"Elder Shi..."
Xiahou Chan scratched his head awkwardly. How had this gotten back to him? Besides, could young people still be called young if they weren't arrogant?
"All right, all right, I'll say no more. You're a Xianzhou general now, so it's not my place to say too much."
"Elder Shi, how can you say that? You're highly respected on the Xianzhou. You're making me feel unworthy."
Shi Mo rolled his eyes at him. The brat had skin as thick as a city wall, like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.
"Enough, enough. The Artisanship Commission is safe now, and I plan to throw this scrap metal into the furnace and melt it down for reuse. You can rest easy about the Artisanship Commission. If any of the ones outside slipped through the net, you can send them over too.
"I have a feeling this crisis might not be as simple as just us being affected."
With that, Shi Mo took out something resembling a radio and pressed a button.
"Recently, numerous intelligent machines across the universe have gone berserk and fallen out of control. The Interastral Peace Corporation has dispatched specialists to deal with the situation. Residents of planets within the trade network are advised to take precautions."
"You heard that, right? It's not just the Xianzhou Daiyu. Some intelligent machines under the Interastral Peace Corporation's jurisdiction have also revolted. This crisis is very likely targeting inorganic life-forms."
Xiahou Chan frowned. A crisis affecting inorganic life-forms across the entire universe? In that case, the other Xianzhou might have encountered the same situation!
Without hesitation, Xiahou Chan took his leave and headed for the Palace of Existence. He needed to discuss a response with Qingzhu.
Wanmeng and Qi Tianque stayed behind with some of the Manifest Existence Army to help the Artisanship Commission clear away the scrap metal.
Palace of Existence
"Qingzhu, we have to change course!"
Xiahou Chan pushed the door open and rushed in as he spoke. Qingzhu looked up at him and nodded calmly.
"I know. I'm making arrangements for that now."
"You know?"
Qingzhu rolled her eyes at him, looking utterly exasperated. "I do like to have fun, but that doesn't mean I don't pay attention to what's happening in the universe. As a Helmsman, that's the most basic professional competence."
"Just now, word came from the descendants of the Daiyu survivors aboard the Xianzhou Yuanqiao. A golden automaton revolt has broken out, and the entire ship is in chaos. It's not just the golden automatons, either. There are even... rebel forces within the ship."
Xiahou Chan's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Rebel forces aboard the Yuanqiao? You've got to be kidding. The Xianzhou are all bound together. How could something like this happen?"
Qingzhu felt helpless. She could hardly believe it herself, but it was true. They claimed that corruption among the Yuanqiao's leaders had caused the golden automaton revolt, so they wanted to overthrow them.
But anyone with eyes could see that they hadn't stepped forward before the revolt, only choosing to act once the golden automatons had risen. Clearly, they had been waiting for an opportunity all along. Before this, however, the Xianzhou Yuanqiao had always appeared peaceful, so the truth was plain to see.
"Those bastards! At a time like this, they're still fighting for power and profit? What if the Yuanqiao suffers irreparable losses because of them?"
Qingzhu nodded. "That's why we have to change course and head for the Yuanqiao. There are currently no internal problems on the other Xianzhou, and they can suppress the golden automaton revolts for now. The situation on the Yuanqiao can't wait!"
"Hmm, it seems you've made your choice."
Ayinai suddenly appeared inside the Palace of Existence. When they saw her, everyone in the palace bowed.
Ayinai nodded, then looked at the two of them. She would offer no opinion on their decision. A decision they made themselves naturally had meaning in its existence, and that meaning should not be altered by outside factors.
"The Xianzhou Yuanqiao's current situation is not promising. The ship is now undergoing internal turmoil, a conflict between classes, a battle between nobles and commoners."
"!!!"
"Huh? Wasn't it a power struggle? How did it turn into a class conflict?"
Qingzhu was puzzled. The descendants of the Xianzhou Daiyu's people shouldn't have lied to her, should they? Why would they have given her false information?
"We've been deceived! There's no power struggle on the Yuanqiao at all. It's a class conflict! They very likely gave us false information to steer us onto their side and turn us against the other!"
Xiahou Chan slammed a fist onto the conference table in front of him, anger on his face.
"It seems someone among the descendants of Daiyu's survivors wants to kill with a borrowed knife!"
Qingzhu frowned. Damn it, was I being used as someone else's weapon?
"Whatever the case, the Yuanqiao really is in danger. We can't refuse to help because of this. Pass the order: maintain our heading and continue toward the Yuanqiao! No, that's too slow. Initiate the jump and have the Xianzhou's residents prepare for it!"
A jump involving an entire Xianzhou was nothing like one involving a starship. Starships were small and encountered little resistance, but a Xianzhou was different. It contained separate realms, and the resistance acting on the entire ship was distributed among them. The realms could withstand it, but if the residents inside them failed to protect themselves, they could very well be crushed or torn apart by the resistance during the jump.
"Understood!"
Once the order was given, news of the jump spread across the entire Xianzhou through its loudspeakers. The residents took shelter in their homes, while the Manifest Existence Army enveloped themselves in the power of their Paths.
Once preparations were complete, a void appeared in front of the Xianzhou Daiyu. The thrusters at its stern fired at full power, sending it hurtling into the void.
Xianzhou Yuanqiao
"Lord Helmsman, the situation aboard the Xianzhou is growing more dangerous by the day. If this continues, the Yuanqiao may very well follow in the Daiyu's footsteps."
The Helmsman of the Sky-Faring Commission sat in his seat, holding his forehead, his expression grave. He was well aware of the Yuanqiao's current predicament. The golden automaton revolt had yet to be resolved, and internal strife had followed right on its heels. Relations between commoners and nobles had grown increasingly tense.
Not long ago, there had even been a small-scale clash. Although both sides had said they forgave each other, as the Yuanqiao's Helmsman, he could see the truth.
Their forgiveness was merely something they had said to placate him. In truth, both sides were itching to kill each other at the slightest opportunity.
"Sigh... The fighting within the Yuanqiao is severe now. Our soldiers are clearing out golden automatons on the front lines and have no time to deal with the ship's internal problems. The other Xianzhou are also mired in the golden automaton crisis, and some are even showing signs of internal strife."
He leaned back in his chair, holding his forehead, his face full of worry.
"Will the Yuanqiao really fall, just like the homeland I've never seen?"
His voice was weary. He was descended from both the Daiyu's people and the Yuanqiao's, but he had never heard his father speak of the Daiyu. By his generation in particular, many descendants of the Daiyu no longer knew that their ancestral home was the Xianzhou Daiyu, the homeland that had crashed and could never be returned to.
Though he had been born on the Yuanqiao, he was full of curiosity about the Daiyu. From childhood, he had searched the library for information about the Xianzhou Daiyu. There was little to be found, but it was enough for him to learn something about it.
The Xianzhou Daiyu had been an exceptionally prosperous Xianzhou, occupying the position of wealth center among the nine great Xianzhou.
That had filled him with curiosity about this homeland. But curious as he was, the Xianzhou Daiyu was gone.