Storms on the Horizon

"Beleria, stop playing around. It's about time to wrap this up."

Having rested, Bai Sheng spoke to Beleria, who was still toying with the mass of flesh.

Beleria was a Pathwalker of the [Path of the Hunt]. Taking on a mere [Path of Abundance] creation alone was child's play for her.

As for earlier—sorry, but Bai Sheng really had not been in good condition. He had wasted a great deal of stamina outside the laboratory, and even with Pandora, it had been difficult to construct a temporary Path. So Bai Sheng had been much like the protagonist of a tokusatsu show, fighting monsters in his initial form and constantly getting beaten down.

One of the spirit puppet's special abilities, [Path Reenactment], consumed a certain amount of energy to construct a Path it had previously come into contact with, granting eighty percent of that Path's power.

That was also why Bai Sheng had been able to use the power of the [Path of the Hunt] to assassinate the Emperor back then.

"Sorry, tasty one. My friend is getting a little impatient."

As she spoke, Beleria's aura surged once more. With a single strike, she severed five of the flesh mass's arms.

Just as it was about to scream, the flesh mass realized it could not even make a sound. Several pairs of swollen eyes looked toward Beleria. In her small, soft hands, she was holding several vocal cords.

There was no time for anger, because Beleria had punched straight through its chest. What she held in her hand was the flesh and blood that had initially caused the mass to keep multiplying and devouring the researchers. Her eyes gleamed. "Can I eat this?"

Beleria's large eyes were filled with longing.

Bai Sheng nodded. Given Beleria's peculiar nature, eating some strange things was no big deal. At worst, she would get diarrhea.

"I... am unwilling..."

The flesh mass died, and the arms Beleria had just torn off quickly dissolved as well. It broke Beleria's heart. There had been so much delicious food, yet in the end, she only got one bite.

But then she thought about it again. It did not matter—Bai Sheng would treat her to a feast later anyway.

Carefree and thoughtless, Beleria happily followed Bai Sheng like a foolish little girl.

In Kasantiya's main city.

The streets were packed with people. Kasantiya was no small nation; the title of Star of Puppets was no empty boast. Its usual holiday celebrations were already extraordinarily grand, let alone the coming-of-age ceremony of the Prince.

Before they even got close, they could already hear the thunderous boom of ceremonial cannons.

Normally, these cannons fired energy shells, but for festivals like this, they used the most traditional and visually spectacular kind—gunpowder.

Colorful fireworks continuously burst across the sky. This was only the prelude to the celebration.

Beneath the elevated platform near the square stood countless people waiting for the ceremony to begin.

There were also groups of reporters, carrying cameras with long lenses, hoping to capture this newsworthy event.

"Hey, hey! How grand do you think this ceremony will be?"

"Is that even a question? A celebration on this scale is definitely going to be a huge news story! I'm going to get a good shot of that Prince's face later. I heard he's quite handsome too."

"It's about to start. Hurry up and find a spot. I still need to get back to The Steambird to write my article."

At a tea stall far from the square, a white-haired man was savoring a cup of freshly brewed hot tea.

His long white hair covered one eye, yet it did nothing to diminish his bearing.

His golden eyes were fixed on the elevated platform. The view here was broad, and it was not too crowded. He liked the feeling of being up high.

After watching for a while, he seemed to remember something. He shook his head and chuckled. There was no need to say more—even dressed plainly, he was unmistakably Jing Yuan, the Divine General of the Luofu Star Rail.

He took out his Jade Oracle and checked the message feed. The latest messages were still from when Bai Sheng had last assured him of his safety:

Bai Yan Zhuo Hua Sheng: It's a deal. (Cats bumping fists)

Real Name Online: It's a deal. (Cats bumping fists)

"There really is no shortage of trouble here."

Jing Yuan put away his Jade Oracle and stopped looking toward the elevated platform.

"Destruction, Abundance, and... Remembrance. Certain people are up to no good, aren't they? Am I right?"

Jing Yuan did not turn around, the corners of his lips still raised in a smile.

At that moment, a woman dressed in purple suddenly appeared beside Jing Yuan. Wearing a veiled hat, she looked at him with an amused expression.

"Greetings, General from the Luofu. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Black Swan, and I am a Memory Eater from the Garden of Recollection."

Only then did Jing Yuan turn slightly to face her directly. Yet no one around them noticed that a person had appeared out of thin air, nor did anyone notice their conversation.

"This is merely a celebration on a second-rate planet. Why would the Garden of Recollection dispatch a Memory Eater of your caliber?"

Jing Yuan's golden eyes stared at Black Swan, as though trying to see through her soul.

Black Swan covered her mouth and smiled. At some point, a black-purple tarot card had appeared in her hand, which she casually played with.

"It was a direct order from Them. I am but a humble Memory Eater—how could I dare refuse?

"However, General of the Hunt, rather than Their command, it would be more accurate to call it fate's guidance. We all came here for him. Here, I can assure you that I will not come into conflict with you, General."

As Jing Yuan continued staring at her, Black Swan slowly performed an elegant farewell gesture. Then her lovely figure blurred for a moment, and by the time he came back to himself, she had already vanished.

Seeing that they had left, Jing Yuan simply sat back down and resumed drinking his bowl of tea, which had yet to cool.

"You really don't know until you look, and once you do, it's quite a shock. Boy Bai, it seems you're hiding plenty of secrets, and quite a few people are involved. Even the Radiant Heavenly Lord is interested in you."

__________________________________(Title Girl: Author, what are you doing! (???????)

Author: Writing.

Title Girl: No, no, come play with me!

Author: Not going. I'm a heartless writing machine. -_-

Divider: Hmph! Then I'll go find Title Sister! Stinky trash-fish author, goodbye! (｀へ′))

After some time, the coming-of-age ceremony was held as scheduled. The Emperor stood on the high platform, delivering words of thanks to the people below. Bai Sheng and Bai Zhu stood at his side, while Prince stood behind them.

Why else would Kasantiya be called the Star of Puppets? Those human puppets—heh—were absolutely lifelike. If Jing Yuan had not been able to sense Path Energy, he might have believed that the Bai Sheng on the platform was real.

Yes, the one on the platform was a fake—just a highly advanced one. In appearance alone, he was no different from the real Bai Sheng.

He had no life force at all, but fooling this crowd for the moment was absurdly easy.

Could the people of Kasantiya not know?

Of course they didn't. How could commoners possibly understand the Emperor's power?

Of course, anyone who dared say it aloud had probably already been "shown some community care."