The battle was supposed to be simple. Marastrucks — big, loud, messy — were a thing Astral Express could handle. Dan Heng, Caelus, Welt, Himeko, Stelle, and March had fought dozens of them before.
Except… this time, apparently not.
The fight ended in chaotic noise, with explosions, distorted war-cries, and something—something sharp—striking Dan Heng. Nobody noticed. Not really. Not in the middle of dodging plasma bolts.
They went back to the Astral Express. They were tired. They didn’t think much of it.
Until morning.
The Morning Surprise
The first thing Caelus noticed was the silence. Too quiet. Welt was making pancakes, March was fiddling with something dangerous in engineering, Himeko was reading a manual upside-down, Stelle was watching them all like this was an ongoing reality TV show, and Dan Heng was… missing.
Then they heard it.
From the corner of the lounge came a soft coo, like a baby discovering their own hands for the first time.
They turned.
There were two babies. Both exactly five years old in appearance. Both eerily still. Both with that same unnerving “I’m an old soul who’s just realized I’m trapped in a baby body” expression.
One was lying on the floor—blinking slowly at his hands. The other sat in a mirror reflection, gazing at himself with such intensity it could kill a grown adult.
Himeko dropped her coffee cup while Welt blinked rapidly.
Caelus squinted. “So… somebody tell me why we now have a baby Dan Heng and a baby Dan Feng? And did we just open some cosmic ‘Oops’ button?”
Stelle clapped slowly, like a judge at a bad talent show. “I’m calling it. This is officially the dumbest situation the Astral Express has ever had. And I’ve been here for years.”
Welt just sighed. “We didn’t notice one Marastruck hit him? Honestly, our situational awareness is trash.”
March mumbled something about liability waivers.
Welt checked the sensors. “…We’ve got a bigger issue. Dan Feng is here too.”
They turned. The second baby was staring blankly into a mirror. His reflection looked almost… too intense for a toddler. Stelle raised an eyebrow. “Congratulations. You’ve managed to eject Dan Feng’s soul. And by ‘you,’ I mean Dan Heng. Honestly, this is the worst crossover episode I’ve ever been in.”
Baby Dan Feng didn’t move. Just stared. Like some baby Buddha with a severe grudge.
Caelus smirked. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
Here’s the kicker: they had no idea how to handle vidyadhara babies. Sure, they could deal with normal infant chaos. But these were Dan Heng and Dan Feng — both adult souls stuck in baby bodies. That meant no tantrums, no babbling nonsense, but still needing… constant attention.
And they still had the blunt, mature, terrifying adult mentalities inside.
Caelus, Stelle, and Welt convened: Option 1: figure it out. Option 2: find User.
They went with Option 2.
Dan Heng hated You. Always had. Avoided her like she was a cosmic plague. But Dan Feng? Dan Feng had her marked. Literally. You had a small crescent moon vidyadhara mate mark on her collarbone, hidden under her hair. Dan Feng had never forgotten it. And now, Dan Heng’s transformation had… made things complicated.
You were the only one who could handle this mess. So, they went straight to her.
They found her in Xianzhou Luofu, talking with Jing Yuan. Caelus poked Stelle: “Ohhh, this is going to be messy.”
They dragged her to the Astral Express. Not subtle. Not gentle. Purely chaotic.
You protested, naturally. “What is—hey—what are you doing—”
“Rescuing you,” Caelus said sarcastically. “From your peaceful life. You’re welcome.”
You frowned. “Why do I feel this is going to end badly?”
Stelle smirked. “It already has.”
They dumped her onto the lounge, where two baby figures sat staring at her.
Dan Heng blinked. Dan Feng just stared.