Chapter 63: If You Believe That, You Might As Well Believe You Are Akivili
March 7th stared at the screen, letting out a long, exaggerated sigh of relief. She had just noticed that the game they were playing completely omitted the overly dramatic scene where Stelle and Caelus had supposedly shouted, 'I will bring you destruction!'
Honestly, it was for the best. Just imagining the sheer, unfiltered cringe of that moment playing out in high definition was enough to make her want to curl into a ball and roll right off the Express.
"As for why they cut it, I actually know the reason..." Leon leaned back against the plush sofa, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips. "You see, Nanook's hidden nickname in the cosmos is the 'NTR Aeon'."
"Huh? What the hell?" March 7th whipped her head around, her pink hair bouncing as a swarm of invisible question marks practically materialized above her head. "NTR Aeon?!"
'Are you seriously not afraid that the Aeon of Destruction will personally smash through the Express windows for slandering Him like this?!' March screamed internally, her heart doing panicked backflips.
Around the lounge, the reactions were instantaneous. Stelle and Caelus blinked in perfect, deadpan synchronicity. Himeko's hand, gracefully lifting her coffee cup, froze mid-air. The corners of Welt Yang's and Dan Heng's mouths twitched in unison, betraying their struggle to maintain composure.
Down on the floor, the little Cat Cakes had absolutely no idea what was going on. They simply stacked themselves into a wobbly, fluffy totem pole, peering up at Leon with wide, curious eyes.
[Leon: Not afraid at all. If there's a problem, I'll just ask in the group chat.]
[Leon: If the Antimatter Legion attacks, I'll just call Nanook over and see who's stronger—His own Antimatter Legion, or Him!]
[Aha: This is too much fun! Aha can totally help you out~]
[Nanook:...]
Oblivious to the cosmic entities lurking in his mental chat, Leon cleared his throat. "Hey, I need to have a serious talk with you all about this." The corners of his mouth curled into a dangerously handsome, yet utterly untrustworthy arc. "Actually, most of Nanook's Emanators were 'poached'."
"Ah? You even know about this?" March 7th crossed her arms, her face a mask of pure disbelief.
"Listen to me finish first," Leon continued, his tone unhurried and dripping with mock gravity. "There is an devastating secret hidden behind this."
"What secret?" Stelle asked, playing the role of the deadpan straight man with absolute perfection.
Beside her, Caelus silently whipped out a small, worn notebook and a pen, his eyes shining with the intense focus of a dedicated scholar preparing to record forbidden knowledge.
"Everyone knows that Nanook's homeworld, Adlivun, was successively invaded by the Swarm and the mechanical intelligence of the Emperor's War," Leon began, pacing slowly like a seasoned professor.
Dan Heng nodded slightly from his spot against the wall. This history was indeed recorded in the Express databanks; any Pathstrider or scholar with a passing knowledge of the Destruction knew a thing or two about the tragic fall of Adlivun.
"Just as Nanook fell into the absolute depths of despair," Leon narrated, his voice swelling with theatrical emotion, "a 'ghost-fire punk' riding on a trail of colorful, auspicious exhaust clouds suddenly descended from the sky and saved His hometown."
"A ghost-fire punk?! What the heck is that!" March 7th couldn't help but shout, completely derailing the dramatic atmosphere.
But Himeko remained silent, her elegant features struck by a thoughtful expression. When she had been organizing the ancient data of the Astral Express, she had indeed read various eccentric descriptions of Akivili. If one were to use the term 'ghost-fire punk'—a rebellious, flashy joyrider tearing through the cosmos—to describe the Aeon of Trailblaze... it was actually shockingly fitting.
"This flashy space punk," Leon smiled, spreading his hands to reveal the grand answer, "is none other than Akivili!"
"Isn't Akivili the Aeon of Trailblaze? Why would they be a space punk?!" March 7th turned desperately to Himeko, seeking a voice of reason.
Instead, she heard the furious scratching of a pen. Caelus had his head bowed, diligently writing: 'Akivili = Flashy Space Punk.'"I have organized the historical data on Akivili before," Himeko said, finally taking a sip of her coffee before turning her warm gaze to the conductor. "Their personality was indeed famously unrestrained. So, calling them a'punk' isn't entirely unacceptable."
"Indeed, Akivili was totally a ghost-fire punk, Pom!" Pom-Pom nodded vigorously in agreement, currently busy cleaning the carriage alongside a very helpful Cat Cake. The little critter had somehow activated a sweep mode, sliding across the floor with extremely high cleaning efficiency, much to the conductor's delight. Recalling Akivili's antics back in the day, Pom-Pom remembered they certainly caused no shortage of headaches.
"But," Leon raised a finger, drawing everyone's attention back to his vivid narration, "because Akivili's core concept of 'Trailblaze'meant they could endure the known and the unknown, but absolutely could not endure the'unknowable'..."
The lounge grew quiet. Everyone listened intently. Although Leon delivered the tale with a joking lilt, upon closer inspection, his logic possessed a bizarre, twisted kind of sense. also, the mystery of Akivili's fall had never been solved. No one in the universe could even be entirely sure if the Aeon had truly perished. The cosmos only knew that the Trailblaze had disappeared at the very end of the Path.
"So—" Leon paused for dramatic effect, his face turning incredibly solemn. "Akivili was killed because they peeked at too many Aeons bathing!"
March 7th: "..."
Himeko: "..."
Welt Yang: "..."
Dan Heng: "..."
Pom-Pom: "..."
By the time the Astral Express Crew fully processed the words that had just entered their ears, it was already too late. The sheer absurdity had dealt massive psychic damage.
"What the hell is this?! Akivili was killed because they peeked at Aeons bathing?!" March 7th roared, her voice cracking an octave higher.
"I didn't expect you to have the natural talent to guest star as a Fictionologist of the Enigmata, Leon." Himeko covered her forehead with a helpless, elegant sigh. What exactly was she expecting from him just now?
"Hahaha, wait, let me continue!" Leon laughed, thoroughly enjoying the chaos. "So, Nanook vowed to avenge Akivili!"
"The first step of His master plan was to 'poach' all the Emanators and subordinates of the Aeons who might have participated in the grand conspiracy to murder Akivili." Leon leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. "And the reason He cast His gaze upon Stelle and Caelus back on the Herta Space Station? It was because they looked far too much like Nanook's first love—Akivili!"
Leon threw out his final, devastating conclusion with a bright smile.
Pom-Pom: "..."
The conductor stared at Leon, long floppy ears drooping slightly, suddenly highly suspicious that this grinning young man actually knew something classified. Pom-Pom actually knew the truth of everything, but Pom-Pom couldn't say a word.
"So... you mean to tell me," March 7th muttered, looking entirely too exhausted to keep up her retorts, "that Stelle and Caelus were gazed at by the Aeon of Destruction because they look like Akivili? How is that even remotely possible?!"
"So that's it!" Stelle suddenly clapped her hands together, a look of deep realization washing over her face. "No wonder we got gazed at by Nanook! It was because we look like Akivili!"
Beside her, Caelus furiously scribbled in his notebook: 'Stelle and Caelus = Akivili (Youth Version).'
"Don't record that! If you believe that nonsense, you might as well believe you're Akivili reincarnated!" March 7th yelled, throwing her hands in the air. Seriously, was Leon some kind of reality-bending prophet? Elio, Destiny's Slave, had to carefully calculate timeline after timeline, yet Leon could just spout absolute garbage and rewrite history in one sentence!
[Leon: This is way too sneaky!]
"Actually, I think it makes perfect sense for me to look like Akivili," Stelle declared righteously, puffing out her chest. "Before, when we were in Herta's Simulated Universe, I just roleplayed as Akivili for a little bit, and an Aeon immediately looked over at me."
"That's the Simulated Universe! How can that possibly be the same thing?!" March 7th groaned, massaging her temples to ward off an impending headache.
"Such a touching, tragic romance," Leon wiped a fake tear from his eye, unable to hold back his laughter. "Even my Aha was moved to tears."
"You're just openly admitting Aha is yours now?!" March 7th shot back sharply. "Honestly, I suspect this entire story was made up by the Aeon of Elation in the first place!"
[Aha: Hahaha, that's right! This was totally made up by me!]
[Aha: I'll send this to the brothers at the World's End Tavern to have some fun! We must promote this lore well!]
[Nanook:...You'd better have something important to say.]
"Hey, hey, hey! Passengers, please pay attention! Passengers, please pay attention!"
Just as the chaos was reaching its peak, Pom-Pom's voice echoed through the carriage's PA system, cutting through the banter. "The Astral Express jump is imminent! Please be prepared!"
"Jump?" Stelle and Caelus blinked, momentarily stunned by the sudden announcement.
"A jump is a jump! You two hurry up and find a place to sit! Don't run around the Express like passenger March 7th!" Pom-Pom scolded lightly, waving their little arms to signal the twins to take their seats. "The final preparations before the jump have begun!"
"Are you ready to head to the next planet?" Himeko asked, a warm, adventurous smile returning to her face as she looked at Stelle, Caelus, and Leon.
"Where is the next station?" Caelus asked curiously, finally snapping his small notebook shut and tucking it away.
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