Early the next morning in the Belobog hotel, the crew was staring at Mo Wang with puzzled expressions. He had two massive dark circles under his eyes, looking as if he'd been possessed by a panda.
At first glance, March 7th and the others thought he had snuck out the previous night to do something illicit. Don't get the wrong idea; they assumed he'd gone dumpster diving, not that. (Seriously, would a place like Belobog even have that kind of district?)
"It's nothing. Aha was bugging me all night. Didn't sleep well," Mo Wang said with a yawn.
"Huh? 'Bugging you' how?" March blinked, instinctively looking to Dan Heng and Welt for an explanation. She'd heard of being bugged by mice, ghosts, or even the Fragmentum, but what in the world was an Aha infestation? Had they gone feral and started breeding across the universe?
"It's a long story, a real tearjerker. Who would've thought this would happen in Belobog?" As he spoke, two streams of tears rolled down Mo Wang's face.
"W-What happened? Don't cry, just tell us what's wrong!" March asked urgently.
"You won't believe it... I'm an Emanator of Elation now," Mo Wang sobbed.
"Pfft, I thought it was something serious. So you became an Emanator of... wait, what?!" March's expression went through several shades of shock. Beside her, Welt and Dan Heng also looked incredibly strange.
"I didn't want this, really," Mo Wang continued, sniffling. "Last night, that jerk Aha invaded my dream and said They wanted me to be Their Emanator. I refused with every fiber of my being, but then They just forced all Their power into me. Now... I've been shaped by Elation. I really, really tried to say no."
He looked like a maiden who had been wronged, but for some reason, the other three just heard a massive humblebrag.
"You're saying... you became an Emanator in a single night?" Dan Heng asked, rubbing his temples and taking a deep breath.
"Yeah. That bastard Aha even turned into a trash can to scare me. The nerve!"
The crew didn't know how to react. The mental image was so absurd, so surreal, that their minds couldn't fully process it. Even Dan Heng was at a loss for words. An Emanator?
Those were the heavy hitters of every major faction, like the generals of the Xianzhou. And now his teammate had become one overnight?
He knew this world was a giant, abstract mess, but this was a bit too casual.
"So, what's different now that you're an Emanator?" March asked curiously. She'd never met one before.
"Not much has changed, really. I just got stronger, I guess? I can now use the full power of Elation, though not all at once." Mo Wang could feel the endless power welling up inside him.
If the power of Elation was an ocean, he now held the key to it. But his own body was still a small container, so he could only use a small amount at a time.
Still, the key was in his hand, ready to be used whenever he wanted. As long as his body could handle it, he had a virtually infinite supply of power. When it came to generosity, Aha was definitely not stingy.
"The full power... That's really something," Dan Heng murmured. The strength of an Emanator was usually determined by how much power the Aeon bestowed upon them.
Even the Xianzhou generals only received a fraction of the Hunt's power. He'd never heard of an Aeon just handing over the entire gift basket like this.
Then again, it was Aha... so he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.
"So, Uncle Yang, is Mo Wang becoming an Emanator a good thing or a bad thing?" March asked.
"I don't know if it's good or bad for him, but for us, it's definitely bad," Welt replied, looking utterly defeated. They could barely handle Mo Wang before. Now he was an Emanator? It was game over. The Astral Express was doomed. He felt a wave of pity not just for the crew, but for the entire universe.
Aha plus Mo Wang? What kind of cursed combination was that?
Just then, the hotel door burst open, and a squad of heavily armed Silvermane Guards stormed in, their weapons aimed at the crew.
"Freeze! Hands on your head, get down!" the captain yelled.
"Wh-What's going on? What did we do?" March stammered.
Dan Heng's hand was already on his spear, while Welt's expression was grim. "Something's not right."
"Hey, isn't there some kind of mistake? We're here to help you!" March tried to reason with them, but the captain wasn't listening.
"Help? Hah! You're all wanted for inciting rebellion! Surrender now, or we'll be forced to use lethal force!"
"Rebellion?!" March's eyes widened. "Us? You've got the wrong people!"
"This order came from the Supreme Guardian herself! There is no mistake!"
"See? What did I tell you? Cocolia was planning to kill us all along," Mo Wang said to Welt. "That backstabbing habit of hers is incurable, even in a different universe."
"I... have no words." Welt was numb. The sense of deja vu was overwhelming. He had suspected Cocolia might betray them, but he hadn't expected it to happen in less than a day. This version was even faster than the one from his world.
"So, where are Captain Gepard and Bronya?" Mo Wang asked, noticing their absence. The only other person of note was Pela, standing behind the captain.
"We don't need Commander Bronya or Captain Gepard to deal with the likes of you!" the captain sneered.
"Oh, I see. They're locked up, aren't they?" Mo Wang didn't even have to think to know what had happened. Cocolia had gone off the deep end, tried to get Bronya and Gepard to arrest them, and when they refused, she had simply bypassed them and sent the Silvermane Guards instead.
"So, are we running? I think that route over there looks promising," March said, already expertly plotting an escape route. She was, after all, used to being a wanted criminal. It was a rite of passage for all MiHoYo protagonists, a tribute to the legendary blonde cameraman.
"Run? Why would we run?" Mo Wang had other ideas. "Are you kidding me? I just got this new power, and you want me to use it to run away? What's the point of being an Emanator if I have to run from a bunch of tin cans?"
"Amenominos! Today, these people will learn that I don't eat beef!" he roared, and charged straight at the guards.
BOOM!
A massive explosion ripped through the upper floor of the hotel. Outside, the owner, who had been sweeping the street, dropped his broom in shock. His ancestral hotel, passed down for three generations, now had a giant, smoking hole in the roof.
"My... my hotel!" he wailed, clutching his head in despair.
BANG!
Mo Wang leaped out of the hole, a few unconscious guards slung over his shoulder like a string of salted fish.
"Don't worry, old man!" he yelled, tossing the guards aside and flashing a grin. "I'll pay for the damages!"
"Pay?! How are you going to pay for this?!" the owner screamed, pointing a trembling finger at him.
"I know, I know, it's a family heirloom. But don't worry, when I'm done with these guys, I'll build you a bigger, more luxurious hotel!"
The remaining guards rushed out, surrounding him. "You bastard! How dare you!"
"Hahahaha!" Mo Wang let out a classic villainous laugh. "You still don't get it, do you, you pathetic worms? Since you started this, I don't need to hold back anymore! Now, it's showtime!"
The sky above Belobog suddenly darkened. A demonic shadow seemed to emerge from the clouds, and the snow itself seemed to freeze in the air. The citizens looked up in terror, while the crew of the Astral Express could only watch in numb horror.
Well, so much for being the good guys. Their teammate had just become the final boss. How were they going to explain this one? The reputation of the Astral Express was officially in the gutter.