"Uhh..."
March leaned against the window glass, her small face pressed against it so tightly that it nearly deformed, flattening her cheeks against the surface while her pink hair stuck up messily in every direction.
"No matter how I look at it, this doesn't look like some frozen wasteland with monsters crawling all over the place and survivors shivering out in the cold, does it?"
Outside the window, after the Astral Express approached closer, the planet looked unexpectedly peaceful.
No endless blizzards were swallowing the horizon, no ruined cities were buried beneath snow and ice, and no signs of some apocalyptic disaster that had pushed civilization to the brink.
Instead, what appeared before them was a planet that looked surprisingly normal.
"According to the Astral Express's scans, there is no high-risk energy signature from a Stellaron here..." Welt said as he calmly set down the detection device in his hand. "In other words, there is no Stellaron crisis."
Hearing that, Himeko lightly furrowed her brows and fell into brief thought before finally speaking.
"Well... since we're already here, we might as well take a look around and update the Astral Express's data bank."
Just as her words fell, an elegant holographic projection silently appeared once again in the center of the Parlor Car, blue light flickering faintly through the air.
Noticing that, everyone immediately turned around in unison and quickly recognized the familiar figure.
It was Kafka.
"Looks like you've all arrived at your destination and are ready to explore?" Kafka lightly waved her hand, her tone relaxed and leisurely, her smooth voice gliding through the air like silk. "Let me see... the progress..."
Even though she appeared calm and casual on the surface, the uneasiness in her heart had yet to fade.
Just earlier, her woman's intuition had compelled her to personally come and take another look at Jarilo-VI. It couldn't be helped after she witnessed how the situation on Herta Space Station had already deviated from Elio's script once before.
If everything here still matched the script perfectly, then naturally, there would be nothing to worry about. But if another unexpected deviation had appeared like before, then that could only mean one thing—there was definitely something wrong with the script.
As Kafka's words fell, the entire carriage suddenly became quiet—the atmosphere subtly turned strange.
"...Isn't this the Stellaron Hunter who said Jarilo-VI was about to be destroyed?"
In the end, Himeko was the one who broke the silence first as she spoke with a faint half-smile on her face, but the sarcasm within her expression remained completely undisguised.
"Hmph..."
Stelle snorted softly and shot Kafka a deeply displeased frown, her golden eyes filled with obvious suspicion.
"We almost got fooled by all that talk about some ice-covered planet and a Stellaron crisis, when there's clearly nothing like that here, and everything's thriving."
March also crossed her arms and frowned as she complained.
"Everything is thriving."
Stelle immediately echoed March's words in the exact same tone.
"So you lured us here—what exactly are you planning?"
Dan Heng chimed in as he fixed Kafka with a sharp, unwavering gaze, his voice calm but clearly carrying a trace of vigilance.
"What exactly are you planning?"
Stelle repeated Dan Heng's words once again without missing a beat.
"Hey, Stelle, are you a broken record?"
Unable to take it anymore, March smacked Stelle on the shoulder and questioned her helplessly, looking completely speechless at her behavior.
Meanwhile, as Kafka listened to the group's complaints one after another, a puzzled look gradually appeared on her face, and then, seemingly realizing that something was wrong, her holographic projection slowly walked toward the nearby window and looked outside.
In that instant, the perfect, composed smile on her face visibly stiffened for a brief moment when she saw the brightly lit and bustling spaceport outside, filled with countless ships constantly coming and going alongside flashing streams of energy beams cutting across the sky.
Needless to say, the entire scene was lively, prosperous, and overflowing with activity.
Compared to the desolate, frozen wasteland described in Elio's script, the difference was greater than night and day.
In fact, it was practically like looking at two entirely different planets.
'Did Elio's script... go wrong again...?'
Kafka, already accustomed to witnessing all kinds of grand and unbelievable scenes, quickly recovered from that brief moment of stiffness.
In almost the blink of an eye, that mysterious smile returned to her beautiful face, appearing even calmer and more composed than before, as though nothing unexpected had happened at all.
"Oh my…" Kafka lightly brushed aside a strand of her purple hair, deliberately acting relaxed and unconcerned. "Aren't the Nameless all about exploration and understanding? You haven't even gone down there yet—how can you already know what's real and what's not?"
Even though she spoke with complete confidence on the surface, she herself had no real certainty whatsoever and was merely forcing out an explanation to preserve a bit of dignity and save face in front of everyone.
Himeko said nothing in response and simply folded her arms beneath her chest, leisurely watching Kafka with a calm, amused expression—the faint curve lingering at the corner of her lips practically seemed to say, "Go on, let's see what else you can come up with."
"Hmph! Whether it's true or not, we'll find out once we get down there and see for ourselves!"
March, who was already completely fed up with all the back-and-forth guessing, immediately volunteered herself without the slightest hesitation.
"Go ahead, but be careful," Himeko said with a small nod before giving Kafka a meaningful sidelong glance. "By the way, once you arrive, gather as much information as possible, especially… anything that 'doesn't match' the Stellaron Hunters' intelligence."
Hearing the slight emphasis in Himeko's tone immediately made Kafka narrow her eyes slightly, though she still maintained that smiling expression on her face.
In the end, after a brief discussion, the group quickly settled on a plan.
Himeko would remain aboard the Astral Express and observe the three through its satellite systems, while Welt would stay behind to monitor the Stellaron Hunters' movements and ensure the Astral Express's safety.
As for March, Stelle, and Dan Heng, the three of them would personally head down to Jarilo-VI to investigate the situation on-site.
And so, without wasting any more time, March, Stelle, and Dan Heng quickly disembarked from the Astral Express and blended themselves into the bustling crowd within the spaceport.
People moved back and forth beneath the bright lights, countless conversations overlapping noisily throughout the entire area, causing the trio to disappear into the flow of pedestrians almost immediately, heading toward Belobog.
Not long afterward, the satellite's feed was transmitted onto Himeko's virtual monitor.
When Kafka saw the live feed appear, she casually moved a little closer with obvious interest, clearly wanting to see exactly what was happening below.
Noticing that, Himeko subtly shifted slightly to the side, seemingly unwilling to let Kafka get too close to the monitor, but Kafka, as someone who never particularly fussed over such things, merely let out a soft chuckle before stepping closer once again, stubbornly insisting on watching alongside her as though she had every right to do so.
Himeko, not wishing to waste time arguing over such a trivial matter, could not even be bothered to avoid Kafka any further and ultimately just chose to let it be.
On the monitor screen, as the trio finally arrived at the city known as Belobog, Himeko and Kafka soon discovered that the population of the planet was not particularly large and was mostly concentrated around a single major city.
Beyond the city itself, the surrounding wilderness scenery appeared surprisingly pleasant and peaceful, with clear mountains and rivers stretching into the distance, gentle weather, bright blue skies, and rippling azure waters reflecting the sunlight.
Various mechs continuously flew through the skies at low altitude, while neatly constructed roads extended outward from the city like an enormous web, spreading across the land in every direction.
From the overall appearance alone, it looked like a civilization that had only begun entering a stage of rapid development within the past few years.
"Hmm, on the surface it appears to be a high-tech world, but internally it's still a developing civilization with a relatively low population density..."
Himeko murmured thoughtfully as she observed the scenery on the screen, her curiosity toward this planet growing increasingly stronger.
'Just what exactly had happened here?'
Kafka likewise became increasingly curious about the situation on this planet, wondering why everything here was completely different from Elio's script, yet somehow still seemed to remain connected to it in certain subtle ways.
Needless to say, she would definitely need to ask Elio about this afterward and properly report this anomaly to him.
Just then, the voices of the three soon rang out from the screen.
March: "Wow, this place looks beautiful, the scenery's amazing!"
Dan Heng: "Right now, it's completely different from the planet that Stellaron Hunter described."
Stelle: "Maybe this is bait. Kafka wanna capture me and use me to threaten my godfather into marrying her."
March: "Huh? Wait, how'd you even come up with that logic?"
Stelle: "It's simple—the facts here prove she lied to us... so why wouldn't she lie before or after this, and only start once I joined the Astral Express? Obviously, she's targeting me. But what value do I even have? I don't have any. I just got a pretty great godfather. Given all that, she's definitely after him—she totally wants to become my mom!"
Dan Heng: "What a flawless logic."
March: "When you put it that way… I kinda can't argue with that."
Stelle: "Yeah, that's why we gotta hurry up and run! We can't let that bad woman covet my godfather's looks! Even if he likes her, she's still gotta line up behind Mommy Himeko."
Naturally, when their casual chatter was fully heard by Himeko, the projection of Kafka, who had been quietly peeking at the screen beside her, naturally heard every single word as well.
"Heh, what a naughty child, clearly led astray..."
Kafka let out an exasperated laugh, her tone carrying a thick layer of sarcasm.
'What do you mean by going after your godfather?'
Even though the true reason she had come again was simply that she was worried about Stelle and wanted to check on her for a moment, in Stelle's eyes, it had somehow become such an absurd and shameless motive.
Not only that, she was even being labeled a bad woman and forced to line up behind Himeko?
Kafka couldn't help but let out a faint sigh, feeling slightly irritated the more she thought about it.
When someone lost their memories, this was the troublesome part—relationships that had once been close would gradually become distant, turning into those of complete strangers.
Clearly, back when Lucian teleported her and Silver Wolf away, he must have secretly said something to Stelle.
Given that, he was definitely the one who had led Stelle astray.
Otherwise, why would Stelle suddenly start calling him godfather out of nowhere?
And now Stelle even had such outrageous ideas in her head.
Himeko, upon hearing Kafka's complaint, naturally assumed she was criticizing the Nameless for leading Stelle astray, so she immediately seized the opportunity to mock her a little.
"Sounds to me like Stelle hit the mark—Stellaron Hunter, you're quite a bad woman."
"Tch, Himeko, is it?" Kafka asked as she clicked her tongue softly, the faint smile on her lips already beginning to stiffen slightly as her patience gradually wore thin. "I think you're the one coveting Lucian. Otherwise, why would your reaction be this strong?"
"Strong?" Himeko repeated calmly as she raised her brows slightly, the amused smile on her elegant face not fading in the slightest despite Kafka's provocation. "In that case, why don't you explain why you tricked us into coming to Jarilo-VI in the first place?"
Hearing that, Kafka merely let out a soft chuckle.
Her expression showed neither guilt nor embarrassment, as though she did not care in the slightest about being questioned like this, before she finally responded with a faint, mysterious smile.
"Well, that's a secret—one to be revealed later."
Right after saying that, Kafka's projection abruptly flickered for a brief instant before suddenly cutting off entirely and vanishing from everyone's sight.
In fact, she had no choice but to retreat.
Explain?
If she herself didn't even know the answer, then how could she possibly explain anything to them?
Still, even though she had ended up losing a bit of face this time, she was at least glad she had personally come over to take a look and confirm things for herself. Otherwise, with Elio's script turning out to be so drastically wrong, the Stellaron Hunters might still have continued blindly believing that his foresight was truly flawless and infallible.
Thinking up to this point, she could not help but feel a faint sense of unease rising within her heart.
If even Elio's ability to peer into destiny itself was beginning to become unreliable, then did that mean the Stellaron Hunters were nearing their end?
===
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