Luofu, Cloudford.
Leon stepped onto a docking zone's deck, scanning left and right.
He didn't see the Astral Express's landing shuttle. If the Luofu's guides were present, they might have directed it to dock elsewhere.
If not, it was just his bad luck.
"Not a single person?"
Leon extended his senses, finding not only the nearby area but the entire port deserted.
Searching for the Xianzhou's signature surveillance devices, the mechanical birds, he soon found a few.
But unexpectedly, they were all malfunctioning.
It seemed like deliberate sabotage.
Many years ago, in one of Leon's past lives, he had visited the Xianzhou Fanghu as a civilization's envoy, exchanging knowledge on mechanical technology.
The mechanical birds used for surveillance weren't too complex in their programming or hardware.
He could repair them.
However, hacking into the Luofu's surveillance system wasn't easy and risked counter-tracking.
But that was fine—someone made it easy.
After spending some time fixing a mechanical bird, Leon called out in his mind.
No response.
"Playing dead?"
"I'll count to three."
"Three."
"Fierce, so fierce, and you still won't let me…"
Aha, in mask form, popped out, looking aggrieved.
Leon: ???
Won't let you?
More like you don't dare.
Who'd dare do that to Aha? They'd be this (thumbs up).
"You only call on Aha for manual labor without any reward. Aha's gonna cry…"
"You'll get your share. Get to work."
"Wanna mess with the locals for fun!"
"I'll consider it. Work first. If you don't, you still expect me to boost your performance? Even the worst factory foremen aren't as good at empty promises as you."
"You're just considering it? I'm shaking with rage! Aha's been outdone and won't do it!"
Leon lost patience, grabbed the mask from his shoulder, and flung it away.
"If you won't do it, then neither will I. It's not like I have to hack their surveillance."
Aha turned into a shooting star and vanished into the sky.
Two seconds later, it reappeared on Leon's shoulder.
This time, it was a tiny sprite form, small enough to be crushed in a palm.
"Brother's so cruel, comparing Aha to those lousy foremen…"
Aha's eyes reddened, biting its lip pitifully.
"All I wanted was a bit of your sunshine, but I can't even get a kind word…"
"Do you know how much psychological damage a big slap does to a little Aha in its teens…"
"…Wah wah wah…"
Leon's temple twitched, his fist hardening.
Seeing this, Aha sobbed delicately on the surface but was secretly thrilled.
Thinking it'd get another thrill, Leon suddenly changed, smiling kindly.
"Aha, you wouldn't want the Pity Emanator's imaginary fluctuations broadcast across the Luofu, would you?"
The moment he spoke, Leon found himself inside the mechanical bird's surveillance system.
The dual-faced figure on his shoulder wore the exact same expression as Miss Meme when her next month's meal money was squandered.
"That kind of thing o(＞﹏＜)o, no way! It'll attract .@#%;'￥!"
Leon calmly checked the surveillance, ignoring Aha's censored outburst.
"Why so nervous? Just teasing you."
"Oh, good then. Scaring myself…"
"Wait—no! Does that mean Aha got played by Brother again?"
"Wanna get 'played' again?" Leon tilted his head, eyes narrowing.
A power within him surged, ready to erupt.
"No… no more, I'm done… Ah~ Aha suddenly remembered a bomb stuck in a worker's wall is about to boom. Gotta go!"
Leon was used to Aha's habit of acting up unless properly tamed.
He didn't like threats, but now he enjoyed threatening Aha.
It was unclear who was taming whom.
Perhaps this was part of the fun Aha sought when playing with him.
Sober and seeing through its nature, Leon naturally didn't hold back.
Mutual consent.
Everyone got what they wanted.
Everyone had a bright future.
It was reasonable, a good deal.
The surveillance recorded the staff's evacuation and the issuance of a lockdown order.
"—So this isn't the Star Skiff Sea."
Unfamiliar with the Luofu, did he pick the wrong landing coordinates?
"No… I followed the residual signal of the landing craft…"
"They should've landed nearby… or maybe not."
Pondering the oddities, Leon pictured Kafka's face, then the bounties of all the Stellaron Hunters.
One, with a 5.1 billion bounty, wielded aether editing and was a skilled hacker.
Leon took out his phone.
As expected, no signal.
Leon smiled faintly, started walking, and muttered to himself.
"You Stellaron Hunters are even less scrupulous than I thought…"
"Asking for our help but not offering any, and blocking our communications?"
"We've dealt with Stellarons before. How could we not tell if a signal's been affected by one?"
"Let me think… the one pulling this off is probably a crude, vulgar, hot-tempered, flat-as-a-board tomboy."
"Probably doesn't even have real friends, just seeking validation online, cheating in competitive games to annoy people."
"If she loses to an opponent, does she cry little pearls alone under her blanket?"
"If her game accounts keep getting banned, then—"
In a cosmic storm far from the Luofu's star system, a ship stood unmoved amidst the chaos.
But inside, a certain tiny potato volcano had long passed its eruption point.
"Don't stop me! If I don't chew that dog of a man out, all my game accounts will get banned!"
A tall mech nearby said nothing, merely holding back the flushed, petite girl.
The mech didn't dare speak, fearing it'd worsen her agitation.
Not a single curse, yet each word stabbed deeper.
A coincidence?
The mech kept watching the surveillance, but the screen cut out the next second.
"Now every time I see his face, I… I'm furious!"
"Hmph, SAM, if you weren't holding me back, I'd use aether editing to show him some color."
"…Calm down, Silver Wolf. What do you want to do to him?"
That man, as Elio said, was cunning beyond imagination.
Just arriving at the Luofu, he'd already guessed much of what the Stellaron Hunters were up to.
Otherwise, he wouldn't use such a taunting tactic.
"Drop every monster within a dozen kilometers of Cloudford right in front of him." Silver Wolf nearly ground her teeth to dust.
"…" SAM fell silent.
Would those monsters threaten Leon…?
He sank into thought.
After all, Elio had said Leon was likely an Emanator of an Aeon.
Though… of Elation.