Stelle's sudden cold joke froze everyone present.
After a brief silence, Oleg cleared his throat and said, "Actually, in my view, Svarog isn't opposing Wildfire… or rather, that guy doesn't even take us seriously. He's an ancient machine that lived through that war…"
Then Oleg raised his head and said to the Trailblazing squad, "If what you're looking for is something with a long history… then there's no better source of information than him."
Stelle tilted her head. "Is he really that old? He still looks pretty new."
March turned her head toward Stelle, put her hands on her hips, and said, "You can't judge by appearances! Actually, I'm several hundred years old too, but you can't tell, right?"
Stelle widened her eyes slightly and looked at March in surprise.
Dan Heng, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes as he looked at March. "I know more than twenty long-lived races, and none of them look like you."
March pouted, clearly annoyed. "Seriously, can't you just play along for once?!"
Nero blinked between the three of them and said, "Actually, I also… um… actually, I don't really know how old I am either. If you count from when I first had memories of this world, then I'm still a baby less than a year old!"
Stelle turned her head again and looked at Nero, 'Then doesn't that mean you're basically overlapping with my setting?'
March looked at Nero and said, "How is that possible?! You can't tell me you were already this big the moment you were born, right?"
Stelle and Nero didn't say anything.
But judging from what those two had experienced in the Honkai: Star Rail world… that really did seem to be the case.
Dan Heng lowered his gaze and fell silent for a few seconds. He thought about how, ever since meeting Nero, this kid had mentioned things like the High-Cloud Quintet, hidden power, and the Xianzhou more than once.
Although Dan Heng didn't think Nero was doing it on purpose…
His eyes fell on Nero's face, looking at that expression that seemed somewhat similar to someone from his memories, and then he thought of what Dan Feng had done…
Even though Dan Heng had always believed that he was himself, with no connection to Dan Feng whatsoever, the memories of the past still clung to him, just like that woman (Jingliu) and that man (Blade/Yingxing).
Impossible to cut away, impossible to sort out, impossible to abandon, everything felt like shackles binding the soul.
Although he knew it clearly in his heart, and leaned more toward the belief that the boy in front of him had nothing to do with what Dan Feng had done, Dan Heng still couldn't help but ask.
"Do you remember how you came into this world?"
"I just… came here," Nero looked at Dan Heng in confusion. "When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the street at the Central Starskiff Haven. What's wrong, Teacher Dan Heng?"
Dan Heng, "...No, nothing. There are many long-lived races on the Xianzhou. You aren't one that I'm familiar with."
"Oh."
Nero nodded, then frowned slightly.
It felt like something was off, but he couldn't recall what it was right away.
The others around them looked at the Trailblazing squad, blinking blankly, feeling like they might have overheard something they weren't supposed to hear.
Of course, it was also possible that this group of outsiders was just messing around with each other.
Either way, such a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere was undoubtedly a luxury for the people of Jarilo-VI.
"Machines don't forget," Oleg waited until the Trailblazing squad finished chatting before continuing the earlier topic. "If even Svarog doesn't know what the Stellaron is, then I really won't be able to help you."
"So we need to find a way to get Svarog to communicate with us," Dan Heng quickly cast aside his stray thoughts and refocused on the matter at hand.
"Or get him to hand over his memory database. We can search it ourselves," March said.
"How should we do that…" Dan Heng began to think.
Oleg spoke up at this moment as well. "We've always wanted to negotiate with that guy, but every time we're turned away. He's convinced that Wildfire is a threat. But if it's you few… hmm… that might be a different story."
Nero lifted his chin and glanced at his companions, then said, "Actually, I have an idea!"
"You've got another idea?" Stelle looked at Nero.
March and Dan Heng also turned their attention to him.
"How about we get Sister Himeko and Mr. Yang to come down and help?" Nero said.
"I think both of them are really good at this sort of thing. Sister Himeko's suitcase can even fit micro-satellites and small orbital cannons, and Mr. Yang is always tinkering with stuff in the databank. I've even seen robot blueprints he drew in his room!"
"Maybe Mr. Yang and Sister Himeko could just whip up some kind of paradox virus and wipe out Svarog and all his robot lackeys. And Mr. Yang really likes robots, right? Perfect timing to haul a few back to the train as physical models!"
"Simple and efficient!" Stelle smiled, clearly agreeing with the idea.
March crossed her arms and put on a big-sister posture as she scolded him. "You can't go running to the parents every time you run into setbacks or difficulties! We need to train our ability to solve problems ourselves!"
"Then what's your plan?" Stelle looked at March.
March's expression stiffened, and her eyes began to wander…
"Uh… well… I haven't thought of one yet! But don't worry, I'll definitely come up with something soon!"
Dan Heng also considered Nero's suggestion, but in the end he shook his head.
"It wouldn't be easy to pull off. Putting aside what March said about self-improvement, someone has to stay behind on the train, and it would take time for them to come down. On top of that, someone would need to guide them into the Underworld."
"Besides, after we escaped through the Backwater Pass, Cocolia will definitely strengthen the Silvermane Guards' patrols. She might very well suspect that we have other companions backing us up. If that happens, the resistance Mr. Welt and Himeko face when they get off the train would be much greater than expected."
"And there's still the issue of getting them into the Underworld… If it's remote operation instead, given Svarog's capabilities, there's no guarantee he'd fall for it."
"Alright, since you put it that way, Teacher Dan Heng…" Nero nodded and deleted the message he had already typed out.
At this moment, March looked at Nero with a bit of resentment. "Why do you listen as soon as Dan Heng says something?!"
Stelle spread her hands and said, "Maybe it's because, logically and structurally, your explanation just isn't as thorough and clear as Dan Heng's."
March puffed out her cheeks, 'Aren't you just making things difficult for me?!'
"Uh…" Listening to the Trailblazing squad going back and forth, Oleg opened his mouth, about to say something.
Just then, however, the subordinate he had sent out earlier returned, leading two groups of people behind him.
One group was the miners from before. They looked angrily at the group of drifters off to the side. Some of them even came with injuries, hoping that Wildfire would give them a good solution.
The other group, the drifters, held weapons in their hands and wore arrogant expressions. Although they were already panicking inside when facing Wildfire's ragtag bunch, they still put on a tough front.
To boost their courage, one of the drifters shouted, "Why did you call us here? Say it already! Have you Wildfire people figured out how much supplies you're going to give us to smooth things over with the mining team? Or are you planning to actually go at it, blades drawn?"