A long time had passed since the Astral Express left the Herta Space Station and began its warp jump.
The long journey through the universe wasn't as interesting as one might imagine. Most of the time was just drifting in space. Without stopping at stations or planets, the only things to do each day were looking at the scenery in the viewing car, checking information in the database, or playing on his phone.
Nero definitely wasn't the type to stay in the database all day. At this moment, he was lying on the bed in his room, chatting on his phone, with the thermos kettle placed on the small bedside table.
Ever since leaving the Herta Space Station, the contacts in Nero's phone had been steadily increasing.
During the journey, he took many photos of the starry sky and sent them to Asta, who really liked them.
He didn't really communicate with Herta. That genius lady would never take the initiative to talk to him, and on his end, he still hadn't had further conversations with Aha.
But the owner of Sleepless Earl and Mr. Xiyan did now have time to reply to him. During this period, aside from the family of the Astral Express, Nero talked the most with those two who had taken him in at the very beginning.
He told Mr. Xiyan the story of what happened at the Herta Space Station, and Mr. Xiyan was overjoyed. He wanted to turn the experience into a story, and Nero happily agreed.
Now, at this moment, Nero was also chatting with the two.
[Mr. Xiyan: You actually boarded the Astral Express?]
[Nero: Yeah! After all, I have no way to get back to the Xianzhou on my own! So I can only ask the Astral Express for help.]
[Mengming: Will you be coming back soon?]
[Nero: No, the train's next stop is already fixed, so I'll probably have to wander around outside with the train for a while before returning."]
[Mr. Xiyan: That's fine too! Remember to tell me about your adventures!]
[Nero: No problem. I get along pretty well with everyone on the train. Once I'm back, I'll bring them to Luofu for tea!]
[Mengming: Alright! I'll give you all a 30% discount! Oh right, a few days ago when Miss Tingyun came to drink tea, she mentioned you.]
[Nero: She mentioned me?]
[Mengming: Mm, Miss Tingyun told me she heard Luofu found a pretty poster boy, so she made time to come take a look.]
[Nero: Why do I feel like she wants to sell my photo for money?]
[Mengming: I'll give you Miss Tingyun's contact. You two can talk about it yourselves!]
[Nero: Oh.]
Just like that, Nero got Tingyun's contact information.
Before he even had the chance to chat with her, a series of urgent knocks sounded on his door, followed by March's voice.
"Nero! Nero! We've arrived at Jarilo-VI! Hurry out!"
"I'm coming!"
Nero got out of bed, opened the door, and saw March standing outside with a big smile.
The lovely girl grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the viewing car.
As they walked, a series of system notification chimes rang out in Nero's head.
[Ding! The host's popularity continues skyrocketing. Host's strength has increased again!]
[Ding! The host has gained over seventy thousand followers. Reward: 300 Stellar Jade.]
[Ding! Reward: Host strength enhancement.]
Nero didn't know how much time had passed in the real world on Blue Star, but judging from the system's reactions, his popularity was still steadily rising.
That was quite comforting news.
When Nero followed March into the viewing car, Himeko and the Trailblazer were already there.
Through the viewing car's window, they could see a planet extremely close in the vast starry sky of space.
Although Himeko had described it as a very small planet, at this distance Jarilo-VI still looked astonishingly large.
Maybe it was because he had only seen Earth in his previous life, but despite the differences, whether it was Blue Star or Jarilo-VI, both looked very much like Earth in Nero's eyes.
At this moment, Jarilo-VI beneath the train appeared overall gray-white. The swirling patterns of the atmosphere made one think of roaring cold winds.
Looking at the pale planet below, Himeko couldn't help sighing.
"Thousands of years have passed, and Jarilo-VI has become like this?"
"Eh? That white planet is our target this time?" March blinked and looked at Himeko.
Himeko nodded, her gaze calm.
"That's right… This Trailblazing journey won't be easy either."
While everyone chatted, Nero was looking at his phone. Aha had finally messaged him again, still using the same account.
[Aha: Bro, I tried it out. It was kinda nice! I heard you got detained by Herta?]
[Nero: I've been out for ages! When exactly are you looking at the Herta Space Station!?]
[Aha: Whenever it's fun, obviously! Hehe… How'd you get out?]
[Nero: Hehehe… I sold our chat logs to Herta, and then I walked out.]
[...] Aha sent a long string of ellipses, followed by a short silence.
Then He suddenly sent a whole row of exclamation marks, as if He was genuinely angry.
[Aha: WHAT! How could you do that! I treated you like a bro, invited you to the tavern, even invited you for a spa! And THIS is how you repay me! You sold my privacy to a… a… a… a heap-of-scrap Emanator!]
Nero didn't know whether Aha was truly angry, but he was sure Aha definitely wasn't.
The Aeon of Elation was probably enjoying this. To Him, Nero's actions were basically giving Him new entertainment.
What was that saying again?
Even if a god farts, mortals still have to think about what profound meaning it contains.
Aha was definitely hiding somewhere in the universe, watching Herta analyze that conversation over and over. Watching her run into problems, ponder, solve them, find answers…
And then He would laugh out loud in the cosmos.
As the saying goes, "When mortals think, God laughs."
Maybe even Nero's thinking right now was making Aha secretly amused.
But Nero didn't care about that. And for now, he didn't really have time to reply to Aha, so he stuffed his phone away and left Aha hanging.
Aha had His fun, and he had his.
They were about to head to Jarilo, after all, he had to find chances to take more photos for Asta.
"Spatial readings abnormal. Star-rail stability down 12%."
Nobody knew when Pom Pom had walked up behind them, but it said this calmly.
"Docking protocol updated. This stop's planned seven-day stay is now extended to indefinite."
The Trailblazer looked puzzled. "Indefinite as in…?"
Pom Pom replied, "Indefinite, until the anomaly is removed!"
"Using a regular land train as an analogy, it's like the tracks ahead suddenly break, and below is a collapsed, bottomless abyss. At that moment, you can only hit the emergency brake," Himeko explained to the two new passengers, the Trailblazer and Nero.
Pom Pom nodded. "If we force our way forward, the consequences could be terrifying."
March scratched her head helplessly. "Ugh… this again… Let me guess, the cause of the star-rail anomaly is also…?"
Mr. Yang's voice came from the side, finishing March's sentence, "Initial scans are complete. The root of the anomaly is still the Stellaron."
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