Under Sampo's lead, everyone finally returned from the Underworld to the Overworld.
At the moment, they were in the Administrative District, still some distance away from where the Everwinter Monument stood.
"Ah, we're finally back! I almost forgot what fresh air even smells like..." March stretched her body and sighed with feeling.
"What does it smell like?" Stelle asked from the side.
March replied, "The smell of freedom... the smell of cold... it's a bit chilly, let's get moving."
As soon as March finished speaking, Dan Heng and Seele both narrowed their eyes and looked at the lively girl.
Nero, on the other hand, raised his head and glanced at the sky. Thick clouds rolled endlessly, and scattered snowflakes drifted down one after another...
"Actually, you can't really say the air here is especially fresh."
"Don't sweat the details, ahaha... anyway, where are we going next? We should find a place to stay first, but I definitely don't dare go back to the Goethe Hotel..." March quickly changed the subject.
Hearing this, Nero blinked and said, "As they say, the most dangerous place is the safest place. How about staying at Fort Qlipoth?"
March rolled her eyes. "You'd better really mean staying at Fort Qlipoth... and not going there to jump-slash people inside."
Nero shrugged. "Is there really a difference?"
Seele, standing to the side, let out a sigh. She glanced at Dan Heng and found that his expression was still calm, his eyes carrying that kind of weary look only someone experienced would have.
How did he manage to stay so composed among such a bunch of living troublemakers?
Seele spoke up to steer the topic back on track. "That guy Sampo probably guessed we'd ask him for a hideout, so the moment we got back to the Administrative District, he slipped away without a trace. You really can't count on him."
"As long as Sampo goes and picks people up properly, that's enough," Stelle said. "We should just go back to the train with Mr. Welt."
"You're really heartless!" March immediately condemned Stelle's idea, then added, "But somehow... I'm a little tempted."
Nero directly asked Dan Heng, "Teacher Dan Heng, what do you think?"
Dan Heng replied, "In my opinion, it would be better to visit Serval Landau first."
"As expected!" March narrowed her eyes, a proud look appearing on her face. "You also think we shouldn't go see Gepard right now, right?"
Dan Heng nodded. "He's a high-ranking officer of the Silvermane Guards. It won't be easy to get in contact with him. And... if he isn't persuaded by Bronya's handwritten letter, we'd basically be walking straight into a trap."
"If it really comes down to having to fight Belobog head-on, then we'll just have to blitz Fort Qlipoth," Nero said.
"Nero, let's just forget about jump-slashing already!" March sighed. "Let's go to the Ever-Moving Mechanical House to find Serval first!"
"Mm." Dan Heng nodded, confirming their next objective. "Keep a low profile. We're still wanted."
Nero looked left, then right, and said, "It's kind of hard for the few of us to act low-key, isn't it... If there are wanted posters, it'd be super easy to recognize us from the portraits alone. Back on the space station, I even heard staff members swooning over Teacher Dan Heng."
After saying that, Nero blinked a couple of times. Thinking about it carefully, everyone on the Express crew not only had their own special skills, but were also all handsome men and beautiful women... As long as a species' sense of aesthetics wasn't seriously warped, whether it was Stelle, Dan Heng, or anyone else on the train, their looks were all very much top-tier.
"Indeed..." After a moment of silence, Dan Heng agreed with Nero. "We should find something to cover our faces."
"Then where are we supposed to find things to cover our faces?" Stelle asked.
"Heh heh... I came prepared."
Nero grinned, then rummaged around in his backpack. After digging under a pile of stuff, he pulled out four masks in different colors.
He then handed the green one to Dan Heng, the pink one to March, the gray one to Stelle, and kept a white one for himself.
"Don't you think these masks are... kind of weird...?"
March looked left and right. Seeing everyone put on the masks, leaving only two eyes exposed, looking just like bank robbers, she couldn't help but complain.
"Just tell me whether they cover your face or not!" Nero said righteously.
"They do cover the face, but doesn't this make us stand out even more?! Are you planning to come up with codenames too?"
"I've already thought of them. Teacher Dan Heng is Cold Dragon Young, Stelle is Little Gray Dragon, you're Little Pink Dragon, and I'm Little White Dragon."
"You're really..." March trailed off, not knowing what to say.
Dan Heng, however, said something unexpected. "It's not entirely unreasonable. It's this cold here, what's wrong with wearing a bit more?"
"Huh?" March stared at Dan Heng in disbelief. "You're really indulging him, Dan Heng!"
Stelle, meanwhile, laughed happily.
The atmosphere within the Express crew was always upbeat. At this moment, March noticed Seele looking around, seeming a little lost, and asked, "What's wrong, Seele?"
Seele shook her head. "Nothing. It's just... it feels unfamiliar."
"The last time I came up to the surface, I was still a child. I have no memory at all of what I'm seeing now."
"The Upper and Lower districts have been cut off for far too long... far too long."
"I'm fine. Let's go."
After that, everyone headed toward the Ever-Moving Mechanical House.
Seeing the large number of Guards patrolling the streets, Seele asked, "There are so many Guards on patrol. Is it usually like this?"
"No," Dan Heng said. "I remember the city's security wasn't this tight before... If this isn't normal, then it might be related to us."
"The Supreme Guardian should already know about our arrival. Bronya..."
Dan Heng didn't finish his sentence. Soon after, Stelle said, "Look, what's that?"
Everyone stopped and turned to look in the direction Stelle was pointing.
On a towering wall, a wanted poster stood out prominently, the portrait on it especially eye-catching.
This portrait could only be described as "wild and unrestrained," and the level of artistic skill on display was honestly shocking.
Frenzied brushstrokes combined with bold colors vividly outlined the figure in the painting; at the same time, the joyful emotion conveyed by the entire image practically spilled off the paper.
There was no doubt this was a masterpiece. The artist's strokes were daring and fluid, depicting a humanoid upper body, and that utterly unrestrained smiling face, along with the simply dotted pink hair, perfectly captured the essence.
Everyone stared at the painting in silence. After a moment, Nero spoke up. "Without question, the person in this painting is... Little Pink Dragon!"
"I don't look that abstract at all! Who on earth drew this?!" March immediately complained. She then walked up and tore the wanted poster down. After that, she took off her mask and sighed.
"Come to think of it... if our wanted posters look like this, then there's totally no need to wear masks at all!"