Welt was silent for a long while. In the end, he pushed up his glasses and let out a faint, bitter smile.
"Miss Cecilia, this Theresa you speak of… is truly awe-inspiring."
He paused, seemingly weighing his next words.
"To be able to cross the boundaries between worlds, observe the technology of other worlds, and even reproduce it—such attainments in Erudition are likely beyond almost anyone else in the entire galaxy."
Cecilia only smiled and said nothing, leisurely taking another sip of tea.
Praise her, go on. In the end, all of that praise would still come back to her anyway.
But what Welt said next actually caught Cecilia off guard.
He drew in a breath, his expression turning even more serious.
"Miss Cecilia, I have an idea. Perhaps it could help you."
"Please, go ahead, Mr. Yang."
Welt stood up and gave Cecilia a solemn, respectful nod.
"I would like to invite you to join the Astral Express—to become one of us."
"The path of the Nameless has begun moving forward once more. Perhaps on the journeys ahead, we may be able to uncover the truth behind the history concealed by Mystery."
The entire table was stunned.
No one had expected Welt to suddenly invite Cecilia onto the Express at a moment like this.
But thinking about it carefully… it was not impossible.
March 7th and Stelle were the first to react.
March practically lit up on the spot.
"Yes, yes, yes! Miss Cecilia, join us!"
"There are still lots and lots of empty rooms on the train! And, and, we could go to all sorts of amazing places together!"
"And besides, we're heading to Penacony next! Miss Cecilia could come with us and—"
Just the thought of it made her ridiculously happy.
In March's mind, the Express crew's current lineup was still a bit lacking.
Ordinarily, at least two people had to stay behind on the train. And among them, they really only had two proper "adult guardian" figures.
Which meant that every time they went on a mission, they could not even bring half of the Express's full fighting strength to bear.
But if Miss Cecilia joined them, things would be completely different.
With an Emanator carrying them, would they not be able to cruise to victory?
The more March thought about it, the sillier the grin on her face became.
"March."
Dan Heng stepped in at the perfect moment and cut off her rapidly running mouth.
In truth, he did not object to Cecilia joining the Astral Express.
But there was one problem he absolutely had to think about.
Given Jingliu's current state, if Cecilia boarded the train…
would Jingliu come too?
That question alone gave Dan Heng a headache.
March, meanwhile, was completely unbothered and kept staring at Cecilia with sparkling eyes.
Stelle was even more direct.
At some point, she had already walked right up to Cecilia. Fixing her with those golden eyes, she stared without blinking and said in a flat but strangely stubborn tone,
"Join us, Miss Cecilia. I'll let you have half my collection."
The smile on March's face twitched.
"Stelle, your so-called collection isn't just stuff you dug out of trash cans again, is it…"
"They're treasures," Stelle corrected immediately, with perfect seriousness.
"They're fragments of history. Imprints of civilization. They are—"
"They're garbage," March cut in mercilessly.
Stelle ignored her and kept staring at Cecilia.
"Join us, and you can pick first."
Cecilia could not help laughing at the two of them.
Honestly, the atmosphere aboard the Astral Express really did suit her tastes.
There were not so many schemes, not so many calculations of profit and loss—just a bunch of fools willing to give everything for each other.
But unfortunately, as the only fully maxed-out account she currently had in hand, there was no way she could just send Cecilia off to run around with the Astral Express.
"I'm honored by your invitation, Mr. Yang," Cecilia said, setting down her cup.
"But for now, I still have things of my own that I need to do."
Welt nodded with some regret.
"I understand. As the only person in existence not affected by Mystery, you naturally have your own responsibilities and your own mission."
"But—"
He changed tone.
"The Astral Express will always keep its doors open to you. Whenever you wish to come, you will be welcome."
Just as Cecilia was considering how to give some suitably polite, formulaic response, the teahouse door was gently pushed open.
A slender figure appeared in the doorway.
Cecilia looked over at once.
It was Firefly, who had only just arrived on the Luofu.
This did not surprise Cecilia in the slightest.
After all, while sitting here, she was still multitasking and controlling Qiyana's account elsewhere.
What did surprise her was how quickly Firefly had moved. In such a short time, she had already reached the destination before Cecilia herself.
The moment Firefly saw Cecilia, she hurried over in excitement.
"Excuse me—are you Madam Cecilia?!"
Her over-eager expression made everyone else freeze for a moment.
Especially Stelle.
For some reason, she found the girl strangely familiar.
And more importantly—
why was she calling Cecilia "Madam"?
Cecilia put on a thoughtful expression.
"I am Cecilia, yes. But this young lady… do we know each other?"
At that, Firefly became even more excited.
"Madam Cecilia, hello! My name is Firefly. I'm the patient your daughter told me to come see!"
Only then did the others relax.
So that was it.
For a moment, they had thought she was some overenthusiastic admirer or something.
Though, really, that also made sense. Cecilia always introduced herself as a doctor, so of course she would have patients.
But this girl had been sent here by Cecilia's daughter?
Wait.
By who?
What did she mean, Cecilia's daughter had sent her here?
Cecilia had a daughter???
Stelle's teacup clattered down onto the table, splashing tea everywhere.
"Y-your daughter?!"
"Miss Cecilia, you have a daughter?!"
No. No, absolutely not. How could you possibly have a daughter?
Nor was Stelle the only one shocked. Even Jingliu, seated behind Cecilia, looked startled.
In this world, outward appearance was by no means an absolute measure of age.
Even so, Jingliu had never imagined that this woman—who always reminded her so strongly of Baiheng—was already a mother.
For some reason, an inexplicable sense of loss rose in her heart.
Cecilia, meanwhile, merely scratched her head.
"Hm? Haven't I mentioned my daughter to all of you before?"
"Of course you haven't!" Stelle's face immediately collapsed into a look of genuine despair.
Originally, in Stelle's plans, even if Cecilia did not wish to join the Astral Express, she had still intended to use their time together on the Luofu to build a good relationship with her.
After all, Cecilia gave her the strongest impression of "mother" she had ever felt—something neither Himeko nor Kafka had managed to evoke.
But ever since they arrived on the Luofu, one thing after another had kept happening, leaving Stelle with no chance to act on that impulse.
And now, at last, when she finally had a moment—
Cecilia was telling her she already had a daughter.
No!!!
There was no way she could accept this!
Of everyone present, the only one who remained relatively calm was probably Welt.
After all, the Cecilia he had known in his own world had also been a mother.
But then, suddenly thinking of something, Welt stopped being calm at all.
Cecilia's daughter… would not happen to be named Kiana, would she?
Firefly looked around nervously.
"Um… did I say something wrong?"
Clearly, she had only followed Miss Kiana's instructions to come find Madam Cecilia and seek treatment.
Why was everyone reacting like this?
"No, no, not at all." Cecilia waved a hand and motioned for Firefly to sit down.
Then she turned to Stelle and could not resist pinching her drooping face.
"What's with that expression? Is me having a daughter really that shocking?"
Stelle let herself be pinched, looking thoroughly aggrieved.
"You don't look… like someone who would have a daughter."
Cecilia raised a brow, then turned toward Jingliu behind her.
"Little Jingliu, what do you think?"
Jingliu paused briefly, then lowered her gaze.
"You don't."
"Oh?" Cecilia was intrigued. "Why not?"
Jingliu fell silent for a moment, as though carefully choosing her words.
In the end, her answer made Cecilia's face darken.
"Because you're too noisy."
Then Jingliu added,
"You resemble an old friend of mine in many ways. Both of you are like children who never really grew up. So it's hard for me to imagine you as someone's mother."
That completely robbed Cecilia of any response.
In truth, when she had first approached Jingliu, Cecilia had intended to give herself a cold, aloof persona.
…Forget it.
Taking a deep breath, Cecilia decided not to argue with the little dog she had just finished taming.
Then her expression shifted, turning serious.
A moment later, she started manipulating another account in the distance.
In the next instant, an overwhelming aura of Destruction swept over the entire Luofu.
Faced with such a terrifying presence, everyone at the table immediately forgot all about Cecilia's daughter and the rest of it.
All of them leapt to their feet, already prepared to rush outside to meet the enemy.
But very quickly, they realized—
that frightening Destruction aura was coming straight toward them.
The teahouse door opened once more.
A white-haired girl with a high ponytail stepped inside.
No one dared underestimate her because of her youthful appearance.
Because every single one of them could clearly feel it—
the Destruction aura currently blanketing the Luofu, even fiercer than Phantylia's at her height, was emanating from the girl standing before them.
As Cecilia's current bodyguard—and the strongest person present aside from Cecilia herself—Jingliu moved first, ready to intercept.
But the white-haired girl was even faster.
She rushed straight across the room and threw herself into Cecilia's arms.
"Mom, I missed you so much!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 138)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter160)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter98)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter175)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 163
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 150
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 100
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 170
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 145
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 125
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 69
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 90
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 66
Uma Musume: From Beginner 100
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 70
Uma Musume: I Want All 90
I Can Copy Unique Skills 65
Summoning an Evil God, but the 52
Supernatural Multiverse 65
My Harem Is Indescribable 55
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 55
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 66
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 55
Still playing traditional Honk 35
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 35
What Should I Do After Switchi 24
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 35
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 27
Transmigrated as Sukuna 27
Checking In in Demon Slayer 32
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