Passing by the still-unfinished mural, the Federation of Hope group finally arrived at the Divine Manor of the Cangyan Xianzhou.
The sight before them left everyone speechless.
The Divine Manor towered overhead, its tall crimson gates adorned with intricate gold patterns.
Above the gate, two majestic characters—FEARLESS—were carved in powerful strokes, radiating such imposing presence it felt as though each character guarded the land itself.
The outer walls were built from some unknown, incredibly durable stone, gleaming with a faint crimson glow like gentle flames.
The entire manor resembled an unbreakable fortress yet retained an elegant, transcendent beauty.
Before the main gate stood three massive statues, each several zhang tall and astonishingly lifelike.
The first showed a general in full armor, spear in hand, gaze fixed on the distant horizon.
The second depicted a cloaked figure wielding a colossal axe, ready to swing.
The third statue was the most unusual—not a person, but a sculpture of fire itself, as though alive and poised to leap forth.
"It seems these three statues depict the past Generals of the Cangyan Xianzhou," Robin remarked.
But someone immediately corrected her:
"It appears even the galaxy-renowned Miss Robin has been fooled by these sculptures."
"These statues aren't past Generals—they're a rare honor granted only to those recognized by all four races aboard the Cangyan Xianzhou."
Hearing this explanation, the Federation members turned toward the speaker.
Jing Yuan and his disciple approached leisurely.
"General Jing Yuan, are you here for a stroll as well?" asked the Foxian guide who had been leading them.
"Haha, naturally." Jing Yuan made no attempt to hide his purpose. "Xianzhou festivals are rare, and the Cangyan's Heaven-Mending Creation festival, held for hundreds of years, is rarer still."
More importantly, this festival offered Jing Yuan a set time to honor memories of the past.
He recalled the five who once journeyed together—yet now, only he remained. Only during festivals could he allow himself to remember.
What he hadn't expected, though, was…
"I didn't expect Miss Ahri, the Foxian leader of the Cangyan Xianzhou, to be guiding guests personally." Jing Yuan smiled, sweeping his gaze across the group. "Aside from Miss Robin, everyone here must be heroes celebrated across the galaxy. Jing Yuan, General of the Luofu, sends his greetings."
No one refused a polite hand extended with a smile. Jing Yuan's approach quickly won Titania's goodwill.
"Yes, yes, nothing too special," Titania replied brightly.
Fenille, seeing Titania's reaction, quietly shook her head. She really was too easy to please.
But what unsettled Fenille and the others even more was what Jing Yuan had revealed—their guide was actually the Foxian leader of the Cangyan Xianzhou.
A leader was no ordinary position on the Xianzhou. Someone so important personally escorting them felt surreal—like Sora or Titania acting as tour guides.
Yet that was exactly what was happening.
Something felt off.
"Don't worry—I mean you no harm," Ahri reassured gently. "You simply reminded me of someone precious to me."
Her gaze fell on Robin, who blinked in confusion, her ear-feathers shifting to a puzzled yellow.
Someone familiar? But Robin had no memory of meeting her before.
"You resemble him very strongly, almost like an illusion—but sadly, you're not him." Ahri shook her head, smiling softly again. "Well, enough of that. You're here to meet the General, aren't you?"
She invited them toward the gate.
"Come— the Fearless General has been waiting for you."
Robin and Titania could sense something unspoken behind Ahri's words, but since she didn't elaborate, they didn't pursue it.
Inside the Divine Manor, two figures were already waiting.
One stood tall with dragon horns—the Vidyadhara leader. The other was someone even Jing Yuan hadn't expected.
"I didn't expect the famed Arbiter-General Feixiao to be here as well."
"Hahaha, isn't it a coincidence, General Jing Yuan?" Feixiao laughed heartily.
Indeed, the Vidyadhara leader Jin Xing and Feixiao—who had recently clashed—were both present. From appearances alone, it was impossible to tell who had won their earlier battle.
"You're here too, Ahri," Jin Xing greeted her warmly.
"Sister Jin Xing, it's been a long time." Ahri returned the smile softly.
With two of the major Cangyan races assembled, a third figure appeared—a blue holographic projection.
"It seems everyone is here. My apologies for being a little late."
Yanqing stared, utterly baffled. He'd never seen this woman before—so why did his General look both admiring and envious?
Seeing Robin and Titania's confusion, Ahri explained:
"This is the representative of the Xianzhou humans—although at the moment, she's traveling as a Galaxy Ranger."
A representative of the Xianzhou who became a Galaxy Ranger sounded strange, yet somehow fit perfectly with the Cangyan's atmosphere.
From its bizarre attractions to its peculiar movies, this entire ship gave Yanqing nothing but strangeness. It barely felt like it belonged to the same Alliance as the Luofu.
All of it was thanks to the Fearless General.
Without her approval, none of this would exist. Her trust allowed the ship's unconventional yet free-spirited culture to flourish as it drifted among the stars.
But this Fearless General, who commanded universal trust—what exactly did she stand for…?
Long ago, someone she called Father asked her:
"If the world were about to collapse into nothingness, could you summon the courage to protect others?"
I'd be terrified—how could I help anyone?
"If your race were on the brink of losing its future, would you be strong enough to save them?"
Impossible. I'm the weakest of the weak. My only advantage is being born special.
She never dared attach herself to others' emotions, terrified that absorbing them would only worsen her fear.
"Nüwa, among my children, you are the most unique."
No, Father… Xi is far more unique than me.
"It's precisely because I've absorbed countless Heliobi that I understand your uniqueness better."
"Fear and terror may seem negative, but…"
Finish your sentence… Father…
...
"A-choo!!!"
A sharp tickle jolted Feng Liqi awake as she let out a massive sneeze.
Bleary-eyed, she found Sora standing before her, holding a leaf.
Clearly the culprit.
"Sora, you jerk!"
She immediately tried to swat back, but Sora blocked her easily with one hand.
"Cut it out. Xi sent me to find you."
Even Sora felt a little surprised. "I really didn't expect Xi to actually be your elder sister."
Xi had always teased her, and Feng Liqi had openly shown fear toward her. At first, Sora had chalked it up to a strong leader disdaining a deserter.
But discovering their true relationship made things far more complicated.
No matter how he looked at it, Xi seemed more exasperated than hostile—disappointed that Feng Liqi wasn't living up to expectations.
"Right now, Xi is temporarily my partner. She said you're more likely to listen to me, so I'm here to encourage you."
"She's mistaken. I'm actually weak. If I were strong, I wouldn't have gotten my butt stuck in the mountain wall the first time we met."
Feng Liqi plopped down beside Sora, gloomily drawing circles in the dirt. She was referring to their embarrassing first encounter—when she'd gotten herself wedged helplessly into a cliff.
No one who saw that would think she was strong. For Feng Liqi, humiliations like that were normal.
"And you know Heliobi absorb emotions—and the more fear I absorb, the stronger it becomes."
In other words, the more emotions she absorbed, the more terrified she became. And the more terrified, the weaker her abilities grew.
The buff that empowered other Heliobi only harmed her. But if she absorbed nothing, she became even weaker.
Thus, Feng Liqi was convinced:
"You've picked the wrong person. Literally anyone else among the Heliobi would be stronger than me."
She had accepted completely that Xi and Sora were mistaken to ask her for help.
So she kept urging them to choose someone else. She simply wasn't capable.
But to Sora, it wasn't that simple. "Afraid? Who isn't afraid?"
Huh?!
Feng Liqi stared at him, eyes narrowing as she scanned him from head to toe.
"Don't lie. I can't sense even a trace of fear from you."
"Don't just look. Heliobi can possess others, right? Come in and experience what I've lived through."
Feng Liqi hesitated… then her form shattered into a tiny, pure white flame.
"I'm going in."
"Go ahead."
Feng Liqi drifted closer to Sora, hesitating once more before asking, "I'm really going in now. Are you sure you won't regret it?"
Careful, or I might expose all your secrets!
"I heard you the first time. Just go already," Sora replied helplessly. Why does she keep stalling?
Hearing this, Feng Liqi floated forward another inch—only to pause again.
"Are you absolutely sure? This time I'm really going to—"
Before she could finish, Sora simply slapped her inside.
This girl… Besides fear, is she also a procrastinator?
For Feng Liqi, though this was her first time entering another living being, she adapted almost instantly.
She immediately sensed Sora's emotions, his memories—his earlier conversation with Xi included.
So this is what possessing someone feels like?
The new sensations made her instinctively want to explore further.
But Sora hadn't forgotten why he let her possess him. He deliberately recalled everything he'd experienced so far.
Although Feng Liqi had never seen fear on him, how could he truly have never felt it?
He'd known psychological terror against the Antimatter Legion and the Swarm. He'd known physical dread from the devastation that day in Zieltworth.
Sora was human—he felt everything any human would.
Fear had walked beside him the whole way.
Now he resurfaced each memory, letting Feng Liqi experience them directly.
She felt everything he'd endured...
The anxiety of being thrown into unfamiliar worlds; the dread of facing endless swarms; the blank terror when his body was vaporized by searing heat; the excruciating pain of every cell being torn apart.
If she had lived through even half of this, she would've hidden forever.
Yet Sora had stood up again and again.
"Why?" Feng Liqi asked once the sensations subsided. "After all that, why keep getting back up?"
Even when breaking down, even when running would've been easier—why continue?
Sora's answer was simple.
"I don't know."
He didn't remember his thoughts back then. Looking back now, the only clear thing was that someone had still needed help.
So he'd stepped forward and acted.
He might've considered running or giving up, but in the end, he stayed.
So now, his only answer was: "I don't know."
He'd survived—that was enough.
"Y-you don't know?!" Feng Liqi stared in disbelief.
She'd expected some profound reason—and instead got that.
"But I think I heard something like this once," Sora added:
"'Everything I went through was just so we could meet at this moment.'"
Strange, maybe—but true. Without everything that had happened, he and Feng Liqi would never have met. She never would've been stuck outside a cliff in such a shameful way.
"So being afraid isn't the problem. What matters is whether you can get back up."
Feng Liqi fell silent.
If getting up were that easy, how could I have stayed down so long?
It could be simple or impossibly hard—and for her, it was clearly the latter.
Sora saw her hesitation and sighed internally. Time for his ultimate technique.
"Ever heard of the spell of courage?"
Legend said that if you wore glasses and shouted a certain phrase, you'd receive a blessing from Seven.
"But… you don't actually believe that, right?" Feng Liqi, still inside him, sensed his real thoughts immediately.
"What do you mean, don't believe? Check again."
This time, she sensed only one unwavering thought echoing through Sora's mind:
Trust in Lord Seven.
This Lord Seven… He must be someone incredibly important to Sora, maybe like a cherished elder, Feng Liqi thought, oddly touched.
So she tried the spell.
No courage came.
I knew it—Sora tricked me again!
Annoyed, she ended the possession at once.
"Glasses don't do anything except make me fall on my face!"
She was still afraid. Nothing had changed.
"In that case…" Sora said gently, "if you've already fallen, then just crawl forward."
Feng Liqi froze.
"If standing up is too hard, start with something simpler."
"As long as you're moving forward, that's courage."
"Xi and I both believe you can do it. You're just missing the strength for the very first step."
He held out a hand. "Like I said—"
"All the things we've been through were for this moment."
"And to reach this moment, both of us overcame countless fears."
"So why not take one tiny step? Just one little step."
A small… step?
Feng Liqi raised her hand slowly, trembling violently as fear surged up her spine.
Trembling, trembling—the closer she reached, the harder she shook.
Being afraid was her core as a Heliobus. She couldn't simply erase it.
Even so, she kept moving.
One step… Just one.
I fail at everything, but surely… I can do this…
She pushed her hand forward—yet at the last instant, she broke.
I can't… I'm sorry… I can't do it…
I really am the same useless Feng Liqi…
But just as she was about to pull away, another hand grasped hers firmly.
"Eeek!"
She squeaked like a startled bunny.
"Meetings only happen," Sora said gently, "when both sides move forward."
"You already came this far—how could I just stand still?"
"Feng Liqi… you're actually pretty strong, aren't you?"
He laughed and clapped her shoulder.
Feng Liqi stood frozen, staring at their joined hands.
I… I did it?
Holy—!
I actually did something without fear!!
An indescribable feeling surged through her chest—she felt transformed.
Straightening her back, she lifted her chin. For the first time, she felt reborn.
"Since you've done that," Sora smiled, "why not go talk to Xi?"
Thump.
Feng Liqi instantly deflated. "W-with Xi? N-no way…"
Of course… That confidence was just an illusion. There's no way I'm actually capable.
Sora saw her expression and knew she wouldn't overcome everything at once.
Today's progress was already more than enough.
"If you keep this up, you'll manage it," Sora said, waving as he left to discuss strategy against the Borisin.
Feng Liqi watched his back quietly, deep in thought.
As Sora walked away, something slipped into his body again.
"I-I have two questions," Feng Liqi whispered. "I want to ask you."
"Then ask. Why possess me again?"
"I… I don't want to ask you directly. I want your innermost feelings."
Huh?
Sora paused, but Feng Liqi stayed completely still inside him.
Her questions were simple—the same ones her father once asked her.
…
Moments later, Feng Liqi emerged silently.
Before her stood an army, assembled and waiting.
They were all gathered—for Sora, and perhaps… for her.
"If the world were about to vanish into nothingness, could you muster the courage to protect others?"
"If your race faced losing its future, would you have the strength to save them?"
Alone, I could never find that courage. Alone… I'd never move.
So I'll fight with them—believing in tomorrow.
Trust binds our hearts; strength roars within!
…
Is this… your answer?
…
"Everyone aboard the Xianzhou!"
"For tomorrow—when we'll see the stars again!"
"OOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!"
Three purple coins ignited in the air.
'[PTERA!]'
'[TRICERA!]'
'[TYRANNO!]'
"[HENSHIN]!"
'[PU-TO-TYRANNOSAURUS!]'
KAMEN RIDER OOO — PUTOTYRA COMBO!
The Invincible Combo had arrived.
Let me show you the desire to see tomorrow's stars!
Charging at the forefront, a purple figure surged ahead—countless silhouettes roaring behind him.
---
T/N: woahhhh hehe she went inside sora hehehehehe huehuehuheuehuehu