Chapter 24: Joining the Grand Occasion
“Just kill them, Commander!”
“Why bother negotiating with these inferior yellow-skinned creatures?”
Freira stood fully armored atop a massive, sleek alien sail warship.
Her beautiful eyes turned toward the protesting Second Company Commander beside her.
“Silence!”
Freira frowned, a hint of irritation shadowing her wickedly beautiful face.
“But… that Liu Neng is just a guy trying to rise by hitching a ride with us…”
“Shut your mouth!”
Freira glared fiercely at the Second Company Commander.
“Do you want me to do it myself?”
The White Lion Rider Second Company Commander slapped his own face a few times, leaving faint red marks on his pale cheeks.
“You blockhead, learn from Solna properly!”
Freira looked toward the finely crafted figurehead at the ship’s bow—
The Star God, holding the stars high, riding the wind and waves.
Her mood brightened considerably.
“That foolish key and the false god who helped her opened a rift at Huining Fort—”
Freira turned back and gently tapped the reddened cheek of the Second Company Commander.
“The virtual wall trapped the Star God and the entire Stardust Army inside the Eastern Pine Kingdom.”
Freira gazed into the distance.
Under the moonlight, as the warship sailed forward, the outline of a vast harbor gradually emerged.
“Huining Fort is protected by a barrier set by the false god, and the remaining Eastern Pine forces stubbornly resist, causing a stalemate.”
Freira sighed, took out a nail clipper from her ring, and began trimming her blue-painted nails.
“Though we can enter the Jade Realm beyond the virtual wall through the rift,”
“Only eighty warriors can pass in, and they are regularly sent back to Eastern Pine.”
She trimmed her nails with a satisfied smile.
But soon her brow furrowed.
“Damn world rules—we can’t violate them!”
“Hmph… that false god does have some skill…”
Seeing the simple-minded expression of the Second Company Commander,
Freira shook her head in resignation.
“Besides, even you must feel how our virtual energy is being restricted.”
The Second Company Commander nodded foolishly again.
“So, my dear Soltrey,”
“Do you plan to take eighty sisters to wipe out the over two hundred thousand troops of Tianyu and those armed garrison households in the forts?”
Soltrey froze there, regretting her foolish demeanor before the Commander.
“So you think that by turning Liu Neng…”
“...we can quickly seize Longyou.”
“If he wants to be King of Long, let him be.”
“What we want is the entire Jade Realm!”
Freira looked up, only to see a grand, enormous harbor looming before her.
This harbor could accommodate over a thousand warships, rivaling even the formidable Xuanshan Fortress.
Though in terms of decay, it was on par with the Xuanshan harbor.
“Hmph, back then, the Fox Clan was a fierce force roaming the Virtual Sea,”
“But now, the Jade people are just sitting ducks~”
---
A prosperous city of jade-green skyscrapers stretched densely after the great harbor appeared before the White Lion Riders.
“Jinzhou, we’ve arrived!”
With the creak of machinery powered by virtual energy,
The sails of the Stardust warship slowly retracted.
The massive alien vessel finally docked at the port of Tianyu.
“Welcome, emissaries of the Star God~ Welcome, emissaries of the Star God~”
A plump, balding official dressed in jade-colored robes approached.
“You star people!”
Soltrey seized the moment to speak loudly,
“This is Commander Freira of the Stardust White Lion Riders, not just any ordinary envoy!”
“Yes, yes… the lord is right. Commander Freira is no ordinary envoy!”
The official hurriedly signaled attendants to present exquisite wooden boxes.
Upon opening, they revealed treasures—fine jade, precious jewels, and other valuables.
The Jade people sensed nothing,
But Freira could feel the virtual energy emanating from the fine jade.
“Hmph, since the Second Company Commander is so sincere, we’ll accept it,”
Freira raised a delicate brow, signaling the White Lion Riders beside her to receive the jewels.
“Director Yan!”
After years of reconnaissance in Tianyu,
Freira knew that the Long King had sent Yan Ji, the Dean of the Longyou Dao Academy, to welcome her.
What surprised her was that this esteemed scholar from Longyou’s highest institution now kowtowed before her so obsequiously.
“How could the Long King send a dog to greet the Star God’s noble envoy?”
Freira despised this sycophantic old scholar, who spent his days not on academics but fawning around the Long King.
Among the many Jade people she despised, Yan Ji was the most contemptible.
“Heh, even if they send a dog, it’s a good dog, isn’t it?”
“A good dog will someday help our Stardust True God rule these lands, right?”
Yan Ji’s eyes gleamed with boundless flattery, as if he were about to kneel and lick Freira’s war boots.
After the White Lion Riders’ scouts contacted him and bestowed the so-called “Divine Revelation” of Fenrir, the Star God,
This old ghost, who cared only about “passing on the lost knowledge and bringing peace” to Tianyu and squeezing profits from his students’ families,
Without hesitation turned to the Stardust side.
To him, this was an opportunity.
If the star people swept to rule Tianyu,
He could rise from a mere advisor circling the Long King’s power to a key contributor in the “Star Entry” campaign.
Yet Freira barely spared him a glance.
“Hmph, whether you’re a good dog depends on your performance, Dean Yan!”
Freira strode past the welcoming party.
“Have your men disperse; we’ll take a car quietly to the Long King’s mansion.”
“Yes, yes~ The car has long been prepared for you, please see.”
Yan Ji followed closely, no longer resembling a dean, but rather a loyal dog tailing the star people’s master.
“Wait!”
Freira boarded the car, but Yan Ji was blocked by Soltrey.
“Dean Yan, you’ll take another car.”
“Fine~ Then I’ll take this one~”
---
Yan Ji hurriedly tried to board another carriage ridden by White Lion Riders.
“Tsk tsk tsk~”
Soltrey suddenly drew her long sword from her ring and blocked him again.
“We’re all taking this car.”
“Fine, fine~ Ha ha, very well~”
“Then I’ll walk~ Ha ha~”
A few unadorned carriages quietly sped toward Jinzhou City,
While the towering warship departed the harbor and soon vanished into the opened rift.
The enemy had already penetrated deep into Tianyu’s heartland.
Meanwhile, inside an inn in Jinzhou City,
Dai Longmei polished a jade sword, peering through a crack in the window to observe the street.
“Very quiet~ very peaceful~ That’s the feeling I’ve always loved about Jinzhou nights, accompanied by a sea breeze, mmm~.”
“If only I could have one more bite of Jinzhou’s grilled squid~ slurp.”
Beside her, Lily recalled her past days in Jinzhou, mouth watering at memories of grilled squid.
“You little fox, can you stop thinking about food for a moment? We need to figure out how to get to the Western Deadlands quickly.”
“Hmph! Being so serious—eating some iron plate squid won’t waste your time~”
“Besides, I… I’m not a fox!”
“Alright, alright, you’re so annoying. Without going to the Western Deadlands, you won’t regain your body. You might as well be a fox forever!”
“You! If I’m a fox forever, I’ll just wait for the star army to break through the walls and cross the river. Then everyone’s doomed!”
“Miss Lily, Master Five, could you lower your voices when bickering?”
Long Zhu’s urging quieted the two who had resumed quarreling, each huffing and falling silent.
“By the way, Master Five, why is Jinzhou so quiet now?”
Long Zhu raised the polished jade sword and asked,
“I heard the Drunken Fox Army is breaking through one fort after another, and the Longyou forts and garrisons are collapsing under their assault.”
“When we arrived, some fort residents said the Drunken Fox Army exceeds a hundred thousand men.”
“They have already captured Wudu City and Hezuo City to the south and are advancing toward Jinzhou.”
Listening to Long Zhu, Dai Longmei looked at the still, tranquil Jinzhou streets where only the occasional watchman’s bell rang.
“Master Five, how can Jinzhou remain so calm?”
“Most likely, the news in Jinzhou has been suppressed.”
As she spoke, Dai Longmei noticed a group of people walking along the street.
“Suppressed? Dai Longmei, do you mean…”
Lily leaned against the fox’s head by the window and also saw the suspicious group.
“Someone in Jinzhou probably doesn’t want the garrisons and nearby forts to know that the Drunken Fox Army is approaching.”
The group moved through the shadows, all clad in black cloaks and masked,
Yet Dai Longmei and Lily both caught sight of fox ears atop their heads.
A sea breeze blew, revealing a bronze machete hanging from one person’s waist.
“Miss Lily.”
“Hm?”
Dai Longmei gripped her jade sword tightly, and Lily summoned virtual energy.
However, the group quickly vanished into the alleys.
“Quickly find acquaintances in the Tomb Robber Society; once we gather more people and Uncle Sheng arrives, we’ll enter the Western Deadlands together.”
“Mm!”
“Whether friend or foe, it looks like everyone’s coming together for this grand event.”