"What do you mean by this?" Welt sat on a wooden chair, holding a teacup, his brows furrowed deeply.
Seeing this, March 7th's heart tightened involuntarily.
"Done for."
Immediately after.
Several Cloud Knights strode over aggressively to the three and shouted sternly:
"You three suspicious individuals of unknown origin are suspected of endangering the Xianzhou! Surrender immediately and come with us to the Palace of Astrum. Everything will be decided by Lady Yukong!"
"Endangering the Xianzhou?" Welt glanced at the speaking Cloud Knight and said in a deep voice:
"Are you blind? Along the way, we only knocked out the mara-struck instead of killing them, and we even saved Cloud Knights! Tell me then… how exactly did we endanger anything."
"Then let me ask you. You claim to be the Astral Express. Why did you appear at this critical juncture, and who opened the Jade Gate for you?!"
"You ask me and I'm supposed to know?"
"Hah… Then isn't that unknown origin? Everyone together, apprehend these suspects!"
At the command, the restaurant they were in faced the toughest moment since opening.
…
Ten minutes later.
"Bang—!!"
Accompanied by a huge explosion, the defensive array on the Palace of Astrum's main gate was blasted to pieces. The entire gate shattered like glass.
A beam of strong light shone into the interior of the Palace of Astrum.
"Wh… who is it?!"
"How audacious, daring to intrude into the Palace of Astrum without permission!"
"Ah… aiya, ah—!!"
A large group of injured Cloud Knights were bound in the air by an invisible mighty force and then slammed hard into the center of the Palace of Astrum's main hall.
"Bang—!!"
Welt stepped on the mottled gate fragments and slowly approached, still holding a pseudo black hole in his hand.
"Which one is called Yukong? Right now, immediately, at once, roll over here! I can still show great mercy and spare your life!"
His fierce words immediately caused panic among all the staff here.
"Who is that… an enemy?"
"Are the Cloud Knights who fell to the ground okay? They look heavily injured."
"I… we should call for help!"
At the very top of the hall.
A fox-eared woman with green hair looked at the scene in terror, then frowned deeply:
"Astral Express… have you gone mad!"
"Hah, stinky woman! You still know we are the Astral Express? Enough talk. Quickly come down and accept death!"
"What did you say?"
"Are your ears deaf? I told you to come over and accept death!!"
As he spoke, Welt bent down and fiercely threw the pseudo black hole in his hand toward Yukong!
"Bang—!!"
It gave almost no one time to think!
After leaving Welt's hand, the black hole rapidly expanded, devouring everything around it without restraint!
It sped toward Yukong!
"You…!"
Completely unprepared for this scene, Yukong quickly came to her senses and rolled to barely dodge the incoming black hole.
"Boom—hiss—!!"
A large hole was devoured in the main wall behind Yukong, with its escaping energy still crackling.
This scene left Yukong shocked and furious. She roared:
"Aren't you here to help the Luofu?! What are you doing now!"
"Hmph, I thought you had senile dementia and didn't know!"
Welt walked toward Yukong alone, conjuring another black orb in his hand as he glared menacingly:
"That stinky fox already told you our purpose, right? Can't you understand?! In this situation you still suspect us of endangering the Xianzhou? Good, very good. I'll show you what the result would be if I really wanted to kill you!"
Upon hearing this, Yukong immediately understood what Welt meant and quickly said:
"Misunderstanding! There must be some misunderstanding. My intention was to have the Cloud Knights invite you over for a proper discussion!"
"Discussion? This is the attitude of a discussion?"
Welt stepped on the head of an injured Cloud Knight, grinding his foot and making him let out a painful groan.
Welt glared furiously at Yukong:
"Who exactly opened that Jade Gate… is no longer important. I've said many times it has nothing to do with us. Can't you understand?"
Yukong glared back furiously:
"A Stellaron was only discovered on the Luofu a few days ago. The Central Starskiff Haven is completely sealed, and no one has left—You foresaw this and insist it's related to the Stellaron. Shouldn't we be suspicious?!"
"What does that have to do with me?"
Welt stepped on the bodies of the Cloud Knights as he slowly walked toward Yukong, his voice growing colder:
"Our original intention was simply to do some good deeds, yet you repeatedly make things difficult! The Xianzhou's way of receiving guests is actually arrogant to this extent!"
At that moment, the entire space became oppressively heavy.
Feeling the changes in the surrounding environment, Yukong found breathing difficult, as if even the hairs on her body had become heavy.
Her whole body felt as painful as if filled with lead!
But even so, Yukong gritted her teeth and held on, breaking out in cold sweat as she shouted sternly:
"I checked the entry and exit records of the Central Starskiff Haven. Not long ago, someone hacked into the system, opened the Jade Gate, and guided a ship into port. That ship was yours, right?!"
"The person who hacked the system was highly skilled and even deliberately left a stamp, as if provoking us! That person is Silver Wolf from the Stellaron Hunters. Don't you plan to explain?!"
"Explain? Explain what?! What is there to explain?"
Welt said coldly:
"We were indeed lured here by the Stellaron Hunters. What can you do about it?"
Yukong shouted in disbelief:
"You admitted it!"
"Hah, them opening the door for the Express means the Express is in cahoots with the Stellaron Hunters? I'd like to ask you the same."
At this point Welt was already standing in front of Yukong. He directly lifted his foot and kicked—
"Bang—!!"
Yukong felt a heavy blow to her abdomen. Her whole body flew backward, slammed hard into the wall, and then fell like a tattered sack.
The heavily injured Yukong lay on the ground and slowly raised her head.
She never expected this seemingly refined and gentle man would actually dare to fight here for real!
He really came from the Astral Express…?
"Your system is truly weak… It could be hacked so easily. A bunch of useless things! And you actually turn around and blame us for this?!"
Welt slowly advanced, speaking coldly word by word:
"We've been saving people the whole way, while you bunch of good-for-nothings can't even guard a door. Have you become this frail—?!"
"What kind of… twisted logic is this!" Yukong lay sprawled on the ground, unable to move. She gritted her teeth and tried to push herself up but found she couldn't no matter what.
"Hah, I understand now… You've been making things difficult for us the whole way… because you wanted us to feel we were in the wrong so you could control us better during cooperation, right? What a good plan. Unfortunately… you won't have the chance to see tomorrow's sun!"
Under Yukong's terrified gaze, the Welt before her gathered energy in his palm. The intense killing intent in his eyes filled the entire Palace of Astrum!
"Daring to scheme against the Express again and again—then say goodbye to your Palace of Astrum—!"
Yukong's eyes widened, filled with extreme fear.