"All right, Jing Yuan, let's hear it."
Kiana, nibbling on a skewer she'd picked up in Aurum Alley, nodded as she chewed.
Jing Yuan didn't mind her breach of etiquette in the least.
The pale-blond youth behind him, however, took offence.
"Mind your manners before the general! Push further and Yanqing will show you none!"
Yanqing drew a sky-blue flying sword and levelled it at Kiana, scowling.
Mei's brows drew together; a violet glint flickered across her eyes and faint violet arcs danced over her skin.
The sparks vanished as quickly as they'd come.
"Whoa…! This Young Miss wasn't raised on scare-crows!"
Startled at first, Kiana quickly swapped fright for fury, planting a boot on the table as though one wrong word would start a brawl.
Jing Yuan pressed his temples and sighed.
"Yanqing… stand down. These ladies are honoured guests of the Xianzhou Alliance."
"B-but, General…"
Meeting Jing Yuan's calm gaze, Yanqing reluctantly sheathed his sword and stepped back.
"Forgive him; Yanqing is usually most well-behaved."
"…"
At the word "well-behaved," Yanqing's ears flushed crimson; he shut his eyes and looked away, embarrassed.
"No harm done—just gave me a jump. Carry on, Jing Yuan!"
Kiana waved magnanimously.
"Kiana is indeed no ordinary guest."
Jing Yuan gave her an appreciative nod and resumed.
"Plainly put: the Marshal has dispatched Xianzhou Luofu to seek Wangshu and her creator."
"Thought as much…"
Understanding flickered across Kiana's eyes; her guess had hit the mark.
"I cannot speak for every council member, but the Marshal and Luofu wish to ally with Wangshu and her maker. What say you?"
He looked straight at Kiana, awaiting her answer.
She wanted to shout "Deal!"—but instead closed her eyes, feigning deliberation.
Moments later, blue irises opened and met his.
"I agree. If need be, Wangshu can fold into the Alliance outright."
Jing Yuan's eyes lit; a full merger would restore the Alliance to seven flagships.
Still short of their golden-age peak, yet a sorely needed boost.
And the mysterious builder, bound to Kiana, would become a silent partner of the Alliance.
That alone would be a colossal gain.
Then her next sentence shattered his reverie.
"Trouble is… this ship has no builder."
"No builder…?"
Jing Yuan narrowed his eyes, searching her face.
A long sigh told her he read no lie.
"Then tell me how Wangshu came to be."
"One night I dreamed I'd gained a power called 'Comprehension Reproduction.' I copied a few Xianzhou ships and—well—sculpted one.
Imagine my shock when it turned solid. After that, Wangshu and I are one: if I die, she burns."
She held up a finger, deadpanning the outrageous tale.
Her solemn face betrayed nothing.
Such power… the might of an Aeon?
Jing Yuan stroked his beard, brooding.
Those silver flames, those divine eyes… If an Aeon had favoured her—or if she were tied to one—such a feat was possible.
Perhaps an Aeon had used her to forge the vessel.
That would explain why, in a dream and wielding clearance, she created a ship; Aeons can be just that wondrous.
Wait—Jing Yuan's eyes widened as he swept the three girls.
Not a trace of Path energy—yet within them a force to rival Destruction.
"No idea why, but after that I lost the power. Planned to whip up a few more goodies, too."
Kiana, missing his shifting expression, sighed in genuine regret.
Jing Yuan's gaze flickered, fixed on her.
"I believe you. The cosmos is thick with riddles; miracles surface now and then."
That divine bearing alone made friendship an easy wager.
An ally whose worth eclipses a Xianzhou is a windfall for the Alliance.
His centuries of experience, plus the nature of her power, told him so.
"Right? I thought I was about to ascend to godhood!"
Stars danced in Kiana's eyes.
"Heh, perhaps one day you will. When that day comes, favour me, will you?"
His tone was light, yet his eyes glinted.
The precedent was there—certain Aeons loved walking the world; one had once blown up the Astral Express for kicks.
"Count on it—count on it!"
Under his half-smile, the bragging Kiana finally felt a twinge of shame.
"There's one more thing I'd ask, if the three of you would indulge me."
"Shoot. Anything I know, I'll spill!"
She thumped her chest grandly.
"Kiana, none of you are Pathstriders, are you?" he stated rather than asked.
Mei and Bronya, hearing the term for the first time, looked puzzled.
"Correct. We use a different energy."
"Then show me. Let me see the power you wield."
Earlier, on the call, he had seen Bronya's Project Bunny and sensed that unknown force; clearly they were no common travellers.
Once he gauged Kiana's strength, he could better shield her inside the Alliance.
Lacking power now?
A sterling display today could pave her way to generalship; a plea to the Aeon, an Emanator's title, would make up any deficit.
And that divine form suggested she might not be lacking at all.
Mei hesitated; she knew only her family sword-style, Hokushin Ittō-ryū.
Unleashing her energy might hurt Kiana again. Bronya looked to Kiana.
Kiana wavered, then drew a sharp breath.
"Fine!"
"???" ×2
Mei and Bronya blinked.
Girl, you actually have something prepared?
Mei had been trapped in her own mind in Nagazora City;
Bronya had been swatted aside by a Honkai Beast and come to aboard the Hyperion after everything ended.
Neither had seen Kiana's Ultra Instinct.
Or rather, they'd glimpsed only the tip of the iceberg aboard Wangshu moments ago.
Kiana stepped a little apart, closed her eyes, and let every muscle slacken.
"Haa—" Inhale. "—ah" Exhale.
With each breath, her hair shimmered silver; her twin braids unfurled of their own accord.
Long silver strands floated as blistering heat radiated from her.
A mantle of blazing silver cloaked her; she snapped her eyes open—once sapphire, now mercury.
"Haaa—!!!"
A column of sacred, searing silver erupted skyward, punching through the Seat of Divine Foresight's roof and into the clouds.
"!!!" ×4
Jing Yuan, Yanqing, and the two stunned girlfriends gaped.