The Cloud Brawler 7 - (Pre-Honkai Star Rail, MartialArtist!SI)
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After a 'grace period' I claimed at the end of my long mission, it was time to get back to business.
The killing of Shuhu was indeed big news, but it didn't mean that the Abudance Loyalists were just going to vanish. Shuhu was an anchor for Yaoshi's will, and yet he wasn't her only method to claim new servants. Which in turn meant that I was bound to be set out for more battles.
Considering my feats and the praise levied by the Arbiter-Generals of both the Luofu and Yuque, it was fair to say that I was promoted as the leading officer for the defense of Thalassa.
Thalassa was not truly a 'Xianzhou Alliance' planet, but it was a 'continuation' to part of the main fleet. It was where the Xianzhou Daiyu made a crashlanding, and where the locals had long taken in the Xianzhou Culture as a new source of planetwide identity.
Despite differences in regard to language and degrees of governance, Thalassa was still willing to bow its head to the Xianzhou Alliance's leadership and claim a role of autonomous region within the Alliance. It was that one 'exception' that pretty much turned the Xianzhou into something more than just this universe's version of the Quarians.
And while Thalassa had hardly experienced any trouble due to its peculiar geographical situation and its limited strategic importance, that didn't stop the Borisins from launching an invasion of the planet and, as expected, struggle to make much of a progress against the locals.
One thing that should be also brought up is that the locals were 'fish-men'. While some still dealt with trade with descendants of the Daiyu's disaster by the few islands present in the sea-planet, a large majority tended to be 'biologically isolated' due to their natural growth impairing their capacity to visit the land.
With their lungs expected to shrink and for gills to grow more prominent to handle the deeper waters, the people of the Insoumousu were by far those that had kept a strong relations with the Xianzhou and had broken from the ranks of the other tribes in the planet to secure assistance in pushing back the Borisins.
Our arrival was soon met with mixed reactions.
The older folks were the least enthused to rely on the Xianzhou, where the younger generations saw this sudden reinforcement with hopeful eyes and voices. It goes without a saying that I was quick to set up regulations over the volunteer conscription from the locals.
It was a necessity to acquire soldiers that were accustomed to the peculiar nature of Thalassa, but I knew better than overextend our already stretched-out supplies. Our supply lines with the nearest flagship were also limited so... yes, this was by far a tense affair. Which is why I was there to handle this problematic mission as smoothly as possible.
The mission was not going to last years, but a couple of months and... I shouldn't be worrying over Baiheng's own whining since she was off to explore a planet she had been 'looking forward to fully conquer with her notes'. So yes, things were going to be quite tame in a while at home, so I didn't need to worry over any panicked calls from the Foxian.
But where I could handle just fine the external issues, no one had told me that I would also have a couple of problematic Cloud Knights to be concerned about. It wasn't a secret that several people in the Knights were keen to keep their private life unmentioned to their workplace, and while it was their prerogative to enjoy that sort of privacy... there was a genuine push to have some of those people open up for potential issues.
Such as the one I was made aware of by an unplanned visit from one Shen Bao.
I was doing some basic pushups with reinforced weights when I allowed the young woman to enter my office. She had short white hair and dark pink eyes. Her built was not meant for the frontline so... a scout, or maybe a medic? No, a quick look into her life force remarked a reinforced core meant for... unpleasant sights.
A Warden. One that saw but hardly 'acted upon' those actions.
"Lord Chen, I was told that- O-oh," The woman paused, realizing that I was a bit busy. "M-My apologies, I wasn't aware you were busy."
"It's alright, I was almost done with the exercises anyway," I mumbled, finishing on the spot and walking up to my desk. "Introduce yourself please and tell me what brings you to my attention."
"I am Shen Bao, Lord Chen. I am... an officer for the Detention Sect."
I nodded. "Nice to meet you, but I can see that this meeting has little to do with your assignments."
She paused, then frowned. "W-What?"
"I have a tendency to look into people's lifeforce, and something is troubling you- nothing about work but... personal, important. What is it?"
"I..." Bao paused, biting her lower lip for a moment then closing her eyes for a little longer. "I wish to lodge a complaint over a member of the Interrogation Sect."
I blinked. "Who?"
"S-Shen Zhenxi."
...
"Your sister-"
"I understand it's an unprecedented move, but yes."
I frowned, spotting a growing sense of guilt as Bao continued to talk. I wasn't sure what was going on, but I provided a slow nod.
"And what is the purpose of this complaint."
"She had recently requested to be made part of a more active group by the frontlines against the Borisins. I believe that her mental health is far from... stable."
...
"Elaborate."
"She..." Bao closed her eyes again. "Sir, my sister has gone over a tumultuous period due to her troubled divination. Zhengxi is- she is not a troubled individual, but I have a strong reason to believe she is not in the right state of mind to avoid danger if she is put through a particular situation."
...
Suicidal. The girl was suicidal. And I was very confused by a tiny detail in this whole thing.
"And this request, has it been approved?"
Bao was tense over the next few words. "Yes, she was granted permission."
I leaned back on my chair and I frowned at the short-haired woman.
"Dismissed. I will see this matter solved at once."
She was tense, but nodded and left without further speaking. I could tell she had much to ask and 'ask' in regard on what to do with her sister but... that wasn't my concern. The girl in question should have not been given this assignment to begin with, and I couldn't help but smell foul play at work.
I looked into Shen Zhengxi's superior, and I found out that there were some irregularities. Which is why I called him to my office, grilled him a bit, established an investigation over his latest decisions and then proceeded to haul him home for further check-ups.
That should have solved the overall situation as far as I was concerned but... I was then notified of a brawl by the barracks. One that urged me to give a look on the two main instigators of said conflict.
Bao had a most ashamed look, while Zhengxi, who looked quite similar to her sister in terms of hair and facial traits, but held gray eyes and long hair, had a most sour expression.
"So, instead of inquiring over the reasoning I had for rescinding that permission, you decided it was fine to assault a fellow member of the Cloud Knights."
"S-She had no right to reach out to you. A decision was taken-"
"By someone with questionable leadership issues and that is currently being investigated for other similar cases such as yours," I interrupted the younger sister. "Alas, your current mood is proof you are currently struggling with something worrisome."
She went tense and stiff, eyes narrowed at me as I said that. "I am fine."
"You are unbalanced," I argued, my words cutting into her attempt to appear annoyed and 'unsuspecting'. Her eyes widened at my specific wording, but I wasn't done talking. "I can sense that your spiritual core is outright split. I have never seen someone able to accomplish something so... dangerous."
"...What?" Bao asked with muted shock. "S-Sir, what does that mean?"
I turned to her. "Your sister has a knack for divination. I am sure she told you this much," I said, briefly pausing as I got a nod from the short-haired girl. "Well, Divination still is a risky subject due to the fact one can easily lost their individualism. And your sister went to that extreme a few times."
I turned to the other beds in the infirmary as the healers tended to the injured from the latest raids against the Borisins.
"If someone is hurt physically, there's a cure to it. Same for one's mind- the issue comes when the damage to the mind is a secondary issue: when a spirit is damaged, the chances of recovery decline the more one keeps on trying to break that line. Your sister is doing this frequently, and she seems to not be catching on the issues about it."
"..."
"Z-Zhengxi?" Bao turned to her sister. "Is... is this true?"
...
"I-I am sorry."
"Sorry will hardly patch it," I hummed dryly, walking closer to the long-haired girl. "In fact, I can give it a try to stabilize it but... you will take medications to suppress your divination unless for limited training."
She went stiff again, but Zhengxi nodded under the pressure exerted by her sister's worried eyes.
"...Yes."
I nodded, lifting a hand to her forehead and... reaching out. It was the first time I tried something of the kind, but the feat was less monumental than one would think. Feeling her spirit was easy, even more as I was touching her forehead. She went stiff as I made 'first contact', but she was still as I slowly coerced the fragments back in place and had it slowly heal up enough to be somewhat whole.
As I was done, Zhengxi shuddered and her eyes shot open. She appeared more active and vigilant, her eyes aimed at her palms as she clutched then close and then opened them.
"When a spirit is damaged, the connection between mind and body deteriorates. By healing your spirit, you regained proper focus, so you will feel more through your senses. Take your time to grow accustomed to those once more," I explained at the perplexed young sister while I turned to her sibling. "Still, your punishment, Bao, is to be one of the minders for your sister to make sure she goes through the order I provided. I will select a trustworthy second minder to act as an objective and impartial element but... I expect you to do your job right."
"Y-Yes sir."
That was it.
A rather unusual way to occupy my mind, but it also helped to keep the troops well-organized and without leaving me any surprises about internal infighting in the long run.
I just didn't expect this to lead the Shen siblings to get interested to tag along for more adventures wiht me around.
AN
Introducing Shen Bao (Xueyi) and Zhengxi (Hanya), the founders of the 'Li Chen Fan Club'.