Chapter 59: Chapter Fifty‑Seven Still Young

Again boarding the Two Worlds Safety Bureau's hovercar, Aomo gazed out the window at the city, his eyes somewhat absentminded.

He was reviewing his past experiences.

The arrangements being made were as expected—whatever crisis PR, whatever temporary stationing of the Safety Bureau, whatever full checkup, all were predictable procedures, which he accepted with peace of mind, until the so‑called 'Juanzhang summons'——

——the Juanzhang of Heaven Gate City's Two Worlds Safety Bureau, a veteran of long service and an old soldier.

Together with the Mayor, he witnessed the development of Heaven Gate City as a transmigrator, and was even recognized as Heaven Gate City's former strongest.

Dong·Stallien, whose race shares traits with the horse girls, yet is male; in the past, Aomo hearing the race name 'Kulanta' would not have paid it much heed.

But now Aomo could draw from that 'nonexistent memory' the land knowledge of Nakasimier.

The ancient land where knight culture has been passed down—compared to traditional knights, the sport knights risen with commercial development better fit the positioning of 'Tomorrow's Star'.

Mayor Dong·Stallien is a Warrior Knight, a fact Aomo had looked up in detail not long ago.

Warrior Knight, fitting the traditional knight concept—not turning martial arts into performance or display, but charging across the battlefield to defend home and country.

With such a past, it's no wonder he could, after transmigrating here, help the Mayor develop Heaven Gate City from a colonial town to its present scale.

Merely sixty years have passed, and this Juanzhang is already at least eighty years old.

Although this universe possesses many life‑extending and even immortality methods, his aged appearance clearly shows he chose to go with the flow of time.

Facing such a person, Aomo restrained his gaze and thoughts as much as possible.

An accident like Bianqin Caroline's is exceedingly rare; many older folks accumulate countless experiences and overly complex information, and rashly delving into investigation would only land them in trouble.

Moreover, to speculate recklessly about this matter is itself an offense.

However, the first impression conveyed by the elder's gaze was kindness.

Quite nostalgic, it reminded Aomo of that welfare home in the Demon Realm District.

"Nice to meet you, Juanzhang."

In terms of address and greeting, Aomo chose the most conservative and simple approach, skipping the unnecessary self‑introduction.

"Hello, Aomo Lindun," the old man, having no objection to the address, chuckled and rose from the desk, "No need to be so formal; I just wanted to see in person the youngster who saved Heaven Gate City."

"You're joking; Heaven Gate City isn't fragile—I merely saved some time and loss."

"It's actually your invitation, Juanzhang, that makes me feel somewhat honored."

"Your performance already stands out among your peers; the so‑called feeling of being honored lacks a bit of sincerity," the old man, his dark‑brown eyes meeting Aomo's composed demeanor, expressed satisfaction, "Your condition is even better than I imagined, but from your attitude during the statement I assumed you'd keep your distance from this affair."

Is this... meant to get straight to the point?

Although somewhat hasty and sudden, it exactly suited Aomo's wishes.

After all, he also wanted to settle the matter early, before any other issues cropped up——

——the 'fast‑paced life' of the past few days in Heaven Gate City has indeed cast a shadow over him.

So he spoke plainly: "Initially, reason supported keeping one's distance, but if the matter drags on, keeping one's distance becomes unreasonable."

"I see," the elder nodded, "Then aside from giving my support, there's nothing else I can say—do you have any questions?"

"Anything you want to ask?"

Aomo was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected to still have a chance to question the Juanzhang.

As a newcomer, he naturally had many questions, but most of them would be a waste of this opportunity.

So he pondered a moment, then said: "I've heard Heaven Gate City has a defensive measure called the Pseudo Meta Territory…"

That isn't even a full question—just half a sentence—but Aomo didn't intend to finish it, and the Juanzhang's smile froze at those words, which made Aomo's heart skip a beat.

It seems it really exists, and moreover it's hard to talk about—can we switch questions now? Why worry about not wasting the opportunity? Isn't this directly giving myself a chance to ask a big question?!

Aomo lamented his subconscious urge not to lose out, and hurriedly tried to make amends:

"Ju..." "That's really a precise question……"

"No way, I was just about to switch questions!"

Having mustered courage at top speed to change his wording, Aomo was met with the Juanzhang's remark, instantly leaving him a bit stiff: "If it's inconvenient to answer, it's fine to skip it."

He replied at a speed that could omit commas, truly a great effort; this reaction left the elder speechless, then bursting into laughter.

"Indeed, one could also say it's inconvenient to answer, but if you could guarantee secrecy——" "I can't guarantee it; just treat it as if I hadn't asked."

"That doesn't count as you having said it."

From Aomo's two obvious displays of nature, the elder fully grasped the boy's sharpness and timidity—how can a youngster be afraid of things?

He pointed to the lit screen on the table: "I want to ask it: can this person, Aomo Lindun, keep this matter sealed tight?"

The screen was merely a plain monitor, the empty desktop holding only two rows of shortcuts, looking quite ordinary.

But after the Juanzhang spoke those words, Aomo saw the screen suddenly pop up with a most upright affirmative symbol.

This...... is a highly analytical intelligent AI?

This was Aomo's first impression.

As the Juanzhang of the Two Worlds Safety Bureau, having such an AI secretary would be quite normal—provided it really is an AI secretary.

Aomo knew this very well.

Even if, since entering the Two Worlds Safety Bureau, he had been under AI observation, that AI would not dare give a definite answer, because people are ever‑changing; for an AI to affirm a person it must gather massive data for computation, and even though Heaven Gate City is part of the Holy Terra Federation, interstellar intelligence gathering still requires layered review, involving no small amount of human work.

Moreover... moreover, how could all these procedures be set in motion just because of one sentence of mine!

Is this in the river?

No, it's not in the river!

What could be in the river are only two kinds.

One possibility is that I've always been in the Juanzhang's calculations, with all formalities prepared in advance, waiting for my question so he can follow up—this scenario feels far from the old man before me, and Aomo intuitively doesn't buy it.

But to speak of another possibility......

Looking at the answer on the screen, Aomo turned his head to the old man, also not wanting to accept the second possibility.

"...... I think this certainly isn't the Heart of Terra, right?"

Being able to disregard all regulations and restrictions, even a sub-node can descend at any time onto any territory reached by the Holy Terra Federation network; compared to the Heart of Terra's excessive grasp on civilization, Aomo's control of information over the horse girls is trivial.

Moreover, with the old man's position and authority, it is not impossible to summon the aid of a Heart of Terra sub-node.

But he is past the age of fervently believing himself to be the chosen one, making it hard to believe that the Heart of Terra... even if only a sub-node spokesperson, would appear before him.

But the old man merely looked at him, smiling without speaking, making it hard for him to utter again, 'Surely that's not right, is it?'