After leaving the spot where the Ambrosial Arbor had 'manifested its divine power,' Lynelle and the others soon resumed their journey.
Perhaps because the Arbor had already revived, the group felt considerably more at ease this time.
After all, they no longer needed to check in with every Cloud Knight squad stationed along the way.
By now, the Artisanship Commission was practically empty—aside from Lynelle's party, hardly anyone else remained.
Of course, "practically" didn't mean entirely. They hadn't walked far before running into an old master who had stubbornly stayed behind.
At first, Master Gongshu refused to leave, determined to defend the Commission despite his advanced years. But when Sushang threateningly raised her weapon, ready to offer some forceful persuasion, the obstinate old man finally relented and followed the group—though only as far as the main gate.
Once there, he absolutely would not take another step further.
"In times of crisis, everyone has their own duty to fulfill."
Xueyi let out a soft sigh. "Do not press him further. Let the master remain."
"But… ah, fine." Sushang wanted to argue, but remembering their own mission, she held her tongue, frustration written all over her face.
"What's there to worry about? I'll stay here with him," Lynelle spoke up.
"You're staying here?" Dan Heng's expression tightened with concern.
"But Miss Xueyi just said she came to this area tracking the Stellaron Hunter, Blade. If you stay alone, I'm afraid…"
"First of all, I'm not alone—and I'm just a projection right now." Lynelle planted her hands on her hips.
"After returning the terminal to you, even if I wanted to run into danger, it's not possible."
"Whether it's Stellaron Hunters or the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, they'd have to actually touch me to pose any threat, wouldn't they?"
"If you're only worried about the safety of this projection, the biggest danger is probably a poor signal…"
"But—"
"No buts." Lynelle's shimmering form patted Dan Heng lightly.
"Have a little faith in my judgment. Don't forget, even if I haven't mentioned it, I've got the whereabouts of everyone in the Express crew right here in my head."
She tapped her temple. "If I'm staying, it's for a good reason."
That wasn't a lie—but she couldn't exactly explain her full reasoning to Dan Heng. The situation was… complicated.
In the main storyline here on the Xianzhou, events were unfolding at a breakneck pace.
To recap: that morning, the Express crew had arrived, met with Jing Yuan, and received the mission to capture Kafka. At the same time, Dan Heng left the Express, starting his own separate thread.
While the Express team was apprehending Kafka, Dan Heng was trailing Sushang around Starskiff Haven.
Meanwhile, the Trailblazer, sneaking some personal time, started yet another thread—the Sanctus Medicus line.
And that wasn't all. Evening was when everything truly collided. After wrapping up the Sanctus Medicus incident, the Trailblazer was summoned to the Divination Commission for Kafka's interrogation.
Right about then, Dan Heng, Xueyi, and the others arrived at the Artisanship Commission—which was exactly where Lynelle now found herself.
What happened next? Just as Xueyi boarded a starskiff, the Trailblazer had only just finished Kafka's interrogation, dealt with her escape, and formally entered cooperation with Jing Yuan.
Because of that, the Trailblazer arrived at the Artisanship Commission on the general's orders just after Dan Heng's group departed—their paths perfectly missing each other.
And while all that was happening, yet a fourth storyline was unfolding elsewhere on the Xianzhou… but that would have to wait.
So when Lynelle told Dan Heng she'd wait here a while, it was really to meet the Trailblazer, who would arrive soon.
She needed to confirm whether their side of the plot had changed.
As for why she didn't stay with Dan Heng…
Well, even though in the story he was about to board a starskiff and head to the next area, in reality, despite reaching the Artisanship Commission first, he'd end up delayed until the next morning before finally making it to the Alchemy Commission.
During that time, the Trailblazer handled the trouble here at the Artisanship Commission, then witnessed Tingyun's… incident… and had already moved on before Dan Heng even showed up.
Considering Dan Heng would soon get impaled by Blade to awaken his High Elder powers… Lynelle couldn't help suspecting Jing Yuan was carefully orchestrating the two groups' progress.
After all, if Dan Heng traveled with the Express crew, Blade would never have found such an opportunity.
"Aiya, young lady, why are you as stubborn as this old man…? Leave the Artisanship Commission to me. I've been here for decades—I won't have any safety issues!"
"Wrong. I'm not worried about you." When it came to stubborn old-timers, Lynelle had her own methods.
"I am a guest of General Jing Yuan. If you check a terminal now, you'll find the official notice on the Divination Commission's site about the General's cooperation with the Astral Express. And I… have important business here."
She tugged lightly at the train ticket pinned to her chest.
"So, Master Gongshu, as of now, you are hereby requisitioned."
"Huh? This…"
"No 'this' or 'that.'" A faint smile played on Lynelle's lips. "Where are the Commission's automatons stored? Mark the locations for me. I'll have some brought over to serve as your security—since I currently lack combat capabilities."
"Uh… roughly here, here, and this underground warehouse." Invoking Jing Yuan's name worked wonders.
The old master became far more cooperative, projecting a map from his terminal and marking the spots.
"But, Miss Lynelle, it's not that this old man is unwilling to part with these assets. It's just… with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus running wild, the automatons are either seized by those vines or locked in storage requiring multiple authorization levels."
"With only me here, even if I wanted to accompany you, we couldn't unlock those security locks."
"Relax, I'm not planning to go myself, and I'm not sending you either." Lynelle shook her head, her smile mysterious.
"Just tell me—which of these automatons is the 'extra-large' model?"
"Extra-large?"
"Put simply: the tankiest, the most durable, the highest DPS, the strongest burst damage… Based on your understanding, rank them for me. This projection doesn't have much energy left—I have to spend it wisely."
"Don't even mention ones with DPS under 800, slower start-up than a snail, or so short-ranged they can only hit what's right in front of them."
"Uh…" To be honest, if Master Gongshu hadn't spent so much time tinkering with gadgets and even cricket-fighting mechanisms, he might not have understood a word Lynelle was saying.
He tapped a few familiar automaton models on the list, then watched as Lynelle closed her eyes.
A moment later…
[Alert! Alert! The Artisanship Commission is under cyber-attack from an unknown source! Automaton storage vaults compromised!]
"Whoops, might've made a bit too much noise." Lynelle tilted her head cutely.
"Well, I already see a long list of alerts—one more probably won't hurt, right?"
"As for the ones you selected…" She pointed into the middle distance.
"There—I told them to come on their own."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.