At Mobius's rebuke, Fu Xuan instinctively took half a step back.
But the moment she did, she was seized by shame.
She was the Master Diviner of the Luofu, the woman all but destined to become its next General. Since when had Fu Xuan ever been frightened by a self-proclaimed little girl?
If word of this got out, how was she supposed to continue making her way on the Luofu? How was she supposed to compete for the post of General?
And yet, no matter what she told herself, she still did not move.
The pressure coming from this young Dragon Sovereign was simply too terrifying.
Fu Xuan was not some sheltered official who had never seen the world. On the contrary, given her position, she had witnessed battles at the level of Emanators before.
And the feeling this little girl gave her now was, at the very least, on the level of "could kick our General to death."
Damn it. Since when had power creep gotten this ridiculous? Even the General was about to become a unit of measurement.
At the side, the lazy air on Jing Yuan's face finally faded somewhat.
Setting down his teacup, he quickly said to Mobius, "Please calm your anger, Miss Mobius. We did not intend any offense. What Lady Fu said was entirely true. We are not trying to deceive you."
"After all, the Luofu cannot conceal the truth from you forever. This is an age of advanced technology—if what we said were false, you would discover that soon enough."
It was a perfectly reasonable explanation.
But did that matter to Mobius?
Not in the slightest.
Because the truth was, Mobius probably understood the current state of the Xianzhou Alliance better than Jing Yuan himself.
Still, since this was the first true appearance of the Mobius persona, she could not simply let the matter pass.
She raised her right hand.
In an instant, another colossal dragon silhouette appeared behind her.
The already not-so-large Seat of Divine Foresight was immediately occupied by the body of that dragon.
At this point, even Jing Yuan could no longer sit still.
Because the aura of the Path radiating from that dragon alone had already exceeded anything he had imagined.
To put it bluntly, if one were to ask Jing Yuan what his odds of victory were against this so-called "Dragon Sovereign of Yuanqiao"—
Ha ha.
In his normal state, he had a solid ten percent chance.
"Your Excellency, please reconsider," Jing Yuan said, no longer holding back.
He rose to his feet, and at the same time the form of the Divine Foresight Spirit appeared behind him, the aura of a Hunt Emanator laid bare for all to see.
And even then, he still could not overpower Mobius in pure force of presence.
"…That thing of yours," Mobius said suddenly, sounding genuinely surprised, "is it also an emanation of the Reignbow?"
"Then are you truly an Xianzhou General?"
Jing Yuan nodded at once.
But for him, to be standing on his own ship, in his own Seat of Divine Foresight, and have an outsider question whether he was truly the General—this was a first.
"This lady," he said, "if you truly are a Dragon Sovereign of the Vidyadhara, then you ought not be unfamiliar with the aura of my Reignbow's blessing."
"Now that I have proven my identity, how do you intend to prove yours?"
Mobius gave a soft, amused laugh.
"You want me to prove myself? As the Dragon Sovereign of the Vidyadhara, other than my master, who would dare ask me to prove anything?"
The moment those words fell, the dragon behind her lunged straight at Jing Yuan.
Jing Yuan's pupils contracted sharply.
He had lived through the chaos of Shuhu. He had witnessed Dan Feng's Dragon Sovereign power at its peak.
But not even Dan Feng in his prime had ever given him this feeling.
"General!" Yukong called from the side, her hand already on her bowstring.
This was the political heart of the Luofu. If a Dragon Sovereign and an Emanator truly fought here, the consequences for the ship would be immense.
But compared to that, if their General were subdued in the Seat of Divine Foresight by an unknown Dragon Sovereign, that would be the real disaster.
And yet Mobius made no further move.
The dragon loomed above Jing Yuan, but stopped there, taking no further action.
Mobius merely looked at him, calmly waiting for his response.
"…Please withdraw your divine power, Miss Mobius," Jing Yuan finally said with a bitter smile. "It was Jing Yuan who spoke out of turn."
The figure of the Divine Foresight Spirit slowly faded behind him.
Mobius blinked, and the dragon behind her dissolved into a fine mist of water, vanishing into the air.
The Seat of Divine Foresight returned to stillness. Mobius calmly sat back down on the cushion.
Then she waved her hand and said to the three before her, "Sit."
The atmosphere fell quiet once again.
Jing Yuan looked at the girl who had effortlessly taken control of the room, and the bitter smile at his lips deepened. Still, he returned to his seat and picked up the now-cold cup of tea once more.
"Miss Mobius," he said, "when you said you are the Dragon Sovereign of Yuanqiao, we did not doubt you. We already possess certain special intelligence."
"But Lady Fu was not lying either. Yuanqiao truly did crash and vanish five thousand years ago."
"On that point, there has been no deception from us whatsoever."
He paused, meeting Mobius's gaze directly.
"What I would like to know is this: in your own memories and experience, what sort of state was the Xianzhou Alliance in?"
Once again, Jing Yuan was probing her.
Naturally, Mobius knew exactly what he wanted to know.
And for that, she had long since prepared her story.
"In my memory," she said lightly, "there was only Yuanqiao. As for this so-called Luofu of yours, it had already suffered the same fate as the Fanghu, the Yaoqing, the Yuque, the Zhuming, and the other six ships—it had fallen to the hands of Nihility long ago."
"Still…" She cast a glance at the lingering traces of his summoned spirit. "Though pitifully weak, the emanation you summoned does indeed bear the same source as my master's."
Bullying people again, are we?
Ha ha. My apologies that my Divine Foresight Spirit is so pathetic.
Even so, Jing Yuan had extracted an important clue from her answer.
The one she called master also possessed a Reignbow emanation.
Was it that Crimson Kite General?
Jing Yuan suddenly thought back to the figure he had seen in the Divination Commission that day.
If compared to that General who wielded the Reignbow as her heavenly spirit, then his own Divine Foresight Spirit really could only be called weak.
But what surprised him more was something else.
This little Dragon Sovereign from Yuanqiao had actually taken that Crimson Kite General as her master?
The Vidyadhara were a race with an extraordinarily high degree of autonomy aboard the Xianzhou. Even one of the Fanghu's Generals was herself a Dragon Sovereign.
And yet such a people had allowed their Dragon Sovereign to become someone else's disciple?
Then again, perhaps that simply reflected differences between ships. Not every Xianzhou's elders were as self-destructively troublesome as the ones on the Luofu.
At least now Jing Yuan had the answer he wanted.
If this little girl was not lying, then like Cecilia, she was very likely a survivor who had slipped free of the Enigmata's influence.
As for whether she was lying?
Jing Yuan's instincts told him she was not.
"I see. In that case, Miss Mobius, I think I've managed to sort out part of the picture."
"But before I explain further, I would like to ask you one question."
"How much do you know about the Path of Enigmata?"
Mobius shook her head without hesitation.
"I know nothing about it."
"Other than Permanence and Hunt, I have no real interest in the other Paths."
This time, it was Jing Yuan who was caught off guard.
He truly had not expected such a willful answer.
Not to mention the education given to a Dragon Sovereign—even as the disciple of a General, one would expect at least some study.
It seemed this Miss Mobius might really be the same sort as Bailu: the type who simply did not like studying.
So Jing Yuan began explaining.
This, and then that.That, and then this.
Not only did he give Mobius a rough overview of the Path of Enigmata, he even started lecturing her on the recent history of the Xianzhou Alliance.
As for everything related to the Enigmata, and the Nihility that—according to Cecilia—had once swallowed six Xianzhou ships whole, he described that as well.
After listening, Mobius was silent for a moment before she finally said, "So… what you're telling me is that history as it stands now is already a rewritten history, and that Yuanqiao truly has crashed and vanished?"
Jing Yuan nodded.
"At present, that is the most reasonable conclusion."
But of course Mobius was not about to let the matter end so easily.
"If what you say is true—if the Enigmata rewrote history and erased Yuanqiao's existence—then what, exactly, do I count as now?"
"Are you trying to tell me I'm some ghost who should never have existed?"
Jing Yuan froze.
Young lady, please don't get agitated. I never said that. That is absolutely not what I meant!
He immediately explained, "How could that be, Miss Mobius? Even if the Enigmata rewrote history, Yuanqiao is still part of the Xianzhou Alliance. How could you possibly be some ghost who ought not exist?"
And as he said this, he gave her a very careful look.
Truly, the trauma from what Kiana and Starbane had done on the Luofu before had left scars on him.
Please, let this Dragon Sovereign look as young as she appears. Please let her truly be a good child. Please, absolutely do not let her do anything rash.
Fortunately, Mobius really did not seem inclined to keep giving him trouble.
All this while, this was precisely the impression she had intended to create.
A good child.
Jing Yuan let out a sigh of relief and continued, "Miss Mobius, please rest assured. Since you have now come to the Luofu, you may treat this place as your home."
"And on my end, I will report all of this to the Marshal as quickly as possible. When that time comes, the entire Xianzhou Alliance will do everything within our power to find Yuanqiao—or rather, we will bring Yuanqiao home."
Once he finished, Jing Yuan almost wanted to praise himself.
Still, what he had said was the truth.
Whether one spoke of the Yuanqiao that had crashed five thousand years ago, or the Yuanqiao that had supposedly survived as the Alliance's last remaining ship—
In either case, Yuanqiao was part of the Xianzhou Alliance.
Which meant that, whether Mobius asked or not, the Alliance would never abandon it.
Mobius did not answer. She simply lifted the cup of tea before her and took a sip.
The tea had long gone cold, yet she seemed not to notice, letting the bitter taste spread across her tongue.
As for Jing Yuan's meaning, she understood it perfectly well.
Seeing that, Jing Yuan finally relaxed completely. It seemed that although this Dragon Sovereign could not immediately accept reality, she was no longer going to make trouble.
He did not rush her, merely waved a hand to have Yukong replace the cold tea with a fresh, hot one.
The fragrant steam curled upward, forming a hazy screen between them.
"Miss Mobius," Jing Yuan said after a pause, carefully choosing his words, "you mentioned earlier that in your understanding, only Yuanqiao remained, and the other six Xianzhou had already met disaster."
"Then why did you appear aboard such a small spacecraft, drifting through the stars alone?"
Now that he had finally soothed her, Jing Yuan naturally intended to gather what intelligence he could.
After all, her method of arrival was too strange. Perhaps some clue to Yuanqiao's whereabouts could be obtained from her.
Mobius gave her answer at once.
"My master told me to leave."
That Crimson Kite General?
Before Jing Yuan could ask again, Mobius continued explaining.
"From the time I became aware of the world, Yuanqiao had always hidden deep within a realm of Nihility, living in seclusion. No outsider had ever entered, and none of us had ever gone out."
"And according to my master, we were guarding a calamity on behalf of the entire galaxy."
"Then one day, my master came to me and said she had a mission for me—one that concerned both Yuanqiao and the whole galaxy."
"And of course, I had no intention of refusing."
"She then had the Artisans build that little ship and sent me out alone, beyond the Nihility. She told me that once I reached the new world, she would find a way to come out and find me."
"And when I awoke again, I was already here."
Jing Yuan said nothing at first. He only looked steadily at the girl seated before him.
He heard every word she said clearly, weighing them over and over in his mind.
Guarding a calamity on behalf of the entire galaxy.
The weight of that sentence far exceeded any other detail she had given.
As a Xianzhou General, Jing Yuan knew exactly what the word guard implied.
The Alliance hunted across the stars and cut down abominations—but some things, even the arrow of the Hunt could not eradicate. They could only be sealed, suppressed, and worn away over generations.
And somehow, despite having learned more, the mystery of how the Xianzhou Alliance had been swallowed by Nihility felt even harder to understand than before.
Jing Yuan did not press the point. Instead, he turned his eyes to Fu Xuan.
Fu Xuan sat upright, her fingers moving subtly within her sleeve. She was clearly already attempting a secret divination.
But her brows only furrowed deeper and deeper, and her expression began to pale.
She could calculate nothing.
Which was only natural. If Mobius truly came from a world altered by the Enigmata and wrapped in Nihility, then it would be stranger if Fu Xuan could read her fate easily.
Still, from Mobius's few brief answers, Jing Yuan had already sensed another possibility.
Wrapped in Nihility, inaccessible to all, with no one able to enter or leave—what kind of mission would require such a young Dragon Sovereign to leave Yuanqiao entirely alone?
And on top of that, this Dragon Sovereign did not come from the Yuanqiao of five thousand years ago, but from the Yuanqiao that existed before the Enigmata…
All of this led Jing Yuan toward a bold speculation.
After all, he still remembered something the Crimson Kite General had once said in the Divination Commission.
"For the last spark of Yuanqiao."
Could it be that Yuanqiao had already been standing at the brink of destruction, and that this little Dragon Sovereign was the final spark the Crimson Kite General had spoken of?
Somehow, the thought left Jing Yuan feeling unexpectedly heavy-hearted.
It seemed that the Crimson Kite General had told this little Dragon Sovereign a gentle lie.
"Miss Mobius," Jing Yuan said at last, his voice softer now, "you mentioned your master, the Crimson Kite General. Did she ever tell you exactly what calamity Yuanqiao was guarding?"
Mobius shook her head.
Seeing that, Jing Yuan went on, "Then what about the more recent history of the Xianzhou, and the Nihility that swallowed the other six ships?"
"Do you know anything of that? If you did, it might help us find Yuanqiao more quickly."
But Mobius shook her head again.
She knew nothing.
Now it was Jing Yuan's turn to be truly puzzled.
That made no sense.
Not knowing what calamity Yuanqiao had been guarding was one thing. Even if she was its Dragon Sovereign, perhaps only the Crimson Kite General had access to that level of information.
But how could she know nothing about recent history? Nothing about the Nihility event either?
That simply did not add up.
As a Dragon Sovereign, surely she should at least have been taught basic historical knowledge.
Looking at the innocent expression on Mobius's face, Jing Yuan suddenly thought of another possibility.
Perhaps she was simply too young?
According to Cecilia, Yuanqiao's disappearance—within the original timeline—had happened only around six hundred years ago.
If this Dragon Sovereign was under a hundred, then perhaps it did make sense.
After all, children that young often did not care much for studying history.
"…Miss Mobius," Jing Yuan asked carefully, "may I ask… how old are you this year?"
Mobius looked up and answered flatly,
"I? I'm three."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
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Uma Musume: From Beginner 145
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
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Checking In in Demon Slayer 85
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Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 80
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 57
The Uma Musume Who Became 55
I'm Definitely Not the King of 60
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
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I, the Elden Sword Saint 27
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I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 20
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