Why Could It Be? It's So Hard to Guess.

After March 7th's suggestion of a pillow fight was rejected, no one felt like sorting through any more information, so they each returned to their rooms to rest.

Bai Luoming returned to his room and closed the door behind him.

He had been forced to run around in Belobog's freezing air all day. Only now could he relax for a while.

After entering his room, Bai Luoming thought for a moment, then took off his clothes and walked into the bathroom.

Hot water poured over his head, washing away the chill and fatigue.

Ah, what a wonderful thing it was to enjoy a hot bath in all this ice and snow.

He walked out of the bathroom drying his hair, wearing an outfit he had bought through the Express delivery service.

The top was a bright yellow T-shirt, decorated with a dragon and the bold caption "How dare you" underneath. The bottoms were much simpler, bearing only a picture of a dragon wearing a crown.

Once he was sure his hair was mostly dry, he casually draped the damp towel over the back of a chair. He lunged forward and landed spread-eagled on the soft bed.

Lying on the bed, Bai Luoming picked up his terminal and first glanced at the Express group chat.

March 7th had shared nine scenic photos she had taken that day, with exquisite compositions and bright colors.

Stelle had replied below: Did you take any pictures of the trash cans? They're great souvenirs.

March 7th had retorted: Who would think something like that makes a good souvenir?!

Dan Heng had ended the conversation with a single period.

Bai Luoming didn't join in. He swiped across the screen, found Herta's profile picture in his contacts, and called her.

She answered unusually quickly.

Almost the next second after he pressed the call button, Herta's voice came through the terminal.

"You finally remembered someone was waiting for you."

"Come on, I just finished bathing. My hair isn't even dry yet, and I'm already calling you." Bai Luoming placed the terminal beside his pillow and turned on the speaker, his voice lazy.

"I don't need to know how far along you are with your bath." Herta cut him off bluntly, but then continued.

"How did your first official Trailblaze feel?" This time, there was a hint of warmth in Herta's voice.

Bai Luoming thought about it seriously before answering, "More complicated than I imagined. Every planet has its own problems. You can't solve them all just by fighting."

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

"Good. If you ever get bored of Trailblazing, come back to the space station." Herta's voice returned to its usual cool tone. "If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up. Remember to be more careful, and come find me if you run into something you can't solve."

With that, she promptly ended the call.

Bai Luoming looked at the darkened screen and couldn't help muttering, "What a cold, heartless woman..."

Then he shook his head, casting the dangerous thought from his mind. He swiped down, found Asta's contact information, and made his second call.

When Asta answered, the faint sounds of clanging metal and running instruments came through in the background.

Then she seemed to move to a quiet corner. The background noise gradually faded, and her gentle voice came through the terminal. "Luo Ming, how was your day?"

Bai Luoming briefly recounted the day's events again, focusing on Serval's workshop and Belobog's distinctive mechanical technology.

Asta listened attentively. Interested in the local machinery's power systems, she asked him for a few details.

Bai Luoming tried to recall them, only to discover he hadn't remembered any of those complicated things at all. He had no choice but to admit it honestly.

Asta chuckled on the other end, unbothered. "That's all right. Just stay safe."

She paused, then asked the same question Herta had. "How did your first Trailblaze feel? Was it good?"

This time, Bai Luoming's answer was noticeably more relaxed than it had been with Herta.

"The world feels much bigger than I imagined," he said, a hint of wonder in his voice. "And people everywhere are doing their best to live in their own way. It's pretty interesting."

Asta listened quietly to the end, her voice growing even gentler. "That's good. While you're away, tell me whenever you need anything. The space station will give you its full support."

"How generous of you, rich lady!" Bai Luoming replied on reflex.

"Call me lead researcher," Asta corrected him, pretending to be angry.

"Okay, rich lady lead researcher."

A helpless sigh came from the other end of the terminal, and Asta reminded him, "Remember to keep wearing your watch."

The call ended.

Bai Luoming subconsciously raised his wrist. The silver-gray mechanical watch Asta had given him quietly displayed Belobog's local time.

After two reports that felt like routine business, Bai Luoming felt he had more than fulfilled his social quota for the day. He was about to turn off his terminal and go to sleep when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a red dot in the upper-left corner of the communications screen. He had no idea when it had appeared.

It was a new friend request.

He opened the message. The applicant's nickname was interesting: King Wen of Zhou.

Bai Luoming raised an eyebrow as he looked at the nickname.

It reminded him of someone.

But ordinarily, they shouldn't have known each other, and Sunday was unlikely to use a nickname like that.

Bai Luoming didn't think too deeply about it, dismissing it as a coincidence. He tapped the screen lightly with his index finger and accepted King Wen of Zhou's friend request.

Friend added successfully.

Leaning against his pillow, Bai Luoming casually sent a greeting. "Hello."

The message went through, and the other person's status showed they were online, but no reply came.

One minute.

Three minutes.

Five minutes.

Bai Luoming waited a little longer, then yawned. His eyelids began to droop beyond his control.

"Adding someone without saying anything. Some new kind of phishing account...?"

He muttered to himself, casually placed the terminal face down beside his pillow, rolled over, and closed his eyes. Before long, the sound of steady breathing filled the room.

Meanwhile, in distant Penacony.

In an elegantly furnished private room, Robin sat on a cushion by the window, holding her terminal in both hands.

The screen's light illuminated her delicate face, and the message she had already read several times was reflected in her beautiful eyes.

"Hello."

The corners of her mouth curved upward without her realizing it, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart.

Her account's nickname was what Bai Luoming had called her brother in their previous life. Although she didn't quite understand what it meant, it was still a meaningful keepsake.

She had used that nickname to see whether he could still recognize it.

Robin looked at the message showing that Bai Luoming had accepted her request.

That alone made her so happy that her bare feet, dangling over the edge of the windowsill, began swinging back and forth.

But after her initial happiness, she found herself stumped over how to reply.

Robin typed into the chat box: Hello.

She thought it sounded a little too cold, so she deleted it.

Then she typed: Hi, long time no see.

No, they hadn't met yet in this life. Would that seem too enthusiastic and leave a bad impression? Delete.

She pressed the terminal's screen against her chest and took several deep breaths before calming down again.

In the end, Robin decided to open with "Hello" after all. She wasn't sure whether Bai Luoming knew her in this life, and an overly intimate message might not be a good idea.

Having settled on the wording, she solemnly pressed the send button.

But things didn't go as she had expected. Her message didn't go through immediately. Instead, a circle kept spinning in front of it.

One second, two seconds, five seconds.

The spinning circle turned into an arrow indicating that the message had not been sent.

Robin frowned slightly, assuming the network was unstable. She exited the chat, opened it again, and tapped the resend button beside the message.

The loading icon stubbornly continued spinning, and a red exclamation mark appeared beside it, indicating that the message had failed to send.

She tried twice more, with the same result.

Was something wrong with her terminal?

She exited the chat with Bai Luoming, opened her conversation with her brother Sunday, and casually sent him a period.

The message went through instantly, and the moment it did, it was marked "read."

Seeing that, Robin quickly unsent the period, lest her meticulous older brother send her a long string of messages in the middle of the night asking with concern whether she was in trouble.

The test showed that her terminal's communications function was working perfectly.

So she switched back to her conversation with Bai Luoming and tapped send once more.

As expected, it failed again.

She propped up her cheek and stared at the red exclamation mark on the screen with her beautiful eyes, utterly baffled.

Her terminal was fine, the network was fine, and the other account's status was normal too.

So where exactly was the problem?

Clutching her terminal, Robin couldn't figure it out. She could only sigh softly and save the message that refused to send as a draft.

She looked down at the chat screen. Bai Luoming's message was still sitting there quietly.

Robin reached out and gently touched the line of text through the screen.

"I'll try again next time..."

She spoke softly and turned off the terminal.