"If my mother knew about my current cultivation progress, even if she was strict in the past, she would probably praise me a few times, right? Hehe…"
Sushang began to happily fantasize.
"Comparing notes with the personal disciple of the Luofu General and not falling into much of a disadvantage — if I were your mother, I would definitely praise you."
Stelle gave her sister plenty of emotional value.
Guinaifen nodded in agreement. "That's right. I didn't know before that Sushang was actually that good at fighting."
The two's praise made Sushang feel a little embarrassed.
"Actually… I'm guessing it's still because little brother Yanqing was distracted while resisting that Heliobus's bewitchment. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to exchange blows with him for so long and hold on until you brought reinforcements."
"Speaking of reinforcements—"
Guinaifen asked the question that had been troubling her for a while.
"Why did you make the three of us go get help? You should have kept a fighter like Stelle there to help you."
Sushang scratched her head. "It's a bit embarrassing to say, but at that time I was so hot-blooded that I didn't think too much about it."
"I was thinking that Huohuo needed someone to protect her, and you, little Guizi, are just an ordinary person — there's no need for you to take such a big risk."
"And Stelle is a distinguished guest of the Seat of Divine Foresight. If anything happened to her, it would turn into a diplomatic incident."
"After thinking it over, only me staying behind was the most appropriate."
"If Tail were still here, I wouldn't have dragged everyone down so much…" Huohuo's mood became low, her face full of guilt.
"I-It's my fault for being clumsy with words. Huohuo, don't mind my nonsense." Sushang quickly apologized.
"It's not Miss Sushang's problem… I was just thinking, after losing Tail, how much longer can an ordinary person like me continue to handle affairs in the Ten Lords Commission?"
Huohuo sighed silently and shook her head.
"Never mind. I won't worry about it anymore. There might be even more dangerous missions tomorrow. Everyone, please rest well after you return."
At this moment, the camera cut to Leon.
It happened to capture the scene of him slowly opening his eyes. The expression carried in those eyes could only be described as meaningful.
It was as if he knew something.
[Why does Leon have this kind of… uh, how should I put it, calculating expression?]
[Calling it calculating is too harsh.]
"The topic only cut to Leon's camera when it reached Tail. Maybe it's related to Tail's whereabouts?"
Ah Xian had suspected this for a long time. The game had mentioned earlier that a Heliobus wouldn't die so easily.
Cirrus could still possess a Nether Messenger, yet Tail disappeared just like that. There was clearly something strange going on. The greater possibility was that he had slipped away.
So the question was—
Would it be easy to slip away right under the noses of the Ten Lords Commission Judges?
Obviously, it wouldn't.
She thought of a very melodramatic possibility. Lacking evidence, she wasn't sure whether to say it or not.
After thinking it over, she glanced at Leon, who was standing not far away after the mission had temporarily come to an end, and decided to go press F on him.
"March said she found a food shop while exploring that tastes so good it can be described as great."
"If there are no other work tasks today, shall we go together later?"
"Everyone's going, except for Dan Heng and Pom-Pom who can't get off the Express."
①: "…I have something I want to ask you."
②: "How did you appear at Dragonprayer Terrace so coincidentally?"
③: "We have to go! Little March is really amazing~"
Three options popped up. Ah Xian was stunned for a moment.
The first two had dialogue box symbols, while the third had an arrow symbol.
This meant that as long as she didn't choose the third one first, she could click on the first two.
[Ah Xian, Ah Xian, reminder: There's a small pit here for you.]
"What do you mean? Explain in detail."
[If you skip Option One, Leon will never appear again in the subsequent plot of this event.]
"This is called a small pit?" Ah Xian's expression was serious. "To me, this is a huge pit. I can't accept a life without Leon!"
So she immediately chose Option One.
Stelle deliberated for a moment, then pondered for another moment before hesitantly opening her mouth to ask.
"Leon, there's something I want to ask you. I feel like you know something."
"You want to ask about Tail's matter?"
"As expected of you. Completely correct."
Leon answered a different question: "A Heliobus cannot be easily eliminated. Even an Emanator of The Hunt would find it difficult, but I am an exception. I can eliminate some Heliobus that aren't very powerful."
Stelle was stunned. "Not very powerful refers to… something like Cirrus?"
Leon nodded. "For Heliobus of Tail and Cirrus's level, as long as a certain power is used, they can be made to die in a spiritual sense."
"Of course, if one wants to make them die in a physical sense, the method would be more complicated."
"Do you still remember the day Cirrus caused a big disturbance in Fyxestroll Garden?"
"I remember." Stelle nodded.
"At that time, when I sensed you were inside Cirrus, I used the method that could make it die in a physical sense to save you as quickly as possible."
"But halfway through the process, I stopped."
Stelle was astonished. "Why?"
"Tail." Leon explained: "If I had physically eliminated Cirrus at that time, Tail would have been affected as well."
"So I withdrew the killing move. Even so, Tail was still seriously injured because of me."
"After I secretly rescued him and helped him recover, I didn't pay much more attention to it."
"Out of humanitarianism, I only mentioned the matter of letting Tail go to Judge Hanya."
"Now I have no idea where Tail is or whether Judge Hanya has caught him."
"The reason I didn't tell you is because I don't want to get involved in so many trivial matters, especially ones involving the Xianzhou's Ten Lords Commission."
"The people I care about are only you and everyone on the Express."
Stelle felt a warmth in her heart. "…I'm a little touched."
Leon only smiled lightly and didn't say anything more.
[So that's what Leon was doing when he went to find Hanya earlier.]
["The only person I care about is you"… He's too straightforward!]
[But still, don't take it out of context, okay?]
[I'm the protagonist, so having special treatment in the plot and being hit with a straight ball is fine, right? Besides, Leon's next sentence wasn't just for show either.]
[In Jingliu's companion mission, Leon even sarcastically mocked Blade just to ensure Dan Heng's safety. It really wasn't just talk.]
[Otherwise, why would it be called the Astral Express family that loves each other?]
[…What is Ah Xian doing?]
Inside the camera, Ah Xian pulled out two tissues, then reached both hands under the desk…
After her arms moved slightly for two or three seconds, she crumpled the somewhat wrinkled tissue into a ball and threw it into the trash can.
[Wait a minute? If I'm not mistaken, wasn't that tissue partially soaked?]
[???]
"It's fine now. Second option."
[Whether it's real or not, all I can say is that she understands live streaming effects.]
[This is insane. She can even get wet from this?]
[There are so many Leon fans, and quite a few aunties who can create secondary works. But when it comes to the dream girl who simps for Leon the hardest, it has to be Ah Xian.]
[Just the high-quality full-color uncensored long doujinshi she's serialized in multiple parts is enough to crush everyone else.]
Stelle: "When Yanqing and Sushang were comparing notes, you arrived really timely. But I didn't send you a message. Was this time just a coincidence?"