"Ahem! Phainon! If you hear this, please report to the observation car immediately, Pom-Pom!"
Pom-Pom's furious voice filled the train's broadcast, echoing through every car.
"This Conductor repeats! Please immediately! Right now! Stop your boring and terrible pranks!"
"Don't think this Conductor doesn't know! Those ghosts floating around the corridor in the middle of the night these past few days were you, Pom-Pom!"
"And those trash cans that filled an entire car! You moved them all onto the Astral Express, are you planning to open a scrap recycling station, Pom-Pom?!"
A moment later, in the observation car.
March 7th and the Stelle exchanged glances, Himeko smiled faintly, holding her coffee, while Welt Yang's face was ashen, not saying a word.
Pom-Pom was so angry that it stomped their feet on the spot, both of their long ears trembling violently.
their gaze, burning with fury, locked precisely onto the Stelle.
"Passenger Stelle! You!"
The Stelle pointed to herself in confusion: "Me?"
Pom-Pom put their hands on their hips and commanded in an irrefutable tone: "Yes, you! Go bring that troublesome fellow to Pom-Pom!"
But the Stelle righteously refused: "Me? I'm afraid not, I'm currently conducting an important research project."
Pom-Pom asked curiously: "What are you researching, Pom-Pom?"
"Researching the acoustic resonance and structural aesthetics of different models of trash cans."
"Hurry up and go, Pom-Pom!!!"
...The Stelle muttered softly, "Next time, I'll definitely pluck all the fluff from your head," as she arrived at Phainon's door.
Knock, knock —
She symbolically knocked on the door.
"Phainon, are you there? Pom-Pom is looking for you, it's about to explode with anger."
Inside the door, there was a dead silence.
The Stelle frowned, and knocked a few more times with more force.
"Hello? Are you in? If not, make a sound."
"If you don't make a sound, I'll take it as an agreement and just come in!"
No sooner had she spoken.
The metal door before her, without any sound of mechanical transmission, silently slid open inwards.
The next moment, dazzling and warm sunlight greeted her.
The Stelle was completely stunned.
Behind the door was not the narrow, cold train cabin she had expected.
Instead, it was an boundless wheat field, radiating a sacred golden glow.
The sunlight was perfectly warm, carrying a temperature that made one yearn, gently falling on her face.
A breeze swept through, and golden waves of wheat stretched layer upon layer, all the way to the end of the world.
The air was filled with the fragrance of soil and the unique scent of prolonged sun exposure, so real it was heart-pounding.
In the center of that golden ocean, a white-haired young man wearing a yellow top and purple leggings was lying among the wheat ears, his arms beneath his head, utterly content.
The wheat ears swayed gently, obscuring his face, making it unclear, yet one could clearly feel that long-lost tranquility, integrated with heaven and earth.
"Where did this come from? Is this still the Astral Express?"
The Stelle's mind went blank; she thought she was finally hallucinating due to lack of sleep.
She touched the wheat ears in front of her; they had the rough texture of grain, so real!
"It's over! Now I'm really hallucinating!"
Bang!
With a loud bang, the Stelle slammed the door shut.
She took a few deep breaths, and finally, plucking up her courage, with a hint of uncertainty, pushed open the door again.
This time, the room finally returned to normal.
The lights were dim, the furnishings simple, and the cold metal walls glowed faintly.
The man in the black robe and golden mask stood with his back to the door, by the window, his gaze fixed on the ice-covered planet — Jarilo-VI.
"You..."
The Stelle's voice was a bit dry; she pointed at the empty room, then at her own eyes, her thoughts completely in disarray.
"You just... in the room... there was a rice field... and a white-haired..."
She was incoherent, completely unable to form effective words to describe the surreal scene.
Phainon slowly turned around.
Beneath the mask, his icy blue pupils clearly reflected her face, filled with shock and confusion.
He tilted his head slightly and asked softly:
"A rice field?"
"Was it just that you... opened the door the wrong way?"
One sentence instantly brought all of the Stelle's confused thoughts to a halt.
Opened, opened the door the wrong way?
What kind of utterly ridiculous reason was that?!
But recalling the dreamlike scene from just now, and this cold reality before her, she couldn't find any words to refute him for a moment.
Could it be... truly my own problem?
[Collect Joy: +10]
[Current Joy Collected: 102]
Looking at the numbers that popped up on the system panel, Phainon silently nodded in his heart.
Pom-Pom and March 7th have been working hard lately; he collected quite a bit of joy from them.
Phainon stepped past her, came to the door of the observation car, and looked at the Stelle, who was still questioning reality, from the side.
"Let's go, don't keep the Conductor waiting too long."
—
After a long time.
Inside the observation car.
"So, esteemed Passengers, everyone is aware of the current situation of the Astral Express, Pom-Pom?"
Pom-Pom's gaze swept over the Stelles on the Astral Express one by one.
Welt Yang added from the side: "The reason Jarilo-VI became such an ice-bound planet... is inseparable from the influence of the Stellaron."
Himeko echoed: "According to our conjecture, the Stellaron is a bane sown by a certain Aeon across various worlds. If the source of the calamity is not removed, 'Trailblazing' cannot even begin."
"Don't the people of those worlds know how to save themselves?" The Stelle asked a profound question.
Welt Yang sighed softly.
"Looking at this planet from our current perspective gives one the illusion of being omniscient and omnipotent."
"Only when you truly stand on that land will you realize your own insignificance and helplessness."
Phainon, who had been silent, touched the cold window with one hand, as if touching that distant planet.
He spoke slowly, in a profoundly deep tone that carried the rise and fall of countless civilizations.
"Indeed..."
"It reminds me of my former homeland."
"On the scorched earth, I made a promise to her, to everyone..."
"No matter the cost..."
"Humanity will ultimately overcome..."
Upon hearing this, Welt Yang's expression suddenly changed, and his fingers gripping his cane tightened abruptly, his knuckles turning slightly white.
His PTSD was acting up again.
He felt his breathing stop, fearing that from beneath that mask, he would hear the two words he dreaded most.
Finally, Phainon slowly uttered the last syllables.
"Black Tide!"
[Collect Joy: +20]
[Joy Collected: 122]