Voting

"In short, that is how things transpired. As for whether or not you choose to head to the Luofu Xianzhou, that is for you all to decide. Farewell, everyone."

Facing the hostile glares of the Astral Express crew, Kafka said her goodbyes with a faint smile. Then, with a flash of light, she and her companion vanished from the train.

"Dan Heng, how are you holding up? Are you alright?" March 7th asked with concern.

"I'm fine." Once Kafka had left, Dan Heng's condition improved significantly. "That man just now... no, it's nothing."

"As long as you're okay... By the way, what should we do about what Kafka said?"

"I don't want the Stellaron Hunters' schemes to succeed, but when I think about the casualties among half the population of the Luofu Xianzhou she mentioned, I feel... oh, does anyone have any ideas?" March 7th asked, sounding hesitant.

Stelle paused for a moment before saying somewhat vaguely, "After all, it's so many lives... I feel like we could help out, since... of course, if there's danger, the safety of the train comes first."

Xiao Xi nodded. "If we can ensure our safety, lending a hand is fine... but listening to Kafka, this doesn't sound like a small matter. Plus, I keep feeling like this incident is strange; there's a feeling I just can't put into words."

Faced with this situation, Himeko clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention. "In that case, let's decide by vote. The minority shall follow the majority. How does everyone feel about that?"

"I agree that this is a good approach. It's hard to reach a satisfactory answer by just discussing it like this," Welt said, nodding in agreement.

Himeko looked around the circle, and seeing that no one had any objections, she announced, "Since no one has any objections, let's begin."

"Raise your hand to indicate agreement, and keep it down to indicate disagreement. I will count to three: one, two, three."

The results were quickly tallied; everyone except Dan Heng and Pom-Pom had voted in favor.

"Pom-Pom knows that there might be people on the Luofu Xianzhou who need help, but as the conductor, Pom-Pom must first fulfill its responsibilities. The conductor of the Astral Express cannot disregard the safety of the train based on information of unknown veracity, Pom."

Pom-Pom earnestly explained the reason for its dissenting vote. "Of course, Pom-Pom doesn't have any issues with the passengers' choices. Being willing to step forward to save the lives of strangers—the conductor is very proud of you all, Pom."

"As for me, sigh..." Dan Heng let out a soft sigh, his tone heavy. "The other Xianzhou ships would be fine, but I am specifically banned from entering the Luofu Xianzhou. Furthermore... I don't really want to go back there again. If the train insists on going, I can only wish you all a safe journey from here."

Himeko nodded. "Does it have to do with your past? In that case, for this Trailblazing journey, you and I shall remain behind to guard the train."

Hearing Himeko say this, Dan Heng breathed a sigh of relief. "That would be for the best."

After speaking, Dan Heng was uncharacteristically distracted. He didn't know if this counted as running away, but... since he had already made up his mind to start over, it was better not to get too entangled with his past.

He was Dan Heng now. He was a member of the Astral Express, a Nameless, and a companion to Stelle and the others.