"Ahh~" Hanxing stretched in bed, quickly washed up, put on his newly purchased coat, and walked out into the hall. Firefly was already waiting for him at the door.
"This is our first time going on a mission together. How do you feel?" Firefly asked gently. "Of course." Hanxing resisted the urge to touch her and stared at her for a while. "What? Is there something on my face?" Firefly looked back at him. Hanxing shook his head. "It's nothing. Let's go find Kafka."
Soon, the two stood before Kafka. "So, what's our mission?" Hanxing asked her. "According to Elio, we're to obtain a Stellaron. But he didn't say where to go."
"So this is the place we found." Kafka pointed to a spot on the star map. "Edo Star. It's hidden in a region of ion storms and is under attack by the Antimatter Legion. But recently, contact was suddenly lost. We don't know if the Stellaron is responsible."
Hanxing nodded. "I've memorized the coordinates. What will you do next?" Kafka smiled. "We're going to the Xianzhou to bring the Astral Express into play." Hanxing listened quietly, nodding from time to time. "So, Blade is on the Xianzhou too?" he asked. Kafka replied, "To be precise, according to the script, he's already been locked up in the Luofu's Prison of Deep Seclusion."
"The Prison of Deep Seclusion? Sounds like a prison. He went to jail?" Hanxing asked. "The script will lead to the best possible future," was all Kafka said.
Hanxing asked no more questions and drew his blade with Firefly beside him. "Don't you think the blade's red glow has faded quite a bit?" Hanxing stared at his blade. "It really has dimmed. I don't know why."
He then made two slashes to open a spatial portal, and the two entered it together.
"Something's wrong, Kafka! We've lost contact with them!" Silver Wolf exclaimed from nearby. "Maybe it's because of the ion storm," Kafka said indifferently. "No, I used communications that can withstand ion storms!" Hearing that, Kafka grew alert too. "Could their location be wrong?"
Elsewhere, Hanxing and Firefly stood in a vast desert. A gust of sand swept toward them, and Hanxing shielded Firefly with his coat. "Is the Stellaron disaster here this severe? There's nothing but desert all around," Firefly said to herself.
Hanxing drew his blade again, intending to head for the nearest city, only to find that the red glow had vanished completely from his embroidered spring blade. He couldn't even open a spatial portal.
"Damn it, what's going on?" Hanxing looked at his blade. "Maybe it's run out of energy," Firefly said, looking at it.
Hanxing shook his head. "That's probably the only explanation..." He then looked at Firefly. They probably wouldn't be getting out of this vast desert anytime soon.
"Hold on tight!" Firefly suddenly said, then gripped Hanxing's hand. Her armor appeared in an instant, and she scooped him up. The thrusters on her feet activated, and the two shot into the sky.
"That advanced?" Hanxing looked at Firefly. "Don't move for now. I'll take you out of here," was all she said.
After flying for who knew how long, the two finally saw a town. "Looks like there's hope," Hanxing remarked as he looked down. They soon landed, and Firefly deactivated her armor, returning to the girl in the green dress.
At the front of the town stood a gate, with the words "Wind Erosion Town" carved prominently into it. Just then, a man walked out through the village gate, carrying a gun over his shoulder and a bag of money.
"Hello." Firefly politely walked up to him. "Excuse me, is this Edo Star?" "Edo Star? Never heard of it." Suddenly, the man gave Firefly a predatory look. "But you're quite a looker-"
Hanxing was startled and was about to draw his blade, but Firefly stopped him. "I can certainly tell you where this is, but you'll have to... hehehe-"
Firefly nodded. "Then let's go around the corner-"
Watching the two leave, Hanxing wanted nothing more than to cut the man down on the spot.
Once they reached the corner, the man immediately began pawing at Firefly. "This is Wind Erosion Town on Fansha Star, a poor little border town-"
A barely perceptible smile appeared on Firefly's face. "Huh? Why is it so hard?" The man looked up in confusion. The girl was nowhere to be seen; only a suit of armor stood before him. "Thank you for the information. Firefly Type IV, activate!"
Soon, a wave of heat struck Hanxing's face. He knew the man's body wouldn't even be left in one piece.
Firefly walked over from the corner. "This is Fansha Star. We ended up at the wrong destination!"