Kafka: Shirou, Elio said that you are a variable outside the script. He once revealed the future of this world to me, so we made a plan together to reach the finale that we both want to reach. Yet your appearance has made this finale chaotic and no longer so clear... But, I actually don't like a predetermined future.
Kafka: I look forward to you... acting out a script of your own, rather than the future Elio saw.
I really can pole vault: If you know how to talk, say more (The other party did not receive this)
"It's rare for this woman to actually say something like that."
Shirou couldn't help smiling. Among all the women he had met, Kafka was considered the most difficult when it came to expressing emotions. It wasn't that she couldn't speak, but rather that after lacking a certain emotional faculty, she would make errors in judging moods.
... ... ...
"I'll let it slide this time. If you disgust me again next time, I'll go back to the dorm and cook a meal that only leaves you out."
This sounded a bit petty, but Shirou couldn't help laughing again. The people of the Stellaron Hunters and the Astral Express actually got along quite well. Perhaps it was because everyone played a part in a family and the head count was small, making things exceptionally harmonious.
For instance, within the Stellaron Hunters, Kafka showed a lack of common sense in the details of daily life, sometimes acting like an airheaded mother.
Although Blade had a cold personality and sharp words, when he wasn't having an episode, he would very methodically organize the cleaning and hygiene of the dorm, scrubbing it spotless from top to bottom like someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder, spending a long time dealing even with the dust in the corners of the walls.
Silver Wolf was like the pet of the group, but her personality wasn't willful; instead, the slight laziness and childishly lively feeling she occasionally displayed made people feel more like she was a younger sister in the house.
As for Sam, Miss Firefly's lack of life common sense made her an airhead in the true sense of the word, sometimes making Blade her desired guardian when she wanted to go out... Of course, Mr. Emiya also contributed quite a bit of time to babysitting.
Although there were plenty of trivial little matters, it was precisely these trivial and minute shared experiences that pieced together the harmonious relationships among everyone in the Stellaron Hunters.
Thinking of this, he swiped his phone again, found a cutie whose avatar was a kitten head with a emerald-green ribbon, and then sent a message.
I really can pole vault: After the script on the Xianzhou is over, I plan to go back for a visit.
Miss Firefly big victory: Really? Yay! Qi.
Chapter 101: Jingliu: Buli Ren? I will definitely make them unable to return!
"The Marshal is already aware of the existence of the Nen cultivation method, and is currently dispatching two groups of experts to the Luofu to conduct deeper research and further confirm its efficacy."
"If my brother's method succeeds, it will be a monumental contribution to the Xianzhou Alliance for ages to come. In the tens of thousands of years to come, there will likely be no shortage of your spirit tablet within the Xianzhou."
"You Xianzhou people still believe in this?"
"What are you talking about? Yaoqing is still fond of worshiping the Fox Ying statue, and some even set up living shrines in their homes to offer sacrifices to General Tianji."
"It feels a bit strange. Shouldn't we perhaps not enshrine this spirit tablet?"
Mr. Emiya's expression was somewhat subtle. Although he didn't mind having a separate page in the family genealogy and starting to enjoy the first incense offerings, he was still a living person right now. Seeing someone else worshiping his spirit tablet was undoubtedly an indescribable awkwardness.
"If worst comes to worst, you guys can just enshrine the Astral Express and offer incense to the Nameless."
"I will report my brother's request to the Marshal. It's just that for such fame and fortune, my brother actually has the heart to cede it all to the Nameless?"
"Is there any possibility that if I marry Himeko, the future Express will also have a share for me?"
"..."
Jing Yuan was silent for a moment. After earnestly looking Shirou over for a moment, he said softly,
"It's still my brother who thinks things through. It was this older brother of mine who didn't consider things thoroughly."
He hadn't expected his brother to possess the ambition to "embrace the realm under heaven." He had thought he was a man of high virtue who sought neither fame nor fortune, but it turned out... he was thinking further ahead and on a much broader scale.
Once a thought of defiance arises, one instantly feels the heaven and earth are wide!
If he, Jing Yuan, had the ability to unite in marriage with the Marshal, wouldn't this Xianzhou Alliance also belong to him?
But upon closer thought,
the Luofu was already driving him nearly mad. How could Jing Yuan possibly stomach the workload of the entire Xianzhou Alliance?
Forget it. One lifts a rice bowl proportionate to one's capability.
Although his stomach and digestion weren't very good these days, it wasn't suitable for eating food that was too soft, either.
Besides, that bowl of soft rice from the Marshal was neither something he could hold nor something he could hold steady.
Wait a minute...
If his brother could hold the Marshal's bowl of rice, then he would also be considered distantly related by marriage to the Marshal, wouldn't he?
It all depended on whether his brother had this ability.
As the saying goes, An older wife by three years brings a house of gold bricks; An older wife by thirty years delivers rivers and mountains; An older wife by three hundred years bestows immortal pills; An older wife by three thousand years grants a rank in the immortal class.
The Marshal... hm, she was probably close to that number, too?
"Brother Jing Yuan, I have something to say. I wonder if I should speak it or not."
"Speak freely without worry."
"The Luofu is currently in a time of troubles. If two more groups of so-called experts come, are you really not afraid of some major disaster breaking out?"
"Brother, you are mistaken. You must know that misfortune and fortune are interdependent. The two expert delegations soon arriving at the Luofu are extraordinary. Although it is inconvenient for me to elaborate, I can leak a little information to my brother."
"Extraordinary? Surely two or three generals won't converge on the Luofu, right?"
Shirou couldn't help laughing. During the upcoming Martial-Exhibition Ceremony, in order to investigate the various hidden secrets of the Luofu, the Alliance deliberately arranged for two generals to come to the Luofu to investigate the truth.
But now it shouldn't be...
Wait, although there was no pressing matter of escorting Hulay,
that Nen ability seemed to truly be able to effectively extend the Mara-struck age of the Xianzhou people...
The importance of this matter was not a whit inferior to escorting such a heinous criminal as Hulay, and was perhaps even hidden above this Buli Ren War Master.
And when Shirou's expression turned slightly subtle, a trace of unnaturalness also flashed across Jing Yuan's face.
"Two or three generals won't happen..."
"Could it be the two generals, Feixiao and Huaiyan?"
...The Xianzhou Alliance has a mole?
This thought popped into Jing Yuan's head, and his gaze instantly turned very solemn. The fact that he leaked this news and Shirou directly knowing this news had a difference as vast as heaven and earth.
"If I say now that I just guessed it offhand, do you believe it?"
"Should Jing Yuan believe that?"
"Then... I have no choice but to reveal my second identity."
"My brother has other identities?"
"Actually, I used to be colleagues with Kafka and Silver Wolf."
The moment Shirou uttered these words, Jing Yuan instantly lost his doubts—including any remaining doubts about Shirou's mastery of the Luofu's numerous intelligence details from the very beginning.
Slaves of Destiny,
a mysterious personage seemingly connected to that Aeon walking against time,
and even possessing some possibility of being an Emissary of the End.
The actions of those people in the Stellaron Hunters were all arranged in advance according to that Slave of Destiny...
"The Stellaron Hunters. I never imagined my brother had such a past. Then why are you on the Express now?"
"Tracing roots and getting to the bottom of things is no fun, Brother Jing Yuan. Respect other people's privacy."
"Indeed, it was this brother of mine who was rash. So... can brother let this brother of mine take a peek at that script?"
"It's useless even if I show it to you. The script has changed; even I didn't get the new script. It's just that after this Phantom incident, which should have happened, someone on the Xianzhou side would raise objections to your governance of the Luofu, and thus dispatch two generals under the pretext of the Martial-Exhibition Ceremony to settle accounts with you... ... "
"I see. Put this way, this script has now come as a double feature?"
"If it's a double feature, we must be a bit careful on the Luofu against beast invasions."
As Shirou spoke, his brows twitched slightly. Compared to sneaking into the Xianzhou during the Martial-Exhibition Ceremony, the Xianzhou currently suffering from the Stellaron disaster was probably even more suitable for invasion. The Buli Ren's invasion of the Xianzhou was by no means a matter of a day or two, and there must be Buli Ren spies hiding within the current Luofu.
"Beasts? Could it be... the Buli Ren?!"
"Mhm."
Shirou nodded, and Jing Yuan's expression also grew much heavier. But after a moment, he suddenly couldn't help beaming with joy.
"Splendid! Simply splendid! The Buli Ren have come at precisely the right time."
"Indeed, they've come at a good time."
Although the current Luofu Xianzhou had many potential hidden perils, the ringleader was Phantom, followed by that master of Jing Yuan's who gave him severe headaches, Jingliu—a hot potato whom he dared neither provoke nor keep—and only after them came those of the Medicine Master's Legacy.
Once the Buli Ren invaded, without Jing Yuan needing to say anything, the surviving refugees of Cangcheng who caught the scent of those Buli Ren would awaken from their slumber without hesitation and begin hunting down those canine beasts running wild under the moonlight.
The Buli Ren were the enemy with whom the Xianzhou had fought and clashed the most rounds, and Jingliu's hometown, Cangcheng, had been destroyed precisely within the Abundance fiend "Active Planet." Ever since she was rescued by others and learned sword skills, whenever she encountered Abundance fiends, if she didn't slaughter them all, her sword would not return to its scabbard.
If the Buli Ren dared to break into the Xianzhou at this time, when Jingliu slaughtered alongside the numerous Buli Ren, at that point, Jingliu would no longer be considered a hot potato, at least leaving room for maneuver, and he wouldn't need to be overly antagonistic toward his master either. Even if the two generals arrived at the Xianzhou, with the matter of the Buli Ren invasion, they wouldn't insist on bringing up the old matter of Jingliu falling into Mara.
"However, Brother Jing Yuan, your good master and her good partner are carrying a rather dangerous thing into the current Luofu, oh."
"What thing?"
"The remains of Taiziyouluosi."
"...???".
Chapter 102: Lao Jing! This brother of yours is too solid of a bro!
You have received a new commission!
Persuade Jingliu (Client: Jing Yuan): Locate Jingliu and Luocha, and persuade Jingliu to leave the Luofu Xianzhou, or else be willing to meet and negotiate with Jing Yuan.
Commission Reward: 240 Points + Sword Skill up banner temporarily unlocked
Quest Difficulty: 2 Stars
Investigate Buli Ren (Client: Jing Yuan): Assist Jing Yuan in investigating the Buli Ren incident. If Buli Ren are discovered, this can be converted into a subjugation commission.
Commission Reward: 120 Points.
Quest Difficulty: 1 Star
Subjugate Buli Ren (Client: Jing Yuan): Preceded by an investigation event. If pre-conditions are met, the Buli Ren legion can be subjugated.
Commission Reward: 240 Points + Orc Skill up banner temporarily unlocked
Bonus Reward: An additional (5) points for each Buli Ren invading the Luofu Xianzhou that is subjugated
Quest Difficulty: 2 Stars
Lord of Annihilation Subjugation (Client: Jing Yuan): Participate in the process of initiating the Lord of Annihilation Phantom subjugation campaign on the Luofu Xianzhou.
Commission Reward: 240-680 Points + Destruction Blessing up banner temporarily unlocked
Postscript: Depending on the final outcome caused after your participation: "Repel," "Rout," "Slay," "Capture alive (Seal)."
Quest Difficulty: 2-4 Stars
"Lao Jing! You've finally exploded gold coins for your bro!!!"
Seeing the four commission quests that had appeared in one breath, Mr. Emiya was moved to the point of almost shedding tears of gratitude.
Tearful,
hella fucking tearful,
didn't he run all the way out from his Type-Moon hometown precisely for this kind of thing?
If there's business, speak straight without hiding anything. He explained the quest situation crystal-clear and drew a clear line regarding what help he wanted.
Lao Jing!
Brother, this bro of mine was truly worth recognizing!
"Basically all the elite monsters in the Luofu plotline are being handed over to brother to substitute and beat up. The only ones left are Hulay inside Youqiuyou and that bunch of heliobi inside the furnace."
The average difficulty was two stars. Aside from investigating the Buli Ren which was one star, the rest would likely involve combat segments.
Before you continue