Inside the Parlor Car, the air felt somewhat stagnant.
Pom-Pom glared at Aha with puffed cheeks, their short little hands planted on their waist, their big ears trembling slightly from anger.
Dan Heng gripped a spear known as Cloud-Piercer with vigilance, standing slightly in front of Pom-Pom's side, ready to protect the conductor at any moment.
Aha, disguised as an ordinary man, pointed at Lucian while accusing him, wearing an expression that clearly showed he was enjoying the show.
Lucian stood where he was, his face remaining expressionless, but inwardly, he felt like rolling his eyes, finding it ironic.
How could he not?
What Aha was doing now was basically just like how a veteran robber accused others of robbing.
Anyone present who had read the Astral Express's data bank records would know that there was a particularly interesting entry.
Back when Akivili was still alive, Aha had disguised THEMSELF as an ordinary person, boarded the Astral Express, and become one of the Nameless. Aha had even been an exceptionally outstanding passenger, which made Pom-Pom like THEM very much.
Until later, as Akivili and that outstanding passenger grew increasingly 'Elation-filled,' they caused Pom-Pom plenty of trouble. In the end, the outstanding passenger seized the moment when everyone had lowered their guard and blew up a large section of the Astral Express's cars, which incidentally also affected a lifeless mining planet.
Originally, the Astral Express had been extremely long, at least twice as long as it was now, but thanks to Aha, half of it had been blown up.
Pom-Pom had been so furious that they nearly collapsed on the spot before driving Aha off the Astral Express.
And just like that, the Trailblaze journey of the Aeon of Elation had lasted nearly two years before coming to an end.
"So, Lucian... Are you really an Emanator of Elation?"
Himeko glanced at Lucian and asked cautiously.
Lucian did not hide it and nodded calmly.
"Yeah, Aha insisted on making me THEIR Emanator, and refusing wasn't even an option. Honestly, I'm kinda troubled by it too."
Listening to that answer, everyone somehow felt that it sounded a bit like humblebragging.
Countless people dreamed of becoming an Emanator, gaining supreme power, and becoming the spokesperson of an Aeon who was no different from a god.
Among the countless trillions of living beings across the cosmos, only a handful could ever become Emanators, yet he was actually complaining about it?
Himeko did not know whether she should feel troubled or pleased.
In any case, the good news was that the Astral Express now had a powerful Emanator as a companion, but the bad news was that he was an Emanator of Elation.
However, logically speaking, if even Herta was willing to befriend Lucian, then he probably was not some bottomless prankster or troublemaker who pursued chaos without restraint.
Even so, still not entirely convinced, Himeko quietly took out her phone and sent a message to Herta.
[Himeko: Madam Herta, what do you think of Lucian as a person?]
[Herta: Lucian? He's alright, I guess, just a total pervert who's into pretty women. Someone like you's definitely his type.]
[Herta: I mean, he's always going after my looks, and I've been turning him down this whole time. Don't get fooled by his sweet talk.]
[Himeko: Really?]
[Himeko: By the way, do you know that he is an Emanator of Elation?]
[Herta: I know. I'm telling you, Aha's his accomplice too, running around kidnapping pretty women for him everywhere, seriously awful. I'd say don't fall for him, you wouldn't be able to handle it.]
[Himeko: No, I was just thinking… if he becomes one of the Nameless, could he have some ulterior motive that might endanger us?]
[Herta: Oh, if that's what you meant, then it's fine. Lucian's a good guy, and he's crazy strong. I swear, with him backing you up, your ancestors are probably out there emitting green smoke from their graves.]
[Himeko: Didn't you just say he was awful?]
[Herta: Awful when it comes to relationships between men and women, but otherwise he's pretty decent. Just don't let him take advantage of you.]
Himeko felt somewhat confused after reading that reply, as Herta's two attitudes did not seem to align. On one hand, Herta described Lucian as a pervert, yet on the other hand, she also said he was reliable and someone worth depending on.
What kind of person exactly was Lucian?
Regardless, Trailblazing was about exploring, establishing, understanding, and connecting. Only by getting to know him personally could she arrive at her own conclusion. At worst, she would simply remain cautious and make sure another Aha incident never happened.
===
Inside her office, Herta ended the chat and curled her lips into a faint smile.
"Hmph, Lucian, serves you right for being such a pervert and messing with me. Joining the Astral Express? You're probably just after Himeko because of her looks. We'll see how I mess up your plans."
Herta felt that this counted as getting a little revenge on Lucian.
As a result, her mood immediately improved.
Just the thought of him not getting any new women somehow made her feel quite pleased.
===
Meanwhile, back on the Astral Express, the drama inside the Parlor Car began to escalate further.
Aha still wanted Lucian to help draw the fire for THEM, so THEY continued accusing him.
"He even wants to chop up that scrap iron of Erudition! Way too violent! Keeping him here is a disaster! Aha came to protect the Astral Express! Kick him out! Aha will stay on board to protect you all!"
As Aha went on and on, spewing even more bullshit, Lucian looked at THEIR extremely punchable expression and felt that arguing with this lunatic was simply a waste of both time and energy.
For that reason, he finally made his move.
He walked up to Aha and directly reached out to push THEM while activating Absolute Hit.
However, before his hand could touch THEM...
"Ey~!"
Aha suddenly raised both hands and twisted his waist to an unnatural degree to dodge before laughing.
"HaHaHaHa! I know your ability, you can't touch me~"
Lucian, seeing that Aha had become clever and troublesome, felt a little helpless.
It was no wonder the other Aeons did not want to mingle with THEM.
"Hmph, then what about this move?"
Lucian took out a small iron sword from the System storage space, casually set a coordinate, then locked onto Aha with Immortal Kneel before tossing the iron sword with a flick of his hand using Absolute Hit.
"OH NO!"
Aha's avatar seemed to sense that something was wrong and tried to run, but sadly, it was already too late.
In the next instant, the moment the iron sword vanished and reappeared just outside the Astral Express, THEIR body also suddenly vanished and reappeared outside the Astral Express as well, before immediately losing control and chasing after the flying iron sword through the sea of stars.
"Lucian, you heartless bastard~ HaHaHaHa—!!!"
Aha flew farther and farther away, THEIR laughter growing fainter until it completely disappeared.
Lucian curled his lips slightly, feeling a somewhat complicated mix of affection and resentment toward Aha.
If one were to say Aha was evil because THEY loved causing trouble, THEY at least still had a sense of limits, unlike some of THEIR followers, whose natures were even worse.
For example, even though Aha had just been sent hundreds of millions of light-years away, THEY could have returned almost instantly if THEY had wanted to cause more trouble. Yet THEY did not come back, clearly choosing to play along with Lucian rather than disturb him any further.
At the same time, right after Aha completely disappeared, the entire Parlor Car instantly fell into dead silence, so quiet that even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard clearly.
Pom-Pom remained frozen in their hands-on-waist glaring posture, their little mouth forming an O shape, their big ears suspended stiffly in midair, and their round eyes filled with shock and confusion.
They couldn't help it.
Aha, that troublesome Aeon of Elation, that worst passenger ever, had just been driven away so easily?
"WOW!"
March suddenly cried out, her excitement and admiration erupting all at once as she grabbed Stelle's arm beside her and shook it vigorously, unable to contain herself.
"Stelle! Stelle! Did you see that?! Lucian just straight-up chased off an Aeon like it was nothing! THEY are an Aeon, y'know!"
Her voice was so loud that it nearly echoed through the surrounding area—the disbelief and excitement on her face were impossible to hide.
Himeko, Welt, and Dan Heng were no less shocked.
Even though they were far calmer than March on the surface, the astonishment in their eyes was unmistakable.
An Emanator chasing away an Aeon—wasn't that a bit absurdly backwards?
No matter how powerful an Emanator might be, they ultimately derived their power from an Aeon. Yet what they had just witnessed seemed to have completely overturned that common understanding.
In their eyes, the Aeon of Elation was being far too indulgent toward Lucian—or to be more precise, the attitude shown by Aha toward Lucian could hardly be described as the way an Aeon would normally treat an Emanator.
Otherwise, how could an Aeon simply allow someone to chase THEM away like that?
===
In a distant star system, Aha held the small, ordinary iron sword Lucian had thrown and sat leisurely within the endless cosmic void.
Around THEM, countless stars shimmered like scattered jewels across the darkness, yet THEIR attention remained fixed entirely on the unremarkable blade resting in THEIR hand.
"What an interesting ability... Even Aha couldn't resist chasing after it to catch it..."
Aha turned the sword over in THEIR hand, examining it with great interest.
Despite appearing completely ordinary, it had just forced even an Aeon to act in a way that defied common sense.
Seeing that even an Aeon could be affected by such a strange and unreasonable ability, Aha couldn't help but become even more intrigued since the entire situation was simply far too amusing.
Next time, THEY would definitely make Lucian use this trick to prank that fool of Preservation.
Just imagining that stubborn fool suddenly abandoning THEIR endless wall-building and running off across the cosmos to chase after a flying sword was enough to make Aha want to laugh.
"HaHaHaHaHa—!!!"
Aha's laughter burst forth uncontrollably, spreading outward through the cosmic void as the sound echoed across the vast sea of stars, carrying the boundless joy and amusement of the Aeon of Elation while reverberating throughout the universe.
===
Meanwhile, the Aeon of Preservation, Qlipoth, who was still busy building walls as always, suddenly felt an inexplicable chill run through THEIR backside, causing THEIR movements to pause ever so slightly.
"..."
For a brief moment, Qlipoth remained silent, as though contemplating the strange sensation that had appeared out of nowhere.
Why did THEY suddenly have the distinct feeling that someone, somewhere, was plotting against THEM?
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next chapters early at: patreon.com/VALRRR]