Riding the Starskiff, the two quickly followed the butterfly and stopped at what appeared to be a dock.
"Takatsuki, the butterfly is still flying further inside…"
Watching the butterfly continue to fly deeper, Takatsuki thought for a moment.
"I wonder if it's trying to fly to the place where it was manufactured."
Seele also nodded: "It really seems that way."
"Never mind, it doesn't matter anyway, we've landed. Since there's a dock here and no one is stopping us, it means this place is naturally accessible," Takatsuki shrugged indifferently, pointing to the stairs ahead and saying to Seele.
"We'll go up and see. I've read the Xianzhou data before; there are many tourists or merchants seeking medical treatment here, and many outsiders, so we're nothing special."
"Okay, I'll listen to Takatsuki."
As Takatsuki had previously speculated, this place was indeed where Stelle-skiffs were manufactured, or at least where some of their equipment was produced.
Around them, Takatsuki saw many constructs resembling automatons. His Haki swept over them, discerning their internal mechanical structures.
These automatons were quite wondrous; their internal structures leaned towards machinery, but they didn't use much oil, gas, or electricity. Instead, they used something like a jade stone, which contained Void Energy.
He wondered how they operated.
"Takatsuki, I think I hear sounds of combat ahead."
It must have been due to her enhanced physical abilities, but Seele noticed the clanging of metal from beyond the layers of machinery and crates blocking the path.
"Yes, I hear it too. Let's go take a look." Takatsuki also nodded.
Of course, he didn't just "hear" it. After noticing the sound, he used his Ki sensing and Observation Haki to simultaneously perceive the situation there: a person with an incredibly strong life force was fighting against something that wasn't human, but rather resembled the automatons he had seen.
Considering that this place was full of such automatons, it was highly likely that the other party was an intruder, and the automaton was a guard.
Initially, Takatsuki wasn't inclined to meddle, but considering that this might be some kind of factory on the Xianzhou, if the intruder caused any damage and then escaped, Takatsuki and Seele would very likely become the prime suspects.
So, for their own sake, the best option was to capture the other party.
But when the two arrived at the combat location, Takatsuki discovered that the ones fighting were actually a man in ancient attire with long dark green hair wielding a long sword, and a short-haired girl in white clothes with black short hair holding two short swords.
The girl's black hair had red inner highlights, somewhat similar to Veliona, but that wasn't the point. The point was that the automaton Takatsuki had just sensed was this girl.
"?"
Takatsuki looked curiously at the two fighting in front of him. The battle scene was very strange; the girl was clearly being suppressed by the man, but the man had countless wounds on his body, which quickly healed.
Seeing the rapidly healing wounds, Takatsuki finally understood why the fight was like this.
In terms of combat skill, the girl's strength was not bad, but the man's fighting style was extremely wild, exchanging injuries for attacks and focusing entirely on offense.
However, the girl's body was an automaton, and once damaged, it would malfunction.
"Hmph, reinforcements?"
At this moment, the man discovered the two who had just arrived. Seele looked at the girl who was being suppressed and wanted to say something to Takatsuki, but stopped herself, only squeezing Takatsuki's hand.
Kind Seele naturally instinctively wanted to help the girl, but she considered that on one hand, she didn't know if the other party was friend or foe, and on the other hand, they were outsiders here, so helping casually might backfire.
But unexpectedly, before they could even move, the man made his move first.
"Run! You're no match for him."
As soon as the girl spoke, Takatsuki naturally knew who was friend and who was foe.
Looking at the man who was attacking swiftly, Takatsuki raised his hand, and a long sword blocked the opponent's weapon.
But seeing the strange smile that suddenly appeared on the opponent's lips, Takatsuki took a step forward, shielding Seele behind him with his body, his body enveloped in black Haki.
Just as he completed this step, the sword in the man's hand suddenly shattered, turning into several sharp fragments that shot explosively towards Takatsuki.
However, it was perfectly blocked by Armament Haki.
"Thousand Blade Demon Sword?"
Takatsuki subconsciously reacted, but it was clearly different. The Thousand Blade Demon Sword consisted of a thousand tiny fragments, whereas this sword had very few fragments, less than ten. However, the impact force was very strong; the impact of each fragment was no less than the force of the opponent's sword strike.
"Seele, get away."
After telling Seele behind him to get away, Takatsuki looked at the man who had recalled his shattered blade and was attacking again.
"Who are you?"
"Blade..."
Blade sheathed his sword and stood, looking at Takatsuki: "You don't know who I am?"
Takatsuki held the projected sword and looked at Blade opposite him: "Should I know who you are?"
"He is a prisoner who escaped from the Shackling Prison, a Stellaron Hunter. This righteous warrior, please help me capture this important criminal."
At this moment, the girl who had been fighting Blade earlier suddenly spoke, but she was clutching her right arm's shoulder, as if part of her body's components had been damaged by Blade in the recent battle.
"Can you still move?"
Blade glanced at the girl and raised the longsword in his hand, seemingly wanting to finish her off.
But Takatsuki moved to the side, and the blade in his hand subtly blocked Blade's side.
"Stellaron Hunters, our Astral Express came to the Xianzhou because of your invitation. Didn't Kafka say you were captured?"
"Are you from the Train?"
Blade didn't answer Takatsuki's question; instead, he counter-questioned Takatsuki.
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
Blade's attitude was a bit strange, and Takatsuki slightly tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.
"Someone outside the script..."
Blade suddenly delivered a horizontal slash towards Takatsuki, and a violent sword slash instantly rushed towards Takatsuki.
In a death match, Blade's strength is formidable because of his physique, which makes him fearless of death. He can recklessly trade injuries for attacks, focusing solely on offense.
But in reality, Blade's swordsmanship is quite ordinary.
If Takatsuki were to evaluate it, he would say that the opponent had not received systematic swordsmanship training. His swordsmanship was more like the result of his own practice in actual combat, like a brutal fighting style forged through countless deaths, combined with the characteristics of his physique.
But in terms of brutality, Blade's still wasn't up to par.
Swish!
A black wave instantly severed this violent sword slash.
The advanced form of Armament Haki, Haki Emission, a technique known as Ryuo in Wano Country.
The emitted Haki instantly tore Blade's shoulder.
Blade, who hadn't suffered any serious injuries in his fight with the mechanical girl, had a large chunk of his body torn open by Takatsuki in just one exchange.
Blade's pupils contracted.
"Beyond... Oblivion!"
Completely disregarding the blood spurting from his body, Blade swung his divine weapon, striking out with a single sword slash around him. The divine weapon in his hand also instantly shattered, focusing on an indiscriminate attack.
Takatsuki used Shave to appear in front of Seele, helping Seele completely block Blade's attack, then looked back at the field.
The injured Blade had disappeared, leaving only a heavily wounded mechanical girl who had been caught in the crossfire.