"Stellaron Hunter SAM…?"
After learning that Firefly was also a member of the Stellaron Hunters, Stelle felt a slight surprise in her heart, but beyond that, there was more complexity and bitterness.
Since Firefly was a Stellaron Hunter, that meant the other party had probably known her identity for a long time already. So was Firefly approaching her with some other purpose in mind?
For a moment, countless thoughts surged through Stelle's mind—conspiracy theories, redemption theories, rebellion theories—each more absurd than the last.
Stelle's expression naturally couldn't escape Firefly's line of sight. After all, compared to human eyes, machines were far superior at capturing expressions and details.
Thus, upon detecting that Stelle might have misunderstood her, the girl hurriedly wanted to explain. However, before she could even get a word out…
"Wow! Such a cool mecha!"
Inside the cockpit, Firefly only felt the mecha tremble slightly. Then SAM's monitoring system gave feedback.
Looking down, she saw that Little March—who had just been holding up a shield made of Six-Phased Ice—was no longer in her position. Instead, she had suddenly pounced onto 'SAM', her eyes shining as if she had seen her favorite toy.
"So, so awesome! Firefly, you actually have such a huge mecha! Can I borrow it to pilot sometime in the future?"
"Ah? This… Of course you can…"
Through the mecha's viewport, looking at Little March hanging onto SAM like an accessory, and seeing the hopeful look in the girl's eyes, the kind Firefly could only swallow the words of refusal she had originally intended to say and instead agree to the request.
Although the girl now possessed the power of a Causality Emanator, and SAM's boost to her was already negligible, it was still the companion that had been with her for half her life. Even without self-awareness, it was like family to her.
Yet now, the girl had agreed to lend it to March 7th…
"Alright, alright. Since your identity has been proven, Firefly, you can dispel the transformation first."
"Little March, let go of Firefly first. I'm afraid if this continues, the Family might notice something."
Yun Fan lightly clapped his hands, having Firefly exit the SAM form first. After all, this was the dream world—essentially the Family's territory. Although on the side of Order, only his big brother-in-law had somewhat respectable strength…
Of course, that wasn't the main point. To our Mr. Yun Fan, all of this was secondary. Whether it was his energy clone or Firefly, neither was something the Family could oppose. The real reason was actually…
Because of SAM's appearance, the temperature in the room was slowly rising. Our Mr. Yun Fan felt a bit hot.
"Mm."
Firefly inside the mecha nodded, then obediently dispelled the transformation. Accompanied by flames dissipating in the wind, the original SAM mecha once again turned back into that cute and charming beautiful girl.
"Miss Himeko, can I still join the Astral Express?"
After putting away SAM's drive device, the girl raised her head to look at Himeko in front of her and cautiously asked.
It could be said that at this moment, Firefly's heart was extremely anxious. On one hand, it was because of her Stellaron Hunter identity itself.
The Astral Express and the Stellaron Hunters both targeted Stellarons, so there was inherent conflict between the two on that point. Moreover, due to certain reasons, the Stellaron Hunters didn't have a very good reputation in the galaxy, which further deepened the conflict between them.
On the other hand… though it was a bit embarrassing, it seemed like she had just accidentally, possibly, perhaps, probably… offended this Navigator lady earlier.
"Stellaron Hunter… This identity is indeed a bit beyond my expectations."
Sure enough, after learning of Firefly's Stellaron Hunter identity, Himeko felt a slight hesitation in her heart again.
Seeing this, Firefly also felt a slight worry in her heart. The girl simply stood in place, quietly waiting for Himeko's answer.
A few minutes later, after weighing the pros and cons of allowing Firefly aboard the Express, Himeko gently raised her head, stood up from the sofa, and extended her right hand toward the girl in front of her.
"Welcome aboard, Miss Firefly."
...
"Hic! The, the Express crew has a new member again. I'm really so happy, F-Firefly… Remember to lend me SAM… lend it to me to pilot… hehehe…"
With a new member joining, the Express crew naturally had to hold a welcome party.
However, since a few passengers were not present at the moment, this welcome was just a simple meal where everyone expressed their welcome to Firefly.
Additionally, those present exchanged contact information with Firefly, and our Navigator lady didn't forget to add her to the Express crew's group chat.
『Astral Express Family…』
『Ding! 'Himeko' invited 'Firefly' to the group chat…』
[Himeko: @everyone Family, the Astral Express has a new passenger! Everyone, say welcome!]
[Dan Heng: Welcome.]
[Pom-Pom: Welcome new passenger, Pom… Wait! Why didn't you tell this Train Conductor about a new passenger, Himeko!]
[Himeko: Sorry, Pom-Pom. This matter is a bit special. I'll explain when we get back.]
[Pom-Pom: Fine, Pom… But don't do this next time. Next time you must tell the Train Conductor first!]
[Himeko: Got it. Thank you for your understanding, Conductor Pom-Pom.]
[March 7th: Hehe…! I want to pilot the mecha, I want to pilot the mecha…!]
[Himeko: @Stelle Little March is drunk. Stelle, take her back to her room to rest first.]
[Stelle: OK, received!]
[March 7th: No no no~ Stelle let go of me, ah! Where is your hand grabbing?! Wuwuwu… Fan, Stelle is molesting me!]
[Himeko: ...…]
[Yun Fan: ...…]
[Welt: ...…]
[Himeko: @Welt Huh? Old Yang, you're here too.]
[Welt: Mm, I'm here…]
Millions of light-years away… aboard the Zhu Ming Xianzhou Star Skiff…
"Mr. Welt, we are about to arrive at our destination. Please prepare yourself. The star skiff will soon dock at the Luofu's Huixing Port."