Liuge, still somewhat dazed, noticed that more than a dozen purple Stat-Stick Light Orbs of varying sizes had dropped around Kafka. There was even one red orb and one gold orb among them.
He truly hadn't expected this.
Ever since arriving at the Xianzhou, Liuge had picked up quite a few Stat-Stick Light Orbs every day, but most had been attribute stat-sticks, which he had basically fused to improve their quality.
But he had genuinely never expected such a dense drop of stat-sticks.
Could it be that more stat-sticks dropped around major characters?
"Child, although I'm happy that you called me Mom, I'm not..."
"I'm wrong?"
Upon hearing that, Stelle immediately looked like an abandoned little animal, her eyes full of helplessness.
Seeing Stelle like this, Kafka felt rather helpless, though she was actually somewhat pleased as well.
"Fine! Think whatever you want!"
Kafka compromised.
Or rather, admitted it?
Well, that was how Liuge saw it.
"Then before that, you didn't come here to arrest me, did you?"
Kafka knowingly asked.
According to Elio's script, she would indeed be captured after encountering the Astral Express crew. Still, she had to put on an act, didn't she?
"If that's what you think, you can understand it that way!"
Welt nodded.
Hearing Welt's confirmation, March 7th immediately summoned her bow, while Bronya silently pulled out a firearm identical to Kafka's.
As for Stelle, after hesitating for a moment, she took out her big stick... well, baseball bat!
"Um, can I watch from the sidelines?"
Liuge timidly raised his hand.
"..."
In an instant, March 7th, Stelle, and Bronya all turned to look at Liuge.
At that moment, Liuge felt the pressure bearing down on him.
"Alright, alright!"
Liuge sighed and activated his Aether Edit.
His fingers rapidly worked across it.
Before long, he had assembled several combat-related stat-sticks.
Although he could transform, with Kafka clearly putting on an act too, it was better not to take things too seriously.
With that in mind, Liuge equipped Fighting, Physical Technique, and Super Recovery onto himself.
In an instant, Kafka sensed that this person, who had originally been much stronger than an ordinary person, now possessed an aura nearly comparable to that of a Pathstrider.
Of course, the kind who had only recently stepped onto a Path.
"An interesting ability!"
A slight smile rested on Kafka's lips.
When she noticed Liuge operating the Aether Edit just now, she recalled the young girl at Herta Space Station who looked rather similar to Silver Wolf.
That young girl was now standing across from her, and there was another person here capable of manipulating Aether Edit. If Silver Wolf knew, would she be happy?
Moreover, this person's Aether Edit seemed different from Silver Wolf's. He directly altered himself, whereas Silver Wolf manipulated reality and modified it.
"Really?"
Before Kafka could think any further, Liuge dashed straight in front of her.
The moment Liuge launched his attack, March 7th's arrow arrived as well, accompanied by Stelle's Leaping Strike crashing down from above!
"Such ingenious coordination!"
Kafka remained unruffled at the sight.
She suddenly clenched the fingers of her left hand, and Liuge felt as though he had lost control of his entire body. He spun around and threw a punch at March 7th's arrow.
Crack!
Liuge felt his fist go numb, but at that very instant, control over his body returned.
At the same time, Kafka raised the firearm in her right hand and easily blocked Stelle's descending Leaping Strike.
"A heavy blow indeed!"
Kafka looked at Stelle with a faint smile.
But the next moment, she felt her entire body caught by a force of gravity, and she uncontrollably drifted several meters away.
Welt had manipulated gravity to drag Kafka over, and at the same time, a powerful repulsive force erupted.
Under the combined effects of gravity and repulsion, Kafka failed to endure it for a moment and let out a muffled groan.
She appeared to have suffered a minor injury.
Yet her expression did not change in the slightest. Or rather, even her gaze remained utterly unchanged, as calm as ever.
But at that very instant, Liuge's figure suddenly appeared before her.
She lowered her head to look down at the young man. As Liuge raised his head and met her eyes, his right fist suddenly swung out.
A solid punch.
Though it was a surprise attack, Kafka's extensive combat experience allowed her to instinctively use the firearm in her hand to block it.
However, the next moment, Kafka felt as though something had locked onto her. She looked up.
Dozens of small bombs were flying toward her through the air.
This was Bronya's targeted strike!
At that very moment, Liuge also withdrew from the bombardment's range.
The faint smile on Kafka's face did not disappear. Instead, it grew even more pronounced.
She raised both hands, and the firearms in her hands spewed countless tongues of fire.
Boom! Boom! Boom...
Explosions rang out in midair.
At that moment, Kafka suddenly looked toward the Astral Express crew.
"Is your attack over? Then it's my turn now, right~"
The instant her words fell, the firearms in her hands vanished.
She swept both hands through the air.
More than a dozen metal pull-rings appeared in her hands.
Along with them came metal spheres continuously dropping toward the Astral Express crew.
They were grenades!
"What kind of modern warfare tactic is this?!"
Liuge could not help grumbling, but he quickly retreated anyway.
Welt tapped the ground with his cane.
A powerful repulsive force immediately erupted, sending every grenade that had fallen on their side flying away.
Another series of violent explosions followed.
Amid the spreading smoke and dust, Kafka's gunfire rang out again.
At that instant, time seemed to stop.
As though they sensed something, everyone abruptly looked up.
Kafka also frowned slightly. Without even looking, she fired into the sky.
But at that moment, every bullet seemed to have been slowed down.
A pink figure descended toward Kafka from the sky.
Every bullet headed toward her was effortlessly brushed aside before it reached her.
The newcomer was none other than the Diviner of the Divination Commission, Fu Xuan.
The instant Fu Xuan landed, she abruptly brought her hands together.
At that moment, Kafka seemed to be bound by something invisible, unable to move any longer.
"Diviner Fu, you came at just the right time!"
The moment Liuge saw her, he immediately stepped forward to greet her.
"Hm? It's you!"
Fu Xuan saw Liuge and nodded, then turned to Welt and the others.
"You are the Nameless of the Astral Express?"
Welt was somewhat surprised that the battle had ended so quickly, but upon hearing Liuge's words, he understood who had arrived.
It also felt perfectly normal for the battle to end quickly.
He then began speaking with Fu Xuan, gaining an understanding of the current situation.
Compared with Fu Xuan's conversation with Welt and the others, Liuge was having a wonderful time.
Because he was already having the time of his life picking up stat-sticks.
Besides the dozen or so Stat-Stick Light Orbs that had dropped earlier, quite a few stat-sticks had also dropped from the Astral Express crew and Fu Xuan during the battle.
There were four gold stat-sticks alone, and two red stat-sticks.
Although no scarlet stat-stick like One Awesome Attack had appeared, red stat-sticks were still something he had picked up for the first time.
For example, the gold stat-sticks were Character Stat-Stick: Sunny Cheerful Boy, Word Spirit, Rebellious Child, and Yin-Yang, while the red stat-sticks were Repulsion and Gravity.
Clearly, the red stat-sticks had been dropped by Old Yang.
As for why they were red stat-sticks, Liuge thought about it briefly and figured that if those two were combined, they might be able to form a Simulated Black Hole!
But compared to those, what Liuge valued more was the Character Stat-Stick he had just picked up. Judging from the name, he could make a male character card!
—Anyway, he was super happy!
Sunny Cheerful Boy Quality: Gold Description: Perhaps you can combine it with a Savior stat-stick. (Note: It might trigger someone's PTSD, but... where is this Savior, anyway?)
No, this description... why did it feel so... you know?!
Old Yang: I mean, is there a possibility...
As Kafka was taken away by the Cloud Knights Army that arrived afterward, the Astral Express crew also returned to the Ministry of Interdimensional Affairs to report to Yukong.
As for Liuge, from beginning to end, he had been considering how to practically combine the Character Stat-Stick: Sunny Cheerful Boy he had just obtained.
After all, he currently had three identities he could put on and use, but they were all girls. So with a Character Stat-Stick for a boy, Liuge truly wanted to put one together.
Sitting on a bench outside the Ministry of Interdimensional Affairs, Liuge waited for the Astral Express crew.
But all his attention had already sunk into the Stat-Stick Library.
How should he put it? The Stat-Stick Library was rather cluttered.
He had fused his attribute stat-sticks three at a time to improve their quality, so those were fairly organized. But almost every stat-stick he had acquired from Jarilo-VI to the Xianzhou was piled inside.
There were things like Mascot, Snow, Storybook, and Memories—items whose purpose he did not understand and had no idea how to combine.
Before you continue