Serval was never one for coyness. She made her decision quickly, agreeing to stay in Leon's room for the next few days. After all, the space was undeniably generous, with a complete partition between the living room and bedroom that ensured privacy for both of them.
"Great!" March 7th, who never overthought anything, was practically buzzing with excitent. "Then Serval, why don't you get your luggage settled? We can all watch a movie together tonight! Leon, it'd be a total waste not to use that huge screen of yours!"
"Sure," Leon agreed readily, a relaxed smile on his face. "I've got a stockpile of snacks and drinks. Plenty to go around."
"I want to watch, too," Stelle imdiately raised her hand.
"Count in," Caelus added a mont later.
The atmosphere in the room instantly grew lively as the group huddled together, launching into a brief but spirited debate about what movie to watch.
"I really didn't expect a grown man like you to have such a... 'girly heart'," Serval remarked with a light laugh, her eyes landing on an exquisitely crafted doll sitting on the sofa. "Even collecting puppets like this."
When she had first walked in, she'd mistaken it for a real child for a split second. A closer look, however, revealed the subtle, masterfully engineered construction of its joints.
"Bro, so this is where you put the Herta puppet," Stelle said, recognizing it instantly. She and Caelus had, after all, been there when Herta gave it to Leon.
"Herta puppet?" Curiosity glead in Serval's eyes.
"Yeah, a Herta puppet... How do I explain it..." Stelle scratched her head, montarily at a loss for where to even begin.
"Herta is the 83rd mber of the Genius Society and the true owner of the Herta Space Station," Leon took over, offering a concise introduction. "This puppet is one of her little 'works'."
Serval wasn't entirely ignorant of the wider cosmos. Topaz's arrival, followed by her interactions with the Astral Express crew, had prompted her and the other high-ranking officials of Belobog to start actively learning about the major powers renowned throughout the sea of stars.
The Interstellar Peace Corporation, the Genius Society, the Xianzhou Alliance... It was understandable that a sealed world like Belobog had never heard of these galactic-level factions before. But now, on the verge of rejoining the universe, Belobog's leadership naturally needed a firm grasp of the external powers and the Paths they followed.
"A mber of the Genius Society?" Serval's eyes widened, her chanic's instincts flaring to life. "This is... a creation of a bona fide genius?"
As one of Belobog's foremost chanics, Serval was deeply curious about such individuals. Her fascination had only grown after learning that many of the universe's most revolutionary inventions originated from the hands of the Genius Society, and she held a certain reverence for them.
And this puppet, sitting casually on a sofa, was an item gifted to Leon by one of them? It was truly beyond anything she could have expected.
"Yeah. The temperants and interests of geniuses often defy imagination," March 7th chid in with a shrug. "Speaking of which, our last stop was the Herta Space Station. Leon, Stelle, and Caelus all boarded the Express there."
Serval's surprise deepened. So Leon had only joined the crew one stop before her? She never would have guessed. And that ant March 7th was actually the more experienced "veteran Trailblazer"? She had always assud Dan Heng, Welt, and Leon were the leaders of the group.
"If you want to see Herta, you can do it now," Leon said. He reached out and lightly pressed a button on the back of the puppet's neck.
A few seconds later, a faint light flickered to life in the puppet's doll-like eyes.
"Is this the first ti you've used this puppet to contact ? Could it be..."
The Herta puppet, now fully powered on, imdiately ran a self-diagnostic. Hmm, no foreign devices attached? It seed he wasn't trying to collect her cells this ti.
"Why did you call ? If there's nothing important, I'm very busy." The puppet spoke, its voice carrying Herta's signature tone of impatient brilliance.
She was, in fact, working overti with Ruan i on research related to the Swarm Disaster. She didn't know what had gotten into Ruan i lately, but the life scientist had beco utterly engrossed in the topic, her enthusiasm reaching unmatched heights. This was a good thing, however, so Herta wasn't about to complain.
"A new passenger joined the Express and was curious about your puppet, so I activated it for her to see," Leon explained casually.
"That's it?" Herta's voice was laced with disbelief. "Fine. I've switched it to its autonomous intelligence mode. Don't call again unless it's actually important..."
After Herta finished speaking, she disconnected her consciousness from the puppet. The doll's head drooped for a second before snapping back up. Its expression was blank, but its voice was hilariously monotone. "Hello. The Herta puppet is very unhappy to serve you."
Fascinated, Serval squatted down, examining the joint structure with a chanic's critical eye. "This transmission design... was an Interstellar Polyr used for the cushioning layer?"
"Professional inquiry identified," the puppet responded expressionlessly. "The joints use composite materials. The surface is a Skin-like mory Gel, and the internal transmission shaft is a Titanium-137 Alloy. The cushioning layer contains seventeen percent Interstellar Polyr components."
"To think it can converse like this..." Serval looked up at Leon, her face a mask of amazent. "This level of intelligence is higher than the most advanced Automatons in Belobog."
She looked around at this group of companions, the people she was about to travel the sea of stars with, and a warm sense of anticipation blood in her chest.
Xianzhou Luofu · Shackling Prison
Cloud Knights escorted Blade before Jing Yuan and Yanqing.
Looking at this old friend, now returned to the Xianzhou as a prisoner, Jing Yuan sighed inwardly. Troubled tis, it seed, were never far away. He allowed none of this to show on his face, only turning his head to address the young man at his side.
"Yanqing."
"Yes, General."
"In a mont, I want you to observe this man very closely."
After giving the instruction, Jing Yuan's gaze fell back upon Blade.
"Do you rember ?" his tone was calm, betraying no ripples of emotion. But his mind was racing. Blade's return at this specific mont was definitely not a coincidence. With his skills, it was impossible for the Cloud Knights to have captured him so easily. The only explanation was that he had allowed himself to be caught.
'The Stellaron Hunters... they must have designs on the Luofu,'he thought.'But what they're plotting is still shrouded in mist.'
"I rember..." Blade looked up. His eyes swirled with a crimson madness, yet his lips curled into a smile that was almost a grimace of pain.
"Of five people..."
"Three must pay a price..."
"Jing Yuan... you are not one of them!"
He suddenly burst into laughter. The sound echoed off the cold, damp walls of the Shackling Prison—hoarse, arrogant, and yet seemingly wrapped in the weight of sothing long since broken.
Jing Yuan silently watched his old friend, a sharp, dangerous light flashing deep within his golden eyes.
Dan Heng woke with a jolt, a thin sheen of cold sweat clinging to his forehead.
It was that dream again—Blade, standing amidst a blood-soaked mist, his lips moving to utter the prophecy that had haunted him for so long.
'Of five people... three must pay a price... you are one of them.'
Then, the blinding flash of a sword piercing through the haze.
Fortunately, a sharp knock on his door pulled him back to reality just in ti.
"Alright, I'll be there in a mont," he called out, his voice still tight with tension.
"I told you! Dan Heng must have been sleeping in!" March 7th's triumphant voice ca from the other side of the door. "Maybe he was even having a sweet dream!"
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