After taking a moment to calm his complex emotions, Welt accepted Cocolia's invitation and sat down in a vacant seat.
He had to admit, the Cocolia from his own world, back in Anti-Entropy, had never been this cordial. It made him feel slightly unaccustomed to it all.
"Fu Zhu, could you let me see the state of the Stellaron first?"
The very first thing Welt did after sitting down was to inquire about the state of the Stellaron.
The Astral Express's usual method for handling Stellarons was to either apply a seal or, for particularly unstable ones, have him create a simulated black hole to swallow them whole.
But from what Dan Heng had reported on the Express earlier, the Stellaron had become completely stable the moment Fu Zhu held it in his hand. This had left both Welt and Himeko perplexed, and the two couldn't help but think of the Stellaron residing within the Trailblazer's own body.
"Here."
Fu Zhu took the Stellaron out of his inventory. It lay quietly in his palm, as placid as an ordinary, glowing sphere.
Cocolia, too, spoke up from the side with some surprise, "...The Stellaron's voice has vanished as well."
Previously, no matter where the Stellaron was, its whispers would always echo in her mind. Only when Fu Zhu was nearby would the Stellaron fall silent, as if it had encountered a predator.
Welt stroked his chin, his eyes fixed on the Stellaron and Fu Zhu. This situation, so similar to the Trailblazer's, forced him to start questioning the connection between Fu Zhu and the Stellaron Hunters.
And then there was the question everyone had deliberately ignored from the start: why had Fu Zhu appeared on the Herta Space Station?
According to the information provided by Herta, after the two Stellaron Hunters infiltrated the space station, they only used the station's technology to print a single body to house the Stellaron. There was no record of a second body being created.
So where did Fu Zhu come from? Or could it be that he was also one of the Stellaron Hunters who had infiltrated the space station?
One who had been assigned to stay by Xing's side?
"Uncle Yang? What are you thinking about?"
Seeing Welt staring at him without a word, Fu Zhu found it a bit strange and posed the question.
Welt snapped back to reality and quickly shook his head with a smile.
"It's nothing. I was just a little surprised by your ability to seal Stellarons. Perhaps we can entrust future ones to you for sealing."
He really shouldn't be so quick to suspect the boy. He hadn't done anything detrimental to the Astral Express, and Dan Heng had mentioned that the crew held a very high place in Fu Zhu's heart.
Perhaps it was all just a misunderstanding on his part.
Hearing Welt say that future Stellarons could be handed over to him, Fu Zhu asked with a hint of excitement, "In that case, Uncle Yang, can all the sealed Stellarons be given to me to use?"
Welt didn't refuse Fu Zhu's request for the Stellarons, but he did repeatedly stress the dangers.
"Hmm? Yes, that should be fine. However, I want you to remember that Stellarons are extremely dangerous. Whatever you plan to use it for, you must always be mindful of your own safety and that of your surroundings. We cannot allow a Stellaron to cause a second disaster."
"No problem!"
Fu Zhu readily agreed. For him, the main purpose of the Stellarons was to convert them into items and blocks from MC that were normally impossible to obtain.
For example, monster spawners and bedrock.
Last night, Fu Zhu had even tried to see if he could use the Stellaron to directly convert a command block, that heaven-defying artifact, but the result was a failure.
On second thought, command blocks were rather special. Even in creative mode, they didn't appear in the item list and could only be obtained through a specific command.
Although he was a bit disappointed that he couldn't convert a command block, Fu Zhu thought of another special use for Stellarons!
As everyone knows, when mods are added to MC, the various items and blocks from those mods appear in the creative mode item list. So, could he use a Stellaron to directly convert the various heaven-defying tools from those mods?
For instance, the Sword of the Cosmos from Avaritia, or the Transmutation Table from Equivalent Exchange, and other such ridiculously powerful items.
No matter which mod it was, as long as he could convert a single item, his own strength would see a significant boost.
To do that, having a sufficient number of Stellarons was crucial!
At that moment, Fu Zhu felt that becoming a Trailblazer was the most correct decision he had ever made.
Just as Fu Zhu's request was granted, Welt was about to continue his discussion with Cocolia about the Fissure and the Eternal Freeze.
But the tranquil atmosphere of the meeting didn't last long. It was shattered by a petite, purple-haired girl who suddenly pushed open the door to the conference room.
"Great Guardian! I have an urgent matter to report!"
Cocolia, annoyed at being interrupted, glanced up at the girl who had burst in.
"Adjutant Pela, how many times have I told you? This meeting is more important than anything else!"
This was a meeting that concerned the future of Belobog. How could anything else be more important, unless another Stellaron had descended upon Jarilo-VI?
Seeing Cocolia's anger, Pela quickly bowed in apology. "My apologies, Great Guardian, but this matter concerns the Nameless!"
"Oh? It concerns us?"
Welt turned his head to look at Pela, then said to Cocolia, "If it's related to us, Lady Cocolia, would you permit this young lady to explain the situation first?"
Hearing Pela say it was related to Fu Zhu's group, Cocolia's anger subsided. She gave Pela a slight nod, signaling for her to speak.
Once she had Cocolia's permission, Pela began to explain the situation to everyone.
"It's like this. We were following Sir Fu Zhu's arrangements, planting potatoes, carrots, and wheat in the Overworld and Underworld. But when it was the Underworld's turn, a robot who calls himself Svarog approached us."
"He said someone was attempting to hack his system and requested Sir Fu Zhu's assistance."
"Someone wants to hack Svarog?"
Fu Zhu's group blurted this out in surprise, which immediately drew the gazes of Welt and Cocolia.
"You know this robot named Svarog?"
Fu Zhu nodded, then gave Welt and Cocolia a brief account of their experiences in the Underworld.
After hearing the story, Cocolia immediately gave an order to Pela.
"Where is Svarog? Have Gepard personally bring him here."
Although, from Fu Zhu's description, this robot named Svarog had already been "subdued" by him, Cocolia decided it was better to have the powerful Gepard act as a guard, just to ensure the safety of the Astral Express crew.
"Yes, Great Guardian."
Pela left the conference room. A short while later, Gepard returned with Svarog, and accompanying them was the little girl, Clara.
Seeing Clara had come too, Xing asked with some confusion, "Clara, why are you here too?"
Upon seeing Fu Zhu's group again, Clara immediately pleaded for help, "Big brothers, big sisters, can you please help Mr. Svarog? Since this morning, a signal has been trying to invade his system, and Mr. Svarog said the person calls themself a Stellaron Hunter and has been talking inside his system."
"A Stellaron Hunter?!"
The moment Welt heard this name, he sat up straight, his expression turning grim as he looked at Svarog.
"You are Svarog? Can you explain the situation to us?"
To think that the Stellaron Hunter who had escaped from the Herta Space Station would reappear on Jarilo-VI. Their target was likely Xing and Fu Zhu!
Svarog, however, shook his head with some regret.
"I cannot analyze their objective from the Stellaron Hunter's words alone. It would be better to let them explain it themselves."
As he spoke, Svarog raised a hand and pressed a switch on his head. A beam of light shot out from his crimson mono-eye, quickly materializing a virtual figure before everyone.
A rather petite figure was sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, her left hand rubbing her own fair-skinned foot while her right hand occasionally tapped on a keyboard. Her delicate features were currently scrunched up in frustration over something, and she was muttering to herself.
"Damn it, isn't the technology on Jarilo-VI supposed to be really backward? Even with the Corporation's tech support from a few hundred years ago, it should still only be at the level of a few hundred years ago. So why does this robot's system have a strange line of source code?"
"Damn it, how do I get around this weird source code?! This is even harder to crack than the Herta Space Station's system... If I fail this, how am I supposed to face Kafka and Elio!"
"Huh? The remote projection system turned on by itself? I didn't activate this... wait a minute..."
Silver Wolf's expression suddenly changed. After rapidly tapping the keyboard a few times, the originally one-way remote projection system became two-way, and she saw Fu Zhu and the others sitting in the conference room.
Silver Wolf blinked, stunned. The right foot that had been propped on her left leg twitched shyly, and she quietly put it back on the floor.
Fu Zhu's group stared at the virtual image of Silver Wolf with odd expressions. So this was the infamous Stellaron Hunter, Silver Wolf?
She looked just like a net-addicted girl!
What caught Fu Zhu's attention, however, was that Silver Wolf had just been talking about a line of source code in Svarog's system that she couldn't bypass. That source code was the "culprit" preventing her from hacking Svarog's system.
This made him recall the Redstone circuit he had slapped on Svarog's back to forcibly shut him down.
Svarog had said something similar about the Redstone circuit back then. From the looks of it, it was clearly his Redstone circuit that had stopped Silver Wolf's invasion.
It seems the priority level of Redstone circuits is even higher than I thought!
The next time I get summoned by Nous, I should try to see if I have a chance to slap a Redstone circuit on it and shut it down. That would be hilarious!
As Fu Zhu was imagining the amusing scene of his next encounter with Nous, the awkward atmosphere in the room persisted.
Silver Wolf awkwardly dug her toes into the floor, then abruptly turned her head and yelled.
"Kafka!"
"What is it?"
Another female voice sounded from off-screen, and Kafka came into view. She glanced at the group, then praised Silver Wolf with a smile.
"Truly impressive, just as expected of you. But next time, just be a bit more mindful and let me be the one to appear. By opening a direct remote projection like this, you've put yourself on display, you know."
Silver Wolf's face flushed red as she lowered her head. Even Welt and the others looked away, slightly embarrassed.
Sometimes, praise from your own allies is the most embarrassing thing of all.
However, as a reliable adult, Welt naturally wouldn't let this awkward atmosphere linger for too long. After a light cough, he put on a stern face and stared intently at Kafka's projection.
"Stellaron Hunter, what is your purpose in suddenly contacting us?"
Seeing Welt change the subject, Silver Wolf felt a wave of gratitude.
The Nameless of the Astral Express really are good people!
She took the opportunity to slip on her slippers and scurry away. If she stayed any longer, she felt she would drown in this atmosphere called "awkwardness"!
Kafka sat down where Silver Wolf had been, resting her chin on her right hand which was propped on the table, a faint, enigmatic smile playing on her lips.
"First, allow me to congratulate the members of the Astral Express on successfully resolving the Stellaron crisis on Jarilo-VI. Secondly, I'd like to ask you all to work a little overtime."
"What do you mean?"
Kafka didn't answer immediately. Instead, she reached out with her slender fingers and lightly tapped the keyboard twice. A projection of a massive warship appeared before Fu Zhu and the others.
"This is the Luofu, one of the ships of the Xianzhou Alliance. It is currently in a star system near the Astral Express. And on the Luofu, there is a Stellaron on the verge of erupting. With that said, you should all understand my meaning, right?"
"I hope that after leaving Jarilo-VI, the Astral Express will head to the Xianzhou Luofu."
Fu Zhu glanced at Kafka for a few moments, then turned to Welt and asked, "Uncle Yang, what are the Xianzhou Alliance and the Luofu?"
"A massive alliance composed of six colossal interstellar warships, who believe in [The Hunt] Lan."
After giving Fu Zhu a simple explanation, Welt looked at Kafka with a guarded expression.
"As far as I know, the Xianzhou Alliance itself possesses the ability to seal Stellarons, and their power far exceeds that of the Astral Express. Based on that alone, the Stellaron crisis on the Luofu has no need for the Astral Express's intervention."
"And what if you add an Emanator of Destruction and us, the Stellaron Hunters, to the equation?" Kafka asked, her eyes narrowing as she smiled at Fu Zhu and the others.
After a long pause, she stood up and casually typed a set of coordinates into the keyboard.
"These are the celestial coordinates of the Luofu. I believe the members of the Astral Express will definitely show up. Well then, until next time~"
After leaving the coordinates, Kafka made a move to end the communication.
Xing, who had been sitting quietly beside Fu Zhu, suddenly called out to her.
"Wait, Kafka!"
Kafka turned back, her gaze gentle as she looked at Xing, then shook her head.
"I know what you want to say, what you want to ask. Let's save those words for a slow chat on the Luofu. Besides..."
Kafka's gaze shifted to Fu Zhu, who was beside Xing.
"Fu Zhu... right? I hope we can meet on the Luofu. I have many questions for you as well. That's all for now. Farewell, members of the Astral Express."
This time, Kafka decisively cut the communication, giving neither Xing nor Fu Zhu a chance to speak.
After Kafka's communication ended, the room fell into a deep silence.
Cocolia was the first to stand up, beckoning Bronya, Seele, and the others who were not part of the Astral Express to leave the conference room together.
This was an internal matter for the Astral Express. They needed to give the crew some space to make their own decision.
Once Cocolia and her group had left, Welt finally turned to the others and asked.
"Well? Do you think the Astral Express should go to the Luofu?"
Dan Heng was the first to stand up and reject the plan to go to the Luofu. "This is very likely a trap set by the Stellaron Hunters. I do not recommend going."
Hearing Dan Heng's words, Xing grew anxious. She desperately wanted to go to the Luofu to see Kafka and ask about her past, but she didn't know how to voice it. She could only look to Fu Zhu beside her for help.
"Bro, do you think we should go?"
Although she was asking a question, the longing in her eyes to go to the Luofu was apparent to everyone.
Fu Zhu stroked his chin and mumbled, "The Stellaron Hunters suddenly sought us out, so they definitely have a plan. And this plan is certainly aimed at the Astral Express."
"But considering our duty as the Astral Express, we can't just ignore it, no matter what. It's just... for safety's sake, why should we head to the Luofu on the Stellaron Hunters' schedule?"
Sitting on the other side, March 7th asked curiously, "So what do you mean?"
"Make ample preparations before heading to the Luofu."
Before going to the Luofu, Fu Zhu felt it was absolutely necessary to craft a full set of enchanted diamond equipment and also to strengthen the other members of the crew.
At least that way, even if they fell into a trap set by the Stellaron Hunters, they would have the means to fight back.
Welt was very pleased with Fu Zhu's cautious attitude. He then smiled and reassured the anxious-looking group.
"You don't need to be so tense. The matters on Jarilo-VI aren't completely resolved yet, and Himeko still doesn't know about the Stellaron Hunters. So even if we do go to the Luofu, it will be a few days from now. Before then, you can all relax. Don't let a few words from the Stellaron Hunters throw you into disarray."
"Okay." ×N
After ending the remote projection, Kafka returned to the bar counter and poured herself another glass of red wine. Silver Wolf, meanwhile, ran over from the sofa on the other side and sat down next to Kafka, slumping listlessly onto the counter.
"Kafka, can you not let me do this kind of thing in the future?"
This was the first time Silver Wolf had ever lacked confidence in her hacking skills.
It was also the first time Kafka had ever seen Silver Wolf speak with such words and wear such a diffident expression.
"What's wrong?"
Silver Wolf slumped onto the counter and sighed. "It's clearly a very backward planet, but that Svarog has a line of source code that I can't crack... Don't tell me that's the Corporation's technology?"
"No, that's not the Corporation's technology."
Elio's virtual black cat form appeared on the counter again. It raised a forepaw and placed it on Silver Wolf's head, comforting her.
"That's a technology called Redstone. You don't need to be so hard on yourself. You should know that Redstone circuits are a technology that even Nous can only understand the principles of but cannot replicate or reverse-engineer, let alone you."
Silver Wolf glanced up with a rather unenthusiastic look and rolled her eyes.
"Thanks a lot! I feel so comforted..."
"Since you're comforted, are you interested in a little more overtime, Silver Wolf?" Elio asked tentatively.
Hearing this, Silver Wolf immediately propped herself up, her face a mask of refusal.
"No way! Even if we're Stellaron Hunters, we have to follow labor laws! You never said I'd have to work 996 before I joined! The game I'm playing has a new event, I need to go grind it!"
Seeing Silver Wolf's adamant refusal, Elio wasn't fazed. He countered with a cheerful tone, "What if I told you that the overtime I want you to do is also related to a game?"
Hearing this, the resistance on Silver Wolf's face lessened slightly.
"Go on?"
"I want you to return to Herta Space Station. The genius Herta is currently researching a technology called the Simulated Universe, and the foundation for its development is a strange, round stone given to her by Fu Zhu."
"If possible, I hope you can infiltrate the Simulated Universe and halt or delay its progress."
"Huh? Is this matter very important?"
Silver Wolf was a bit confused. Although Elio said it was related to a game, it also involved Herta, which immediately dampened Silver Wolf's interest.
Kafka was also a bit puzzled and looked toward Elio.
"Shouldn't our current focus be on the Astral Express? Why send Silver Wolf to Herta Space Station?"
"I don't want to either..."
Elio sighed and said somberly, "After you went to Jarilo-VI to inform the Astral Express about the Luofu, I briefly saw a glimpse of the future."
"Herta successfully perfects the Simulated Universe in the future. And after Fu Zhu and Xing enter the Simulated Universe, the world that was supposed to be a simulation becomes reality."
"Do you remember the Dragon of the End I told you about? Its messenger will emerge from the Simulated Universe then, and it will use the eyes of its black messenger to observe the outside world."
"If it is allowed to emerge from the Simulated Universe, I'm afraid I will completely lose the power of [Terminus], and the future will no longer be observable."
After listening to Elio's long explanation, Silver Wolf felt a headache coming on.
"That sounds like a really serious matter. In other words... I have no choice but to go, huh?"
Elio smiled and nodded, patting her on the head with his chubby paw.
"Yes. And I guarantee that the world Fu Zhu creates will leave you very satisfied."