Meanwhile, inside the VIP cabin of a Cloud Whale Bus in the Instrument World.
A strange figure shrouded in multicolored mist stared at the empty floor ahead, stunned.
"Why did they suddenly disappear?"
The quiet murmur came from behind the mist.
It pondered for a moment, then lightly stamped its foot—or what passed for one. Shaped like a Six-Pointed Star, it extended one sharp point and drove it into the cabin floor hidden beneath the mist.
About five seconds later, a voice like a public-address speaker echoed through the cabin. "Cloud Whale Bus 007, at your service."
"Honored guest, how may I help you?"
The figure behind the mist spoke slowly. "You should know what I want to ask. Why did they suddenly disappear?"
007 was a kind of artificial intelligence. It could also be considered the driver of the Cloud Whale Bus, overseeing everything inside and outside the whale.
Even what happened in a VIP cabin could not escape 007's notice.
Earlier, Luojia had spotted a group of Crystalfolk hitching a ride outside the Cloud Whale Bus. At first, Luojia had simply wondered what people they belonged to and why Luojia had never seen them before. Watching them seemed a good way to pass the long bus ride.
Then Luojia noticed something strange.
Several Crystalfolk had failed to get off their jellyfish rides in time and were caught in the moonlight.
Ordinarily, they would have received a Nightmoon Mark and produced a soul coin.
But the moment the moonlight touched them, both body and soul vanished without a trace.
As a descendant of the great Creator, Luojia had seen many peoples who feared moonlight. Never before, though, had Luojia seen any disappear so completely the instant it touched them.
It was as though those Crystalfolk had never existed at