A Loving Mother and a Dutiful Daughter

As soon as Bai Luoming finished speaking, March 7th sprang upright off him as if she had been burned.

Her face turned red from her ears to her neck, and she didn't know where to put her hands. In the end, she could only clutch the hem of her clothes tightly.

"A-are you all right? Did I crush you?"

Her gaze darted around, and she didn't dare look at Bai Luoming's face.

Stelle, however, showed no intention of getting up. She simply shifted into a more comfortable position, leaning on her side beside Bai Luoming. She even raised a hand and felt his stomach.

"Wow, nice body. How did you get it?"

Bai Luoming's expression grew a little peculiar. He glanced at March 7th, who stood beside him at a loss, and silently brushed away Stelle's fingers as she tried to poke him again.

"How much longer are you going to lie there? You're heavy!"

"What? How can you call a beautiful girl heavy?"

As Stelle spoke, she kept feeling Bai Luoming up.

"Oh, come on. A beautiful girl? You're just a Stellaron spirit."

"How could you say that about me? I'm hurt!"

As she spoke, Stelle rolled around on the floor, occasionally reaching out to feel Bai Luoming.

March 7th's gaze drifted uncontrollably to the spot Stelle had pressed earlier. Watching what Stelle was doing, she found herself regretting, for some reason, that she had gotten up so soon.

The thought startled her. She quickly turned around and pretended to fix her disheveled hair, but she couldn't resist glancing at Bai Luoming out of the corner of her eye.

At the other end of the sofa, Himeko held her coffee cup and watched the whole scene. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, but she said nothing.

The brief peace that had just returned to the carriage was broken by Pom-Pom's voice.

"Warning, Pom! Warning, Pom! Abnormal fluctuations in spatial readings!"

A holographic projection unfolded in the middle of the carriage. On its data panel, the graph representing star rail stability was jumping violently up and down, and several key values had turned a glaring red.

"Star rail stability along the train's route has dropped to 12%! Far below the normal threshold for a safe warp! The stopover plan has changed. Our stay at this stop has been extended from seven days to indefinitely!!"

Himeko set down her coffee cup. All traces of her relaxed manner vanished, and her expression turned serious.

Just then, the door to the Data Bank slid open.

Dan Heng emerged, holding an old document he had just retrieved from the Data Bank. His gaze swept over the abnormal data in the projection, but he didn't look particularly surprised.

He walked over to the others and added succinctly, "It's been too long since the information about Jarilo-VI was recorded. Too much can no longer be verified, but what we can say for certain is that this planet seems to have been invaded by the Antimatter Legion in the past."

With that, he stepped back to the window and turned his gaze to the frozen planet outside.

March 7th took the opportunity to look out the window, concealing her crimson cheeks as she braced both hands against the glass and peered outside.

The train had stopped within Jarilo-VI's orbit, and a pure white planet, covered from end to end in ice and snow, came into everyone's view.

It bore no resemblance whatsoever to the vibrant green planet in Pom-Pom's earlier projection.

The entire planet was covered in ice and snow. It was beautiful, but utterly lifeless.

Most of the blush faded from March 7th's face. Looking at the white planet, she murmured, "Do... people really still live down there?"

Before she had finished speaking, she had already instinctively raised her camera and pressed the shutter, aiming at the lonely white planet outside the window.

With a click,

Jarilo-VI was captured in the frame.

Stelle got to her feet too and walked to the window, looking out at the vast white planet.

Bai Luoming stood before another window, gazing at the planet. He fell silent for a moment.

The plot had already gone badly off track. He hoped Belobog would fare a little better, so that he, as a transmigrator, could retain some advantage from knowing what was coming. Otherwise... he would just have to fight his way through.

Himeko quickly finished looking through the documents Dan Heng had brought and glanced at the spatial readings, which were still fluctuating wildly. She soon reached a decision.

"Hmm, it looks like this planet has also suffered a Stellaron disaster."

She stood up, her gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"In that case, Little March and Dan Heng will lead this Trailblaze expedition and take our new members with them. Mr. Welt and I will stay aboard the train, ready to provide support at any time."

Welt adjusted his glasses and added, "The Stellaron's active readings mean the situation on the planet is most likely far from peaceful. Make sure you stay alert."

"All right, Trailblaze team, move out!"

Shaking off her earlier mood, March 7th clenched her fists and jumped up beside the window, excitement lighting up her face once more. As she spoke, she grabbed Stelle and Bai Luoming by the wrists and ran toward the equipment area at the other end of the carriage.

Dan Heng showed no unnecessary reaction. He simply gathered his belongings in silence and followed.

Meanwhile, three months earlier, in Kliperburg...

On the top floor of Kliperburg, in the Supreme Guardian's office.

Cocolia sat behind her spacious desk, thick stacks of administrative documents spread out before her. Her fingers occasionally paused as she reviewed them, as if she were considering how to annotate them.

A voice that only she could hear echoed repeatedly in her mind.

It promised a "new world" without eternal winter or scarcity.

Cocolia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the seductive voice before turning to the next page. In a moment no one noticed, a faint, strange color flashed through her eyes.

The office doors were pushed open from outside.

Bronya walked in, her boots ringing clearly and steadily against the stone floor.

Cocolia looked up and saw her daughter. A trace of a mother's tenderness passed through her eyes, and she was about to speak.

Bronya stopped before the desk and met her gaze.

"Mother, I think we need to talk about the Stellaron."

Cocolia's fingers tightened abruptly, but she quickly relaxed them. By the time she looked up again, her expression was calm.

"The Stellaron? Where did you hear that word? There is no Stellaron in Kliperburg."

Her voice was steady, carrying the composure the Supreme Guardian usually showed when receiving reports from her subordinates. There was no flaw to be heard.

But Bronya was not put off by her words.

She took a step forward. Her voice was quiet, but every word was perfectly clear.

"Mother, I know everything. That voice that keeps trying to sway you in the name of a new world. Everything it promised—the end of the eternal winter, the arrival of a new world—is a lie."

Bronya paused, without looking away in the slightest.

"I saw some things in the archives, and when I thought about what you've been doing lately... putting those clues together, the answer wasn't hard to find."

Cocolia did not deny it again. She simply looked silently at her daughter.

Bronya continued, her tone shifting from a calm statement to an earnest plea.

"There's still time, Mother. Reject the Stellaron's temptations. What Belobog needs isn't the false new world it promised, but a worthy Supreme Guardian."

After a long silence, Cocolia finally spoke. Her voice was soft, but unusually clear.

"Bronya, you say you know everything."

"Then in what capacity have you come here to speak to me today?"

She paused, then added one last question.

"As my daughter?"

With those words, the atmosphere between mother and daughter turned completely cold.

It was a test, and also one last way out.

Bronya stood straight, meeting her gaze without the slightest evasion.

"No."

"I speak in the name of all the people of Belobog."

When she finished, a deathly silence fell over the office.

Cocolia looked at Bronya as though she were a stranger, and yet as though she were truly seeing her daughter clearly for the first time. The little girl who had once needed her to hold her hand to cross a snowdrift was gone.

Standing before her was a warrior who met her gaze at eye level, with her own convictions and beliefs.

The corners of her mouth moved ever so slightly. It was impossible to tell whether it was a bitter smile or something else.

Cocolia slowly rose from her chair, walked around the heavy desk, and stopped in front of Bronya.

Mother and daughter stood less than two paces apart.

Cocolia's voice grew low.

"Bronya, since you've chosen this path... we'll do this by the rules."

"You've known Kliperburg's rules since you were a child."

Her gaze fell on Bronya's weapon. Her meaning was plain.

Bronya neither backed away nor hesitated.

She simply nodded.

A few days later.

At a shift-change point, two Silvermane Guard soldiers leaned against a wall, talking in hushed voices.

"Have you heard? My cousin's a clerk in the Administrative District. She said she saw the medical staff enter the Supreme Guardian's private room with her own eyes. The official announcement was... 'The Supreme Guardian's old illness has returned, and her health no longer permits her to continue carrying out her duties.'"

"There's more," the other said in an even lower voice. "All the garrison redeployment orders these past few days have been issued under Commander Bronya's signature. The seal on them already says 'Acting Supreme Guardian.'"

The two exchanged a knowing look and were just about to say more...

Steady footsteps sounded from the end of the corridor.

Gepard came around the corner, his face expressionless.

The two guards immediately fell silent and stood at attention, backs straight.

Gepard stopped in front of them and glanced over them both. His tone was level.

"It's time for the shift change."

"Yes, sir!"

They saluted in unison and hurried away.

Gepard stood alone in the empty corridor. He raised his head and looked toward the upper floors of Kliperburg.

The lights there had changed color at some point, though he did not know when.

He said nothing. He stood in silence for a moment, then turned and headed to his post.

The corridor fell quiet again. Only the wind over the snowfields could be heard through the thick stone walls.