Do You Remember How Many Loaves of Bread You've Eaten?

So...

Lin Nai decisively chose not to go to the plaza and turned toward the Goethe Hotel beside it.

Chapter 40: Do You Remember How Many Loaves of Bread You've Eaten?

Goethe Hotel.

This old hotel was said to have been established before the cold wave arrived.

After changing hands several times, it was now managed by the once-prominent Goethe family.

As Belobog's finest hotel, it was the obvious choice for receiving distinguished guests.

It was just that Belobog had not seen any "guests" for many years.

But today...

Nameless visitors from another world would arrive at this hotel!

The four members of the Express Crew swaggered right past the Silvermane Guards patrolling the entrance.

Just as you would not remember how many loaves of bread you had eaten,

the Silvermane Guards generally would not remember how many people had come to stay at the Goethe Hotel.

People resting, people kicked out of their homes, people eloping, people having affairs, people catching affairs, people slacking off, people dining and dashing, people drinking tea.

There was every kind of person.

Besides.

There were so many people in Belobog.

Wasn't it normal for one or two odd-looking people to show up every now and then?

As long as they did not look sleazy or suspicious, most people would not question them.

Inside the hotel.

"Wow... it's so bright..." March Seven took out her camera and snapped a picture of the Goethe Hotel's interior.

Stelle stretched and yawned.

So tired.

She had been on Jarilo-VI for less than a day, yet she already felt exhausted.

"Hey, Stelle, want to have a pillow fight tonight?" March Seven asked excitedly.

Stelle's eyes lit up, and her sleepy expression instantly vanished. "A pillow fight!"

Oh.

It seemed she was not tired after all. She was simply getting bored.

"That's right!" March Seven grinned and hugged Stelle's arm. "The pillows here must be soft, springy goose-down ones!"

"Yay! Pillow fight!"

The two girls eagerly discussed how they would fool around that night.

Dan Heng remained expressionless, merely scanning their surroundings vigilantly as he played the role of bodyguard.

Meanwhile, Lin Nai went to book the rooms.

After all, he had the money.

After spending some Winter City Coins and several gold coins,

he booked four rooms for a month each.

Not long after.

In Lin Nai's room.

Stelle and March Seven hit each other with pillows on the bed, while Lin Nai and Dan Heng sat by the window drinking tea.

"What should we do next?" Dan Heng asked Lin Nai.

Everything had gone smoothly so far.

The only conflict had been with a few Abyss Creatures on the road earlier.

"Investigate in secret. Don't make a fuss. No shooting."

Lin Nai took a light sip of tea and said,

"At the very least, we can't make contact with this planet's leader—the so-called Supreme Guardian—right now."

"Huh? Why not?"

"If we did, what would we say? That we're aliens and we came to help them?"

They were completely undocumented, after all.

Besides.

Cocolia had definitely already been bewitched by the Stellaron.

In the original plot, it seemed that after confronting Cocolia directly, Stelle and the others were wanted by the next day.

Just thinking about Gepard's drawing skills...

Ugh.

Lin Nai did not want a wanted poster like that!

It would be way too distorted!

"Then what else are we supposed to do?"

March Seven tilted her head. Wasn't that what they should say?

"But why would they believe us? We don't have any proof. Not to mention, how would you know whether Belobog's current leader is a good person?"

Lin Nai propped up his face with one hand. No matter which timeline she was in, Cocolia always did something huge.

She was not the sort of villain who had been thoroughly evil from the start, either.

It was pretty contradictory.

In Honkai Impact 3rd, if you called her evil, she had still maintained a principle of not killing children after the Second Eruption in the early days, though later she started going completely insane.

Over here in Honkai: Star Rail, if you called her evil, it seemed she had been bewitched by the Stellaron because she wanted to save Belobog.

Then she really became a Boss.

Lin Nai felt that she might simply be... stupid.

And easily fooled.

Yet she was also absurdly stubborn. Once one person fooled her, nobody else could talk her back around.

"Anyway, what we need to do now is secretly search for information about the Stellaron." Lin Nai lightly tapped the table, changing the subject from the Supreme Guardian.

"We know absolutely nothing about Belobog."

It had been frozen over for so many years.

There was not a single piece of information about Belobog on the Express, so it was of no use.

Everything had to begin from scratch.

He did know a little, but after so much time had passed, many details had become hazy in his memory.

Lin Nai clasped his hands together beneath his chin. Too bad he did not have glasses.

"So we should be prepared for a long-term battle. The next few days will probably be tough."

Of course.

He could also choose to charge straight at Cocolia, kill her, and take the Stellaron.

He could quickly end this journey and head to the next destination.

But what would be the point of that?

At that point, it might truly become: I don't need to know where the enemy is. I just need to slaughter everyone!

He was not some demon. He was not that brutal, okay?

Eh!

At this point, someone might ask why Lin Nai was not considering treating Cocolia.

Well, there was one rather awkward problem.

Lin Nai did not have Full Moonlight Wave or Lunar Extraction!

In other words, he currently could not separate Cocolia from the Stellaron!

The Warmth Feeling and Gauss Force in his skill set only treated the symptoms, not the cause.

So they were completely useless.

In short.

Having set out on this journey, Lin Nai wanted more to enjoy the process.

The people and events encountered along the journey were all indispensable parts of it.

What was more...

Unless the situation became truly urgent,

Lin Nai felt that Stelle should be allowed to grow a little.

If possible, he also wanted to find a way to save this planet.

He really wanted to see what this planet had originally looked like. Perhaps it had been beautiful...

The other three had no objections to Lin Nai's suggestion that they take their time.

"Alright, everyone, go back to your rooms and rest."

"Okay!"

Stelle raised her little hand in agreement with Lin Nai.

March Seven yawned.

"This day has been so long~ I'm going to take a nice hot bath, then get a good night's sleep!"

"Huh? What about the pillow fight we promised?"

Hearing Stelle's question, March Seven smiled. "Yay, the pillow fight too! Shall we go play in your room later, Stelle?"

"Yay!!"

Stelle nodded excitedly.

Then she looked at Lin Nai, seemingly asking whether he wanted to join them.

Lin Nai waved his hand.

He was not in the mood to play around today. It was time for him to rest properly too.

Then tomorrow, he would explore this Belobog, different from the game and far more detailed.

Afterward, the other three left Lin Nai's room and returned to their own.

Once everyone had gone, Lin Nai simply flopped onto the bed.

Time really was tight...

He boarded the Express.

He arrived in Belobog on Jarilo-VI.

He began a new adventure...

His thoughts drifted away.

Lin Nai's consciousness gradually blurred, and he soon fell asleep.

So tired.