Reality snapped back into place with a deafening metallic groan. The Vanguard shuddered as the stars beyond the viewport reassembled from jagged violet streaks into fixed points of light. Artificial gravity lurched.
At the front console, the skeletal pilot-droid's optical sensors clicked. "Transit complete. Good jump. Engines holding."
Darian ignored him. His pulse was a frantic drumbeat. He slapped the bulkhead to steady himself, eyes locked on the viewport. "Status on the perimeter!" he barked. "Are we being painted?"
Zeri slapped a fresh mag into her carbine, the metallic clack loud in the tense silence. "Shut up, Darian, and check your corners. If Halvek knew we were coming, that gate would be a kill box."
Beyond the viewport, the Liuli Expanse drifted in the void—a celestial myth violently dragged into reality.
A massive armada guarded the perimeter. Jade-plated dreadnoughts and strike cruisers formed a wall of heavy firepower, their spiritual weapon batteries glowing, mobilized against the Chiyou Dominion. Past the warships, polished black jade walls enclosed the station, locked together by immense dougong brackets the size of cruisers. Towering pagodas rose into space, tiered roofs ending in sharpened flying eaves. Crimson lanterns burned along suspended bridges, and mountain-sized rings carved with shifting Bagua trigrams rotated in slow, steady motion around the structure.
"Arrival confirmed. Outer boundary," the pilot-droid announced.
"Weapons hot," Captain Halden's voice cracked over the comms, devoid of warmth. "Keep your heads on a swivel. This place is a fortress, and Halvek is already inside."
As the Vanguard drifted past the grim Expanse cruisers, the void folded like a cosmic puzzle box. Geometric lattices of starlight shaped into eight-sided fractals, rotating soundlessly through collapsing dimensions. Distances shredded. A massive, jade-carved moon gate, kilometers away a second ago, was suddenly right off the nose of the ship. Darian's stomach lurched as the fundamental laws of space were rewritten around them.
Golden calligraphy—ancient seal script blazing with raw energy—ignited across the void. A section of the outer wall peeled back like origami, revealing an inner docking route bathed in amber light.
Crossing the threshold, the oppressive shadow of the war fleet vanished, replaced by a jarring serenity. The city stretched endlessly beneath artificial clouds. Waterfalls cascaded from inverted, floating mountains. Luminous koi swam through invisible aerial currents, brushing past bridges suspended without support.
Anchoring it all was the Shenmu Core—a massive entity of wood and starlight with a trunk wider than a planetary core. Veins of molten amber pulsed through its ancient bark. The sprawling metropolis was built in concentric, floating rings around it, while its shimmering, nebular canopy stretched out to cradle the artificial sky, casting a golden glow over the inner districts.
It wasn't sterile like New Aether, nor did it carry the militaristic dread of the armada outside. It felt warm. Alive. Enduring.
And entirely wrong.
The ship settled onto a circular terrace of white stone and pulsing gold lines. When the boarding ramp lowered, warm air flooded the hold, smelling of rain and blooming incense trees.
Squad 9 poured out, rifles raised, sweeping the terrace. Darian's breath hitched, his finger hovering over the trigger. His HUD blinked frantically, struggling to process the ambient energy.
"Clear right!" Ravion shouted, his voice echoing too loudly.
"Clear left!" Zeri confirmed, eyes darting between the floating gardens and the sky.
Instructor Ren strolled down the ramp, a lone hand resting lightly on the hilt of his katana. He inhaled the incense-laced air, a faint smile touching his scarred face as he looked up at the Shenmu Core. "Old magic," he murmured. "Better than smog."
Kael stomped past him, heavy pneumatics hissing. "POND Command isn't going to like this," the armored cadet grunted, his rusted faceplate twitching. "Entire armada out there, and in here it's completely open. No cover. It's a massive security liability."
Darian panted, scanning the impossible landscape. They were coiled tight, ready to erupt into violence, but no alarms sounded. No security forces rushed them. Instead, a few dozen yards away, a figure in a flowing silver robe meticulously pruned a hovering bonsai tree. Another, cloaked in pale blue, swept the spotless jade floor with a broom that didn't touch the ground.
"Hey," Darian hissed, nudging Zeri. "They aren't even looking at us."
"They're ignoring us," Zeri said, grip tightening on her carbine. "Like we're not even here."
The sheer perfection of the scene sent a cold spike of paranoia through Darian. It was unnatural—a society so obsessed with its own immaculate design that acknowledging heavily armed soldiers would be considered a flaw.
Beside him, Deja stretched, her uniform jacket hanging off one shoulder. She yawned. "Relax, metalhead. At least it smells better than New Aether." She bumped her hip playfully against Toben, who was frantically tapping his data-pad. "You're gonna fry your cute little brain if you keep stressing over the gravity readings."
Toben's face flushed, but his eyes were wide with alarm. "The math here is literally impossible, Deja. And... and they're just sweeping!"
Waiting at the far end of the platform stood a row of silent officials in layered robes. At their center stood a girl who looked no older than the cadets, dressed in white silk trimmed in shifting gold filaments. She was small and composed, but Darian's instincts flared as if he were standing too close to a dying star.
She smiled, her golden eyes sweeping over the POND squads. "Welcome to the Liuli Expanse. I am Lin Yue, First Disciple of the Heavenly Emperor, and Acting Custodian of the Inner City."
Boro raised a massive hand, his assault cannon hanging forgotten by his side.
Lin Yue looked up at the towering, bull-like cadet with polite curiosity. "Yes?"
"Boro is confused," Boro stated bluntly. "You look twelve."
Ravion let out a low whistle. Toben muttered a prayer. Ren just chuckled softly.
Lin Yue blinked, a soft laugh escaping her. "I am one hundred and thirty-seven years old."
The terrace went dead silent.
"...Boro has made a mistake," the giant cadet muttered, lowering his hand.
"Accepted."
"Captain Halden, POND," she interrupted smoothly, rifle still at the low ready. "We appreciate your cooperation."
"The Emperor values balance," Lin Yue replied, turning toward the city. "You have traveled far. The Ministry requested I escort your forces personally until preparations for the hunt are complete. Come."
As she stepped forward, golden lotuses bloomed beneath her footsteps, rippling outward to unfold suspended bridges of pale jade. The squads followed her into the inner sprawl, weapons drawn.
Terraced gardens of luminous plum blossoms cascaded from floating pavilions. Streams of liquid starlight flowed uphill through invisible aerial canals. The few inhabitants they saw moved with an eerie grace—gliding across open courtyards, meditating in mid-air, or weaving complex light arrays with bare hands.
None of them looked at the POND soldiers. They were ghosts in a perfect machine.
Toben tapped his data-pad, his voice pitching up. "There's no anti-grav tech on their bodies. No thrusters. It's just... them."
Lin Yue glanced back, her hair ornaments chiming softly. "You misunderstand," she said, her tone carrying an absolute, crushing weight. "The Expanse was not built to be walked. It was forged for ascension."
Deep in the distance, a massive bell tolled. Watching the immortal girl lead them deeper, Darian felt an unsettling realization wash over him. The Liuli Expanse didn't feel like humanity's future. It felt like something that had surpassed humanity a very long time ago.
Captain Halden checked the tactical readouts on her wrist-comm, her expression hardening. "Ms. Yue. My squad is going to investigate the coordinates your Ministry transmitted earlier. The location of Halvek's last known position."
Lin Yue paused, her golden eyes narrowing a fraction of an inch. "Sure."
"We split up here. Squad 5—Jax, you're on point," Halden ordered, unholstering her pulse-rifle.
Jax stepped forward, adjusting his dark sunglasses with a heavy, cybernetic hand. "Captain."
"Go with Lin Yue to the Tianting. Handle the diplomatic formalities. The Diviner expects you."
"Understood. Squad 5, form up," Jax rumbled.
"Squad 9, you're with me," Halden continued. She looked past Darian and Zeri, expecting to see the swordsman. "Ren. We're hunting Halvek. You're—"
She stopped. The space was completely empty. An incense-laced breeze was the only thing moving where the veteran hunter had stood just moments prior.
Darian blinked. "Where did he go?"
Jax let out a dry scoff, rolling an unlit match to the other side of his mouth. "He does that. Don't worry about it. He'll turn up when the bleeding starts."
Halden's jaw tightened, but she didn't waste time searching for a ghost. "Focus up, Nine," she snapped, pivoting sharply toward the labyrinthine edges of the floating city. "We move."
The Vanguard teams fractured instantly. Jax and Squad 5 fell into step behind the immortal girl, ascending the jade pathways toward the soaring palaces of the political elite.
Darian gripped his rifle, casting one last look at the golden lotuses blooming in Lin Yue's wake before following Halden into the shadows. The politics and the gods were above them now. Below, in the depths of the pristine pagodas, the hunt had already begun.