March 7th averted her face, the tips of her ears still a brilliant shade of red.
"Fine, you're the big shot," she conceded.
With that, she turned to walk away. However, the Express was still in the final stages of its warp jump; although it was decelerating, the inertia hadn't fully subsided. The moment she took a step, her body swayed sideways, and her feet lost their footing on the slick metal floor.
Caelus's hand shot out, wrapping around her waist and pulling her back to him.
March 7th's shoulder collided with his chest. She paused for a second, then mumbled a "thank you" with her head lowered, her voice muffled in the small space between them. The entire time, she didn't dare raise her head to meet his eyes.
---o---
The train's speed continued to bleed off.
The instant the curtain of light vanished from the train's hull, March 7th immediately wriggled free from Caelus's grasp. She scurried over to the nearest sofa and plopped down, her hands flying up to cover her flushed ears, her knees pressed firmly together.
Caelus glanced at her but didn't follow.
The view outside the windows had already changed.
Himeko stood before the parlor car's large panoramic window, turning her head slightly to beckon Caelus over.
Caelus approached, his gaze traveling past Himeko's shoulder to the scene outside.
A planet hung in the void directly ahead of the train, its entire surface blanketed in a thick, heavy layer of white. Caelus couldn't distinguish if it was clouds or snow, as not a single patch of bare land was visible. The vast whiteness had all but swallowed the planet's silhouette, leaving only faint, gray-blue shadows peeking through at the poles.
Himeko gazed out the window, silent for a few moments.
"Jarilo-VI… the last time the Express was here was several millennia ago. I never thought that after all this time, it would turn into… this."
At some point, March 7th had come over to stand on Caelus's other side, the red in her ears having mostly subsided. She looked from the vast, white planet outside the window to Himeko.
"Is this planet our destination this time?"
Himeko nodded, her gaze remaining fixed on the view.
"It seems this Trailblaze journey won't be a walk in the park."
The connecting door between cars slid open, and Pom-Pom entered, its pace a little more frantic than usual. It stopped before the three of them and looked up.
"Passenger Himeko is right, Pom! The spatial readings are abnormal, and the star-rail stability has dropped to 12%! The stopover plan has been altered. Our stay at this station has been extended from seven days to an indefinite period, Pom!"
Caelus frowned. "Why indefinite?"
Himeko turned to face him, searching for the right words. "You can think of it as the train's tracks being broken. We can't proceed along our original route, so we have to stop here and wait for the tracks to be repaired."
Caelus was even more bewildered. He had been standing in the car the whole time and hadn't felt any unusual tremors or deceleration. The warp process had felt just as smooth as the last one.
"Is it because of Jarilo-VI?"
"Of course it is!" March 7th's voice came from his side. Her shoulders slumped, and her entire posture deflated. "I've been through this situation plenty of times. It goes without saying, the cause of the star-rail anomaly this time is definitely—"
"A Stellaron."
Welt's voice came from the connecting car. He stepped into the parlor, holding a freshly printed analysis report that was still warm to the touch.
Caelus's head snapped in his direction.
Noticing Caelus's reaction, Welt held up a hand. "It's not the one inside you, Caelus. There is another one on Jarilo-VI."
He handed the report to Himeko. She took it and scanned it quickly, her brow tightening. Seeing Caelus's look of confusion, she offered a few words of explanation.
"To date, scholarly speculation about Stellarons remains just that—a theory that they might be 'seeds of calamity' sown across the universe by an Aeon. The only thing we know for certain is that a Stellaron's arrival brings drastic changes to civilizations and ecosystems, and it creates spatial distortions like the Fragmentum. It's highly probable that Jarilo-VI's current state is inextricably linked to the Stellaron."
Caelus raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. He opened his inventory to look at the Stellaron sitting quietly within. After he'd killed himself with it in the Simulated Universe, the consumed Stellaron had simply respawned automatically.
Who knew that aside from packing a huge punch when it explodes, it could also do something like this?
Himeko's gaze shifted to March 7th, then back to Caelus.
"Caelus, for this Trailblaze expedition, I want to entrust the mission to you, March 7th, and Dan Heng. The objective is very clear: find the Stellaron that brought disaster to this world and created the spatial distortion, bring it back to the Express, and leave the rest to us."
March 7th looked up at Himeko, surprised. Previous expeditions had usually been led by Himeko or Welt. Why were the three youngsters being sent out alone this time?
Himeko smiled at her and reached out to pat her on the head.
"The risk assessment for this trip isn't too high, so I want to take this opportunity to let the three of you get to know each other better. After all, we're all family from now on."
March 7th gave a compliant nod, then lifted her chin and spoke confidently to Caelus beside her. "I've got your back this time! Relax!"
Caelus smiled and nodded back. "Then I'll be counting on you, Senior March 7th."
"Hehe~"
Welt walked up until he was standing before Caelus. He spoke slowly, enunciating every word with the earnest gravity of a father sending his child off on their first trip away from home.
"Caelus, this is your first Trailblaze journey. There are four things you must remember."
He held up four fingers in front of Caelus.
"Explore. Understand. Establish. Connect."
Caelus stared at Welt's four raised fingers and blinked a couple of times.
The four words ran through his mind and were automatically mapped to an entirely different set of interpretations.
[Connect] to the universal Steve hivemind. [Explore] the new map for unique resources. [Understand] if the new map's mobs have unique loot drops. If they do, then [Establish] a brand-new mob grinder.
OK, I've understood everything!
Caelus's eyes lit up. He patted his chest, brimming with confidence.
"Don't worry, Uncle Yang! I'm an expert at this kind of process. I understand everything perfectly!"
Caelus's exuberant tone made Welt pause for a second. He adjusted his glasses but didn't ask what, precisely, Caelus had understood.
His intuition told him that not asking was probably the better option.
Himeko, however, saw nothing wrong with Caelus's enthusiasm. In fact, she seemed quite pleased by his spirited attitude.
"Alright, then go and get ready. Dan Heng isn't here, so he's likely in the Archives looking up information. Go find him once you're prepared."
---o---