High orbit above the colonized star Meira-IX in the Boundary Land.

The flagship of the United Fleet—the "Mass Effect" strategic cruiser is quietly moored in the force field of the Star Castle.

The iron-gray charging armor bathes in starlight in space. The straight and rigid lines discard all unnecessary decorations, with the whole ship only covered with simple white paint at necessary parts of the hull. Between the symmetrical left and right ship body, inside the massive acceleration device, floats a fluctuating glow—this war machine is fully ready and poised for action.

This is a powerful warship with remarkable firepower and defense capabilities, designed entirely in line with the United Fleet of Boundary Land’s traditional philosophy of "power breaks tricks." Even though its primary duty is to serve as a command node in the fleet, it still mounts a full set of turrets and missile launchers for itself. Moreover, as the latest improved model of the "General" class strategic cruiser, engineers from the Special Service Bureau have added a "Collapse Accelerator" at the bow, truly turning this behemoth into a devastating war giant beast.

Anyone standing on this interstellar giant ship, looking at the mass projector main guns, the kilometers-long iron-gray armor extending in front of the observation windows, and the fluctuating glow within the acceleration track, would undoubtedly feel its majesty and power, and naturally develop a sense that nothing in the world could obstruct them, with all things under control.

...It should have been like that.

"What do you mean you just maneuvered around the Hidden Monastery’s Star Gate, but for now they still don’t know?"

"You mean we can directly ’jump’ the main fleet behind their Star Castle?!"

"...Are all of Hidden Monastery’s ’Living Saints’ actually small Dark Angels?! What’s that supposed to mean?!"

"What do you mean the ’Shadowless Skeleton’ is not only alive but awake—didn’t you just find the Hidden Monastery’s Star Gate? How long ago was that, you... no, Yu Sheng, what did you do during this time..."

Baili Qing stands on the bridge of the "Mass Effect," and after just a fifteen-minute call with Yu Sheng, quickly regained the feeling of working at the Special Service Bureau—where the focus is entirely unexpected events, life with ups and downs, and when the bell rings it’s as if the sky has fallen.

Moreover, once it collapses, the guy on the other side who caused the chaos pretends to comfort: "The first two things are good news..."

"But the following news is too bad..." Baili Qing rubs her forehead, standing before the communicator, suddenly missing those overtime days in the Special Service Bureau, "And your opening ’two things’ could actually be combined into one; you just split them into two sentences."

Beneath the full holographic projection of the communicator, a subtle arc sways back and forth, and Erin’s voice babbles from off-screen: "Hey, hey, Ironclad Expression, your expression has changed a lot today! You’re not in the office? What’s your background, looks amazing... Is that a Boundary Land spaceship? Are you off-duty today?"

"I’m not Ironclad Expression..." Baili Qing instinctively responds, then vigorously rubs her face, instantly reverting to her usual stern and unsmiling demeanor, "I’m currently on Meira IX, a main fleet from the Boundary Land is stationed here. We’re waiting here for your signal to light up the beacon of the Dark Meteor Domain—besides, we’ve already contacted through the ship’s communications station, Erin what’s surprising?"

"How could she know? She’s always muddled," Yu Sheng waves his hand within the holographic projection, "Anyway, I’ve got that Star Gate under control for now—not fully taken over, you can understand it as maintaining a state of ’holding the handle but not pushing open,’ to prevent them from noticing prematurely. Once we infiltrate the Saint Realm, I’ll ’broadcast’ the Star Gate to you..."

"However, I’m not sure where ’Meira-IX’ is. I can only open the gate at places I’m familiar with, so you’ll need to move the fleet to a suitable coordinate—how about the high orbit of Shuji?"

Baili Qing, looking serious, quickly ponders and says: "Though Shuji is your ’territory,’ it still resides within the Feiyu Star Domain, and fleet entry for both countries is no trivial matter. This might require direct communication between the Council and Taixu Spirit Hub in terms of time..."

"You don’t have to worry about that; I’ve already communicated with Taixu Spirit Hub," Yu Sheng swiftly says, "You jump in from the Star Gate at ’Yao Lu,’ which is situated between Algerde and Feiyu Star Domain, 1.2 light-years from Shuji. After you jump in, go straight to the ’Gate’ on the high orbit of Shuji without stopping, this route will remain open throughout the operation."

Baili Qing finally can’t help but raise an eyebrow: "...Such matters can’t be arranged in just a few words. When did you do the communication?"

"I approached Yuanling the time the Inference Star Body almost crashed onto Taixu Spirit Hub," Yu Sheng says with a brilliant smile, "I told him I have a score to settle with the Hidden Monastery, might need to borrow a lot of manpower—just now, I told them the time has come and it was decided."

Baili Qing’s eyes subtly change a bit. Even across the holographic projection, Yu Sheng can’t determine what’s hidden within her micro expressions at the moment—appearing slightly surprised, somewhat contemplative, but mostly with an indefinable color of deep thought.

After two or three seconds, she gently nods: "Alright, since that’s the case, then I’m relieved."

"Mm," Yu Sheng follows with a slight nod, "At that time, we’ll start the operation simultaneously. We’ll look for the Gate of Eden in the Saint Realm; you’ll pressure the Hidden Monastery at the border to divert their attention. But before we release further information, don’t recklessly delve too deep to avoid those cultists getting desperate, and also because the ’Shadowless Skeleton’ situation makes me uneasy. Ensuring the elimination of that gate and the Dark Angel is crucial to prevent unexpected changes in the situation."

Baili Qing doesn’t waste words: "Alright, the Boundary Land can cooperate with your operation—after securing the border Star Gate, we’ll wait for your updates."

"The garrison at that Star Gate shouldn’t pose much of a threat to you, but be cautious of that ’Living Saint,’" Yu Sheng mused, unable to resist giving a few more words of advice, "We are currently only initially suspecting that thing might have been ’created’ by Shadowless Skeletons, but we severely lack specific information. Theoretically, the Angel Derivative shouldn’t be as invincible as a real Dark Angel, but I’m just worried it has some troublesome ’mechanisms’..."

He paused at this point, then added, "I did have a fight with that thing, but unfortunately couldn’t find out much. Now, I don’t even know where it’s gone — to avoid exposure, I can’t probe further, so you’ll have to be more vigilant yourselves."

"Understood, but no need to worry. Boundary Land often faces all sorts of strange and tricky enemies. We are more adept at dealing with such ’powerful lone soldiers’ than other forces, and are not afraid of their decapitation tactics."

"That’s good," Yu Sheng said, suddenly as if recalling something, "By the way, how much does your Special Service Bureau know about the ’Living Saint’?"

"The Living Saint, huh..." Baili Qing slowly started to say thoughtfully, "Previously, the Special Service Bureau did hear this name through some special channels, but the information we gathered is extremely scarce and chaotic. We only know that they are the pinnacle force of the Hidden Monastery, but seemingly never leave their home to execute missions. Most of the information comes from the occasional capture of Hidden Monastery Sect members — they sometimes curse people of different beliefs in the name of the Living Saint."

"That’s all...? Well, we’ll figure it out eventually," Yu Sheng said, gently exhaling, "For now, we’ll find a place to keep hiding, and wait for that Dark Star Cruiser transporting the Angel Catalyst to arrive at the Saint Realm."

Under the holographic projection, a small golden arc in front of Yu Sheng sprung up again, wobbling at the edge of the frame as Erin’s voice sounded: "Goodbye, Ironclad Expression!"

Then, even before Baili Qing could respond, the communicator was switched off.

"...I’m not Ironclad Expression."

Baili Qing’s mouth seemed to twitch by two pixels as she whispered at the now-dark holographic projection.

Then she sensed a "gaze" from beside her.

Turning her head, wearing a white long dress, with long hair trailing on the ground and eyes tightly shut, Hong was standing beside her, with a faint smile on her face.

Baili Qing felt somewhat uncomfortable — after all, she was always the one "staring at" everyone else, and there were only a few people in the entire Boundary Land daring to meet her gaze. Yet, in front of this "Vampire" who never opened her eyes, that feeling of being watched wasn’t something she could ignore.

"What are you looking at?" She finally couldn’t help but ask.

"Interesting." Hong spoke unhurriedly.

"Interesting? What’s interesting?"

"The way you interact with them — not just with that ’Yu Sheng’, but also with that Puppet bouncing here and there off-screen, it’s all very intriguing," Hong’s smile seemed to widen, "I haven’t seen you go through so many facial expressions in such a short time for years. Sometimes I even think you hatched from the shell with a stiff face... not a very cute hatchling dragon."

Baili Qing took a deep breath.

"Don’t go modifying facts at will; you didn’t see what I looked like when I hatched — I was already in the young dragon stage when you guys fished me out!"

But Hong didn’t speak, just continued to "watch" her with a smile.

Baili Qing sighed in exasperation, opting to change the subject: "Let’s focus on the task at hand — the operation plan has changed, we don’t need to launch a frontal assault on the main Hidden Monastery border force, we’ll jump right into their defenses through the enemy’s Star Gate. Have you ever fought a battle like this?"

"No, but it sounds like it’ll be fun," Hong said unhurriedly, "The abilities and style of that ’Angel Hunter’ gentleman... are truly beyond imagination."

She turned and stepped toward an infinitely intersecting, mapping mirror surface that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Prepare to set off. Although we’ve controlled the Hidden Monastery’s Star Gate, there’s still quite a distance to Shuji, so let’s not have our fleet delay the entire operation."