The High Priest's eyes narrowed. His true strength had been completely seen through.
Combined with the constant self-reference as "Aha," he was now heavily inclined to believe this bizarre clown mask was indeed the Aeon of Elation.
But doubt still lingered. He chose to ignore the mask for a moment and addressed his followers instead.
"Everyone, whoever this is, don't forget our mission!" He raised his arm, his voice booming to snap them back to focus.
"We are children of the Abundance. How can we let such a trivial matter tear us apart? Turning our weapons on our own? Unacceptable!"
The followers hung their heads in deep shame. As he lectured them, he continued subtly channeling his Abundance power to stabilize their erratic emotions.
Aha watched the spectacle, highly amused, and decided to temporarily stop interfering with their minds. Curious about the cultists' next move, the Aeon simply became a spectator.
Without Aha's active, chaotic influence, the High Priest's power easily calmed the crowd. After all, a mere Pathstrider—even a strong one—could never hope to contend with an Aeon's will if Aha was actually trying.
"Good. Now, back to business. Nothing else matters."
The followers snapped to rigid attention. They came here to seize the train, not play parlor games with some weird talking mask. Why play along with its stupid guessing game?
Completely ignoring Aha's floating gift boxes, they turned their attention toward the train's passenger doors.
"Oh!"
"Heehee haha! You figured it out! Not completely stupid."
"But that won't do. Your actions harm the Nameless. Aha can't just sit back." Aha chuckled, then sighed in heavily exaggerated, mock resignation.
As Aha's words faded, a strange, absolute cosmic power enveloped the entire exterior of the Express.
The followers confidently approached the doors. But the absolute moment they touched that invisible boundary... the scene shifted violently.
They found themselves instantly transported a hundred meters away, deposited back onto the edge of the docking platform.
They blinked, completely stunned.
Others who attempted to rush the doors met the exact same fate—seamlessly teleported aside like annoying gnats.
"High Priest... what... what's happening?" They turned to him in a panic for answers.
Frowning deeply, the High Priest studied the invisible energy field around the train. He channeled his full strength, trying to physically breach it.
Failure. Predictably.
This was an Aeon's barrier. It was so far beyond his reach it was laughable.
"Heehee haha!"
Aha's laugh echoed across the metallic platform, dripping with pure, concentrated mockery.
The High Priest knew instantly—that damn mask was behind this. He led his frustrated people back to the front of the train.
"So... if we answer your question, you won't stop us?" His tone now carried a heavy, reluctant hint of deference.
"Heehee haha, maybe!" Aha giggled playfully, deliberately giving no definite answer.
The High Priest gritted his teeth. He had no choice but to play this stupid game.
He stepped before the two floating boxes. He hesitated. Then, he placed his hand on the one labeled 'Aha' and popped it open.
POP!
Bright streamers burst forth with loud, celebratory jingles. The tense crowd jumped out of their skin.
"Heehee haha!"
"Congratulations! You guessed right!" The mask cackled uproariously.
The followers collectively exhaled in massive relief. The High Priest, too, relaxed slightly.
He hadn't been completely certain—an actual Aeon appearing strapped to a train seemed utterly absurd. But the absolute spatial power on display just now left little room for doubt. He had guessed correctly. This really was Aha, the Aeon of Elation.
"Lord of Elation, since I guessed correctly... then..." The High Priest addressed Aha respectfully, hoping the barrier would drop.
"Heehee haha! The reward, right? Aha remembers!"
"Remember what Aha said earlier? Aha finds you all very interesting."
"So, to cure Aha's boredom during this cosmic voyage, Aha will keep you all by my side—to play with me whenever I want!"
The mask twisted into an impossibly wide, eerie grin.
Before the Denizens of Abundance could even react, they were violently sucked into an alternate dimension.
In this subspace, all sense of direction was completely inverted. Massive gift boxes and winding mazes littered the area—it looked like a twisted, cosmic carnival. Cute, giant plushies were stacked everywhere. Streamers and oversized party horns lay scattered across the checkered ground.
The Denizens of Abundance were terrified.
Because hovering in the void of this bizarre space, an avatar of Aha appeared in their true, formless, chaotic glory.
They cheerfully announced the rules of the game.
"First game: Find the Piggy!"
"Find the little pig Aha has hidden here within the time limit."
"Hint: The pig's color is..."
After rattling off the final rule, Aha's grin widened until it seemed to swallow the room.
"Heehee haha! Game starts now!"
"Finish the first game to move to the second. There are over nine million more games after this! Play with Aha till the very end, and Aha will let you go!"
"A bit much? Don't worry!"
"You're blessed by the Abundance! Immortality is no issue for you lot!"
"So, everyone—let's have fun!"
With that, the eternal, maddening games began.
Outside, the docking platform was completely empty. The grand, fanatical attempt to seize the Astral Express might never have happened at all. The train sat quietly and safely at the dock.
Meanwhile, inside the inn, Yuki had just spent five minutes explaining Jingliu's situation to Himeko and March 7th.
Through his explanation, they also learned they were currently under heavy surveillance. The two Abundance followers Jingliu had frozen on the rooftop earlier were the cult's designated watchers.
"So this Jingliu isn't our enemy, right?" March figured anyone who ruthlessly killed Abundance spies couldn't be hostile to them.
"Correct."
"The Xianzhou Luofu is one of the six flagships in the Xianzhou Alliance. The Alliance has ancient, complicated ties to the Abundance, but they now strictly walk the Path of the Hunt," Himeko shared her extensive knowledge of the Xianzhou fleet.
"Blessed with the Abundance's longevity, making them technically Denizens of Abundance... yet they chose a completely different, opposing Path to hunt them down." March marveled at the intense, ironic contrast.
.
.
.
.
Read 100+ advance chapters on [email protected]/Lost_moon