"Of course I came to watch the show."
"Watch the show?"
Yukong looked puzzled.
A Stellaron crisis and the rebirth of the Ambrosial Arbor alone—
Those were problems the Luofu could handle on its own.
They weren't serious enough to warrant someone specifically coming just to "watch."
Or…
Was the situation far more complicated than it appeared?
"I'll let you in on a little secret," Su Ran whispered into Yukong's ear.
"A Lord Ravager has infiltrated the Luofu."
This time, he actually lowered his voice.
If news like this spread, it wouldn't just cause panic—
It might even disrupt Su Ran's own understanding of how events would unfold.
So caution was necessary.
"Is that true?!"
Yukong immediately grabbed his arm.
This was not something one could joke about!
If a Lord Ravager had truly infiltrated the Luofu, it would be a catastrophic disaster!
The only one capable of confronting such an existence was General Jing Yuan.
But Jing Yuan was no longer young.
Even if he managed to repel a Lord Ravager—
The Luofu would suffer immensely.
At worst, the ship itself could be destroyed.
Just thinking about it made Yukong's expression darken.
But then—
Seeing Su Ran standing before her—
A sliver of hope emerged in her heart.
"Then… have you come to save the Luofu from disaster, Mister Su Ran?"
"But according to what I know," Su Ran replied leisurely, "Miss Yukong would normally say something like: 'The Xianzhou can handle this matter ourselves. There's no need to trouble outsiders.'"
"..."
Yukong's eyes wavered.
If this had merely been a Stellaron crisis and the Arbor's rebirth—
Then yes, outsiders truly wouldn't be necessary.
But now there was a Lord Ravager involved.
How could she possibly ask someone to just stand by and watch?
That was a Lord Ravager!
Yukong's conflicted expression made her look almost like an aggrieved wife.
She clearly wanted to ask for help—
Yet couldn't bring herself to say the words.
Perhaps it was the pride of being Xianzhou.
Even facing a Genius Society member, she struggled to lower herself.
"If you keep looking like that, people are going to misunderstand," Su Ran said with amusement.
"I'm literally holding a child right now."
He glanced at Clara in his arms.
Clara herself had no idea what was going on.
She simply stared blankly at Yukong, who was still gripping Su Ran's arm tightly.
That finally snapped Yukong back to reality.
She glanced around—
And indeed, many people were watching them.
"My apologies. I acted impulsively."
If rumors spread that she'd offended someone from the Genius Society—
The consequences would be troublesome.
"It's fine. After all, Miss Yukong is a beautiful foxian woman. Plenty of people would love the chance to get close to you."
His words eased some of the tension in her heart.
She treated it as simple consolation.
After all—
She was merely an aging foxian nearing the end of her lifespan.
"Still, I'm not planning to completely stand by and do nothing," Su Ran continued.
"I've already summoned reinforcements for you."
"Reinforcements?"
Well…
As long as he was willing to help, that alone was enough.
Yukong no longer dared ask for too much.
All she wanted now was for the Luofu to survive this crisis safely.
As for everything else—
She no longer dared hope.
"But how did you know a being that dangerous had infiltrated the Luofu?" Yukong asked.
"Even members of the Genius Society can't possibly know everything, can they?"
"Oh, that?"
Su Ran smiled mysteriously.
"Se~cret~"
Yukong: "..."
She hated riddlers the most.
Were all Genius Society members like this?
Would it kill them to speak plainly?
Why were they all like General Jing Yuan?
"Don't look at me like that," Su Ran said.
"The source of my information is… special. If it became public, the entire universe would go insane."
Yukong's heart trembled.
She immediately abandoned the idea of probing further.
Hopefully, this wasn't just exaggeration.
"Look," Su Ran suddenly pointed toward the sky.
The people beside him followed his gaze.
At first, nothing seemed unusual.
It merely looked like a thin layer of cloud.
"Doesn't that resemble the Remembrance Aeon?"
Yukong: "!!!"
At first she hadn't noticed anything strange.
But the moment Su Ran spoke—
That cloud-like silhouette instantly vanished.
A chill ran down her spine.
"Even Fuli is curious about this matter," Su Ran said lightly.
"But unfortunately, They can't find the answer either. Believe me now?"
Even if Yukong didn't fully believe that had truly been Fuli—
She no longer dared ask questions.
Some things were simply not meant for her to know.
And right now—
She didn't want to know them either.
"Do you enjoy teasing me that much, Mister Su Ran?"
After calming down, Yukong finally noticed the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"If I admitted it, would you get angry?"
"That answer is practically a confession already."
Yukong rubbed her forehead helplessly.
This was supposedly a genius capable of influencing galactic events—
Yet here he was teasing her in public.
It felt absurd.
Could it be…
He likes me?
Even Yukong herself couldn't stop that thought from surfacing.
But then she looked at the two beautiful girls beside him—
And the child in his arms—
And quickly decided she was overthinking things.
She was merely an aging foxian approaching the end of her life.
How could someone like her attract such attention?
It was probably just this genius's natural personality.
After all, the Genius Society was rumored to be full of eccentrics.
For the rest of the day, Yukong accompanied Su Ran's group around Aurum Alley, eating and sightseeing.
Aside from the occasional suspicious individual trying to approach them with ulterior motives—
The experience was surprisingly relaxing.
At least from Yukong's perspective, it barely felt different from being on vacation.
"Full yet, Clara?"
Aurum Alley had countless snacks.
There was honestly no way to try everything in one visit.
Serval, who had come entirely with the mindset of having fun, had already eaten until her stomach bulged.
Even the Tsaritsa—despite mainly wanting to broaden her horizons—had sampled quite a bit.
"I'm full, big brother."
Clara stared at the remaining food on the table.
"Don't worry. Eat as much as you want. Once everything's over, I'll pack some up for you to take home."
"But… won't that cost a lot of money?"
Clara still worried about the expense.
Every other table only ordered a little.
Their table, meanwhile, was overflowing with food.
"Black Swan has money."
Su Ran casually patted her head.
Although Clara had no idea who "Black Swan" was, she didn't ask further.
She simply assumed it was another mysterious older sister she didn't know.
Yukong, who had originally intended to pay for everything herself, suddenly looked at Su Ran differently after hearing that.
So the rumors on the Interastral Peace Network were true after all.
Su Ran and Herta really did have an unusual relationship.
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