"Is it okay?"
Rider hesitated slightly, turning to look at Himeko, Welt, and the others.
Both Himeko and Welt nodded with smiles. The former opened her arms and said with a smile, "Of course. The Express never refuses anyone who wants to embark on a journey together, let alone an old friend of Welt's. I don't think anyone would have a reason to refuse you staying."
"That's true..." Rider dropped the formalities. "Then I'll be imposing on everyone for a while."
Seeing that Rider was willing to stay, Himeko was very happy. She turned to ask the Conductor to help arrange a room for Rider.
"Conductor, could I trouble you to arrange a room for Rider?"
"Leave it to me-pom!"
Pom-Pom waddled over to Rider, looked up, and waved a paw at her.
"Passenger Rider, follow me. I'll take you to see your room and show you around the different carriages of the train-pom."
"Okay, Conductor."
Rider left with Pom-Pom, while Himeko turned to look at Fu Zhu and Xing.
"Are you two still going to watch the Wardance Ceremony matches?"
"Of course. We promised March we'd go see her finals. We'll get ready to leave in a bit."
"Alright. Be safe on the road. We'll wait for you on the Express."
---o---
At the grand venue of the Wardance Ceremony, a spatial tunnel opened up in the VIP seating area, and Fu Zhu and Xing walked out from within.
The two had just stepped out of the tunnel when Jing Yuan's teasing voice reached their ears.
"Yo, Fu Zhu. Why do you have to be so cool every time you show up? Aren't you relying a bit too much on that Demon Blade?"
Fu Zhu turned his head to see the three Xianzhou Generals sitting in a row. He led Xing over to sit in the empty seats beside them, raised an eyebrow at Jing Yuan, and retorted, "If you had a convenient tool, wouldn't you use it?"
Jing Yuan stroked his chin, smiled, and nodded.
"True. If it were me using the Demon Blade, I could probably sleep in for half a system hour every morning."
Hearing this, Fu Zhu shook his head, laughing and crying at the same time. He then turned his gaze to the matches between various contestants in the arena. However, after watching for only a short while, his thoughts gradually drifted away, uncontrollably recalling the words the Ender Dragon had said to him earlier.
Amphoreus... Land of Mortal Combat... Battle of the Gods...
"Fu Zhu, you have a grim expression. Did you run into some trouble?"
Jing Yuan's sudden question pulled Fu Zhu back from his thoughts. He turned his head to see Jing Yuan looking at him with concern.
Fu Zhu hesitated for a moment. He glanced at Xing beside him, who was also watching the match, then raised his hand. Utilizing his private chat command, he sent a message to Jing Yuan, Huaiyan, and Feixiao.
He didn't want Xing to know about this yet. Even if she knew, she couldn't change anything, and it would only make her worry excessively. He didn't want to lose the smile on her face.
[Fu Zhu: Jing Yuan, do you guys know about the Battle of the Gods?]
Seeing a line of subtitles suddenly pop up in front of their eyes, prefixed with Fu Zhu's name, the three Generals immediately realized this was one of Fu Zhu's methods of transmitting information. They just didn't know how to reply.
Seeing their hesitation, Fu Zhu offered a reminder.
[Fu Zhu: Just focus your intent on who you want to private chat with, and then silently think the words you want to say in your heart.]
[Jing Yuan: I see. What a truly practical ability!]
[Feixiao: Is this the time to marvel at this ability? Fu Zhu, how do you know about the Battle of the Gods?]
Feixiao's expression was indescribably serious. Regarding the Battle of the Gods, they had only learned of it from Jingliu, and that was news they had received not long ago. Where did Fu Zhu hear about it?
Fu Zhu didn't plan to hide it. Judging by the name alone, the "Battle of the Gods" sounded extremely dangerous. If he were alone, there would be no need to worry; on the contrary, he would find it quite interesting to go join in the fun. But he was not a loner.
He still had his family on the Express to worry about. He needed many helping hands to assist the train.
[Fu Zhu: The Ender Dragon told me. You guys probably don't know who it is. To explain it simply, it's a bit troublesome, but just consider it a god from my hometown. It is currently vying with the King of the End for the power of [Finality]. It told me that the Astral Express's next stop, Amphoreus, will be the stage for a Battle of the Gods, a Land of Mortal Combat for the Triple Paths. I will also be engaging in a decisive battle with the Ender Dragon there.]
Fu Zhu revealed everything he knew. After reading the private message sent by Fu Zhu, all three Generals furrowed their brows tightly.
Jing Yuan was the first to recover. He shook his head at Fu Zhu with some regret.
[Jing Yuan: Apologies, Fu Zhu. Regarding the Battle of the Gods, I don't know much more than you do. However, do you have the coordinates for Amphoreus? Judging by what you've said, the Luofu should head there one step ahead, just in case.]
Just based on Fu Zhu's line about having a decisive battle with the Ender Dragon, Jing Yuan felt that the Astral Express would definitely need help when the time came. He was worried that if he waited until he received the Express's distress signal to set off, some accident might occur.
Fu Zhu saw the concern in Jing Yuan's words and nodded gratefully at him.
[Fu Zhu: Many thanks. But Amphoreus is a place that even Akivili never explored. We don't know its coordinates yet. We have to wait for that Memokeeper, Black Swan, to lead us there before we'll know.]
Hearing this, Jing Yuan nodded with some regret.
[Jing Yuan: Then, wait until you arrive. Send us a signal the moment you get there.]
[Fu Zhu: Mn.]
Afterward, Fu Zhu looked at Feixiao and Huaiyan, but both shook their heads regretfully. They didn't have much detailed information regarding the Battle of the Gods either. They only knew it would be a war involving multiple Aeons. What they knew was actually even less detailed than Fu Zhu.
Although he didn't get more intelligence from the three Generals, Fu Zhu wasn't too disappointed. Besides the Xianzhou, he had another place to fish for information.
Fu Zhu took out his phone, glanced at Silver Wolf's name in his contacts, and got up to leave the area. He found a deserted corner and gave Silver Wolf a call.
The call was connected very quickly. From the other end came Silver Wolf's impatient voice.
"If you have something to say, say it! I'm in the middle of a game!"
Hearing her urgent tone, Fu Zhu couldn't resist the urge to tease her a bit, but remembering he had serious business, he dismissed the thought and went straight to the point.
"Contact Elio. It's time for him to fulfill his original promise."
"Got it!"
With that, Silver Wolf hung up the phone. Fu Zhu stood there holding his phone, waiting for Elio's call.
Not long after, an unknown number suddenly appeared on his phone screen. It didn't even display a caller ID.
Fu Zhu answered the call without thinking and spoke directly into the receiver.
"Elio, tell me. Regarding Amphoreus, what did you see?"