Sunday: Itching to Act

At the same time, on Penacony.

At the hour of morning dew, the part of this festival planet closed to outsiders served as the base of the Family that controlled Penacony.

The top floor of Morning Dew Mansion was unusually quiet. Sunday stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, a thin sheet of letter paper clutched in his hand. The letter from Thousand Stars City contained only three lines: During her participation in charity activities in the Epsilon system, Miss Robin was led away from the camp by a member of a faction subordinate to the Aeon of Trailblaze. Her current whereabouts are unknown. Interastral Peace Entertainment is organizing a search. Given the exceptional nature of the situation, we are informing you accordingly.

Sunday read it several times before finally crumpling the paper in his fist. The company's wording was polite, but he could tell that his strong-willed younger sister had definitely come into conflict with the company over her position on the charity activities. After the company restricted her movements, she had found an opportunity to escape.

"But why would you do that? Why didn't you come back and ask me for help?" Sunday closed his eyes, remembering the day their mother had died, long ago.

The ruins, the dust and smoke, and his little sister. Back then, she could only cling tightly to the hem of his clothes, utterly dependent on him.

"Why are you distancing yourself from me?" The more Sunday thought about it, the more upset he became. "Would you rather trust some boy you've only known for a few days?"

If he had the ability, Sunday would have liked nothing more than to drag that bastard boy who had conspired with his sister and escaped with her right in front of him and teach him a lesson, so he would understand that the young lady of the Oak Family was not someone he could dream of having.

After calming himself a little, Sunday opened his eyes and instructed the subordinate behind him, "Prepare the spaceship. We're going to Thousand Stars City."

The attendant waiting by the door immediately lowered his head and awaited orders.

"There's no need." A deep voice suddenly came from above the bookshelf, and Sunday froze.

The next second, a Hidden Night Thrush, black from head to toe, descended from an ornate beam overhead. It folded its wings and settled steadily atop the bookshelf, its dark golden eyes gazing quietly at him.

"I've already received word from the Family," the Hidden Night Thrush said. "What Robin is doing now will benefit the Divine Lord."

Sunday turned around. "What do you mean? Are they planning to sacrifice my sister?"

"No, Robin will not be sacrificed." The Hidden Night Thrush tilted its head slightly. "The Family has assured me of that."

"The Family's assurance..." Sunday clenched his teeth. "Mr. Gopher Wood, something like that..."

Someone preparing to rebel against the Path of Harmony was going to trust an assurance from the Harmony "Family"?

Sunday found the very thought laughable.

But the Hidden Night Thrush did not answer. Instead, it asked, "If you don't believe it, what will become of our plan?"

Sunday lowered his eyes. "To create a world where everyone can find happiness."

"So that everyone can find happiness," the Hidden Night Thrush repeated after him.

Penacony's Golden Hour continued without end. Laughter filled the streets, music played without pause, and the sky remained forever fixed at the perfect hour for enjoyment.

Sunday listened to the city's gilded splendor, his fingers slowly tightening beneath his sleeves. "Little sister, please stay safe..."

Vesna IV, in the Epsilon system.

A biting gale swept down from the ridge. Silver Wolf crouched beside an upturned rock formation, checking the coordinates displayed on her screen one by one before scanning the surroundings for abnormal energy readings. Once she had confirmed everything was in order, she teleported the final piece of Sounding Ore precisely into its designated position.

Click. The ore lodged securely in a crevice in the rock. Silver Wolf stood up and stretched. "That's the last one."

Kafka's voice came over the communicator just then. "Did you check everything?"

"Elio gave me the coordinates. When have I ever remembered them wrong?" Silver Wolf put away her light screen, her tone casual. "But I still want to ask, what exactly are these things for?"

"Don't you already know?"

"All I know is that it's called Sounding Ore." Silver Wolf rolled her eyes. "What can it do besides create vibrations and echo fields?"

A soft chuckle came from the other end of the communicator. "For our songstress, that's enough."

Silver Wolf frowned slightly. That line again. Though she had been with the Stellaron Hunters for some time now, she still wasn't used to Elio's ambiguous way of speaking.

"All right, the stuff's buried." Silver Wolf turned toward the spaceship nearby. "This lousy planet doesn't even have any decent entertainment. I'm going back to recharge my gaming energy."

"Wait." Kafka called her to a stop.

Silver Wolf paused. "What else?"

"Aren't you staying to watch the songstress perform in a few days?"

Silver Wolf was silent for two seconds, her voice tinged with surprise. "She's holding a concert in a place like this?"

"That's right." Kafka's tone was enticing. "It won't be broadcast anywhere else, a concert exclusive to this planet. Firefly and A-Xing will definitely be jealous of you when they find out, won't they?"

Silver Wolf stared at the communicator in her hand, unable to stop an image of Robin onstage from appearing in her mind.

She had watched Robin's live shows many times. One of her fellow Stellaron Hunters was a die-hard Robin fan, so Silver Wolf had been dragged along to watch her performances too. The moment the lights fell, the entire stage seemed to rise and fall and breathe with her singing, a breathtaking sight. If she really could hear an exclusive live performance...

Silver Wolf instinctively lowered her gaze to her terminal. The game interface lit up on the screen, clearly showing her weekly missions and the remaining countdown.

The corner of her eye twitched. A few seconds later, she resolutely turned and continued toward the spaceship.

"Forget it."

"Hm?"

"I'm going back to clear my weeklies." Silver Wolf didn't look back. "Kafka will definitely have a recording anyway, right?"

The other end of the communicator fell silent.

Silver Wolf walked a few more steps, then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, looked back and added, "Besides, if Elio really thought I should stay, he would have told me beforehand."

The communicator remained silent.

Convinced she had judged correctly, Silver Wolf shrugged. "That's that, then."

The spaceship's hatch slowly closed, and its engines roared to life, sending sand and stones swirling into the air across the wasteland. The silver-white ship rose into the sky and pierced the clouds in an instant.

On another ridge, Kafka looked up at the trail Silver Wolf had left across the night sky.

She reached up to hold down her long hair, tousled by the fierce wind, and turned toward the depths of the wasteland. The far end of her view was hazy and empty.

Kafka gazed quietly for a moment, then whispered, "Hurry along, lovely songstress."

The evening breeze swept past her, and the wild grass below the mountain bowed to the ground. "It's time for the prelude to a new chapter of the galaxy to begin."