Chapter 32

Chapter 32: War Arrives Ahead of Schedule

【Bright Future Chat Group】

Asta: "The data collector situation — I might need a bit more time before I can give you an answer. I... need a moment to recover emotionally."

Wangshu: "Understood. You're the station chief, after all. Being busy is normal."

Asta: "..."

She started to type something, stopped, and ultimately decided on just a string of ellipses.

Sigh.

"Station Chief! Any new tasks for your girl Xing?"

An energetic voice piped up beside her. Xing had appeared again at some point, eyes sparkling, face radiating a please-give-me-orders enthusiasm.

Asta's throat felt sticky. Still, Xing was at least somewhat receptive to reason — she'd stopped calling her "sworn father," at least...

Wait — why was she feeling grateful about such a basic thing?!

"Could you... go ask Ms. Ruan Mei something for me?"

Asta forced her voice into something steady and professional. "Whether there's a convenient method to erase the biological data already recorded in a specific model of data collector. Some... unrelated personnel's samples accidentally got mixed in."

"Mission accepted!"

Xing snapped to attention like a soldier receiving orders, fighting spirit blazing. She dashed out of the main control sector in a flash, vanishing around a corridor bend.

The cabin fell quiet again, leaving only the low hum of instruments. Asta stood alone, slowly raising a hand to her forehead. Today had burned through more brain cells than a month's worth of station reports.

......

Star Calendar Year 6299, Cangcheng, Jingliu's Home

Wangshu emerged from the bathroom trailing a fresh cloud of steam. He shook his head, paused in front of the mirror for two self-indulgent seconds — the reflection showed a young man with relaxed, easy features — then quickly composed himself and stepped out.

Under the warm yellow lamplight, little Jingliu was still up, sprawled across the table, puzzling over the day's coursework.

The academy did assign homework, of course. Normally she'd knock it out during breaks — it wasn't heavy.

But she'd skipped class today.

"Still not done?"

Wangshu asked softly, sidling over.

"Almost."

Jingliu tossed off the reply, her gaze lingering on little Wangshu's clean-cut shoulder line for a few seconds before she pulled it back. She'd been looking too much. Nothing special anymore. She pressed her lips together.

Wangshu sighed. "I'm pretty sure you said the same thing before I went to shower."

He didn't push further. Instead, he walked to a relatively open corner of the living room, picked up the sword again — its blade flowing with restrained, cold light under the lamplight — and didn't swing it wildly. He simply weighed it in his hand, rolled his wrist, and ran through a few basic opening stances.

This probably counted as last-minute cramming.

After all, once he fell asleep, he still had to contend with the Propagation remnants and the Pestilent Swarm Lord's phantom.

Though he still didn't understand why Tayzzyronth had allowed a Swarm Lord to gnaw on their body.

His thoughts drifted a bit too far. He only snapped back when he felt a quiet yet intensely present gaze on him.

"Could you go study in your room or the courtyard?"

Jingliu's expression was earnest, her voice faintly frustrated. Little Wangshu looked quite dashing at the moment, sure — but the teacher had already made a home visit. She couldn't keep half-assing her homework. That would be disrespectful.

Wangshu blinked, then the light bulb went on. Completely understood. Doing homework with someone constantly making noise nearby — even if they were just sitting there silently watching — created invisible pressure.

Especially if little Jingliu had hit a problem she... genuinely couldn't solve.

"Right, right — my bad for not thinking."

He immediately went with the flow, sheathing his stance. "I'll go practice in the courtyard a while longer. Gotta polish the skills. Aim to reach breadwinner standards as soon as possible."

He winked at little Jingliu, not dwelling on it, and headed for the courtyard.

Though the Xianzhou's weather was trending cooler, his current constitution meant a bit of chill was no concern at all.

"What even..."

Breadwinner, he said. Hearing the door close behind little Wangshu, little Jingliu muttered to herself as her thoughts drifted involuntarily. By the time the corner of her lip curled up and she looked back at the exercise in front of her, the fantasy shattered against reality. She clutched her head in despair.

"Ugh..." She buried her face in the crook of her arm, groaning in muffled anguish: "The teacher was right... romance really does wreck your grades!"

Out in the courtyard, the artificial canopy apparently didn't block the more distant stars. The night sky still held faint twinkles — just not as brilliant as on Earth... Then again, the places and times you could clearly see a sky full of stars on Earth were dwindling too.

"Why does it have to be the Pestilent Swarm Lord?"

As sleep approached, all the questions he'd neglected during the day surfaced one after another.

"Is it because the Pestilent Swarm Lord is closest to the Swarm Sovereign and is still evolving?"

"If I think about it that way — does my fusing with the Propagation remnants mean I'm blocking her path?"

Wangshu went quiet at the thought. Better to save dangerous topics like these for after he could wield the power properly.

The living room's glow cast a warm amber hue across the courtyard. Wangshu watched little Jingliu doing her homework and stopped swinging the sword, standing still in the yard.

The peace of the moment brought a deep calm to his heart. His senses truly broke through spatial boundaries — even the nested grotto-heavens of Cangcheng couldn't impede his perception.

Cangcheng was peaceful. No war. But at the very edge of that serene awareness, a dense, suffocating surge of bloodlust bled in — like a drop of ink hitting clear water, staining everything in an instant.

Before Wangshu could even process it, the presence came like a meteor and — crashed straight into the courtyard.

BANG!

A heavy impact mixed with the crack of crumbling masonry. A figure slammed into the edge of the small yard's wall like a runaway shooting star, raising a plume of dust.

"What happened, little Wangshu?!"

Jingliu, startled by the thunderous noise, shot to her feet in the living room, crimson eyes darting toward the courtyard in alarm.

Wangshu stared at the critically wounded Cloud Knight before him. The soldier's blood had stained the bluestone slabs. His mind went blank. You just... crashed right in front of me, of all places?

Was this fate, or coincidence?

"Emer... emergency... military intelligence..." The Cloud Knight on the ground struggled to lift his head. His unfocused eyes fought to lock onto Wangshu — the nearest person. Every breath brought blood-flecked foam. "Report... to the General's... manor..."

Before the words were finished, another mouthful of blood coughed out. The flame of life flickered like a candle in the wind, about to gutter.

Wangshu's first instinct was to reach for the group chat, but the situation was already at his doorstep. There was simply no time to stall.

"Hold on. I'll get you to the Alchemy Commission."

Drawing on the tranquil state of mind from moments ago, his perception swept across the area. Wangshu braced the wounded soldier up with one arm.

But it was already too late. Several beings of indeterminate species — resembling centaurs — had breached the peaceful city. They moved at blistering speed, wind trailing from their hooves.

At that very moment, above Cangcheng's canopy, Hoolay gazed silently down at the scene.

"I misjudged, it seems. A capable outsider..."

The cause was unclear, but a predetermined script always needed someone to raise the curtain. Wangshu's appearance had saved Them quite a bit of effort.

"Plans always need someone to set them in motion."

Hoolay's voice was soft as a breeze: "Perhaps this sudden arrival of a strong outsider will give this war-free Cangcheng a touch of confidence."

"The Abundance parley is the perfect chance to catch them all in onea net."

Cangcheng, no matter what, was still a member of the Xianzhou Alliance. They couldn't ignore a golden opportunity like this. And after so many years of Xianzhou Alliance victories, it was time for a devastating fall.

As for the Swarm Lord... never mind her. The Alluring Swarm Lord had no power to disrupt a battle of this scale. Worst case, after it was all over, they'd let Rahu vent on her. Besides, there was no real grudge between them.