"Haaah…"
After exiting the system, Lynelle let out a huge yawn and looked around inside the train.
"What in the… happened? Wasn't this supposed to be Jarilo-VI? Why is there a giant ice ball outside the window?"
"Unfortunately, because of the Stellaron, we're temporarily stuck here," Welt sighed. "And that giant ice ball is Jarilo-VI."
"Mr. Welt is right! The Stellaron causes the star rail's stability to plummet! If we don't deal with this Stellaron, our stopover will have to be extended from the original seven days to indefinitely!"
"So, you're saying we have to go down to that planet now and deal with that… Stellaron?" Lynelle asked curiously.
"Dealing with the Stellaron directly is beyond us, however…"
Himeko shook her head, "This trailblazing mission is indeed entrusted to you four. Find that Stellaron, resolve the crisis it's causing for this planet, and bring it back to the train—Welt and I will naturally have a way to seal it."
"So we're still not going this time…" Welt's expression was somewhat regretful.
"We have to give the young ones some chances," Himeko smiled slightly, then looked seriously at the four of them.
"However, since this journey involves a Stellaron, if any real danger arises, Welt and I won't just stand by. But until then… it's in your hands."
"Oh, right." Welt suddenly seemed to remember something. "Lynelle, you mentioned your ability can project powers from another world to our side, correct? Among those abilities you've acquired, are there any related to that world's Welt?"
"Mm, yes, but it's from the Second Honkai Eruption era, Uncle Yang…"
"That doesn't matter. What I meant was, since you can also briefly use the Herrscher of Reason's power…" Welt handed his cane towards Lynelle. "Then take this. You should recognize what it is, right?"
"This is… the Star of Eden?" Lynelle blinked.
"Correct. If you encounter danger you absolutely cannot handle, Lynelle, activate the Herrscher of Reason's power and then snap this cane. Its Zeroth Power will activate automatically."
"You just need to use the Herrscher of Reason's ability to negate its effects for yourselves."
"But… Uncle Yang," March 7th said a bit awkwardly, "if we take your cane, what will you use?"
"No need to worry." Welt snapped his fingers lightly, and an identical cane instantly appeared in his hand.
"My mastery over Star of Eden has reached perfection. Reconstructing another one takes less than a second… So feel free to take it and use it."
"However, if you don't end up using this cane for over a month, remember to bring it back to me. I'll need to reinforce its existence. After all, the real Star of Eden was given to my student long ago. The one I hold has always been a projection of my own making."
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony." Lynelle examined the cane she'd seen countless times in the game, then stored it in her system space.
"As for what's next… you can go find Dan Heng to learn about this planet's situation. After that, you can prepare to land."
--+--
"Phew… It's really a frozen wasteland here…"
Dan Heng was highly efficient.
Just over ten minutes after the train was blocked by the Stellaron, he had already extracted useful geographical data from the archives and quickly pinpointed the only viable landing zone for the Express crew—which also happened to be the area most likely to have settlements on this planet.
"Frozen wasteland… huh?" Lynelle silently observed the vast expanse of snow-white skin exposed beneath March 7th's skirt. Though she claimed it was cold, none of the Express crew, herself included, were dressed for winter weather.
"That's one of the basic functions of the Trailblaze path—adaptation to extreme environments."
Seemingly noticing Lynelle's puzzled look, Dan Heng proactively explained.
"For those who walk the Trailblaze path, being in extreme environments is commonplace. The Trailblaze path helps us adapt to most naturally occurring extremes. For instance, you could float in space without dying, or move freely in extreme heat or cold."
"Of course, this adaptability has its limits. If you were to jump into the sun… well, there wouldn't be much to be done."
"Are there more? Are there more?" Stelle asked, like a child who'd just gotten a new toy.
"There are three other commonly used abilities. First, creating convenient items, like the Warp Oculus, which can warp light to a forward star system to gather information in advance. But since we have the Astral Express, which has this function built-in, we don't use it much."
"Second, breaking through large-scale restrictions, like spatial or temporal blockades, artificially created obstacles, etc… The authority of Trailblaze acts like a wedge, dispersing all mists that hinder exploration."
"As for the third…" Dan Heng looked around, then quickly walked in a certain direction. "Found it. This. You should be somewhat familiar with it already. It's called a Space Anchor."
With an infusion of Dan Heng's path energy, a familiar blue anchor point materialized before them.
"The Space Anchor is a unique ability of us Nameless, and an essential medium for traversing the cosmos. When you encounter one, just channel your Trailblaze path energy into it to 'activate' it."
"Space Anchors store energy they gather autonomously, which can restore Trailblazers' vitality. They also allow travel between different Space Anchors—this travel can even carry some small items, but not people. You could say they are vital tools for us Trailblazers to resupply, record our journey, and escape in emergencies."
"Planting a Space Anchor requires only a small amount of Trailblaze energy. They are inherently very sturdy, nearly indestructible. However, different Space Anchors have a fixed range of repulsion effect—meaning only one can exist within a certain area."
"Since Jarilo-VI is a planet that has been trailblazed before, we can find anchors left by our predecessors here. See, just activate it like I did. There were some on the space station too; you probably activated them automatically already."
"It feels… standing next to this really does make you warmer," Stelle remarked curiously, touching the Space Anchor.
Though she'd seen them a few times on the space station, she had thought it was some of Madam Herta's mysterious tech. She hadn't realized it was an ability of the Trailblaze path itself.
"Feels like if this were a game, a 'Cold Meter Decreasing' effect would pop up over my head when I get near a Space Anchor."
"What game did you just crossover from?!" Lynelle couldn't help but complain.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.