Sampo, Gepard

"Hmm..."

March 7th scrutinized Jing Yan for a moment, then looked up at Dan Heng beside her, spreading her hands. "I feel like something's not quite right. I mean, hasn't everything been progressing a little too smoothly? And why do I feel like the things we just said should have been said by us instead?"

Stelle, standing nearby, curled her lip at the remark and shot March 7th a look of helpless resignation, as if to say: Isn't this a good thing?

"Oh, you guys..."

Seeing that neither Dan Heng nor Stelle responded, March 7th looked a bit awkward.

She scratched at her bangs, then lowered her head, looking like someone who had done something wrong as she muttered, "Geez, what's with you two? Can't take a joke? I was just thinking that Brother Jing Yan is a little too nice, isn't he?"

"It's not often you come across a local who's this reasonable, don't you think?"

Seeing that no one was playing along, March 7th looked up and smiled at Jing Yan.

However, upon seeing the faint, enigmatic smile on Jing Yan's face, she suddenly realized something.

"Eh, I forgot again—Brother Jing Yan isn't a local of this planet either, is he? Hehe, hehe..."

Jing Yan didn't pay much attention to March 7th's teasing. His current focus was on the Astral Express hovering in the orbit above—the vehicle that could help him leave this world and travel to other planets.

Of course, the prerequisite for his departure was resolving the crisis here; only then could he consider anything else.

Otherwise, if the power of the Stellaron on this planet allowed the frost to completely consume it, and the Fragmentum to invade all of Belobog, the only future for everyone here would be death or transformation into Fragmentum monsters.

Even though the true home of the body he inhabited in this life was not Belobog on Jarilo-VI, Jing Yan had lived here for many years and had formed deep bonds with the people and things here. It was impossible for him to simply abandon them. Furthermore, as an Aeon, he would not allow himself to lose to the creation of another Aeon: the Stellaron.

Of course, if his power were insufficient and he lost to a full-strength Aeon or even one of their Lord Ravagers, that would be understandable.

In short, Jing Yan considered himself a man who valued his reputation.

He knew when to lay low, but when it was time to stand his ground, he absolutely would not back down!

Just as the four were conversing, a disturbance came from nearby.

To be precise, the sound came from beneath the very ground they were standing on.

"Jing Yan, did you step on me, you jerk? Mmph..."

As a voice erupted abruptly from the snow beneath their feet, the three people standing around were startled and jumped back a few steps. Only Jing Yan felt no surprise at all.

Still, he politely took a step back.

In truth, Jing Yan had confirmed that someone was crouching in this snowdrift the moment he arrived.

After calling out twice, the person inside had refused to give any response, playing dead and refusing to get up.

According to the memories of his past life, the person hiding under the snow was Sampo.

Since that was the case, he had stepped on him without mercy before standing there to welcome the trio from the Astral Express.

"Cough, cough..."

At this moment, likely unable to bear the freezing cold any longer.

Or perhaps because it hurt a bit after being stepped on by Jing Yan, Sampo finally chose to stand up from the snow.

But as a Pathstrider of Elation, Sampo wasn't that weak; at the very least, he was much more cold-resistant than an ordinary person. Plus, he often frequented the Underworld and disguised himself as an Upperworlder, so his attire was quite exquisite and ornate, which also helped him ward off some of the chill.

"Brother Sampo, have you been targeted by the Silvermane Guards? Don't worry, just go—I'll take the heat for you if anything happens."

Before Sampo could speak, Jing Yan patted him on the shoulder.

"Cough, cough..."

Sampo felt something was a bit off, but he didn't ask any questions. Just as Jing Yan had said, the reason he was hiding in the snow was indeed because he had been spotted by the Silvermane Guards, and it was truly not a good time for him to stay here.

"But who are these..."

Because the sound-dampening effect of the snow over his head had been a bit too good, Sampo hadn't heard the conversation between Jing Yan and the Express trio clearly. However, seeing the attire of these three, he felt something was wrong—it seemed a bit too bold, avant-garde, and trendy? It didn't look like the style of Belobog, so he couldn't help but feel suspicious.

After a moment of thought, Sampo propped his chin with one hand and frowned as he looked at Jing Yan. "Hey, hey, Brother Jing Yan, you wouldn't be..."

"Doing some kind of shady deal here, would you?"

"No, these are guests from beyond the sky. There's no shady business going on."

"Anyway, Brother Sampo, why don't you go find somewhere to lay low?" Jing Yan said.

Sampo wore a look of sudden realization. "Ah, so that's... wait! What do you mean, guests from beyond the sky?!"

Sampo froze.

He thought of some legends regarding the history of Belobog.

For instance, the Architects.

They originally worshipped the Aeon of Preservation, Qlipoth the Amber Lord, imitating their efforts to forge barriers measured in light-years to seal off and protect worlds that still held life from the devouring of external enemies, thus building their own city walls.

And the Architects were from outside the universe.

Besides that, there had been the invasion of the Antimatter Legion in history.

Those followers of Destruction were also guests from beyond the sky.

So, in an instant, Sampo understood the meaning of "guests from beyond the sky," but he dared not believe it.

However, at this moment, he looked back and saw other figures approaching in the distance, thinking to himself that things were looking bad.

"Well, brother Jing Yan, I'll be taking my leave first." After saying this, Sampo ran off into the distance.

Jing Yan was not at all surprised by this, for in the distance, the Silvermane Guards were already marching toward them, led by none other than the Silvermane Guard captain, Gepard.

Sampo had no intention of putting up any resistance against a commander of such high standing within the Silvermane Guards.

Jing Yan, however, remained completely unconcerned.

At this moment, the three members of the Astral Express still did not know why the Silvermane Guards had come.

He found their attire rather interesting to look at.

But once Gepard arrived, he immediately began a stern interrogation.

He asked for the identities of the people before him and whether they had seen any trace of the criminal the Silvermane Guards were hunting—Sampo, who had been smuggling goods between the upper and lower districts without authorization.

"N-no, we haven't!"

March 7th blinked, feigning composure as she spoke.