Tapping her toes in the void, talismanic ripples bloomed as a purple and white figure descended from the sky.
Lotus sleeves accompanied by flowing silk ribbons, her posture as ethereal as a fairy gracefully falling to earth. Her skirt, embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns, swayed like swirling wind and drifting snow.
And then…
The moment she landed, her left foot, wrapped in white silk stockings, twisted from the sheer shock, causing Fu Xuan to stumble forward. Fortunately, she managed to regain her balance.
Alas, the cool, imposing atmosphere of a powerful figure's entrance was thrown into turmoil, coming to an abrupt halt.
On top of the incubator sat a low table laden with food, around which the members of the Astral Express and the Stellaron Hunter Kafka were gathered... It had the atmosphere of a family dinner, or maybe a team-building event.
Fu Xuan couldn't comprehend it.
She had not yet formally met the Express Crew, but she had been listening in for the entire duration when Jing Yuan previously spoke with them via projection in the Seat of Divine Foresight.
From Stelle and Caelus claiming a close relationship with Kafka, to them forming the 'Mom-Hunting Squad' and striking a deal with Jing Yuan to sell out their mother for extra cash.
But what in the world was this scene before her now?
Had they abandoned their agreement with Jing Yuan to side with the Stellaron Hunter?
If Caelus and Stelle truly shared a deep bond with Kafka, Fu Xuan supposed she could understand, though only a tiny bit. But more importantly…
As if time had frozen, only the upbeat BGM continued to play.
With a wooden expression and the look of someone who had seen a ghost, Fu Xuan slowly turned her head to look below the incubator, and her pupils quaked.
And what was the deal with this ferrywarden from the Sky-Faring Commission?
The dainty foxian lady moved as slowly as a light cloud, her dance steps like flowing wisps and rosy mists, her skirt flaring open with each swift spin.
Judged from any angle, the dance was performed exceptionally well!
But when you added the Mara-struck soldiers around her, who were mimicking Tingyun's movements to the music like Alzheimer's patients, the whole thing resembled the corpse-herders of Xiangxi, or a night parade of a hundred demons.
Tingyun's classical dance and the Mara-strucks' modern flair combined to create some sort of modern-classical fusion.
Most notably, in front of the dance troupe formed by Tingyun and the Mara-struck…
The two gray-haired Trailblazers wore red silk headbands that read 'Warmly Welcome Mother Kafka' and waved color-changing neon lightsabers, spinning and shaking them. They moved their upper bodies back and forth, dancing out two spinning sword flowers in time with the rhythm.
The scene was simply too beautiful for words!
Fu Xuan found herself utterly unable to describe this absurd, unnamable spectacle.
The stars swirling within her third eye flickered and died out repeatedly. Forget her every move; if she took even a random snapshot of the scene, her third eye couldn't divine or predict a single thing!
On the surface, she appeared expressionless, but in reality, Fu Xuan was panicking. She was extremely panicked, even a little terrified.
Could it be... that she was succumbing to the Mara!?
The Dearth of the Five Skandhas, a mental takeover where the mind falls into a state of utter confusion.
Dvesha, where emotions begin to fluctuate between intense joy, sorrow, resentment, and anger.
Severe symptoms of Dearth combined with a hint of Dvesha resulted in hallucinations.
At this thought, Fu Xuan's heart and lungs nearly stopped.
She was still young! She didn't want to fall to the Mara so soon!
Fu Xuan's grand entrance had interrupted everyone's enjoyment of the dance and food. Caelus and Stelle stopped their cheering, turning off the smart speaker connected to a Herta puppet.
"Master Diviner! You've arrived!"
The music stopped. Tingyun was already drenched in fragrant sweat and panting heavily. As for her tail... it was bushed out like the wig of a programmer who had been forced to revise a proposal twenty-eight times by a client.
At this very moment, Phantylia was beginning to regret initiating contact with this group from the Astral Express.
These two gray-haired kids weren't just a little crazy; even on a good day, they had the combined weight of several centuries of cerebral thrombosis!
"..."
Ramping up the computational power of her third eye, Fu Xuan finally calmed down. She remained silent for a long moment before speaking.
"Members of the Express Crew, it is a pleasure to meet you for the first time. No, I suppose I have met with you all before. I am one of the Six Charioteers of the Xianzhou, Fu Xuan, Master Diviner of the Divination Commission."
"One of the Six Charioteers, a high-ranking official!" March 7th said in surprise.
"But she's so tiny," Stelle scratched her head, looking thoughtful. "And her voice sounds so familiar."
The comment about her height made Fu Xuan's brow furrow slightly.
"What is the meaning of this behavior?"
Fu Xuan pointed at the fine food on the low table, her tone cold, her questioning words bordering on an accusation.
"So it is the Master Diviner. This humble scholar pays his respects." Caelus gave a scholar's bow in a theatrical manner, earning him a ('д′) expression from March 7th.
"Master Diviner, we are here on a commission from General Jing Yuan to capture Kafka."
"My synesthesia beacon does not err. Would you kindly translate for me what you mean by 'capture'?"
Fu Xuan stared intently at the red silk headband on Caelus's head, her voice tinged with agitation.
"You may not be aware, Master Diviner." Noticing where Fu Xuan was looking, Caelus immediately yanked the headbands off his and Stelle's heads, revealing another set underneath with the words 'Mom-Hunting Squad' written on them.
"This is one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems: secretly crossing the Chencang pass, a dagger hidden behind a smile."
Stelle puffed out her chest proudly and repeated their 'strategy' of poisoning the food.
"Oh... so it's poisoned."
Kafka glanced at the time; it was exactly when Elio had predicted. She played along, slumping forward onto the low table as if she had been drugged.
However, her tone, like a mother playing along with her children's games, only made the silence more profound.
March 7th (°°) stared at Kafka, who had collapsed right in front of her.
Tingyun's expression was a picture.
Seriously, you guys are just going to force this act all the way through!?
Caelus took out his yo-yo and Stelle shouldered her bat. The two of them quickly cleared out all the Mara-struck soldiers still under Kafka's control.
Then, each supporting one of Kafka's arms, they brought her before Fu Xuan.
"You see, Master Diviner, the Stellaron Hunter Kafka has been apprehended. Do you need us to escort her to Brother Jing Yuan?"
Being so close, Caelus could smell the faint scent of jasmine from Kafka.
"..."
Fu Xuan silently watched Caelus and Stelle, who were wearing polite smiles, then stared at the feigning Kafka for a long while before taking a deep breath as if to lower her blood pressure.
Although it looked for all the world like Caelus and Stelle were on Kafka's side, she considered Jing Yuan's certainty that the two of them still bore the gaze of the Reignbow Arbiter.
That was something that absolutely could not be faked. It was impossible for Jing Yuan to be mistaken!
Furthermore, Fu Xuan had performed a divination for the two of them. The second line of the Qian hexagram, being at the beginning of the Li hexagram and below the Kan hexagram, signified that the two were key to the development of events, bringing great benefit and minor harm to the Xianzhou.
Fu Xuan naturally believed in the results of her divination. Coupled with the gaze of the Reignbow Arbiter, she decided to tentatively trust these two weirdos.
"That won't be necessary. I have a directive from the General here. After you have captured the Stellaron Hunter, the Divination Commission is to take over all interrogation matters."
Fu Xuan first showed the directive to the most reliable person present, Welt.
Her third eye shone brilliantly. Fu Xuan formed a hand seal, and a particle stream of talismans enveloped Kafka like an ethereal mist, causing her to levitate.
Layer after layer of purple ripples spread out, binding Kafka's hands like psychic shackles.
"The high-value criminal is now in my custody."
Fu Xuan beckoned the levitating Kafka closer. With a light wave of her jade-like arm, a golden beam shot from her hand.
In the blink of an eye, Kafka was tightly bound by the glowing golden rope.
"What's that?" Caelus's eyes widened with curiosity.
That was pretty cool.
"This is the Edictal Rope, developed by the Artisanship Commission with top-tier technology specifically to restrain heinous criminals."
Fu Xuan looked at Caelus, Stelle, and the others.
"When bound by this rope, one's power cannot be used. Even if it can, it will be greatly diminished."
In sci-fi terms, it was a shackle built around an Imaginary energy dispersal disruptor, combined with other technologies.
Inmates in the Shackling Prison could receive one for free.
The degree of suppression depended on the criminal's power. For a top-tier criminal like Kafka, completely suppressing her power was nearly impossible.
But Fu Xuan had added another lock with her own power.
Regardless of Caelus and Stelle's relationship with Kafka, or whether this was all an act, the fact was that Kafka was now captured. With double restraints, there was no escape for her now!
"No problem, then my mummy is all yours!"
Stelle flashed a charming and sweet smile, sidling up to Fu Xuan and rubbing her hands together like a fly. "So when does the gold Brother Jing Yuan promised us get transferred?"
"Er..."
Fu Xuan was stunned for two seconds, then coughed a few times. "Ahem, you can ask the General about that matter."
Jing Yuan was the one who promised it. Surely she wasn't expected to pay Caelus and Stelle's gold out of the Divination Commission's budget?
Hearing the word 'bounty', the corner of the feigning Kafka's eye couldn't help but twitch.
Stelle and Caelus... really sold her out?
Although the script dictated that Kafka was supposed to be captured by the Express Crew and handed over to the Xianzhou, after experiencing Stelle's earlier display of motherly love and filial piety, Kafka had felt a rare and unusual stirring in her heart.
Now, knowing that Caelus and Stelle had truly sold her out, she couldn't help but feel a little strange...
She had been piously played.
"Alright then." Caelus nodded. He believed that someone of Jing Yuan's status wouldn't default on the bounty.
"The General promised that if we captured the Stellaron Hunter, we would be allowed to participate in the Stellaron crisis investigation. I wonder if the Master Diviner is aware of this?"
Welt looked at Fu Xuan.
"The General informed me before I came. The members of the Express Crew are well-traveled and have altruistically helped many worlds invaded by Stellarons to seal the crises. Their character is excellent, and the General has nothing but praise for you."
"This time, you have captured a high-value criminal, proving yourselves, so naturally you can..."
Fu Xuan's tone was tinged with an undeniable complexity.
All she could say was that they hadn't proven a single thing.
But an agreement was an agreement, and backing out was not an option.
While Welt and Fu Xuan were talking, Stelle, having lost at rock-paper-scissors, went to clean up the food and trash. Caelus took out his phone and opened the 'Astral Express Family' group chat.
[Sunny and Cheerful Big Boy: @Dan Heng, we caught Kafka. It all went smoothly.]
He tapped send.
Message failed to send.
"Hmm?" Caelus raised an eyebrow. "What's going on? Is the Stellaron's energy interfering with the signal again?"
Caelus opened a game and saw the normal loading screen, his brow furrowing deeper.
"That's not right, the network signal is fine. Could it be..."
Caelus switched to a side account to message his main account, but it also failed to send.
After a moment of thought, Caelus opened his chat with Silver Wolf.
[Wants to Share a Surname with Big Sis Asta: Beep boop, you there, Wolfie?]
Message sent successfully.
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