"Sometimes, white lies can often serve a greater purpose, while the truth is often much more cruel... Are you prepared?"
Seeing the serious and concerned look in Welt's eyes, Wende felt a warmth in his heart. He smiled at Welt and nodded.
"Don't worry, Uncle Yang. Although lies can achieve longer-lasting goals, they are ultimately still lies. And sometimes... perhaps the truth won't be so hurtful?"
Wende looked at the group of people who had already started chatting in the hall. At the very least, he didn't see a trace of suspicion in the eyes of the Astral Express crew. To them... he was family, and they trusted him as such.
"That's good then. However, you said you were going to pick up Himeko and the others... forget it. Since you can say that, it means you have the ability to bring them here and take them back. Just remember to keep it brief; if Pom-Pom waits too long, they'll get scared."
Welt cautioned Wende.
"Rest assured, Uncle Yang. Once everyone is here, I will explain the truth of the matter to everyone."
Wende nodded. In the next instant, his figure vanished directly from in front of Welt.
"..."
Welt pushed up his glasses in silence, then turned and walked toward the group.
The hall was currently divided into two factions. one faction was led by the Joachim and Theresa of the Honkai world, representing the two organizations of the Honkai world: Anti-Entropy and Schicksal. The other faction was centered around Welt and the others from the Astral Express.
However, because both sides could understand each other's situations through the games, the atmosphere in the hall wasn't intense. On the contrary, there was even a bit of... harmony?
"Wendy! Hello, I'm March 7th. If you don't mind, you can call me March, or Little March is fine too!"
March extended her hand in a very friendly manner toward the girl before her, noting that she and Wende both shared the "Wen" name.
"Hello, I'm Wendy. Nice to meet you."
Wendy shook March's hand and nodded to her.
"By the way, you said Wende cured your legs within forty days and stayed in this world for forty days, but why don't I have any impression of that?"
March rested her chin on her hand, looking deep in thought. From the time Wende boarded the Express until now, it seemed he hadn't left March's sight for more than thirty days, right? Let alone forty...
"Could it be due to other reasons? Perhaps the time flow in the Star Rail world is different from the time flow in the Honkai world?"
Einstein, standing to the side, offered her theory. If there was a time discrepancy between the two worlds, then it was indeed possible that a few days in Star Rail could actually be forty days in the Honkai world.
"No, that shouldn't be it. We already conducted time data experiments when traversing the wormhole. Although rudimentary, the time flow of the Honkai world and the Star Rail world doesn't have much difference. In fact... there is no difference at all."
Welt shook his head, ruling out that conjecture.
"So, Uncle Yang, why did you accept the fact that our world is called the 'Star Rail World' so quickly..."
March retorted at Welt.
"Because Little March said it herself... it's a fact..."
Bronya, standing nearby, added a critical hit to March.
"Ah, this... that is true, huh..."
March scratched her cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"So, are we just going to sit here dryly?"
Theresa swung her short legs back and forth, looking utterly bored.
"Ms. Theresa, is there something you'd like to talk about?"
Einstein asked Theresa in return.
"Uh... well, I still haven't figured out the current situation yet. Is no one really going to explain it?"
Theresa was still in a dazed state. She and Himeko had been called over suddenly; she didn't understand the situation at all!
"I'd better explain the initial cause of the matter."
Welt pushed up his glasses, glanced at Joachim beside him, and then addressed everyone.
"Some time ago, the Astral Express discovered an 'Anomaly' located near the star rail. To prevent this anomaly from affecting the Express's future route, the Nameless of the Astral Express passed a proposal during a meeting to investigate the 'Anomaly.' Thus, we arrived here."
"As for what happened next..."
Thinking about what happened next, Welt couldn't help but rub his forehead. Thinking carefully, if he hadn't suddenly made the decision to call Tesla, would Wende have avoided this awkward situation?
"Let me tell you what happened next."
Joachim looked at the helpless Welt and instantly understood his feelings.
After all, for someone wandering far from home to suddenly return to a place that was very likely their hometown, that urgent need to verify things was incomparable... That was why the "self" before him had called... Tesla first?
Thinking of this, Joachim's eyes trembled slightly. Could it be that my future self and Dr. Tesla really...
"Well? Speak up! Why are you dazing out?"
Tesla frowned and shouted at Joachim. Why did it seem like after not seeing him for a few days, he had suddenly become so indecisive? Was this a bad habit picked up from being a teacher?
"Uh... right. Specifically, Dr. Tesla received a call from this... Mr. Welt. It seems Mr. Welt wanted to confirm if this world line was his world line, so he called Tesla."
"After receiving the call, we headed to the rendezvous point Mr. Welt mentioned."
Having said this, Joachim turned his gaze toward the "Three Little Ones," and... Wendy by their side.
"Uh... well, Principal, we ran into them by accident... do you... believe that?"
Kiana laughed awkwardly, not daring to look at the expression on Theresa's face.
"Ki-a-na! Did you incite Bronya and Mei to climb the wall again? And this time you even dragged Wendy along!"
Theresa looked at Kiana with anger. Did they think she didn't know about that so-called rendezvous point? In the entire St. Freya Academy, that was the easiest wall to climb... Ahem, cough cough...
"So next, Kiana and the others stumbled upon you by mistake, and then frantically called us to come over?"
Himeko rubbed her temples, trying to sort out everything that had happened.
"It's all because Wende was so excited to come back... And since we met them, we couldn't not tell Great Aunt, right? The most important thing is! We didn't make the call; this Uncle Yang from the future told us to!"
Kiana decisively sold out Welt standing beside her.
"Uh, that was indeed me. At that time, I was thinking about other things, regarding..."
Welt's expression suddenly became somewhat subtle. Upon careful reflection, he felt a wave of terrifying realization.
If even one of these events had gone slightly wrong, or if an accident had occurred, Wende wouldn't be confessing to everyone like he was now...
It was as if there were an invisible hand secretly pushing this matter forward... If he hadn't set the location at St. Freya Academy from the very beginning, then none of the subsequent events would have happened...