"Stellaron…"
The Trailblazer lowered her eyes slightly, a faint shadow passing through them, then she lifted her head again, looking at Mr. Yang for confirmation.
Mr. Yang nodded. "Correct. It's the same type of substance as the Stellaron that was implanted in your body."
Thinking of the terrifying power contained within the Stellaron inside her, the Trailblazer asked, "Then what should we do now?"
"Don't worry." Himeko looked at her with a faint smile on her face.
Her voice, as always, held steadiness mixed with warmth, "This isn't the first time we've encountered a route blocked by a Stellaron.
"Although the mysteries surrounding Stellarons are many, and even Herta can't fully analyze them, at the very least, we do have ways to neutralize their influence."
As she spoke, Himeko's gaze swept past Nero, then shifted to Mr. Yang.
Mr. Yang nodded. "The only thing we can be sure of is that the fall of a Stellaron brings catastrophic changes to civilizations and ecosystems, and it also causes spatial distortions like Fragmentum."
"So that means Jarilo-VI became like this not because of natural evolution, but because of the Stellaron's influence…" Nero stood by the window of the train, looking outside at that lone, ice-black planet drifting like dark frozen crystal, its pale spirals forming into biting winds…
Nero took out his phone and snapped a picture of Jarilo-VI.
"Yes," Mr. Yang affirmed his statement.
Himeko continued speaking, "Based on our speculation, Stellarons are seeds of disaster scattered across various worlds by a certain Aeon. If we don't extract the source of the calamity, there's no way to talk about Trailblazing at all."
Hearing Himeko's words, the Trailblazer lowered her head to think. A few seconds later, her expression brightened with excitement.
"So… we're actually righteous interstellar heroes wandering the universe!"
March looked at her reaction and smiled. "You finally realized what the Express crew really is, huh? Cool, right!"
Himeko thought for a moment. "This Trailblazing expedition will be led by Dan Heng and March. The two of them can take you two youngsters along. Nothing teaches better than direct experience."
"The mission is simple, find the Stellaron that brought disaster to this world and caused the spatial distortion, bring it back to the Express, and leave the rest to us."
"Awesome!" March thought of how perfectly the four of them cooperated when fighting the Antimatter Legion and the Doomsday Beast. She looked at the Trailblazer and at Nero standing by the window. "The four of us get to set out together again!"
The Trailblazer blinked, then raised her hand to her forehead and pretended to be weak. "I'm feeling a little sleepy."
March froze for a moment, then looked at her with a complicated expression. "Can't you be a little more enthusiastic?"
Then March turned to Nero, only to find that he wasn't paying attention at all, which made her pout instantly, even more annoyed.
'What's up with these two?!'
'And what's Nero doing right now?'
Chatting with Aha.
He had sent the picture he took of Jarilo-VI.
Aha, who had pretended to be angry earlier, replied with a [??].
Nero said to Aha, [Result of a Stellaron. How about giving me some power to use?]
Aha sent another [??].
[You think my power is like wild weeds on the roadside? You want some so you just pick a handful?]
[No choice, it came too easily last time.] Nero replied righteously, looking like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water.
If it were any other Aeon, there was no way he could speak like this, not that any other Aeon would even chat with him this way.
As for Aha? Just treat Him like a good bro.
After all, Nero wasn't a Masked Fool, and he wasn't native to the Honkai: Star Rail universe, so he really didn't feel much awe toward this god of mischief, he just saw Him as a friend.
Besides, Aha did call him bro.
[Look at you climbing the pole! You don't come to the tavern to drink, you don't join the Masked Fools, and you open your mouth just to ask me for power!]
Aha sent another string of messages that looked very angry.
But His next line was, [It's not impossible, though.]
Then Aha sent a photo.
The environment in the photo was a snowy plain. One could see a man standing in the snowfield.
The man was tall, wearing jeans and leather shoes, with a white shirt covered by a wine-red tailcoat. His blue hair was neatly styled, with the bangs covering his left eye.
As for his face, he had one of those friendly-looking faces that started to feel punchable the longer one stared, like a shady merchant. His narrow eyes and green irises gave him the sly, fox-like impression.
Nero looked at the photo and recognized the man instantly.
Sampo, full name Sampo Koski, known as Mr. Cold Feet, a member of the Masked Fools.
But… why did Aha send him a picture of Sampo?
Just as Nero wondered, Aha sent another message.
[Go make contact with him. Sampo Koski, one of my believers. He's on that planet.]
A normal person seeing this would definitely think Aha was agreeing to help and that Sampo was someone He arranged.
But Nero narrowed his eyes at the message.
Aha telling him to meet Mr. Cold Feet… it felt less like Sampo was an arranged helper, and more like Aha wanted Nero to go mess with Sampo.
The reason? Probably that it was fun.
Believers were meant to be played with.
Nero nodded seriously, feeling like he had already figured out Aha's intention, and sent an [OK] emoji back.
Aha replied with an [OK!] emoji as well.
Then Nero sent this part of the conversation with Aha to Herta, he had promised her, after all.
What he didn't expect was that Herta responded quickly, and this genius lady actually gave him a rare compliment.
Almost the moment he sent the messages, she replied, "Not bad."
But that was all.
She didn't say anything else afterwards, probably went back to doing her experiments.
March's little head suddenly leaned over Nero's shoulder, her eyes staring at the phone screen.
"Ah! We're talking about heading out to Trailblaze on Jarilo-VI, and you're secretly chatting with Herta?"
March grabbed Nero's face with both hands and shook it.
Expressionless, Nero put away his phone, then slowly removed March's hands from his face and said, "Of course I'm looking forward to us Trailblazing together, but I'm someone who has soared through space wielding a sword, I can't look too excited."
March tapped him on the head and said angrily, "So now you have an idol image to maintain, huh?"
Watching the kids bicker and play around, Himeko and Mr. Yang both smiled.
But soon, Mr. Yang's expression changed, a hint of loneliness flashing in his eyes.
Like a mischievous old boy, he sighed and said regretfully, "So this time it's not our turn again…"
Himeko looked at him, and the smile on her face grew even warmer.
"I know you want to go, but we should let the young ones go off on their own and bond a little."
Mr. Yang nodded, showing he understood.
But he still sighed, it was obvious he really wanted to go have fun too.
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