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===
One day later.
The world returned to quiet after the war.
'Star-shatterer' looked at her new, metallic right arm.
She felt quite intrigued.
The power of Destruction does not possess the ability for limb regeneration.
And her original arm had been reduced to ash in Zhurong's fiery rage.
There was no possibility of reattachment.
Of course, 'Star-shatterer' wasn't particularly bothered.
It wasn't her own body, after all.
La Mancha looked at 'Star-shatterer's expression and asked cautiously:
"How does it feel? Is it functional? I apologize; its power output might be insufficient. This is the best mechanical prosthetic I could find."
La Mancha recalled 'Star-shatterer' swinging her blade; this prosthetic probably couldn't withstand that much force.
The battle with Zhurong.
'Star-shatterer' had completely conquered the Galaxy Rangers as a collective.
Even if she was an Annihilation Gang Lord.
Even if, on some future day, they were destined to be enemies.
But at this moment!
'Star-shatterer' was their ally, their partner!
And La Mancha felt a twinge of guilt because their partner had lost an arm in the final moments, all because she insisted on ensuring their retreat.
"It's fine. And you should be happy, actually."
"Why?"
"Don't forget, I am an Annihilation Gang Lord. And I imagine you now understand why I targeted Zhurong."
'Star-shatterer' smiled at La Mancha playfully.
The slight aura of an Annihilation Gang Lord made his hair stand on end, sending a shiver down his spine.
"Perhaps we executed a brilliant coordinated effort, but on some future day, Annihilation Gang Lord Star-shatterer will eventually stand on the opposite side of justice and righteousness."
"…"
For some reason, La Mancha felt a sense of dissonance in 'Star-shatterer's words.
But no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't pinpoint what felt wrong.
And after warning La Mancha, 'Star-shatterer' looked at Ifrit with curiosity.
"What is it?"
Ifrit, seeing 'Star-shatterer' suddenly look at him, instinctively straightened his back.
"That familiar scent about you—how exactly did you become a Pathstrider of Harmony?"
Apart from the other Annihilation Gang Lords making no move at all,
what surprised 'Star-shatterer' the most
was the emergence of a group of people among the Galaxy Rangers who had stepped onto the Path of Harmony after the battle ended.
It was an extremely rare occurrence.
And even more interestingly, Ifrit was one of them.
La Mancha, however, had not stepped onto Harmony.
And 'Star-shatterer' herself had stepped onto the Path of Harmony under Xipe's gaze.
But compared to the gift from her boss Nanook, Xipe's contribution was only a fraction of Harmony's power.
Ifrit smiled and said:
"I actually don't know why, either. I just felt like I understood that sense of unified purpose toward a goal, and after the battle ended, I realized I could do a little of it too."
"...I look forward to you being able to achieve large-scale attunement without me next time."
'Star-shatterer' fantasized for a moment.
If the Galaxy Rangers truly ended up, because of her intervention,
adopting a style where they fire the Thousand Arrows token at the slightest disagreement, then enter a state of unified attunement, and summon the Emissary of Finality to beat up their opponent.
These people would be causing untold chaos across the cosmos.
Ifrit seriously considered the idea, then shook his head helplessly:
"Perhaps in the future, but not yet. Besides, on a daily basis, Galaxy Rangers mostly operate independently. Large-scale assemblies like this are quite rare."
This mission to eliminate Zhurong could truly be called the largest assembly of Galaxy Rangers since their Path was first trod.
La Mancha saw that Ifrit had stopped talking, so he spoke up to 'Star-shatterer':
"Madam Star-shatterer, where do you intend to go next?"
"What, trying to recruit me into the Galaxy Rangers' ranks?"
'Star-shatterer' smiled at La Mancha, who merely smiled and shook his head:
"You jest. I wouldn't dare aspire to recruit an Annihilation Gang Lord. I am merely curious."
'Star-shatterer' nodded.
She didn't care if La Mancha was genuinely just asking casually.
She looked at her panel:
[Character Impersonation System]
[Name: Baiming (Star-shatterer)]
[Lifespan: 100 Years (Paused) + 20 Days (Character Impersonation)]
[Available Transformation Characters: Great Herta (Recharge: 55.2%), Acheron (Recharge: 22.3%), Star-shatterer]
[Available Draw Count: 0 (77.1%)]
She still had plenty of time left.
And judging by this surge in progress,
the feedback from killing Zhurong was clearly much greater than killing Shuhu.
Moreover, the Great Herta card recharge was over halfway done.
She felt that after a few more impersonation runs, that card should light up again.
Upon research,
'Star-shatterer' felt that she could genuinely relax for twenty days.
There was no need to cause further trouble.
And even if she did cause trouble,
'Star-shatterer' couldn't think of anything to do immediately.
Should she go look for Terminus and Ouroboros?
Those places are impossible to find without the technology of the Garden of Recollection.
Even if she did find them, 'Star-shatterer' didn't know what she could do.
She couldn't just forcibly dismantle the scepter.
If she dealt with Zhurong, she could rationalize it as Nanook wanting to see the new generation of Gang Lords.
But if she targeted Terminus, the other Gang Lords would probably come over to lecture her.
She didn't plan on being ganged up on by several Annihilation Gang Lords unless absolutely necessary.
So...
'Star-shatterer' glanced at Ifrit.
Should she just plant a few seeds in Penacony and then retreat?
"Ifrit."
"Huh? Madam Star-shatterer, is something the matter?"
"Do you want to return to Penacony?"
"...Ah?"
Penacony.
The place Ifrit had always wanted to return to but could never reach.
And besides Penacony, the Astral Express was also a scene that often appeared in his dreams.
The Family, having claimed Penacony for themselves, had repeatedly denied Ifrit's return.
He didn't even know if his comrade was still alive.
No, he was sure Mikhail was still alive.
It was just a shame he never got a chance to see him.
"Yes, of course, I want to."
"But you are now a Pathstrider of Harmony. Returning now, I don't know if it will be a good thing or a bad thing."
Ifrit actually stepping onto the Path of Harmony.
This fact was somewhat unpredictable.
Facing the complicated situation on Penacony,
could the slight light within Ifrit truly withstand it?
And faced with this choice,
Ifrit knew,
if he didn't rely on 'Star-shatterer's power to enter Penacony this time,
it would likely be very difficult for him to get another chance in the future.
After all, the Galaxy Rangers couldn't just gather to charge Penacony because Ifrit asked them to.
He wouldn't even ask them to do that.
"Of course. If you want to go, I can give you a ride."
'Star-shatterer' actually wanted to see Penacony's Stellaron.
The Family's method of dealing with the Stellaron was intriguing.
They managed to stabilize it for so many years.
If the secret hadn't been exposed, they could have continued using it.
Since she was Star-shatterer, she could go and learn from it. Then she wouldn't have to worry about hitting a Stellaron and being stuck one day.
And.
In the original plot, Ifrit and Mikhail never saw each other again, which was a pity.
Since she was here anyway,
spending a little time to go and see wasn't a bad idea.
===
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