338: Chapter 338 A Plan for Procreation, and Personal Affection?

Lin Xiao lingered in the control room for a while longer.

The fusion of the two crystal cores was still ongoing; silver-white and deep blue light trails slowly converged within the grooves of the ceiling.

The rotation speed had dropped significantly from its initial high-speed orbit.

The two colors were no longer distinctly separated.

The countdown ticked steadily, and there were no abnormal energy fluctuations.

Confirming that there would be no explosions or similar incidents, Lin Xiao turned and left the control room.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw Jiang Wanwan waiting in the nearby meeting area.

She was holding a cup of freshly squeezed goji berry puree.

The deep red liquid swayed slightly in the glass cup.

Seeing Lin Xiao walk out of the control room, she immediately approached and handed him the cup.

Lin Xiao took the cup and examined it closely.

There were no juicers here, so the entire cup of goji berry puree had been painstakingly mashed by Jiang Wanwan by hand.

He downed the sweet and pungent liquid in one gulp, then said slowly, "I'm going to check on Car 09 in a bit. Want to come along?"

"Xiao Lin..." Jiang Wanwan wore a very helpless expression.

"You just went through a battle, and you're still very weak. Since you have the time, why not get some rest?"

"I want to rest too, but there's a group of people in Car 09 waiting for me to interrogate them."

Lin Xiao placed the empty cup on the table and continued, "But it's fine. With this cup of goji berry puree, my stamina has mostly recovered."

"Alright, then... I'll go with you."

Jiang Wanwan didn't try to persuade him further. She took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead and called out toward the corner of the stairs on the second floor, "Stop hiding, come down!"

Tian Xiwei and Wen Yiran poked their heads out from the stairwell.

Ranran's twin tails appeared above the stair railing before she did, followed closely by Tian Xiwei's slightly guilty-looking face.

"Brother Lin, we want to go see too..."

Wen Yiran raised her hand as she walked down the stairs, her tone filled with irrepressible curiosity, "I heard from Old Fan that some royals from the Heze Kingdom arrived? Royals, eh? I want to see what they look like..."

Tian Xiwei hesitated, "But what about the Train Bank..."

"We just finished a battle, and the passengers have a batch of new supplies they want to sell. We really can't leave the bank and the supply voucher exchange unattended."

Jiang Wanwan took over, her tone slightly serious, "Ranran, Xiao Tian, and I need to go over and keep an eye on things for a while."

Wen Yiran pouted slightly, clearly not wanting to deal with so many accounts.

"The volume of supplies will only get larger from now on. If you don't have enough hands, I can help you recruit some people."

Lin Xiao chuckled and led The three women out of the territory.

After leaving the Airlock and just arriving in the hallway, they ran into Jing Hua, who was chatting with Princess Xiyao.

A dozen or so female Merfolk Tribe warriors were scattered on the nearby public seats, holding food they had brought back from Xiao Ba's stall.

Some were gnawing on dried fish, while others were drinking coconut juice.

Traces of the battle against the Insect Swarm still remained on their armor, and their hair hadn't been combed, but their posture was very relaxed.

Jing Hua was the first to notice the footsteps; she stood up and saluted.

Seeing this, Princess Xiyao and the others also stood up.

Lin Xiao raised a hand to signal everyone to sit, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the Merfolk Tribe one by one.

"How were the casualties and gains from this battle?"

"A dozen people sacrificed..."

Jing Hua's tone was as calm as ever, but her words felt heavier than usual.

She paused, then continued, "They died in the siege by the Insect Swarm and those soldiers while covering the retreat of our kin."

"As for the gains, Chen Yan and we split them 30/70. Chen Yan's side has fewer people, so they only took 30 percent. The Merfolk Tribe contributed the most, so we took 70 percent."

"That's a reasonable split." Lin Xiao nodded.

Pearl Tear, who was sitting to the side, put down the pickled fish in her hand and looked up.

Her gaze darted between Jing Hua and Lin Xiao for a moment, then she suddenly spoke, "Lord Sovereign, allow me to speak frankly. There is a very realistic problem regarding the future of the Merfolk Tribe."

"Speak."

"The Merfolk Tribe who boarded the Astral Express are all female. How are we supposed to reproduce?"

Pearl Tear was very direct, without any shyness, "The Merfolk Tribe only have four hundred clansmen left, and today we lost a dozen more. There will definitely be more battles in the future. We can't just keep depleting our numbers without replenishing them, right?"

"Indeed, how should you reproduce?"

Lin Xiao said, his gaze shifting toward Jing Hua at the side.

This Merfolk Tribe commander's ears twitched, and she hurriedly turned her head away, pretending to look at the scenery outside the window.

Pearl Tear, beside her, continued on her own, "Actually, I already know."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the table froze.

Both Lin Xiao and Jing Hua's expressions changed repeatedly.

Princess Xiyao, who was sitting nearby, still had a smile on her lips, but her eyes were swirling with complex emotions.

"It's not what you think..." Jing Hua hurriedly explained.

Lin Xiao carefully weighed his words and said calmly, "Actually, this is a very normal thing. I had intended to tell you all later..."

"See?" Pearl Tear cast a knowing look at Jing Hua and then turned to Lin Xiao, "Lord Sovereign actually knew about it long ago!"

Looking at the expression on the Merfolk Tribe woman's face, Lin Xiao suddenly felt something wasn't quite right.

He dropped his crossed arms and his tone became a bit more cautious, "What should I... know?"

Pearl Tear tilted her head, scanned the confused expressions of everyone, and became confused herself, "Of course it's about Chao Yin. Aren't we talking about this?"

Chao Yin?

The confusion of three people popped out of their mouths simultaneously.

Princess Xiyao almost dropped her green coconut.

Jing Hua's usually steady purple pupils widened in a rare display of shock.

"You... don't know?"

Pearl Tear looked even more surprised than they were. She put the pickled fish back into the oil paper wrapper, rested her elbows on her knees, and prepared to tell the story in detail.

"Ever since we left the deep sea, Chao Yin has been getting very close to a human passenger."

"It's that Captain Fang Yuan, who works under Lord Sovereign."

"They coordinated with each other during battle, stayed together during shift patrols, and the night before last, someone saw them exchanging tokens of affection by the pool."

Exchanging tokens of affection? How could such a thing happen?

Lin Xiao coughed lightly and said seriously, "Could there be some misunderstanding? Because Fang Yuan already has a family, even though he is currently separated from his wife and children and they are unaware of each other's situation."

"There is no misunderstanding. I heard Chao Yin express her love to Fang Yuan with my own ears."

"Huh?" Lin Xiao sat up straight immediately.

Fang Yuan usually looks quiet and unassuming, but he actually pulled off something big behind the scenes!

I don't know what that kid is thinking. I'll have to ask him carefully later to avoid any awkward situations.

Pearl Tear took a bite of the pickled fish and replied indistinctly, "That's how we Merfolk Tribe are. When we meet someone we like, we take the initiative to express our feelings. This has been a custom since ancient times, regardless of gender."

"Oh, is that so?" Lin Xiao looked at Jing Hua.

This Merfolk Tribe commander was still pretending to look out the window.

But the pale purple, soft scales on the side of her neck were flapping at an extremely fast frequency.

That was the unique instinctive reaction of the Merfolk Tribe when experiencing emotional fluctuations, which contrasted sharply with her expressionless face at the moment.

Beside her, Princess Xiyao held the coconut in front of her face, her eyes peeking out from the edge of the coconut shell, her gaze darting back and forth between Jing Hua and Lin Xiao.