On the Road

The bright white light flickered slightly on the cabin ceiling, then returned to its steady state after a moment.

Larkspur spread her suitcase out on the bed and knelt down beside it, taking stock of the things she would need for the upcoming trip.

After taking out the items she would need and sorting out the remaining items, she closed her suitcase, sat on the bed, and let out a long sigh of relief.

By this time, the sky outside the window had long since turned into the darkness of night.

On the bed opposite the Larkspur, Xia Liang was wearing headphones, her fingers occasionally swiping across her phone screen, the video footage reflected in her pupils.

"Feel sorry."

So the Larkspur spoke up.

"... Um?"

Hearing Larkspur speak, Xia Liang took off one of her earphones and looked at her with some confusion. "Why are you apologizing?"

"Sharing a room with me must be a bit boring, right?"

Larkspur looked at her and said, "Because I don't really understand what young people like these days. I can't keep up with most of the topics you're interested in, which is why we can't seem to get into a conversation like this."

"Huh... really? I don't think so."

Xia Liang rested her phone on her chin, pondering for a moment. "I feel like even if I shared a room with Xiao Lu, we'd probably just be huddled in our own beds playing on our phones, right?"

Is that so?

Larkspur was somewhat skeptical. "Logically speaking, you're about to go to the Kingdom to participate in the assessment. You should all be feeling nervous, excited, or looking forward to the future. Shouldn't you have endless things to talk about at a time like this?"

"No... We've talked about this a lot before. We said we'd chat, but at times like this, we don't really have anything to say."

Xia Liang clicked her tongue and said, "And it might sound a bit strange, but although I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Kingdom looks like, I don't actually have any extra emotions. I just feel that these things will happen naturally."

"Are young people like this nowadays?"

Larkspur was taken aback. "I remember the first time I went to the Kingdom, I almost chatted all night with my teammates."

"That's probably because you and that teammate had too many things to talk about, it has nothing to do with going to the Kingdom."

Xia Liang chuckled dryly, "No, rather I already guessed it. You were with Senior Sakura at the time, right?"

"Is it that obvious?" Larkspur asked.

"It's so obvious... ah, no, I should say the image is practically already flashing into my mind."

Xia Liang raised her hands and covered her ears. "Let's not talk about it anymore. I don't want to hear those sweet, sentimental stories of youth filled with the stench of love. I feel like they'll make me feel really ugly."

"I thought you would like to hear these," Larkspur said, blinking.

"I'll like listening to what others say, but I refuse to listen to what you're saying, senior." Xia Liang stretched out her hands and made an "X" sign in front of her.

Larkspur felt somewhat bewildered, but her intuition told her not to pursue the matter further. Instead, she chose to remain silent and look out the dark window.

As night fell, the Wasteland offered little in the way of scenery; all she could see was desert, Gobi, and endless sandstorms. This monotonous landscape quickly became tiresome for her.

As she had said before, she really didn't know what to talk about with Xia Liang. She felt that she shouldn't bring up topics like assessments and studies at this time, lest she seem like a boring elder making small talk and becoming tiresome. So she simply remained silent.

After a while of silence, Xia Liang, who was looking at her phone, suddenly turned to Larkspur and said, "If you feel tired, you can go to sleep first, little senior."

"Oh, um... um?"

The Larkspur responded first, then belatedly asked in confusion, "Sleep?"

"Well, I want to finish watching this movie before I go to sleep, so you can go to sleep first," Xia Liang said matter-of-factly.

"You mean, I can go straight to sleep now?" Larkspur asked again, as if to confirm something.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Xia Liang raised an eyebrow.

"... No, nothing."

Larkspur sighed. "I just realized I might be overthinking things."

"Eh--"

Hearing her say that, Xia Liang suddenly revealed a somewhat teasing smile, "So you were overthinking it. May I ask, my respected junior, what exactly were you overthinking just now?"

"It's nothing important." Larkspur said expressionlessly.

"Irrelevant? What kind of irrelevant? Do you think I might suggest some entertainment like Ludo, or do you think I'll force you to keep chatting?"

Xia Liang sat up and leaned closer to Larkspur Que: "You can't be worried that I'll ask to sleep with you, can you? That seems a bit too 'trivial'?"

"You're overthinking it." Larkspur closed his eyes.

"Oh dear, I was actually quite embarrassed to bring it up, but since you brought it up, I'll reluctantly make the request."

Putting down her phone, Xia Liang leaned closer to Larkspur and said in a strange tone, "So, senior, could you... go to bed early tonight and get a good night's sleep?"

"... Hmm?" The unexpected words made Larkspur open her eyes again, but all she saw was Xia Liang's smiling face.

"What's wrong? Do you really think that since I've finally found a chance to be alone, I'd make some difficult request?"

Xia Liang smiled like a cunning little fox, "But I won't. My only request is that you get some rest and prepare for your upcoming trip to the Kingdom."

"... That's certainly surprising." Larkspur opened his mouth, but could only offer this final assessment.

"Hehe, being caught between two girls vying for your favor every day, having to try your best to serve them water, and having a ton of messy work to handle, must be really tough, right?"

Xia Liang stood up and patted her coat. "So you don't need to worry about this or that while I'm here. Just relax, I won't make things difficult for you."

She paused halfway through her sentence, then looked at the Larkspur and said, "Is it hard to understand?"

"A little bit." Larkspur nodded.

"Because this is a new strategy I recently came up with."

Xia Liang, slightly smug, put her hands on her hips and said, "I'll call this the 'Gentle Harbor Strategy.' While Xiao Lu and Xiao Xuan are making a fool of themselves in front of you for that little bit of affection, all I need to do is remain gentle, tolerant, and indifferent. This will make you feel completely at ease around me, even like a gentle breeze, and feel more comfortable than being with the two of them. Over time, won't my impression score skyrocket?"

"... Perhaps that's possible."

The Larkspur commented directly, yet remained puzzled. "But is it something you can just tell me directly?"

"Of course we have to say it."

Xia Liang blinked. "This is something you taught me, senior. What if I don't tell you, and you don't appreciate my good intentions? Wouldn't all my efforts be wasted?"

The Larkspur was speechless.

"Okay, so don't worry, go to sleep peacefully."

Xia Liang sat back on her bed, put her headphones back on, and waved her hand. "Don't worry about me, I'll go to sleep on my own when it's time."

That's what she said, and that's exactly what she did.

When Larkspur actually believed her and went to bed first, she found that Xia Liang was indeed still sitting on her bed watching videos, without making any moves whatsoever.

This behavior finally made her feel much more relaxed.

No need to worry about anything else, the Larkspur can relax and let her thoughts drift away, allowing herself to rest on a mental level.

I wonder what's going on with Lulu and Xiao Xuan.

Such a thought flashed through her mind, but it was ultimately just a thought. She wouldn't go so far as to go to someone else's cabin and disturb someone who might already be asleep because of such a thought.

Then, Larkspur closed her eyes on the bed.

As the Landship into the depths of the Wasteland, night had fallen, and the soft, white moon hung high in the night sky, casting a tranquil glow over the dark Landship.

Lin Xiaolu glanced at the endless Wasteland outside the window, stared at the unchanging scenery for a while, then closed her eyes and drew the curtains at the porthole.

The crisp sound of the curtains rolling up broke the silence of the small cabin.

Bai Jingxuan had been looking down at her book, silently raised her head, glanced at the window, realized where the sound had come from, and then lowered her head again without saying a word.

As agreed in the previous game, since the two failed to win the game of Ludo, they ended up having to share a cabin with each other.

The moderately sized cabin could just fit two single beds, with a square table fixed to the ground between them. When passengers didn't need to lie down to rest, they could sit on the edge of the bed, facing the table, and do some simple work.

At this moment, Bai Jingxuan placed her book on the table and, with the help of the cabin's fluorescent light, began reading with great concentration.

Lin Xiaolu's gaze casually swept across the pages, easily recognizing the printed content—it appeared to be an elementary school textbook.

She knew that Larkspur was preparing to get Bai Jingxuan back to school, so she didn't say much. She just covered her mouth, yawned silently, kicked off her shoes, went back to bed, took out her phone, and started clearing up her daily mobile game tasks for the day.

The two of them kept to themselves, each doing what they were doing. Bai Jingxuan turned the pages of her book, while the images on Lin Xiaolu's phone kept changing. Bai Jingxuan left the room a few times, but quickly returned alone, looking somewhat dejected. She didn't say anything, so Lin Xiaolu didn't ask her what she had been doing outside.

As the night deepened and all was quiet, with only the roar of the Landship's engines, Lin Xiaolu blinked sleepily, yawned again, and sat up in bed.

She was used to washing up before going to sleep, but since there was no private bathroom in her cabin, she had to use the communal toilet on the Landship.

After Lin Xiaolu had walked quite a distance from the cabin in a daze, she realized that it seemed like a tail was following her.

When she turned around, she found that it was Bai Jingxuan standing behind her.

"... What are you doing?" she asked instinctively.

"Go pee," Bai Jingxuan replied rather straightforwardly.

"Oh." So Lin Xiaolu, without suspecting anything, turned around and continued walking forward.

But after walking a little further, she noticed that Bai Jingxuan was still hanging on her back at a comfortable distance. A question arose in her mind, so she turned back and asked, "Um, do you really have to follow me?"

Bai Jingxuan pursed her lips and didn't say anything.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Lin Xiaolu felt even more puzzled, so she continued to stare at Bai Jingxuan, wondering what this little girl was up to.

"... Um, can we continue forward?"

After a while, Bai Jingxuan finally spoke first, "I can't hold back any longer."

"I'm not trying to be mean, but if you need to go to the restroom, just go by yourself. Why are you following me?"

Lin Xiaolu was a little confused. "There aren't any obstacles in front of us."

"I don't know where it is," Bai Jingxuan stammered.

"What?"

"I don't know where the toilet is!" Bai Jingxuan shouted, raising her voice.

"Huh? Oh, oh."

Realizing what the other person was talking about, Lin Xiaolu immediately understood and, slightly embarrassed, continued walking forward. Unlike Bai Jingxuan, she had deliberately memorized the location of the restroom on the way there, so after a few turns, she led Bai Jingxuan to the nearest restroom.

But as she reached for water at the sink with her washcloth tucked inside, she belatedly widened her eyes in surprise. "Oh, so you couldn't find a restroom the last few times you went out?"

Bai Jingxuan paused slightly, then quickened her pace. Before Lin Xiaolu could ask anything else, she rushed into the cubicle closest to the door.

This topic was glossed over in Bai Jingxuan's silent protest.

Nothing unexpected happened on the way back. Lin Xiaolu led Bai Jingxuan through a corridor lit with warm yellow lights back to their cabin. After changing into their special outdoor pajamas, they prepared to go to sleep.

However, before going to sleep, out of sheer curiosity, she walked over to Bai Jingxuan's desk and took a look.

At this moment, Bai Jingxuan was deep in thought about a Xiluo Language reading comprehension question. Her pen tip, hovering over the blank space in the question, remained motionless, clearly stuck.

Lin Xiaolu glanced at the question, said nothing, turned and left, returning to her bedside. But as she kicked off her shoes again, preparing to lie back down, she stopped for some reason.

A thoughtful expression appeared on her face. After a moment, Lin Xiaolu walked to Bai Jingxuan's side again. When she found that Bai Jingxuan still hadn't written down the answer, she cleared her throat and said, "Choose B."

Bai Jingxuan looked up at her, somewhat confused.

"I mean, the answer to this question is B," Lin Xiaolu repeated.

Bai Jingxuan tilted her head, still looking puzzled, but she lowered her head and filled in the blank with the option "B".

Then, she got stuck on the next question.

Seeing her like this, Lin Xiaolu immediately understood that she hadn't really understood the reading comprehension passage at all, so she could only shrug helplessly. "Fine, I'll explain it to you."

As she said this, she squeezed down next to Bai Jingxuan and began to explain the article to her, as well as the meaning of some of the words.

Under Larkspur's intensive tutoring over the past six months, Lin Xiaolu's academic performance has basically caught up with the majority of her classmates. In addition, her foundation in language courses is better than in other courses, and her current English- Xiluo Language course results are already quite good, making her more than capable of tutoring Bai Jingxuan's elementary school courses.

Bai Jingxuan previously lived in an orphanage, and due to her physical condition, she was unable to attend school for a systematic education, so her academic foundation was indeed not very promising. Science and Donghua Language courses were manageable; Bai Jingxuan's love of reading allowed her to learn some things. However, Xiluo Language was a completely different story. Bai Jingxuan had never read foreign language books before, so she had to learn this subject from scratch.

Lin Xiaolu, without further ado, led Bai Jingxuan through all the exercises in those pages of the book until an overwhelming wave of sleepiness made it impossible for her to stay awake. She then wearily put down her pen and said, "Alright, that's enough for now. Time to sleep."

"...Hmm." Bai Jingxuan's eyes remained fixed on the questions in the textbook, and she made a sound of agreement that was unclear in terms of its meaning.

Lin Xiaolu could only rely on her experience to judge, and felt that she had probably heard what she said, so she didn't say anything more, but stood up and prepared to go to sleep.

"Um, Sister Xiao Lu."

At this moment, perhaps having finished reading the book, Bai Jingxuan finally raised her head. "Thank you, you are indeed very capable."

"It's alright, anyway, you're welcome," Lin Xiaolu blinked and answered rather casually.

"However, although I have indeed received a lot of help from you and should thank you, I will not admit defeat."

Bai Jingxuan looked up and stared directly into Lin Xiaolu's eyes. "I will become Mom... the teacher's favorite child, and I will definitely not lose to you."

Lin Xiaolu met her gaze.

Their eyes met, neither of them showing any sign of backing down. After a while, Lin Xiaolu raised her hand and gently patted Bai Jingxuan's forehead.

"Alright, I accept your challenge. But let me make this clear first, I won't hold back. Show me what you've got."

After patting Bai Jingxuan's head, she turned and crawled into her bed without looking back.

"Then I'll make you understand that I'm the senior."

The following morning, the Landship arrived at Yannan City smoothly.

There were no risks or accidents, and no attacks by Aberrant Beast occurred around the shipping lanes. For this battle-hardened Landship, it was just an ordinary voyage.

Carrying large and small bags, the group walked out of the port and, guided by the staff, boarded the port bus to the city center. After a long journey of more than an hour, they finally entered the urban area of Yannan City.

Even a fleeting glimpse of this Central City was enough to leave Lin Xiaolu and her companions, who had never been there before, in awe.

Towering smart buildings stand on both sides of the commercial street, many of which are covered with dynamic display screens that play all kinds of advertisements. Suspended sky bridges span the main urban road between the buildings. Each sky bridge is not only a traffic artery but also a small rooftop Garden, filled with green plants and colorful flowers.

Swarms of small drones shuttle through the air, efficiently handling tasks such as logistics, air purification, and monitoring. Each building has a drone docking station on its roof for convenient cargo delivery.

In addition, there is a comprehensive urban rail transit system; a dizzying array of underground buildings; vertical greenery embedded in the spaces between elevated roads and major thoroughfares... Many of these things are things you wouldn't see in a small Fangting City.

Without a doubt, in the Material Realm, Central City are synonymous with the most developed and advanced human civilization. Their area is often five to ten times that of ordinary cities, and they are surrounded by a number of smaller city clusters. If placed in the context of the Material Realm's past history, they could even be considered relatively small "countries".

What creates this rare and prosperous scene is none other than the true, unique geographical advantage of these Central City —their status as stops for Kingdom Express.

At this moment, Larkspur is standing in front of the special train station in Yannan City.

This is a towering, enormous building, resembling a giant monument erected on the ground. The station is entirely black, with a rectangular main body, but one side of the top slopes slightly inward, creating an asymmetrical, slanted effect. Fine Fawo Runes flicker on the slanted surface, appearing and disappearing with the changing light. From this slanted surface, the huge rectangle is divided in two, looking like a deep, slit cut out. The tracks coming from afar enter through the crack and extend out from the other end, passing straight through it, simple to the point of solemnity.

The black building has several huge entrances and exits on its side, but unlike the usual bustling train stations, the flow of people at this station is extremely sparse, with only a few people occasionally seen coming and going. Compared to the bustling downtown area a few blocks away, it is so quiet that you might wonder if you've gone to the wrong place.

Of course, Larkspur knew she hadn't gone to the wrong place.

This was not her first time visiting this magnificent and peculiar station. In fact, because Yannan City was the closest Central City to Fangting, she had departed from here to the Magic Kingdom more than once in the past.

The area around the station is protected by a special barrier set up using the Kingdom's technology, so ordinary people have absolutely no chance of accidentally entering it. Only those who possess a ticket for the Kingdom Express and have a certain level of magic power as a guide can possibly step into this area and find this station hidden in the bustling city.

All the trains at the station have only one destination: the Magic Kingdom. They arrive and depart strictly according to the timetable with few delays. The routes of these special trains are also exactly the same: they all circle around the Central City of the Material Realm before taking a trainload of passengers to the Magic Kingdom.

It's not just magical girls who travel to the magical Kingdom. In fact, as long as they have the relevant permission, whether for business, tourism, further education, or political purposes, a large number of humans travel from the Material Realm to the Magic Kingdom every day.

These people represent a tiny minority of humanity in the Material Realm, but in absolute numbers, they are by no means few.

Compared to their previous experience at the Landship Port, the security check at the Kingdom Express Train Station went much more smoothly. Perhaps it was because the staff there often received magical girls and were already used to underage girls traveling alone or in groups, so they easily let the group from Fangting City through.

With all the green lights on, Larkspur and the others quickly boarded the train they needed to catch.