The blade of the Severing Sword stopped abruptly just three inches from the tip of [Dan Feng]'s nose.
It wasn't because the shouts of those four "old friends" had played a decisive role (though it did indeed cause Blade's movements to falter for a moment), but because a soft, calm, yet strangely powerful voice, like a thread piercing through the chaotic fog, had precisely wound itself around Blade's manic nerves.
"Listen to me, Blade."
The voice was not loud, yet it seemed to press the mute button on all the clamor in the alley—Blade's roar, the crowd's gasps, the mechanical humming of the Golden Soul Reaper.
Kafka, supporting her iconic umbrella, walked elegantly from the shadows of the alley entrance, step by step, as if strolling in her own backyard.
Her high-heeled boots tapped against the stone pavement, making crisp, rhythmic sounds, each step seemingly landing on some kind of cadence.
Her face wore that inscrutable smile, her purple eyes calmly watching Blade, who was tense and whose sword was trembling.
"Calm down."
Her words seemed to carry invisible shackles.
"He is not the Dan Feng you know. Look closely."
Blade's arm muscles bulged, veins throbbing, and the cracks on the Severing Sword seemed to spread due to the violent conflict of power.
His scarlet eyes stared fixedly at the [Dan Feng] right in front of him, then slowly turned to Kafka, his throat emitting a beast-like low growl, filled with pain and unwillingness.
"I... know..."
He squeezed these words out from between his teeth, his voice hoarse beyond recognition.
Fragments of sanity floated in the sea of madness; he was not entirely ignorant of Elio's script or the truth about the doppelganger before him.
But knowing did not mean he could control the hatred and pain that permeated his soul.
"It is good that you know."
Kafka nodded, seemingly very satisfied with this answer.
"Then, put down the sword. We still have a'script' to follow, don't waste your energy here, hmm?"
Blade's chest heaved violently several times, and finally, that terrifying killing intent and madness slowly receded like a tide (not disappearing, just forcibly suppressed).
He lowered his sword-wielding arm extremely slowly, with extreme reluctance.
The tip of the sword grazed the ground, leaving a shallow scorched mark.
Only then did [Yingxing], who had let go of his thigh, dare to gasp for air, collapsing to the ground along with the Golden Soul Reaper.
[Jingliu] looked down at the ice sword in her hand, which had been easily severed by the sword qi of the Severing Sword, leaving only half, and then looked at Blade, who had clearly pulled back his strength at the last moment—otherwise, [Dan Feng] would likely have been "recycled"—a rare trace of helplessness appearing on her cold face, and she sighed lightly:
"Low level is indeed a fatal weakness."
The LV.23 [Jing Yuan], along with their auxiliary summons, faced too great a strength gap against this Blade, who had experienced countless slaughters in this timeline.
[Dan Feng], having just escaped the "Dragon-Slaying Sword," touched his neck (still there) with lingering fear, then looked at [Jing Yuan] very seriously and earnestly, proposing a "brilliant" suggestion:
"The top priority is to improve core combat power. I suggest arranging special training for [Jing Yuan]. High-intensity, high-efficiency type."
[Yingxing], who had just climbed up from the ground, nodded fiercely upon hearing this, and even the Golden Soul Reaper shook its metal head up and down: "Agreed! One hundred percent agreed! If we don't special train and level up, the next time we encounter a real powerhouse, we might all be sent to reincarnation!"
He didn't want to experience the feeling of being dragged by his thigh and locked on by deathly sword qi ever again!
[Jing Yuan], who had suddenly become the target of everyone's attention: "...?!"
The smile on his face froze completely, and seeing his master [Jingliu] also cast a thoughtful look, as if planning a "General Special Training Package," his scalp went numb.
"Wait! I think we can discuss this in the long term... Hey! Master, don't look at me with that gaze! Brother Yingxing! Dan Feng! Are we still good brothers?!"
Kafka watched this farce of "High-Cloud Quintet: Internal Roll Special Training Edition" with great interest, the smile at the corners of her mouth deepening.
And Blade stood silently in the shadows, his scarlet eyes lowered, wondering what he was thinking.
---
Meanwhile, the real Luofu General—Jing Yuan—was sitting at his desk, listening to the preliminary report about the dock chaos and "unidentified visitors."
The habitual, slightly lazy smile on his face froze imperceptibly when he heard a certain name.
"General?"
Noticing the change in his superior's aura, Yanqing stepped forward with concern.
The young cloud knight's hand was already pressed on the hilt of his sword, scanning the surroundings vigilantly, thinking an enemy was lurking.
"It's nothing... I'm fine..."
Jing Yuan waved his hand to signal Yanqing to relax, while his other hand supported his forehead, his fingertips applying slight pressure.
When the Cloud Knights reported the rough information about the Astral Express group, the words "Bai Heng" entered his ears, and Jing Yuan's first reaction was absurdity—
Was it because he had been dealing with Luofu affairs for days, under too much pressure, leading to auditory hallucinations as a precursor to the Mara-Struck?
That name, that pilot who had long since dissipated into the dust of history along with an ancient star skiff...
Until a slightly blurry but clearly featured photo, taken by a front-line Cloud Knight with a portable recorder, was presented to him.
In the photo, that Foxian maiden was smiling brightly, her furry ears perked up energetically, her eyes lively, talking to the pink-haired girl from the Astral Express Crew.
That face, that expression... Even after the long passage of time and life and death, Jing Yuan would never mistake it.
Not an auditory hallucination, not an illusion.
It was a living, breathing, laughing... [Bai Heng].
Jing Yuan looked at the photo silently, extremely complex emotions surging in his eyes—shock, nostalgia, disbelief, a faint glimmer of joy, and more deep pain regarding the price of the past.
He felt his temples throbbing, his originally clear thinking as if a huge stone had been thrown into it, causing endless ripples.
"This has completely disrupted my plan..."
Jing Yuan put down the photo and let out a helpless bitter laugh, that smile carrying unprecedented exhaustion and a trace of bewilderment.
His original plan was to tacitly cooperate with Yukong of the Sky-Faring Commission, one playing the bad cop (Yukong's vigilance and questioning), and the other playing the good cop (his tact and recruitment), smoothly incorporating the powerful "external force" of the Astral Express into the game, becoming a surprise force to deal with crises and dark forces, commonly known as: high-level wage earner / slave laborer reserve (crossed out).
But now...
The core premise of the plan—that he, Jing Yuan, could maintain absolute calmness, rationality, and control—had developed a huge crack.
He worried that when that [Bai Heng], wearing the face of his old friend, truly stood in front of him, he would not be able to control his expression, would lose his composure, would ask questions he shouldn't ask, and would expose those unhealed wounds deep in his heart.
The shadow of the Mara-Struck seemed never to have been so close.
Yanqing looked even more worried on the side: "General, your complexion... do you really not need to call someone from the Alchemy Commission to take a look?"
——————
On the way to Starskiff Haven, Stella accompanied Tingyun to the Palace of Astrum.
She was walking while habitually "glancing" with her mind at the system panel that only she could see, intending to check her stellar jade reserves or character status.
Then, she blinked abruptly and almost tripped on the flat road.
"Huh?"
She saw that the number in the "stellar jade" column on the system panel had suddenly surged by a large amount without any warning! A rough estimate showed she had gained at least over a thousand!
Stella was confused: "???"
She hurriedly recalled:
Just fought the Mara-Struck? Those small fries wouldn't give this much, right? Saved Tingyun? Tingyun's gratitude didn't seem that overwhelming, right? [Phainon] slashed monsters coolly? But March 7th's exclamation and Stelle's complaints didn't look like they could convert into this much stellar jade...
She clearly didn't do anything! Just followed along walking and listening to the exposition! What's up with this "emotional energy gift package" that fell from the sky and was ridiculously generous?!
Who was silently providing such strong and complex emotional fluctuations behind her back? And it felt like more than one person??
Stella looked suspiciously at her companions: March 7th was taking photos, Stelle was dazed, Dan Heng was deep in thought, Welt seemed to be distracted, [Bai Heng] was looking around curiously, Bailu was fiddling with her medicine gourd, [Phainon] was following quietly...
She had no idea that at this moment, in two other corners of the city, a general was in turmoil and his plan was collapsing because of the resurrection of a "dead friend," a former colleague and old friend was jumping back and forth between madness and rationality while providing a large amount of "breakdown" and "unwillingness" energy, and three doppelgangers were planning to "persecute" the core summon to level up...
These violently fluctuating emotions were all silently collected by her system panel through some mysterious connection and converted into tangible "stellar jade."
Stella scratched her head, completely puzzled: "What... actually happened?"