"Wait."
Adrian called out to Qingque, who had one foot out the door.
"Thanks for your hard work. How much do I owe you for wages?" Strictly speaking, Qingque had been watching the shop for him for so long that it had even delayed her work at the Divination Commission.
In that case... he probably needed to give Fu Xuan some compensation too.
"Eh~ Talking about money hurts our feelings. Just learn [Celestial Jade] and play a few rounds with me when you have time, that's enough."
Qingque wasn't short on credits. Her goal from start to finish had been clear: to make Adrian learn how to play [Celestial Jade]!
In Qingque's eyes, Adrian had already taken the path of "slacking off" to the extreme. He was too lazy to even play tiles, spending all day in the milk tea shop, occasionally popping over to the [Sleepless Earl] teahouse across the street to chat with people.
Seeing Adrian's leisurely and carefree life, Qingque shed tears of envy.
Having one more tile buddy wasn't a bad thing. Most importantly, Adrian could provide milk tea for her and her tile friends.
Adrian had watched her play a few times before, and that was the magical part! On those days, Qingque's luck with the tiles was simply explosive; she won every hand.
"Or... you could renovate the milk tea shop and add a card table or something?" Qingque suggested, though it seemed a bit inappropriate, violating Adrian's original intention for opening the milk tea shop.
Besides, adding other equipment would stop it from being a milk tea shop; might as well rename it to a leisure lounge.
"Time is running out, I'm heading out first, Mr. Adrian!"
...
Stargazer Navalia
Stelle and her group quickly discovered Tingyun, who was surrounded by Mara-Struck Soldiers.
Seeing the Foxian girl in distress, even before Tingyun could call for help, Stelle grabbed her bat and charged in.
"Thank you all for saving the beauty~"
March 7th felt a wave of cringe. "Let us say that kind of line next time! It's weird when you say it yourself!"
"But... it's the perfect chance to test out this new weapon on you guys!" March 7th took out the ice gun modified by Adrian. Upon seeing the weapon of mass destruction, Phantylia was scared enough to take a few steps back.
As a rare formless species, she instinctively felt the threat of death.
Possessing such a cute face yet holding such a dangerous weapon—this girl was not simple!
March 7th's danger level increased in Phantylia's mind!
Looking at the gray-haired girl beside her, her weapon was also very unique...
Wait... this power is...
Eternity?
A shadow flashed across her face. In that instant, Phantylia actually felt a trace of murderous intent.
Ah, might as well just kill them all...
No, that goes against the aesthetics of [Destruction]. I am here to crumble the Xianzhou from within; I absolutely cannot lose my footing just because of a mere [Eternity] Pathstrider.
As for the Church's Knights? Without a single orthodox Pathstrider among them, they shouldn't get in the way.
"Don't act on impulse, March." Dan Heng stepped in front of March 7th; a ranged mage shouldn't be playing melee.
Phantylia looked up, and the first thing she saw was a face she would never forget in her life. Her expression went rigid.
This... this isn't right. Why is there another [Eternity] Emanator here?!
[Hahahaha... Abomination of [Destruction], prepare to receive the grace of [Eternity]!]
Familiar words echoed in her ears, and Phantylia recalled some rather unpleasant memories.
Damn it. I thought the Church of Eternity only sent their Knights to aid the Xianzhou. I didn't expect their Pontiff to come personally.
Phantylia clenched her teeth. If I had known, I would have let Zephyro or Candra come.
But Zephyro seems to have suffered heavy injuries. I don't know who was capable of leaving a wound on him, but it was permanent, incurable damage.
Without a suitable physical body, how was Phantylia supposed to fight Blake? She couldn't play this game at all!
Wait... logically speaking, as an Emanator of [Eternity], Blake should be able to see through my disguise. Could it be...
After carefully observing Dan Heng's appearance, Phantylia realized there were still significant differences between him and the Blake in her memories. Furthermore, their voices were nothing alike. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Although she didn't want to judge a book by its cover, that face... she really had to be on guard against it. She felt that staying any longer would be dangerous; better to retreat for now.
Just as Phantylia was planning to leave silently, Stelle and March 7th had already finished off the Mara-Struck Soldiers.
"My gratitude to you benefactors for saving my life. This little maiden is the Amicassador of the Luofu Sky-Faring Commission's merchant guild, [Tingyun]. May I ask for my benefactors' illustrious names?" Seeing that her escape had failed, Phantylia cleared her throat and reintroduced herself.
"Illustrious names... Hehe, that's too polite. I'm March 7th, he is Dan Heng, and this is Mr. Yang... no, Mr. Welt Yang. And these two..."
March 7th was momentarily at a loss for words, but Stelle stepped in to save the day:
"I am the Galactic Baseballer. As for this blonde lady beside me, I apologize, but her name is a secret. No comment."
"Oh... is that so..." Seeing Tingyun look a bit hesitant, March 7th immediately explained:
"She's called Stelle. Don't mind her; this guy likes to play tricks every time she introduces herself."
Hearing this, Stelle was unhappy and whispered a rebuttal, "In case we get wanted again this time, it's safer to leave a fake name..."
March 7th finally realized, "Aiya, you should have said so earlier! I already gave out your name."
"I see. Thank you all for your righteous assistance. But there is one thing this little maiden does not understand: Starskiff Haven has been completely locked down. Benefactors are not from the Xianzhou, so what business do you have here?"
"We called for port docking. At first, there was no response, then suddenly someone opened the Jade Gate for us. After entering the Xianzhou, we couldn't see a soul, so we had to search our way here."
Phantylia began to act the part pretentiously: "How is that possible? My ship was the last to enter port, and the Jade Gate closed immediately after. The Sky-Faring Commission has completely locked down Starskiff Haven..."
"Miss Tingyun, I am not lying. The Xianzhou only needs to check the entry records of the Jade Gate to know the truth. The person who opened the gate said nothing, and I also suspect there is something fishy about it."
Listening to Welt's answer, Phantylia skillfully shifted the topic: "Looking at your skills, could you be the rumored... Astral Express?"
"Advanced interstellar civilizations really are different; looks like we're pretty famous." March 7th was relieved. This way, we shouldn't get put on the wanted list, right...?
"I have heard of you for a long time. Unfortunately, you benefactors have come at a bad time. An accident has occurred on the Xianzhou, and it is not suitable for receiving guests. Whether you are here for sightseeing, medical treatment, or business, I fear you won't be able to do anything."
At this moment, Tingyun felt a peculiar gaze.
"Eh... this benefactor?"
Stelle looked curiously at the bag full of specialties in her hand. "Am I seeing things right? Is that inside... soap?"
...
[Sleepless Earl] Teahouse.
After Qingque left, Adrian was idle anyway. Since he had just returned, he certainly couldn't just rot in the milk tea shop, so he took the local specialties he bought on Jarilo-VI and went to the [Sleepless Earl] teahouse.
"Welcome to the [Sleepless Earl]! What kind of tea would the guest like to dri... eh?" Mengming was stunned when she saw the familiar face.
"Then... give me a cup of the special edition [Immortal's Delight Tea]? Thank you."