[On the Astral Express]
Ever since parting with Nero and the train set off again, quite some time had passed.
From the messages Nero usually sent back, it looked like the kid was living pretty well after returning to the Luofu.
He even had time to post a photo with Robin.
And so, on this day...
Dan Heng, who was sleeping in the data room, could not sleep peacefully no matter what. His brows were tightly furrowed, cold sweat floated on his forehead, as if something frightening had happened in his dream.
After boarding the train, especially during the time Nero was on the train, Dan Heng had rarely had such dreams again, nor that feeling of being watched.
But for some reason today, he dreamed of that person again.
Only this time, it was slightly different from before. There was no line saying, "Out of five people, three must pay the price... you are one of them."
Dan Heng suddenly sat up and woke from the dream, his eyes filled with shock.
"Nero was beating that man up... Why would I have such a dream!?"
It seemed that whenever something involved Nero, the whole tone would start to change.
This time when Dan Heng woke up, the first thing he felt was not fear or the urge to run, but a sense of absurdity.
He was surprised that he would dream of something so completely unrelated, and then he began to wonder whether, during the time spent with Nero, he had really been influenced by him without realizing it.
He turned to look at the time. It was still early. After wiping the sweat from his head, Dan Heng lay down again.
He planned to keep sleeping.
———
[On the Xianzhou Luofu]
[Inside the Sky-Faring Commission]
Nero sat in a corner, looked at the Tingyun who was chatting with him on his phone, then looked at the "Tingyun" working hard not far away.
After returning to the Luofu, he had been playing around a bit too much. In the end, he still failed to guard against it. He had no idea how this "Tingyun" had slipped in.
The real Tingyun was currently in a meeting with people from the IPC and Belobog, of course about the Fragmentum industry. The first batch of products was already ready to be tried for sale.
Was Phantylia stupid?
Daring to disguise herself right under his nose?
Regarding Nero's question, Nero's senior victim and now head of the Fragmentum industry, Sampo, could probably give a pretty good answer.
For example, Nero usually acted carefree and careless, like he did not pay attention to small details.
After all, even though Nero and Tingyun were familiar, they did not meet every day. Tingyun was usually very busy. Phantylia might have thought her acting was flawless.
And to be fair, she really did act well. If Tingyun had not sent him a message today saying that Topaz had specially brought him some local snacks from another star system, Nero really would not have noticed that the Tingyun in front of him was fake.
Yes, he only found out today that Tingyun had gone on a business trip.
But finding out now was not too late. Nero had already decided that he would tell Jing Yuan in a moment.
Phantylia had slipped in after Tingyun left, timing it perfectly. The Sky-Faring Commission had not noticed anything unusual either. This was exactly a good chance to extort... to ask Jing Yuan for money.
Phantylia had no idea what Nero was thinking.
Sometimes that is how people are. No matter how carefully they plan and how perfect they think they have made everything, they still get seen through unexpectedly.
Some people are just like that.
High talent, good foundation, strong learning ability, and most importantly, damn good luck.
For this kind of person, we usually call them a cheat. After all, even protagonists can have tragic backgrounds. Compared to a cheat, they are still a bit lacking.
Right now, to Phantylia, Nero was that cheat.
Nero did not like to drag things out. Once he had an idea, he would usually act on it immediately.
After saying goodbye to "Tingyun," he left the Sky-Faring Commission and stepped onto Black Slash, flying toward the Divine Foresight.
On the Luofu, if you asked who had the most privileges, aside from someone like Jing Yuan who delegated authority, it was probably Nero.
He could run through the streets or fly whenever he wanted. Even star skiffs could not catch up to him.
He could go to any of the Six Commissions of the Xianzhou whenever he wanted. No one could stop him.
From his behavior, he was obviously wilder than Bailu. But looking at the results, every time he swaggered off somewhere, he always brought back some good news.
Just not long ago, had he not caught two Stellaron Hunters who had infiltrated the Xianzhou?
It was said that General Jing Yuan had even paid out of his own pocket to give the kid some extra rewards.
As a result, Nero's reputation on the Luofu was no longer limited to being the good looking young man of the Sleepless Marquis.
He had become someone young people on the Xianzhou competed to imitate, and someone kids would sincerely call big brother when they saw him.
Of course, most of Nero's imitators could not avoid some physical suffering, like getting bamboo shoot stewed meat from their parents. That was not uncommon.
Meanwhile, as Nero was heading toward the Divine Foresight.
———
[Inside the Divine Foresight]
Jing Yuan looked at the reports listlessly, then glanced at Yanqing standing obediently beside him.
Something felt off in his heart.
Although Yanqing usually behaved well in front of him, as a genius youth, the kid was actually quite proud.
Aside from Nero himself being likable, another reason Jing Yuan let him get close to Nero was to use this second genius to temper his disciple's temperament.
Only with a competitor could one go further, restrain one's temperament, and build up strength quietly before making a breakthrough.
And Jing Yuan could also see that although Nero seemed free spirited and carefree, he was actually quite proud inside.
But Nero's pride was not quite the same as ordinary pride. Put nicely, it was a gentle kind of pride.
Put bluntly, it was like "not taking anything seriously," which was even harder to deal with than being arrogant and looking down on others. It could be called a mix of well behaved and mischievous traits.
So letting these two boys interact was a good thing. They would promote each other and grow together.
That was what Jing Yuan had originally thought.
The idea was beautiful, but in actual operation, the situation seemed to have gone a bit beyond expectations.
Jing Yuan raised his head, his golden eyes sweeping toward Yanqing.
Although he had not given an order, he knew clearly that Yanqing would usually go out on his own to investigate and pursue the wanted criminals he had deliberately let go... Blade and Kafka.
Today, however, there had been no movement for a long time.
After waiting a while and seeing that Yanqing had no intention of speaking, Jing Yuan asked first, "Why are you not going to capture the wanted criminals today?"
Yanqing blinked in surprise. "General already knows...? Well, of course the General would know."
Yanqing fell silent for a moment, then said, "Actually... a few days ago, I went to spar with Nero..."
Jing Yuan nodded, thinking this was good.
This was exactly the effect he wanted. Yanqing's talent was outstanding, and Nero was even more exceptional. If the two of them grew up, it would surely mean great prosperity for the Xianzhou.
But that was not what he wanted to hear.
Across from him, Yanqing hesitated again. He lowered his head and did not look at Jing Yuan. Then he said softly, "I lost... I disgraced the General..."
Hearing this, Jing Yuan narrowed his eyes and said, "Tell me the truth."
[🎉 Shoutout to Asriels, LN and Slashdog for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]