Nightfall.
Zeig sat in the kitchen holding a bowl, loudly slurping and eating his meal.
The rest of the Astral Express crew sat outside, looking up at the sky while chatting with Bronya.
"Uncle Yang, when are we leaving?" March 7th asked.
To be honest, she was actually feeling a little reluctant to leave this planet.
Although at the beginning, she and Dan Heng were wanted criminals with zero fun to be had.
Meanwhile, Zeig became the Silvermane Guards Executor and was living the high life.
He would just raise his AK and spray at teammates nonstop—he was thrilled beyond belief.
"The Astral Express will remain docked for a while longer. No need to worry," Welt said.
He looked toward Bronya beside him, a trace of concern in his voice:
"Miss Bronya… When you mobilized forces to break through one of the three great glaciers, you only managed to conquer two-fifths of that glacier, correct?"
"Mm." Bronya replied softly:
"Because when we reached two-fifths, the Executor received a communication from Svarog informing us that the Stellaron had appeared ahead of schedule, so we didn't push as aggressively after that."
Welt nodded.
Although the Astral Express's original goal had indeed been only to seal the Stellaron.
Achieving that could already be considered mission accomplished.
But he still felt some worry.
So he continued:
"Even though the Stellaron has been sealed, the Rift-like corruption it caused won't disappear immediately. That will take time to settle."
"And those Antimatter Legion remnants frozen in the ice layers—who knows how many will revive. These are all lingering problems. I'm afraid you'll have to work hard dealing with them going forward."
Bronya nodded. She was well aware of the current situation.
As the next Supreme Guardian in training, Cocolia had told her many things.
"I understand what you mean, Mr. Welt. But the warriors of Belobog are not pushovers either." Bronya said with firm eyes:
"The Astral Express has already helped us immensely—not only sealing the Stellaron and saving Belobog from disaster, but also breaking through large swathes of the planet's ice, greatly shortening the time needed to restore the original landscape."
"The rest, please leave it to us."
Welt smiled and nodded. "Good."
Now that the planet had reestablished contact with the outside world, personnel from the Interastral Peace Corporation had also started coming here one after another for inspections.
Everything was developing in a positive direction.
"Hey, Uncle Yang! Stop worrying already. Doesn't Zeig still have spatial teleportation ability? If something really happens, just have Bronya send us a message on her phone and we'll rush right over!" March 7th said very optimistically.
But at that moment, Welt smiled and shook his head.
"March, Cosmic Juggernaut requires beacons. Right now, the beacons Zeig can establish are only of two types."
"Which two?"
"Long-term and short-term."
Welt explained to March 7th:
"I know that he established one coordinate inside a bathroom stall at Herta Space Station. That's a long-term coordinate. It can be used to travel very far, and it persists for a very long time. Even while on Jarilo-VI, he can use Cosmic Juggernaut to return there."
"But the number of long-term coordinates is limited. From my observations, his Divine Key is not complete."
March 7th was completely lost:
"Not complete? So you're saying once he leaves, he can't come back to Belobog anymore?"
Hearing this, Bronya's heart tightened involuntarily.
"That's not what I mean." Welt smiled and denied it.
"What I'm saying is that coordinates with such large range can only be retained in limited numbers. How could he not be able to return? Besides, if you want to come back and visit again, you can just take the Astral Express."
Welt's explanation made Bronya breathe a sigh of relief—it wasn't what she had feared.
"What I mean is, don't become overly reliant on any one method. Here on Belobog, you've almost constantly been using Cosmic Juggernaut, right?"
"I know Zeig has set up short-term coordinates all over Belobog. These coordinates have a time limit and will automatically disappear after a while, which also reduces the number of occupied coordinates."
Welt spoke calmly and clearly.
March 7th seemed to vaguely understand a tiny bit, but still asked:
"Uncle Yang, after saying so much, doesn't that still mean we can use the door to come back?"
"Yes, you can come back." Welt nodded.
"But if the Astral Express has moved in the meantime, when you return you won't be able to get back to the Express. You can only teleport again to the location the Express once passed through and where a coordinate was left."
"Let me put it this way: suppose the Astral Express passes position A, and he suddenly leaves a coordinate on the train, then uses Cosmic Juggernaut to go somewhere else. When he returns, if the Astral Express has already left, he will only appear at position A."
Under Welt's explanation, March 7th finally understood.
She suddenly realized:
"So that's how it is! While the train is moving, if he uses that door to leave, when he comes back he can only appear in the outer space where the train once passed!"
"Correct," Welt nodded:
"So when you want to use it to leave, you must tell Himeko or Pom-Pom first and have the train stay parked in place. Never leave on your own—understand?"
"Hey, who would sneak off?!" March 7th crossed her arms and pouted:
"We're all proper, rule-abiding people! We'll definitely say goodbye properly before leaving!"
Dan Heng also nodded: "Indeed. Don't worry."
…
Three days later.
The Astral Express was sailing through space.
In the parlor car.
"What? Zeig is missing?!" Himeko sat on the sofa, eyes wide.
"He said when he came back he fell into outer space. He wants us to fish him out." March 7th sat beside her, giving an awkward laugh.
"…Fine."
…
Two days later.
"Sister Himeko, Zeig and Dan Heng sent a message. They want us to fish them out…"
"Oh."
…
Half a day later.
"Uncle Yang, um…"
"March, if you want the train to stop, you have to tell Himeko or Pom-Pom."
"I was just… scared to…"
…
Two hours later.
"Pom-Pom, can we fish out Zeig and March?" Dan Heng said seriously in the parlor car.
At that moment, Himeko couldn't sit still anymore. She shot to her feet:
"Didn't I already say not to use that thing while the train is moving?! Why are you still using it?!"
Dan Heng was silent for a moment before explaining:
"There was some trouble at Herta Space Station. It came up rather suddenly."
"What trouble? Wasn't everything at Herta Space Station already resolved? And after we left Jarilo-VI, we even went back once." Himeko was confused.
Dan Heng pursed his lips and said in a low voice:
"It's Miss Herta who called us back. Every time we return, it isn't long before she sends another invitation."
"Herta? Didn't we already let her study Zeig for three or four days back then? Wasn't that enough?"
Because of Zeig's excellent compatibility with the Stellaron—even Herta was surprised—so after leaving Jarilo-VI, Herta had sent another invitation.
Himeko hadn't refused. After Zeig agreed, the Astral Express docked at Herta Space Station once more.
How much time had passed? Why was she looking for him again now?
"It seems… something went wrong with the Simulated Universe." Dan Heng stared at the message on his phone and analyzed:
"Right now both of them have teleported back and are drifting in outer space. Can we fish them out?"
The parlor car fell silent for three seconds.
…
"Heh." Himeko's mouth twitched.
"…"
…