March 7th weakly took half a step back and shrank behind Stelle, looking like she couldn't handle the other party's somewhat fanatical behavior.
Stelle thought for a moment: "Just treat it as if I believe."
Unexpectedly, Argenti responded very seriously.
"It sounds like you are very troubled, lady."
"Forgive my presumption. I understand that you may be acknowledging my ideology out of goodwill, but you do not have much understanding of Pure Beauty in your heart. This is such a pure and beautiful act."
"I respect different ideologies, lady. But now it seems that since you do not know of the existence of Pure Beauty, I can only make it manifest in the way of a knight."
Argenti bowed once more.
"I earnestly request to engage in a knightly contest with you. If I am fortunate enough to win, please acknowledge—"
"That the Pure Beauty goddess Idrila is peerlessly beautiful!"
Stelle's eye twitched. She understood why March 7th had pushed her forward.
She could feel that the Argenti before her acted in complete accordance with his words and held no hostility whatsoever.
His behavior stemmed from the purest—and also most fanatical—faith in Pure Beauty, fanatical to the point of extremity.
Although this did not prevent her from not understanding it, she at least respected the other party's faith.
"…If I lose, I have to acknowledge it?"
"Not necessarily."
Argenti shook his head slightly.
"This is an unwritten rule before a knightly contest. I am sorry."
"Using battle in place of poetry is the way Pure Beauty Knights hope to convince others. Besides… ah, please forgive me. I am not good with words."
Stelle glanced at everyone on the train. Seeing that no one intended to stop them, she took out her baseball bat.
"Then come on. I like sparring with people the most!"
Compared to the itch on the top of her head, she preferred simple and direct combat satisfaction.
Seeing the two of them take out their weapons, March 7th was dumbfounded.
"How did it turn into a fight already?"
Argenti: "Communicating with people is very difficult. Only action can express it. I long for the two of you to understand Pure Beauty."
The two figures flashed, and their moves were all upright and proper, grand and sweeping.
However, before they had gone through a few exchanges, Welt interrupted their sparring.
"I'm very sorry, but I must interrupt the two of you… enthusiasm."
"Forgive my spoilsport behavior. According to the information we have gathered, the current situation may be more urgent than imagined."
"What's going on?" Stelle was puzzled.
Welt: "We'll explain the details once Leon returns. He wants everyone to immediately check each carriage at the fastest speed."
Out of trust in Leon, everyone acted without a second thought and moved quickly.
Himeko headed to the engine car, Welt to the party car, and Pom-Pom returned to the conductor's room.
Stelle and March 7th headed to the docking car and the passenger car respectively.
March 7th returned to her room first. She never expected that the moment she opened the door, she would see a bizarre scene that left her completely baffled.
Inside the room, there was actually another version of herself?
March 7th(?): "I understand your past. The things you want to see, touch, and know…"
"Your hometown, family, friends, emotions, love and hate…"
"I am the complete March 7th, possessing all the memories you have forgotten."
"You… you are the complete me…?" March 7th clenched her hands tightly, unable to accept this strange phenomenon for a moment.
"Little March, Little March, can you hear me?"
The communication device suddenly rang, interrupting March 7th's thoughts.
"Himeko! I saw something strange…"
"Retreat immediately—"
"But…"
Before March 7th could finish speaking, she discovered a familiar figure had appeared in front of her.
Without a second word, she raised her hand and fired several shots.
Gunshots echoed. A gentle breeze brushed past her face. March 7th blinked, and the things in her field of vision became clear.
"Leon… you… ah!"
After clearly seeing what Leon had shot apart in front of her, March 7th instinctively covered her mouth tightly.
At the same time, the door was slammed open.
Stelle and Dan Heng rushed in with Argenti, weapons in hand.
"This… it's actually a bug?" A trace of astonishment flashed through Dan Heng's eyes.
Not yet noticing the subsequent danger, Argenti temporarily put away his weapon: "Ugly… the discordant tone has been pulled out."
Seeing familiar faces, March 7th, who had forgotten to breathe for a few seconds, let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Scared… scared me to death! I thought my long-lost twin sister had appeared… turns out it was just a bug!"
"I didn't expect to meet again. True Stinger Insect." Argenti's eyes were filled with gravity.
"Ha?"
"Uh… When Argenti found me in the cave earlier, I was being chased and stung madly by a large swarm of these bugs…"
Behind Argenti, a person wearing a company employee uniform trembled as he spoke.
He was called Velite, the other one among the train's "uninvited guests."
Argenti fell into thought.
"I thought I had already driven them all away, but combined with the current situation, the True Stinger Insects seem to still be pursuing us."
"Could it be… Velite, did you get stained with insect race pheromones?"
Velite was stunned: "Ah? What the hell, pheromones? I… I don't know…"
Dan Heng said softly: "I have read information about True Stinger Insects in the databank. This type of insect shakes off fiber debris when flapping its wings, causing those who inhale it to experience hallucinations."
"The reason March 7th saw another version of herself in the room was probably because she inhaled some wing powder."
"Everyone, stand firm and hold on tight."
Leon suddenly gave a warning. A wind vortex began forming in his palm.
Stelle, very experienced, immediately grabbed March 7th's wrist.
In an instant, a violent wind surged inside the entire train, emitting terrifying suction and pulling force that rapidly spread to every corner.
Those things that had quietly infiltrated were torn into shreds in the violent wind.
Everything that did not belong to the train was eventually expelled through the ventilation ducts.
After doing this, Leon did not disperse the wind under his control. Instead, he made it circulate outside the train to form a solid barrier, preventing unknown organisms from entering.
Feeling the wind weaken, Stelle finally let go of March 7th's hand.
"What's going on, Leon?"
"Everyone, head to the databank first. We'll talk on the way."
Leon did not answer. Instead, he gave Dan Heng a look, then took the lead and walked out of the room.
"If I remember correctly, there is a text in the databank called Records of Strange Insects from All Worlds."
Dan Heng: "Indeed there is."
Leon: "Based on my inspection outside, the current situation has become clear—"
"Nine out of ten, we are currently inside the body of a giant True Stinger Insect. The dark red substance flowing outside the train is its gastric juice."
What?!
Everyone showed varying degrees of expression—some shocked, some solemn.
Stelle was stunned: "It swallowed the entire train?"
"Mm. You must have seen its true form in Herta's Simulated Universe. However, the one that swallowed us is probably much larger in scale than the one simulated."
At this point, a trace of helplessness flashed across Leon's face as he voiced a guess that made the corners of everyone's mouths twitch.
"The moment the train finished jumping and came out of the wormhole, its position was probably right in front of this insect's mouth, and in the next second it charged straight in."
"This…"
The absurd guess left even March 7th feeling numb.
"…This is way too unlucky. And on the train's route, why would there be such a huge bug?"