'Jingliu' glanced around.
She watched as the Xianzhou natives began to recall their fleet and clear the battlefield.
The Rangers, one by one, started their evacuation.
In comparison, the Land of Light's performance in this battle seemed rather ordinary.
The fight ended before they even had a chance to combine into a single, giant Ultra.
But then...
"Why did the bugs born from the Giant of Light's head end up getting tamed by them directly?"
'Jingliu's expression was subtle as she looked at the swarm of insects, so out of place with the rest of the bug horde.
Could the infectivity of the Seeds of Light really permeate even memories?
Even she, their creator, hadn't anticipated that.
'Jingliu' promptly wrote off this entire batch of bugs, letting them follow the Land of Light wherever they went.
The Xianzhou side managed to keep their losses surprisingly low this time.
Probably because there weren't any Abundance fanatics charging in to start gnawing on them.
Many of the severely wounded could still be saved.
Even the Grand Diviner of the Yuque and the Yaoqing General, who were supposed to die in this battle, were now hale and hearty.
'Jingliu' searched around a bit and actually spotted Feixiao's figure.
But that Moon Rage thing...wasn't really appropriate to treat in her current identity.
Maybe next time, if there's a chance.
'Jingliu' dismissed the Lightning Lord.
Watching the Xianzhou Alliance take the initiative to corral the scattered Heliobi, she raised her palm. A clear, spherical crystal materialized in its center, pulling in ambient memoria from all directions.
The flowing memoria enveloped the entire swarm.
The sky-darkening horde of insects flapped their wings in unison, shrieking as they rushed toward 'Jingliu's' palm.
Hundreds of millions of them, even the Swarm King, all melted into that Memoria Crystal.
This tiny Memoria world contained the entire swarm.
The swarm's mark surfaced on the crystal's face.
This horde, born from the intersection of memory and propagation, would become an army belonging solely to 'Jingliu'.
And just then, a ship from the Galaxy Rangers drew near.
A familiar figure stood in the hatchway, waving at 'Jingliu'.
"La Mancha? You're still alive?"
"Hey, what kind of talk is that?"
La Mancha looked much older, but at least he was still spirited.
"So? After you left, I organized the Rangers to go consult the Family. Pretty good results, right?"
"Impressive. I didn't think you guys could actually pull it off."
'Jingliu' had hoped for it, but never imagined the Rangers could summon a brand new Harmonic String. It was simply incredible.
"Haha, of course! For the justice of the universe, we had to make it work. Shame we couldn't finish off Celenova this time, either."
La Mancha puffed up with pride, showing off a little in front of 'Jingliu'.
He had the smug look of a student handing their teacher a perfect 150-point exam paper.
Then, he had to add a modest disclaimer at the end, saying he could've done better.
"So you guys also think Celenova isn't really dead, huh."
La Mancha nodded at her words, then pulled out something that made 'Jingliu's' eyes go wide.
"Countertemporal Shot?"
That thing looked almost identical to the game material.
"Yeah, right? You know about this?!"
La Mancha was startled by 'Jingliu's' reaction too.
This thing was pretty much their ace in the hole.
Forged from the embers of a dead Lord Ravager, infused with countless deaths, condensed through immense effort—a bullet representing the pinnacle of the Hunt.
It could chase its prey to the end of time, even reversing time itself to steal its life.
This bullet's guaranteed hit had a chance to directly kill an Emanator, or at least critically wound them.
The problem was, forget mass production, they couldn't even make a few more.
And firing it was beyond most people's capabilities.
So this bullet had become more of a souvenir for La Mancha.
Though similar in principle to the Rangers' Rallying Arrow, it was on a completely different level.
Given the materials needed to make it, the Rangers weren't rich enough to use Countertemporal Shots as signal flares.
If they were that wealthy, they wouldn't have needed her help hunting down Zulo.
Just shove two of these into his chest, and he'd be dead for sure.
"Forgive me for using Zulo's embers without your permission."
La Mancha apologized sincerely, then continued:
"Based on our intel, a Lord Ravager's death leaves behind special embers. But as you saw, nothing was left where Celenova died."
"...Is that how you see it?"
'Jingliu' nodded slightly.
La Mancha nodded back: "We've killed Celenova's avatars before, but none of them fully died. This last one, though, was the strongest I've ever faced."
"I see."
'Jingliu' was noncommittal.
She knew about Celenova's avatar ability, but how far it could be developed, only Celenova herself knew.
And ultimately, from the perspective of Harmony, was there really a difference between the main body and avatars?
Probably just stronger and weaker bodies.
It was hard to say what state Celenova was in now.
Come to think of it, when she herself was pretending to be Celenova, why didn't she think of using it like that?
If she'd prepped a bit, she wouldn't have had to hobble around with a broken arm.
Guess it wasn't her own body, so she lacked the drive to fully explore its abilities.
She was pondering this when La Mancha suddenly reached out and offered her the Countertemporal Shot.
"?"
"This bullet, I want to return it to you on behalf of the Galaxy Rangers. After all, without your leadership back then, we'd never have taken down Zulo. Please accept this long-overdue thanks."
La Mancha spoke sincerely, but honestly, rather than the Countertemporal Shot, she'd rather he gave her a couple of Rallying Arrows.
"...I don't have much use for this. Better if you Rangers keep it. If you really want to thank me, a Rallying Arrow would do."
But La Mancha shook his head seriously: "No, the Rallying Arrow is different. Each one represents a Ranger's will. As their leader, I can't allow those wills to become ornaments on a shelf. For us, a bullet symbolizing an enemy's death should be the souvenir."
"Besides, the raw material for this bullet was hunted by both the Rangers and you. It truly represents the friendship between us."
'Jingliu' blinked at his words.
How to put it.
She could feel La Mancha's conviction.
More than the transfer of power, he couldn't bear the thought of the will of the Hunt being displayed as a mere collectible.
"When you put it that way, how can I refuse..."
'Jingliu' shook her head helplessly, then reached out and took the bullet, brimming with immense power.
"Would you mind if the Geniuses studied this Countertemporal Shot?"
La Mancha was momentarily stunned, then remembered her connection to the Geniuses.
"Of course not. If it can still be useful, it'd be an honor."
La Mancha smiled, bowing to 'Jingliu'.
Others would beg for the Geniuses to study their things; why would he refuse?
If the Geniuses could whip up a mass-producible special bullet, that would be a huge win.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL