Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Anomalous Status Filed Under Case #1

Cangcheng truly seemed to have a soft spot for this kind of food. All morning, the foot traffic at the stall never reached shoulder-to-shoulder density, but could fairly be described as a steady stream — leaving Wangshu barely a moment to rest his hands.

Huoshi was in no rush either. Cradling her "the works" jianbing guozi, she appeared quite elegant as she... demolished it in three bites. The taste was genuinely good.

Cangcheng wasn't a place prone to disaster. In fact, owing to its divergent development path from the other Xianzhou, life here was considerably more leisurely than elsewhere.

Even patrolling Cloud Knights would pause at the sight of something novel.

Around ten in the morning, foot traffic visibly thinned. Wangshu had just seen off his last customer and was about to take a breather when that familiar, soft voice chimed in again.

"Boss, two more, please."

Huoshi had somehow reappeared in front of the stall, hands behind her back, all smiles.

Wangshu: ...

"Of course, no problem — the customer is always... Aeon-sent!"

Wangshu had always possessed extraordinary patience for the unfortunate. Especially when the unfortunate one had money.

He put a bit more care into the final portion. Miss Huoshi propped her chin in both hands, leaning on the cart's serving counter.

When the two steaming, fragrant shouzhuabing were bagged and Wangshu handed them over, Huoshi blinked:

"Ooh~ boss, this is bad — I think I forgot to bring money. What do we do?"

She didn't even make a token effort to pat her pockets. The act was so transparent it wasn't worth calling out.

Wangshu feigned difficulty, sighing: "Well, you eat, you pay — that's the universal rule. If you don't have money... then I'm afraid you'll have to pay another way."

For instance, a set of body data from a Swarm Lord.

This wasn't simple measurements like bust-waist-hip and height. The data collector Asta had sent could apparently capture internal readings too. What exactly, Wangshu had no idea — he was just an ordinary person who couldn't parse high-tech innards.

Wangshu unhurriedly finished the last portion, then conjured the data collector from his pocket like a magic trick, clipping it to the side of the packaging.

"Miss." Wangshu didn't lower his voice. "I'm sure you wouldn't want the Cloud Knights to find out you've been dining and dashing."

A Cloud Knight eating nearby: ?

Miss Huoshi's expression of distress became even more animated, but her feet carried her without hesitation to the seat little Jingliu usually occupied — or rather, she perched one knee on it.

"Big brother, if you comp this meal, I'll be your girlfriend~"

Her voice went softer still, small face tilted upward, eyes glistening.

Wangshu lifted his chin, about to crack some joke, but then noticed someone taking photos. He instantly switched to a dead-serious expression, dripping with righteousness.

"Ahem — well, consider this meal on the house. Unfortunately, I must disappoint you — I already have a girlfriend." Wangshu spoke with feeling. "She's a top student at the academy, you know!"

Maybe not exactly a top student, but Wangshu couldn't very well call Jingliu a little truant.

Huoshi narrowed her eyes. She couldn't tell if Wangshu had assimilated into society so thoroughly he'd gone silly, or if he was genuinely trying to secure a Xianzhou residency during this period of unstable power.

Her expression remained sweet, her voice dropping to where only they could hear: "A pleasure doing business."

She accepted her food along with the data collector and the attached note, then curled up in little Jingliu's seat, eyes half-closed, nibbling daintily while reading the note.

Data collection...

What was the point of this?

Miss Huoshi — who had spent millennia developing individual survival intelligence beyond mere species perpetuation — was genuinely puzzled.

Was the Propagation remnant fusion going so poorly that he needed Swarm Lord body data for comparison?

In any case, Huoshi would never believe that a boy running a street stall was some kind of criminal mastermind.

Time crept by. The occasional customer trickled in. Huoshi dozed in the seat, her body coiled tight beneath the surface, as the data collector's faint energy waves slowly washed across her skin.

A little... cool.

【Bright Future Chat Group】

Asta: "@Wangshu, you absolutely must not forget to train! Swing that sword hard for two hours! Remember — two hours!"

Wangshu: "..."

Wangshu: "Come to think of it, why haven't I seen you lurking all morning?"

Currently the group had three members: Senior Jingliu, online twenty-four-seven like an NPC; Asta, who spent most of her work hours lurking and chatting; and Wangshu, who still didn't have a proper job.

Asta: "Don't even get me started. The space station got attacked by the Antimatter Legion. Luckily Ms. Herta was here this time... thank god she was, otherwise I'd have had to unleash my full power... wahhh."

She had no idea how thrilled she'd been when she woke up to work, discovered the Antimatter Legion invasion, and froze for a split second.

A mere Antimatter Legion? Not one step into the station!

She, Asta, as the acting station chief of Herta Space Station, would not allow a single researcher to suffer so much as a scratch!

Wahhh — but Ms. Herta had been staying at the station full-time lately because of this chat group, popping up everywhere, giving Asta's painstakingly honed swordsmanship absolutely zero stage time.

On the bright side, Ms. Herta's constant presence had boosted everyone's morale considerably.

Wangshu: "...Your space station really is cursed. How did the Antimatter Legion invade again?"

Asta: "? What do you mean 'again'?"

Wangshu: "Didn't they already invade once when the Express crew came by?"

Asta: "The Express crew isn't a jinx! That was just one coincidental overlap with the Antimatter Legion... Stop reading those tabloids that smear Ms. Herta and the Express crew. Oh wait — you transmigrated. You couldn't read them now even if you wanted to."

Wangshu: "..."

Jingliu: "?"

Wangshu: "..."

Asta: "Hey, hey, hey!"

【Jingliu has requested entry into Asta's world. Awaiting Asta's app... Time parameter error. Request failed.】

【System running diagnostics... Similar situation detected.】

【Anomalous status filed under Case #1. As the chat group has completed its first adaptive upgrade, current friendliness level is 1. The Case #1 resolution protocol has been applied by default.】

【If there are objections, please initiate an internal vote before submitting feedback.】

Asta: "Nice"

Jingliu: "What year of the Star Calendar is it on your end?"

She'd been keeping tabs on the Express crew. After all, no matter what grand ambition you harbored, the Path of Trailblaze's wayfarers were the last people you should overlook — especially if your plan involved deicide.

Asta: "Amber Era 2157... forget it. In Xianzhou calendar, it should be Star Calendar Year 8099."

Asta: "What about you, Senior?"

Jingliu: "Amber Era 2158. Star Calendar Year 8100. December."

Asta: "So the hammer falls next year?"

Wangshu: "Does nobody care about the timeline discrepancy?"

Asta was in Year 8099 — storyline just starting. Jingliu was at the end of Year 8100. He himself was in Year 6299... the time span!

He wasn't entirely clear on the timeline, but vaguely recalled that Lingsha had been appointed Alchemy Commission head in August of Star Calendar Year 8100, which was already quite late in the plot.