Recaps

Lin Shuang joined the Astral Express, and the crew gathered for breakfast to hear the announcement. After Paimon formally welcomed her aboard, Lin Shuang sensed that she had gained the power of the Path of Trailblaze.

• March 7th helped Lin Shuang dress after accidentally seeing her undressed and worried Stelle might find out.
• Lin Shuang offered to help Paimon prepare breakfast as a way of greeting the crew.
• Stelle and Dan Heng returned to the Express after Himeko asked them to attend an important announcement.
• Himeko and Paimon announced that Lin Shuang had joined the Astral Express as a navigator.
• Lin Shuang sensed new power from the Path of Trailblaze after Paimon formally acknowledged her as a crew member.

Lin Shuang discovered that she could see Penacony’s Origami Birds after joining the Star Rail Express and wondered what connection they had to the Trailblaze. She then questioned why Misha seemed to be missing and encountered Sparkle, who kept her knowledge of the Penacony Script secret.

• Lin Shuang returned to Penacony and pulled an Origami Bird from a railing, but a Hound told her no such bird had been there.
• Lin Shuang realized that joining the Star Rail Express and gaining the power of the Trailblaze might explain why she could now see Origami Birds.
• Lin Shuang remembered Misha and wondered why she had never encountered the bellboy in the hotel lobby.
• Sparkle appeared beside Lin Shuang and hinted that she had come because something important would happen.
• Lin Shuang asked Sparkle how much she knew about the Penacony Script, but Sparkle called it a secret.

Lin Shuang and Sparkle searched The Reverie’s records for Misha but found no doorman matching his description. While resting at the hotel bar, Lin Shuang questioned Sparkle about a bomb she was building in reality, but Sparkle admitted she knew nothing about the real-world Stellaron and left her reason for making it unexplained.

• Lin Shuang and Sparkle went to The Reverie’s front desk to find Misha, but the hotel had no doorman position and none of its thirty-four employees named Misha matched his appearance.
• Lin Shuang went to the bar to rest and think while Sparkle assembled a small bomb beside her.
• Lin Shuang asked Sparkle how they could find the Stellaron in reality, and Sparkle said she knew nothing about it.
• Lin Shuang asked why Sparkle was making a bomb in the hotel, but Sparkle teased her and left the reason unclear.

Sparkle revealed that the Star Rail Express had once been a fleet, then a map hidden in her Fox Mask pointed Lin Shuang toward a nearby, desolate galaxy. Sparkle wanted to investigate, and Lin Shuang resisted until Sparkle offered to tell her about Firefly.

• Sparkle told Lin Shuang that the Star Rail Express had once been an entire Interstellar Train Fleet, with only one train still running.
• A star chart appeared in Lin Shuang's mind when she caught the mask that had fallen from Sparkle's hand, showing a route from Penacony to a sparsely inhabited galaxy.
• Lin Shuang suspected the Aeon of Elation had placed the chart in the Fox Mask and refused to visit its destination.
• Sparkle insisted the location would be fun and tried to persuade Lin Shuang to go with her.
• Sparkle offered to tell Lin Shuang about Firefly, making Lin Shuang waver.

Lin Shuang supported Firefly after she learned that Sunday knew about the Stellaron, and advised her to wait before confronting the Family. Lin Shuang then joined Sparkle and Firefly on a barren planet to search for a damaged train, where Sparkle’s bombs blasted the cliff into a crater.

• Firefly told Lin Shuang that Sunday had revealed he knew about the Stellaron, and Lin Shuang comforted her.
• Firefly said she wanted the Family to seal the Stellaron, and Lin Shuang advised her to wait for the Corporation’s arrival.
• Lin Shuang asked Sparkle if Firefly could join their exploration, and the three traveled to a stormy planet.
• Sparkle concluded the damaged train was hidden behind a suspicious cliff and attached bombs to the rock face.
• Sparkle detonated the bombs, and Lin Shuang carried Firefly clear of the blast before the cliff became a deep crater.
• Lin Shuang used Threads to pull Sparkle down after she rode the explosion’s hurricane into the sky.

Lin Shuang, Firefly, and Sparkle escaped a planet overrun by enormous Swarm insects with a damaged Star Rail Express. They left the train’s location with the Astral Express Crew and watched Sparkle begin excavating it.

• Lin Shuang flew through the Swarm with Firefly and Sparkle as Sparkle tossed bombs at the insects.
• Lin Shuang sent Bella to protect Firefly, then killed the insect parasitizing the train and used her Riding skill to carry the train off the planet.
• A colossal insect limb erupted from the planet’s core, but Lin Shuang escaped into space with the train before it pursued them.
• Sparkle led Bella to a nearby planet and started digging into the insect corpse to reach the train.
• Lin Shuang sent Himeko and the Astral Express Crew a picture and the train’s location, and Himeko acknowledged the message.

Firefly helped Sparkle clear insect remains from the train while reflecting on how much she enjoyed exploring with Lin Shuang. She told Lin Shuang she wanted to travel and adventure with her, but Lin Shuang’s vague agreement left Firefly flustered and confused Lin Shuang.

• Firefly declined Lin Shuang’s offer to return to the ship and joined Sparkle in cleaning the train with her drill.
• As she worked, Firefly realized she felt safe and exhilarated adventuring with Lin Shuang and wished she could travel the universe alongside her.
• Sparkle teased Firefly about being lovestruck, and Firefly denied it while admitting she wanted a life of travel and adventure with Lin Shuang.
• Lin Shuang said they could try adventuring together sometime, which Firefly misunderstood as a more intimate invitation and blushed intensely.
• Lin Shuang remained baffled by Firefly’s reaction.

Stelle and March 7th arrived at the barren planet to help Lin Shuang with the Star Rail Express. March 7th confessed her awkward feelings about having cuddled Lin Shuang, and Stelle hugged Lin Shuang just as March 7th worried she had overheard.

• March 7th rushed over to Lin Shuang after arriving and pulled her aside to talk privately.
• March 7th admitted she felt guilty because she had cuddled Lin Shuang in her sleep and kept thinking about how comfortable she was to hold.
• Lin Shuang teased March 7th by suggesting she had ulterior motives toward her.
• Stelle came up behind Lin Shuang, hugged her, and said she smelled nice.
• Stelle accused March 7th of leaving her to handle the Xianzhou natives while she went off to talk with Lin Shuang.

Stelle clung to Lin Shuang while March 7th apologized for leaving her with the work, and Firefly and Sparkle reacted with jealousy and amusement. After the Xianzhou warned that Propagation had fused with the damaged Star Rail Express, Lin Shuang chose to ask Herta Space Station about repairs and contacted Herta.

• Stelle ran over and hugged Lin Shuang from behind, while March 7th apologized for neglecting her duties.
• Firefly watched Lin Shuang and Stelle together with jealousy, while Sparkle speculated about Lin Shuang's relationships and decided to keep in contact with her.
• A Xianzhou team leader warned Lin Shuang that the train's wreckage had fused with Propagation and would be impounded if brought to the Xianzhou.
• Lin Shuang considered where to repair the train and settled on asking Herta Space Station for help.
• Lin Shuang messaged Herta to ask whether she was interested in a damaged Star Rail Express.

Lin Shuang arranged for Herta to repair the damaged train at Herta Space Station, while Firefly returned to Penacony with Lin Shuang and Sparkle. As Firefly tried to grow closer to Lin Shuang, she rested her feet in Lin Shuang’s lap, leaving Lin Shuang puzzled by her increasingly intimate gestures.

• Lin Shuang persuaded Herta to let the damaged train use the Space Station and promised that Herta could study it.
• The engineering ship towed the train to Herta Space Station with March 7th and Stelle aboard, while Firefly returned to Penacony with Lin Shuang and Sparkle.
• Back at The Reverie, Firefly relaxed on the sofa and asked Lin Shuang to sit closer.
• Firefly put her bare feet on Lin Shuang’s lap and brushed her toes against Lin Shuang’s stomach, believing she was taking the initiative to deepen their friendship.
• Lin Shuang checked their relationship and saw Firefly’s Affection had risen from 66 to 72, but she remained unsure why Firefly was acting so boldly.

Lin Shuang massaged Firefly’s feet, then returned to her room and found Sparkle waiting to explain her role in the Script for Firefly’s three deaths. Sparkle left after revealing that Firefly knew about the plan, while Lin Shuang worried about what the final death might mean for her.

• Lin Shuang massaged Firefly’s feet, and Firefly blushed while trying to stay composed.
• Lin Shuang left Firefly’s room, stopped at the bar for a drink, and found Sparkle in her own room.
• Sparkle said Silver Wolf had invited her to help plan the Script for Firefly’s three deaths.
• Sparkle explained that Silver Wolf had no detailed Script and that she preferred not to know exactly what would happen.
• Lin Shuang considered Firefly’s final death and decided she needed to learn what Firefly herself wanted.
• Sparkle confirmed that Firefly knew about the plan, then left Lin Shuang’s room.

Lin Shuang entered Herta’s updated Simulated Universe to experience the Swarm Disaster and unexpectedly began reliving the birth of Propagation from the bug’s first-person perspective. She endured the transformation almost to the moment of ascension before Herta pulled her out, leaving the simulation frozen at Propagation’s birth.

• Lin Shuang teleported to Herta Space Station after Sparkle left and met Herta, who explained that the Simulated Universe had been set in Propagation’s era.
• Herta started the Swarm Disaster simulation, and Lin Shuang watched its history unfold through brief text and images.
• Lin Shuang’s perspective shifted into that of the final bug as it faced an army and bounty hunters, and Herta realized she was becoming an Aeon.
• Lin Shuang resisted the Path’s assault on her sense of self until Herta pulled her out just before she fully ascended.
• Lin Shuang recovered and questioned Herta’s judgment, while Herta insisted she would not let an experiment drive her mad.

After experiencing the Swarm Disaster and Propagation’s fall in the Simulated Universe, Lin Shuang gained a deeper affinity with the Path of Permanence. Herta learned from Lin Shuang about Ruan Mei’s secret Emanator experiment beneath the Space Station, and Ruan Mei assured her it would cause only limited damage.

• Lin Shuang blurted out that Ruan Mei had replicated an Emanator beneath the Space Station, surprising Herta with her knowledge.
• Lin Shuang endured the Swarm Disaster in the Simulated Universe and witnessed Propagation’s history, including its defeat by the other Aeons.
• Herta ended the session and hurried off to use Lin Shuang’s first-person observations to improve her Light Cone.
• Lin Shuang got a checkup and found that the experience had deepened her understanding of Paths and advanced her along the Path of Permanence.
• Herta messaged Ruan Mei about Lin Shuang discovering the experiment and demanded assurance that it would not damage the Simulated Universe.
• Ruan Mei told Herta the Emanator would destroy at most one section of the Space Station, and Herta reluctantly accepted her reassurance.

Lin Shuang woke after a day of testing the Simulated Universe and went with Asta to welcome Ruan Mei to Herta Space Station. Ruan Mei examined Lin Shuang by touch and invited her to a quiet workspace.

• Ruan Mei reviewed news about the Xianzhou Luofu and wondered whether Lin Shuang was connected to the Jianmu's disappearance.
• Lin Shuang woke in the Infirmary after sleeping for twenty-four system hours and learned that Asta wanted her to meet Ruan Mei.
• Asta told Lin Shuang that Herta had asked them to welcome Ruan Mei, who was involved in the Simulated Universe project.
• Lin Shuang ate breakfast with Asta while they waited for Ruan Mei's ship to arrive.
• Ruan Mei greeted Asta, touched Lin Shuang's face and neck to study her physical structure, and asked whether she wanted a quiet workspace.

Ruan Mei asked Lin Shuang about her experience ascending toward godhood in the Simulated Universe, then probed her knowledge of the Jianmu’s disappearance on the Xianzhou Luofu. Lin Shuang concealed what she knew, while Ruan Mei suspected she might have obtained the Jianmu’s power; the chapter ended with Lin Shuang cautiously accepting a pastry.

• Ruan Mei took Lin Shuang to Herta’s office and asked what it felt like to approach godhood in the Simulated Universe.
• Lin Shuang described gaining a deeper understanding of Paths, prompting Ruan Mei to consider the connection between Aeons and Paths.
• Ruan Mei asked Lin Shuang about the Jianmu’s revival and disappearance on the Xianzhou Luofu, and Lin Shuang said she did not know the details.
• Ruan Mei suspected Lin Shuang might have harnessed the Jianmu’s power but chose not to press her further.
• Asta brought tea and pastries, and Lin Shuang accepted a pastry while keeping it from entering her digestive system.

Ruan Mei invited Lin Shuang to help inspect her secret experiment beneath the Space Station, revealing that she was cultivating an Emanator of Propagation and wanted to use Lin Shuang’s Insect Emperor data to improve it. Lin Shuang agreed out of curiosity and negotiated for compensation, while Ruan Mei offered even herself or a duplicate body, leaving Lin Shuang to reckon with how little value Ruan Mei placed on such an exchange.

• Ruan Mei explained her experiments to Lin Shuang and invited her to accompany her below the Space Station.
• As they descended, Ruan Mei described her failed artificial genius experiments and her aim to create a pure Emanator.
• Ruan Mei said Lin Shuang’s Insect Emperor data had helped her identify flaws, and confirmed she intended to strengthen the creature.
• Ruan Mei revealed she needed Lin Shuang as her assistant and promised compensation in exchange for her help.
• Lin Shuang asked for Ruan Mei as compensation, and Ruan Mei said she would agree or provide Lin Shuang with an identical body, though she considered the exchange poor value.

Lin Shuang watched Ruan Mei refine her cultivated Propagation Emanator and became interested in capturing it with [Riding]. She then asked Ruan Mei to help her study and strengthen her connection to the Permanence, leaving Ruan Mei to consider her request.

• Lin Shuang followed Ruan Mei to the Cultivation Chamber and examined her dormant pastry-like creations.
• Ruan Mei activated the laboratory and adjusted the enormous cocoon, explaining that new Simulated Universe data had improved the experiment and that it could hatch within three days.
• Ruan Mei admitted she had considered prolonging the creature's life until it could become a true Emanator, but abandoned the attempt because Herta and Screwllum would not allow it on the Space Station.
• Ruan Mei became unsteady after working without eating and leaned against Lin Shuang while the cocoon continued growing more active.
• Lin Shuang considered using [Riding] and her newly acquired Abundance power to capture the creature and possibly overcome its limited lifespan.
• Lin Shuang asked Ruan Mei to research the Permanence and help her understand how to evolve toward becoming a dragon.

Lin Shuang learned from Ruan Mei that her dragon form had altered her biology, and Ruan Mei agreed to research the Permanence with her. After Ruan Mei and Herta discussed a future Simulated Universe project, Lin Shuang stayed at the Space Station to see the damaged train, where March 7th and Stelle arrived.

• Lin Shuang showed Ruan Mei her dragon form, and Ruan Mei determined that it consisted of biological tissue and gave Lin Shuang traits unique to the Long.
• Ruan Mei proposed that pursuing the Permanence might gradually transform Lin Shuang into a dragon, but Lin Shuang said she wanted to become an Emanator, not an Aeon.
• Ruan Mei asked to conduct Permanence experiments on Lin Shuang's barren planet, and Lin Shuang agreed after warning her to preserve its habitability.
• Ruan Mei asked Lin Shuang to collect more Permanence data in the Simulated Universe, and she and Herta discussed adding a related project to a future update.
• Lin Shuang stayed at the Space Station to check on the damaged train, while March 7th and Stelle arrived and the train was moved to a repair compartment.

Lin Shuang took March 7th to the Herta Space Station Infirmary to find materials for a textbook meant to educate Stelle and March 7th. Their search turned up an unexpectedly extensive encyclopedia of alien physiology, which March 7th eagerly wanted to keep reading.

• Stelle joined the Space Station maintenance staff, while March 7th told Lin Shuang they had made up but that she had not explained the real reason.
• Lin Shuang decided to prepare an educational textbook and dragged the embarrassed March 7th along to help.
• March 7th climbed down from Lin Shuang's shoulder as they headed to the Infirmary to look for reference materials.
• Lin Shuang searched the Infirmary's database and found entries on species including Foxfolk and Pepeshi.
• March 7th urged Lin Shuang not to close the encyclopedia page because she had not finished looking at it.

Lin Shuang and March 7th prepared educational materials and went to Stelle’s room to give her remedial lessons. March 7th fled rather than teach, leaving Lin Shuang to begin a lesson on female physiology with Stelle.

• March 7th blushed while reviewing educational materials with Lin Shuang, then pounced on her and punched her lightly in embarrassment.
• Lin Shuang and March 7th entered Stelle’s room late at night, and March 7th locked the door behind them.
• Lin Shuang said they had come to give Stelle remedial lessons, while March 7th became flustered at the prospect of teaching her.
• March 7th made an excuse about being sleepy and fled the room, leaving Lin Shuang with Stelle.
• Lin Shuang projected March 7th’s presentation onto the wall and began a lesson on female physiology.

Lin Shuang tried to get Stelle to wear comfortable undergarments, while Stelle misread Lin Shuang’s concern and reprimands as signs that she was a tsundere. Stelle ended the conversation agreeing not to copy romantic antics from Illusory Plays or act that way toward anyone else.

• Stelle explained that she had stopped wearing an undergarment because she found it uncomfortable, and Lin Shuang stopped her from lifting her top to demonstrate.
• Lin Shuang showed Stelle the Interastral Peace Corporation shopping platform and told her to buy ten sets, then offered to pay when Stelle said they were too expensive.
• Stelle hugged Lin Shuang and tried a flirtatious line, but Lin Shuang flicked her forehead and asked where she had learned it.
• Stelle admitted that March 7th had recommended the Illusory Play, prompting Lin Shuang to warn her not to study or imitate such scenes.
• Lin Shuang told Stelle not to act that way toward anyone else, and Stelle agreed.

Stelle mistook Lin Shuang’s concern after a forehead flick for tsundere affection and used her theories about tsunderes to get Lin Shuang to take her to the Infirmary and then share her bed. The chapter ended with Stelle inviting Lin Shuang under the covers.

• Stelle decided that Lin Shuang’s forehead flick and gentle concern proved she was a tsundere who liked her.
• Lin Shuang worried she had injured Stelle and took her to the Infirmary for a checkup.
• After the checkup, Lin Shuang carried a drowsy Stelle back to their room.
• Stelle clung to Lin Shuang, complained that she had once slept with March 7th instead, and coaxed her into getting ready for bed.
• Stelle slipped beneath the covers and patted the spot beside her, inviting Lin Shuang to join her.

Stelle struggled with unfamiliar impulses while sharing a bed with Lin Shuang, who noticed her advances but treated them as innocent inexperience. The next morning, Lin Shuang went to meet Ruan Mei about bugs born from an accelerated test subject, while March 7th set out to learn where she was going.

• Stelle held Lin Shuang close and considered kissing her, while Lin Shuang noticed her sneaky touches and pretended to sleep.
• The next morning, Stelle left to help repair the Express, and Lin Shuang reflected that Stelle needed to learn common sense.
• Lin Shuang met March 7th at the cafeteria and told her that her newly acquired planet was still in ruins.
• Ruan Mei messaged Lin Shuang about bugs born alongside an accelerated test subject and asked her to come to the laboratory.
• March 7th suspected something was happening and went to find Asta so she could track Lin Shuang's movements.

Lin Shuang accompanied Ruan Mei into the Seclusion Zone to investigate a rapidly growing Swarm created by her experiment. March 7th learned she could visit the zone and headed there with Asta, while Lin Shuang entered a dark corridor and killed a hidden Swarm Insect.

• Asta discovered that Lin Shuang's clearance to the Seclusion Zone had been unlocked, and Herta said Ruan Mei had probably granted it.
• Asta told March 7th that she could go to the Seclusion Zone, and March 7th eagerly set out with her.
• Ruan Mei showed Lin Shuang how the Swarm had spread through the area and explained that it would reproduce until the Insect King emerged.
• Lin Shuang entered a dark corridor with Ruan Mei and sensed an invisible Swarm Insect lunging at her.
• Lin Shuang cut down the hidden insect with her flaming Greatsword.

Lin Shuang transformed two Swarm Insects with the powers of Abundance and The Permanence while accompanying Ruan Mei through the infestation. Elsewhere, March 7th and Stelle encountered an invisible insect, and Stelle called for Lin Shuang after they defeated it.

• Lin Shuang used her abilities to transform a larva into an Abundance-infused insect, which Ruan Mei recognized as a new kind of Swarm Insect.
• At Ruan Mei's suggestion, Lin Shuang used The Permanence to transform another larva, creating what Ruan Mei called the first Swarm Insect Long.
• Ruan Mei asked to keep the unusual insect as a research specimen, and Lin Shuang agreed.
• Ruan Mei spotted Asta's ID on the tablet, so she and Lin Shuang decided to check on the newcomer.
• March 7th and Stelle encountered an invisible insect; March 7th attacked it with ice, and Stelle pinned it down with her Flaming Lance.
• Stelle called for Lin Shuang and claimed March 7th was bullying her with her jinxing, prompting March 7th to protest.