A New Sign-In Task

At Gepard's gesture, the Silvermane Guards behind him charged forward, intending to arrest Jing Yan and all three members of the Astral Express.

However, now that he was sure Sampo had already left, there was no chance of anyone seeing the power he was about to unleash.

Jing Yan immediately began using his Eros power.

The Silvermane Guards in front of them suddenly froze in place.

"Plop!"

A tear slid down from beneath one guard's helmet. Before it could hit the ground, the cold wind turned it into a bead of ice that landed in the snow.

"Huh, I..."

The Silvermane Guard realized something was wrong and instinctively tried to wipe away his tears with his free hand.

Instead, his thick glove touched the smooth surface of his helmet.

"Boo-hoo, it's so moving..."

Another Silvermane Guard suddenly cried out.

Gepard, too, felt his heart stirring for some inexplicable reason. His eyes reddened, and a sense of sorrow welled up inside him.

Gepard began blinking furiously.

The reason was simple.

As a Silvermane Guard captain, Gepard didn't usually wear a helmet, so people could easily see his expressions. Normally, though, he kept a solemn face and maintained a tough-guy image.

But with his eyes inexplicably turning red, something seemed off.

How could the captain of Belobog's guard, a high-ranking Silvermane Guard, start blubbering?!

But compared to him, the other Silvermane Guards were already sobbing uncontrollably, practically reduced to tears.

Gepard was stunned, and on top of that, he felt like he was falling apart inside.

They were supposed to be battle-hardened warriors, men of iron and steel. Why had they all suddenly started crying?!

Even he might have started shedding tears if he hadn't looked up at the sky and blinked at a rate of sixty times per second.

"I..."

Gepard was at a loss for words.

He wanted to know what on earth was happening.

Was it that time of the month? As a member of the Landau family, Gepard had an older sister, Serval, so he knew women had a few days each month when their moods might change.

But he was a man!

What the hell was going on?!

"Ugh, I can't hold it in..."

Meanwhile, in the distance,

Jing Yan had dwindled to a speck and disappeared from Gepard and the others' sight.

He had made his escape.

He had to admit, his Eros power was incredibly useful.

Even a stubborn boy like Gepard had been moved by his sorrowful power and completely lost himself in it, let alone the other Silvermane Guards.

Not one of them stood a chance.

Jing Yan sighed.

Of course, Gepard's faith in the Preservation had helped him resist Jing Yan's Eros power better than the others, but it hadn't made much difference.

Jing Yan's power had struck so suddenly, without the slightest warning.

And even if Gepard had been prepared, Jing Yan could simply have turned up the intensity until he could no longer resist.

A new sign-in location appeared in Jing Yan's mind.

[Sign-In Location: Goethe Hotel, Belobog Upper District]

[Sign-In Reward: One chance to draw a Curio]

[Unlock more target options!]

Jing Yan paused when he saw the reward. He knew a little about Curios. They were unusual objects found throughout the universe.

For example, the space station "Herta" housed a number of Curios, which often had special beneficial effects.

Some Curios were relatively safe, while others were quite dangerous.

Regardless, a Curio could help Jing Yan in some way or give him inspiration. Even a Curio with negative effects could be repaired and turned into a useful asset.

The only apparent problem was how to enter the Goethe Hotel without raising suspicion.

There was a Goethe Hotel in both the Upper District and the Underworld, but the sign-in requirements clearly specified the one in the Upper District.

So Jing Yan had to enter the Goethe Hotel. Fortunately, the sign-in didn't require him to go into one of the hotel rooms; otherwise, wouldn't he usually have to pay to get in?

As the most luxurious hotel in Belobog's Upper District, the Goethe Hotel charged a hefty price for a room. Even an ordinary Upper District resident might not be able to afford a stay once a year, let alone Jing Yan, who had come from Natasha's Clinic in the Underworld.

That would mean he'd have to find a way to get more Shield of Belobog, or somehow "trick" the front desk staff into giving him a room.

But since the current sign-in task only required him to enter the hotel, things were much simpler.

"Um, would you all mind enjoying tonight and suffering tomorrow?" Jing Yan turned to the three members of the Astral Express behind him.

"Uh... huh?!" March 7th stood there, stunned.

The sight of Gepard's squad showing up and then being reduced to tears had left all three members of the Astral Express speechless.

While Stelle and March 7th were baffled, Dan Heng was already trying to figure out Jing Yan's identity.

One thing was clear: Jing Yan was no ordinary person, and he possessed extraordinary power.

Their own abilities were unusual too, but their origins were mostly traceable.

For example, March 7th's abilities came from Six-Phase Ice, the rare substance from the universe that had trapped her when she was found.

Dan Heng's power came from Xianzhou and the Vidyadhara dragon bloodline he had lost his memories of after being reborn.

On top of that, they had received blessings from their respective Aeons as Pathstriders.

But Jing Yan looked like a descendant of Xianzhou natives, and they couldn't make heads or tails of his methods in combat.

No matter how Dan Heng looked at it, he couldn't recognize anything familiar in this "fellow countryman's" techniques.

From what Jing Yan had said about his past, he had probably become an orphan at a very young age and been abandoned in Belobog. Still, compared with Sampo and Gepard, who were both natives of this same planet, Yarilo-VI, Jing Yan's powers were especially strange.

"It's fine."

March 7th suddenly nudged Dan Heng with her shoulder and spoke up.

"Don't worry, Mr. Jing Yan isn't a bad person, right? His background is a little mysterious, but he's probably not a human trafficker!"

March 7th nodded as she spoke.

"If he were a human trafficker, he wouldn't make people cry. Wouldn't that just make things more troublesome?"

Stelle spread her hands. "Then what do you think the bandages he's carrying are for?"