Her head was sliced like a fruit into several pieces, then thrown into a blender and ground into pulp.
Even in unconsciousness, the sharp pain was enough to knit Tingyun's brows together tightly.
Suddenly, she snapped her eyes open, awakening from the darkness.
Yet waking only sharpened the agony inside her head, forcing her mind into clarity enough to scan her surroundings.
Unfortunately, this place was utterly foreign—neither the Trade Planet nor aboard the Xianzhou starskiff.
"Where…exactly is this place?"
"This is Tartaro."
"Tartaro? But wasn't I trading on Jarilo-VII?" Hearing those words, Tingyun felt disbelief surge through her.
After all, these two planets were separated by hundreds of light-years. How could she possibly have ended up here?
"You shouldn't be asking me that—you should ask it," the Iron Cavalry Knight replied, pulling up an external cosmic display.
It showed an insect—a creature drifting silently through space, massive enough to rival a small asteroid.
Now completely lifeless, the beast bore a fatal injury: nearly four-fifths of its body had vanished.
From its shattered remains, one could clearly see distorted spirals left behind by a black hole's brutal embrace.
Because the black hole hadn't fully consumed it, the insect's mangled husk and organs drifted through space, its blood coagulating into a ring of miniature asteroids.
At the ghastly sight, Tingyun's mind screamed warnings, and her stomach instantly rebelled.
She quickly averted her eyes, fighting desperately to suppress the nausea that threatened to surge upward.
"What… What is this? Why did you show me something like that?"
"That's what brought you here."
The Iron Cavalry soldier stepped aside, allowing Tingyun to view the scene outside.
Countless starships lay scattered across the terrain, twisted and wrecked, jutting from the ground like beached creatures.
And right now, she found herself in a makeshift medical tent.
Around her, countless others clutched their heads in agony, their minds still gripped by lingering pain.
"This 'True-Sting Worm' released hallucinogenic dust capable of directly manipulating your brain's center. You were all bewitched, traveling hundreds of light-years to end up here."
As the Iron Cavalry soldier revealed this truth, memories of her journey alongside the Xianzhou Luofu flashed clearly into Tingyun's mind.
Only now did she sense the overwhelming incongruity.
She had clearly reached Luofu—why then had she piloted her ship, blindly following that thing through space?
Did that mean the Abominations of Abundance she'd encountered earlier had also been illusions?
At that realization, Tingyun felt some small relief.
Those Abominations of Abundance bastards were notorious throughout the cosmos for their utter lack of decency.
The Antimatter Legion and the Swarm were instinct-driven, mindless threats. But the Abominations of Abundance were different—intelligent, immortal, and adept at countless bizarre tricks.
And more importantly, as a foxian who'd once been enslaved by them, she knew their cruelty all too well.
"My deepest gratitude for your rescue, benefactor!" she immediately expressed.
"Skip the gratitude. I'm here because someone wants to see you."
With that, the Iron Cavalry Knight began walking, and Tingyun quickly followed behind.
Someone wants to see me…here, of all places?
Curiosity filled her as she trailed after the soldier, arriving soon at a small structure.
"Go in," the soldier gestured. "The person waiting for you is inside."
At this, Tingyun's curiosity fully ignited.
Who exactly would want to meet me here?
Yet, as she stepped inside, she immediately heard a man's voice grumbling aloud:
"...I knew something felt off when I dragged those ships down from orbit. And lo and behold—I was right!"
Instantly, the image of those crashed ships outside flashed through her mind.
She had wondered earlier why the ships had crashed so violently. After all, modern vessels all had automatic landing systems.
With that remark, a bold suspicion crept into Tingyun's heart:
Someone deliberately dragged those ships down!
She swallowed hard, cautiously stepping further into the building.
Inside, she found the man still complaining angrily, surrounded by several nearly identical young women, all equally outraged.
"Exactly! Exactly! I knew Titania was plotting something bad!"
"Hmph! She better thank her luck nothing serious happened. Otherwise, we would've shown her exactly what we're made of!"
Hearing their fervent agreement, Robin rubbed her temples in exasperation. "Stop egging him on, will you? Is this really our main priority right now?"
As she finished, Robin noticed the fox-eared girl lingering uncertainly near the doorway.
"Sora, stop grumbling. The person you're looking for is already here."
"Huh? The person I'm looking for?" Sora blinked, turning around to spot a familiar figure.
"My dear benefactors, this humble maiden sincerely—"
"Holy crap, it's a Preservation Emanator!"
Sora's sudden exclamation plunged the room into abrupt silence.
"A Preservation Emanator?" Shunji instantly searched the room, unable to pinpoint who Sora was talking about.
Even Tingyun herself spun around, looking behind her in confusion.
Yet there was nobody standing behind her at all.
"Cough cough, I just blurted that out without thinking," Sora quickly laughed it off.
Everyone present had long since grown accustomed to his strange outbursts; honestly, they'd find it unsettling if he didn't say something weird at least once a day.
Still, a few eye-rolls sent his way were absolutely warranted.
After that brief interruption, silence once again settled over the scene.
Tingyun once more introduced herself politely: "This humble maiden is Tingyun, Amicassador of the Xianzhou Luofu. It is an honor."
"May I inquire as to what important matter my benefactors have with me?"
"Oh, nothing major, really. We just wanted to ask you some questions," Sora replied.
He had long wished to visit the Xianzhou Luofu and had thus gathered plenty of information on it. Yet, before he even reached Luofu, he ended up here instead—then a giant bug inexplicably appeared out of nowhere.
Even worse, Titania had somehow merged into his transformation without saying a word, then vanished immediately after.
Precisely because of this, Sora asked Tingyun: "As far as I know, the Xianzhou Luofu is nearly ten thousand light-years from here. How did you end up caught in this mess, Tingyun-san?"
At those words, Tingyun involuntarily furrowed her brows.
Sora, meanwhile, easily proved his identity by revealing a certain silver bullet he carried.
Tingyun's pupils briefly shrank before swiftly returning to normal.
"Oh, I see. Who would have imagined benefactor had such an identity?" After confirming Sora's affiliation, Tingyun's tone instantly became warmer.
The Xianzhou Luofu and the Galaxy Rangers both followed Lan, the Hunt, traveling parallel paths of destiny. Many aboard the Xianzhou had even considered joining the Rangers, making relations between the two groups privately cordial.
With that reassurance, Tingyun briefly recounted what she had experienced.
"This humble maiden was merely devotedly performing her duties when she was inexplicably dragged into this disaster," she narrated with melodious sadness, her voice rising and falling expressively, enough to evoke sympathy from anyone.
But Sora, meanwhile, was busy collating the information he'd gathered.
"Coming from several hundred light-years away, huh?" Sora murmured, consolidating the reports he had collected—accounts from people describing where they had been before losing consciousness.
If Tingyun's account was included, it meant the insect's influence had extended over hundreds of light-years.
"Seems it was the right decision not to let them leave so hastily."
When many survivors regained consciousness, they had insisted on leaving immediately. It was only thanks to Jobs's forceful insistence that they'd been kept here.
Venturing out into space without knowing where the swarm lurked would have been a death sentence.
The threat of Tazzyronth's insect swarms was undeniably real. But still—such a vast area of influence felt absurdly excessive…
A range spanning hundreds of light-years. Aside from his own vessel, most people would require several days just to cross such distances.
"What exactly does benefactor plan to do?" Tingyun asked curiously.
"A bug this massive arriving here—I just can't help feeling uneasy," Sora revealed frankly. "I want to find a safe evacuation route."
In a swarm, a creature of that enormous size would either be a brood-mother or something equally important.
Yet, incredibly, this enormous insect had arrived entirely alone.
If word got out, nobody would believe it.
Why was the swarm known as the galaxy's tumor?
Wasn't it precisely because they always traveled in vast, unending hordes?
But now, a Memoria-charged beast of immense combat power had come here completely alone.
No matter how he looked at it, it didn't match typical swarm behavior.
Either this fellow had gotten lost, or it was a vanguard.
If it had merely gotten lost, that would be manageable. But if it was a vanguard…
"Then what the hell is following behind it? Titania?" Sora instinctively blurted out, though he quickly realized that might not be entirely implausible.
Whatever the case, Sora had to prepare an escape route.
"Sorry for troubling you, Tingyun-san. Thank you for your information."
At least I now know the surrounding few hundred light-years aren't safe.
...
"Oh? You've returned?" Fenille suddenly noticed her terminal scrolling on its own.
Undoubtedly, the invisible entity that had vanished earlier had returned.
"Yes. I'm back," Titania replied calmly.
Yet her movements were anything but slow, quickly skimming through the vast flow of information she had gathered.
Very soon, she found all the details she needed:
363 light-years away, a star had abruptly begun moving.
417 light-years away, a planet had shattered, instantly reduced to cosmic dust.
Within 285 light-years, clear signs of massive swarm activity had appeared…
But what about the other one?
Titania kept searching, trying to locate the final remaining beast.
Unfortunately, no matter how thoroughly she searched, she found nothing.
Damn it!
Titania silently cursed, while Fenille quietly reviewed the collected data.
As events flashed before her eyes, a sudden suspicion emerged in Fenille's mind. "You don't mean to say all these things…are heading straight toward us, do you…?"
Titania didn't know how Fenille had arrived at such a conclusion so quickly and hesitated about answering.
Unfortunately, her silence was already enough of an answer.
"In that case, we should inform Mr. Sora immediately."
"He wouldn't believe me. And besides, this unrelated set of facts—no one else would believe it either," Titania said bluntly.
What Titania said was true. For reasons she still didn't fully understand, she had briefly merged with him. During that time, when Sora unleashed the black hole and devoured the Swarm King, she'd glimpsed the other entities through their intertwined destinies and witnessed their capabilities firsthand.
But even if she spoke up, no one would believe her, especially Sora himself.
Though she hadn't known him long, Titania had already come to understand him thoroughly.
"But if you don't try, how would you even know?" Fenille countered, swiftly inheriting her father's decisiveness. She immediately went to find Sora.
As Sora browsed the news Fenille had brought, his expression grew increasingly grim.
Especially the final piece about the gathering swarm—something that had already captured galactic attention:
—[This is an unprecedented gathering of insectoid forces in galactic history. The swarm is predicted to span several dozen light-years!]
—[The IPC has issued evacuation orders. All personnel in nearby star systems, please seek immediate refuge.]
—[Once the swarm's numbers reach critical mass, communication signals are expected to fail. Everyone is urged to evacuate immediately!]
One after another, notifications flooded Sora's and Fenille's terminals—IPC's urgent evacuation notices.
This sort of swarm convergence, rare even once every few dozen Amber Eras, had improbably happened right now, right here.
After seeing all these alerts, Sora had only one thought left in his heart: Well, great. Now there's no escape route left at all.
The creature he had killed earlier was indeed just the vanguard, signaling the massive swarm behind it.
Sora felt a deep sense of resignation. So much for my vacation plans again.
He hadn't intended to get involved in planetary affairs, yet external troubles just kept coming his way.
Sora internally grumbled a bit before thanking Fenille sincerely for sharing this information.
At least someone had informed him, allowing him to mentally prepare ahead of time.
But he couldn't help asking curiously, "How did you even find out about this?"
"Because she told me," Fenille answered plainly, pointing at the empty blue sky.
Sora froze for a second, then quickly understood.
"She said you wouldn't possibly believe it, so I decided to try. But it looks like she was wrong," Fenille concluded with a casual shrug before leaving Sora alone in silence.
After some time, Sora abruptly shouted into thin air, "Titania, you're here, aren't you?!"
Complete silence lingered around him. Perhaps it was just his imagination…
Maybe Fenille was mistaken…?
Yet, just as doubt crept in, a familiar irritated voice suddenly echoed softly beside his ear:
"What are you calling me for?"
That response alone was enough to make Sora burst out laughing.
"What do you mean, 'what am I calling you for'? Aren't you the one who specifically had me call out to you?"
Otherwise, why would you go out of your way to tell Fenille all that?
"Forget it. I'm done with this topic. There's only one thing I want to ask you right now."
Since Titania was actually here, Sora didn't bother with small talk.
His tone immediately turned grave. "Does this insect disaster have anything to do with you?"
"Not even half a credit's worth of connection! Those insects and I are enemies now, got it?!"
Titania's voice carried clear annoyance.
She was supposed to become the deity worshipped by these very insects!
But just a few days later, these believers—who had once pledged allegiance to her—had already begun plotting her downfall.
How could she possibly accept that?
"Hmph, whatever. With your idiot-level intelligence, I doubt you'd even comprehend the situation."
At this point, Titania could only find momentary comfort in mocking a certain idiot.
Otherwise, she truly didn't know how else to deal with those several Swarm Kings.
"I believe you."
Yet Sora suddenly said something that shocked Titania profoundly.
Titania couldn't help but freeze after hearing those words.
Did this idiot actually just say he…believes me?
"But only this once!" Sora immediately clarified.
"I neither acknowledge you nor have any intention of protecting you. I merely trust the information you've provided."
"Hah? Well, that suits me perfectly," Titania sneered coldly.
"I'll throw your exact words back at you—I neither plan to protect you nor acknowledge you."
"I am a god, after all, whereas you're nothing but a fool among ordinary humans."
Both of them snorted simultaneously.
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
Silence fell heavily between them—until Sora's phone abruptly rang.
Checking the caller ID, he saw it was Hotaru, currently busy handling the insect's remains out in space.
"What's wrong?"
"Sora, something big just happened!"
Hotaru's voice was full of urgency. "The corpse of that insect suddenly vanished right after a flash of silver light!"