'Hum hum hum—!'
Asdana Star System, in a vast planetary belt, light and shadows danced, even stirring ripples in space.
In the originally empty cosmic space, a massive train suddenly appeared in the planetary belt—this was the Astral Express that had warped in from outside the star system.
"This warp jump has ended. Now proceeding with route planning. The train is expected to arrive at Penacony in two and a half system hours."
As Pom-Pom's voice fell, the Astral Express entered autopilot mode, heading toward the Planet of Festivities.
"Stelle, what's wrong? You look a bit pale. Is it because of the warp jump that you're feeling unwell?"
In the train car, looking at Stelle's somewhat pale face, March 7th asked with slight concern.
"I'm fine. It's just that during the warp just now, I had a strange dream and met a strange person... That dream was too real, so real that it made me feel..."
"A strange dream? And a strange person? Can Stelle tell me about it?"
March 7th was somewhat curious. Strange things and dreams—what had Stelle just gone through?
"It's like this. In the dream, I met a woman with blue-purple hair..."
Stelle recounted everything she saw and heard in the dream to March 7th, telling her without hiding anything about things like the Dreamscape Hotel, the purple-haired woman holding a katana, and the phantom of the Stellaron Hunters.
"You mean, in that dream, you saw the future?" While Stelle was recounting, Ruan Mei, who had been silently meditating on the side, suddenly opened her eyes and asked the two thoughtfully.
Actually, from the very beginning, she had heard the conversation between March 7th and Stelle. At that time, our Miss Ruan Mei didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was just a minor hallucination Stelle had during the warp.
But the more she listened, the more Ruan Mei felt something was off. The reason was none other than the story Stelle described being too detailed—detailed to the point of being somewhat unbelievable.
"Miss Stelle, before entering this dream, did you know about the [Dreamscape] Hotel?"
As early as a few years ago, Ruan Mei had also gone to Penacony. At that time, the place she stayed was that hotel named [Dreamscape].
Unlike in the game, the vast Penacony couldn't possibly have only the [Dreamscape] as its sole hotel. On the contrary, Penacony had hundreds or thousands of hotels, and each one was equipped with dream pools to a greater or lesser extent.
And the [Dreamscape] Hotel was the most prestigious and luxurious among all hotels. Generally speaking, those who could stay at the Dreamscape Hotel were either rich or noble, or else people with special identities.
For example, the famous Nameless across the universe, envoys of the Xianzhou Alliance, representatives of the Interastral Peace Corporation, and so on.
And as far as Ruan Mei knew, the Stellaron essence before her eyes had only been born a few months ago, so the other party probably hadn't heard of the Dreamscape Hotel's name.
"Before having that dream?"
Stelle was slightly stunned, then shook her head.
"I haven't heard of the [Dreamscape] Hotel." Stelle could be very certain that before this, she hadn't heard of this hotel, not even from Himeko's mouth before the train's warp.
"If that's the case... then this eerie dream you had, Miss Stelle, is very much worth investigating."
"Perhaps, during the upcoming trip to Penacony, we will witness many unexpected things..."
Gazing at Stelle, who seemed somewhat bewildered before her, Ruan Mei couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile, profound and meaningful...
——————————————
Nihility Realm...
Hearing the answer from the woman before him, Old Yang's mouth couldn't help but twitch slightly. For a moment, Welt felt like the person in front of him was teasing him.
Calming his emotions slightly, he took a deep breath.
"Miss Acheron, I am indeed asking sincerely. Please... Uh..."
As Welt spoke, Acheron seemed to understand what the other wanted, and knowing that the other had misunderstood, her figure flashed and disappeared from the spot.
Seeing this, Welt hurriedly circulated imaginary energy, but in his perception, he couldn't trace any sign of Acheron at all.
Just as Welt was about to give up, a rift suddenly appeared before his eyes, and the white-haired woman holding the red katana stepped out from it, standing perfectly intact before him.
"This is how you go out." Acheron crossed her arms over her chest and said faintly.
Welt: ...
Our Mr. Welt was quite speechless. Your operation of going out and then coming back in like this—wasn't it the same as not saying or doing anything?
"Miss Acheron, I have an unreasonable request. Could you please help me leave here? If you're willing to help, I will surely repay you heavily in the future!"
Hearing Welt's words, Acheron fell silent slightly. In fact, at this moment, she was not the real Acheron, but merely a projection left behind by her as a Self-Annihilator while comprehending in the Nihility Realm.
If it were her main body, tainted with too much Nihility and having reached the level of an Emanator, she indeed had the ability to send Welt out. But with just this current projection, it might be somewhat difficult!
What Acheron was thinking in her heart, our Mr. Welt did not know. He only assumed that this parallel individual of Raiden Mei felt that helping him didn't balance the gains and efforts, so she was hesitating here.
"Miss Acheron, I am willing to guarantee with the identity of a Nameless that after the matter is done, I will repay you heavily."
"You're a Nameless?"
Because of the word "Nameless," Acheron's expression finally showed some change.
"That's right. I am Welt Yang, a Nameless belonging to the Astral Express." Pushing up his glasses, Welt showed Acheron his exclusive train pass.
"Flowing gold body, red patterns and embellishments... This is indeed the Astral Express's pass."
Looking at the Astral Express pass on Welt's chest, Acheron finally truly confirmed the other's identity.
"Since you are a Nameless of the Astral Express, then I will accept this commission. The Nameless's credibility is renowned across the universe and is worth trusting."
Hearing Acheron's words, Welt cupped his hands toward the other, his expression solemn.
"In that case, I shall owe you this favor. If there is any need in the future, I will go through fire and water, sparing no effort!"