At this moment, March 7th had once again dragged Sylvia to the Astral Express's boarding platform.
"Right, right! Just like that. Oh, Sylvia, how about a few more lines to really build the atmosphere?"
March was crouched low on the ground, shuffling about as she tried to find the perfect angle to make Sylvia's presence feel even more intense.
Sylvia took a moment to reflect on the lines of the Herrscher of Thunder.
Specifically, she recalled that infamous "domestic violence" scene from Lament of the Fallen.
She began to simulate flickering bolts of purple lightning, letting them weave and crackle around her. Even before she spoke a word, the vibe shifted instantly.
"Ooh—! That's the one! This is amazing!"
March, still hunkered down like some kind of bizarre creature, wobbled from side to side while letting out weird little squeaks of excitement. Perhaps this was just a common affliction among photographers.
Watching March's antics, Sylvia almost lost her composure. The heavy, somber mood she'd been brewing nearly dissolved into a fit of giggles.
But she couldn't help it; to keep the shoot going, she forced herself to look away from March.
Instead, she focused all her energy on recalling the background music from that cinematic, channeling Mei's dialogue to deepen her immersion.
"I only know that deep down... the world means nothing to me... without you."
As Sylvia stood before the train doors, whispering her lines and letting the emotions simmer—
Pshhh—
With a soft hiss, the carriage doors slid open.
The warm glow from inside the Express spilled out, catching Sylvia in a perfect backlight. It defined her silhouette while casting her expression into deep, dramatic shadow.
Welt Yang had stepped toward the door, originally intending to see what March was up to.
However, the moment the doors parted and that familiar voice reached his ears, his heart skipped a beat. For a fleeting second, he thought the lady named Acheron had come to visit.
But as the doors fully retracted and the figure behind them came into view, Welt caught sight of a back profile so familiar it practically gave him phantom stomach ulcers.
His heart and lungs seemed to stop functioning in unison.
"Sss..."
He let out a sharp, subconscious intake of breath. The hand he had resting on the door reacted with a sudden, instinctive surge of overwhelming power.
He gripped the frame and yanked it inward with violent force!
Thud—!
The heavy door of the Express slammed shut with a thunderous boom.
Clang—!!!
The ear-splitting crash gave March 7th a massive fright.
"What happened?! What's going on?! Uncle Yang? Uncle Yang, what are you doing?"
March had been busy snapping photos of Sylvia, so she had naturally seen Welt. But before she could even say hello, she watched him slam the door shut like he was trying to break it.
It was the first time she'd realized the Express doors could move that fast.
Sylvia pursed her lips, desperately wanting to laugh but holding it in with everything she had.
Heaven was her witness—she really hadn't done this on purpose. They had truly only come here for the photoshoot.
Besides, March had mentioned it was the crew's break time; the most likely person they'd run into was Dan Heng, who rarely slept.
Who could have guessed they'd run into Welt?
"Uh... maybe he just didn't want to interrupt your session?"
"Oh, well, Mr. Yang sure is a thoughtful one, isn't he?" March scratched her head and gave a goofy grin before raising her camera again.
"Shall we keep going? The atmosphere just now was incredible, and your expression was spot on!"
"Let's keep going!"
--+--
Inside the train.
Welt's violent door-slamming had sent the conductor scurrying into the car in a panic.
"What is it? What is it, Passenger Welt?! What happened?!"
"..."
Hearing Pom-Pom call his name finally brought Welt back to his senses. He reached up, adjusting his glasses, and offered the conductor an apologetic look.
"My apologies, Conductor. I think I might have misseen something. I accidentally used a bit too much force closing the door."
He must have been sleeping too deeply; he'd clearly woken up with a bit of a clouded mind.
To think he'd actually imagined the Herrscher of Thunder showing up on the Xianzhou Luofu... Welt shook his head with a wry smile, convinced he was just groggy.
"That doesn't sound like something you would do at all! But you have to be careful next time! If the door breaks, it's a huge hassle to fix!"
Seeing how sincerely Welt apologized, Pom-Pom didn't press the matter. The conductor just grumbled a few more nagging remarks before rubbing their eyes and letting out a long yawn.
Welt turned his gaze away from the conductor and sighed.
"I must have mistaken that Miss Acheron for her... Truly, am I finally starting to show my age?"
Standing by the door, Welt rubbed his eyes. He wondered if he'd spent too much time at the Artisanship Commission lately.
Maybe he'd looked at too many Aurumaton gatekeepers, and it was making his head swim. Otherwise, how could he possibly see the Herrscher of Thunder here?
Meeting someone who looked and acted like Otto was already enough to make Welt's heart race.
As for Miss Acheron, even though he hadn't had the chance to speak with her afterward, he could tell she only shared a resemblance; her temperament and attire were different.
Even with Sylvia—after knowing her for a while—Welt felt she had a different aura than Kiana.
"Phew... I should go out and apologize properly..."
With that thought in mind, Welt slowly opened the heavy door once more.
Pshhh—
Accompanied by the hiss of the pneumatic valves, the doors slid apart.
And immediately, he was greeted by that hauntingly familiar, cold voice:
"Farewell, Kiana."
And there she was—the spitting image of Mei herself, dressed in the unmistakable raiment of the Herrscher of Thunder!
"..."
"Sss—!"
Welt's instinct to slam the door returned in full force.
Fortunately, before he could exert any power, the Conductor's death-glare fixed on his arm snapped him back to reality. He managed to refrain from further brutalizing the poor door.
Because of that pause, Welt finally noticed March 7th, who was crouched on the ground clicking away with her camera.
"Ah, Uncle Yang! And Conductor! You're both awake."
"Because Passenger March is being too noisy! And then Passenger Welt gave me a fright! So what exactly are you two doing?"
Pom-Pom stood by the door frame, petting the door as if to soothe it, while looking at Sylvia with curiosity.
Welt adjusted his glasses again, staring intensely at Sylvia's form. "March... what is this?"
"Hehe, Sylvia specifically asked me to help her take some portraits. We're doing an outdoor shoot right now!"
"Sylvia?"
Welt looked at the "Mei" before him—who was undeniably in her Herrscher of Thunder form—with a head full of question marks.
You're calling her Sylvia?
"Yeah, Sylvia is so good at dressing up! She looks almost exactly like Miss Acheron!"
"..."
Welt looked down, and just then, Sylvia turned around and gave him a polite nod.
"It's me. Sorry for the disturbance."
As she spoke, Sylvia deactivated her transformation, returning to her original appearance. Of course, her clothes didn't change; she was still wearing the Herrscher of Thunder's outfit.
"...It's fine. You're welcome to visit the Express anytime."
Welt found it genuinely difficult to process a Kiana-lookalike dressed as the Herrscher of Thunder standing in front of him and saying hello.
Having this happen in the middle of the night was a serious blow to his nerves.
He really just wanted to go back to his room and sit in silence for a while.
--+--
T/N: 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.