"You said... you're going on a business trip?"
Ah Qing sucked in a breath of cold air and looked at the little fox to ask.
Momo and Lingren, who were lying on the bed, also stuck their heads out like spiders peeking, silently poking out a head each, ears pricked high, gossiping about the little fox.
"The Security Bureau said there's something that needs to be escorted over to Qiongzhou, so they asked me to go lend a hand, so the cargo doesn't go missing halfway."
Ansheng spoke to Ah Qing, repeating what Wang Qiqi had just said over the phone.
Old Li's research over there was done, and now, the best launch window for the rocket was the day after tomorrow. If they missed this window, the next best launch period might not be until somewhere around the twenties at the end of the month.
"Then... what do I need to pack for you? Do I need to get your ID card, phone, and cash ready?"
Ah Qing asked, a bit dazed.
The fox obviously didn't need a change of clothes, and bringing an ID card also felt a bit redundant.
The little fox said he was going on a business trip, but Ah Qing really had no idea what she was supposed to pack for him.
"Hmm... two cans of iced cola, three bags of chips, two packs of pork jerky, plus a pound of satay beef jerky. That should probably cover it. And charge my phone to full; I need it to scroll Notes while I'm on the train."
Ansheng thought for a bit and listed off the things he needed for the ride. At maglev speed, the trip would be about an hour and a half.
If he just sat there doing nothing, Ansheng felt like he'd die of boredom.
"..."
After listening to the little fox, everyone in the dorm showed a speechless expression.
The word "business trip" had originally sounded pretty formal, but after hearing the little fox's explanation, they all got it.
The little fox was basically going to a winter camp tomorrow, and because he was worried he'd get hungry on the way, he was prepping food, plus stuffing another two hundred into his backpack so he could buy snacks on the road.
......
By noon the next day, as soon as class ended, Ah Qing headed straight to the school supermarket to help the little fox pack his bag.
Wang Qiqi's navigator arrived right on schedule.
"Be careful on the road, don't go fighting Spirit Beasts. If the other side keeps pestering you, remember to call in backup."
Ah Qing put the packed bag into the car and looked at the little fox sitting in the front passenger seat, reminding him.
Spirit Beasts of the Physique Enhancement Type could be very strong, but as long as it was a fight, there was always a chance of getting hurt.
"Once you get to Qiongzhou, if you've got time, remember to bring back two geese from Qionghai. Make them into something tasty!" Momo grinned from ear to ear, hinting at the little fox with her eyes.
"...I'm going on a business trip, so why does it sound like, in your mouths, I've turned into a 'traveling Huhu'?"
Ansheng answered, agreeing to bring Momo some souvenirs, and to pack a few local coconuts as well.
Just from looking at Momo's expression, he could tell she was craving again.
"Master Fuli, have you ever been hurt in a fight?"
As Wang Qiqi drove out of the campus, she gave Master Fuli a strange look and asked.
Master Fuli's medical insurance card had been tossed at the Security Bureau all this time and he'd never come to pick it up.
If it hadn't been for Ah Qing mentioning the matter of getting hurt, Wang Qiqi would've almost forgotten about it.
"How could you not get hurt in a fight? Those Landlords of Longevity are always bruising my hands, and that King of the Universe too—one day I've got to buy a special notebook and carve all their names into it like a stone stele..." Ansheng said.
"Yeah, yeah..."
Wang Qiqi rolled her eyes, thinking she'd totally asked that for nothing. At the same time, she casually reached into Master Fuli's arms and pinched out a chip.
"Pff... wasabi flavor." Wang Qiqi pulled a bitter face at Master Fuli and complained, "Is this a flavor a fox is supposed to eat? Why aren't you eating barbecue flavor?"
"Here..."
Ansheng showed the chips in the bag. Besides the two bags of wasabi-flavored chips, there was also a bag of cucumber-flavored ones.
Wang Qiqi and the Golden Leopard both shook their heads hard at the sight.
They drove to Tie Chuan, where the transport convoy was already waiting in front of the Dragon Man Ruins.
Once Master Fuli arrived, the fully-prepped convoy roared onto the highway, hurrying out before the midday rush in the city.
After circling around Chang'an City once, the convoy entered the Qinling Ecological Protection Base and went through a passage hidden in the forest into the "Underground Expressway" tunnel.
"Triangular Hammer!"
While the logistics support team was transferring the big coffin, Ansheng called upstairs, asking Triangular Hammer to bring both the Gravity Hammer and the New Energy Warhammer down.
"Hm?"
When he saw Triangular Hammer coming down the stairs, Ansheng noticed it seemed a bit absent-minded.
"Gululu..."
Triangular Hammer brought the two big hammers over, then the whole sphere suddenly collapsed to the ground, spreading out into a pool of silver liquid, half-dead.
Ansheng: "......"
Bro, can you not do this? I haven't gone through what you have; I don't even know how to comfort you!
Triangular Hammer's biggest obsession was to ascend to the sky and return to its own tribe.
But with the Original Cell's return, the First Epoch had been officially declared completely wiped out. In Triangular Hammer's case, it was like its entire clan, young and old, had all been turned into placentas.
"Don't be so down. Look on the bright side—back then when your clansmen went to space, they never even took you..."
"Now they're all back, aren't they? Just... a bit smaller, that's all."
Ansheng thought for a moment and spoke to comfort Triangular Hammer. The Triangular Hammer wriggling on the ground froze, then suddenly started rippling with a "splash splash", crying out loud, just like Ah Qing, super loud.
"Sigh... poor old guy."
Ansheng put the two big hammers onto the spread-out body of Triangular Hammer, dragged it along with the hammers, and got into the car.
The First Epoch, which the King of the Universe could never let go of, ended up completely wiped out in the cosmos.
Its Dao heart hadn't shattered completely, but deep down, Triangular Hammer still didn't want to accept such an ending.
Its entire halberd was grieving; even its appetite wasn't what it used to be. It didn't even steal outdoor AC units anymore.
The maglev train departed, running nonstop straight south to the ferry port. The Security Bureaus of the two provinces handed off the escort in sequence, getting the coffin isolating the Spiritual Particles to the launch center, working until night.
"There shouldn't be anything else I need to do here, right?" Ansheng yawned and asked Li Wenkang.
He didn't know if it was because the coffin was sealed too well, or because the previous annihilation of the black fungal giant tree had severely injured the fungus network, but throughout the escort of the coffin, there hadn't been any attacks at all.
Ansheng had been eating snacks the whole time and had almost stuffed himself.
"The mission's actually over at this point. There's no way any enemy could break into the launch center. But I have to stay here and watch it fly into the sky."
Li Wenkang responded, indicating that if Master Fuli had anything to do, he could go right ahead and didn't need to bother with matters at the rocket launch center.
The defensive forces here were already maxed out. He was only staying to verify some follow-up experiment results.
"Alright then, I'll head over to Xia Dong first. There's a fish that's stretched its tentacles into my turf; I'm going to go slice it."
After greeting Li Wenkang, Ansheng took the prearranged private jet straight to Xia Dong and called Lin Ying, asking her to come pick him up.
When the plane landed at the airline's facility, Ansheng didn't get off immediately. He kept sitting on the sofa, face slack, watching Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. The stewardess beside him was all smiles as she served Young Master Fuli.
With no one accompanying Ansheng on this trip, he was basically being fully entrusted to the cabin crew.
Before Lin Ying came, the flight attendants didn't dare let Master Fuli run around all over the airline grounds.
Those shuttle cars and coaches never watched where they were going. If they bumped into and hurt Master Fuli, this special lifetime member...
Their boss could go redline in rage and perform a live big-head-split trick on them.
"Hm?"
While he was waiting for Lin Ying, another small private jet slowly taxied into the apron. Ansheng had only glanced casually, but when he saw the mutated serpent-staff emblem on the fuselage, his expression froze.
The serpent staff was marked with an infinity loop, tentacles, and a one-stroke eye.
He'd seen this emblem before—it belonged to the "Miracle of Life Group" led by Unos.
Under Ansheng's gaze, Unos, wrapped in a woman's skin, walked out of the plane, and behind it followed Lu Tiannan, whose two heads were busy cursing each other.
"Hm?"
Sensing something, Unos turned its head toward the plane parked to the side and saw the fox head in the porthole.
"Why is Fuli here?"
Seeing Master Fuli, Unos also stopped in his tracks, stunned on the spot.