The warp jump was about to begin.
Evan looked around the battlecruiser with open curiosity.
He had to admit...
Asta, you really are one rich young lady.
The interior was downright extravagant.
Every decoration, every piece of furniture, every display looked outrageously expensive.
And because this was Asta's personal custom order...
Even the ship's main cannons had been specially modified.
If the Antimatter Legion launched another assault like the one on Herta Space Station...
This battlecruiser alone would be more than capable of wiping them out.
As expected of a weapon designed to threaten entire planets.
"Whoa!"
"Miss Asta's battlecruiser is... it's incredible!"
The moment March 7th stepped aboard, she practically bounced into the air.
Her eyes sparkled as she took in the luxurious interior.
Meanwhile...
Stelle had already begun opening every storage compartment she could find.
Her eyes gradually filled with confusion.
Wait...
How can a battlecruiser be decorated like a luxury mansion?!
Compared to this...
She still lived in March's cabin aboard the Astral Express.
Sharing a room wasn't really a problem.
It was just...
A little cramped.
Of course, that wasn't entirely Pom-Pom's fault.
Many of the Astral Express' original carriages had long since been destroyed or lost.
Fortunately, there weren't many crew members these days.
So the lack of space had never become a serious issue.
Dan Heng glanced around before giving a small nod.
"...It's impressive."
He had seen countless ships before.
Even so...
Asta's personal cruiser was something else.
It wasn't even the firepower that surprised him.
It was the interior design.
Even Dan Heng found himself impressed.
Naturally...
He simply kept those thoughts to himself.
"Miss Asta certainly has excellent taste."
"No wonder she's the one supporting the entire space station."
March could only nod in agreement.
As for Stelle...
She had already been caught by March and dragged away from another storage compartment.
Honestly...
It was the perfect example of natural predators.
Stelle countered trash cans.
March countered Stelle.
A complete victory.
"This Wardance Ceremony..."
Evan leaned comfortably against the sofa.
"...is one of the Luofu's largest events in many years."
"Delegations from several Xianzhou ships will be attending."
"I'm afraid General Jing Yuan is going to have a headache."
March blinked.
"Why?"
"Isn't it just a festival?"
"Why would General Jing Yuan be worried?"
Dan Heng answered before Evan could.
"It may be called the Wardance Ceremony..."
"But in reality..."
"It's part of the aftermath of Phantylia's invasion."
"What Jing Yuan is about to face..."
"...is judgment from the other Xianzhou generals."
He folded his arms thoughtfully.
"I wonder which generals will be attending this time."
"I'd guess..."
"General Huaiyan."
"And General Feixiao."
"Huh?"
March looked completely lost.
Dan Heng, however, immediately understood the significance.
He naturally knew who those two were.
General Huaiyan of the Xianzhou Zhuming.
The oldest and most senior of all the Xianzhou generals.
Besides serving as a general...
He was also the Alliance's greatest master craftsman.
Yingxing—
Who later became Blade, one of the Stellaron Hunters—
Had once studied under Huaiyan.
Years ago...
At Huaiyan's instruction, Yingxing had traveled to assist Luofu.
In the end...
Not only did Huaiyan lose his disciple...
That disciple eventually became one of the galaxy's most wanted criminals.
Those events belonged to the past now.
Still...
If Huaiyan personally came...
It made perfect sense.
Dan Heng gave a slight nod.
Huaiyan was not only the oldest general...
He was also one of the very few who had successfully survived the threat of mara.
Meanwhile...
Jing Yuan himself was drawing ever closer to that same fate.
As for General Feixiao...
Dan Heng knew relatively little.
Only that she was renowned as the Victor General.
"If the generals of the Zhuming and the Yaoqing are both coming..."
Dan Heng thought quietly.
"...then Jing Yuan is truly in trouble."
One represented the oldest and most respected authority within the Alliance.
The other...
A young Foxian general whose reputation preceded her.
No matter how he looked at it...
Neither seemed to be arriving with friendly intentions.
Just what...
Were the Alliance's higher-ups thinking?
Could it be...
That Phantylia's scheme had truly achieved part of its goal?
"That's their concern."
Evan shrugged calmly.
"Although we resolved the Luofu's crisis without too many casualties..."
"The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus."
"The corrupt Vidyadhara Elders."
"And the rot within the Alchemy Commission."
"Each one is enough to charge Jing Yuan with dereliction of duty."
"And then..."
"There's Phantylia."
"Naturally, the Alliance's leadership will question whether something like that could really have happened."
"So..."
"The real reason we've been invited to the Wardance..."
"...is to serve as witnesses."
"Witnesses?"
March paused.
Then suddenly slapped her forehead.
"Ohhh!"
"Right!"
"We're the Astral Express!"
"Exactly."
Evan smiled.
"Alright."
"Get ready."
"We're about to warp."
"We only borrowed this ship from Asta."
"Once we arrive..."
"It'll automatically return to the space station."
He couldn't help sighing.
"The IPC's technology really is decades ahead of everyone else."
Xianzhou Zhuming
Not long after Luofu submitted its official report...
Suspicion toward Jing Yuan within the Xianzhou Alliance had grown considerably.
The Vidyadhara leadership had become thoroughly corrupted.
A Lord Ravager had infiltrated the Luofu itself.
The Divine Foresight General...
Could not escape responsibility.
Therefore...
Marshal Hua personally issued an order.
The generals of the Xianzhou Zhuming...
And the Xianzhou Yaoqing...
Were to travel to the Luofu and conduct an official investigation into Jing Yuan.
There were clear reasons behind the decision.
First...
General Huaiyan possessed the greatest seniority among all the generals.
Second...
He had never shown favoritism toward anyone.
Everyone knew...
Below the Aeons and their Emanators existed countless long-life species.
Their lifespans far exceeded those of ordinary beings.
Yet...
Most eventually perished to one cause or another.
For Xianzhou...
That fate was Mara.
Huaiyan...
Was the oldest living Xianzhou native.
Even during the era of the High-Cloud Quintet...
He had already been regarded as the longest-lived among them.
And that era...
It ended over seven hundred years ago.
"Divine Foresight General..."
"Jing Yuan..."
Huaiyan quietly gazed into the blazing furnace before him.
The flames burning within the Zhuming Forge were unlike any ordinary fire.
Sealed inside...
Was the ancestor of the Heliobi.
The Flint Emperor.
Even the ascension records of the Reignbow Arbiter had mentioned its existence.
After the Heliobi War ended...
Xianzhou imprisoned the Flint Emperor here...
Using its endless flames to power the entire Zhuming.
After gathering his thoughts...
Huaiyan turned toward the doorway.
"Let's go."
"Yunli."
"It's time."
"We're heading to Xianzhou Luofu."
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