❝𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗? 𝙲𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚗𝚘𝚠...𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝...𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍..❞

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

"Mr. Yang! are you seriously going to let him go along with us! We're here to find the Stellaron! Not to harbor a criminal! If you wanted the Xianzhou to be against us, then that's certainly the way to do it!" Welt was about to interrupt March on her rant, however, M/n got to her first. He bent down to her level with a look that spoke thousands of words.

"Listen, I said you didn't have to trust me. And that included you as well. But let me remind you just this once about something. Despite my status right now, I am your best bet to getting you out of trouble as far as strength goes. Not to mention that you guys are outsiders, I know my way around this place and have lived here for longer then your brain could ever comprehend. So I would like no more complaints about my presence."

Caelus stepped in front of March as a way of protecting her. M/n stood back up to his full height, and stood beside Welt.

"I think she gets it. Please don't speak to her like that." Caelus said, his eyes narrowing. M/n wouldn't ever talk to someone like that, but it was just annoying him explaining something to March that she literally heard moments before.

"I won't. Rest assured that I wasn't threatening her. Let's go. I'll lead you three to the Sky-Faring Commission." M/n and Welt began walking back on the main path. Caelus and March followed hesitantly soon after. As they made their way through the walls of shipping containers, they started to come across injured soldiers. 

'Those weren't there before' M/n thought with a frown as they entered an area filled with defeated soldiers. March got busy attempting to heal them while Welt began to assess the area to make sure that whatever knocked these soldiers down, weren't coming back for another round.

"The silver lining, based on what we can see, no civilians were caught up in this battle. However, it seems like these guards were the last line of defense against whatever was here. I'm guessing the Xianzhou evacuated the place. As far as the corroded monsters go.." Welt paused, turning to M/n.

"What way was the main city?"

"A little further south from here. This is just the storage and trade area."

"Then we'll head that way. March, let's go. We can't save them all." March shot up from the ground and ran to catch up with the three men. They kept on walking for a bit, dodging a few unsuspecting monsters, until eventually, they came up to a similar clearing. There were voices this time...

"Miss Tingyun! Please stay back! Let the Cloud Knights handle this! They're mara-struck...there's nothing we can do for them now."

"Hey! You there! We need your help~!" The foxian women called to the four. March immediately ran over to help, along with Caelus and Welt. M/n sighed and followed them, only with a little less urgency.

The mara-struck soldiers' attention was caught by them, causing them to attack the four. M/n watched as the three fought the soldiers. A stray soldier ran up to him, about to land a hit. The man simply payed the monster a single glance before summoning his spear and running his weapon straight through it's chest, making it crumble to the floor and disappear. The three that were fighting previously, finished up and saw the way M/n held his own against the mara-struck. His fighting style was almost similar to a person they knew....as well as the spear...but Dan Heng was safe on the ship with Himeko. There was no way that this guy did something to him. Though, those were the thoughts of both Caelus and Welt. March, on the other hand, ran over to him, asking if he was hurt and praising him on his swift victory.

M/n just put away his spear and smiled at the girl softly. No one, even her, can believe that the smiling man in front of her was the same one moments before. This soft moment was interrupted when the foxian woman, who had asked for help before, walked over to thank them for their efforts. One of the Cloud Knights with her got her attention to warn her of the dangers that could be up ahead of them. 

"This situation is serious. Let us escort you to the Sky-Faring Commission immediately."

"Calm down, it would be rude of me to leave without thanking our esteemed benefactors for their assistance. My name is Tingyun! I am the Amicassidor for the Luofu Sky-Faring Commission merchant guild. May I venture to know the illustrious names of my heros?"

"I-Illustrious names?! W-Well, I'm March 7th, this is Mr. Yang - o-oh uh...Mr. Welt Yang! And this is..."

"I'm Caelus."

"Ah~ And may I trouble you to learn yours Mr. Dark and Mysterious~? You certainly know your way around a spear~ And the way you've fought is admirable~" M/n, who wasn't paying attention, turned to face the woman.

"O-Oh, uh...I'm M/n Fe-...just M/n." 

"Well M/n! Care to explain to me where you learned just HOW you fight like that?"

"I'm...self taught." He replied, not wanting to continue the conversation with past memories invading his train of thought. Tingyun sensed that he didn't wish to continue speaking to her, so she just left him alone.

"I see...well, thank you for coming to our aid. I do have one question though...how did you guess manage to get in? Starskiff-Haven is currently under lockdown, so may I ask how you came to be here? If you can't offer any explanation, then I'm afraid these Cloud Knights will have to escort you out."

Welt stepped forward. It was his turn. "M/n is a Xianzhou resident. We found him lost in the port, so we decided to let him join us. As for our reason, we requested to port, but no one was there. Then, the Jade Gate was opened for us. When we got in here, we found him and began to make our own way in."

"Huh...how can that be? My ship was the last one through the Jade Gate before the port was shut down..The Sky-Faring Commission shut down Starskiff Haven entirely after that."

"We're telling the truth. You can check the access records. We also found it strange that we were let in and yet no one came to greet us."

"You three...are with the Astral Express?"

"You've heard of us?"

"Yes... I have." Tingyun sighed. "I am truly sorry.. the Xianzhou has suffered an incident, so you've come at a bad time. Whether you are here for trade, leisure, or treatment, I'm afraid you can't go through with it as of now. For your safeties, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to take you into Central Starskiff Haven for refuge...I will talk to Madame Yukong as well, and let her decide how to proceed."

"We caught wind of the incident, Ms. Tingyun. That's why the three of us are here. To assist the Luofu with the Stellaron."

"Hehe~ Your actions have already shown me your kind hearts! But alas, that is not up to me, but rather Madame Yukong to consider your offer. Don't worry though! Madame Yukong is just as kind-hearted as I! Come on you three! I'll lead the way!"

🫧𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐