"Although the Astral Express crew are all Young Master's friends, propriety dictates that this little lady should be the one to go."
Listening to Tingyun, Liuge sighed.
Sis, this was a fateful meeting! Who knew if she'd run into Mara-Struck Soldiers the moment she got there?
"Fine, fine!"
Liuge raised both hands in surrender.
"But there's no problem with me going with you for this meeting, right?"
"That won't be a problem. After all, they are Young Master's friends!"
Tingyun nodded in agreement.
"Then it's settled."
Meanwhile, after two Warp jumps, the Astral Express crew had also arrived outside the Luofu Xianzhou.
After briefly marveling at the Xianzhou's grandeur and sheer size, March 7th and the others could barely wait to board it.
Bronya looked at the scene before her, surprise flashing through her eyes as well.
"As you can see, this is the Luofu Xianzhou."
Himeko looked at everyone's expressions and spoke with a faint smile.
"Attention, attention! Passengers, please note that we have arrived at the Luofu Xianzhou. We will now be entering the Luofu Xianzhou, so everyone, please..."
At that moment, the conductor Pom-Pom's voice came through the broadcast, announcing that they were about to enter the Xianzhou.
As she listened to Pom-Pom's voice, March 7th's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Stelle, standing beside her, wore an expression as though she were looking forward to some kind of encounter.
As for Dan Heng, the native of the Xianzhou, the instant he saw the Luofu Xianzhou, he turned around and returned to his room.
No. If he kept looking, his PTSD was going to kick in.
Before long, the Astral Express freeloaders had arrived at the Luofu Xianzhou.
After a brief discussion, everyone except Dan Heng, Himeko, and Pom-Pom prepared to head onto the Luofu.
"Woohoo~ So this is the Luofu Xianzhou! It looks incredible..."
March 7th looked at Liuyun Wharf, where everything had an ancient aesthetic, delight flashing through her eyes as she raised her camera and began snapping away.
"March, don't you think it's awfully quiet here?"
Stelle looked around but found no sign of anyone. Her expression gradually turned serious.
Hearing Stelle's words, Welt pushed up his glasses, which reflected the light of wisdom.
"Now that you mention it, that is true." Welt began to analyze the situation. "Liuyun Wharf is an essential stop for merchant vessels. Ordinarily, cargo ships would be docked here as well. It should not be this completely deserted."
Bronya, who had been silent beside them, nodded quietly.
"It really does seem that way!"
March 7th looked around and realized that was indeed the case, leaving her somewhat confused.
"How about we head forward and see if there's anyone up ahead?"
"I agree!"
"Me too!"
Stelle and Bronya also voiced their agreement.
With everyone in unanimous agreement, Welt had no objections.
They were all young people, after all. If something really happened, he could serve as their support, couldn't he?
He refused to believe that, with his current ability to create black holes with his bare hands, he could not protect a few young girls.
But before they had gone very far, a person covered head to toe in golden ginkgo leaves flew toward them from ahead.
"Watch out!"
Welt frowned slightly and tapped his cane against the ground.
The flying figure was forcibly dragged to the right, slammed into the railing beside the path, then fell over the edge of Liuyun Wharf.
March 7th vaguely seemed to hear a shout.
It sounded like, perhaps...
—Ro~bert~~~
How strange. Uncle Yang had clearly been the one to make a move, so why were they shouting a name like Robert?
"Hm?"
At that moment, a woman with slightly curly green hair emerged from the corner ahead. She wore a red plaid vest and radiated the aura of a powerhouse.
In her right hand, she seemed to be dragging another person who was likewise covered in golden ginkgo leaves.
Everyone looked at the woman, and the woman looked back at them, seeming somewhat surprised.
"Uncle Yang, do you know her?"
March 7th looked at the woman. Seeing that she appeared to know them, she walked to Old Yang's side, tugged gently at the corner of his clothes, and asked cautiously.
"Never seen her before."
Welt shook his head directly.
Whether in his former world or this one, he had never seen this woman before. And judging from the powerful aura surrounding her, if she had ever appeared before him, he definitely would not have forgotten her.
Compared to March 7th and the others' confusion, Bronya, who had remained silent at the side, widened her eyes slightly when she saw the woman.
Then she nearly failed to hold back her laughter.
She still forcibly restrained herself, though her face had turned a little red from holding it in.
At that moment, Liuge looked at Bronya's expression with some helplessness.
If she wanted to laugh, she could just laugh. They would find out soon enough anyway.
Just then, Tingyun and several Cloud Knights Army soldiers emerged from behind Liuge at the corner.
Compared to Tingyun's calm demeanor, the Cloud Knights Army soldiers beside her were clearly on guard.
"Liu..." Tingyun had just been about to speak when she noticed the four people standing there.
One looked like a scholar, one was a lively young girl, one appeared somewhat naïve, and the last was a small one who looked like she was dressed as a rabbit.
Seeing this, Tingyun moved closer to Liuge and asked quietly.
"Young Master, are those people all from your Astral Express?"
Liuge nodded at her question.
After receiving confirmation, Tingyun nodded and led everyone forward.
"May I ask who you all are?"
"Hello, miss. We are Nameless from the Astral Express. We came to the Xianzhou because we heard that a Stellaron outbreak had occurred here as well..."
Listening to Tingyun's words, Liuge could not understand why she was asking again when she already knew.
However, Welt's words made Liuge freeze slightly.
Holy crap, there was a Stellaron outbreak? I'd been here for so many days—how did I not know?
"So that is the case? The General had already heard that you would be arriving at the Xianzhou, so he specially sent this little lady to welcome you."
"May I ask your name, miss?"
"This little lady is Tingyun. It is a pleasure to meet you all. This is my friend and lov—" As she reached the end, Tingyun coughed several times, her face reddening slightly. "Please disregard what this little lady said at the end. It was unimportant, completely unimportant."
Hearing Tingyun's words, Liuge and the Cloud Knights Army soldiers beside her widened their eyes several times over.
"..."
For a moment, both March 7th and Stelle fell silent. She'd just blurted out what was in her heart, hadn't she?
Welt, on the other hand, did not react much. It was not as if he had never seen this sort of thing before.
As for Bronya, there was practically no expression on her face at that moment.
But Liuge knew that she was laughing—laughing her head off.
Because that was exactly what she was doing in the consciousness network he shared with Silver Wolf.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..."
Throwing Caution to the Wind?!
Listening to Silver Wolf's earth-shattering laughter through their consciousness link, Liuge's eyes revealed a trace of helplessness.
He looked toward Silver Wolf, who stood expressionlessly beside the Astral Express crew, and felt that the contrast was truly enormous.
"Um... Miss Tingyun, what do you mean by that...?"
"Shh, miss, please just ignore my slip of the tongue from earlier, okay~?"
Tingyun placed one finger against her lips, winked at March 7th, and spoke with a hint of shyness in her voice.
"..."
Listening to Tingyun's words from the side, Liuge felt that it was a little unreal.
She was not an idiot. Tingyun had made it so obvious that if she still ignored those feelings—
Then Liuge would be a complete and utter fool.
Stelle, beside March 7th, looked at Tingyun, then looked at Liuge, who had transformed into Kazami Yuuka, and felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"Ahem, Miss Tingyun. May I ask you something?"
At that moment, Silver Wolf Bronya stepped forward, gave Liuge an almost imperceptible wink, then asked in an inquisitive tone.
Her action surprised March 7th and the others.
After Silver Wolf boarded the train, she had practically become a gaming addict. Aside from chatting with everyone normally, she had shown no interest in anything else.
In her own words, as long as it was a network she could hack into, there was nothing she did not know. Asking around was less efficient than simply searching online.
And now, Bronya was actually interested in something outside the network. How could they not be surprised?
"Hm? This... little girl, what is it?"
"I just wanted to ask if Miss Tingyun knows one of our companions."
The moment Bronya finished speaking, March 7th seemed to remember something and immediately jumped forward.
"That's right! That guy's called Liuge. He arrived at the Xianzhou around a week ago."
March 7th's words made Tingyun glance at Liuge beside her with a faintly amused smile, but she did not answer directly.
"Are you referring to benefactor Liuge? This little lady happens to know him~"
"Benefactor?"
Stelle's interest was immediately piqued.
"That's right. He is this little lady's benefactor."
The Six-Ribbed Folding Fan in Tingyun's hand snapped open. She used it to cover the lower half of her face and smiled lightly.
"At the time, this little lady's merchant vessel was returning to the Xianzhou when benefactor Liuge suddenly appeared aboard it."
"At first, this little lady thought he was up to no good, so she investigated him. But the results showed that his record was perfectly clean. He had even served in the Cloud Knights Army."
Tingyun's words piqued March 7th and the others' interest.
After all, Liuge had never told them anything about his background. He had only said that he had suddenly appeared at Herta Space Station and was even suffering from amnesia, just like March 7th.
Now that they heard someone had actually investigated Liuge's identity, their interest was instantly stirred.
They immediately surrounded Tingyun and urged her to tell them more.
That left Liuge, still in Kazami Yuuka's form, somewhat unable to speak.
Before you continue