Pom-Pom's heart truly bled for the Express.
In such a short span of time, the train had already been through two major wrecks.
That being said, despite the wreckage, the crew chose to prioritize saving the girl sealed within that strange, crystalline ice.
The crystal, which seemed like ice but wasn't quite, proved difficult to break. Fortunately, Mei's bladework was exquisite enough to slice the crystal into one hundred and eight precise pieces without leaving a single scratch on the girl inside.
Mei watched as Kiana supported the pink-haired girl, her expression unreadable. Himeko, on the other hand, felt a nagging sense of familiarity as she looked at her.
March 7th didn't stay in her slumber for long; she soon woke up tucked away in a warm, cozy bed. With the help of Himeko and the others, she quickly grasped her current situation.
For some reason, even though her memory was a total blank, she felt as if she could hear a hazy voice whispering proverbs to her. She couldn't quite make out the specific words, but she could feel the warmth, the expectation, and the genuine care behind them.
It brought a strange sense of peace to her otherwise lost and terrified soul.
Besides, the people on the Express were all kind—and there were beautiful girls too.
And so, March 7th decided to stay. Using the date of her awakening as her name, she called herself March 7th.
It was exactly as Evernight had hoped.
Once the unpleasant experiences and memories were stripped away, her essence was clearly that of a bright, perhaps even overly energetic, and adorable young girl. After settling into life on the train, March 7th's boisterous side quickly came to light.
This was especially true given that everyone on the crew possessed incredible, unique skills. There were scholars, researchers, and warriors of unfathomable power.
March 7th realized quite early on that her position in this team was precarious. She couldn't even compete with Pom-Pom, the conductor—she wasn't even qualified to be the group mascot.
Thus began her journey of apprenticeship.
With an Emanator like Mei, whose sword skills were otherworldly, and a battle-hardened veteran like Kiana, the amount of things March 7th could learn was staggering.
At the very least, she hoped to eventually beat Pom-Pom and claim the title of the Express's mascot.
Relatively peaceful days drifted by.
The name Ursarctic Big Dipper gradually began to carve out a reputation across the cosmos.
This powerful ship of unknown origin loved to roam, diving into the most dangerous corners of the universe, and had saved many stranded souls along the way. Because of this, the fame of the Ursarctic Big Dipper continued to spread.
Some speculated the ship was connected to Bai Ming, considering its pilots were Cerydra and Hysilens from Amphoreus.
Others, however, believed the ship hailed from the Astral Express, noting that the two pilots had been members of the Express for several years. Perhaps this ship was simply a new attempt at Trailblazing.
--+--
On another front...
The Stellaron Hunter, Silverwing, finally made it onto the IPC's wanted list. Her list of crimes was extensive, but the primary offense was breaching the IPC's firewalls and infiltrating Pier Point.
Once inside, she used Aether Editing to create a smiling sun in the sky.
This allowed the IPC employees living in sub-space, who lacked natural stellar radiation, to experience the radiance of a sun for the first time in ages.
However, the gravitational shifts caused by this sun destroyed celestial gravity maintenance equipment worth trillions of Credits.
Miraculously, there were no casualties—only a catastrophic loss of Credits. For the IPC, Credits were far more valuable than lives. Compared to that, things like hacking into the Marketing Development Department's database became secondary concerns.
And so, Silverwing made her debut on the wanted list with a staggering bounty of five billion Credits.
At the same time, Sparkle, the Vice-Director of the Strategic Investment Department, boldly declared her intent to recruit Silverwing into her ranks.
While it seemed normal on the surface, those who knew Silverwing's true identity found Sparkle's move hilarious. A Masked Fool boasting about recruiting the Aeon of Elation as an underling?
It was likely something Sparkle would do intentionally if she actually knew the truth, but here, she was just being herself.
It is worth mentioning that when Silver Wolf saw Silverwing's infiltration of Pier Point, she followed suit.
She succeeded, but since she was on decent terms with Pearl, she simply dismantled the smiling sun and replaced it with her own signature spray-paint tag.
She also took a detour into Pearl's office for a heartfelt "exchange" of hacking techniques. The name of the genius hacker, Silver Wolf, echoed across the stars alongside the rest of the Stellaron Hunters.
Bai Ming watched as these familiar faces took the galactic stage one by one. Some were exactly as she remembered, while others had strayed far from their original destinies.
Though Elio hadn't said it outright, Bai Ming could sense it. It wouldn't be long—a year at the very most—before the script officially began. Perhaps even less. It felt a bit rushed; logically, the time Stelle spent with the Stellaron Hunters shouldn't have been that short.
Of course, because of Bai Ming, the universe had changed drastically.
Even if things followed the original plot—having Stelle lose her memory and join the Astral Express—the story would likely veer off into unknown territory.
But deviations aside, Bai Ming was pondering another problem. She had stuffed two Emanator-level powerhouses onto the Express, plus a mech that was practically a mini-Emanator.
In the original storylines, aside from the battle against Sunday's ascent to godhood, the other worlds wouldn't pose any challenge at all.
Herta Space Station? A mere Doomsday Beast. Mei and Kiana probably wouldn't even bother to lift a finger.
Belobog? Even better—they were doing fine now, the weather was just a bit chilly. It would be a pure sightseeing trip.
As for the Xianzhou Luofu, even if you threw Phantylia and Hoolay together, they wouldn't stand a chance.
And Amphoreus? Bai Ming had settled that hundreds of years ago.
At this rate, if the enemy didn't have an Emanator backing them up, they couldn't possibly withstand the Express's "tyranny." She had a feeling Elio would have to turn up the heat for the crew.
Maybe he'd just change the route entirely. Go to the Space Station, then straight to a showdown with Celenova. Then swing by the Luofu to give Phantylia a beating, join Sunday at the Charmony Festival to fight the Family's actual messengers, then head to the Adlivun System for a war against Nanook...
Maybe they'd even run into a Giant of Light and team up.
The future of the Express was charging toward the unpredictable at full speed. She wondered what Nous thought of this situation.
That mechanical head didn't talk much, though; even if she asked, she wouldn't get an answer.
As Bai Ming was lost in thought, a black cat appeared out of nowhere and let out a soft meow.
"Good idea. I'm stealing it."
"...I don't think Finality includes mind-reading," Bai Ming muttered.
"I just saw a vision of myself discussing the script with you, meow." Elio stretched and lay down beside Bai Ming.
"Hey... watch your image," Bai Ming rolled her eyes. "And couldn't you have just told Silverwing? It's not like I'm not watching that side. Was it necessary to come all the way here?"
"Discussing the script isn't something Stelle should hear."
"Is it that serious? She's going to lose her memory anyway."
"It's not the same," Elio meowed, but wouldn't elaborate on why.
Bai Ming guessed it had something to do with the Aeons. If these details left an impression on Stelle's soul, it might cause strange complications. But before that:
"By the way, is it ahead of schedule?"
Though she didn't specify the subject, Elio knew what she meant. He nodded.
"According to the original plan, Stelle was supposed to board the train fifteen years after the Express set sail. But because you pushed the Amber Era back by an entire cycle, many things have shifted."
"Is an Amber Era really that important? Isn't it just a count of when Qlipoth swings the hammer?"
Elio scratched his face with a paw. "I don't know how to explain it to you. Just remember that specific time nodes are vital anchors. An extra Amber Era introduces more variables than you can imagine."
Bai Ming shrugged. She remembered she still had Qlipoth's hammer in her possession. It was enough for her to mimic the Amber Lord's strike and force the progression of another Amber Era.
"If you actually do that, Equilibrium and Preservation really will come knocking on your door."
"...You saw that too?" Bai Ming's eyebrows shot up. Did a timeline really exist where she was impulsive enough to take a swing?
Elio nodded. "To prevent you from having any more sudden inspirations, let's talk about the script."
After spending time with Silverwing, Elio realized that while he couldn't predict Bai Ming, he could trigger new possibilities by talking to her and letting her generate ideas.
This helped him search for the path to his target timeline.
"Actually, I've always wanted to ask... Since Noa exists, Finality should have been pushed back to the infinite future. Why do you still keep doing all this?"
"Because Finality has not disappeared." Elio looked up at Bai Ming, his feline face looking very serious. "I know that because of Noa's birth, the end has been infinitely delayed. To you, it is practically invisible. But I am still here, a traveler heading upstream from the Finality. In my eyes, Finality is the inevitable starting point."
"So, I will continue. I will continue until the day Finality truly vanishes."
Elio paused. It was likely hard for others to understand the perspective of a messenger of Finality traveling backward through time. He pivoted to something easier to grasp.
"Besides, even if the Finality is infinitely postponed, the Four Apocalypses still exist. They still have the potential to trigger a catastrophe. Even if we survive it, the world left behind would be riddled with holes. So, I will continue."
Bai Ming could only nod at Elio's reasoning. There wasn't much else to say.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL