"What's wrong?"
Robin walked over. She'd finished what she needed to do, so she came to find them. If she stayed cooped up in her room, it would be boring anyway—and a few days had already passed since they last met.
"It's nothing, really…"
Koji briefly explained how Black Swan had tried to peek at Acheron's memories. He didn't point out that Acheron was an Emanator of Nihility—he only said that Acheron was extremely strong.
Robin smiled. "I've heard Memokeepers love collecting precious memories. So it's true after all."
Penacony was a world of dreams, overflowing with memory-matter. In a place like this, the Memokeepers of the Garden of Recollection could be said to be like fish in water.
"Robin, your brother just let you come out like this?" Koji asked, a bit curious. Could his brother-in-law really be that at ease, letting his little sister mingle with people she barely knew?
"Nope. My brother's busy. I finished my own work, so I came out by myself. I'm not some little kid," Robin said, hands on her hips, shaking her head.
Koji's mouth twitched. If he didn't know Robin wasn't rebelling, he might've thought she was trying to become a truly free bird.
Poor Sunday. For the sake of the Dream of the One, he didn't even have time to accompany his own sister.
Robin's disguise really was airtight. As a superstar, too many people recognized her. If she showed up openly, the entire place would explode—crowds packed so tight you couldn't even squeeze through.
This was private time, not a fan event. She didn't want to be disturbed, so she made her disguise extra thorough.
findourway...
Suddenly, Robin's ringtone sounded—one of her own songs.
…
"Okay, brother. I got it."
Robin hung up and said helplessly, "I'll have to excuse myself. My brother says the Nameless have arrived, and he wants me to go take a look with him."
Even if the Nameless were weaker these days, their reputation was excellent. Travel between the many planets of the cosmos largely relied on the Trailblaze's silver rails, so anyone who benefited from that would give the Nameless some measure of respect.
And on an even deeper level, the Trailblaze had set off again. That meant opportunity. Many factions were watching the Nameless closely.
Koji was curious. If the silver rails were opened up by the Nameless, did that mean the Nameless also had the ability to close them? For instance, maybe the special conductor—Pom-Pom—had that kind of authority.
If the silver rails were shut down, the entire cosmos would descend into chaos. No one dared gamble on that possibility.
…
Koji and the others followed Robin to the Reverie Hotel. Sunday froze slightly—he hadn't expected his sister to be together with them.
"Sashiburi. We meet again," Koji said with a grin as he greeted the Express crew.
Last time, he'd left in a hurry and hadn't had much chance to talk.
"It's you?" Welt remembered the time he'd gotten the fright of his life, and his brow tightened.
"Not familiar enough? Fine—then I'll switch to a tone you'll recognize, Old Yang…"
"Ahem." Koji cleared his throat. "Hey, old friend. Long time no see. Miss me?"
Crack!
The familiar tone. The familiar voice. The moment Welt heard it, his glasses shattered on the spot.
It was that blond bastard!
"Uncle Yang, your glasses are amazing!" March 7th blurted out, completely baffled. "You didn't even move, and you made them explode! You really are hiding some crazy power!"
"…Sigh." Dan Heng could only sigh. This was obviously not normal.
What kind of spell did that sentence have, to make the steady and composed Mr. Welt fluctuate this violently?
Was this some kind of lifelong nemesis… or even a father-killer?
"You're Mr. Koji, right?" Welt forced himself to calm down. As a mature adult, he wasn't going to keep losing control over a single sentence. "Did you run into that blond man?"
"Welt, didn't you see him on the Xianzhou?" Koji said teasingly. If Welt saw Luocha's face, he was guaranteed to have a stress reaction.
"Luocha?" Welt frowned and slowly shook his head. "Just a similar flower. I can still tell the difference."
Of course, if that Luocha opened his mouth and led with "old friend," Welt would immediately drop a pseudo–black hole on that disgusting face.
"Oh, right—while you're in Penacony, you can also run into another old acquaintance," Koji added with a smile. "Purple hair. Carries a katana."
"…?"
Welt went rigid. Sweat started beading on his forehead.
Those traits sounded exactly like one of his students—Raiden Mei.
He'd already left Earth. How was he still running into so many familiar faces?
No matter where he went, there always seemed to be a few people he recognized.
He'd left Earth, yet it somehow felt like he'd come home.
Welt couldn't help making an expression that screamed: Astral Express, Old Yang, system crash.
"Himeko, I have a question," Koji said with curiosity. "Do you Nameless have the authority to close the Trailblaze's silver rails?"
"!!!"
His voice wasn't loud, but plenty of people heard it. Faces shifted immediately.
Most people had never even considered the question. After all, the Nameless were kind-hearted—surely they'd never do something as extreme as shutting down the silver rails.
But now that Koji raised it, they couldn't help being curious. The Trailblaze's silver rails were just too convenient.
Even Sunday was interested.
…
No one had ever asked it so bluntly.
Himeko saw everyone's reactions and couldn't help letting out a helpless smile. The question was sharp—and sensitive. She hadn't expected anyone to throw out something this tricky.
"I can't," Himeko said with a light smile.
She didn't know whether Pom-Pom could do it. No one asked, and Pom-Pom never said.
Still, Himeko had a gut feeling Pom-Pom could. That Pom-Pom did have the ability to close the Trailblaze's silver rails.
Not many people even knew about Pom-Pom, so they were somewhat disappointed. In their eyes, Himeko could represent the Astral Express.
If the rails were truly closed, the entire cosmos would fall into chaos. Even enormous organizations like the Interastral Peace Corporation would be shaken and unable to sit still.
Whether Himeko was telling the truth, no one could be sure—but a seed had already been planted.
The Nameless looked like only a handful of people… yet they seemed to be holding a "doomsday weapon."
"Himeko, can we really not?" Stelle asked curiously.
If they could, then in the future they could practically walk sideways through the universe.
March 7th had the same thought.
"Heh." Himeko shook her head with a wry smile. "I can't. But if it were an Emanator of the Trailblaze…"
Himeko's smile turned more helpless. How could she possibly do something like that?
If any Pathstrider of the Trailblaze could shut down the rails, the cosmos would've descended into chaos long ago.
Once they got back, she could ask Pom-Pom.
She'd never thought in this direction before.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]