hoped to use this opportunity to cultivate Fu Xuan so she could eventually succeed him as General.
After briefing everyone, they proceeded toward the hidden roots of the Ambrosial Arbor.
Yevenko, however, stayed behind with Tom and Jerry. He mentioned he had something to take care of, assuring them he'd catch up shortly.
As soon as they left, Yevenko immediately put Tom back down on the ground.
He had thought of Jade's Twelve Talismans.
After all, whether Jade had brought the talismans when he summoned her was obvious just from the flatness of her pants pockets.
That meant it was highly likely Tom had pulled out Jade's Twelve Talismans earlier.
As for how Tom had pulled them out, after spending considerable time as part of a cat-and-mouse duo himself, Yevenko naturally had some ideas.
Thinking this, he began pondering deeply, trying to recall precisely the image of Victory Hawk No.1.
A dialogue bubble appeared above his head, clearly depicting Victory Hawk No.1.
Yevenko was instantly delighted.
"Tom! Hurry up and take this out for me!"
Tom obediently reached into the bubble and retrieved—a palm-sized toy model of Victory Hawk No.1.
Yevenko: "..."
Of course, it couldn't be that easy.
If it were, couldn't he just imagine anything and let Tom directly 'pull' characters or items out from his imagination?
For Jade's talismans, there must have been another reason—perhaps because she and the talismans belonged to the same world, or maybe she had possessed them before. There might even be deeper reasons he wasn't yet aware of.
But a transformation without a proper crash was utterly soulless.
Luckily, he had a backup plan.
"Tom, Jerry, we'll use the fallen Ambrosial Arbor branches to build a Victory Hawk No.1 model—so long as it can fly, it's fine."
Hearing this, Tom and Jerry both eagerly nodded.
Jerry quickly lifted Yevenko horizontally above his head, while Tom sat atop Yevenko's head. With this peculiar arrangement, the trio sped towards half of the fallen Ambrosial Arbor.
Not long after, a bright yellow fighter jet took off from the ground, soaring rapidly toward the Ambrosial Arbor's hidden roots.
From within, an excited voice immediately called out.
"This is Yevenko, patrolling over Lunarescent Depths airspace. Everything's normal here… Wait, what's that?!"
"HQ, HQ! We're encountering intense electromagnetic interference!"