"You mean to say, he accepted the title of Honorary General, but refused to hold the inauguration ceremony?"
Within the Seat of Divine Foresight, Jing Yuan sat steadily at the main seat. Ever since Fu Xuan took the appointment letter to ask for Sylvester's thoughts, he had handled official business as usual, betraying no change to those around him.
But after hearing the news Fu Xuan brought back, his heart could no longer remain calm.
"The most complicated situation has appeared after all." He sighed, then sat down a thick stack of documents, and turned all his attention to analyzing Sylvester.
Though this was one of the expected outcomes, and not the worst one, it was by far the most mentally taxing, the one most troublesome for the Xianzhou to handle.
If Sylvester either fully accepted or fully refused, the next steps for the Xianzhou would be far smoother, since his stance would be clear. But now, matters had landed right in between.
"Master Diviner, do you have any thoughts?" Jing Yuan wanted to hear Fu Xuan's opinion first, since she was the one who had been present on the scene.
"I believe the matter is very simple." Compared to Jing Yuan's indecision, Fu Xuan was unusually resolute.
"Oh?" Jing Yuan was surprised, with a trace of delight.
Since Sylvester had opened his shop, his origins, his strength, his motives for selling trash cans—all of it was shrouded in mystery. Nothing about him could be pinned down.
Yet he was too important to the Xianzhou to ignore.
Thus, Fu Xuan seeming to have guessed his thoughts made Jing Yuan all the more delighted.
"Quickly, tell me."
Seeing Jing Yuan's uncharacteristic eagerness, Fu Xuan found herself unable to speak easily.
Compared with his deep deliberations, her own idea seemed embarrassingly childish—unworthy of the Divination Commission's leader.
Yet, among all the possibilities, she had shockingly found this to be the most reasonable answer.
"I think the reason Sylvester accepted the rank of General but refused the inauguration ceremony is..." Her lips moved, and the simple words reached Jing Yuan's ears: "Because he's lazy."
"Hm?"
As expected, Jing Yuan looked completely baffled, his eyes toward Fu Xuan tinged with suspicion.
Had the Master Diviner before him been replaced? Or had she been bribed somehow by that Shopkeeper Sylvester?
For the high-level discussions of the Seat of Divine Foresight, such an answer was laughable.
How could someone of that level act from such plain logic? It was too ordinary, so much so it felt abnormal.
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Facing Jing Yuan's obvious doubts, Fu Xuan could only speak frankly.
In truth, if she hadn't been there in person—if she had only heard it secondhand—she too would have found the conclusion hard to believe.
But there was no helping it: Sylvester's attitude could only be described as bone-deep laziness.
He had accepted the Honorary General's title without hesitation; from appearances, he had even seemed happy.
When she brought up the inauguration ceremony, his mood did not plunge—he seemed interested enough in standing out before countless crowds.
But once the details of the ceremony began to be discussed, everything changed.
When he heard that the process included praying to the Reignbow Arbiter, a handover from his predecessor, a half-day-long inaugural speech, addresses, parades, and a dozen other ritual steps, Sylvester's face turned dark instantly.
And that was only hearing the names of the steps—the actual details had not even been explained.
Especially regarding the address, Sylvester had strong objections: "An address? So, you mean I'll have to 'say a few words'? Even just sitting below, listening while scrolling a Jade Abacus, is torturous enough—and now you want me up there giving the speech? If it were me, I'd just declare the meeting over, then everyone can go home to their own families."
And then… that was that.
Sylvester sprawled lazily in his chair, his attitude toward the inauguration making a one-eighty turn—showing complete rejection.
Fu Xuan described the scene in detail.
After listening, Jing Yuan exhaled deeply: "Hmm..."
This situation, combined with the explanation, did indeed sound perfectly reasonable. And yet—why was it so hard to believe?
Could someone this significant really be so… bored? And he clearly wasn't a follower of Nihility either.
Unable to accept that someone far above him would refuse for such a reason, Jing Yuan's thoughts spiraled wildly.
"Master Diviner, do you think it's possible that Shopkeeper Sylvester is under some special restriction—that he cannot leave his shop?"
Fu Xuan was speechless, her brow twitching.
What, was he some kind of earthbound spirit, bound to a tiny area?
"Qingque has already investigated. Sylvester has gone out multiple times without issue."
But hearing that, Jing Yuan's brow did not relax—it furrowed all the more gravely.
Fu Xuan understood: his thinking was even more thorough, more far-reaching.
Is this why I cannot be a General? My vision is still too narrow, my consideration of matters too shallow.
If I too had this kind of expansive thinking… would I then have the qualifications to become a General?
What she did not know was that at that very moment, Jing Yuan's thoughts had already gone far off-track—while her own guess was in fact the right answer.
…
Deep within the royal palace of the Rhinohound Pack—a Borisin branch in the distant Borisin star system.
A hulking, wolf-headed giant bowed respectfully to the fiercely burning mass of yellow-green flame before him. "Great Emissary of the Aeon of Abundance. The wolves of Duran have penetrated deep enough. We await only the opportune moment to execute the mission to rescue Warhead Hoolay."
"Good."
A single, simple word, yet its echo lingered within the hall.
The flames burned with greater intensity, coalescing into a distinct, human-like face.
This powerful Heliobus, who called herself as the Emissary of the Aeon of Abundance, was the new leader who had united the Borisin clans. After the Borisin Empire fractured, it was through her combination of cunning and brute force that she had recently managed to reunite several of the most powerful Borisin tribes.
Ironically, she was not a Borisin herself. Nor was she a blessed follower of the Abundance—she was one of the Lord Ravagers under the Aeon of Destruction, Nanook: Phantylia.
To repay her master's grace and avenge the defeat suffered during the Ambrosial Arbor crisis, she had usurped Yaoshi's name to become the new sovereign of the Borisin, using them as pawns to set the Luofu on a path to ruin once more.
The original plan was to take advantage of the Luofu's depleted defenses during the start of the Martial Exhibition Ceremony to free the captured Borisin Warhead.
But now, she had another idea. "Divert some of our operatives. Send them to a shop called the 'Curio Trash Can Shop.' Have them purchase several trash cans."
If they are curios, why can't they also be calamities? It would be an honor for that now-famous shop to contribute to Lord Nanook's cause.
"Yes." The Borisin warrior turned and departed.
…
On the Luofu.
A young man in blue and white robes, a jade flute at his waist, wielding a longsword with dazzling sword-aura that seemed to split the very air.
After practicing for some time, the youth still felt unsatisfied. Unfortunately, such a sword was only lent to him for play.
"General Feixiao, this is the sword you obtained from that shop? Only a million credits? That's too cheap!"
Feixiao received the sword, gently tapping the blade with her finger; instead of a metallic clang, it resounded with ringing steel-song.
She smiled faintly: "Yes, this is one of them. What, you want it?"
"Of course!" Yanqing made no effort to hide his love for the weapon, but then added, "But the General taught me: a gentleman does not take what others cherish. I'll get my own sword with my own hands!"
Heh, if I had a sword like this, next time I spar with Yunli, I'd surely suppress her completely.
That 'Old Mettle' of hers couldn't compare to such a divine blade at all.
With such thoughts, Yanqing began dreaming of his own trash can opening.
Feixiao calculated the days. Tomorrow would be the start of a new week; her quota would refresh. Perfect—she'd return to the shop then.
…
At dawn, Sylvester arranged nineteen ordinary trash cans on the shelves as usual. The four "Bountiful"trash cans he had saved up had to be left on the second floor for now.
Their gaudy appearance made them hard to accept when unopened—especially now that he held an official status, he had to be mindful of his image.
But more than that, the real pity was that unopened trash cans yielded nothing to the customer. His next "Premium" trash can would only be generated when someone opened a "Bountiful" trash can.
And the ones most likely to open "Bountiful" trash cans soon were Fu Xuan and Feixiao.
Last week, both had opened ten cans each, and with the Xianzhou holding the advantage in negotiations, they would have more quota this week as well.
As for Topaz and Jade of IPC, though they too had opened ten each, their hard cap limited their growth. Still, if Aventurine magnanimously yielded his quota, they would have a chance to reach a "Bountiful" trash can the fastest.
Yet as the Corporation's lucky charm, Aventurine was bound to be the main trash can opener going forward. That meant the IPC would fall behind by one step.
After finishing organizing the shelves, Sylvester pushed open the shop doors at the usual time.
Who would today's customers be? He was rather looking forward to it.
"Hello, boss, we've come to open cans."
At the door stood two Cloud Knights.
Sylvester was a little confused.
Though the Xianzhou had defeated the IPC in negotiations, the quotas remained limited. As far as he knew, Xianzhou officials needed General approval to open cans now.
Would Jing Yuan really let ordinary Cloud Knights open cans?
Did this mean that if a "Bountiful" trash can appeared later, these two would be the ones to open it?
He couldn't quite figure out Jing Yuan's arrangement. How strange…