Though these thoughts were swirling in her mind, Sylvia's fingers moved swiftly as she replied to Robin.
[Sylvia: I'm still here, but security checks on the Xianzhou have been tight lately. Should we meet somewhere else?]
[Robin: …]
[Robin: No need. I'll arrive tomorrow. I hope to meet with you then, Miss Sylvia.]
[Sylvia: That works too.]
[Robin: Until tomorrow, Miss Sylvia.]
At that moment.
Robin was still wearing her stage makeup, seated in her private car. She had just finished an interview and reached out to Sylvia as soon as she stepped away.
She pulled up the message interface and glanced at the scheduled departure time for her starship.
Her free time was scarce. Even when she wasn't booked for singing engagements, other commitments—interviews, advertisements, charity events—never seemed to let up.
And keeping her travel plans confidential had taken considerable effort.
This starship wasn't registered under her name, nor was it directly linked to the Family.
In short, changing her itinerary now would be highly inconvenient.
Since setting the Xianzhou as her destination, Robin had naturally caught wind of the recent developments there over the past couple of days.
But there was no helping it. If she delayed any longer, her window of opportunity would close—soon, she'd have to return to Penacony to make preparations.
Operating on her own outside, her investigation into Penacony had hit a wall.
And wary of potential moles, she avoided relying on her brother's influence almost entirely.
Sylvia was the only lead she had encountered so far.
Robin couldn't afford to let this chance slip away.
Ideally, she could win Sylvia over to her side and draw her into the game.
With enemies within the Family, outside assistance would be crucial—and Sylvia might just be the right choice.
Robin couldn't say for certain, of course, but she was willing to take the gamble.
So, this trip to the Xianzhou was happening, no matter what.
--+--
Back on the Xianzhou, Sylvia had no idea what Robin was thinking or planning for their meeting.
She was simply mulling over how to sweet-talk Robin into getting her an invitation to Penacony, so she could explore the place to her heart's content.
Twelve distinct Moments, and the game had barely scratched the surface—Sylvia was itching to see them all.
As for the real situation in Penacony, Sylvia mentally ran through the game's roster.
The IPC, Acheron, the Astral Express crew, the Memokeepers… every outsider she could remember was uniquely formidable.
Just how absurd would the mastermind behind Penacony have to be to withstand more than a few slashes from Acheron?
No matter how powerful they were, it wasn't like they could just conjure up an Aeon on the spot.
So Sylvia wasn't particularly worried. In fact, she was rather curious—if she got stabbed to death in a dream, what would actually happen to her?
'Anyway, let's start by doing a reading for Robin. Might give me a clearer picture of what's really going on in Penacony… and whether you and your dear brother are actually undercover.'
Honestly, for a Family as large as Penacony's, the only locals who properly appeared during the entire prologue were Robin and Sunday.
Following conventional storytelling logic, any decent writer would introduce the culprit early—no last-minute surprises.
Sylvia had seen some theories pointing the finger at Sunday as the traitor.
And it lined up perfectly with Miss March 7th's classic premonition.
That bit about 'family turning against each other.'
While the Family could loosely be considered a household, that 'family strife' really seemed to point to Robin and Sunday.
Then again, it could have been intentionally misleading.
In any case, if she could glean some insight from Robin through divination…
She might just uncover a crucial clue.
But that Tarot deck of hers wasn't exactly high-grade. Hard to say how much it would reveal.
--+--
Meanwhile.
On a planet not far from the Xianzhou.
A woman sat in a café within the starport, sipping from a cup.
She gazed out the window at the starships ascending and descending.
Then glanced down at a message transmitted by the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
The recent upheaval on the Xianzhou had grown quite significant. While the general populace remained unaffected, all Six Chariots had been thrown into turmoil by shifts in power and authority.
The only silver lining was that none of the highest-ranking officials within the Six Chariots had been implicated.
This at least ensured a degree of continued functionality.
According to the report, the leader of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had also safely passed through this round of screening.
But.
'Did they truly evade detection? Does Jing Yuan take me for a fool?'
Phantylia let out a derisive chuckle. Jing Yuan was no fool—Sylvia clearly already knew too many secrets.
To think the Xianzhou was completely unaware was something Phantylia refused to believe.
They were most likely fishing now.
With the Six Chariots in disarray and the Cloud Knights tightened security, their attention was undoubtedly spread thin.
Add to that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus stirring the waters…
If one were to make a move, now would indeed be an opportune moment.
But Phantylia was not reckless.
The Xianzhou hadn't struck decisively yet, likely out of caution toward her.
With the trail to the Disciples severed, the link to her was cut—the Xianzhou couldn't remain on high alert indefinitely.
But were the Six Commissions truly in such disarray?
Recently, many of the Disciples' informants had been rooted out, and internal information from the commissions had become murkier.
There was plenty of room for manipulation in all this.
'Only… this Sylvia… cannot be left alive.'
She would still go to the Xianzhou.
But Phantylia couldn't let the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus know.
This trip had but one objective: find Sylvia, and replace her.
According to intelligence, this Sylvia seemed to have found a way to harness the power of the Heliobi.
Once Phantylia took her over, she could even use her abilities freely without fear of exposure.
Ever since obtaining the report, Phantylia had considered switching her possession target to Sylvia.
The reason for the delay was simply to gather more information and wait for the right moment.
And now, the Cloud Knights of the Luofu were not only conducting internal reviews but had also deployed forces to the other five Chariots.
While this had dealt a blow to the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, what did that matter to her? They were merely pawns.
If anything, the Xianzhou had somehow stirred up chaos on its own—with Jing Yuan's skills, such a thing shouldn't have happened.
He must be using the situation to advance some agenda of his own.
But in the end, whatever Jing Yuan's plan was, the Luofu's administrative layers were indeed in flux, allowing the Disciples to muddy the waters.
For Phantylia, this presented a fine opportunity to make contact with Sylvia.
From the intelligence provided by the Disciples, Sylvia's physical constitution was quite remarkable. As a vessel, she might even be an excellent choice.
'Sylvia, oh Sylvia… by tomorrow, you shall receive the blessing of Destruction. Hehe~'
Phantylia chuckled softly to herself, set down her drink, and rose gracefully.
She walked to a secluded corner, incinerated her current host body to ash, and then transferred her consciousness into a preselected passenger who intended to travel to the Luofu.
Her immense power allowed Phantylia to seize full control of the body effortlessly. To any outside observer, it merely looked as though the traveler had spaced out for a brief moment.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, 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.