"I don't remember the invitation having a passage like that... You mean there was an encoded message in it?"
"That's the intriguing part. The invitation The Family sent was a music box. Wind it up, and a voice would play along with harmonious music."
In the deserted public lounge, Himeko slowly explained her discovery. "But the one delivered to us was a little strange... There were some discordant notes mixed into the background music."
"I transcribed those stray notes. They matched the frequency of the gravitational fluctuations during the Astral Express's warp jumps perfectly. Then, using the spatial curvature of its engine as the key-I decoded the passage above."
At those words, Welt slowly closed his eyes and unconsciously folded his arms. "...It's a distress signal commonly used by the Nameless."
Himeko's words reminded him of Pom-Pom's request: find the Nameless of old.
Tiernan, Lagwork, Lazarina.
"We can't draw any conclusions yet. It could also be the Masked Fools playing tricks. Judging by the method alone, the Riddlers and the Enigmata's aberrations could do it too."
"When did you discover it?"
"When the Astral Express arrived at the Luofu a little while ago. I told Pom-Pom right away."
"Ooh~ Coming in hot~"
At some point, Zhang Xiu had appeared at a table not far from them, swirling a wineglass filled with juice.
"Zhang Xiu? Ha, when did you get here?" Himeko gave him a helpless smile.
"Right when..." Zhang Xiu set down his glass, then stood up and imitated Welt's voice:
"...It's a distress signal commonly used by the Nameless."
"I got here when Welt said that. Can't help it-a handsome man is welcome wherever he goes. Sunday gave me quite the warm reception~"
Zhang Xiu flamboyantly swept back his bangs. "Isn't Dan Heng coming?"
"No. Someone has to stay