As Sunday's words fell, Stelle immediately felt the entire mindscape space begin to twist, repelling her as an outsider.
Sunday's inner world was more solid than she had imagined, to the point that relying solely on clock tricks couldn't change anything at all. This exception had appeared in the original game as well, just like the "Gravedigger" Micah in the Dreamflux Reef.
It was just that these were extremely rare cases.
It was clear that Sunday's resentment toward Penacony's current state was even greater than she had imagined.
Stelle shouted, "Clockie, slow down time!"
"Tick-tock! Received!" Clockie replied, and the hands on the clock face spun wildly. The distortion in the surrounding space slowed down at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Useless..."
Sunday was inevitably affected, but he still maintained his dignified posture, speaking in a slow-motion voice, intermittent and drawn out: "Once... we... return... to... reality..."
"Ena's... Dream... will... continue."
"..."
Stelle was the first to open her eyes. Everything that had just happened in the mindscape space seemed to take a long time, but in the outside world, it was only a matter of a few seconds.
She used the "Time Slow" skill again, temporarily holding the scene in place. The current predicament was no longer something she could resolve alone.
She needed external aid.
But the Train Crew's companions were all trapped in Ena's Dream right now. Who should she turn to...
A flash of inspiration struck Stelle's mind, and two figures suddenly appeared in her thoughts.
Right, Asta had given her a phone back then, promising that if anything happened, she would send the Annihilation Gang's fleet to help. This version didn't have the Patrol Rangers, so this could perfectly serve as a substitute!
With that in mind, Stelle hurriedly pulled out the phone Asta had given her and dialed the only saved number in it.
Beep—
On the other side, Asta was lying on the bed, enjoying the massage from the Herta puppet. Hearing the phone ring, she first glanced at the caller ID, then answered the call with a half-smile: "A-Stelle? How come you're suddenly willing to call me~ Won't Miss March 7th get jealous?"
Stelle: "Hey, don't say random things. Between March and me... No, off-topic. I want to ask for your help. We've run into trouble."
Immediately after, Stelle told Asta everything that had happened in Penacony.
"Oh? Implementing total exploitation to squeeze out space for internal competition?" Asta was stunned for a moment: "Such niche vocabulary."
For a young lady like her who spent money like water, making money? Wasn't that a waste of life?
"Alright, I get the specifics. I'll send an army fleet over for you—is that enough?"
"Enough, enough, enough. Love you, love you."
"I recorded that~"
Beep beep beep—
Before she could feel terrified about Asta's recording, Stelle called Pom-Pom.
Beep—
"Hello? Trailblazer, the Conductor has a very important matter to attend to right now and can only call you back later..."
"Ours is even more important!!" Stelle interrupted Pom-Pom: "Give me five seconds to speak first. Penacony's CEO Sunday used Ena's Dream to envelop the entire Asdana star system. A few of us are all trapped inside—please come help quickly!"
Pom-Pom: "Ah... what dream? Are you guys sleeping? The race is about to start on my end. I'll come find you after the match ends, Pom! Hanging up first, Pom!"
Beep beep beep—
After hanging up, someone suddenly knocked on the window of the train head. "Pom-Pom contestant, you're not qualified in height. Come down, come down. Also, this is a car race—what are you doing bringing a train to join in?"
Pom-Pom "tsk"ed, and its body stretched like a rubber person, lengthening its height. At the same time, the train contracted and deformed, transforming into the shape of a sports car: "This should be fine now, right?"
The inspector looked at Pom-Pom's humanoid form and swallowed: "I-It... it's fine."
...
On the other side, Stelle stared at the hung-up phone, going a bit crazy for a moment. Pom-Pom, where have you gone to fool around this time? We're your passengers!
Dropping the ball at a critical moment!
Stelle shook her head vigorously. Fine, fine, it wasn't hard to understand. The Conductor was just a lonely mascot stuck on the train, while everyone else was on vacation. It wasn't like they could leave the Conductor to guard the empty nest all by itself, staring longingly.
"Go play if you're going to play..." Stelle shook her head vigorously again, stuffing the phone back into her pocket and taking a deep breath.
Next, she could only shoulder the responsibility before Acheron's arrival.
She had to hold Sunday back until her companions woke up.
"Time flow rate resuming!"
Stelle shouted loudly, and as time resumed, she charged toward Sunday, solidly headbutting the latter's forehead!
"Ow—!"
Sunday cried out in pain, knocked down under Stelle by the impact. Immediately after came a storm of punches and headbutts like a gale and sudden rain!
Nearby, the peeping quartet was stunned on the spot: Due to the influence of the time flow rate, in their perspective, Stelle inexplicably burrowed into Sunday's body, then somehow burrowed out again, and even more inexplicably started a brawl.
Sparkle secretly glanced at Robin and said, "They seem to have fallen out. Should we go help?"
Robin thought for a moment. "No, let's watch a bit more. We'll step in when she can't control the situation."
—"I'm telling you to exploit, I'm telling you to squeeze!"
Smack smack smack!
Stelle struck left and right, attacking furiously!
"Ow—"
Sunday took heavy blows and cried out in pain again, but he still tried his best to maintain his proper demeanor: "Miss Stelle, let's talk this out properly. Otherwise, I'll summon the Dominicus..."
—"I'm telling you to like men, I'm telling you to not uphold marital virtue!"
Stelle ignored Sunday's final warning and just kept landing punches.
Smack smack smack!
Just as Sunday used the Dominicus' power to shake Stelle off with a backhand, the spots on his body where pain had been generated suddenly produced a strange sensation.
It hurt, but it was also quite stress-relieving.
"Hee oh oh oh—"
Sunday called out again, but he still maintained his composure: "Nameless Guest! Stop now, I still..."
—"I'm doing this for your own good! I... forget it, I can't make up any more. I just damn well want to beat you up!"
Smack smack smack!
"..."
In the back, the peeping quartet's expressions shifted through stages: worry, delight, confusion, fear.
Especially Robin—her complexion had been poor the whole time. As Sunday's sister, she knew what every tone from him meant!
Her brother... was actually an M!
How could this be?!
At that thought, Robin could no longer hold back. She rushed out from cover, practically teleporting to the pair's side, and elbowed Stelle off Sunday with one strike. "Get off my brother!"
Stelle: ? 666 teammate backstabs me!
Robin said righteously, "Miss Stelle, Sunday is my blood relative, my sibling by flesh and bone. How can you strike so harshly?!"
"Even if there's beating to be done, it should be me who does it!"