Meanwhile, on the other side, ever since Dan Heng had seen Blade, he had been on edge aboard the train. Himeko had naturally noticed his unease.
"Dan Heng, are you worried about your companions?" Himeko asked gently.
"Mm." Dan Heng nodded glumly. "That man named Blade is dangerous, and with the Stellaron crisis erupting, even with Xiao Xi there, I... sigh."
"If you're so worried, why not go see for yourself?"
"Go myself...? But Himeko, you know what I was like before..." Dan Heng trailed off.
"But you're Dan Heng now, aren't you? The Astral Express Crew doesn't dwell on the past; we look to the future. I wouldn't want your journey of Trailblaze to be marred by regret."
"The past may be important, but sometimes we should lift our eyes and look to the future, don't you think?" Himeko said warmly, steam rising slowly from the coffee in her hands.
"...I see. I think I understand." Dan Heng took a deep breath and finally made up his mind.
"Then go on. You should try to reunite with your companions as soon as possible, shouldn't you?"
The scene shifted. After the Astral Express Crew had rested at the inn General Jing Yuan had arranged for them, they began preparing to capture Kafka.
"Lady Gu Yu, since the Xianzhou has entrusted us with capturing Kafka, I imagine you already had leads on her whereabouts," Welt asked gently.
"That's right." Gu Yu didn't withhold anything in response to Welt's question.
"We intercepted an audio recording of Kafka contacting her companion earlier. Please listen carefully."
"You should notice the mechanical sound in the background when Kafka says her last few lines. The background sounds differ from place to place across the Luofu Xianzhou."
"After our specialists analyzed it, we concluded that Kafka is most likely somewhere in an area called the Stargazer Navalia."
"So it's a whole district? Sounds like it won't be easy to search," March 7th said, looking at the others.
"It won't be easy, that's true. But at least we have a specific location now. I'll report our situation to the train first, then we can set out," Welt reassured them.
"Oh, Stelle, while we're at it, let's send Dan Heng a message too. He used to live on the Luofu, right? We can ask if there are any local specialties he wants," March 7th said, suddenly struck by the idea.
"Mm, okay."
(Stelle): Dan Heng, are you... (Message failed to send)
(Stelle): Huh? (Message failed to send)
"No good. The signal here is terrible. The messages won't send at all!" Stelle frowned.
"Same here. It seems the Stellaron crisis is worsening, leaving the Luofu Xianzhou's long-distance communication devices almost entirely out of commission," Welt said, his voice heavy with concern.
"Here's what we'll do. Someone needs to notify the train, and Dan Heng didn't seem to be in the best shape when we left."
"Among the Astral Express Crew members currently on the Luofu Xianzhou, I should be the most mobile. Let's split up. I'll teleport to the train, update Himeko and the others, then come back. I'll also check on Dan Heng. You go with the Cloud Knights to capture Kafka. Once I've delivered the update, I'll come find you and rejoin the group."
"What do you think?" Xiao Xi suggested.