Fang Hong had actually thought this through long ago.
"The biggest rift between Invokers and Natives is nothing more than the physical decline caused by synchronizing with the Glow Device," he answered with full confidence. "But I didn't enter this world synchronized with a Glow Device. Just like the First Generation Invokers, I can stay in this world for a very long time."
"A long time, but still with an end," Su Changfeng was a bit surprised to see he had carefully considered this question. He had thought that feelings between boys and girls at this age were just impulsive, rebellious things that ignored consequences. "And you have family in the other world. Once you hit the Glow Synchronization Period, going back and forth between the two worlds won't be so easy anymore. Have you really thought this through?"
Fang Hong turned his head and looked at Hilveld's smooth profile under the lamplight and her layers of drooping eyelashes. She was sleeping very soundly. He turned back again and nodded.
His uncle and aunt should also support his decision.
Su Changfeng, seeing his expression, also nodded. After a moment of silence he said, "All right then. Who knows, there might be a solution in the future."
Fang Hong just took this as a blessing and didn't think too much about it, but the questions in his heart were still unanswered. He couldn't help but press on: "Then Hilveld's status...?"
Su Changfeng couldn't help finding it a little funny: "Young people pursuing their own love is their freedom. Do we need to give our approval or something? The 'Stargate Manifesto' doesn't concern itself with that."
"But..."
Su Changfeng shook his head and replied with a hint of implication: "Ade, I understand what you mean. I know there are some people who may not agree, but their disagreement is useless, because this depends on the will of the people involved. We support everyone in pursuing their own freedom, as long as it doesn't harm others—"
He smiled a little. "So the key point is whether that Miss Ship's Officer of yours agrees or not. You'll have to ask her what she thinks. We can't advocate arranged marriages."
Arranged marriage and all that—just hearing it made Fang Hong's face burn red. If this were in some manga, there'd probably be smoke puffing from his head.
But looking at this young man, Su Changfeng understood that this topic was ultimately not just about love. Only then did he become serious, and spoke slowly, word by word:
"Some things, if you believe they're right, then you go and do them aboveboard. In this world there will always be certain principles, the direction people's hearts lean toward. They might be shrouded by dark clouds for a time, but in the end people will see clearly—"
He gazed silently at this young man. "Ade, we won't promise you anything, and we won't even take the initiative to do anything, because that would go against our principles. But if someone decides not to be so aboveboard, then they will eventually understand that we are not incapable of doing anything—"
Fang Hong listened quietly and couldn't help opening his mouth.
Only at that moment did he feel as if a weight had been lifted from his heart.
Though he had long since prepared himself that even if the Seven Seas Travel Group had to face all this alone, he would not give up what he believed to be right, the feeling of having his motherland standing by his side was still a different kind of moving and reassuring.
"Don't get happy too early," Su Changfeng shook his head at this scene, inevitably thinking of his own daughter's situation and unable to resist taking this kid down a notch. "Even though I've handed you a bunch of empty promises, you can't cash those IOUs. In the end, you still have to rely on yourself."
"Just like what the Super Competitive Alliance is doing right now. Your Pirate behavior in Tansnier is nailed to the board. All we can do is refrain from pursuing it further. I know you had your difficulties—but unless Princess Rupert is willing to come out and testify for you, no one can help you."
Fang Hong fell silent for a moment.
He naturally understood all this, but getting Princess Rupert to come out and testify was impossible. Otherwise, they might as well not have bothered doing those seemingly superfluous things in the first place.
Su Changfeng looked at him and of course understood this as well. He paused, then continued:
"But under these circumstances, your days ahead may not be very easy. Don't say I didn't warn you: the greater your influence, the less the Super Competitive Alliance will tolerate you operating outside the rules."
"Just like Loofah. They've already been forced to accept one Loofah, but they won't make the same mistake again and let you become another Loofah."
His voice was faint. "There's actually one more thing I have to inform you of. The Super Competitive Alliance and the Elpaxin Artisan Association have canceled your qualification to participate in the Continental League. The Artisan Association bowed to pressure from the Royal Household, and the Alliance is still working on having your craftsman qualification revoked."
At this, Fang Hong couldn't help being stunned.
He instinctively pressed his lips together, and his expression darkened. Even though he hadn't planned on taking part in the Continental League in the first place, choosing not to participate and having one's qualification revoked are two completely different feelings.
What's more, the Alliance was still working on getting the Artisan Association to revoke his craftsman status. For a moment, this news even exceeded the bounds of what he could readily grasp.
This was no small matter. Although the title of Alchemist was just that—a title—behind it stood the support of an entire system. The Magic Guided Engineering of today's Eteliria wasn't achieved by one or two geniuses, nor by a few small workshop-style tinkerers—
It came from countless obscure, low-ranked Alchemists with no lofty titles, even Artisan Apprentices and ordinary people who had entered this Domain only to leave it quietly in the end; from piles upon piles of useless blueprints and designs stored in the archives of the major Artisan Associations, from stack after stack of so-called "trash patents" that people dismissed as waste paper.