Once they returned to BlueStar, Calico immediately leapt out of Rita's arms, trotting across the deck to inspect every inch of the Cat's Ideal.

When Rita asked, "Which world do you want to go to next?" the cat ignored her completely.

She didn't push. Instead, she went inside, set the table in the cabin with the dishes she'd practiced cooking, so that the wandering feline could eat whenever it got tired, and then opened the battlefield chat channel to catch up on the news.

The entire chat was flooded. Everyone was talking about the sudden change in invasion rules and the chain of invasions that followed.

The worlds currently under attack were silent—their players clearly too busy dealing with war to talk.

But from the chat spam, it wasn't hard to guess what was going on everywhere else.

[BlueStar·Rita]: The reason we gather here today—

Verdant–·Mojie: Is to celebrate—

Yet Orange·Pomango: The invasion rule update!

Blazing Flame·Wuker: Let's all just destroy everything together!!

Ridge Tea·Eight Steps: Praise the gods!!

Rita silently closed the chat window. Yeah, no. That was enough of that.

Assuming the cat had explored enough by now, she stepped out onto the deck again—and found Calico, wearing its little white-silver scarf, hammering away at the ship with a small toolbox.

"What are you doing?" she asked curiously.

"I'm doing maintenance," the cat replied matter-of-factly. "I'm a shipwright."

Then it turned, looking up at her with a straight face. "Vice-Captain, part-time shipwright."

Ah. So that's how her six vice-captains came to be.

She tried again. "So which world do you want to go to?"

"No rush," the cat answered, without looking back.

Rejected once again, Rita leaned against the railing, elbows resting loosely on it as the sea breeze tangled her long hair and the faint-blue threads of her magic robe. She watched the little cat move around, fixing this and that.

B8017913 drifted closer and started talking shop with Calico about mechanical functions and design.

It was the first time since returning from Card Swap that Rita had stopped doing anything—yet her mind refused to rest.

She couldn't stop wondering what Maple Syrup, Mistblade, and Wither Monarch were thinking right now.

Maybe it was petty, maybe it was weak—but she couldn't suppress the tiny, vicious thrill bubbling up in her chest.

Like Blazing Flame·Wuker said: Let's all just destroy everything together.

When the cat started tinkering with the same spot for the third time, Rita sensed an opening.

She asked casually, "How about this—why don't I consider you officially delivered to BlueStar? You can stay here for a while, play around, and when you feel like going to another world, I'll take you there myself."

Calico immediately stopped, neatly packing up its tools. "That works too," it said lightly.

The moment it agreed, the Cat's Ideal's interface flickered, and a new upgrade condition appeared at the bottom.

[Upgrade Requirement: Locate six wandering Sacred Cats and, according to their wishes, send them to new worlds. (Progress: 1/6)]

Rita smiled, genuinely pleased. "I thought you all liked traveling between worlds. Don't you get bored sticking with your Captain?"

Otherwise, the upgrade condition wouldn't have specifically required her to send them away. Even when she brought a vice-captain back to BlueStar, the system hadn't updated until the cat gave consent.

Calico shrank its toolbox down and tucked it into its scarf pocket. "You don't look like someone who actually wants me to stay and work."

In other words, her impatience to send it off had made it decide to linger instead.

Rita recalled that the Cat's Ideal had mentioned each vice-captain possessed a unique ability. She grew curious. "So what can you do?"

"I can keep the ship in a combat-ready state," Calico replied as it padded back toward the cabin. "I can restore the vessel's functions—and by extension, restore your combat efficiency. If you really plan to fight with this ship, I'd suggest finding the gunner, helmsman, and tactician."

So that was what the other vice-captains were for.

Rita asked, "If I manage to find all of you, what will the Cat's Ideal be capable of then?"

The cat flicked its tail. "Ask me again when you've upgraded it to the highest tier. Our strength depends on yours."

As Calico started happily meowing between bites of food, Rita stopped questioning and began quietly calculating how to track down the others.

And… maybe, just maybe, she could sneak a look at Lania Kaia.

According to the Invasion Sequence's rules, when a higher-tier world like Lania Kaia invaded a much lower-tier one like BlueStar, it was penalized and restricted—hence the slow progress. The same had happened when Lania Kaia invaded Forest Sea from the High Tower—it took years.

But if two worlds of similar rank fought each other, those restrictions didn't apply.

...

All of Lania Kaia's leaders gathered in Mistblade's palace.

They didn't have a choice. Though the Owlets and Moon Foxes often clashed, Maple Syrup, Pine Bloom, and Peach Crown had all insisted this meeting be held on Mistblade's territory.

Wither Monarch couldn't overrule her anyway. Under normal circumstances, he might have fought for command alongside Syntax, Mute, and Bone Shade, vying for control of the coming war.

Unfortunately, the Undead were in chaos. Bone Shade was still in a deep slump, Syntax and Mute had recently fallen out, and Wither Monarch was barely holding the faction together.

And as always, the other races were quietly delighted to see the Undead stumble.

Wither Monarch smiled politely at Mistblade and Maple Syrup before taking the seat beside the main throne.

Damn it, he thought. She still got the head chair.

Fat Goose leaned forward. "So what now? Do we pull the Deep-Sea Beast troops back?"

Raccoon frowned. "If the dungeon portals get completely reversed and BlueStar absorbs them, our connection will sever."

Fat Goose spread his hands. "Then how do you even fight an eight-star world?"

Raccoon sighed. "Their leaders are all level 200 by now."

"Just Dawn-Cicada alone could beat Bone Shade into orbit for three days straight," Fat Goose muttered.

At that, both of them fell silent, slowly turning their heads to find every other leader staring at them with flat, deadly expressions.

Bone Shade's gloom vanished instantly, replaced by murderous rage.

Fat Goose and Raccoon straightened, eyes blank, pretending to zone out and play dumb.

Maple Syrup finally withdrew her gaze and spoke first. "I don't agree to abandoning BlueStar. If she loses the wager, we can seize BlueStar immediately and claim a one-year truce."

Mistblade said coolly, "At least until the results are out, I won't agree to withdrawal either."

Wither Monarch nodded. "Right. In the next Divine Game, we—"

[Warning, warning! BlueStar's Judgment has descended! BlueStar's Judgment has descended!]

[Warning, warning! BlueStar's Judgment has descended! BlueStar's Judgment has descended!]

[Warning, warning! BlueStar's Judgment has descended! BlueStar's Judgment has descended!]

Every Lania Kaia leader: "..."

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