A feeling, as if something was chasing him, closer and closer, nearer and nearer, closer and closer…
--------------------------------
"Hello, hello, we're here to visit!"
A fleeting purple figure dragged a gray-blue one into the Express.
Pom-Pom, who had just finished checking all the Express's dials, opened the observation car door.
"Whoosh, !"
"Uwaaaa! What the heck is that, Pom?!"
Hearing the commotion, March 7th and Stelle curiously poked their heads out, stacking one above the other.
Due to Pom-Pom's small height, three pairs of eyes peered at the guests.
"Herta, Hanya! How did you two get here!" March 7th said in surprise.
…
The chaos was only temporary.
With friends visiting, the Express instantly entered a strange atmosphere.
"Ugh, how many times have I said it, don't come into the Express in weird ways!" Pom-Pom puffed out her cheeks, her two fluffy ears twirling around each other in spirals, her face full of indignation.
"Sorry, Miss Herta entered a bit anxiously, I didn't have time to react," Hanya apologized softly.
Seeing Hanya admit fault with good attitude, Pom-Pom reluctantly forgave the unexpected guests.
Hanya's curious gaze carefully sized Pom-Pom up.
The universe is vast, full of strange beasts. Hanya had seen many.
With her shallow judgment, Pom-Pom's ears were very well maintained, evidence of the conductor's daily care.
"I can't help but feel you're having some rude thoughts, Pom," Pom-Pom said, giving a little hum as she waddled on her short legs toward the Party Car: "The conductor will get you something to drink. No wandering around!"
"Hehe, cute, right? Our conductor's adorable!" Once Pom-Pom walked into the next car, March 7th leaned next to Hanya and chuckled.
"Mhm." Hanya nodded slightly, tilting her head with some confusion as she looked at March 7th and hesitantly asked:
"Miss March 7th, isn't this… too close?"
March 7th's face was practically pressed up against her. Was this the Astral Express's unique way of greeting?
Suddenly, she felt warm breath from the other side. Turning her head, she saw Stelle had also unknowingly leaned right up next to her, curiously looking at her arm.
Too close… Hanya felt a little uneasy.
"Little March, Stelle, don't crowd her too much," Himeko said with a gentle smile.
Hearing that, the two laughed awkwardly… well, only March 7th did. Stelle seemed rather matter-of-fact about it.
"Sorry, Miss Hanya, that was rude of us."
"No, I actually looked into mortal customs before coming. This should be something only close friends do."
Hanya shook her head lightly, explaining something she had read from who-knows-where.
"That's true," Himeko was briefly stunned, then smiled.
"Hehe, we were just curious. Miss Hanya, did you really turn back from a zombie?" March 7th asked curiously.
Hanya nodded.
After regaining her mortal body, she specifically asked Stelle for advice to adapt more quickly to human customs.
Though the little gray-haired one occasionally revealed her rustic, newly-human demeanor, she only did so among close friends. Having so many close friends showed her capability in building bonds.
Soon after, Stelle spread the news of Hanya's change around the Express.
After all, there weren't many people on the Express anyway.
And Hanya was sure no one in the crew would leak it. If outsiders even overheard it, they'd be taken away for questioning. Best-case scenario, their actions would be monitored afterwards; worst-case, if anything suspicious was found, prison was inevitable.
"I had planned to congratulate you when the Express returned to Luofu, Miss Hanya. Didn't expect you'd come to the Express first." Himeko chuckled softly, offering carefully brewed coffee.
Hanya politely accepted it, set it on the table in front of her, then quietly moved it between herself and Herta so it wasn't clear whose cup it was.
Thanks to her work as a Judge of the Ten Lords Commission, she knew a lot about the Express.
And from what she had heard from Stelle and March 7th, she was well aware of the "dangerous power" of Himeko's coffee.
After some small talk, the group entered the main topic.
"I wonder, Judge Hanya, Miss Herta, what brings you here this time?" Dan Heng asked.
"Well, this has to do with…" Herta glanced toward Welt.
Hearing it was about him, Welt froze, puzzled.
…
After a brief explanation, everyone was stunned.
"It's actually about Miss Xueyi?" March 7th propped her chin on her hands and asked.
"Isn't Miss Xueyi that puppet or something? How could her body be rebuilt?"
"Automaton," Hanya corrected March 7th's shaky knowledge, then explained.
"Miss Herta and I once met people with similar conditions to my sister. One of them suggested we find Mr. Welt, saying he had experience in this matter."
At Hanya's words, Welt instinctively tensed.
"Forgive me for asking, what was that person's name?"
"I think… his name was O- Otto Apocalypse."
As soon as Hanya finished, an abyssal black aura burst from Welt…
Though maybe not that exaggerated, everyone still felt his sudden, intense reaction.
It looked like he and that name's owner were mortal enemies.
"Sorry, I just got a little nervous." Welt shook his head, regaining his usual calm demeanor.
"Well, well, seems you two share quite the history," Herta remarked with interest.
Just a single name could provoke that much reaction. Hard to imagine what would happen if the man himself appeared before him.
Welt sighed and smiled bitterly: "In my memories, that man was truly terrifying. Back from where I am, he was our greatest enemy. But… that's all in the past. No need to overreact."
Everyone understood, though March 7th and Stelle looked very curious, wanting to ask more.
Herta didn't care much, everyone in the universe had some unspeakable past. Welt's reaction wasn't unusual to her.
Hadn't that Galaxy Ranger called Boothill practically exploded at the mention of the IPC? And when Oswaldo came up, he wanted him dead on the spot.
Gathering his thoughts, Welt spoke again. "If I'm not mistaken, you must have gone to the past of the place where I am from and made contact with him."
Speaking of that place, Welt's tone carried heavy emotion.
"As for its exact coordinates…"
"No, don't even think about it. I only borrowed a path to get there. The Simulated Universe could observe it, but that Emanator called Kiana blocked the way. And since they used the Mirror of Memories to locate it, the data has no real reference value."
Herta crushed Welt's hopes of getting his homeland's coordinates from her without hesitation.
She had only borrowed a path, no coordinates existed.
Welt nodded slightly, saying nothing more.
Having been away so long, he once tried hard to find it. But after endless failure, he had given up.
The universe was vast, someday he might return home.
Besides… if Herta could borrow a path, so could he.
"Ahem, let's get back to Miss Hanya's matter."
…
After hearing the details, Welt was silent for a long time before saying:
"My case was different from Miss Xueyi's. I was able to rebuild my body thanks to my abilities. But in her case…"
Not everyone possessed the Herrscher of Reason's power.
Even with that power, Welt had often hovered at death's edge.
In hindsight, some of it was probably his own recklessness.
It seemed that once he realized no matter how badly he was beaten, as long as there was the slightest chance, he wouldn't die… he had started taking things far too lightly.
As long as it doesn't affect the larger plan, Welt can forge ahead, charging faster than even the Titan units.
After hearing Welt talk about the reconstruction of his body, March 7th widened her eyes, dumbfounded, staring at Welt.
"So, Uncle Yang, you've had such rich experiences."
"Ahem, I was young and impulsive, it doesn't happen anymore." Welt gave a light cough and explained with a shake of his head.
That was indeed true. Ever since returning to Anti-Entropy, Tesla and Einstein had kept him under stricter control, one stricter than the other. Unless it was a truly irreversible situation, no one would allow him to act so recklessly.
On normal days, even mentioning a slightly bold plan would get him endlessly lectured by the two.
"Analysis, reconstruction…" Herta pondered.
Combining all the currently known information.
Known: Xueyi only has her soul consciousness left.
Godzilla's dream can drag consciousness inside… a puppet body remains a puppet body, but consciousness can still dream.
Welt's reconstruction is tied to his abilities, first analyzing his own body, then reconstructing it.
That part is somewhat troublesome.
At the root, the biggest reason Xueyi cannot return to the living world through cloning is the blessing of the Abundance.
A randomly cloned body would not carry blessing of the Merciful One.
Moreover, the blessing of the Merciful One does not dissipate with death.
One must know: whether from the Xianzhou or the Borisin, even after death their bodies still radiate immense vitality.
If simply transferring consciousness could rid someone of the curse embedded within the Merciful One's blessing, then that Aeon would be far too unimpressive.
"I have some ideas, I need some time to think about it." With that, Herta vanished in a whoosh.
Just as when she came, she went with a whoosh in a hurry.
Seeing Herta had ideas, Hanya's face lit up. After bidding farewell to the Express crew, she hurried to follow.
This was key to whether her sister could return to the living world!
Once the two had left, looking at their seats, Himeko sighed.
"Miss Hanya and Miss Xueyi truly share deep sisterly affection."
Centuries of watching over each other, through changes of hundreds of seasons.
Their bond remains, rare in this world.
Perhaps this is another treasure long-lived species gain after obtaining such long lifespans.
Himeko looked at the coffee on the table, only a small sip taken, her expression regretful.
Looks like the Express needs to stock some good tea.
"Welt, why did Otto have Herta and Hanya seek you out?"
From the earlier conversation, the two were clearly enemies, yet when Otto talked about Welt, he did so casually, as if not caring about their enmity.
Though it's said there are only eternal interests in the world, with a hundred eternal conflicts.
But knowing Welt, she understood, for him, no matter how great the interest, it could never outweigh what he had to do.
The twists and turns in this must be complicated enough to give anyone a headache.
The others also looked at Welt curiously.
Especially March 7th. Her gaze toward Welt now was practically that of looking at Superman.
Dying several times and still coming back to life, this was practically the protagonist of a novel!
After a long silence, Welt spoke.
"Based on what I know of Otto, he probably wanted Herta and the others to consult my past self. But, he didn't expect Herta and the others to be able to find my present self."
…
Past, Honkai.
"Lord Overseer, we have not found any trace of Anti-Entropy's leader Welt, nor Miss Herta and Miss Hanya."
Rita bowed slightly, respectful.
Hearing Rita's words, Otto remained unmoved. A moment later, he replied leisurely.
"If Welt were so easily found, that would be the real problem. As for them… they are anything but simple. With our current technology, we can't monitor them."
Otto was very clear-headed.
With Schicksal's technology, trying to monitor Lady Herta, at least at the present level, was utterly impossible.
He could sense a familiar aura from Herta.
Without a doubt, Herta had freed herself from the shackles of lifespan, and then pursued research into consciousness, her pupets were proof of that.
But Otto wasn't worried.
That Hanya girl's face was practically written full of concern for her sister. Such familial affection was undoubtedly the easiest weakness to exploit.
…
Meanwhile, World Serpent.
The tranquil environment lived up to the organization's name.
"Gray Serpent, if you keep dumping more work on me, I will get angry."
A gray-haired woman in a hood, with a raven mask covering half her face, wearing a black combat suit, snapped irritably at the eerie not-quite-human figure before her.
"…This month's pay, doubled."
"Take your time, boss."
Raven's expression straightened, as if she'd be ready to spill blood for World Serpent at any moment… for the right price.
Gray Serpent paid no mind to Raven's behavior.
World Serpent was severely lacking manpower, especially capable manpower.
A skilled agent like Raven was hard to find anywhere in the world.
If money could drive her, that was the best outcome.
Besides… the number of assignments recently had indeed been high.
"Those two, any news?"
"A little, not much. Just that they toured St. Freya, chatted with that red-haired teacher for a bit, and seemed to have spoken with that short headmistress as well. Beyond that, I don't know. Those S-rank Valkyries are monsters, one after another, I didn't dare get too close."
Though Theresa's height was unimpressive, the Judah on her back was nothing to trifle with. Natasha had no desire to try taking on the God Key, Judah, head-on.
"…They're not simple." Gray Serpent hissed.
"Of course not. Anyone who can chat and laugh with Otto, that guy, how simple could they be?" Raven shrugged.
Having lived long in the gray areas, she knew quite a lot about Schicksal's Overseer.
His Valkyrie troops were each stronger than the last. To command such a powerful force, if anyone called him a good person, she'd sooner believe she had suddenly saved enough money to buy herself a private island.
Gray Serpent's mechanical eyes flickered.
That puppet-person had almost discovered him, and their timing of appearance was too coincidental. They didn't understand Honkai, and Godzilla had no Honkai energy. Chances were, they were working together.
Gray Serpent was cautious. After noticing Rita, Herta, and Miss Messenger along the coast, he had kept an eye out, trailing them to Schicksal.
But carefully, only leaving a tiny channel to eavesdrop. Even so, it had nearly been detected by that puppet-person.
He couldn't even tell if the other had truly discovered him, or hadn't.
A deep unease gripped him. If not for that, he wouldn't have sent Raven to gather intel.
Raven was competent, but the target's weight was crushing. If necessary, he'd have to intervene personally.
"The Lord will return soon. We must clear away every obstacle to welcome the Lord's return."
After a long silence, Gray Serpent said this.
"Hey, can our Lord even beat Godzilla?"
Gray Serpent shot Raven a cold glance, his mechanical eyes gleaming.
"Godzilla is nothing. To the Lord, it is insignificant."
"Once the Lord returns, World Serpent will stand at the summit, and under the Lord's guidance, defeat Honkai!"
Raven shrugged, unconcerned.
"Fine, whatever you say."
She had no particular interest in World Serpent's so-called Lord. As long as she got paid, that was all that mattered.
But she was genuinely curious, could the Lord, whom Gray Serpent revered so much, really defeat Godzilla?
Thinking of the Godzilla who had utterly overwhelmed Chiyou with sheer power, leaving it without a chance to resist, Raven had her doubts.
She had personally seen Chiyou's immense body through World Serpent's methods.
That sheer size, any continent it stepped on would sink into the ocean.
Just what kind of being was World Serpent's Lord, if he could even surpass that?