"One of the Xianzhou Alliance's six great ships, the Xianzhou Luofu. We know it." Welt looked at Kafka. "Hmm, but what you don't know is that the ship is very close to you right now, just two jumps away. And forty-five system hours ago, a Stellaron... erupted aboard the Luofu. A calamity out of the blue, wouldn't you say?" Kafka remarked.
"Stellaron Hunters, what are you planning...? The Xianzhou Alliance isn't as easy to talk to as we are. Once The Hunt sets its sights on you, you'll no longer be hunters, but prey. The Alliance will pursue you to the ends of the universe," Welt said coldly. Himeko followed up at once: "Get to the point. No more verbal sparring, Kafka."
"...It's simple. We had nothing to do with this Stellaron, but the Xianzhou has already pinned the blame on the Stellaron Hunters. My companion Blade was taken by the Cloud Knights. I want to bring him back, resolve this Stellaron crisis, and clear our names," Kafka said as a projection of Blade appeared beside her.
"You really have run out of options," March 7th said hostilely. "One member is missing, another has been captured, and now you've come to us for help. What are the chances you'd show up just after the Stellaron erupted..."
"Of course, you can stay out of it. While the Stellaron hasn't yet contaminated this stretch of space, you can jump to the next world. But in time, this segment of the star rail will be blocked again." Kafka spoke seriously. "I can tell you what the future holds: if you don't go to the Luofu, the Stellaron will eventually contaminate the Xianzhou, and roughly half the ship's residents will die... A brave and fearless Trailblazer, Nameless who naturally do good-I imagine you wouldn't stand by and do nothing."
"...That companion of yours, Blade, won't be spared either, will he?" Himeko ventured. "As for that, no comment. Here are the coordinates. The decision is yours. Goodbye." With that, Kafka's projection vanished.
Meanwhile, on Fansha Star.
"This is the best inn in all of Wind Erosion Town." Yan Bai pointed to the sign ahead, on which the words "Blowing Sand Inn" were engraved in huge characters. "Do you all like things related to sand that much?" Firefly asked the question that had puzzled her for a long time.
"Of course not." Yan Bai shook his head at Firefly's suggestion. "It's mainly because Fansha Star is surrounded by sand everywhere, with hardly any oases. Most people spend their entire lives seeing nothing but yellow sand, so that's all they can name things after."
"I really don't know how you've managed..." Hanxing remarked, then asked a question of his own. "But wouldn't an environment like this have a water shortage?"
"No." Yan Bai smiled and shook his head. "Thanks to Fansha Star's peculiar geography, even though the surface is covered in yellow sand and the air is full of dust, the planet has a surprising abundance of groundwater. When civilization first emerged, they say you only had to dig three to five meters into the rock layer to find water. But that was a long time ago, and a great deal of water has been used up. Alongside the revolution, we're also planting trees here, striving to turn Fansha Star into an oasis planet!"
"Is that so..." Hanxing fell silent and strode into the inn. He looked up at the price board. "A twin room is 500, a single is 300, and a room with one big bed is 400... Not cheap." After a moment of exclaiming over the prices, Hanxing looked at Yan Bai. "Can your wallet... handle it?" Yan Bai merely shook his head when he saw the prices. "We definitely can't afford a twin room. Why don't you two share a room with one big bed?"
"One big bed?" Firefly exclaimed in surprise, then nodded. "Don't put yourself out. That'll do." She glanced at Hanxing. "All right." Seeing Firefly's reaction, Hanxing nodded too.
"Here's your room card. Please keep it safe." The clerk handed over a room card. "I have to say, the technology here is much more advanced than on Jarilo," Hanxing remarked. He checked the room number: 0206. Then he led Firefly toward the elevator.
With a ding, the two arrived on the second floor. Their room was right nearby. Hanxing swiped the door open and lay down on the bed, relaxing. "This feels familiar..." He looked at Firefly, who had just come in. "It's still early. How about we go out and look around?"