Chapter 90: Welt: You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover!
The morning air in the Astral Express parlor car carried an inexplicable, heavy scent. Metaphorically speaking, it was the sharp, lingering smell of gunpowder.
Last night, March 7th had pushed herself into such a flustered frenzy during her argument with Delta that she had simply squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out her feelings for Rekka right there on the spot. Delta, naturally, possessed zero intention of backing down. The resulting chaos had forced Rekka to bend over backward, burning through his energy reserves just to soothe the two bristling girls until they finally retreated to their respective rooms to sleep.
A temporary ceasefire.
The bizarre incident with Aha the Elation had somehow slipped under the radar amidst the romantic crossfire. When Dan Heng went to inspect the data board later, everything appeared perfectly normal, leaving the stoic guard pinching the bridge of his nose, quietly wondering if his own memory was starting to fail him.
Today, Rekka awoke to the warm, boundless energy of the Path of Trailblaze.
He let out a quiet breath of relief. Thank the Aeons it wasn't Erudition's turn. While the sheer calculating might of Erudition was intoxicating, every time it manifested, Rekka found himself genuinely concerned for the structural integrity of the entire universe.
"Yo. Hello, everyone."
A burst of pixelated light materialized in the center of the carriage, resolving into a holographic projection.
"Members of the Astral Express, I have hijacked your train. Now—how about you all listen to what I have to say?"
Rekka shot up from the plush sofa. His eyes locked onto Silver Wolf's virtual form, burning with an intensity that actually sent a faint, involuntary chill down the hacker's spine.
'Silver Wolf! You absolute legend! You did so well!'The sheer gratitude almost spilled past his lips.'Children, Silver Wolf is the undisputed GOAT! Thank you for the rescue!'
This sudden interruption was the absolute perfect excuse to escape the suffocating romantic tension left over from last night. But outwardly, Rekka locked his jaw, furrowed his brow, and adopted a stance of absolute, unyielding vigilance.
"Silver Wolf of the Stellaron Hunters," he demanded, his voice dropping an octave to sound as intimidating as possible. "Why have you hijacked the Astral Express?"
The performance was so exaggeratedly serious that Dan Heng immediately shot Rekka a sideways glance. Something was definitely off. Still, the guard decided to let it slide; at least the cold war between the girls was temporarily suspended.
"Uh... right! Hijacking the train." Silver Wolf cleared her throat, trying to salvage her menacing aura. "So now, you all have to listen to me, or else I'll—"
"Or else what?" Rekka interrupted smoothly.
Silver Wolf froze.
A beat of silence stretched across the carriage. She hadn't actually planned that far ahead. Elio's script had simply dictated: 'Create a little conflict, but cooperate with the Express.' It completely failed to specify how to create that conflict, and her usual methods of digital extortion felt a bit too aggressive for a simple escort mission.
"Anyway!" she huffed, waving a hand to dismiss the awkwardness. "I'm here to—announce something."
"What is it?"
"I've changed your next destination. How about the Xianzhou Luofu?"
"We need to discuss this," Dan Heng stated flatly.
"Fine, go ahead and discuss. Just make it quick, okay?"
Off to the side, Welt Yang's expression had twisted into a deeply complicated knot. He stared at the holographic girl's face, a myriad of conflicting emotions flashing behind his glasses.
Rekka leaned in, nudging the older man's shoulder. "What do you think, Uncle Yang? Don't you already have your own thoughts on this?"
"..."
"I mean, how could someone with that face possibly be a bad person, right?" Rekka whispered, a sly grin tugging at his lips.
Welt adjusted his glasses, refusing to make eye contact. "Ahem. Anyway, we still shouldn't judge people by their appearance. That is fundamentally wrong."
"Wait! That's where you're wrong," Rekka countered, counting on his fingers. "Look at our time on Jarilo-VI. There was Seele and Bronya, and then Cocolia and Natasha..."
"Stop. Stop right there," Welt sighed, waving a hand to cut off the incoming barrage of alternate-universe doppelganger comparisons.
Rekka chuckled inwardly. Just wait until they actually reached the Xianzhou Luofu and Welt caught his first glimpse of Luocha's face. Old Yang would be swinging his cane faster than the speed of light. By then, Welt would absolutely unlock his ultimate 'Cane Maniac' form.
Himeko stepped forward, her elegant gaze fixing on the hacker.
"Since you went to all the trouble of breaching the Astral Express's communication network, I assume this isn't merely a prank. What exactly has happened on the Xianzhou Luofu that requires you to personally point the way?"
"A Stellaron burst is about to occur on the Luofu," Silver Wolf replied, her tone flattening into professional detachment. "And the situation is urgent."
"A Stellaron crisis?" Himeko's brow creased. "Aren't the Stellaron Hunters specialized in locating and securing Stellarons? Why haven't you handled it yourselves this time? Why come to the Express for help?"
"Because the script dictates that this matter must be resolved by you." Silver Wolf spread her hands in a helpless shrug. "We are simply responsible for guiding you toward the correct future. If you refuse to go, there will be massive casualties on the Xianzhou. People will die, and many of them... And just to be clear, it's not my doing. There is another, highly dangerous fellow who has slipped inside."
"A dangerous fellow? More dangerous than the Stellaron Hunters?" March 7th interjected, planting her hands firmly on her hips. "You guys are literal cosmic criminals with bounties across the entire universe! Who could possibly be more of a troublemaker than you?"
"That's hard to say." Silver Wolf casually chewed her bubblegum, blowing a pink bubble that popped with a sharp snap. "Our bounties on the IPC's wanted list are definitely high, but the universe is crawling with entities far more dangerous than us."
Himeko turned her attention back to the unusually serious protagonist. "Rekka, what do you think? You are walking the Path of Trailblaze today. What are your thoughts on this sudden invitation?"
Rekka slammed a fist into his open palm. "Let's go! Why wouldn't we? They've literally delivered the coordinates to our doorstep and warned us of an impending disaster. As Trailblazers, how could we possibly hear about a crisis, pretend we didn't notice, and just fly away? Even if this is a trap, we have an obligation to go and see it for ourselves."
Silver Wolf let out a light chuckle. The edges of her projection began to fray with digital static. "Since you've made your choice, my mission here is complete. I've already uploaded the coordinates for the Xianzhou Luofu into the Express's navigation matrix. Good luck, Trailblazers."
"Hey, wait a second! Explain yourself first—what exactly does this dangerous fellow look like—"
Before March 7th could finish her sentence, the hologram dissolved into a cascading stream of green data and vanished completely from the carriage.
"Well, she ran off fast," March muttered, dropping her hands.
"Who ran off? I just teleported over."
A voice echoed from the corner of the parlor car. The crew spun around. Silver Wolf's physical form had officially materialized inside the Astral Express. She offered a lazy two-finger salute.
"Let me formally introduce myself. Hacker from Punklorde, Stellaron Hunter, Silver Wolf. I'll be traveling with you guys for a little while."
Her sheer audacity in appearing so candidly on their home turf actually managed to boost the crew's trust in her by a significant margin.
Especially with that specific face.
She doesn't look like a bad person at all.JPG.
It seemed Uncle Yang's deeply ingrained habit of judging people by their alternate-universe faces was a terminal condition that would never be cured.
Suddenly, a blur of gray hair shot across the room.
"Where's Sam? Where's Sam?!" Stelle grabbed Silver Wolf by the shoulders, shaking the petite hacker back and forth with terrifying enthusiasm.
"Don't shake me! Stop shaking me!" Silver Wolf squeezed her eyes shut, her head snapping back and forth. "Sam went to carry out a separate mission!"
Stelle abruptly stopped, leaving the hacker swaying dizzily on her feet. "What mission?"
"I can't say." Silver Wolf groaned, rubbing her temples to fight off the motion sickness. "Only the person directly involved knows the exact details of their script. I won't know what Elio wrote for her until it's already over."
Stelle stared at her in silence for three agonizingly long seconds before finally curling her lip in disappointment.
"Fine. I'll just ask her the next time we meet."
Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Silver Wolf scanned the rest of the carriage, her eyes finally locking onto Rekka.
"So, you're the infamous guy who changes his Path every single day?"
"Yep, that's me."
"Is that ability something you can actually control?"
"Nope." Rekka shook his head, offering a helpless smile. "It's completely random. I only find out what class I'm playing when I open my eyes every morning."
"That's actually pretty interesting." Silver Wolf rubbed her chin, a gamer's spark lighting up her eyes. "A literal daily randomizer."
Himeko approached the hacker, her posture relaxed but authoritative. "Since you are here for a ride, the Astral Express naturally welcomes you aboard as a guest. However, you must adhere to a few basic requirements. At the absolute minimum, you cannot modify the Express's internal systems at will, nor can you interfere with—"
"Fine, fine, I'll play by your rules. I'm only responsible for acting as your guide anyway," Silver Wolf agreed without a second thought. "So, when do we leave? The timing is fairly flexible on my end; we just need to breach the Xianzhou's airspace within three days."
Rekka stretched his arms above his head, popping his shoulders as he prepared for the sheer absurdity of his next task.
"Well, first things first. Let's put the entire planet of Jarilo-VI back into the universe..."
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