Tesla ignored Welt's tearful eyes and said anxiously, "No matter what, we have to get there as fast as possible. Nancy is still over there holding the situation together."
Everyone present was a self-restrained adult.
Except Dr. Tesla. Her mouth had never known restraint.
"Reanna, does Schicksal have any information from over there? You should have Valkyries stationed nearby, right?"
Reanna answered honestly, "I'm sorry. Not long ago, the Valkyries stationed there left to carry out another mission."
"What a coincidence. Don't tell me your Archbishop is pulling strings again?" Tesla asked in a tone thick with suspicion.
Reanna shook her head. "No. A small-scale Honkai incident broke out in Massachusetts. Valkyrie support was required."
"Ein, has Aide reestablished contact with the Edison Laboratory yet?" Tesla turned to ask Dr. Einstein.
Einstein replied irritably, "Dr. Tesla, please focus on driving. Our communication with Aide has been restored, but the Edison Laboratory has completely lost contact."
"There can't be any contact." A gloomy voice interjected. It was Dr. Schrödinger. "Because the Edison Laboratory has already been entirely enveloped by Honkai radiation. All electromagnetic signals are being severely disrupted. Forget communication devices—even basic electronic instruments likely can't function properly anymore."
The car fell into a long silence, broken only by the roaring engine.
Tesla tried to convince herself that since Schrödinger was fine, Nancy would surely be fine as well. There was simply no news for the moment.
Seeing Vill-V in the distance looking utterly at ease, Tesla took a deep breath and shouted toward the girl standing atop the locomotive, "Hey—you're from the future. Do you know what's happening over there?"
Vill-V was not inside the train's control room. Instead, she stood majestically atop the Cosmic Juggernaut, reveling in the thrill of extreme speed.
The Cosmic Juggernaut did not require Vill-V to operate it from within. It could be controlled just as easily from the outside.
Following Tesla's modified convertible as it sped toward New Jersey, Vill-V had just attempted to connect to communication channels across the United States—but all attempts had failed. Someone seemed to be blocking communications.
It appeared Otto did not intend for them to obtain any information from New York State.
Dr. Tesla never seemed to remember her name properly. That left Vill-V rather helpless.
"My name isn't 'Hey.' It's Vill-V!"
Vill-V had long been waiting for Tesla to ask. Only by revealing a bit of future intelligence could she solidify her identity.
"You've asked the right person. As a time traveler from the future, I do have a vague impression."
The wind was loud, so Vill-V raised her voice and pointed toward the sky. "Edison carried the Honkai Reactor into the sky to protect the citizens of New York. Look—that streak of meteor on the horizon is her!"
Tesla's pupils shrank to pinpoints at the news, and she nearly lost her grip on the steering wheel.
"@#!"
"What?!"
"Oh my god!"
Though Tesla, Einstein, and Welt spoke different words, their reactions were astonishingly identical.
Only then did they notice the purple meteor streaking across the sky. Meteor sightings were common in North America, so no one had paid it much attention.
Who could have imagined that meteor was Nancy Thomas Alva Edison? How had she managed to carry an out-of-control Honkai Reactor ten thousand meters into the sky?
An out-of-control Honkai Reactor interfered with precision instruments in its vicinity, rendering them inoperable. In other words, it was impossible to transport it by airplane.
Let alone pilot an aircraft at such close proximity to the reactor.
Einstein helped Tesla steady the steering wheel, trying to calm her down. "Careful, Lady Tesla. Let's not die in a car crash before we even manage to save Dr. Edison."
"How am I supposed to stay calm after hearing that, you damn Chicken-Nest Head!" Tesla slammed the accelerator even harder.
The pedal was already floored. The car was already going faster than her late-night street racing speed, yet she still felt it wasn't enough. It had to be faster—faster still.
At their current speed, it would take at least two more hours to reach New Jersey. By then, the reactor would have already exploded.
Of course, it was also possible that the sports car's engine would overheat and explode before that.
"Dr. Schrödinger, how did you get here?" Reanna asked.
Since Schrödinger had arrived without using any visible means of transportation, perhaps she had a faster method of travel.
"...I don't know." Schrödinger shook her head gloomily, her eyes filled with endless sorrow and despair.
If she had known, she would have said so.
Reanna looked puzzled. "...You don't know?"
Schrödinger continued uncertainly, "Nancy... used a very special power to transfer me to your vicinity."
"I'm certain that is not a power humans possess."
"But it is not something completely homologous with the Honkai either."
"I can feel that through that power, even now, she is still fighting the Honkai."
"But I'm afraid that has already become a domain none of us can intervene in."
Reanna's expression turned solemn. She turned to Vill-V. "Miss Vill-V, do you know what that power is?"
"Why do I feel like I'm some kind of search engine? Whenever you don't understand something, you click me... Well, I do know." Vill-V replied.
Tesla and Einstein's eyes lit up at once. It seemed this self-proclaimed "future person" truly was not lying. She possessed intelligence far beyond their era.
With her information, perhaps they could save Nancy.
When it came to supernatural phenomena of mysticism, it was best left to Occultist.
Occultist Vill-V explained, "This power—within the world, beyond the starry sky—exists everywhere. This is World. This is Starry Sky. I name it Starry Sky World."
"Starry Sky World?" Reanna murmured.
"Indeed. You may interpret it as beings beyond the stars, or as higher-dimensional existences. Either explanation suffices."
"Hey, two-tone pigtails, have you forgotten how to speak normally too?" Dr. Tesla interrupted.
To Tesla, Occultist's explanation was no explanation at all. Just look—Welt's eyes were already spinning.
She might have understood some of it, but right now she only wanted to know how to save someone. She had no interest in a lecture on mystical cosmology.
Occultist clasped her hands together as if immersed in her own world and continued, "It is the radiant convergence of countless stars; the frontier of despair where life struggles in vain; the transcendence of dimension and time."
Einstein, however, grew intrigued. Stroking her chin, she mused, "An existence in Grassmann dimensions? How did Edison become entangled with something like that? Humans shouldn't be able to comprehend such an existence—let alone communicate with it."
"Since you know of Starry Sky World, Miss Vill-V, does that mean you can communicate with them? Even borrow their power?"
"Heh, of course!" Since Scholar had already tuned out everyone else, Conductor reemerged, puffing out her chest confidently. "Ordinary people can't do it, but I am the genius Vill-V!"
"What's with the bragging, genius Vill-V? You're still my student! If you're a genius, then I'm a super genius!" Tesla shot back.
In terms of competitiveness, Dr. Tesla was in no way inferior to Vill-V.
Besides, everyone present was a genius in their own right. Tesla couldn't stand Vill-V calling herself a "genius" every other sentence.
At least this time, she had remembered Vill-V's name.
"Hmph. If Mentor Tesla is a super genius, then I, Vill-V, am a super-super-super genius!" Vill-V retorted, eyes blazing.
Seeing their exchange rapidly devolving into something resembling elementary school bickering, Einstein quickly intervened. "Stop. The reactor is the priority. Miss Vill-V, do you have a solution?"
"Hehe. Just watch this genius perform! Director, cue the BGM for Starfall!"
With that, Vill-V flipped into the locomotive. The train tore open a spatial rift and transformed into another meteor, streaking away.
Watching the train vanish, Tesla gripped the steering wheel tightly and murmured in her heart, I'm counting on you, Vill-V...