Lan looked grave as he shook his head, rejecting Akivili's guess.
"It isn't the Heliobus."
"The Heliobus is deeply averse to him."
"He's the biggest flaw."
"He can't take part in this plan."
Was there... any room to change something that man had decided?
Lan looked at the Aeon and the man before him.
Who should he ask to pass the message on to that man?
Akivili thumped their chest.
"It's fine. I'll take his identity and deal with the Heliobus in his place."
The Aeon was filled with admiration.
"That's just like him, thinking everything through so thoroughly. I thought he only wanted me to accept the gift..."
Lan: "..."
They were overthinking it.
That man had most likely forgotten.
He wouldn't remember someone he'd defeated.
The Aeon simply hadn't expected that the other party could stumble into the right choice by sheer chance.
Lan glanced over the table. Akivili's cup was still more than half full.
Jing Yuan had less than half a cup left.
Lan picked up the serving pitcher.
Jing Yuan picked up his teacup with one hand and reached to take the pitcher with the other, but he was half a beat slower than the Aeon. He could only watch as Lan poured his tea.
Pressing his lips together, he managed with difficulty, "Thank you, Reignbow Arbiter."
Lan calmly withdrew his hand.
"No need to be so polite."
Jing Yuan hurriedly took a sip of tea, then solemnly told the two Aeons:
"The Luofu Cloud Knights will do everything in their power to cooperate with the Reignbow Arbiter and the Cloud-Roaming Aeon's plan."
Just hearing the word "plan" gave Akivili a headache.
On journeys of the Trailblaze, plans could never keep up with changes. Over time, Akivili and the Nameless had stopped making plans altogether.