"Begin." Fu Xuan, Master Diviner of the Divination Commission, spoke coldly. "Within the Qiongguan Array, no one can lie."
Stelle and Welt stood at the center of the formation. Energy channels converged into star-map circuits around them, feeding a massive circular apparatus. Bound in restraints at the core, Kafka remained as composed as ever.
Leaning against a nearby pillar with his arms folded, Jing Yuan watched her evenly.
"First question—did you bring the Stellaron onto the Xianzhou?"
Kafka smiled. "No."
The Qiongguan Array's glow didn't waver in the slightest.
"Then why were the Stellaron Hunters on the Luofu?" Welt's brow furrowed.
"For an old grudge," Kafka said calmly. "But he was seized and blamed as the mastermind of the Stellaron incident."
Stelle rubbed her chin. "So you were just here for a jailbreak?"
"A jailbreak was incidental." Kafka chuckled softly. "What truly matters is—"
She cut herself off, gaze sliding to Jing Yuan. "General, you already guessed it, didn't you? The Stellaron's appearance has something to do with the Luofu's own… 'problem.'"
Jing Yuan narrowed his eyes, but didn't deny it.
"Answer clearly! Where did the Stellaron come from?" Fu Xuan snapped, the authority in her voice at odds with her slight frame.
"Lady Fu, do not be hasty."
"General, it's precisely because you always drag your feet that everything piles up like this." Fu Xuan turned and began scolding him without restraint. Jing Yuan could only rub his forehead in helpless resignation.
Kafka lifted her shoulders. "I don't know where the Stellaron came from. But I can tell you something else."
"The Stellaron Hunters never intended to harm the Xianzhou. From beginning to end, our objective has only ever been one thing—" Her gaze drifted to Stelle, and her voice suddenly softened.
"—to seize the track of fate."
The Qiongguan Array remained tranquil, confirming her words were true.
Jing Yuan fell silent for a moment, then raised a hand. "Enough."
"General?" Fu Xuan blinked.
"The Stellaron Hunters are indeed unrelated to the Stellaron on the Luofu," Jing Yuan said evenly. "I have the answer I needed."
Welt adjusted his glasses. "Then now?"
"Release her." Jing Yuan turned to leave. "Of course, if they appear on the Luofu again, the Cloud Knights will not be so courteous."
Kafka flexed her wrist lightly. The chains dropped away with a clatter. She winked at Stelle. "Until next time, darling."
"Wait!" Stelle hurried after her and stepped into her path.
Kafka stopped as if she'd expected it, smiling. "More questions?"
"What are we to each other?" Stelle stared straight into her eyes. "Why, when I first woke up on Herta Space Station, did you ask whether I recognized you?"
Kafka's smile thinned. She reached up, gently brushing Stelle's cheek, then leaned close—so close only the two of them could hear.
"You've stepped onto a predetermined destiny," she murmured. "Your choices… will affect the entire universe."
Stelle's pupils tightened. "What does that mean?"
"Just like Huo Linfei." Kafka withdrew her hand. "He's also a variable—someone outside the script."
"Huo Linfei?" Stelle froze. "What about him?"
Kafka didn't answer. She only said, meaningfully, "Be careful of every danger he's entangled with. Those are things even Elio cannot predict—"
Boom—!!
A sudden shock interrupted her. The entire Divination Commission lurched violently, and in the distance, the sky was torn open by a pillar of emerald light.
"That is…?" Welt stared toward the beam in disbelief.
Jing Yuan's expression barely changed. "So it is as I thought. The Ambrosial Arbor has revived…"
Kafka's figure vanished into the chaos, leaving only her final words drifting on the wind:
"Remember, Stelle… your fate is decided by you."
Thick roots burst from the ground like colossal serpents, winding around towers and pavilions across the Luofu. Emerald radiance poured down; under its touch, plants grew madly, swallowing entire streets in moments. Worse still were the creatures budding from those roots—
Abominations of Abundance.
"Evacuate everyone! Cloud Knights, form ranks!" Jing Yuan's voice carried through the whole city.
Welt braced himself against a shaking railing. "Did the Arbor revive because of the Stellaron?"
"What do we do?" Stelle had already summoned her bat, grip tightening.
Jing Yuan swept his gaze across the turmoil. "Split up. Mr. Welt, assist the Cloud Knights in suppressing the abominations. Stelle—you go find Huo Linfei and the others. They may be in an active root zone."
Huo Linfei was holding three skewers of candied hawthorn—one for himself, one for March, and one for Bailu—when the street bucked hard. He nearly face-planted into the syrup shop beside him.
"An earthquake?!"
Black Swan steadied herself against the wall, eyes sharpening. "No. The Ambrosial Arbor has revived."
At the end of the street, twisted vegetation erupted from the ground. Crimson eyes opened along the vines. Wherever they passed, stone and brick were stained with a sickly blue-green sheen.
The vines surged in like a tide—gnarled branches packed with staring eyes, howling in a way that made the skin crawl.
March 7th shielded Bailu behind her, drawing her ice bow to full tension. She fired in rapid succession, freezing the lunging abominations into brittle sculptures.
"Why do these things keep multiplying?!" she shouted through clenched teeth.
A compact form of the Illusory Qilin Armor covered Huo Linfei. Flames detonated along his fists, and one punch reduced three charging abominations to ash. But more vines drilled up from below, warping into fresh bodies as if the ground itself were breeding them.
"I don't know!" Huo Linfei darted through the swarm, burning the "undying" creatures down again and again. "I'm already killing as hard as I can!"
Black Swan hovered above the street. Dozens of dark-violet hands blossomed around her, pinning newly formed abominations in place. The moment they were restrained, they went limp and collapsed soundlessly.
"These don't feel like ordinary creations of Abundance," Black Swan said softly. "Some portion of them has been deliberately guided here. The scent of 'memetics' is very strong."
Just then, shapes emerged from the shadows along both sides of the street—figures in green robes.
Disciples of the Sanctus Medicus.
They held strange ritual implements, eyes gleaming with fervent green light.
"At last… we have found you, Lady Vidyadhara Dragon Maiden." The leader bowed, voice hoarse. "The Merciful Medicine King has delivered an oracle. Return to the Ambrosial Arbor and complete the immortal cycle!"
Behind March, Bailu shrank back, trembling. "I-I don't want to!"
"Tch…" Huo Linfei spat. "A bunch of little freaks pretending to be gods."
He kicked away a wolf-shaped abomination tangled at his side, flame condensing in his palm.
"Flame Cloud Art—"
The fireball shot out, swallowing several Sanctus Medicus disciples. Flames scorched the plant growth crawling across their bodies—but the blessing of Abundance repaired them even as they burned, and they continued advancing toward Bailu.
"Merciful Medicine King, grant us immortality—"
Fwoosh!
An ice arrow pierced straight through the speaker's mouth.
"Immortality my ass!" March 7th barked. "Stay away from Bailu!"
But the disciples didn't stop. In the distance, still more abominations were closing in, hemming the street in on all sides.
…
Jingliu stood alone in the center of an empty hall. Her snow-white hair stirred without wind.
"Not here…" she murmured. "It seems I came too late."
Suddenly, chaotic footsteps thundered outside. Dozens of Sanctus Medicus disciples surged in—at the front, Dan Shu, her face lit with fanatic madness.
"The Arbor has revived! Abundance's grace will surely—"
"Noise."
Jingliu didn't even turn her head.
Sword intent swept out.
In an instant, everything below the disciples' knees froze solid—locked in place, unable to move.
The hall doors slammed open. Cloud Knights poured in like a flood.
"By the General's order! Suppress the Alchemy Commission's rebellion!"
Jingliu sheathed her sword and said coolly, "Tell Jing Yuan this place is handled."
She stepped past the ice-bound rebels, her gaze lifting toward the towering phantom of the Ambrosial Arbor in the distance.
Join here to read ahead.
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