(𝐉𝐢𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐌/𝐧'𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞)

❝𝙵𝚎𝚗𝚐, 𝙳𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚜? 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎?❞

❝𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎? 𝙼𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.❞

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

The moments after Kafka's sudden appearance were more or less awkward ones. They had a lot on their minds. The fact that without their help that one of the biggest populated starships might be wiped out, and the fact that they were given a choice to go or not. Of course, having millions of deaths in the back of your thoughts definitely wasn't pleasant, but so wasn't the present thought that Kafka was lying.

Caelus walked through the hallway of the express, only to find his team conversing among themselves in the middle of the small walking space.

"Woah, what are you doing here, Caelus?!"

 Dan Heng flinched slightly at March's volume but remained silent as the other approached them. He'd just gotten a recap from March and was seemingly deep in thought as he processed her words. The crisis wasn't exactly what he was worried about, rather than what she said about another prisoner. The nightmare that he had woken up from had him on edge, hearing news about two more potential threats wasn't making his stress go away.

"I gave him the rundown of what happened out there. Hey! Remember what I said, okay? We're going to vote against it! I'm not going to take orders from that woman! It's waaay to much of a coincidence. A Stellaron Hunter shows up at the site of the burst that just so happens to be occurring near by? Does anyone really believe that? Gosh! I'm so mad! She just hijacks our communications and disappears just like that! You said you used to know her, right Caelus? Was she always like this?"

Caelus just shook his head and smiled slightly. "You really shouldn't talk about girls behind their backs. Besides, I don't really remember."

"Awe c'mon! We don't need another amnesiac on board!" Dan Heng tapped Caelus' shoulder and motioned to him that he wanted to speak to him without March's ears.

"March, we'll see you out there, okay?"

"Awee, alright! Don't be too long now!" The girl skipped off and out of the hallway, leaving the two to talk among each other.

"Seems like the longer I say in my room, the stranger things are when I emerge."

"We might be going to the Xianzhou Luofu."

"Yeah... March told me." He sighed "Had it been any of the other ships, I would've been able to go, but I can't. Not on the Luofu."

"So you and the Luofu have history?"

"I am forbidden from entering that ship. 'Total interception for any attempt to enter the domain.' is how they put it. So if you two are planning on going, I won't be going with you. I remember the Xianzhou was a sight to behold. Good luck.."

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

"Are you okay, Dan Heng? I'm assuming March brought you up to speed?" Himeko asked, concern lacing her tone.

"Yes, I'm fine. March got me all caught up."

"Good, now in that case, in regard to the matter at hand, let's vote on our next move.  The Stellaron Hunter has claimed that there has been a Stellaron burst at the Xianzhou Luofu, and that we're in the vicinity. If we head to the Loufu, we have a chance of saving many innocent lives."

Himeko paused for a moment.

"However, it is also possible that our Stellaron Hunter is lying and using us for her own ends. Neither Welt, or I, think she is telling the truth. But we can't just ignore the intel she's given us. So, we are about to hold a democratic vote on whether we set a course to the Xianzhou. All in favor, hold your hand out. All those against, hold your arms to your sides.

One.

Two.

Three."

Four out of the five there held their hands out. Caelus, March, Himeko, and Welt. Dan Heng was the only one for obvious reasons.

"Four against one. It seems like the Astral Express is heading to the Xianzhou!" Caelus turned to March with a deadpan expression.

"I thought you said you were voting against?"

"Weeell, I've had time to calm down. And I realize now that if what Kafka says is true, then a lot is on the line! I'm not living with that on my conscience for the rest of my life!" Welt sighed, getting the two's attention.

"Yes well, I'm sure we're all used to March's modus operandi by now." Himeko giggled at the man's statement while turning to Dan Heng, who was still standing quietly.

"Dan Heng, you plan on staying this time?"

"Yes." He answered. "I'm staying this time."

"Well, in that case, Welt? Are you ready for another trailblazing expedition? I know you've been iching to get out there for a while now. But, just make sure to take good care of Caelus and March."

"...Don't worry. I will." March smiled and turned to Caelus.

"Destination Xianzhou, here we come!!!"

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

The train is ready to make the jump.

5.....

4....

3...

2..

1!

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐟𝐮 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

"Hm. It's certainly been a while since you've shown your face M/n. I could've sworn they apprehended you...thousands of years ago, but come to find out, you were the weird plant in my office all of this time."

"General Jing Yuan, I have no knowledge of what he did all of those years ago, so I still have no understanding of why I'm even here. You and your little assistant over there hasn't bothered to tell me yet."

An offended look crossed Yanqing's face, but his General quickly shot him a look to cut it out.

"And I'm hardly dangerous. My elongated process of rebirth has significantly decreased my abilities, so why shackle me?"

"While that may be true, it's only precaution-"

"Not to mention you haven't given me clothes. If I didn't know any better, then you giving me your jacket would've been you courting me." Jing Yuan coughed and turned away from the seated man.

"And you'll receive clothes soon-"

"How long is soon going to be? I'd rather not have your scent on me for much longer. Speaking of scent....I smell someone familiar in here."

"I can imagine it isn't me or Yanqing...the last person we had in here was..."

Footsteps started to echo across the dark room.

"Yingxing.." The figured revealed himself from the darkness, weapon out, ready to defend himself against Jing Yuan if needed.

That man...was Blade, however, the name he was called wasn't one he went by anymore. He quickly rushed over and grabbed M/n, disappearing in the darkness again. Jing Yuan and Yanqing hardly had any time to react as he did.

"Every guard here, send the entire army across the Luofu! We have two wanted criminals on the loose!" Jing Yuan yelled out to the others in the room. They all saluted him and rushed out of the prison. Yanqing turned to the general with a serious look on his face.

"General, what are we going to do now..?"

"We can only hope for whatever news we can. We also need to go back to the capital to send out an alert to the commissions."

"Yes...sir."

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐