A Reply

A strong tremor spread throughout Heian-kyo. Both humans and Yokai were startled by the sudden, intense shaking, scrambling to find safe places to hide from the earthquake. However, they soon realized the tremor was just a single jolt, and the earth quickly returned to calm.

"Look, what's that in the sky!" Suddenly, someone on the street exclaimed, drawing everyone's gaze upwards. Many of them simultaneously saw a black dot shooting straight into the sky at high speed, quickly vanishing into the endless heights. Many who reacted slowly didn't see it at all.

"What... what exactly has that guy been doing lately?" Inside the Fujiwara Residence, Fujiwara no Mokou looked at the sky, her lips twitching slightly. It was clear she could guess who was responsible for such a commotion.

On the other side, within the Minamoto Residence, Minamoto no Yorimitsu gazed silently at the vast sky.

"Seimei? What do you think lies at the highest point of the sky? Is it the Celestial Realm of the gods?" On the Astronomical Pavilion of the Onmyoryo, Yura asked in a deep voice, looking at the boundless sky. Abe no Seimei, standing beside him, provided an answer.

"The highest point of the sky is where the sun, moon, and stars reside. It is not a place that we mortals can reach at present..."

...

The space station, reinforced with countless external structures, shot straight into the sky with unparalleled force, breaking through the clouds and piercing into the tens of thousands of meters high. As the air gradually thinned, the curvature of the earth began to appear, the sky's color darkened, and the space station's ascent speed slowly decreased.

Finally, after surpassing a certain critical point, the earth's gravitational pull could no longer drag the space station back down. Simultaneously, the space station itself began to transform.

Following a series of minor explosions, half of the reinforced external structures on the space station's exterior detached. Then, several thrusters opened at the rear of the space station, and the propulsion they emitted began to counteract the residual potential energy still pushing the space station out of the earth's atmosphere. Once the space station gradually stabilized in outer space, more thrusters opened along its various axes, firing in a rhythmic sequence to incrementally propel the space station into its predetermined orbit.

After an unknown period, the space station finally achieved orbit. It settled into a relatively stationary low-earth orbit above the Japanese archipelago. A series of detection, communication, and energy devices unfolded and resumed operation. After many days, this space station, originating from the Lunar Capital, had finally returned to its rightful place.

...

"All data is normal... Lady Uka, Master, we succeeded!"

In a room filled with various strange instruments within the Inari Secret Realm on the ground, Watatsuki no Toyohime happily announced, looking at the data on the main screen. Immediately, the entire room erupted in applause from the moon rabbits who had participated in the repair and launch mission.

This was the temporary launch command center established within the Inari Secret Realm. Due to Miketsu's launch method, manned flight was impossible; a person would experience an unbearable number of G-forces from the acceleration. Therefore, for safety, Miketsu decided this launch would be unmanned.

To prepare for the unmanned launch, Eirin had implemented a series of remote-control modifications during the space station's repair. She removed some unnecessary instruments from the space station and, with Ichimokuren's assistance, created this ground control center to remotely manage operations such as orbital insertion.

"Hmph... Although the method was reckless, it finally ascended safely. It seems my calculations were correct after all." Eirin said with a sigh of relief, hands on her hips. She was effectively the chief commander and lead engineer for this repair and launch operation, also responsible for massive calculations. Though she had lost her godhead, she was still worthy of being the former God of Wisdom.

"Such an enormous object was actually sent beyond the heavens; it's truly astonishing..." Ichimokuren remarked, standing to the side. As the God of Forging, who had previously only forged various cold weapons and divine artifacts, he was greatly shocked by the high-tech he had encountered in recent days.

"Or perhaps... the very existence of this Eye Beyond the Heavens is beyond imagination. Lady Eirin, has your Lunar Capital truly developed such technology?"

"Not all of it was developed by us, you know. A large part of the Lunar Capital's rapid progress comes from archaeological excavations of the previous lunar civilization. Many technologies have been recreated through research into their documents and residual ruins," Eirin continued with a smile. Without the remnants of the previous lunar civilization, the Lunar Capital's technology could not have advanced so quickly.

"Of course, advanced as it is, even such transcendent technology is useless against a certain unreasonably powerful being," Eirin said, glancing sideways at Miketsu, who was currently watching the holographic projection with satisfaction.

"Alright! Everyone has worked hard! Today's mission was a complete success. To reward you all, I've prepared a grand feast for tonight. After a good gathering and rest, we'll begin the next phase of the mission!"

Miketsu clapped her hands and shouted loudly to everyone present, who responded with cheers. In this launch operation, besides serving as the administrative leader, she was also the primary power source.

Now, the launch mission was largely complete, but there was one final, crucial piece of concluding work: sending the moon rabbits, who would serve as staff, up to the station. After all, with such a large space station, it was impossible to remotely control all functions, especially the Star-Punishment Heavenly Fire Bow, which required many moon rabbits to operate collectively.

The solution to this problem was quite simple: Miketsu and her team had already etched magical arrays as teleportation coordinates onto the space station beforehand. Afterwards, Watatsuki no Toyohime, whose abilities had begun to recover, would gradually send the moon rabbits up. Miketsu planned to address this remaining task after the celebration feast.

Just as Miketsu was about to head to the kitchen to check on the foxes preparing the banquet, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Her brows furrowed as if she sensed something. After quickly checking herself, she realized it was Harumutsu, the little fox left at Moriya Shrine, transmitting a message to her.

'Kaki finally found Kanako and Suwako, then?' Miketsu thought. Before this, she had asked Kaki to search for Kanako and Suwako outside, as she needed to ask Suwako about Chang'e.

Miketsu quickly left the control center and went to her study. She spread out a blank sheet of paper, poured ink, and made the transmitted message appear on the paper. Then she picked it up to read, and at the very beginning, Miketsu froze.

"Something terrible has happened! Lady Uka, Lady Kanako and Lady Suwako have disappeared!"