Inside the Astral Express, everyone rose to their feet after recovering from the turbulence of the warp jump. Dan Heng also emerged from the archive room.
Himeko and Welt stood up with smiles as well.
March 7th rubbed her sore backside and got up. Before the jump, she had been preparing to hold a horse stance to see whether she could withstand the train's warp recoil. Seeing the girl rubbing her sore rear, everyone naturally knew she had failed.
They were preparing to return to the Space Station for supplies and to repair the train while they were at it, so they had asked Pam to warp to a star region near the Space Station. Not far from the Space Station, an Azure Star slowly rotated.
"On this return trip to the Space Station, the train needs a large amount of supplies. It has also been a long time since the train was repaired. If Navigator Himeko handles all the repairs alone, the workload will be far too heavy. So this time, I'll be relying on the Express Crew passengers."
Pam looked at everyone as he spoke. March 7th was eagerly looking forward to visiting the Space Station. Himeko and Welt nodded, while Dan Heng said he would stay with Pam, since there was nothing for him to do at the Space Station. Pam was an upright-walking life-form resembling a lop-eared rabbit, the conductor of the Astral Express. "No need, passenger Dan Heng. You should go down with them too. Conductor Pom-Pom can stay here alone."
"Hm? Something's wrong. There seems to be something outside the train!"
Pam's words immediately put the Stellaron Hunters on guard. Welt gripped the top of his cane, Himeko took out her suitcase, which contained drones for attacking and cutting down enemies, and Dan Heng drew his spear, Cloud-Piercer. March 7th also looked outside with some concern.
They saw a translucent sphere slowly drifting toward the train from a kilometer away. Fortunately, it was moving very slowly.
"Uncle Yang, Sister Himeko, how do you plan to deal with it?"
March 7th curiously looked at the unknown sphere drifting slowly toward them outside the window. From left to right were Stelle, Welt, Dan Heng, and March 7th. This was Himeko, the navigator of the Astral Express. "The safest method would naturally be to shoot it down. After all, we have no idea what that is."
Welt watched the slowly approaching sphere outside warily. He suspected Void Archive was pulling some stunt just to disgust him.
{Void Archive: The culprit responsible for bringing Welt through the Star Gate into the world of Honkai: Star Rail. It was also the First Divine Key of the Previous Civilization. It could take humanoid form and imitate various Divine Keys to attack enemies, though it had less than half the power of the original Divine Key it copied.} Void Archive, the enemy Pam had kicked off the train, was also the First Divine Key thoroughly steeped in Otto's influence. "This is a telescope. It can help Uncle Yang see what it is."
Reliable Dan Heng brought over a telescope and handed it to Welt. Welt nodded gratefully at Dan Heng, then raised the telescope toward the translucent sphere drifting toward the train. The moment Welt looked at the sphere through the telescope—
Everyone noticed that the ever-reliable and calm Welt suddenly stiffened. Then, without realizing it, he crushed the telescope in his hand. The fragments fell onto the floor, prompting Pam to glare at Welt in displeasure. After all, everyone knew Pam had a cleanliness obsession.
But everyone also noticed that something was wrong with Welt. He stared in shock at the approaching sphere, his face showing a rare mixture of panic and disbelief.
"No, that's impossible!"
Welt pressed himself against the window in distress, staring fixedly at the sphere outside.
"Does Uncle Yang know something? Is it an enemy?"
March 7th asked worriedly.
"It seems only Welt can give us the answer."
Himeko looked at Welt helplessly. This was also the first time she had seen Welt reveal such an incredulous expression.
"No, it's not an enemy. Or rather, she's an old acquaintance, someone more familiar than anyone. I never expected her to come to this world too."
"Conductor, prepare to open the door. I'll go out and retrieve that sphere."
Welt spoke solemnly to the baffled Pam. Pam looked at the others upon hearing this, but none of them objected. They were all curious about the sphere, curious about who was inside it that could make the normally mature and steady Welt reveal such an expression.
"All right. Everyone, sit in the seats so you don't get sucked out by the vacuum."
After everyone sat on the sofas and was reinforced by Trailblaze Power, Pam opened the door. A massive vacuum force howled as it sucked at everything inside the train. Yet strangely, a faint golden Trailblaze Power appeared around the surrounding objects, preventing anything from being pulled into the vacuum.
Welt leaped toward the open door and was sucked outside. Then, wielding the cane-shaped Star of Eden, he captured the sphere. He tucked the sphere under one arm and quickly flew back into the train. Pam hurriedly shut the door, and the terrifying vacuum force vanished.
Just as everyone was about to gather around and inspect the sphere, Welt stopped them from approaching. He stared at it warily, ready for anything.
Pop~
The sphere suddenly ruptured when it hit the floor. Oxygen and carbon dioxide spilled out, carrying a light and elegant fragrance. The unconscious figure inside also made everyone's eyes light up, because she was beautiful and adorable. March 7th stared excitedly at the petite unconscious figure.
"Bishop Theresa from my hometown... I never expected to meet her here. I don't know what happened on her side to make her appear in the vacuum of space."
Welt adjusted his glasses and spoke seriously. As an old acquaintance of St. Freya and the former Alliance Leader of Anti-Entropy, how could Welt not recognize the person on the floor? The Academy Head of the Far East's den of demons, the Herrscher academy, Otto's granddaughter—Theresa Apocalypse!
"Mm~"
Along with an adorable milky voice, the cute little figure on the floor opened her azure eyes. She rubbed her eyes and looked around in a daze. The moment she saw Welt, her expression changed in shock.
"Eh? Alliance Leader Welt, why are you here? Where is this Bishop?"
"Where are Kiana and the others?!"
Hua Ling, pretending to be Theresa, shouted at Welt in a panicked manner. From now on, she would be called Theresa.
"Bishop Theresa, I believe I should be the one asking you that. Why were you drifting through the vacuum of space, and why were you wrapped inside such a strange sphere?"
Welt stared at Theresa warily as he questioned her. The others were all curious why this little girl called Welt the Alliance Leader. That title sounded quite extraordinary, and they guessed Welt must have been an important figure in the past.
"This Bishop doesn't know either. My last memory is of a Black Hole suddenly appearing beside me and sucking me in. When I woke up, I found myself lying here."
Theresa looked at Welt in confusion. Welt looked at her with an indescribable expression. He had not even returned to the Honkai side yet, but people from there had already chased after him first. He was truly speechless.
"Don't worry, everyone. She is an old acquaintance of mine, Theresa Apocalypse. You could say she's an old friend."
"And she's over forty years old."
Welt dropped the bombshell without batting an eye. Everyone looked in astonishment at the offended Theresa.
"Damn you, Welt! Who are you calling over forty? I'm only fourteen! That's right, exactly!"
Theresa glared at Welt and shouted in dissatisfaction. She might have looked bold right now, but she was actually panicking inside. After all, she was not really Theresa—she had been turned into this by an Aeon with a twisted sense of humor.
Today's featured art: Cute Theresa
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