Asta looked dazed. She first looked at Arlan beside her, then at Dan Heng.
Dan Heng's face was calm. He didn't look like he was joking.
Arlan gave a light cough. Asta came back to her senses, took out her long-range communicator, and said to Dan Heng awkwardly, "Please wait a moment."
A minute later, instead of hearing back from Asta, Dan Heng received a call from his friend.
He vaguely guessed the relationship between the two.
The moment he answered, a deafening stream of curses came through.
"Dan Heng, what's wrong with you?!"
"Are you sexist or something?!"
"I just wanted to say a few words to him, and you wouldn't even let me. Then you told me... family is your bottom line."
"So what? The moment you saw my sister, you suddenly had no bottom line?"
Dan Heng: "..."
He calmly said, "Has it ever occurred to you that you've never told me your family name or your family?"
His friend instantly fell silent.
Someone like him would naturally never walk around using his real name.
After arriving on the Xianzhou, he had deliberately given himself a fake name in the Xianzhou style.
As for his real name?
Even Dan Heng, who had known him for a long time, had never touched or looked at his identification.
Still, he answered confidently, "So what? If I didn't tell you, couldn't you ask?"
Dan Heng: "...Have you been watching too many melodramas?"
His friend ignored the question.
"We almost stopped being friends because of this!"
Dan Heng had no interest in discussing it.
Instead, he asked, "What were you all thinking? When I asked for his features, all you said was that he was good-looking."
"Don't mention it."
Instead of answering, his friend asked, "I'm more curious. Did that... Sword Champion of the Luofu also fall in love at first sight?"
Dan Heng raised an eyebrow.
"'Also'? Has someone else already fallen in love with him at first sight?"
"I see."
So when he had asked about Zero's appearance, Stelle had only said he was handsome.
So it was because of his friend's family.
His friend was unhappy.
Even if it was embarrassing, he still had to defend his family's honor.
"Is that really so hard to understand? Do you even know who he is?"
"That's the most powerful man in the universe."
"If it were me..."
His friend suddenly stopped.
Then, in a hesitant tone, he said, "...I wouldn't necessarily mind."
Dan Heng: "???"
He knew his friend didn't have much of a moral compass.
But he hadn't expected something this outrageous.
Looking at it this way, he was almost on the same level as that notoriously flirtatious Daiyang.
The corner of Dan Heng's mouth twitched.
"Do you even know what you're saying?"
Separated by the jade communicator, Dan Heng couldn't see his friend's expression.
He only heard a snort.
"What are you thinking?"
"I mean, if I were a woman, I'd chase him too."
His friend muttered, "One patrol token..."
"Even after several thousand years, using the company's lowest interest rate, that's still an enormous amount of money."
"And even now, it's still just one patrol token..."
"I used to think I was the same kind of person as him."
"But now..."
"The difference between us is like heaven and earth."
"It's perfectly normal that they fell in love with him."
"He's just..."
"...too special."
"He's decisive and ruthless."
"But at the same time..."
"...he has such an emotional side."
His friend burst into laughter.
"He really gave me a difficult problem."
"Dan Heng, what do you think I should do?"
"What gift in the entire universe could possibly match him? Match this kindness?"
"He doesn't care about how expensive gifts are."
Dan Heng thought for a moment before adding, "He keeps over a hundred pets. He usually likes drinking alcohol and eating desserts."
"I know."
His friend suddenly changed the subject and deliberately said in a fierce tone, "You know my family's secret now."
"I can't let you live anymore... unless..."
Dan Heng couldn't help laughing.
"Unless what?"
His friend gave a cold snort.
"Show me your sincerity."
Dan Heng fell into thought.
He now knew his friend's family name and his family's secret.
So in exchange...
Dan Heng took a deep breath and quietly said, "Do you remember the sailing competition held by the academy?"
"The boat we built started leaking the moment it touched the water."
His friend didn't understand at first.
"But we still reached the finish line and earned the credits."
A moment later, he cried out in disbelief, "Wait... you can control water?"
"You're the Imbibitor Lunae?!"
Dan Heng automatically ignored the shouting on the other end.
"Can you help me investigate someone?"
"My god, you're actually the Imbibitor Lunae!"
After saying that, his friend casually asked, as though discussing food, "Sure. Do you need me to silence them?"
His friend was extremely protective.
As long as someone entered his circle, forget covering up a murder.
Even if they destroyed a planet, he would help clean up afterward.
Dan Heng pressed a hand to his forehead, sounding completely helpless.
"No."
"Help me investigate one of your company's Nameless."
He wanted to know the truth.
The Nameless shouldn't bear crimes they never committed.
"You mean... that little employee?"
His friend fell silent before saying in disbelief, "You want me... to investigate him?"
"Haha..."
The other side sounded as though he had been amused.
"Dan Heng, do you know where I am?"
"I'm at Pier Point."
"This is the headquarters of the Interastral Peace Corporation."
"If I walk from the top floor to the first floor and randomly pick any employee, their salary alone would be enough to buy that man's entire family's lives."
Seeing this, Dan Heng changed his mind.
"Then introduce me to someone reliable."
His friend replied impatiently, "Forget it. I'll investigate him myself."
After saying that, he hung up without giving Dan Heng a chance to respond.
The screen returned to the call menu.
It was still displaying Dan Heng's chat with Zero.
Looking at the screen, Dan Heng sighed to himself.
Back in the archives, Dan Heng took out a notebook the size of his palm.
He had bought it specifically to write down his thoughts.
Most people who left home would feel lonely during their travels.
Dan Heng never did.
Whenever he wanted to record something, all he had to do was look up and he would see schools and roads built with Xianzhou support.
Sometimes he even saw statues of the "Father of the Xianzhou."
Dan Heng opened the brand-new notebook, picked up his pen, and wrote a sentence.
[A promise made thousands of years ago continues in another form.]
The next day, his friend called again.
His voice sounded especially cheerful.
"I've prepared some gifts for him..."
Dan Heng stayed silent for a moment before reminding him, "Do you remember that Nameless?"
His friend was obviously stunned.
"Ah, I've already had someone investigate him. Hold on."
Dan Heng: "..."
He understood.
His friend had forgotten.
When his friend gave an order, someone would place the files on his desk within a minute.
A minute later, Dan Heng heard hurried footsteps from the other side.
It was one of his friend's subordinates.
His friend gave a light cough.
"He wasn't a Nameless."
"He was a former Nameless."
"He joined the company and entered the Market Development Department."
"His methods were too extreme, and he offended quite a few people."
"In short, his death had nothing to do with the company or the Nameless."
The moment he finished speaking, he impatiently continued, "Alright, now look..."
Dan Heng interrupted him.
"What's his name?"
"Something Ao... something Shi... I don't remember."
His friend answered carelessly before urging Dan Heng to help pick gifts.
"Forget that. Hurry up and look..."
He pulled Dan Heng through dozens of pages of information.
There were expensive auction items from different star systems, all kinds of young animals, and even several planets.
Dan Heng was overwhelmed.
Based on Xianzhou tastes, he picked a few auction items.
Then came the pets.
Dan Heng remembered the large bamboo forest at Zero's home.
The two of them already kept over a hundred pets...
So they chose young animals that fed on bamboo leaves.
That way they wouldn't have to renovate the courtyard again.
Finally came the planets.
The two of them looked through one after another.
Before they could make a decision, the conductor knocked on the archive room door.
"Passenger Dan Heng, your package has arrived."
Dan Heng stood up and said into the jade communicator, "Wait a moment. I'll go get it."
The people aboard the Express never pried into each other's past.
Dan Heng didn't mind.
Whenever people talked about the Xianzhou, he would join the conversation himself.
The other five often sent him packages.
The sender was always the Xianzhou Luofu.
After learning about his companions' preferences from Dan Heng, they would occasionally send gifts as well.
Sometimes they were Xianzhou specialties.
Other times they were coffee beans, Gold Automaton models, and similar gifts...
It was also their way of thanking everyone for taking care of Dan Heng.
Dan Heng left the train and walked over to the staff member.
The person stared at him without blinking.
Only after Dan Heng signed for the package and took it did the staff member finally let out a sigh of relief.
Back in the archives, his friend asked, "That fast? Aren't you going to open it?"
Dan Heng already had a guess.
It wasn't from the Xianzhou.
He opened the package.
Inside was the tea set his friend had just shown him, bought at the auction.
He immediately closed the package again.
"It's too valuable."
"Come on. Stop thinking about returning the favor."
"You only earn three hundred patrol tokens a month."
His friend always skipped the currency unit when speaking.
"What could that even buy? Just keep it."
The two continued choosing gifts.
In the end, they selected a very special planet.
It was on that planet that, in the year the "Father of the Xianzhou" became the Yaoqing General, the famous wine known across the universe had first been brewed.
Giving both the planet and the wine together couldn't have been more suitable.
After finishing the serious business, Dan Heng talked about what he'd been doing recently.
His friend didn't understand, but still respected it.
"Why do you like traveling on a budget so much?"
"Your way of thinking is really unusual."
He also talked about his own situation.
"After today, I'll finally be free."
"I'm planning to go relax on an island for three months first..."
As he spoke, he became more and more excited.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot."
"Thanksgiving is almost here."
"Are you going back?"
Dan Heng hesitated before vaguely answering,
"I don't know."
"I haven't decided yet."
His friend sounded disappointed.
"Alright."
"If you decide to return to the Luofu, let me know in advance."
"Just sending gifts without meeting in person..."
"...is far too rude."
Dan Heng gave a quiet "Mm."
The two said goodbye and ended the call.
He opened the package, put the tea set into the storage cabinet in the Express's common area, casually picked up a book, and sat by the bar to pass the time.
When dinner came, the Nameless gathered around the table as usual.
They got along casually and didn't care about table manners.
The elder smiled as he listened to everyone's experiences that day.
After March finished speaking, Stelle couldn't wait to say, "Marshal Zero is my best friend..."
Dan Heng: "???"
Everyone immediately fell silent and instinctively looked at Dan Heng.
Stelle blinked.
She didn't understand what was happening, but she also turned to look at him.
Facing everyone's worried and uncertain looks, Dan Heng tightened his grip on his knife and fork and defended himself.
"I'm not that kind of..."
"...overly fanatical Xianzhou person."
He seriously said, "Stelle, it's best not to say the Father of the Xianzhou's real name in front of outsiders."
Stelle frowned deeply, completely confused.
March Seventh gave an awkward laugh.
"Stelle, let's just not mention him when we're outside."
"There's so much scenery along the way."
"Just enjoy the scenery..."
Dan Heng glanced at March.
"Yes."
"Just enjoy the scenery."
"Don't call out his name when you see his statues."
"Otherwise you'll end up like March."
"We almost got detained because of it."
Knowing she was in the wrong, March muttered quietly, "But I was talking so softly!"
"How was I supposed to know?"
"They were standing so far away, and they still heard me..."
Dan Heng sighed helplessly and took it upon himself to explain the Father of the Xianzhou's history.
He had memorized it countless times back at the academy.
He never imagined he'd still be using that knowledge after graduating.
Stelle listened very carefully, asking strange questions from time to time.
Several of them left Dan Heng speechless.
Walter pushed up his glasses and stepped in at just the right moment to rescue him.
He gently asked Stelle about what she had experienced that day.
Through her story, everyone learned about the Simulated Universe.
During the test, Stelle had encountered the Father of the Xianzhou and cleared the stage ahead of schedule.
Something also seemed to have gone wrong inside the Simulated Universe.
Dan Heng frowned.
Zero himself was the Xianzhou's highest-level secret.
Would those people really allow outsiders to keep investigating?
Rumor had it that the Fourth Seat was close to Zero and had even personally dealt with a certain scholar because of him.
Although the Fourth Seat didn't kill people...
'Wait.'
'Was Stelle even human?'
A worried look appeared on Dan Heng's face.
After dinner, he walked over to Stelle and asked for every detail of the test.
After thinking for a while, Stelle described what she had seen.
It was an elegant picture frame.
The figure inside had no facial features.
The man wearing Xianzhou clothing took the initiative to extend his right hand.
———
The man frowned slightly before smiling.
"How did you end up in such a sorry state?"
"That's not like you."
He lifted your chin, forcing you to look up.
Only then did you notice that those amber eyes were filled with coldness.
His hand slowly moved down, gripping your neck as he smiled.
"My dear friend..."
———
Dan Heng: "..."
How should he put it?
After hearing Stelle's description, he felt as though Baiheng had driven a starskiff into him all the way from the academy gates to the edge of the universe.
'What exactly was inside the Simulated Universe?!'
Even if one of Zero's own subordinates showed up, they probably wouldn't recognize that thing as Zero.
Stelle was filled with emotion.
Her dear friend had clearly seen through her identity.
Even so, he had still cleared out every enemy ahead for her.
Who could refuse such a kind person?
Someone who let her clear the stage early while still getting all the rewards?
At least Stelle couldn't.
Remembering Dan Heng's advice, Stelle didn't say his name.
She simply sighed, "He's such a good person..."