Old Yang raised a hand to adjust his glasses and said to Himeko beside him:
"Jiang Yu seems like a pretty lively kid too. But compared to March 7th's flights of fancy, his liveliness seems a little more practical?"
Himeko smiled. "It's good for young people to have some energy."
With that, Himeko walked over to Jiang Yu and the other two.
"Looks like you're getting along wonderfully with Pom-Pom!"
"Yeah." Jiang Yu stood up from the floor, declaring that Pom-Pom felt great to pet.
Himeko nodded. "Oh, right, you two should pick out rooms for yourselves first. Sleeping on the sofa isn't very good for you."
"I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll do it!" March 7th called out. "Come with me, you two. I'll give you a tour of the Express while we're at it!"
Then March 7th led Stelle and Jiang Yu out of the parlor car toward the passenger car farther inside.
The three first visited the archive room where Dan Heng lived.
It was very plain. As a bedroom, it could even be considered completely bare.
After all, there was only a lone bedroll lying on the floor, which looked like rippling water.
As a study, however, it was quite luxurious. The Express's Data Bank was here, after all.
Dan Heng was quietly browsing various documents in his room, expanding his knowledge, and showed no intention of paying the three any attention.
They didn't make a fuss in the archive room, either. They took a casual look around and left.
Next came March 7th's own room.
The moment they stepped through the door, the scent of a pretty girl washed over them!
Pale pink decor, simple potted plants, a full-length mirror in the corner, an elaborate photo wall, all sorts of plush toys headed by a Pom-Pom doll, cameras of various models, a packed wardrobe, a big pink bed, assorted snacks, and, of course, a computer...
Compared to the archive room where Dan Heng lived, March 7th's room was lavish beyond belief!
"Well? This is what a pretty girl's room looks like!"
March 7th led them inside, positively glowing.
The pretty girl then received their compliments and happily accepted them.
Finally, they went to look at the ordinary guest rooms.
There wasn't much difference between the guest rooms. They were spacious and bare, with only a bed, a wardrobe, a small table, a pillow, and a blanket.
In the end, Jiang Yu chose the second guest room, right next to March 7th's, while Stelle took the third, right beside Jiang Yu's.
This wasn't a game now. Jiang Yu and Stelle could naturally have rooms of their own instead of waiting for miHoYo to add them in some future update.
After they picked their rooms, Pom-Pom's voice suddenly came over the speakers.
"Hello-hello, hello-attention, all passengers. Attention, all passengers.
"The Express will be warping shortly. Please proceed to the Express's main hall immediately.
"Once again, the Express will be warping shortly. Please proceed to the Express's main hall!"
After hearing Pom-Pom's announcement, March 7th said to Jiang Yu and Stelle, "Let's hurry over!"
Jiang Yu and Stelle nodded.
By this point, March 7th had already taken them on a tour of almost the entire Express.
Soon, the three returned to the main hall.
As soon as he entered, Jiang Yu's nose twitched slightly. He caught the aroma of coffee.
Truth be told, even before being transported to this world, Jiang Yu had been the sort of person who would die without coffee.
Although he'd later switched to the yogurt camp, he still missed the taste of coffee quite a bit.
Following the scent, Jiang Yu turned his head and soon discovered its source. Himeko was sitting on the sofa, brewing coffee on the table in front of her.
Jiang Yu immediately ran over.
Stelle went to find Pom-Pom instead. She looked around the hall but didn't see Dan Heng.
Himeko noticed Jiang Yu running over. She raised her head and saw the longing in the boy's eyes.
"Would you like some coffee, little Jiang Yu?"
"Can I?" Jiang Yu asked expectantly.
"Of course. I'd be happy to share."
With a gentle smile, Himeko pushed the cup full of coffee on the table toward Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu picked up the coffee and was just about to drink it, but the sight of the cup's contents made him abruptly stop.
The coffee (?) inside the cup was still steaming...
But at that moment, no matter how he looked at it, the steam resembled the sinister aura emanating from some indescribable monster.
Jiang Yu gently swirled the cup, watching the dark, semisolid substance roll around inside...
Was this really coffee?
Although he'd long known that Himeko's coffee was astonishing, brewing something semisolid was a little too bizarre, wasn't it? It looked like a lump of agar.
It was hard to imagine what coffee like this would actually taste like.
Still... as a hardened veteran who'd eaten dark chocolate with over ninety percent cocoa in his previous life, Jiang Yu drank the cup of coffee anyway.
The taste of that dark chocolate remained fresh in Jiang Yu's memory. It had all the charm of chewing acetaminophen dry. At least this coffee couldn't be harder to stomach than that.
With his eyes shut and his head tilted back, Jiang Yu gulped the coffee down in several big mouthfuls, as though he were drinking aloe vera juice.
The bitterness of this extraordinarily concentrated coffee coated the boy's tongue, leaving even his normally sensitive, heat-averse tongue completely numb.
At last, Jiang Yu finished the coffee and set the cup on the table.
"How does it taste?" Himeko asked, looking at Jiang Yu.
She was eager to hear his opinion. Everyone else on the Express tended to politely decline her coffee, after all.
"G-good... good!"
Jiang Yu spoke in a trembling voice. He felt as though his tongue were tying itself in knots.
"Very pure... the taste of coffee... authentic flavor... uh..."
Jiang Yu's eyes shut and his mouth fell open as he collapsed onto the sofa.
A peaceful expression settled over the boy's fair, delicate face, as though his soul were leaving his body and heading for heaven.
A few seconds later, Jiang Yu recovered. He said nothing, merely giving Himeko a silent thumbs-up.
The Express was about to warp. Stelle had finished chatting with Pom-Pom and sat down beside Jiang Yu.
March 7th came over too, while Old Yang sat all alone opposite them.
Jiang Yu looked around, stood up, and went to sit beside Old Yang.
Watching Jiang Yu's actions, Old Yang nodded.
Though he said nothing, he thought this was such a good kid.
March 7th and Stelle chatted across from them. March 7th told Stelle about some of the wondrous sights she'd seen aboard the Express, then explained how she'd come aboard herself.
Pom-Pom walked over at that moment, glanced at Jiang Yu, then silently turned toward March 7th and Stelle, loudly reminding them that the warp was about to begin, that they should sit firmly and hold on to the armrests, and that they shouldn't run around.
In the end, March 7th still chose to stand in the main hall, once again challenging herself to remain upright during the warp.
Even Stelle felt helpless in the face of the girl's antics.
As the Navigator, Himeko addressed the two new passengers, Jiang Yu and Stelle:
"Our next destination is a very small planet designated 'Jarilo-VI.'
"The Express last visited it several thousand years ago. According to the Data Bank, it was a lush, beautiful planet.
"But so many years have passed... perhaps it has already undergone earth-shattering changes."
At last, the final wait came to an end, and Pom-Pom's voice rang out again.
"Everyone, return to your seats. The warp is about to begin. Please get ready!"
March 7th stood in the hall, constantly psyching herself up.
"I won't fall over, I won't fall over, I won't fall over..."
The chessboard and pieces on the table began to tremble slightly, and Pom-Pom started the countdown.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"
As Pom-Pom counted down, the stars began to stream backward around the Astral Express. Light swept over it, and the Express seemed to enter a quantum state.
An invisible tunnel opened amid the surrounding stars, and the Astral Express surged into its depths at full speed.
Light flashed, and the Express vanished.
It was as though a ripple had spread through the Sea of Stars. In the end, only the vast, boundless darkness of deep space remained.
Meanwhile, in another star system-or perhaps another universe?
The stars unfurled into a stretching road, and the Astral Express burst out from within!
Before you continue