At the bar, Boothill, who had seemed pretty unreliable all along, pulled Dan Heng aside to take stock of the situation.
After all, whatever you were doing, it was best to have a plan first, even an incredibly simple one. That went for the Galaxy Rangers, too.
Dan Heng did not refuse. He spoke first:
"The situation is still unclear. Something must have happened on the Festivity Planet, but the public knows nothing about it. Presumably, someone high up in the Family is covering things up.
"It was unusual enough for Harmony to invite other factions, and now the Corporation and the Fools are involved as well. If the Emanator of Nihility you mentioned is real, then the current situation on Penacony is rather too complicated."
"Actually, there's something else about Acheron that's been bothering me," Boothill said. "You know as well as I do that factions that follow The Hunt are the last people in the galaxy anyone wants to mess with. Nobody in their right mind would dare impersonate the Xianzhou Alliance or the Galaxy Rangers. That's just asking to die...
"Don't Xianzhou natives have a saying? The Reignbow Arbiter declares his wheelchair through Light Arrows alone-"
"His will," Dan Heng interrupted. "Declares his will."
"Whatever. You know what I mean."
Boothill waved it off and was about to say something else when an arrow of condensed blue energy, about as long as an index finger, suddenly struck him with a "pew~," sending the Interstellar Cowboy tumbling.
"Mew-mew! Mew-mew!"
Little Lan glared fiercely at Boothill, tail lashing restlessly, looking ready to leap over and give the cowboy a good thrashing.
In the end, though, Little Lan did no such thing. The Cat Cake thumped the ground with that tail, opened wide, and spat out another blue arrow, sending