As Gopher Wood's words fell, the atmosphere at the scene instantly became tense.
Inside the Penacony Grand Theater, Acheron and Gopher Wood confronted each other. The sword-drawn atmosphere was oppressive, fearful, and even despairing.
After about a minute, Acheron was the first to withdraw her jade hand that had been resting lightly on the scabbard.
"I do not intend to take action against you here. Although my hands are already stained with a lot of blood and I don't mind a few more, my subconscious tells me that you will be of greater use if you remain alive."
"…Hah, arrogant words."
Gopher Wood let out a cold snort and said nothing more.
"Puppet of Nihility, please leave Penacony!"
"…I will leave. But before that, I have one question."
Acheron sighed softly, one hand on her hip. In the confrontation with Gopher Wood, she chose to yield a step.
Of course, this was not out of fear. She simply did not want Penacony to be destroyed by her blade in this conflict.
"Harmony is merciful. Puppet of Nihility, I can answer your question. However, I also hope you will honor your promise and leave Penacony, leave the Asdena star system."
"But if you break the contract, then the wrath of the 'Infinite Captain' will burn until the last moment of your life!"
Acheron's concession made Gopher Wood inwardly delighted. Even so, he still warned her with a cold face.
"The power you use should not be pure Harmony power, correct?"
"Why do you say that?" Gopher Wood frowned.
"Your power is indeed very similar to Harmony, or rather, it achieves the same effect through different means. However… it is not pure."
"If I remember correctly, in the ancient past during the Swarm Disaster, a Star God representing Order was…"
"Enough!"
Before Acheron could finish speaking, Gopher Wood, his face dark, interrupted her first.
"You know too much, Puppet of Nihility!" The Pippa person possessed by Gopher Wood spoke with a fierce expression, nearly gritting his teeth.
"Are you going to take action against me?"
Gopher Wood: "...…"
Acheron's single sentence choked back the words that had reached Gopher Wood's lips. Take action against Acheron? He did not think he had that ability. Or rather, even the Emanations of Harmony might not gain any advantage against her.
The 'Resounding Choir' and the 'Infinite Captain' were both Emanations of Harmony. This place embodied the concept of Harmony embracing all things.
Whether the former or the latter, they both possessed power equivalent to Emanators. However… the person before him was an Emanator of Nihility.
'IX' never glances at anyone. That is to say, this Emanator of Nihility before him had reached this step entirely through her own power. A Self-Annihilator who had been stained with too much Nihility to reach Emanator level—the two Emanations might not be her match.
"Hmph! The contract is made. I hope you honor your promise!"
Having suffered a setback with Acheron, Gopher Wood left with a gloomy face. As the main body departed, the Oak Family members who had followed also left the Penacony Grand Theater in a daze.
After Gopher Wood left, Acheron slowly opened her previously closed eyes and looked deeply toward a prop box in the theater.
"Have you seen enough? If you have, then come out. That person has already left."
'Tap, tap, tap…'
The sound of high heels touching the ground came from behind the prop box. After a few seconds, a grayish-purple-haired woman dressed seductively and radiating mature, intellectual charm walked gracefully in front of Acheron.
"Hello, Miss Acheron. I am Black Swan."
...…
Pulling the timeline back to the present, on the Astral Express, our conductor Pom-Pom was pouting with dissatisfaction, angrily cleaning the carriage.
To Pom-Pom, today was a very unbeautiful day.
In the morning, a Galaxy Ranger had hijacked the Express with a gun. At noon today, two women had sneaked in without making a sound, without even saying hello.
Only after being caught red-handed did they explain their purpose, saying they were looking for Boothill.
Ugh! How despicable! Are these guys treating the Astral Express like a tourist attraction?!
"Ah! You're back, Pam!"
Hearing the sound of the train door, Pom-Pom, who was cleaning, subconsciously looked up. When it saw who had arrived, a look of joy appeared on its fluffy little face.
"Yo, fluffy little thing, we're back." Boothill reached out first and stroked Pom-Pom's head, causing the latter to bare its teeth and grimace.
"Don't touch the conductor's head, Pam!"
Pom-Pom protested unhappily.
"Mm, we're back, Pom-Pom. Did anyone come to the Express just now?"
Dan Heng nodded slightly in greeting, then asked about Black Swan. According to the other party, she should have already boarded the Astral Express.
"Yes, two people just got on board saying they were looking for Passenger Boothill, so I let them wait in the parlor car first."
"Two people?"
Dan Heng frowned. Shouldn't the Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection be alone? Why two? If one was Black Swan, who was the other?
"Hello, you two."
Just as Dan Heng was thinking, a stream of azure data light suddenly flashed. In the next moment, Black Swan's graceful figure appeared before Dan Heng and Boothill.
"Pam! It's her! Although the Astral Express welcomes every passenger, sneaking in one by one like this is really too rude!" Pom-Pom protested indignantly.
"Haha, I'm sorry, Conductor. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. The current situation in Penacony is complicated, so I could only resort to this. After all… in this kind of situation, only you Nameless can be trusted."
Black Swan apologized to Pom-Pom with a slight bow, her tone full of apology. Even so, her eyes remained filled with certainty and resolve.
"You are the Memokeeper Boothill mentioned?" Dan Heng asked.
Black Swan: "Mm. Hello, Mr. Dan Heng. I have already secretly observed you and Mr. Boothill earlier. If I was presumptuous, please forgive me."
"And Mr. Boothill, I hope you liked that bottle of Asdena White Oak. Mm… your taste is quite good. It took me quite some time to find that bottle."
— — — —