Chapter Summaries

Herta examined Bai Luoming after discovering that a mysterious intruder had left traces of Memoria in his consciousness and erased his memories. She put March 7th on a watch list while Bai Luoming ate, and Pom-Pom called all Nameless back to the train for a warp.

• Herta kissed Bai Luoming, then showed him a photo of his swollen lips from the previous night and asked what had happened.
• Herta scanned Bai Luoming and found faint traces of Memoria in his mental region, suggesting someone had entered his consciousness and erased his memories.
• Herta warned Bai Luoming not to force himself to remember and sealed the scan data for further study.
• Herta considered March 7th as a possible suspect but only placed her on a watch list.
• Bai Luoming ate pastries while Herta continued analyzing the results, and Pom-Pom messaged the Nameless to return to the train for the warp.

Bai Luoming left Herta’s office with pastries for the train crew, then accepted a watch from Asta that secretly tracked his location and communications. Back on the train, he found Stelle showing off valuable loot she had scavenged from a trash can while March 7th recoiled from its smell.

• Herta warned Bai Luoming to avoid women with ulterior motives, then let him leave with her homemade pastries for his companions.
• March 7th called Bai Luoming and urged him to return to the train before its next warp; he told her he was bringing Herta’s pastries.
• Asta gave Bai Luoming a watch with space-station access and secretly configured it to send his location and communication status to her private terminal.
• Bai Luoming boarded the train and found Stelle displaying Credits, gears, gemstones, and a smelly canister from a trash-can blind box.
• March 7th complained about the smell, and Bai Luoming joked that the trash pile was an example of not judging by appearances.

The Express crew prepared for its next stop, Jarilo-VI, while Bai Luoming, Stelle, and March 7th tried to stay upright during the warp. They all fell onto Bai Luoming as the Express warped toward the planet.

• Bai Luoming brought Herta’s pastries to the Parlor Car, where March 7th found them overwhelmingly sweet and Stelle eagerly ate several.
• Pom-Pom introduced Jarilo-VI, and the crew learned the Express had not visited the planet for several thousand years.
• Pom-Pom announced the warp, and March 7th, Stelle, and Bai Luoming lined up to practice bracing themselves against its force.
• The warp jolted the car, knocking all three into a pile on Bai Luoming on the sofa.
• Stelle called the impact unimpressive, while March 7th admitted she had fallen again and Bai Luoming asked them to get off him.

The Astral Express crew prepared to investigate frozen Jarilo-VI after spatial instability forced an indefinite stop, while Bai Luoming worried that events were already diverging from what he knew. Three months earlier, Bronya confronted Cocolia over the Stellaron and chose to act for Belobog’s people, and days later Bronya was serving as Acting Supreme Guardian while Cocolia was reported ill.

• Pom-Pom reported that star rail stability had fallen to 12 percent, extending the crew’s stopover indefinitely, and Dan Heng said Jarilo-VI might have been invaded by the Antimatter Legion.
• Himeko assigned March 7th and Dan Heng to lead a Trailblaze expedition with Stelle and Bai Luoming, while she and Welt remained aboard to provide support.
• Bronya confronted Cocolia about the Stellaron and urged her to reject its promises, but told her she spoke for Belobog’s people rather than as her daughter.
• Cocolia told Bronya they would settle the matter by Kliperburg’s rules, and Bronya accepted the challenge without hesitation.
• Silvermaned Guard soldiers said Cocolia’s illness had forced her from duty and that Bronya’s orders bore the title Acting Supreme Guardian, while Gepard silently returned to his post.

The Astral Express crew explored Jarilo-VI’s snow-covered surface, found evidence of an abandoned human facility, and discovered where Sampo was hiding. Bai Luoming borrowed Dan Heng’s spear and drove it into the snowdrift without warning Sampo.

• March 7th, Stelle, and Bai Luoming joked around until Dan Heng urged the group to begin exploring.
• Dan Heng warned that abnormal energy readings suggested Fragmentum creatures might be nearby, and the group followed his chosen route across the snowfield.
• Stelle scavenged scrap from snowdrifts while Bai Luoming proposed starting a recycling group, but Dan Heng kept them on course.
• Dan Heng examined the remains of a buried structure and concluded that it had been an abandoned man-made facility.
• March 7th noticed a snowdrift move, and Bai Luoming recognized it as Sampo’s hiding place but spotted signs that something was unusual.
• Bai Luoming borrowed Cloud-Piercer from Dan Heng and thrust it into the snowdrift.

Bai Luoming accidentally stabbed Sampo in the butt with Cloud-Piercer, and Dan Heng, March 7th, and Stelle surrounded the injured stranger. After Stelle revealed that the group were Trailblazers from beyond the sky, Sampo recognized them as visitors the Supreme Guardian was seeking.

• Bai Luoming pulled Cloud-Piercer from the snow after stabbing the hidden Sampo, and Dan Heng took the spear back.
• Dan Heng, March 7th, and Stelle surrounded Sampo, who raised one hand and surrendered while explaining that Bai Luoming had stabbed him.
• Bai Luoming assessed Sampo's injury and concluded that his bones and ligaments were likely unharmed.
• Sampo asked whether Commander Gepard had sent the group to catch him, and March 7th said she did not know Gepard.
• Stelle told Sampo that they were Trailblazers from beyond the sky who had arrived by train.
• Sampo recognized them as the visitors from beyond the sky whom the Supreme Guardian was looking for, surprising the group.

Bai Luoming and the others agreed to let Sampo guide them to Belobog after learning that its Supreme Guardian had been searching for visitors from beyond the sky. Sampo revealed that Bronya Rand had taken over from Cocolia and reopened the passage between the Upper District and the Underworld, and the group reached Belobog’s walls.

• Sampo explained that a notice from months earlier offered a large bounty for finding visitors from beyond the sky, and Stelle suspected he wanted to collect it.
• Sampo admitted his motive, and Dan Heng agreed to let him guide them as long as he acted honestly; Bai Luoming supported going to the city to investigate.
• Sampo claimed he had been hiding from the Silvermane Guards because he was carrying ancient relics, prompting Stelle and March 7th to tease him about being an antique dealer.
• Sampo told Bai Luoming that Bronya Rand was acting Supreme Guardian after Cocolia’s illness, and Bai Luoming realized Bronya’s rise did not match the events he expected.
• Sampo described Bronya’s reopening of the passage between the Upper District and the Underworld and her later bounty for visitors from beyond the sky.
• The group emerged from the snowfields and saw Belobog’s walls as Sampo welcomed them to the city.

Gepard confronted Sampo and the four visitors at Belobog’s gate, then escorted the Astral Express crew into the city after March 7th proved they had come from beyond the sky. At Kliperburg, they arrived outside the Supreme Guardian’s office as two young women argued inside.

• Gepard surrounded Sampo and the visitors with Silvermane Guards and ordered them to surrender and be detained.
• Dan Heng and the others resisted arrest until March 7th showed Gepard a photograph of Jarilo taken from the Astral Express, which convinced him they were visitors from beyond the sky.
• Sampo escaped in a cloud of smoke after Gepard ordered guards to restrain him, and Gepard sent soldiers after his tracks.
• Gepard escorted the four visitors into Belobog, where Bai Luoming asked about the divide between the Upper District and the Underworld and Gepard explained their strained relations.
• Gepard led the visitors to Kliperburg, where they heard two young women arguing inside the Supreme Guardian’s office.

Seele left Kliperburg after an argument with Bronya, unaware that the visitors from the Astral Express had arrived. Bronya welcomed the four outsiders and prepared to speak with them, but Dan Heng first asked how she knew they were coming.

• Seele stormed out of Bronya's office and headed for the passage to the Underworld, dismissing her suspicions about the unfamiliar visitors.
• Gepard reported that the four outsiders had images of Jarilo-VI from beyond the planet and were likely the visitors named in the notice.
• Bronya asked Gepard to send the visitors in, then welcomed March 7th, Dan Heng, Stelle, and Bai Luoming to Belobog.
• Bronya sent Gepard to handle urgent security matters and chose to speak with the four visitors herself.
• Dan Heng asked Bronya how she had learned of their whereabouts before they arrived at Jarilo.

Bronya explained that visions of Belobog’s possible futures had led her to seek help from the Nameless, while the Astral Express crew agreed to investigate the planet before reporting back. After they left, the Stellaron tormented Bronya with visions of their defeat, but she resisted its call.

• Bronya said she had seen incomplete visions of Belobog’s future and had verified that visitors from beyond the stars could help save the planet.
• Bronya admitted Belobog’s exhausted forces could not destroy the Stellaron without risking the city, and said she had sought outside help to give it a tomorrow.
• Dan Heng remained uncertain about the source of Bronya’s foresight, while Stelle felt her Stellaron resonate and March 7th accepted Bronya’s explanation for the moment.
• March 7th proposed calling Himeko and Uncle Yang, but Bai Luoming, Stelle, and Dan Heng persuaded the crew to stay in Belobog and investigate first.
• Bronya offered the crew rooms at the Goethe Hotel and invited them to a later discussion at Kliperburg; Bai Luoming warned her to seek help if she felt unwell.
• After the crew left, Bronya heard the Stellaron urge her to accept it, resisted its influence, and wondered whether her mother had endured the same torment.

After clearing up the misunderstanding with Gepard, the group received travel permits and recommendations for places to visit in Belobog. Bai Luoming and Dan Heng remained wary that their arrival had gone suspiciously smoothly, and the chapter ended with March 7th dragging Bai Luoming off to go shopping.

• Gepard apologized for treating the group as suspects and gave them a temporary travel permit and directions to the Goethe Hotel.
• Gepard recommended the Golden Opera House, the Everwinter Monument, and the Perpetual Motion Mechanical House before leaving to handle Sampo's escape and the city defenses.
• Bai Luoming and Dan Heng warned March 7th that their smooth welcome might be suspicious and advised caution around the Stellaron's influence.
• Dan Heng decided to visit a library or bookstore, while Stelle stayed behind to investigate a trash can near Kliperburg.
• March 7th grabbed Bai Luoming by the wrist and dragged him along to go shopping.

March 7th and Bai Luoming explored Belobog, but March 7th couldn’t buy a charm for her camera because the shop accepted only Shields. Sampo offered to exchange their Credits at an exorbitant rate, but Bai Luoming negotiated a much better deal, leaving them with enough Shields to spend freely for now.

• March 7th dragged Bai Luoming away from Dan Heng and Stelle, then accidentally hit his shoulder hard before he joked that she was a stat monster.
• March 7th found a pink icicle charm for her camera at a souvenir shop, but the shopkeeper said the store accepted only Shields because of the acting Supreme Guardian’s currency restrictions.
• March 7th and Bai Luoming left to find a bank after she couldn’t buy the charm with Credits.
• Sampo emerged from an alley and offered to exchange Credits for Shields at two hundred to one.
• Bai Luoming bargained Sampo down to fifty-five Credits per Shield after getting him to reveal that the bank’s official rate was fifty to one.
• Bai Luoming exchanged a substantial sum of Credits, received a bag of Shields, and handed it to March 7th so they could spend freely in Belobog.

March 7th bought a pink icicle charm for her camera and took Bai Luoming sightseeing in Belobog. After the Golden Opera House turned out to be closed, they visited the Everwinter Monument, where Bai Luoming embarrassed March 7th by imitating the children calling Pela “Big Sis Pela,” and the chapter ended with March 7th taking a photo of them together.

• March 7th returned to the souvenir shop with Bai Luoming and bought the pink icicle charm, then tied it to her camera and asked for his opinion.
• March 7th and Bai Luoming found the Golden Opera House closed and headed to the Everwinter Monument instead.
• Pela introduced herself as the Silvermane Guards’ intelligence officer and led children on a Belobog history tour at the monument.
• Bai Luoming joined the children in calling Pela “Big Sis Pela,” prompting Pela to reprimand him and March 7th to distance herself in embarrassment.
• After Pela led the children away, March 7th set her camera timer and pulled Bai Luoming close for a picture together.

March 7th dragged Bai Luoming toward the Perpetual Motion Mechanical House, and Dan Heng joined them after failing to find useful information at a bookstore. They ran into Stelle, who showed off a haul of valuables she had collected from trash cans, and the four continued toward the mechanical house together.

• March 7th admired a photo of herself and Bai Luoming before pulling him toward the Perpetual Motion Mechanical House.
• Bai Luoming spotted Dan Heng at a bookstore, and March 7th invited him to join their outing.
• March 7th showed Dan Heng the photo and her new charm while recounting how Bai Luoming had gotten Shields from Sampo.
• Stelle bumped into March 7th and revealed Credits, Geomarrow fragments, Shields, and a metal component from her trash-can explorations.
• March 7th stopped Stelle from searching more trash cans, and Bai Luoming sided with March 7th for the team's safety.
• Stelle told the group that Belobog residents seemed rich because they threw away hundreds of Credits, and the four reached the mechanical house's sign.

March 7th, Bai Luoming, Dan Heng, and Stelle visited Serval’s workshop, where they learned about Belobog’s Geomarrow system and met former Supreme Guardian Cocolia. Cocolia suspected Bai Luoming recognized her, leaving the group in a tense silence.

• March 7th and the others found Serval’s workshop quiet, and Serval invited them inside after they introduced themselves as visitors from beyond the stars.
• Serval served the visitors tea and explained that Geomarrow powered Belobog, with the Underworld once mining it and the Upper District distributing and using it.
• Cocolia arrived at the workshop, and Bai Luoming sprayed out his tea when Serval introduced her as the former Supreme Guardian.
• Cocolia questioned whether Bai Luoming’s reaction meant he already knew her, and Serval redirected everyone’s attention to a broken heater.

Stelle, March 7th, Dan Heng, and Bai Luoming visited Serval’s workshop, where they saw Cocolia looking healthy and at ease with Serval, deepening their doubts about the story of her illness and departure from office. Back at the Goethe Hotel, they discussed Bronya’s visions and Cocolia’s situation but found too few clues, and planned to see Bronya again the next day.

• Serval explained how she repaired the heater while Stelle asked to keep its discarded parts and March 7th stopped her from touching them.
• Bai Luoming noticed Cocolia’s softened expression as she watched Serval and wondered what had really happened between Cocolia and Bronya.
• The group left the workshop, and Serval asked Cocolia why she had suddenly come to visit; Cocolia said she had been restless at home.
• On the way back, Dan Heng asked Bai Luoming why Cocolia’s name had startled him, but Bai Luoming brushed off the question.
• At the hotel, Dan Heng proposed that Bronya’s visions might involve the Path of Finality, while the group suspected the story of Cocolia’s illness was an official explanation for an unknown conflict.
• The group failed to uncover more clues, and Dan Heng proposed that they rest and visit Bronya again the next day.

After his first Trailblaze on Belobog, Bai Luoming reported back to Herta and Asta before accepting a friend request from King Wen of Zhou. In Penacony, Robin recognized his greeting but could not send a reply, leaving their connection unresolved.

• Bai Luoming called Herta and Asta, described his first Trailblaze, and heard their advice to stay safe and contact them if he needed help.
• Bai Luoming accepted a friend request from King Wen of Zhou, sent a greeting, and fell asleep without receiving a response.
• Robin, using the nickname King Wen of Zhou, was delighted that Bai Luoming accepted her request and read her greeting.
• Robin repeatedly tried to reply to Bai Luoming, but her messages failed to send even though her terminal worked with Sunday.
• Robin saved her unsent greeting as a draft and decided to try again later.

Bai Luoming woke in the Goethe Hotel and helped get March 7th and Stelle ready to leave, while Robin’s attempts to message him from Penacony continued to fail. The group prepared to meet Dan Heng downstairs, and Stelle revealed that strange distant voices had kept her awake all night.

• Bai Luoming checked the train group chat, found no reply from King Wen of Zhou, and decided not to delete the contact.
• Robin tried different networks and the Family’s encrypted channel, but her message to Bai Luoming still failed to send.
• Bai Luoming met Dan Heng in the hotel lobby, and Dan Heng sent him to wake March 7th and Stelle.
• Bai Luoming persuaded March 7th to get up by promising a surprise, then revealed that she could wake Stelle.
• Stelle opened her door already dressed and told Bai Luoming and March 7th that muffled voices had disturbed her sleep all night.
• Bai Luoming joked that a Jarilo Stellaron might be Stelle’s sibling, then led the group downstairs to meet Dan Heng.

Stelle, Bronya, and the others discussed the Stellaron’s influence and the need to gather more allies before confronting it. Bronya asked the Astral Express crew to seek the Underworld’s help, and they agreed to go.

• Stelle told Bai Luoming that the Stellaron’s voice had kept her awake, and he joked that she had missed the chance to search trash cans in her dreams.
• Bronya gave Dan Heng the records Belobog had about the Stellaron and admitted that its whispers had been trying to sway her since she became Supreme Guardian.
• Bronya warned that the group lacked the strength to confront the Stellaron and asked them to coordinate with the Underworld’s forces.
• Bai Luoming challenged Bronya’s request, but he and the others agreed to go to the Underworld and seek support.
• After the group left, Bronya recalled that the Stellaron had mimicked her mother’s voice and resolved that it would soon be dealt with.

Bai Luoming, Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng followed Sampo into the Underworld, where Seele stopped a group of vagrants from robbing them. After learning they had come to seek the Underworld's cooperation, Seele agreed to take them to Natasha.

• Stelle tried to use a trash can to find a route to the Underworld, but Sampo appeared and offered to guide the group for a fee.
• Bai Luoming and Stelle pressured Sampo into lowering his price, and he disguised himself before leading them to a recently opened passage.
• After the group rode the elevator into the Underworld, several vagrants surrounded them and demanded their valuables.
• Bai Luoming confronted the vagrants, Dan Heng summoned Cloud-Piercer, and Sampo tried to retreat before Seele arrived and drove the robbers away.
• March 7th explained that Bronya had sent the group to seek the Underworld's cooperation, and Seele criticized Bronya's hesitation over the Stellaron.
• Seele agreed to take the group to see Natasha because cooperation was not her decision alone.