The Astral Express Departs! A Divine Court Member Hitches a Ride

The Astral Express Departs! A Divine Court Member Hitches a Free Ride

The nasal hum from the broadcast still echoed in the corridor.

Himeko snapped back to her senses.

She slammed her empty white porcelain cup onto the desk.

Her movement was somewhat stiff, the porcelain striking the desktop with a harsh, muffled thud.

Ignoring the puddle of wet coffee stains on the table, she strode over to the door.

Pressing the metal switch, the airtight door slid open to both sides.

The overhead lights in the parlor car were very bright.

Himeko walked across the red velvet carpet, her high heels stepping on the soft pile without making a single sound.

She bypassed the bar counter and immediately saw the scene in the center of the lounge.

The largest black leather sofa was usually the place where the Astral Express Crew held meetings and discussions.

Now, it was completely occupied by a white-haired little girl.

Su Chen lay sprawled out across it.

Her oversized black high-collar uniform was rumpled and creased, the hem carelessly rolled up around her waist.

Those little leather shoes had long since been kicked off by her.

One had fallen near the foot of the sofa, while the other had rolled under the coffee table.

The little loli was barefoot, displaying her two fair, tender feet.

They were propped directly onto the solid-wood-rimmed glass coffee table.

Her toes swayed back and forth to some unknown rhythm.

Her heels knocked against the glass tabletop, producing a crisp "tap-tap" sound.

This was entirely a "free-riding thorn" who knew nothing of courtesy.

Welt stood beside the bar counter.

He held a cup of plain water in his hand, but hadn't taken a single sip.

The veins on the back of his hand bulged like green earthworms because he was gripping the glass too tightly.

Welt pushed up the black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.

His gaze remained glued to a metal seam in the floor, and he simply didn't dare look up at the "Seventh Seat" on the sofa.

Dan Heng leaned against the wall by the door of the Data Bank.

He held an electronic datapad in his hand, his fingers swiping rapidly across the screen.

If one looked closely, however, they would notice that the document on the screen hadn't been turned in ten minutes.

The muscles on his body were tensed very tightly.

Although the Cloud-Piercing Spear was not in his hand, his entire posture was ready to burst into a forward charge at any moment.

March 7th hid behind another single-person sofa.

Only half of her pink head was exposed.

She clutched her camera tightly in her arms, intentionally slowing even her breathing.

Usually, when guests boarded the Express, she would have rushed up to take photos and ask questions about this and that.

Today, she remained stubbornly silent, like a frightened quail.

No one dared to go up and remind her to mind the etiquette of the Express.

That was the monster who had just swept away the Antimatter Legion like trash.

With a casual flick of her finger, she could obliterate an Antimatter Legion Commander.

Who dared to interfere?

Did they think their life was too long?

"Ding-dong."

The speaker above the carriage chimed.

Immediately following that was the low-frequency roar of the Express engine beginning to operate at full power.

The alloy floor beneath their feet trembled slightly.

"Space jump starting."

Pom-Pom's voice came out from the loudspeaker.

Outside the holographic windows of the parlor car, the previously static, deep starry sky instantly changed.

The dark cosmic background was torn apart by some immense force.

The distant stars transformed into streams of dazzling white light.

The torrent of light flew backward rapidly outside the window.

They wove into a brilliant net.

A powerful tractive force pulled at the entire carriage.

Inside the black tea pot on the coffee table, the water violently sloshed, and a few drops of hot water splashed onto the glass surface.

The chandelier on the ceiling swayed, emitting a faint creaking sound.

Welt gripped his cane tightly.

Dan Heng slightly bent his legs, adjusting his center of gravity.

At the moment of a warp, the massive inertia of the physical engine could not be completely eliminated.

Yet on that huge leather sofa.

The scene was so eerily chilling to the bone.

Little Satoru Gojo was still eating candy.

That lollipop spun a turn in her mouth, the white plastic stick bobbing up and down.

Her feet propped up on the coffee table stopped.

The train was shaking.

The tea sets on the coffee table were trembling.

The fluff on the carpet leaned to one side under inertia.

Only Little Satoru Gojo did not move even a fold of her clothes.

It was as if an invisible blade had forcefully carved the space around her out of the train.

And then locked it down separately.

The train's gravity, acceleration, and high-frequency engine tremors.

At a distance of zero point one millimeters from her body, were all forcibly smoothed out by an invisible wall.

Water droplets on the coffee table rolled off due to the vibration.

Flowing near her heel, they stopped dead in their tracks.

The water droplets piled up at that boundary, unable to cross that invisible line no matter what.

Even a speck of dust floating in the air, upon hitting that barrier, defied gravity and hovered in midair.

Welt's eyelids twitched wildly.

The hand holding his water cup gave a fierce jolt.

Half a cup of warm water splashed onto the web of his hand, yet he pulled back his arm as if scalded by a branding iron.

Welt's Adam's apple bobbed, swallowing a mouthful of blood-tasting saliva.

He closed his eyes.

Not wanting to calculate those spatial parameters that would completely fry his brain anymore.

Dan Heng's data pad slipped straight out of his hand.

With a patter, it smashed onto the carpet.

He did not go to pick it up.

His back pressed hard against the metal wall, feeling the coldness of the panel through his clothes.

A drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead, trickling into his collar and making him shiver with chill.

The bloodline of the Vidyo-Dhara was screaming frantically.

This existence that ignored universal constants was ten thousand times more dangerous than the things inside the Fragmentum Abyss.

The streams of light outside the window gradually shortened.

Recondensing into quiet, individual stars.

The roaring sound of the engine lowered, turning into a steady, low-frequency hum.

The train's warp had ended.

The carriage returned to stability.

Su Chen spat out the candy stick in his mouth.

The plastic stick traced a parabola in midair, accurately dropping into the trash can.

He stretched, his short arms waving twice in midair.

His two feet started tapping "da-da" on the glass coffee table again.

No one was willing to break this oppressive silence.

Himeko stood by the bar counter, feeling her chest ache with stuffiness.

Just at that moment.

The door to the driver's cabin at the front of the carriage opened with a swish.

Conductor Pom-Pom walked out with short, hurried steps.

That red-and-white uniform of his was worn neat and tidy.

Its two long ears stood very tall.

Pom-Pom indignantly dragged a small broom in his hand.

He spotted the unruly fellow in the center of the lounge at a glance.

He ignored Welt's face as Welt frantically signaled with his eyes.

The Conductor rushed straight up to the leather sofa.

The broom gave a forceful poke on the floor, and the yarn bristles splayed out.

Pom-Pom tilted his head back, pointed at Su Chen on the sofa, and shouted loudly:

"Hey! This white-haired ticketless passenger, you cannot put your feet on the coffee table on the train, pami!"