With the Astral Express's departure, the incident of the Antimatter Legion's attack on the Herta Space Station seemed to be completely concluded.
After the guests left, the space station entered an even faster phase of reconstruction and restoration.
Aside from the fact that among the station's researchers, a special group called the "Nero Fan Support Club" had suddenly appeared, the station returned to its usual rhythm.
———
[Herta Space Station, Storage Zone, Second Floor]
Inside a Curios collection room whose doors were tightly shut…
The Curio known as the Divider's Shot floated in midair. Then, with a series of flickering data lights, two figures appeared inside the room.
A petite girl with silver-gray long hair tied into a spiral ponytail was holding the Divider's Shot like a toy, her face showing a careless expression.
Beside her, waves of scorching heat were being suppressed. A humanoid silver mech over two meters tall stood quietly to the side, like a knight wandering through the cosmos.
Silver Wolf turned around, pointed at a corner, at the Herta puppet whose connection she had already cut off, and said to the humanoid mech beside her, "Sam, look. There's even a little Herta doll here."
Sam remained unmoved. A mechanical male voice came from within the mech.
"Silver Wolf, do the job first."
Silver Wolf shrugged, casually tossed the Divider's Shot back into its container, and a virtual communication screen appeared before her. Her own wolf-head emblem on it was as eye-catching as always.
Kafka's voice came through.
[Silver Wolf? Do you have results?]
"The Astral Express already left the Herta Space Station. I observed for a bit and roughly confirmed the guy Elio mentioned, the one who suddenly joined the script and disrupted the future's direction. A Xianzhou person named Nero. Seems to be from the Luofu Xianzhou."
[Is he dangerous?] Kafka asked.
"Hard to say." Silver Wolf shook her head.
"But strong? Yeah, he's pretty strong. He smashed the Doomsday Beast's head with a single jumping strike, then charged into the Stellaron's runaway field with his bare body and suppressed the Stellaron, and then made a Curio cry with just a few sentences."
"Oh, also… The people at the space station say he flew in directly from outer space. After crossing the cosmic vacuum, he crashed into the Herta Space Station like a meteor."
[...] Kafka fell into silence on the other end of the call, as if unsure how to comment on Nero's feats.
Seeing Kafka not respond, Silver Wolf continued, "From what we know so far, that guy doesn't seem to pose any threat to the Astral Express."
"I heard them talking at the platform. He wants to ride the Express to return to the Xianzhou, but since the Express's next stop is already set, they won't change the destination. They should still be heading toward Jarilo-VI."
"Do you want us to stop them? The train just departed. Sam and I can still catch up."
[In that case… then… hm?]
Kafka seemed to want to say something, but something on her side interrupted her.
After another moment of silence, her voice returned.
[Elio says there's no need. Since the Express's destination hasn't changed, proceed according to the original plan. And since that Xianzhou man is with them, it should actually be easier for them to reach the Xianzhou.]
[Once they're on the Xianzhou, there will be plenty of chances for Elio to make contact and gather the necessary information.]
[Come back, Silver Wolf. We'll move on to the next task.]
"No problem."
The call ended.
Silver Wolf turned to Sam. "Let's go. Nothing to worry about on the Astral Express side."
Sam nodded.
Silver Wolf snapped her fingers, and the two figures dissolved into streams of data light, disappearing completely.
With Silver Wolf and Sam gone, all systems in this collection room, previously severed, returned to normal.
———
"Ahhhh! What are you doing?!"
On the train, Pom Pom's scream echoed through the entire carriage.
Hearing the sound, everyone thought something terrible had happened and rushed over one after another.
Himeko grabbed her suitcase, Mr. Yang pulled out his cane, and Dan Heng came charging in with Cloudpiercer.
Then, the three froze in place.
The scene before them was nothing like what they imagined, not an attack, not the train in danger, not Pom Pom being threatened.
The real situation was not dangerous at all… in fact, it was rather harmonious.
Well, maybe not to Pom Pom.
Stelle and March both stared at Nero with sparkling eyes.
On the floor sat Nero, holding Pom Pom in his arms. His sinful hands, one was rubbing Pom Pom's belly, and the other was gently pinching Pom Pom's ear.
The white-haired boy's eyes were full of curiosity, his face showing a bit of satisfaction. Pom Pom, pressed into his arms, looked panicked. Its pupils trembled, and its expression was overwhelmingly embarrassed.
Nero didn't know if other people wanted to pet Pom Pom, but he definitely did.
Now that he finally had the chance, he had to pet Pom Pom to his heart's content.
The boy pressed his cheek against Pom Pom's face, rubbing lightly as he said, "Warm… feels like a real living creature, but at the same time soft and a little fluffy."
As he spoke, Nero's hands kept moving, scratching Pom Pom's little belly, pinching Pom Pom's face, using the other hand to squeeze from the base of the ear all the way to the tip.
"Th-That's only natural! Pom Pom isn't a plush toy!"
Pom Pom trembled twice in Nero's arms. It could feel that this new passenger had technique.
Though it didn't want to admit it, being petted actually felt kinda good…
'If this kept up… If this kept up… the conductor's dignity would be gone!'
Nero pressed his cheek against Pom Pom again, took a deep breath, then lifted his head looking fully satisfied.
"Smells even better than the Trotter!"
"Ah…" Pom Pom's voice trembled. "N-Nero, p-passenger… that should be enough…"
Nero looked at Pom Pom in his arms. It felt like he'd done enough this time, both satisfying his curiosity and getting a great petting session.
"Okay!" Nero nodded, picked Pom Pom up, and set Pom Pom back on the floor.
"Thanks, Conductor!"
"N-No problem… it's what a conductor should do…" Pom Pom's steps were floaty, after spinning twice, it finally stood firm.
"Then next time, if there's a chance, let's do it again!"
Nero said cheerfully, showing the pure, literal-minded sincerity of someone who didn't understand polite refusals.
Pom Pom instantly froze.
"T-Then… Pom Pom still has work to do… so Pom Pom will leave first!"
Pom Pom ran away.
Watching Pom Pom flee in panic, March 7 puffed her cheeks in jealousy and stood beside Nero.
"How did you do that? Petting Pom Pom like that and Pom Pom didn't get mad!
"Whenever I want to pet Pom Pom, Pom Pom never lets me. I always have to use a Pom Pom plushie instead.
"But Pom Pom's really scary when angry, so I can't just force it…"
Nero chuckled. "I don't know!"
Dan Heng watched this scene, sighed, put away Cloudpiercer, and walked back to the archives.
Himeko and Mr. Yang, two proper adults, also couldn't help smiling helplessly.
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