Inside the parlor car, Stella sat listlessly on the sofa, fiddling with her fingers one by one. Her mind was occupied with thoughts of those poor Level 1 characters and the scarce cultivation materials, which gave her a bigger headache than the chaotic situation on the space station outside the window.
Just as she was pondering serious questions like "should I put shoes on Clara first, or buy a rabbit doll for Hook first"—
BOOM!!!
It wasn't the loud roar of an explosion, but a sudden, extremely intense, and incomparably pure burst of pure white light that seemed to turn the entire field of vision into nothingness. Without warning, it erupted from somewhere on the space station outside the window, instantly penetrating the observation pane and flooding the entire carriage!
"What the hell—!"
Caught off guard, Stella's eyes were facing directly toward the light source, and she took the full force of this "full-screen flashbang"!
"Aaaaaah—!!"
The next second, a miserable scream echoed through the carriage.
Stella felt her vision go pure white, then turn into a kaleidoscopic black, and finally, a stinging pain shot straight to her brain!
Subconsciously, she covered her eyes with both hands and rolled off the sofa onto the soft carpet. Tears flowed uncontrollably like an open faucet.
"My eyes! My 24K titanium alloy... er, ordinary human eyes! I'm going blind, I'm going blind!"
She wailed while rolling around. Although the pain was real, the lines were somewhat performative, mainly to vent the frustration brought about by this unprovoked disaster.
"Stella!"
Welt, who had just finished confirming the external stability of the space station in the cockpit, changed expression upon hearing the noise. He rushed over in a single stride, decisively pressed the door release, and his figure blurred out of the Astral Express like lightning, clearly heading out to investigate the source of that eerie white light.
"Passenger Stella! Don't move around, Pom! Be careful not to hit your head, Pom!"
The conductor, Pom-Pom, was so startled that its ears stood straight up. It dragged a small medical kit with a red cross from under the bar at an incredible speed and ran to Stella's side with its short legs going "clatter-clatter." It hurriedly fished out two mini ice packs and, standing on tiptoes, painstakingly but accurately applied them to Stella's rapidly swelling eyelids.
"Hiss—cold!"
The icy sensation temporarily suppressed the burning pain. Stella stopped rolling and lay paralyzed on the carpet like a salted fish, letting Pom-Pom take care of her.
Tears were still flowing, and combined with the rapidly appearing, symmetrical dark circles around her eyes, she looked truly miserable yet comical.
Ten minutes later, when the emergency situation inside the space station was temporarily brought under control, the Astral Express doors opened again.
"Stella! We're back! And we brought a new friend... Stella, what happened to you?!"
March 7th's energetic voice turned into a horrified scream less than a second after entering the door.
She pointed at Stella, who was slumped on the sofa with two massive, fresh dark circles comparable to some black-and-white Iron-eating beast, staring listlessly at the ceiling. March was so startled she almost dropped the energy bar in her hand.
"I'm fine..."
Stella's voice was airy, carrying the indifference of someone who had seen through the world.
"Just... viewed a cosmic-level, indiscriminate, friendship-shattering... er, eye-shattering flashbang at close range. Tastes okay, don't eat it next time."
"Huh? A flashbang? Who's throwing flashbangs around the space station?"
March 7th looked bewildered, then became righteously indignant.
"That's so unethical! Tell me who did it, and this young lady will go freeze them into an ice sculpture!"
Dan Heng, who followed behind, heard "flashbang" and saw Stella's highly recognizable black eyes. A scene from deep within the space station not long ago instantly flashed through his mind—
The girl named "Stelle" they had just met had released an unimaginable, star-like light from within her body, destroying the Doomsday Beast and nearly blinding everyone present.
Dan Heng's gaze silently shifted back and forth between Stella's tragic eyes and the real "Stelle," who was looking around curiously nearby.
Case closed.
The blame, while directly caused by the Stellaron going berserk, could be rounded off as friendly fire from this new friend's (Stelle's) passive skill.
The corner of Dan Heng's mouth twitched imperceptibly, and he decided to remain silent for now.
It was too complicated to explain and might lead to more problems.
"Oh right, right! Almost forgot the important stuff!"
March 7th's attention shifted rapidly, and she got excited again.
"Stella! We really found her! The original owner of that body of yours! Do you want to meet her?"
Although Stella's vision was blurry, she knew who it was from the description.
She nodded. Thinking that meeting the "original" with these panda eyes was just too embarrassing, she focused her mind, and a pale blue light flashed—
The little, white-haired, red-eyed girl "Clara" appeared on the sofa.
"Wow! You turned into Clara! Will that make your eyes feel better?"
March 7th's train of thought was always jumping around.
"Let's go, let's go! I'll take you to meet her!"
Without giving her a choice, she grabbed Stella's (Clara) small hand and excitedly ran toward the carriage door.
"Wait! March 7th! Slow down!!"
Stella (Clara) was dragged along stumbling, forced to work her short legs as hard as she could while shouting her protest.
——————
At the carriage junction, the real Stelle was standing there somewhat stiffly, curiously observing the interior of the Astral Express.
"Ta-da! Stelle! Let me introduce you, this is Stella! The one I told you about who can turn into other people!"
March 7th pushed "Clara" in front of Stelle as if showing off a rare animal.
Stelle looked at the white-haired, red-eyed little girl who was much shorter than herself, blinked, and asked hesitantly: "You... can turn into me?"
It sounded truly unbelievable.
Stella (Clara) nodded, thinking she could give a demonstration.
So blue light flashed again, and she reverted to the tall, grey-haired girl form—an appearance almost identical to Stelle's.
Except, this "Stelle" had a pair of extremely prominent, unhealed black eyes. She looked like an internet-addicted girl who had stayed up playing games for a month straight, and also happened to have been punched twice.
"Your eyes..."
Stelle noticed the tragic contrast immediately. She froze for a moment and subconsciously pointed, her tone carrying simple concern and confusion.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, it's nothing."
Stella tried her best to give a cool smile, but because her eyelids were swollen, the smile looked somewhat distorted. Combined with her white teeth and the dark circles, it had a strangely comedic effect of "persevering despite disability."
"Just a minor... cosmic ray allergy, yeah."
After speaking, she really couldn't bear the awkward contrast of standing next to the authentic Stelle with this "battle-damaged Stelle" face, so she quickly "poofed" back into the small Clara form.
March 7th watched Stella change back and forth before finally choosing to "hide" in Clara's form, and couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Stella, you couldn't be shy, could you? Are you embarrassed to use Stelle's appearance because your eyes are swollen?"
Stella (Clara) immediately turned her face away, facing March 7th with the back of her head, though the tips of her ears were a bit red.
Dan Heng leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, looking at these "two and a half" Stelle's, feeling that today's level of chaos seemed to have reached a new high.