With a primitive yet urgent ring, the train stopped boarding. Leaning against the window, Shu could feel the train car begin to vibrate and heat up slightly.
The anxiety in Shu's heart suddenly dissipated. The noise in his ears faded as he let go of the [Hope] enhancing his senses, returning to a chaotic murmur.
The slight tremor was the train starting to move, the vibration traveling through the glass and into Shu's head.
The feeling was comforting. His perpetually tense expression relaxed for a moment.
This wasn't just a sense of security developed from months of living on a train; there were other reasons as well.
His thoughts finally began to straighten out. Shu gently closed his eyes and began to review his actions, planning his next steps.
The mission he'd set for himself was to investigate the situation inside the Pearl of Sapphire. His abilities would certainly allow him to fly over and get a detailed look. He could even record what the zombies inside were wearing.
But that wouldn't train his reconnaissance skills. It would be a dimensional beatdown, and he'd still be flying blind when he met an opponent on his level in the future.
It seemed he'd have to control his power output, force himself down to the appropriate level. It would be best not to use his powers unless absolutely necessary, to see just how much effort it would take to solve this problem...
Am I just making things hard for myself for no reason?
The thought had barely crossed his mind when Shu shook his head and let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
What am I thinking... It's just a little hardship, not something unbearable. If I keep indulging in this peace, the next time a crisis hits, it won't be just a little hardship I'm facing...
Better to suffer a little in a controlled environment than to suffer a lot in a situation I can't control, right?
His ability to rewind time was for trial and error, but not to be wasted like this.
"Is something on your mind?" Susannah's voice pulled Shu from his thoughts. He looked up, startled, to see her concerned gaze.
"Your expression... is terrifying," Susannah said, pointing at Shu with a hint of fear. Shu subconsciously touched his own face.
It did feel a little stiff... Was this device Otto gave him really that advanced? It could even replicate his expressions.
Thinking about the face he was likely wearing now—Kevin's face—and his worried expression... Shu could already imagine it.
A cold expression on Kevin's face... it was indeed a bit intimidating.
"I'm fine," Shu shook his head. Susannah's tense expression immediately relaxed.
"That's good... Your expression just now was really scary! I thought you were in some kind of trouble."
"I was just... thinking about some things," Shu explained.
"Are you nervous?" Susannah suddenly asked, tilting her head. Shu paused, then hesitantly shook his head.
He wasn't nervous, was he? He was just thinking about something complex, like how much power to use, and when...
He was trying to plan for every possible situation he might encounter.
Preparing for every eventuality... just the thought of it sounded like a fantasy.
Manpower had its limits. The variables in the real world were too numerous. The butterfly effect could easily destroy any preconceived plan.
And what Shu wanted to do now was to eliminate even the "what ifs." He wanted to hold the future firmly in his own hands.
In Shu's view, while difficult, this was not a fantasy.
Because in the battle against the Herrscher of Evolution, Otto had done just that.
Every possible step of evolution had been laid out before him by Otto through a process of elimination. Every path before Shu was clear. He didn't need to change anything; he just had to choose a path and follow it.
On the surface, his battle against Evolution was his most brutal one. But in reality, it was the one he fought with the most confidence, the easiest one.
It was just some physical torment. Compared to the mentally exhausting battles of wits that followed, it was a walk in the park.
However, Susannah seemed to interpret his hesitation as a different kind of confirmation.
"You really are nervous, aren't you?" she said with an expression that screamed "I get it." "Well, it is Sapphire City, after all. We'll be facing those zombies."
"But... do people from the Kaslana family get nervous too?" Susannah looked at "Shu's" conspicuous white hair and blue eyes as if she were seeing some rare curiosity.
The corner of Shu's eye twitched. He hadn't met many Kaslanas, but he had seen Kiana wringing her hands nervously before exams.
Oh, right. And there were a few times when he couldn't sleep and went to the kitchen for water in the middle of the night, only to find a certain sneaky white furball.
Back then, just by standing outside the door, Shu could feel the tension radiating from the white furball in the kitchen through their shared empathy. Especially when he deliberately made a noise, she looked like her soul was about to leave her body.
But that was only at the beginning. Now, when he made a noise outside the door to alert her, Kiana would open it and hand him a portion, inviting him to a duo queue.
Have I been encouraging a certain kind of behavior?
She'd probably straighten up when she opened the door one day and found Mei making the noise instead of him.
"Kaslanas are just people. They get nervous too when they encounter certain things," Shu said, moving his head away from the slightly vibrating window.
The anxiety suddenly surged back. Shu frowned slightly but didn't lean his head back against the glass. Instead, he began to try and regulate these negative emotions himself.
It wasn't working very well.
"Really?" This was huge news to Susannah. Shu wasn't sure if her excitement was due to some kind of shattered image.
"Oh my god! I never knew... that's so cute..." Seeing Susannah's inexplicably blushing face, Shu was pretty sure there was no risk of her faith being shattered.
Wait, the scope of "cute" didn't include him right now, did it?
Forget it. He wasn't a real Kaslana anyway. She wasn't wrong. That kind of contrast could be quite cute sometimes...
"Um... can you tell me what kind of mission you're here for?" Shu was still wrestling with his anxiety when Susannah suddenly asked with great enthusiasm.