"Hmph, bring it on! I'm not afraid of a mere Herta! But at the very least, let me take a stroll around the Xianzhou first... Anyway, I'm off now!"
Though her words were brimming with bravado, when Herta watched with amused interest to see just how Lynelle planned to back up her big talk, our Miss Lynelle very wisely chose to make a tactical retreat for the time being.
Don't ask. It absolutely wasn't because she was scared.
No, purely out of an abundance of caution, Lynelle needed to find a place where she could properly check if what Customer Service Kiana-chan said was true—that after receiving the Abundance path's blessing, her body had actually become more sensitive.
If that were the case...
Well, then Lynelle might as well start preparing her defeat CG in advance.
"That girl can certainly run fast..."
Watching Lynelle's figure vanish swiftly into the distance, Herta let out a soft humph and leisurely made her way back to the temporary lab she'd set up in the Scalegorge Waterscape.
Crossing her shapely, black-silk-clad legs, her gaze drifted unconsciously toward the Ambrosial Arbor.
She couldn't help but feel a flicker of amazement.
The Path of Trailblazing was truly something special, brilliant and fleeting like a firework.
It had only been two stops since Lynelle boarded the Astral Express, and already her opponents had reached the level of Emanators. At this rate, by the time she reached Penacony...
Let's just hope Lynelle doesn't end up facing an Aeon as her opponent.
In any case, Herta had come to a realization. Since the road ahead was unknown, she might as well focus on the present. And Lynelle's current "vacation" presented a perfect opportunity.
Mmm, a perfect opportunity to enjoy some strawberry shortcake.
--+--
Meanwhile, just after leaving the Scalegorge Waterscape and before she could even find the Astral Express, Lynelle was stopped by several Cloud Knights.
Oh, not in a hostile way, of course. They were just ordinary knights stationed in the area. The reason they stopped her...
Was to ask for her autograph.
Truth be told, it was quite the coincidence.
After Lynelle entered the Ambrosial Arbor, the inside story of the divine conflict that erupted in the Scalegorge Waterscape was known only to the Express crew and Jing Yuan.
Since Jing Yuan had been summoned back by the Alliance for debriefing the very day it happened, and the Express crew weren't about to publicize the event, the whole incident became a complete mystery to the Cloud Knights guarding the perimeter.
From their perspective, General Jing Yuan, the Astral Express, and Marshal Hua (played by Lynelle) had entered the Scalegorge Waterscape.
Then, the gazes of both the Plague Author and the Ruin Author had fallen upon the place.
Finally, the Reignbow Arbiter Himself had to intervene personally to resolve the crisis.
This was no ordinary gossip; it demanded serious discussion!
So, as everyone pieced events together, one name quickly came to the forefront.
Lynelle.
After all, before the main Express crew had even arrived, Lynelle had already made a name for herself in the Alchemy Commission.
A girl in cyan attire, using a wheelchair, wielding a bow as her weapon, capable of firing light arrows that struck from beyond visual range...
To say something borderline blasphemous, if the Reignbow Arbiter were a girl, that's probably what she'd look like, maybe just swapping the wheelchair for a centaur form.
Moreover, thanks to the legacy of a certain Herrscher of Origin who shall remain nameless, Lynelle possessed an unusually high level of innate charm.
During her time around the garrison, she'd even found time to use the Black Abyss White Flower to heal many people—deeds like these were more than enough to leave a deep impression on the Cloud Knights.
So, shortly after the Scalegorge Waterscape incident, some busybodies noticed that Lynelle had disappeared.
If she had unfortunately perished within the Scalegorge Waterscape, then as a faction friendly with the Astral Express, the Xianzhou, both out of courtesy and protocol, would have at least issued an announcement and held some kind of memorial service.
However, several days had passed since the incident, even the memorial service was about to begin, and the authorities had still released no statement regarding Lynelle.
This was rather intriguing.
So...
"So, this is how things ended up like this?"
Lynelle looked at the various forum posts on her terminal speculating about her identity—theories like her being an Alliance emissary, the Reignbow's daughter, or even the Reignbow's personal envoy sent to inspect the Xianzhou—and couldn't help the twitch at the corner of her mouth.
"No wonder I was swarmed by a bunch of fervent Cloud Knights asking for autographs and selfies the moment I left the Scalegorge. I thought they were people I'd saved back at the Alchemy Commission. Turns out it's because of this?"
"Actually, the reports you can see now are the result of our official channels filtering things as much as possible," Jing Yuan said from across her, squinting slightly as he took a sip of his tea.
"You have to understand, there are many outworlders on the Xianzhou. A significant number of them hold no belief in the Reignbow Arbiter whatsoever; some might even be followers of Yaoshi."
"In the very beginning, we even found posts claiming you were the Reignbow's incarnation, descended to experience mortal life."
"The 'evidence' provided was that 'the Reignbow was actually a woman all along, Their ancestors have always been Xianzhou natives, and They once bought a piece of the Reignbow's... ahem.' We looked into it and, oh, turns out it was posted by a surviving remnant of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus who'd escaped our notice."
"That's a ruthless move by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus..."
Lynelle was genuinely lost for words.
"But... if you wanted to stop rumors like this from spreading, it should be simple, right? The easiest way would be to just put out a false explanation. Why didn't you do that?"
"Because of the publicity," Jing Yuan offered an answer Lynelle never saw coming.
"You must understand, during my negotiations with the Alliance, I've been trying to leverage your growing influence and the escalating severity of the situation to pressure the folks from the Ten-Lords Commission into compliance."
"The latter goes without saying. As for the former, publicity is a key factor, whether it's positive or negative."
"So, I instructed Master Diviner Fu Xuan not to issue any official statements about you, letting the rumors run wild to maintain public discussion about you. And subsequent events proved this approach effective…"
"It just added quite a bit to poor Fu Xuan's workload. But I told her it's a form of training, and she believed me. Haha."
"Master Diviner Fu Xuan is going to pull your life support plug one day, General..."
"...Ahem, it's fine, really. Actually, now that you've reappeared, many of these rumors will collapse on their own. Plus, I'm planning to host a Luminary Wardance Ceremony soon."
"When that happens, public attention will naturally shift to more... lively topics. So, no major issue." Jing Yuan set down his cup, exuding an air of confident strategy even within the confines of the sanatorium.
"As for you, Lynelle... You sought me out secretly like this, surely not just for a chat?"
"Indeed," Lynelle nodded. "Actually, there are two matters I'd like to ask of you, General."
"Let's start with one of them... General, are you aware of an outworlder named Luocha?"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.